Abstract
Adult education is governed at many levels – internationally, nationally and locally. The authors of this paper look at the challenges, structures and practices of adult education policy at the local level, more specifically in North Denmark (Northern Jutland), one of the five administrative regions of the Danish nation-state. In many ways, the current educational challenges in this remote region of Europe are similar to what can be observed worldwide and especially in countries which are generally considered welfare states. The authors see the growing social and educational divide between the region’s peripheral areas and its largest city centre as a major challenge – for society as a whole and for adult education in particular. It is from this perspective that the authors describe the present structures of adult education in the region and the strategies employed by local authorities and educational institutions. This is followed by an evaluation of both structures and efforts in terms of their ability to cope with the challenges.
Résumé
Éducation des adultes et défis du développement régional : politiques et pérennité dans le Nord du Danemark – L’éducation des adultes est régie à plusieurs niveaux : international, national et local. Les auteurs de cet article examinent les défis, structures et pratiques de la politique en matière d’éducation des adultes à un niveau local, plus exactement dans le Nord du Danemark (Jutland du Nord), l’une des cinq régions administratives de l’État-nation danois. Les défis éducatifs actuels dans cette contrée reculée d’Europe rejoignent de nombreuses façons ce qui peut être observé au niveau mondial, en particulier dans les pays qui passent de manière générale pour des États providence. Les auteurs considèrent le fossé social et éducatif croissant entre les zones périphériques de la région et son principal centre urbain comme un défi majeur – pour la société dans son ensemble et pour l’éducation des adultes en particulier. C’est à partir de cette perspective qu’ils décrivent les structures d’éducation des adultes présentes dans la région ainsi que les stratégies appliquées par les autorités locales et les institutions éducatives. Il s’ensuit une évaluation à la fois de ces structures et de leurs efforts, ou de leur capacité à faire face à ces défis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Following structural reform, Denmark was divided into five administrative regions in 2007. Each administrative region is subdivided into municipalities (kommuner). North Denmark, the third-largest but least populated of the five regions, has 11 municipalities.
“Här får du inte vara med om du inte flyttar härifrån” is the title of an article published by the author in connection with her PhD (Svensson 2006b).
In the wake of the Napoleonic wars, Denmark had to cede Norway to Sweden in 1814. Fifty years later Denmark lost the war against Prussia and had to cede more than a third of its southern territory.
N.F.S. (Nikolaj Frederik Severin) Grundtvig (1783–1872) was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. For a brief presentation of his educational significance, see Rasmussen (2013).
Corporatism is a type of governance based on close collaboration between the state and major interest groups such as agricultural, business, labour and military organisations.
References
Ackroyd, S. (2013). Professions, professionals and the “new” government policies. A reflection on the last 30 years. In M. Noordegraaf & B. Steijn (Eds.), Professionals under pressure: The reconfiguration of professional work in changing public services (pp. 21–39). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1989). La noblesse d’État. Grandes écoles et esprit de corps [The state nobility: Elite schools in the field of power]. Paris: Les Editions de Minuit.
Bourdieu, P., & Champagne, P. (1992). Les exclus de l’intérieur [Outcasts on the inside]. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, 91(1), 71–75.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. (1970). La reproduction. Éléments pour une théorie du systeme d’enseignement [Reproduction in education, society and culture]. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit.
Danish Government. (2014). 1 milliard kr. til mere og bedre voksen- og efteruddannelse [1 billion DKK for more and better adult and continuing education]. Press release, 7. May 2014. Copenhagen: Ministry of Higher Education and Research. Retrieved 11 July 2016 from http://ufm.dk/uddannelse-og-institutioner/videregaende-uddannelse/efter-og-videreuddannelse/veu-milliarden.
Danmarks Statistik. (2012). Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik [News from Statistics Denmark]. Copenhagen: Danmarks Statistik.
Dujarier, M.-A. (2015). Le management déincarné. Enquête sur les nouveaux cadres du travail [Disembodied management: An inquiry into the new condition of work]. Paris: La Découverte.
Faber, S. T., Bloksgaard, L., Hansen, C. D., & Møller, K. T. (2014). Unge på kanten: Køn, lokalitet og uddannelse [Young people on the edge: Gender, locality and education]. Aalborg: Aalborg University, Centre for Equality, Diversity and Gender. Retrieved 1 August 2016 from http://vbn.aau.dk/files/192682066/Rapport_Unge_p_kanten_13jan2014.pdf.
Faure, E., Herrera, F., Kaddoura, A.-R., Lopes, H., Petrovsky, A. V., Rahnema, M., et al. (1972). Learning to be: The world of education today and tomorrow. Paris: Fayard/UNESCO.
Freire, P. (1986). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Haue, H. (2009). En socialdemokratisk fiasko? Skole- og uddannelsespolitik i 1970erne [A social democratic fiasco? School and education policy in the 1970s]. Arbejderhistorie: tidsskrift for historie, kultur og politik, 2, 35–50.
Illeris, K. (2004). Adult education and adult learning. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing.
Klitgaard, M. B., & Nørgaard, A. S. (2010). Afmagtens mekanismer: Den danske fagbevægelse og arbejdsmarkedspolitikken siden 1960’erne [Impotent mechanisms: Danish trade unionism and labour market politics since the 1960s]. Politica, 42(1), 5–26. Retrieved 11 July 2016 from http://politica.dk/fileadmin/politica/Dokumenter/politica_42_1/klitgaard_noergaard.pdf.
Lange, T., et al. (2010). De unges vej gennem uddannelsessystemet i Nordjylland [Young people’s trajectory through the education system in Northern Jutland]. Aalborg: Region Nordjylland.
Lundvall, B., & Nielsen, P. (2006). Learning organizations and industrial relations: How the Danish economy learns. In E. Lorenz & B. Lundvall (Eds.), How Europe’s economies learn: Coordinating competing models (pp. 161–177). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Moos-Bjerre and Lange. (2013). Nordjysk uddannelsesindblik 2013 [Overview of education in Northern Jutland 2013]. Aalborg: Region Nordjylland.
Municipality of Aalborg. (2015). Uddannelsesstrategi 2015–2018 [Education strategy 2015–2018]. Aalborg: Sundhed og Bæredygtig Udvikling.
Munk, M. D., et al. (2014). Uddannelsesvalg i Region Nordjylland – En registerbaseret analyse [Choice of education in the North Jutland region—A register-based analysis]. Aalborg: Aalborg University.
North Denmark Growth Forum. (2014). Projekter 2010–2014 [Projects 2010–2014]. Aalborg: Region of North Denmark.
Ostrouch-Kaminska, J., & Vieira, C. C. (2015). Informal learning and gender. A revision for the future. In J. Ostrouch-Kaminska & C. C. Vieira (Eds.), Private worlds (pp. 183–190). Boston: Sense Publishers.
Pihl, M. D., & Sabiers, S. E. (2013). Skæve uddannelseschancer polariserer Danmark. Fordeling og levevilkår 2013 [Unequal education opportunities are polarising Denmark: Distribution and living conditions 2013]. Copenhagen: AE-Rådet. Retrieved 11 July 2016 from http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/55a440a2#/55a440a2/3.
Rasmussen, P. (2012). Education, learning and development in the periphery. In A. G. Eikset, C. F. Dons & N. Garm (Eds.), Utdanning mellom styring og danning: Et nordisk panorama [Education between control and learning: A Nordic overview] (pp. 185–197). Trondheim: Tapir Akademisk Forlag.
Rasmussen, P. (2013). The folk high school: Denmark’s contribution to adult education. In P. Mayo (Ed.), Learning with adults: A reader (pp. 219–229). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Region of North Denmark. (2015a). Regional vækst- og udviklingsstrategi 2015–2018 [Regional strategy for growth and development 2015–2018]. Aalborg: Region of North Denmark.
Region of North Denmark. (2015b). Uddannelsesstrategi 2015–2018 [Education strategy 2015–2018]. Aalborg: Region of North Denmark.
Salling Olesen, H. (2014). Global policy agenda and local societal dynamics. Adult education in the Danish modernization process. In Paper presented at the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA) network conference “Interrogating Sustainability in Adult Learning Policy: European and Global perspectives”, Aalborg, 18–20 June.
Seddon, T. (2014). Renewing sociology of education? Knowledge spaces, situated enactments, and sociological practice in a world on the move. European Educational Research Journal, 13(1), 9–25.
Staugaard, H. J. (1995). Vurderinger af nogle institutionelle og kognitive vilkår for voksenuddannelse [Assessments of some institutional and cognitive conditions for adult education]. Aalborg: Aalborg University, Department of Social Work and Organisation.
Staugaard, H. J. (2016, in press). Professioner [Professions]. København: Samfundslitteratur.
Svensson, L. (2006a). Vinna och försvinna [Win and vanish]. PhD Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Linköping.
Svensson, L. (2006b). Här får du inte vara med om du inte flytter herifrån [You can’t be a part of the community here if you don’t leave]. Locus, 3(2006), 22–35.
Torres, C. A. (2013). Political sociology of adult education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
UNI C. Statistik & Analyse. (2010). Tal, der taler 2010. Uddannelsesnøgletal 2009 [Telling numbers. Key educational figures 2010]. København: Undervisningsministeriet.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. (1945). Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In UNESCO, basic texts, 2014 edition (pp. 5–18). Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved 15 July 2016 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002269/226924e.pdf.
Veen, R. (2013). A managerial assault on professionalism? Professionals in changing welfare states. In M. Noordegraaf & B. Steijn (Eds.), Professionals under pressure. The reconfiguration of professional work in changing public services (pp. 73–89). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
World Population Review. (2016). Denmark population 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2015 from http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/denmark-population/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rasmussen, P., Staugaard, H.J. Adult education and the challenges of regional development: Policy and sustainability in North Denmark. Int Rev Educ 62, 609–625 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-016-9593-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-016-9593-2