Study at DNS – a non-traditional university

Knowledge empowers people and at DNS we think that people who are aware of the world we live in are the ones who can (and should), improve it. “Now we know. Now we understand. Now we act” is one of our slogans, which means that theory and practice are closely connected at DNS, making it a dynamic non-traditional university.

Acquiring the knowledge, “being aware of what is going on in the world”, does not only mean to read books, articles or watch documentaries. It also means to travel, to talk with people from different countries and to face, at close range the different realities that people live in.

Learning to travel · Travelling to learn

The world we live in is getting more connected with the ongoing globalisation. It is easier than ever to travel, to talk with somebody from the other side of the world, to buy products made in other countries, to read news and to be aware of the problems that people face in different areas.

Therefore, DNS trains global teachers who embrace the idea of learning to travel and travelling to learn. They are a new generation of teachers who walk in the footsteps of pedagogical masters such as Dewey, Makarenko and Freire. This new generation dares to explore and question, and they learn how to combine theory and practice. At the end of their training, they have assembled an arsenal of tools, suited for transforming the world.

DNS’ ambition is to train teachers who assume responsibility of being active global citizens and who seek solutions in order to improve the lives of the many people of the world.

Practice and theory go hand in hand

The students at DNS are “in the driver’s seat”, meaning that it is the students who decide, together with their team and their teachers, when and how they want to study what. The theoretical studies constitute a big part of the whole education and, in total, there are nineteen (19) different theoretical subjects that take the students into different areas such as Pedagogy, Politics, Epistemology, Horticulture, History, Biology and many others.

The study method adopted by the college is called DMM (Doctrine of the Modern Method) which is basically a method that combines three different learning opportunities: self-directed studies, practical experiences and teacher led courses. The theoretical studies are therefore closely linked to the hands-on practice and your own experiences. Practice and theory go hand in hand.

DNS – The Necessary Teacher Training College has from the early days in 1972 been a non-traditional university which has had the aim of training teachers who have extra-ordinary ambitions.