The Danish Friskole Association, FRISKOLERNE, has produced a new film that explains the Danish free school tradition as well as the current state of the free schools.

Lene Tanggaard, professor in educational psychology at the Department of Communication and Psychology, contributes to the film. She points out that the free schools provide three important ingredients; »a respect for the child, an opportunity to vary the educational form and an opportunity to adapt to the time in which they are part of«.

The managing director of the Grundtvig-Academy also contributes to the film and points to the importance of the free schools for a free democracy. »A society marked by intellectual freedom is a society in which ideas can fly freely. And when one is so lucky to be able to form a school on an idea, then you might even be so lucky that others are inspired by that idea. So the bare thought of intellectual freedom is crucial for a society that want to be free and open«.

Where did the idea of free schools come from?

The free schools were built on the ideas of N.F.S. Grundtvig and Christen Kold 150 years ago. 

In their perspective, learning takes place in many other places than in the books and in the school; learning is instead lifelong, and the individuals' responsibility, not the state's. This started a long tradition of free schools.