The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1871-11-24
PRUssIAN SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.

Mneh has been said of late in regard
to Prussian schools; and perhaps il
1 would not be amiss for some of our
readers TO know something about their
merits and modes OF teaching. 1t was
the well-trained Teutonic intellect
not Needle guns-that led the Prussian
army VIGOROUSLY from the Rhine to the
Seine, and dictated her own terms OF
peace to her vanquished foe, in the late
Franco-Prussian war-a victory une-
qualed in modern warfare.
Education is compulsory there. EV.
cry child is compelled to attend school,
either public or private, during certain
periods of its youth, consequently the
masses are all well educated in the more
useful branches of instruction. A
writer in late number of the Uaicer-
sity Monthly says:
"Dnring the six weeks spent in WIS.,
iting German schools in north and mid
die Prussia, and remaining from morn
ing till night, there were three things
which 1 observed, and which struck me
very forcibly:
1. During this whole time, l meyer
saw a teacher hearing q lesson of any
kind Except reading or spelling les
SOM with book in hand.
2. never saw a teacher sitting while
hearing recitation.
3. Though saw hundreds of schools,
and thousands-I think I may saw,
within bounds, tens of thousands-of
pupils, never saw one child undergo
ing punishment, or arraigned for mis-
conduct; never saw one child in tears
from having been punished or from
fear of being punished.
During the above period witnessed
exercises in geography, ancient and
modern in the German language, from
the explanation of the simplest words
up to the belles-lettres DISCUSSION, with
rules for speaking and writing in arith-
metic, algebra, geometry, surveying
and trigonometry in bookkeeping in
civil history, ancient and modern; in
natural philosophy; in BOTANY and
zoology; in mineralogy, where there
were hundreds of specimens in the
endless variety of the exercises in think
ing, knowledge of nature, of the world,
and society; in Bible history and in
Bible knowledge; and, as before said,
in no one of these cases did / see q
teacher with book in his hand. His
OOOhs HIS was III LIS hchus
Promptly, without pause, without hes
itation, from the rich resources of his
mind, he brought forth whatever the
occasion demanded. 1 remember call
ing one morning at country school in
Saxony, where everything about the
premises, and the appearance both of
teacher and children, indicated very
narrow pecuniary circumstances. AS
l entered, the teacher was just ready to
commence lesson or lecture on French
history. He gave not only the events
of particular period in the history of
France, but mentioned as he proceeded,
all the contemporary sovereigns of
neighboring nations. The ordinary
time for a lesson, here as elsewhere,
was Que hour. This was somewhat
longer, for, toward the close, the teach
er entered upon train of thought
from which it was difficult to break of,
and rose TO a strain of eloquence which
it was delightful to hear. The scholars
were all absorbed in attention. They
had paper, pen, and ink before them,
and took brief notes OF what was said.
When the lesson touched on contempt
rary events in other nations, which, as
/ suppose, had been the object of pre-
vious lessons, the pupils were asked
concerning them. A small textbook
of history was used by the pupils,
which they studied at home"