"Lower your shoulders, take a deep breath and listen to each other." Folk high school teacher Mette Højland has 20 years of experience in introducing courses, but this is the first time for her to undertake it via a screen for participants in China. How does Mette create presence, dialogue and interpersonal community in this forum, as traditional life on a folk high school does not immediately harmonize with online teaching,

"Of course it's a challenge, but I'm impressed with how involved and curious the Chinese participants have acquired the form. The crucial thing for me is that the participants experience that the learning space is safe and trusting - a place where they can share their thoughts and personal experiences, ”explains Mette Højland.

A good supplement in a corona time

The course takes place over six times, during a period of three weeks and each time with a duration of three hours. Naturally an online course can never replace a physical stay at the Folk high school. However, it is a great complement to maintaining a meaningful relationship with the Chinese students, who are preoccupied with personal development and the idea of folk ??high school. "Today, in online group rooms, they have to work with the 'Wheel of Life' two by two. That way we get closer and closer to each other. I definitely feel that we have got something right going on here, Mette states.

The heart shows the way

The title of the course is ‘Personal leadership’ and is, in short, about finding one's own path in life. Mette has always - as she herself puts it - the good old Grundtvig in the back of her mind.

“What does it mean to be a human being, to be a human being in relation to society and in relation to the world? Questions that are just as relevant today, with many people loosing orientation in life, in the pursuit of achieving education, jobs, success and the good family life. ”

Mette Højland asks the participants to imagine a compass without a magnet. When the magnet disappears, the direction disappears and all paths become equally good or equally bad - it is the same in life.

New perspective

It is difficult to say exactly what the participants achieves from the course. “My experience is that everyone achieves something different. It can be seemingly very small things that along the way change big things and are downright life-changing. It is important that each participant get a new perspective and new attention to themselves and to where they are right now. ”

"I am a facilitator and do not bring the wise stones, but with my many years of experience as a high school teacher and in the encounter with many cultures, I try to create the togetherness and presence that can create meaningfulness for the individual. On the course there is time and space to reflect, talk together and through exercises get closer to each other, and I find that is an eye opening experience for the Chinese. "