Imagens da página
PDF
ePub

establishments, having 4,606 inmates, 27 are only places of instruction, while in the remaining 28 some accommodation is provided for the students in training. There are, of course, practice schools attached to each seminary. The number of children under instruction in those schools in 1876 was 13,820.

SEMINARY MANAGEMENT.

One of the great questions of the day among the leading educators in Prussia is, whether the students should henceforth reside in common in the seminary or board apart from each other and meet only to receive instruction. The arguments for and against the boarding system would already fill many volumes, and are rapidly increasing.

There is no general code of regulations for the management of the seminaries, the practice being to select some teacher of known merit and tried skill as director of each seminary, and to leave the organization to him, under the supervision of the provincial school authorities. In most cases the director is a minister of the Protestant or a priest of the Catholic church. He has entire charge of the seminary, superintending the domestic economy and discipline as well as instruction. He is assisted by an able staff of teachers, who meet him once a week in conference to discuss the progress and conduct of the pupils, the plans of instruction, and other matters relating to the institution.

In regard to the classes of the population which furnish the candidates, it must be stated that a large number, as sons of teachers, follow their fathers' profession; the greatest number, however, are sons of farmers and small tradesmen, and some are pupils of the orphan asylums. The higher classes of society furnish but few candidates. There are none among the teachers of public elementary schools who have enjoyed a university education, but there are many private teachers who, after having studied at the university, or in theological seminaries, also passed their examinations for common elementary and advanced elementary teaching.

CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION.

As nearly all the expenses of the young teacher's education in the seminary are borne by the country at large, it has been decreed by the government that every student who is received in the seminary shall bind himself to serve for three years after leaving the seminary in whatever situation may be assigned him by the departmental school board. Great efforts are also made to test his natural aptitude for teaching before he enters the institution, and individuals on whom the professional training would be lost are not admitted.

Any person desiring to be examined for admission to a teachers' seminary must forward to the director of the institution a certificate signed by his religious minister, certifying that his character and past life

have been moral and blameless; a certificate from a physician certifying his freedom from chronic disease and the soundness of his constitution and health; a certificate of his having been vaccinated within the last two years; a certificate of his baptism, if a Christian; and a certifi cate, signed by two or more teachers, of his previous industrious and moral habits and of his possessing sufficient abilities for the teacher's profession.

On the day appointed, all the young candidates who have complied with the preceding regulations and who have attained the age of seventeen are examined in the following subjects: Biblical history, history of Christianity, catechism, writing, reading, grammar, arithmetic, geography, German history, natural history, instrumental and vocal music. When the examination is concluded, a list of the candidates is made out in the order of their standing. Those standing highest on the list are then elected students of the seminary to fill the existing vacancies.

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

The course of instruction in the seminaries is, according to the regulations of October 15, 1872, of three years' duration, and is arranged as follows:

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

The students have besides several hours' practice in the schools attached to the seminary, and they are expected to devote considerable time to private reading under the supervision of their teachers. This private reading, of which a weekly account has to be given before the whole class, must be devoted chiefly to the German classic writers and to the best educational and pedagogic works.

The students also receive an industrial training, which consists in the performance of all ordinary housework, preparing the meals, taking care of the sleeping apartments, pruning the fruit trees, and cultivating the land attached to the school.

DAILY PROGRAMME.

The division of the day in most of the teachers' seminaries is as follows: The students rise at five o'clock. Religious exercises and study occu py the time until breakfast, which is at seven o'clock. After this the remainder of the hour is devoted to recreation. From eight to twelve they are engaged in recitations, listening to lectures, or teaching. The hour from twelve to one is for dinner and recreation. From one to five they are again in school. From five to seven they have recreation and excursions. At seven, supper. From eight to nine, study. At halfpast nine in winter and ten in summer the students retire. On Wed nesday and Saturday they have half a day for recreation, and for excur sions to collect plants and minerals. The holidays are six weeks in summer, one week at Christmas, and one week at Easter.

EXAMINATIONS.

At the end of the third year the students are examined by a committee specially appointed for this purpose by the government. The examinations are of three kinds: oral, in writing, and by practical exercises in teaching.

The oral examination embraces the German language, Latin or French, mental arithmetic, geometry, the art of teaching, and music. The written examination consists of answering questions in Biblical history, arithmetic, natural sciences, geography, and history; the character of the handwriting appears from the exercises. The exercises in teaching consist in giving catechetical lessons upon subjects assigned by the examiners.

According to the manner in which each student acquits himself in this examination he receives a diploma marked I, II, or III, or else he is rejected.

A graduate whose diploma is marked I is entitled to act as principal teacher, but the holder of a diploma marked II or III can only act as an assistant teacher until he has qualified himself to pass another examination for a higher degree.

No person without a diploma is permitted to teach in a public school.

APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS.

After leaving the seminary the appointment of the candidate to a teacher's position is strictly guarded, and every precaution is taken to surround him with the means for professional improvement.

In most cases the nomination of the candidate or teacher for a va cancy is left to the local school boards, but their nominations have to be ratified by the departmental school authorities to whose jurisdiction the local board belongs. In a few places, the appointment of the candi date or the transfer of a teacher from one school to another is effected by direct decree of the departmental board. The city and town coun

cils are generally invested with the privilege of nominating candidates for appointment as teachers of the higher elementary and burgher schools; the number of individual patrons in the country invested with the privilege of nomination is comparatively small.

DUTIES AND SALARIES OF TEACHERS.

The duties of the teacher are either in the school alone, or in the school and church. The church duties consist in assisting the minister as sexton at baptisms, marriages, burials, &c. Most teachers have been, of late, released from the church duties.

A regularly appointed teacher is recognized as a member of the civil service. He is entitled to permanent employment, and can only be dismissed when a court of justice has sentenced him to the loss of his rights as a citizen, or on account of objections to his morality, in which case, however, the decision does not rest with the school board, but with a court of justice. On complaint being entered against a teacher, the school authorities may suspend him from his place, he being obliged to pay for a substitute to perform his duties while so suspended. If the complaint is dismissed, and the suspension removed, the amount so paid is refunded to him. The board may also refuse appointment to permanent employment for an indefinite period.

No teacher is allowed to engage in other occupations without the consent of the departmental school board.

The salaries of teachers in Prussia are, as a rule, quite moderate, aud, although they have been slightly increased during the last years, they are still too small in comparison with the salaries paid to other professional men in that country. The salary of a principal teacher in a large city is eight hundred to a thousand dollars a year; that of an assistant teacher, three hundred to six hundred dollars; and that of a female teacher two hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars. An extra allowance is generally made for house rent and fue!. In small towns and in the country the teacher's salary amounts to about one-half of that paid for the same grade in larger cities. Country school teachers are always provided with a house and garden, and they receive part of their salary in country produce. The widow or orphans of a deceased teacher are allowed the salary for two or three months after his death.

On account of the small salaries paid in Prussia many talented young teachers embrace the opportunities offered them to obtain better compensation for their services in other parts of Germany or abroad.

PENSIONS.

A teacher is entitled to a pension as soon as he becomes incapacitated by mental or bodily infirmities for the performance of his official duties. If a teacher does not apply for a pension, but the departmental authorities consider him unable to continue his work, he is officially

requested to retire within six weeks. He may, however, appeal to the provincial school board, whose decision is final. All teachers are bound to join the teachers' pension association. The amount of the annual pension depends on the number of years in service and the former salary of the emeritus. Teachers who received a yearly salary not exceeding $200, receive a pension of $50 a year after fifteen years' service, $100 after thirty years, $120 after forty years. If the salary exceeded $200 the pension is higher in proportion. All pensions are paid quarterly in advance. There is also a fund of about one million five hundred thou sand dollars for the pensioning of teachers' widows and orphans.

LAWS AND REGULATIONS.

Following is a summary of the laws and regulations issued before the year 1854:

The teacher ought to be a religious and prudent man, imbued with great respect for his profession. He must understand his important duties to their fullest extent before he enters upon them. He must also be firm in his fidelity to the state, conscientious in the discharge of his duties, and he ought to inspire all around him with interest in the school.

Each departmental district (Regierungsbezirk) is required to have a sufficient number of young men prepared to fill the yearly vacancies in the ranks of the teachers and to support a teachers' seminary, which shall be organized according to the following regulations:

No seminary for teachers of elementary schools shall admit more than seventy students.

In a departmental district where the number of Protestants and Catholics is equal, or nearly so, there shall be, whenever circumstances will permit, a separate seminary for the students of each denomination. But where the inequality in the numbers of the two denominations is very marked, the teachers of the least numerous denomination shall be trained in the seminary belonging to such denomination in a neighboring district. Seminaries for students. of different denominations (in Germany styled "simultaneous seminaries ") may be established when the students can obtain suitable religious instruction in the doctrines of their respective churches near at hand.

The seminaries shall be established, whenever it is possible, in small towns, so as to preserve the students from the dissipations, temptations, and habits of life which are not suitable to their future profession, without subjecting them to monastic seclusion; but the town ought not to be too small, in order that they may profit by the vicinity of several elementary schools.

No one can be admitted into a seminary who has not passed through a course of instruction in an elementary school, nor can any one be ad mitted whose moral character is not irreproachable. The age of admis sion into the teachers' seminary shall be from sixteen to eighteen years.

« AnteriorContinuar »