History of Education - Levi Seeley (top novels to read .txt) 📗
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Finally, there is the local school board for each separate school. These men have charge of the external matters of the school such as the direct enforcement of attendance, the repairs, supplies, etc.; but they may not interfere with the teacher in his work. In the country villages they have a voice in the choice of the teacher. The teacher may appeal to them in matters that need immediate attention.
In the administration of the schools men of the highest character are chosen without reference to their political leanings. There are usually teachers among the number, on the principle that those who have made the most careful study of education are the most competent to administer it.
School Attendance.—Every child in normal health is required to attend school between the ages of six and fourteen for every day that the school is in session. Parents are held responsible for the attendance of their children, and may be fined or imprisoned for non-fulfillment of the requirements of the law. In case parents are unable to secure the attendance of their children, the latter are placed in reform schools. The law is carried out with great strictness and wonderful efficiency. For example, in 1893, out of 5,299,310 children of school age in Prussia, there were only 945 unexcused absentees,—that is, 2 in 10,000. All parents expect their children to be in school every day, and the children grow up fully impressed with the idea that they are to attend school regularly. The chief reason for the efficiency of compulsory attendance in Germany lies in the fact that it covers every school day, and therefore does not allow the formation of habits of truancy.
The Schools.—The common school (Volksschule) of Germany reaches every child, as we have seen. In villages the sexes are taught together; but in cities they are generally separated. The school hours are from eight to eleven in the forenoon, for six days in the week, and from two to four for four days in the week, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons being holidays. These hours may be varied to suit local conditions. The school is in session for about forty-two weeks each year. Each teacher is required to give about twenty-eight hours of service per week, while the pupils must attend from sixteen hours (for beginners) to twenty-eight. The common schools of Prussia are now practically free. The common school is intended for the common people, and it is not followed by a high or secondary school. This is the greatest weakness of the German school system. It perpetuates the class system, and effectually prevents the child from rising above his station.
The sole opportunity for the child of the lower classes to receive a higher education is through the normal school, and even this privilege is limited to a small number of the pupils who show special ability. We may mention also the Continuation schools, which are held evenings and Sundays. These schools are rapidly multiplying and becoming more efficient, as many of them are held in the daytime. They furnish an opportunity for the child who has completed the common school to review his work, and also to add some subjects that will be of utility in his lifework.
In general, there are three classes of secondary schools,—the Gymnasium, the Real-gymnasium, and Oberrealschule. Each prepares for the university, and each has nine classes; namely, Sexta, Quinta, Quarta, Untertertia, Obertertia, Untersecunda, Obersecunda, Unterprima, and Oberprima. These schools differ chiefly in the amount of classics they offer, the Gymnasium laying stress upon the classics and the Real-schule upon the realities.[172] Neither of these schools succeeds the common school, and the boy who is to pursue one of these courses of study must begin at not later than nine or ten years of age.[173] Thus, if a professional life is chosen for a boy, he cannot attend the common school,—at least not for more than the first three or four years,—but must be sent to one of the schools above mentioned, for they alone prepare for the university, and without a university course he cannot enter a profession. The university is the crowning institution of the German school system.
Support of Schools.—About one half of the expense of the schools is paid from the general state fund, one third from local taxation, and the balance comes from income from endowments, church funds, tuition, etc. The general tendency is to make the schools free, according to the recommendation of the minister of education, but some communities still continue to charge tuition. In these cases, there are poor schools for those who cannot pay tuition, thus affording school privileges to all.
The Teachers.—All teachers of the Prussian common schools are normal graduates, or have had an equal pedagogic preparation.[174] Graduates of the university seldom enter the common school work; they teach in the secondary schools, in private schools, and as tutors. The common school teachers generally come from the common schools. If a child shows special aptness for teaching, the attention of the school inspector is called to him, and, with consent of his parents, he is sent to a preparatory school for three years. His work there is entirely academic in character. At seventeen he enters the normal school and has another year of academic work, after which he begins his technical work. His normal course is three years, the last year being given almost entirely to professional work. Each class in the normal school contains from thirty to thirty-six students, thus making the total number of students in a German normal school about one hundred. As only about thirty can enter from the whole district, it will appear that the opportunities for children to extend the common school course are very limited.
After completing the normal course, the graduate is provisionally appointed to a position for three years. He is now under the oversight of his former principal, as well as of the district inspector. If he proves successful in teaching, he is required to pass a final examination, chiefly on pedagogical questions, and then has a life tenure, and can be removed only on the ground of inefficiency or immorality. The average tenure of office with teachers is twenty-five years. The salary is often very low, but with free rent, fuel, and light, the schoolmaster's income is by no means inadequate. His salary increases with the years of service, and his prospective pension also increases year by year.[175]
The German schoolmaster is a state officer. He commands, by virtue of his position, the respect which his character, his self-sacrifice, his efficiency, and the great work that he is doing deserve. "It is the schoolmaster that has won our battles," said Von Moltke; and it is he that is preparing Germany for the arts of peace as well as those of war.
The Prussian school system is the most efficient in the world, at least so far as the education of the masses is concerned. It has practically obliterated illiteracy in the kingdom, more than 99½ per cent of the recruits received into the army in 1893 being able to read and write. Many countries have materially improved their school systems by adopting some of the lessons taught by Prussia.
The three most important features of the German school system are:—
1. Only professionally trained teachers can be employed.
2. Such teachers are appointed to permanent positions.
3. The attendance of every child during the entire school year is compulsory.
FOOTNOTES:[171] It will, of course, be impossible within the limitations of this work to give more than a mere outline of these systems. The reader will find full discussions in the works referred to in the Literature. Particular attention is called to the Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education from the year 1895 to the present time.
[172] In addition to these schools, there are also the Progymnasium, the Real-progymnasium, and the Real-schule, which, as their names indicate, are modified forms of the principal types. These schools do not offer the full nine years' course. See footnote on p. 236 for explanation of the work of these schools.
[173] Russell's "German Higher Schools" fully describes these institutions.
[174] In 1893 there were only 241 teachers out of 71,731 in Prussia, who were outside of the above requirement. These 241 were old teachers who began before the law was so strict, and who, because of their efficiency, are retained. In a few years this band will entirely disappear, and all will be normal graduates.
[175] For full statement of salaries and pensions, see "German Common School System," pp. 172, 195. Though the German teacher's salary is much smaller than that of the average American teacher, taking into account the greater purchasing power of money in Germany, the simple habits, and fewer demands upon the purse, the German teacher is fully as well off as the American.
Literature.—Parsons, French Schools through American Eyes; Richard, The School System of France; Weigert, Die Volksschule in Frankreich; Schroeder, Das Volksschulwesen Frankreichs; United States Commissioner's Reports.
Administration.—France, like Germany, has a minister of education who sits in the cabinet of the president. The work of his office is divided into three departments, higher, secondary, and primary, and at the head of each there is a director. There are two advisory bodies in charge of education. One has general oversight of all the school interests of France. The other is divided into three boards, appointed by the minister himself, for supervision of the three departments above mentioned. The general board consists of sixty members, fifteen appointed by the president of the republic, and the others appointed by the board itself whenever vacancies occur. This body meets once a year to hear reports, to pass upon the general school policy, and to legislate for the schools. Out of its membership is chosen an executive committee that meets once a week, and upon which devolves the chief management of educational affairs. This committee is answerable to the general board, to which it renders an annual report. Men of the highest character and intelligence constitute this board.
The whole of France is divided into seventeen parts called académies. These divisions do not coincide with the political divisions, but are made merely for convenience in school administration. Each académie has a school board to which is committed the general oversight of all educational interests within its territory, and particularly the care of the higher schools.
A narrower division is into départements. There are ninety of these in France and Algiers. Each is governed by an educational council which has charge of the elementary schools. The principal officer of a département is a school inspector, a trained educator who devotes all his time to the schools. In each département there is a normal school for each sex, though in a few instances two départements combine to maintain one normal school.
The département is subdivided into arrondissements. Each has an executive officer and a council in close touch with the schools. Lastly there are the cantons, whose school board has direct control of each individual school.
In this manner from the highest to the lowest division there are executive officers with well-defined
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