丹麥的民眾高等學校是迴異於一般學校型式的教育體制，迄今已歷一百五十餘載 。從丹麥民眾高等學校的歷史來看，它提供了一個草根性成人教育運動的典範。本文旨在追 溯民眾高等學校創立的歷史與學術背景，其次在探討丹麥民眾高等學校的現況，瞭解民眾高 等學校如何因應後現代工業時代的危機。本文為呈現民眾高等學校的實況，除了蒐集最近的 文獻外，並輔以實地訪察的資料。作者認為民眾高等學校強調生活與自由的理念，不僅有助 於平民或成人教育機構的發展，對於中小學僵化的教學亦具有改進的參考。

　　　　　The remarkable alternative school form of the Danish folk high schools has endured in Denmark for 150 years. The history of the Danish folk high schools provides a valuable exemplar of a successful grass roots movement in adult education. This paper aims to trace the historical as well as academic backgrounds of the emergence of the Danish folk high schools and to explore how the distinctive school system works in the context of the post-modern industrial society. In order to reveal the reality of the school system, updated literature from recent publications and data from an interview of a Danish folk high school principal are incorporated into this paper. The author concludes that the ideas of schools for life and free education are conducive not only to the development of popular or adult education, but also complementary to the practice of structured pedagogy in primary and secondary schooling.