Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-08-31
"The Schools Of Europe.v

|
bury academy, at the late session Of the Vermont
State Teachers Association at Mortified. Mr.
Fuller gave brief history Of the rise and progress
Of schools in Europe, and then proceeded to out
line the German public school system. As this
system is conceded to be the best in the world for
the purpose Of placing some Of its distinctive fea
lures before the people of this state IA they APP
peared to an intelligent observer, a successful
teacher in Vermont, liberal extracts from Mr.
Fuers paper are given below These extracts
are confined to matters relating to the volk or
common schools.
After having crossed Europe four times, after
having spent months in personal observation Of
the schools in both town and country from Eng
land to Greece, | was struck with the tendency
| everywhere apparent 10 make the systems Of edu.
cation and the methods Of instruction approach
| the system and methods Of the German. The
Germans are everywhere in advance except in
respect to female education. Here our own country
leads, and the growing interest in girl education
in Europe is largely the result Of influences that
have proceeded from this side of the ocean. Let
me now ask your attention to an outline OF the
most complete and the only complete national
system Of education in the world, and to some Of
the methods by which the Germans have attained
this superiority.
l. The divisions Of educational ,cork-divis.
ions toward which, as / have said, the changing
cassificatons Of other countries constantly tend.
These are: a. The kindergartens- wholly pri-
vate-with which in Germany the government has
nothing whatever to do, and which as a rule do
not keep the children after six or seven years of
| age. (2.) The volk-or common schools which
| the pupil enters at six-never younger-and stays
either to enter the gymnasium or other higher
school at ten, or to finish the school work at four
teen. These are primary 49, The secondary
schools, which include the gymnasium, or CLASH
cal school preparatory to the university the real
school OF the first order, which prepares for the
higher technical or scientific school, both Of which
have nine years course, and the pro-gymnasum,
the real-school Of the second order, and the
citizens high school, which have courses Of from
| four to six years which teach with German Latin,
French and often English in varying proportions
and which complete the school culture OF large
proportion Of the common and middle classes of
people. az The university and higher techni-
cal schools OF architecture, design, engineering
| agriculture, manufactures, etc. (5.) The semi
naries or normal schools for the special training
| Of teachers for the volk-schoos, or common
schools.
| ii. The government regulations. At the head
of the education system of Germany is the
emperor or directly his representative, the minis
| ter OF education The emperor appoints directly
the professors in the universities and higher tech
| ncal Schools and, with the cabinet, the superin-
tendents Of education for the different provinces
| or districts OF the empire. The cultus-mnister
appoints all directors principals OF classical and
and other secondary schools, and determines the
courses OF lectures in the universities and techn
| cal schools and the whole curriculum Of the sec
ondary and common schools Of the whole empire
| except Bavaria which upon its annexation to
Germany in 1866 reserved the right OF managing
its own educational affairs. No new school can
be established without the permission of the gov
eminent. No teachers are allowed to teach, I'M
less temporarily or as mere governors or gov
ernesses in private families, till they have passed
the examinations required by the government. No
textbook can be used in any grade of school be-
fore the government has examined and approved
it, The government requires attendance at som
school Of every child between six and fourteen
years. The parent may select the school or pro-
vide it. and determine the general course of study,
but if a child is absent and unexcused, the alb
sence is at the end of each week reported to the
collect Of the parent fine OF one cent for the
first absence of the child two for the second four
for the third and 80 on doubling the sum with
each additional absence not cancelled by suffi-
cent excuse. The parents request for excuse,
even on account Of illness, is by no means sufli-
cent--the physician is called to determine whether
the child is i'll enough to stay away from school,
and on no account is any work deemed necessary
enough to excuse from the school duties. No child
attending any grade Of school below the univer-
| sity-which means a rule any one under twenty
years of age and below in grade Of work the
senior years Of our colleges-is allowed to enter
wine or beer shop unless attended by his parent
or guardian, and any boy under sixteen who
srnekes tho street is havio u ...os,. Thus
thoroughly does the civil authority pave the way
for good school work and remove every obstacle
to its utmost efficiency.
The German school buildings deserve mention
Without they are generally substantial but not
elegant, as a rule better than the average of
private dwellings in the same locality and in
every grade below the university have rooms or
an attached house for the director or principal,
and also in all city schools rooms for the perma-
nent abode of the ianitor The furniture is gener-
ally simple and old-fashioned long, level plank
seats, often without backs but with long desks in
front that sometimes showed the wear OF CEN
tury. Only in Frankfort and Berlin did / see |
modern school furniture like the best OF ours, and
that was told was American in pattern II not |
make. But everywhere the seats and desks were |
graded in height, -however rough otherwise
and every room or building was supplied with |
maps, globes and more or less of other apparatus
In every room | entered, with the exception of |
two or three buildings In country villages there |
were windows only on one side of the room, but |
these were large, often occupying almost the |
whole side of the room and amply provided with |
inside shutters and shutter curtains so that the /
light, which always came to the pupil from the /
left, could be properly graduated.
Boys and girls are never educated together in |
secondary schools, and are never in primary |
schools in the same classes or rooms except when
the village or school is so small to require the
services OF less than six or eight teachers. And
suppose that out OF thirty thousand schools, not
more than two or three thousand have less than
this number of teachers. For there almost no
such districts of isolated farms and farming peo-
pie as in Vermont. The people live uniformerly
in villages, rarely Of less than four or FIVE humid
red. In going through Germany four times from
west to east and returning by different routes,
only in one province, Westphala, were the houses
generally detached, each on its own land as on
our farms Moreover the children are numerous
every cradle and baby.carrage Is made for two
occupants. Full one-fourth the population is of
the primary school age Boys and girls are often
in separate sides Of the same building-but each
sex has its separate Railways, wardrobes, play
yards and other general conveniences. As a rule
the German school room is place OF recitation
only-not OF study, | found in the primary
schools of smaller villages that often two classes
were in room at once, one reciting and the other
studying Finally, in every grade Of school below
the university gymnastics and vocal music are as
compulsory and universal as reading arithmetic,
about two hours weekly being given to them.
From these general features of German
schools, let us turn to the special work OF the
primary volk-schools In each OF these there
are uniformly eight classes. Each years grade
constitutes a class Each class with its teacher
is-with the exceptions already mentioned-in
room by itself The school work begins at seven
in summer and eight In winter and usually there
are four hours in the morning session and two in
the afternoon. Thelowest classes spend four hours
in the school, the higher six except on wednes-
day and Saturday afterno ms, which are half holi-
days. But the divisions of time are always the