Hans Henrik Hjermitslev, PhD , A ssociate professor

1. ISCHE 40 Education and Nature (Berlin, Germany) August 29 - September 1, 2018 Legitimising natural knowledge: A comparative study of the teaching of natural science at the Nordic folk high schools 1860-1900 Hans Henrik Hjermitslev, PhD, Associate professor University College South Denmark, Aabenraa hhhj@ucsyd.dk

2. Main argument Historical studies of the folk high schools have often emphasised the ideological differences between the Grundtvigian Danish and Norwegian schools, on the one hand, and the rationalist Swedish and Finnish schools, on the other. This has led to the conclusion that the Grundtvigian schools focused on historical-poetical formation (Bildning, dannelse) excluding the natural sciences, while the rationalist schools were devoted to citizenship education (medborgerskab) combined with vocational education including natural knowledge (utbildning, uddannelse). However, when examining the practise of the folk high school in the Nordic countries it is evident that the similarities are much greater than the ideological differences would indicate. Both the Grundtvigian and the rationalist schools thus played a seminal role in the diffusion of useful natural knowledge to the rural youth.

3. Setting the Nordic scene • In the 19th century, a vast majority of the population lived in rural areas and worked within agriculture. • School reforms secured primary education to all children (Denmark: 1814, Sweden 1842, Norway: 1889, Finland: 1921). • Political reforms introducing local and national elections resulted in more political influence to the common people, that is primarily farmers (Norway: 1814, Denmark: 1849, Sweden: 1862/1866, Finland: 1906) • Need for secondary education of the rural population in order to 1) modernise agriculture and 2) create educated and responsible citizens. • The folk high schools were the most prominent answer to this challenge.

4. Folk highschools • Private independent schools placed in rural areas • Rural alternative to the urban secondary schools • 3-6 months of boarding school for young men and women aged 18-25 • Neither centralised curriculum nor exams • Secular topics taught in a Christian atmosphere • Denmark: 1844 • Norway: 1864 • Sweden: 1868 • Finland: 1889

5. Number of folk highschools

6. Subjects at the folk highschools General educationand personal formation: History, Litterature, Political Science, Geography, Singing, Gymnastics Natural science? Basic skills: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic Vocationaleducation: Men: Accounting, Drawing, surveying, levelling, Agricultural chemistry,geology and physiology Women: Needlework, Home economics, Health, Biology Natural science? Moreover, many schools offered vocational courses and departments for agriculture, house economics, gardening, dairying, fishery, forestry, mining and the crafts. Much the same subjects in Denmark/Norway and Sweden/Finland, but unlike Sweden the natural sciences were not easily included among the core subjects of general education and personal formation in Denmark/Norway.

7. Natural science as Allmänbildningin Sweden • Focus on citizenshipeducation and on natural science as part of general education and as a usefulsubject for future farmers and housekeepers • Advanced 2nd yearcourse in agriculture > popular model in Sweden Leonard Holmström (1840-1919) Geologist and principal of the high-profile Hvilan Folk High School 1868-1908.

8. N.F.S. Grundtvig’scritique of natural science • Critical towards the natural sciences and their claim of universality: True knowledge is historical and tied to a specific people • His vision of historical-poetical formation and liberal education focused on history and literature, and did not include the natural sciences of his day, which he regarded as atheistic and ‘dead’ academic knowledge. • The living word instead of textbooks and exams

9. Science as formation • Physicist and meteorologist • Famouspopular science writer and lecturer • ”The Danish Edison”: Pioneering work on wind turbines and rural electricity supply • Physics and math teacher at the high-profile Askov Folk High School from 1878 to 1908. • Advanced 2nd year course with a natural science side from 1890 and education of rural electricians from 1904 • Biblical literalist and anti-Darwinist • Askov Principal LudvigSchrøder’s safeguard against positivism and atheism Poul la Cour (1846-1908)

10. Poul la Cour as an innovatingideologist • Innovating ideologist (Quentin Skinner): Natural science as historicalformation. • Historical had a positive speech act potential in the Grundtvigian vocabulary, while the natural sciences were seen as morally dubious. • Succeeded in legitimisingnatural science in a Grundtvigian context by teaching natural science and mathematics historically. • Historical-poetical formation by letting “the students’ thoughts follow the same path as the one mankind has walked.” • HistoriskMathematik, 1881 • HistoriskFysik I-II, 1896-97 • Poul la Cour and his colleague Jacob Appel advocated an historical approach to teaching natural science at Nordic folk high school meetings in 1883, 1890 and 1900. • However, it was not widely copied in Sweden since the Swedish teachers did not need to legitimise the teaching of natural science. Scientific knowledge of nature was already accepted as an integrated part of general education and formation.

11. Conclusions and perspectives • The folk high schools played a decisive role in the diffusion of useful scientific knowledge to the rural population and thus in the rapid modernisation of agriculture in the Nordic countries. • Poul la Courand Jacob Appel’s innovative work on legitimising natural science as historical formation was successful in Askov around 1900, but since then natural science has been marginalised at the folk high schools in Denmark. • In the decades around World War II agricultural subjects disappeared from the Nordic folk high schools.

12. Furtherreading • Hans Henrik Hjermitslev, ”Windmills, Butter and Bacon: The Circulation of Scientific Knowledge among Grundtvigians in the Decades around 1900” in John A. Hall, Ove Korsgaard& Ove K. Pedersen, Grundtvig and Danish National Identity, McGill University Press, 2014. • Hans Henrik Hjermitslev, “Mellemdannelse og nytte: Et perspektivpåfolkehøjskolerneshistorie”, Norsk Pedagogisk Tidsskrift, 102:2, 2018, pp. 171-183. • Fay Lundh Nilsson & Anders Nilsson (eds.), Tvåsidoravsammamynt? Folkbildningochyrkesutbildning vid de nordiskafolkhögskolorna, Nordic Academic Press, 2010. Contact: Hans Henrik Hjermitslev hhhj@ucsyd.dk

13. Ressources • Schrøder, L. (1905). Den nordiske Folkehøjskole, Gad, København • Skovmand, R. (1983). Samspillet mellem Nordens folkehøjskoler indtil Anden Verdenskrig, Universitetsforlaget, Aarhus • Degerman, A. et al. (1968). Svensk Folkhögskola 100 år, vol. I-IV, SvenskafolkhögskolanslärarföreningochBokförlagetLiber, Uddevalla • Torjusson, A. (1977). Den norske folkehøgskulen, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo • Nissen, G. (1994). Udfordringer til Højskolen. Danske folkehøjskoler 1844 til 1994, Foreningen af Folkehøjskoler • Jarning, H. (2003). The Folk High Schools and General Education, Årbok for norsk utdanningshistorie • Nielsen, V. (1961). Svensk folkehøjskole og Grundtvig, Grundtvig-Studier • Skinner, Q. (2002). Moral Principles and Social Change, in Visions of Politics, vol. I, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge