The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-11-18
DENMARK PECULIAR SCHOOL.
No Examinations Required and Open
to All Corners.

No Examinations Required and Open
to All Corners.
The Danish high school" was the
outcome of recent period in Dam
ish history when the nation passed
through a crucial period of trouble,
loss and humiliation, when it's Ian
guage and even its nationality were
threatened from without and when IL
seemed for time as IL even its in
tellectual and spiritual independence
might be destroyed or absorbed, says
the London Post. During such periods
when the. reproof of chance" lay
heavy on one of the smaller nations,
the tr1ie, proof of It's men and women
was toated TO the utmost, and Dem
mark at this crisis In her history
was not found wanting. After the
Storm had passed and the province of
Schieswig-Holstein had been wrested
from the nation, Grotwig and other
patriots conceived and carried out the
high school" schtme and finally sue
ceeded in attracting to these schools
all that was best and most aspiration
al In the life Of the peasantry and peo-
pie. The aim Of the teachers was not
so much to impart knowledge as TO
stimulate the reflective powers. so as
to arouse In the minds of their pupils
thoughts on the value and purpose OF
life.
With this object in view the found
ers of the scheme took into special
consideration when choosing their
teaching. stan she personal qualities
Of the teacher, the amount of mag
netism In his personality. so to speak,
and placed these qualifications above
those of academic attainmeiits The
warden or head OF each school Isl the
host and the head of the family gath
cred together under his roof for the
students board in his house during
the school terms. AS most of the
pupils are drawn from the class Of
agricultural laborere and small farm
ers, the men take the winter term
from November till April, and the
women the summer term from May
to August. The course Is really
two years one, but II Is at the op-
tion of the pupils to attend for
term only. The inclusive cost for
board and teaching is thirty-three shil-
lings a month, and the poorest of the
students who cannot save enough to
pay this sum, or who cannot afford
to spend so much time away from
their farms without pecuniary assist
ance, are helped by the State with
about two-thirds Of their expenses.
No examination Is required of pupils
either on entering or on leaving the
schools, and as the principal aim In
teaching Is to arouse the Intellectual
life, the course of study consists OF
lectures on history, poetry and biog-
raphy. The high schools" In which
there are now altogether over C,OOO
students, have taken as their motto
the quotation, IL am man; there 4
fore everything that concerns a man
Ia Of interest to me-" Before each
lecture a national or religious song
from the rich stores of the Danish
language Ii sung by the pupils. and
the spiritual life that Is inculcated by
example even more than by preeept
Is not one of ascetlcism or of self.
denial, but Of full, well-balanced de-
velopment and self-expresslon.
The Danes themselves attribute the
marked rise and intellectual develop
ment Of the peasantry and the power
OF combination displayed by the tillers
OF the soil to ever-increasing influence
OF the high school movement The
agriculturists save money and make
sacrifices in order that their sons and
daughters may enjoy the intellectual
and spiritual culture that the high
schools" offer. The only analogouG
movement we have In Great Britain IL
the burning desire on the part OF the
Scotch peasantry and small Scotch
farmers for education. In England
it would appear difficult to create
similar demand among our rural pop
ulation. This may be because In qhc
past country life has not been synony-
NOUS with intellectual life, except for
the rich and we'll placed.
Now that the Intellectual needs OF
various classes are being more scien-
tihcally studied, an Intimate knowl-
edge OF the working OF these Danish
schools, which have been so success
ful In reyolutionizing intellectually
and spiritually the rural life OF Den
mark, might be OF special value to
members of rural educational councils
In England Mrs. Browning wrote
1T takes a soul to move body" In
Denmark Of today the body, through
its steadily growing cooperative un-
dertakings. can be seen moving and
gaining in strong and healthy national
life. 1t is claimed by the more patri-
otto and intelligent among the Danes
than the soul which moves and quick.
ems this body was reborn In the daily
life and aspiration OF the thigh