Program Reviews

DNS is an unique education, a programme which push your limits and pull you out of your confort zone. A place for people who want to take actions and cooperate together in order to make the world a better place. Travelling, studying, working, experiences, community life, and peace. I'm very greatfull i took the desicion to join it and day by day i'm learning something new and i'm challenged by the programme. I wish for all the people to try this amazing life changing experience.

A lot of people quit the program during the 6-12 month 'saving up' period where you work (often at the school) before the program starts. I was one of those people who quit before it started after spending about half a year there.
I like the idea of the place and the people, there are many many good happenings. It is inspiring for sure.
The reasons I quit,
It was too hard work. During the program you have no days off. Your up and at breakfast every morning, cleaning and doing other tasks before your day starts.
You only get about two weeks off a year, for three-four whole years.
You can get 'cabin fever' here. It's a small isolated place with no easy transport options
There seems to be the idea that the students make decisions but actually after some time it felt that the teachers made the decisions. I felt very powerless actually, which is not the idea.
Another thing I didn't like was having to work in promoting the program. I didn't like to say 'this program is great, you should do it' when actually I hadn't started it yet.
Also, when I decided to quit I noticed things that made me glad about my decision. The people there were not interested in my reasons for leaving, even though probably 50-75% of people quit, they don't seem to want to listen to these people and change in any way. Actually in the few days before my travel home some teachers and students stopped talking to me altogether, it was very cold. One teacher only said one thing to me in the whole time, which was knocking on my door to ask why I wasn't helping with cleaning. Many people did not say goodbye. It's a small thing but it made me realise this place is like, your either 'in' or 'out'. And once your out people change and you realise it's almost cult-like.
The most thing I missed when I left was the wonderful people I met. I you want to have a very crazy very demanding very unusual experience where you will learn a lot, go here.

One of the best choices of my life for now. Challenging, exausting, mind-blowing, sometimes overwhelming, but totally worth it.
It is another kind of college, where you together with your team create an education for yourself. It depends basically on you how will you make it happen. You're all the time pushed think outside the box and have an overview of the bigger picture. You're pushed to question, investigate and look for alternative solutions.
In short words, it's a place where critical, mindfull and creative human beings blossom.

Starting and finishing this education was the best choice of my life.

It was an extremely active time!
Theoretical knowledge is of a little use if it abstracts from reality, so I was happy to investigate and do stuff. Here, I have learned how to travel, and travelled to learn in Africa, India, Europe, wherever. It had nothing to do with tourism and it was much more fun.

I got awareness about the complexity of our world and its unfairness. I also gained tools how to take a stand towards it and act upon.

What’s the best way of becoming a teacher than being a teacher? Here, I was one from Day 1 for the most vulnerable like youngsters with special needs as well as for my teammates. And there are no teachers just standing there and making monologues. They rather create conditions for us to learn, which is provoking, which is good.

Actually, many things are provoking here. For example, the students and teachers together govern and run the school. Actually, we decided in common about how we implemented the programme but also quite trivial matters: should we have only vegetarian food for breakfast? Often it was too much, really, too many meetings. But, what I liked was that every once in a while we completely changed how we managed things. And, we decided to build a chicken house!

Teachers are constantly there, 24/7, live together with us. They didn’t just teach but also supported me, which is quite important for a young person away from home with no income. At the same time, they challenged me a lot! They also do humble work: cleaning, cooking, fixing stuff etc. Well, it’s not that I appreciated all of it at that time. :)

It is a hard work to be here, intensive physically and socially… on the other hand, my needs and many wants are part of the programme.

There are no drugs and no alcohol, which I appreciate a lot. The parties and relationships have content and it is possible to do so much more!

I finished my education with no debts. Saving-up periods, teaching practice and common economy are not only to learn from but solve many economic issues. Anyway, it didn’t cover all the expenses, but the college solved it by running the care homes that could generate some income.

An interesting thing: each team has its own account and is responsible for how to earn money and how to spend it. Thanks to that, there was not so much division for rich and poor as elsewhere.

When you finish, you have a bachelor degree – sometimes it gets recognised, sometimes it doesn’t. Well, if having a good paper is very important for you, don’t join this college. If you want to learn a lot, go on.

But don’t get fooled: all the above doesn’t just come! YOU are responsible for all that and YOU have to create it with your hard work. But, I think it is worth it!

DNS Necessary Teacher Training College sounds and looks like a wonderful education with great concepts and ideas.

I have spent some time at this college and I will tell you why it is not all as great as it seems.

First of all, DNS is a very small private college. A lot of people have joined the college over the past years, but not many have actually finished the program. I estimate about 60 percent of the students who did enroll in the past 5 years quit within the first year. There are many reasons why people quit. I believe it has something to do with some of the following facts.

The quality of the education is very poor. The teachers are students who have completed the program before and are often occupied with other tasks besides teaching. They give the impression that the students have a lot of influence on the program. The reality is that the teachers decide everything.

Another disadvantage of DNS is that the degree is not recognized by the Danish government. The bachelor degree is from a cooperating university in Mozambique. That means all the oral exams are with teachers from this university through Skype. When you want to work at a school in Western countries, you will have to do an additional education depending on your level.

In DNS people have very little privacy and time for themselves. You are expected to work/study during the weekends and evenings. There are many events and meetings you have to attend. There are also a lot of side projects going on all the time. They call it 'managing the school''. There's often work to be done which has nothing to do with the education you paid for. When you would have a day off, you are still in the community, 4 kilometers from the nearest village. You can't use a car for private stuff and there is not much to do within biking distance. Normally, you are allowed to have a vacation of 12 days, two times a year. The traveling time is included in these 12 days.

DNS has a unique way to fund their college. Students have to save up the school fees before and during the program with jobs provided by DNS and connected organizations. These jobs do not meet the Danish standards. Often students are getting underpaid. They work way too many hours. And they do work they are not qualified for such as working with mentally disabled people and people with psychological problems. Students are sometimes exposed to aggressive people and situations who require educated pedagogues.

DNS students have a common economy. All the money earned by students goes to an account controlled by the teachers. There is little to no insight into how this money is used. Students get a very small amount of pocket money each month.

DNS is an essential part of Tvind, a confederation of private schools, humanitarian organizations, and businesses. Tvind is very infamous in Denmark. A lot of different media have done research or have been reporting about Tvind. Before joining DNS, you should be aware of what kind of organization you are dealing with.

In my opinion, these are the facts you should know about DNS if you consider joining this college.

In this college I, first of all, unlearned. It appeared to be necessary in order to open my mind to the world. Unlearned all the stuff put in my head on the way. Boxes of opinions, stereotypes, prejudices, nationalism, aggression and etc. All what society taught me – to understand it and teach to my students - I first was required to unlearn it. The way to becoming a good teacher is tough.
The combination of hard work, endless experiences, creativity, community and social life here is showing incredible results. Mainly one can see individuals developing various skills. But not only that. The team work on which education is based proved all the students with an opportunity to be an active, listening and accepting part of society. For example, to see the limits of others, their needs and abilities - it is a skill of a good teacher.
In DNS College students create authentic understanding of concepts, ideas and actions. No information is taken for granted. We question everything and learn in the process of finding our own answers.
Subjects are broad and open. Many subject are unique and are not to be found in any other university. Academic studies are unique too. We support each other. No competition. We do not aim for marks – we aim for knowledge. Opposing each other, discussing, debating – teaching one another.
In DNS College people never vote. Voting is an old fashioned system which became highly capitalized lately. Voting oppresses people’s opinion and ideas and is creating social division.
Personally, I changed radically during the 4 years I stayed in DNS College. I must admit that it was extremely hard. It was a challenging experienced and sometimes I wandered if I am in a right place and am ready to become a teacher. It is easy to doubt oneself when the world is not supporting your revolutionary ideas and is ready to destroy your initiatives. In Tvind International School Center, where our campus is located, we experience a certain way of discrimination from society. Our alternative approach is not always valued by the mainstream officials. Nether the less, our active and passionate earning for knowledge is, in my opinion, indestructible.
If an individual is interested in development cautious and caring approach to the world of education – DNS College is a right place to go.
It is not only a teacher training college, but a personality training college. It is a global citizen training college, activist training college and human training college.

After I finished my Bachelor at home I was looking for something different. I was thinking to find something what is not so theoretical. I found my school, it is a place where you can do new things, where you are a person who is the driving force. We have just an outline what you are following to get the best out of it. In short I would say to understand the world and do something different you found the perfect place.

DNS Teacher Training College is an unique international place with lot of people from different cultures with different views and experiences. It is an environment in which you can learn a lot just by being with people and have a safe drug and alcohol free environment at the same time. This active College has lot of actions, challenges and you learn skills for life - more than you would expect. I warmly recommend the college to everybody. Go and visit. :)

It is a place where you can have an atmosphere of people that want to make a difference in the world. Fighting climate change, poverty. Promoting peace movement, education and development work and for sure the atmosphere of sticking together.

During three years, i was studying Sociology in a so-called conventional university. In the middle of the last year, i decided to quit after realising that it is impossible to study about the society and its people, inside a classroom. Straight after, i joined DNS and have been traveling around and finally getting to know the world, its amazing people and also studying about the big issues of our time. DNS is a rich and complete education.