Chapter IV: Interpretative Conclusions (2)

The course pursued by Norwegian pupils is uniform for all until the last two years of the secondary school, when certain branches of study may be chosen for major attention. When students start to the university they enter immediately upon specialized lines of work and pursue them to their limits. The American pupils are privileged to elect a considerable proportion of their secondary school work, yet they do not generally specialize at all until their junior year in college; frequently they postpone definite specialization until the beginning of graduate courses.

Fundamental social characteristics enter into educational ideals, and each nation, very naturally, develops a system of schools peculiarly adapted to its needs. There are, of course, general underlying principles which operate in all educational systems and place them on similar bases; there are also certain features, essential in the make-up of the individual systems, which are not common. These peculiar factors give distinctive character to the various systems and are of telling effect in determining their excellencies. Whether these special phases affect the life and accomplishments of the pupils, the nature of their work, the management of school affairs, or other educational activities; they render the different systems almost impossible of comparison. However, they are suggestive, and frequently they may be modified and used in improving the systems of other countries.

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

Every successful teacher presents his subject in conformity with some universal principles of method. While these cannot be mechanically systematized and used according to unchanging rules, they form a necessary part of an instructor's equipment. The teacher who knows the subject and is master of the technique of instruction is sure of success, while the one without method will fail.

It seems that the pedagogues of Norway have formed a happy combination of some methods of instruction. They appreciate the value of the class meeting and with them "teaching goes on chiefly in what we call the _recitation_. This is the teacher's point of contact with his pupils; here he meets them face to face and mind to mind; here he succeeds or fails in his function of teaching."[34]

The excellence of the work of instruction in Germany has long been recognized. That "the German teacher teaches" is very generally known. He transcends all texts and is an authority on the subjects he presents. By pedagogic training he has been exalted to a place of eminence in his profession. It is possible that they over-emphasize the work of the instructor and neglect the part that pupils should play.

In America various methods of instruction are in use. One plan is to regard teacher and pupils as cooperators in activities wherein interests are common. The teacher, having had experience, exercises control and serves as chief guide through the most critical places in the way of progress. So far as possible the pupils are encouraged to exercise individual initiative and to become independent. They are not to be merely recipients from the teacher's vast store of knowledge, but with him they are to become genuine participators in the world's thoughts and activities.

Another plan in all too common use may be designated as the "text book method." According to it the major portion of information comes from the voluminous, logically developed, well-arranged, and somewhat attractively printed and bound readable text. The function of the teacher is largely testing knowledge gained from books, assigning lessons in the text, supplementing the work of the pupils from his own store or by reference to other works on the subject, and stimulating them to earnest effort in every possible way.

President Hall would not regard this text book plan of work as very worthy procedure. He writes that some teachers take time "telling pupils what to do and testing to see if they have done it. But this is not teaching; but a device of ignorance, laziness, or physical weakness, or all combined. The real teacher teaches and reduces recitation to a minimum. Whoever has visited the best continental schools or studied comparatively such national educational exhibitions as those of St. Louis must have been acutely impressed with the fact that we exhibit what the pupil does, Europe what the teacher does. Here he says, 'Go, do this, and prove to me that you have done it.' There he says, 'Come, let us study together; I know and will inform, interest and inspire you to go on.'"[35]

The instructors in the schools of Norway are true teachers but they do not rely wholly upon their own activity. The text finds a place not so large as in American schools but of some consequence. The pupils are privileged to act on their own initiative to some extent though they are not granted unlimited freedom. They cooperate with the teachers in many lines of school work where they find interest and profit. Demonstration is largely in the hands of the teachers. The testing of lessons studied is a common exercise with them, and their class hours are given to intensive activity in which every individual member is expected to be a participant and contributor. They, like we in America, aim to suit instruction to pupils of average ability rather than to the brightest as they do in Germany and France.

CONTINUITY OF EFFORT

By referring to the programs of work arranged for the successive years in the schools of Norway, one readily sees that there is but little variation in subjects of study from the first grades of the primary school to the completion of the gymnasium. The change of greatest importance is the introduction of foreign languages--German and English the first and second years in the middle schools and French the first year in the gymnasium.

When the child enters school he begins subjects of study which represent the several fields of knowledge. The teaching aims to keep him in touch with these in ways adapted to his stage of development. As the pupil grows the scope of each subject enlarges. They advance together. Keeping the subject definitely in mind for a long time tends to the creation of permanent interests and at the same time makes possible its assimilation into the very life of the learner. It becomes vital and usable after being acted upon in the various stages and conditions of life through which the child passes. Inter-relations and associations with other subjects of study and various phases of life are affected, which give to it distinct values. Too often we find in our own schools that hurried and intensive study of certain subjects does not create permanent interests nor prove of real worth.

If natural forces in the child are recognized and utilized they facilitate the learning process and make school activities profitable and delightful. It is a well attested fact that at certain periods in the psychological development of a child mastery of special phases of learning is easy for him. Courses of study and plans of instruction should be prepared in such a way that the different phases of work included may be presented and stressed while the nascent period of interest is on.

We Americans are given to dividing a subject into its separate phases, studying them consecutively for short periods of time, and then forgetting them. The plan is wasteful and unpedagogic. Note the manner in which we break up the work in mathematics and in the mother tongue. It is questionable whether there be a single valid argument favoring such practice.

The Norwegians present mathematics as a single and comprehensive subject. The same is true in their teaching of the mother tongue. The plan is advantageous from every view point. It is certainly conducive to economy of time and efficient results. Instead of breaking up subjects of instruction and isolating their several phases from each other, we ought rather to keep them intact and set about coordinating the several branches of instruction as closely as possible.

Education should seek to associate and interrelate the truths we obtain and to organize our knowledge into an effectual system. The formation of a comprehensive curriculum, with arrangements for its presentation in harmony with sound psychological and pedagogical principles, is a matter of pressing importance.

While the school systems of the present are evidently superior to what any past generation has known, yet the investigations of psychologists and educationists stress the fact that in many ways they are weak and inefficient. The accumulated experience of the past needs overhauling by masters with insight and foresight. Educational methods and principles which have been tested and proven worthy should be put into operation. Each nation should devise and adopt the most perfect educational system possible, and this then should be carried into execution by an army of qualified teachers responsive to the call for truly consecrated service.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Erichsen, A. E., _Bergers Kathedralskoles Historie_.

Hertzberg, N., _Paedagogiskens Historie_.

Holst, Axel, _Skolehygiene_.

Monroe, W. S., In Viking Land. Norway: Its People, Its Fjords and Its Fjelds.

Paludan, J., _Det Hoiere Skolevaesen i Danmark, Norge og Sverig_.

Salmonsens Store, _Illustrerede Konversationsleksikon_.

Thieste, J. Schaan, _Byskoleloven med Forklarende Anmerkninger_.

Thieste, J. Schaan, _Landskoleloven med Forklarende Anmerkninger_.

PERIODICALS AND REPORTS

Anderssen, Otto, _Fra Norske Skoleforhold i 1908, Vor Ungdom, 1909_.

Anderssen, Otto, _Fra Norske Skoleforhold i 1909, Vor Ungdom, 1910._

Anderssen, Otto, "_Norwegisches Schulwesen," Sonderabdruck aus_ W. Reins _Encyklopadischem Handbuch der Pädagogik, 2. Auflage_.

Anderssen, Otto, _Skolen for Skolens Opgaver_.

Anderssen, Otto, "The New Laws for the Secondary Schools in Norway," Special Reports on Educational Subjects, Gt. Britain, 8: 168.

Heiberg, J. V., "Education in Norway," Norway (Official Publication for the Paris Exhibition 1900), pp. 266-294.

Nissen, Hartvig, "Public Instruction in Norway," The American Journal of Education, 8: 295-304.

Norsk Skoletidende, Published since 1869.

Pogue, Belle C., "Education and Schools of Norway," Education, 10: 420-424.

Report of the Commissioner of Education of the United States, 1871, 1873, 1878, 1881, 1882-3, 1885-6, 1888-9, 1889-90, 1891-2, 1894-5, 1896-7, 1897-8, 1902, 1903, 1906, 1910.

Skolebladet, Published since 1898.

Thornton, J. S., "Schools Public and Private in the North of Europe," Special Reports on Educational Subjects, Great Britain, 17: 36-65.

Vold, J. Mourly, Report of Royal Commission of Secondary Education, Great Britain, 5: 640-644.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS

Beretning om Skolevaesenets tilstand i Kongeriget Norge. Yearly since 1861.

Forslag til en forandret Ordning af den høiere Almenskole af den ved kgl. Resolutions af 3 die September 1890 nedsatte Kommission.

Gymnasiet: Lov om høiere Almenskoler; Reglement for de høiere Almenskoler; Undervisningssplan; Eksamensreglement; 1911.

Lov af 9de June 1903 om forandret Prøver ved Universitetet.

Lov om abnørme Børns Undervisning.

Lov om behandling af forsømte Børn.

Lov om det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet.

Lov om Folkeskolen i Kjøbstaederne.

Lov om Folkeskolen paa Landet.

Lov om høiere Almenskoler.

Lov om Laererskoler og Prøver for Laerere og Laererinder i Folkeskolen.

Middelskolen: Lov om høiere Almenskoler; Reglement for de høiere Almenskoler; Undervisningsplan; Eksamensreglement. 1911.

Naermere Bestemmelser angaaende de offentlige Laererskoler og Laererprøver.

Norwege: Lois sur L'Enseignement Public.

Odelsthings Proposition Nr. 36 (1909) om forandringer i Lov om høiere Almenskoler av 27de Juli 1896.

Odelsthing Proposition Nr. 12 (1910): A. Om forandringer i lov om høiere Almenskoler av 27de Juli 1896. B. Om forandring i lov om forberedende prøver ved Universitet av 9de Juni 1903.

Reglement for Aarsprøver, Middelskole-eksamen, og Eksamen Artium. Reglement for de høiere Almenskoler og Undervisningsplan for Middelskolen, 1903.

Reglement for den ved Lov af 18 de Januar 1902 anordnede Optagelsesprøve ved Laererskolerne.

Reglement for det Paedagogiske Seminar og Paedagogisk Eksamen.

Statistisk Aarbok for Kongeriket Norge. Yearly.

Sorthings Proposition Nr. 1, Hovedpost V. (1910) om bevilgning til det høiere Skolevaesen.

Undervisningsplan for Gymnasiet, 1903.

Universitets-og Skole-Annaler. Yearly.

INDEX

Age of pupils, 44-49;
completing secondary schools, 48;
on entering the university, 48;
in teachers' seminaries, 49.

Age of teachers, 49.

Agriculture, 24.

America of interest to the Norwegians, 173.

Apparatus, 145-146.

Astronomy, 177.

Attendance at school, 54, 77.

Authority, 189.

Certificates, 80.

Centralization of authority, 191.

Christiania's central kitchen, 75, 76.

Christianity established, 20.

Church and state united, 115, 184.

Classes, size of, 40.

Classics, in America, 204;
in Germany, 204;
their decline, 202.

Climate, effects of, 183.

Co-education, 40, 210-214;
in America, 211-213;
in Germany, 211.

Cooking, 148.

Co-ordination, between grades, 149;
between subjects, 162;
of educational agencies, 186.

Correlation, 223;
between schools 189, 190.

Course of study, 57, 96-181, 197-207, 209, 218, 219;
aim of, 148;
changes in, 97;
development of, 97-101, 222, 223;
during middle ages, 96;
linguistic-historical, 31;
Latin, 31;
_real_, 31;
secondary, 171;
suited to people served, 219;
uniformity of, 198.

Defective children, 186.

Department of Ecclesiastical and Educational Affairs, 51.

Delinquents, mental, 187; moral, 187.

Diocesan directors, 52.

Discipline in school, 76, 77.

Distribution of schools, 34, 35.

Drawing, 146, 147.

Educational commission, 52.

Educational attainments, Norway and America compared, 216-219;
time required, 217, 218.

Educational authority, 188.

Educational equipment, Norway and America compared, 49, 50.

Educational requirements, 27, 34;
parents held responsible for, 55.

Educational standards, 54, 55.

Educational system, 184, 188.

Electives, 207, 208.

English, 156, 172, 173;
in elementary schools, 173;
its grammar, 156;
length of course, 173;
methods in, 156.

_Examen artium_, 31.

Examinations, uniformity in, 188.

Exceptional child, 186.

Eyesight, 77, 78.

Fisheries, 24.

French, 168-170;
difficulties in study of, 170;
length of course, 169.

Geography, 129-134, 158, 159, 177;
aim in, 129, 159;
methods of presenting, 130-133;
of America, 133;
texts, 159.

German, 154, 155, 167, 168;
authors studied, 168;
methods in, 155.

Grammar, 153, 154, 156.

Gymnasium, 100, 163-181, 207-210.

Gymnastic halls, 69.

Gymnastics, 69, 70, 74, 75, 148, 204-206;
apparatus, 148;
during intermissions, 69, 70;
Swedish system of, 75.

Hall, G. S., 189, 190.

Harold, the Fair-Haired, 19.

Health of pupils, 77, 78, 148, 205.

History, 19, 134-139, 156-158, 174-177;
aim of, 134, 138;
beginnings in, 134;
methods in, 157, 158, 176;
of Norway, 176;
nature of work in, 157;
related to geography, 135;
stories, 134, 135, 138.

Houses for janitors, 70;
for principals, 70;
for teachers in the rural districts, 70, 71.

Ideals of the people, 182, 183.

Illustrative materials, 66.

Imitation, law of, 82.

Industrial training, 147, 148.

Industries and occupations, 24.

Infant schools, 53.

Intermissions, 69, 70.

Laboratories, 67, 68, 69.

Latin, 173-174, 202;
courses in, 167;
length of course in, 174;
methods in, 174.

Libraries, 67, 68.

Lumbering, 24.

Lunches, 75, 76, 215, 216.

Lunch rooms, 69;
in Christiania, 215, 216.

Luther, influence of, on education, 184.

Lutheran church, 114, 115.

Management of schools, 188-191.

Manual training, 147, 148.

Martin Luther's influence in education, 184.

Mathematics, 125-129, 160, 178, 179, 223;
aim in, 125;
connection between phases of the subject, 160;
co-ordination in, 128;
methods in, 128, 129;
texts in, 129;
thoroughness in, 160;
use of, 128.

Medical inspection, 77, 78.

Mental delinquency, 187.

Methods, 72, 73, 74, 82, 83, 219-222;
in German, 155;
in history, 157, 158, 176;
in mother tongue, 118, 119;
in nature study, 140;
in religion, 163, 164, 200.

Middle school, 31, 32, 100, 149-162;
its aim, 149, 150;
its foundation, 149;
length of course in, 149, 150;
its limits, 149;
work of, 31, 32.

Moral delinquents, prevention and care of, 187.

Mother tongue, 118-124, 152-154, 164-167;
aim on instruction in, 118;
correct use of, 123;
in America, 124;
inclusiveness of work in, 123, 124;
methods in, 118, 119;
nature of work in, 166, 167.

Natural history, 179-181;
laboratory work in, 180, 181.

Nature study, 139-146, 161, 162, 179-181;
aim of, 139;
illustrative material in, 140-146;
character, 161, 162;
laboratory work in, 180, 181;
methods in, 140;
scope of, 139.

Norway, adopts constitution, 20;
area of, 22;
becomes independent, 22;
climate of, 23;
development of, 20, 183;
geography of, 22;
history of, 19;
nights in, 24;
period of transition in, 183;
political divisions of, 22;
revolt of, 20;
its union with Denmark, 20;
its union with Sweden, 20.

Normal schools in the United States, 193, 194.

Norwegians, characteristics of, 25, 26, 27;
as colonizers, 20;
as sailors, 25;
conservative, 184, 185;
democratic, 184, 185.

Observation and practice, 83, 84.

Occupations, 24.

Offices, 67, 68.

Officials, duties of, 188;
efficiency of, 189.

Organization, needed in America, 189.

Paganism overcome, 20.

Pedagogical seminary, 84, 85, 185, 193, 195.

Pensions, 92, 93.

People, ideals of, 182, 183.

Permanency of teaching positions, 87-89;
advantages of, 87;
objections to, 88;
present tendencies with reference to, 89.

Physical culture, 204-207.

Physician, 77, 78.

Physical geography, 177.

Political geography, 177.

Practice teaching, 83, 84.

Private citizens, their part in school affairs, 61, 62.

Primary education, 52.

Private institutions, 81.

Private schools, 42-44, 54, 186;
equipment of, 43;
inspection of, 43;
recognition of, 44;
secondary, 186;
teachers' seminaries, 186;
technical institutes, 186;
tuition in, 43.

Primary schools, 36-39, 185;
attendance in, 36-39;
course of study in, 102, 104, 106;
curriculum in, 99;
rural and city, 101;
their financing, 62.

Professional training, 33, 79-85, 194, 195;
amount of, 194, 195;
attitude toward, 194;
standards of, 33.

Promotion of teachers, 198.

Pupils, in gymnasia, 40;
in lower schools, 40;
in middle schools, 40.

Recitation, method of, 72, 4.

Religion, 108-117.

Religious characters, 114.

Religious education, 115-117, 151, 152, 163, 164, 199-202;
advantages of, 116;
excused from, 117;
loss of interest in, 163, 164;
methods in, 163, 164, 200;
objection to, 116, 117;
required, 116;
results of, 115-117.

Royal Frederic University, 32.

Schools, agricultural, 33;
ambulatory, 29;
cathedral, 30;
communal, 63;
elementary, 20, 30;
gymnasial, 30;
maintained by industrial concerns, 53;
middle, 30;
military, 33;
peoples', 28;
state, 63;
technical, 33;
their distribution, 34, 35.

School boards, committees of, 56;
officers of, 56;
organization of, 55, 56.

School buildings, appointment and equipment of, 64-69;
construction of, 205.

School committees, appointed by board, 56;
duties of, 57, 58, 59.

School curriculum, 197-207.

School discipline, 76, 77.

School districts, 53.

School funds, 62.

School grounds, 205.

School life, in Norway, 217, 218;
in America, 217, 218.

School physician, 77, 78.

School principal, 60;
duties of, 60, 61.

School room decoration, 67.

School system, its development, 197.

School year, 54, 55;
compared with American, 50;
length of, 28;
in America, 214.

Secondary schools, 52, 149, 185;
select strongest pupils, 149.

Sewing, 148.

Special classes for defectives, 186.

Special teachers, 80.

Specialization in university, 51.

Standards of work, 190.

Superintendent, 60, 85;
duties of, 60.

Teachers, attitude toward youth, 83;
certificates, 80;
life of, 195-197;
rooms for, 67, 68;
salaries of, 63, 91-95;
sex of, 71, 72;
special considerations, 91, 92;
their tenure of office, 71, 72.

Teacher's qualifications, 79, 80, 146, 196;
improvement of, 196;
in secondary schools, 79, 80.

Teachers' seminaries, 83, 193;
attendance at, 42;
curricula in, 82;
private, 41;
weaknesses of, 83;
work of, 81.

Teachers' tenure of office, 86-91;
in America, 89.

Teachers' titles, 85-86;
significance of, 86;
use of, 86.

Teachers' training, 81, 83, 84, 85, 191-195;
for secondary schools, 85;
in Germany, 192-193.

Teaching as a profession, in Norway, 79, 80;
its value, 196.

Technical schools, 185.

Vikings, 19.

Vocal music, in America, 207;
its influence, 206;
Napoleon on, 206;
nature of, in Norway, 147.

Writing, 146.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Constitution (_Grundlov_) adopted at Eidsvold, Norway, May 17, 1814.

[2] Statistics for 1907--the last published.

[3] The law requires the opening of residences having sufficient room for the accommodation of these groups of pupils for instructional purposes. Law for Rural Schools, Sec. 41.

[4] Law for Higher State Schools, Sec. 2.

[5] Statistics for 1907.

[6] Law for City Schools, Sec. 5, as amended on August 15, 1908.

[7] Schools undertaking educational work of this character must meet specified standards in course of study, equipment, teaching staff, etc., to have their work accredited by the state.

[8] The only difference between state and communal schools consists in the fact that in the one case the state and in the other a commune takes the initial step in the establishment of the school and bears the larger portion of the burden in its maintenance. The work of the two is uniform in every particular. They are together referred to as state schools in contrast to private schools.

[9] Law for City Schools, Sec. 28 as revised in 1908. Law for Rural Schools, Sec. 26 as revised in 1908.

[10] Some are always appointed from outside the city of Christiania.

[11] Law for Rural Schools, Sec. 42.

[12] Law for Rural Schools, Sec. 5.

[13] Gathered from Law for Rural Schools, Sections 5, 15, 16, 56, 57, and 59.

[14] In communes where the number of regular teaching positions in the primary schools is fifteen or over, of which at least five are positions for females, one male and one female teacher occupying regular posts are chosen. In communes where the number of positions is under fifteen, one male or female teacher occupying a regular post is chosen. Where a male and a female teacher are to be chosen, the elections take place in separate meetings of the male and the female teachers, each selecting its representative; in the other communes election takes place in a common meeting. Election is for two years. The meetings are conducted by the chairman of the school board. Schools provided and sustained by the owners of industrial concerns within the communes may each be represented in the meetings of the school board, by an owner of such establishment, while matters pertaining to the school in which he is interested are being considered. Law for Rural Schools, Sec. 47.

[15] The law provides that there shall be on the school board a priest for each pastorate within the commune, though not to exceed three. In all cases of necessity the bishop having direction of church affairs in the locality appoints the ministerial members of the board. Their appointments are for three years.

[16] The executive board of the communal council each year elects one of its members to act on the school board for one year.

[17] In cities where the number of regular teaching positions is fifteen or more there are elected one male and one female teacher; and in cities where the number of regular teaching positions is less than fifteen, but at least five, one male or one female teacher. In cases where two teachers are elected, the sexes separate, each selecting its own representative; but where only one is elected they all meet together and choose one of their number. Election is for two years. The meetings are conducted by the chairman of the school board.

The above notes are from: Law for City Schools, Sec. 40.

[18] Law for Rural Schools, Sec. 15. A crown is equal to about twenty-seven cents.

[19] Law for Secondary Schools, Sec. 33.

[20] Reported in 1905 as already effective or to become effective immediately.

[21] Year 1905.

[22] Year 1910-1911.

[23] Law for City Schools, Sec. 4.

[24] An organization providing a series of weekly lectures by men of prominence from various places, for the populace and especially adapted to the working classes.

[25] The course with Latin includes 4 hours of French in the first year and 5 hours in the second; the _real_ course offers it 4 hours in the first year, and 2 hours in the second and third years.

[26] A school law passed in 1896 omitted Latin from the course of study. Another act of the same Storthing granted privilege of offering Latin as an elective in several schools.

[27] Hall, G. Stanley, Educational Problems. Vol. I. p. 294.

[28] Plato, The Republic, p. 424.

[29] Bolton, F. E., The Secondary School System of Germany, 375.

[30] Report of Bureau of Education, 1891-1892, Vol. II. p. 807.

[31] Special Report, No. 2, 1883.

[32] Report of Commissioner of Education, 1878, p. 71.

[33] Whetham, W. C. D. and C. D., Decadence and Civilization, The Hibbert Journal, Vol. X. No. 1.

[34] Betts, G. H., The Recitation, p. 2.

[35] Hall, G. Stanley, Educational Problems, Vol. II., p. 295.