Imagens da página
PDF
ePub

Concerning the methods of instruction, the directors of teachers' seminaries shall rather seek to conduct the students by their own experience to simple and clear principles than to give them theories for their guidance; and with this end in view, elementary schools shall be attached to all the teachers' seminaries, in which the students may be practised in the art of teaching.

In each seminary the course of instruction shall last three years; the first to be devoted to the continuation of the course of instruction which the pupils began in the elementary schools; the second to instruction of a higher character, and the third to practice in the schools attached to the seminaries. For those who are sufficiently advanced when they enter the establishment and who do not require the first year's instruction, the course may be reduced to two years.

In each teachers' seminary particular funds, set apart for that purpose, shall be devoted to the support of young men of good character, not able to pay for themselves, but in such a manner as not to habituate them to too many comforts, and not to render them unfit for the least remunerative situations in the elementary schools. Every student who receives such assistance from a teachers' seminary is obliged at the end of his course to accept the place which the school authorities assign him; a prospect of advancement, however, must always be held out to him in case of increased efficiency and good conduct.

The provincial authorities have the immediate supervision of all the teachers' seminaries in their respective provinces.

No young man is allowed to conduct an elementary school until he has obtained a certificate of his ability and qualifications. The examination for these certificates is conducted by commissions composed of two laymen and two clergymen. The provincial school authorities nominate the lay members and the different ecclesiastical authorities nominate the clerical members for the examination in the doctrines of the respective churches.

The members of these commissions hold office for three years and are eligible to reappointment.

The lay and the clerical examiners join iu granting the certificates, but the religious and secular examinations are conducted separately. The certificates are also signed by the director of the seminary in which the teacher has been educated.

These certificates are not valid until they have been ratified by the provincial school board, and in the case of the certificates granted to Roman Catholics, the further ratification of the bishops is necessary. If the provincial authorities and the bishops cannot agree about the granting of any certificate, the matter is referred to the minister of public instruction, whose decision is final. The provincial school authorities may at any time reëxamine the candidates, if they think there is any reason to doubt what is specified on the certificate granted by the committee of examination, and may declare the candidates unfitted.

The conditions of examination and award of certificates are the same in the case of a young woman who is a candidate for a situation as teacher as in that of a young man.

The election of teachers for the communal elementary schools is the duty of the local school boards, but the teachers cannot be installed until their election has been ratified by the departmental school board. The provincial school boards are required to nominate able and zealous inspectors, who shall organize and direct teachers' conferences for the purpose of fostering among them a lively interest in their profession and a desire for improvement.

The provincial school boards have the power to send the teacher who appears to need further instruction to a seminary until he is better qualified for his functions. The expenses of this second seminary course are defrayed by the government.

The teachers are encouraged to continue their own education by hopes of advancement, but before appointment to a higher grade they must pass a second examination before the same committee which conducted the first.

If a teacher is negligent or conducts himself improperly he is repri manded by the school inspector. If this fails to effect an improvement, the inspector must report him to the departmental school board, which has the power to fine or remove him.

Teachers who qualify themselves for promotion to the direction of a teachers' seminary are enabled to travel, both in Prussia and other countries, for the purpose of extending their knowledge of the organization and discipline of schools.

The director of a seminary is required to visit a certain part of the schools in his circuit once a year. He must make himself acquainted with the condition of the schools, to give the teachers such hints for improvement as his observation may suggest, and to present the results of his yearly visits, in the form of a report, to the school authorities of the province.

To the end that the beneficial influence of the seminary may be ex tended to those already engaged in teaching, who either require further instruction or who are even deteriorating with respect to their professional skill, it is required that such teachers shall be recalled to the seminary for a shorter or longer period, to enable them to improve their knowledge in the particular branches in which they are found deficient.

ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS ISSUED IN 1854.

A course in systematic pedagogics is to be excluded from the studies of the future elementary school teacher, but the students are to receive instruction in the art of school management during two hours in each week. In the first year this course is to give an account of the primi tive Christian school and its relations to state, church, and family; in the second year, the organization and management of the elementary

school are to be explained; and in the third year the duties of the future teacher as servant of state and church and also the means of selfimprovement are to be taught. The students shall also be taught how to prepare their lessons for the practice school, how to establish and maintain discipline, and how to explain the text of the holy scriptures. The religious instruction in the teachers' seminaries is henceforth to be termed "catechism." Its object is to provide a direction and a firm footing for the individual religious confession of the pupil through a profound understanding of God's word. As this subject of instruction is not one which the teacher has himself to reproduce in the elementary school, it is not subject to the same limitations in all respects as the other branches of instruction which do occur again in the elementary school. The religious instruction in the seminary ought to exert a powerful influence on the teacher; and it is, therefore, of great importance that sure and abiding results of a Christian confession should be sought. The future teacher shall be required to be able to repeat, without book, each scripture story in the form in which it is taught in the elementary school. He shall be able to establish a connection of the scripture teaching with the order of the church year.

From this time forth an indispensable condition of admission into the seminary will be an exact acquaintance with the stories of the Bible, as contained in the manuals approved for this purpose, and the ability to recite them from memory.

The future teacher must be fully qualified to instruct in language and reading. The seminaries hitherto have too much neglected to teach a simple method of learning to read. To qualify the teacher in this branch, neither theoretical instruction nor practice in the model school will alone suffice; but it will be necessary to take the student in the lowest class through a course of practical lessons in all the details of teaching to read, which practice must be continued till the right method has been thoroughly mastered.

In the use of the reading book it is not enough to instruct the student generally in the mode of interpreting. Each portion of the reading book must be gone through in the manner in which it has to be afterward taught in the elementary school.

In connection with the reading book the students must be introduced to German grammar, keeping in view always that this is a subject which they will not be obliged to teach in the school. The written exercises for the two lower classes must be made in connection with the reading lesson; but in the upper class they may consist of independent reproduction of single parts out of other parts of the course, or of the consideration of questions which concern the profession of teacher. The student should also be made acquainted with the form of official documents which he may afterward have occasion to write. Each year the students must be directed to a course of private reading, and they shall be called on from time to time to give an account of their

progress to the teacher. In the choice of books for this purpose regard must be had not merely to the student's own culture but to the influence which he may hereafter exercise, beyond the limits of the school, upon the character and morals of the people.

The instruction in history and geography shall begin at a common point, viz, our own country. History shall be limited to Germany and Prussia and that province in which the school is situated. It should be one of the first duties of the teacher to inculcate in those with whom he comes in contact a knowledge of the patriotic traditions and char acters of the past and present, and a sentiment of respect and love for the reigning family. This patriotic history should be brought into connection with the life of the people, and their mode of thinking, for which purpose the days of patriotic commemoration are to be put prominently forward and employed as points of departure. The students of the seminary should learn the best specimens of popular poetry.

As the instruction in history is confined to the higher class, so that in geography shall be confined to the two lower classes.

Natural history shall be taught during the first and second year, two hours a week, but not in a strictly scientific manner. The principal indigenous plants and animals shall be illustrated and described to the pupils. In botany a foundation for further private study shall be laid. The pupils shall be taught to distinguish the principal native minerals and rocks. A popular description of the human body shall be given. The pupils ought to acquire a love for nature and natural occupations. A practical direction, too, may be given to this branch of instruction by constant reference to horticulture, trade, and industry. In the third year the students may advance to natural philosophy, which shall always be treated in an experimental manner.

The instruction in geometry is limited to the principal geometrical figures, plane and solid, their properties and the modes of measuring them, without any scientific method or calculus. Arithmetic shall be taught with the view to enable the future teacher to teach this branch in the popular elementary school; the higher parts of arithmetic may, however, be arranged for private study.

The method of teaching to write is to be learned along with the prac tice in writing. Drawing in the seminary must not go beyond introductory lessons in the linear representation of simple objects.

Music is cultivated for moral and church objects. The seminary has not only to form the teacher of singing for the school, but also the organist for the churcn.

The "Regulativ" of which the foregoing is a summary has always been bitterly attacked by the liberal educators in Prussia. Their zeal ous efforts have been in a measure successful since the accession of Dr. Falk to the ministry of public instruction, and they expect still greater improvement in the training system while he remains in office.

1234567

STATISTICAL TABLES.

The following tables are of interest as exhibiting the number of stu dents in the elementary training schools in 1870 and 1876, the number of graduates in 1876, and the number of pupils in the practice schools in 1876 for the several provinces of Prussia :

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Kammin.
Fölitz.

Pyritz

Bütow

Dramburg
Köslin

Franzburg.
Gingst.....

Total

TABLE II.-PROVINCE OF BRANDENBURG.

Protestant.

57

70

19

160

160

..do

98

78

32

87

74

161

..do

58

66

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »