From 1870 he studied philology at the
University of Christiania and was cand.philol. 1872. He received his
Bachelor of Arts in 1875, after which he worked as a teacher at the
Folk High Schools Skulestad, Østre Moland, Landvik, Bratsberg, Drangedal, Gjerpen and Vinje. At the liberal Folk High School in Seljord (
Seljord Folkehøgskule), he worked for a more vocational approach to the study. In this period, he was also chairman of the publisher
Det Norske Samlaget, as well as editor for the newspaper
Varden. His
pedagogy was influenced by the ideas of
N. F. S. Grundtvig, where
theology and learning was seen as a voluntary act, and obligatory exams were replaced by voluntary self-evaluation. He was also a spokesman of the
theorems of American economist
Henry George. == Political career ==