The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-05-29
TEACHING THE PEDlGOGUEs
Dissertation by DR.. Klemm on
Training of SchOOImasterS.
A QUESTION OF STATE IMPORT
Germany the Worlds SchoOimiS-
tress - Effects of Her system
Throughout Civilized Europe and
the United states Facilities for
Those Past the school Age.


German education, has prepared a paper
at the suggestion of the Bureau Of Educa-
ton on Training OF Teachers in Germany,
Austria, and Switzerland"
Heoelieyes that ne prpparationOf teachers
for their profession is one of the most
important educational questions, and he
announces his conviction that teaching is
a profession He thinks that the elevation
of the common school depends upon the
elevation Of the teacher ,andthat the degree
of the culture of the teacher determines
the degree of the culture Of tie vast ma
joriCy Of the young and even OF the entire
people He says 1.-THE casual connection
between the general culture of a nation
and the instructors of its children, stamps
the question as a state question, a queS-
CIon Of policy as mOmentous as the estab-
Ishment aud maintenance of schools them
selves
He declares that there are great facili-
ties for the acquisition Of knowledge even
after school age has been passed; that all
70 agencies Of modern life, the press, pub
lie 5usin ess and rapid communication, MAX
knowledge easily accessible. But the dis
cpIine which school alone gives cannot be
obtained in outside life. Dr. Klenm takes
issue with those who believe that the ele-
mentary school is merely knowledge
Shop and quotes from the school laws OF
several ) wlss cantonS, that the elementary
school is "a place where the young are TO
he trained to become intellectually active,
civilly useful and morally good men and
wofnen" He claims that the value Of the
school is always in exact proportion to the
value OF the teacher.
The paper of Or. Klemm quotes DR.. Ed
5. Joynes. professor Of modern languages in
the University Of South Carolina. as saying
that Germany has now become the school
mistress Of the world The distinctive quail
u sof the German mind, industry, patience,
microscopic precision, combined with high
ideality. depth Of insight. with height and
breadth Of view and thorough intellectual
consciousness. have made the Germans first
in every department Of research and sChOi-
arshtp As investigators and teachers they
are unrivaled Their schools, Summaries
and universities are the foremost I'm the
world In almost every department OF pure
and applied science they lead. All tie civ
ilized world goes to school TO Germany"
TIE Prussian training schools for teach
ers were The first in the field. Under the
administration Of NJ. GuiZot, mnist er OF
public instruction in France, and through
a report rendered by 81 Cousin this school
system was transpianted in France.
Through the efforts largely OF Horace
Mann, the secretary OF the Massa Chusetts
State beard of educa ton, a notable re-
former ia The system Of American schools,
this German idea was followed in the
United States. In England the German
teachers schools were taken as models
for similar institutions largely through
the influence Of Matthew Arnold and Jo-
Sepb Payne After showing that these
schools Of the Germans are pioneers in
their department DR.. Kleuim follows with
a historical review Of the normal Schotl
movement in central Europe. He quotes
from Herr Diesterweg this observation
Wherever a school degenerates il does
so because Of its teachers, wherever
school advances it Is by means Of better
tea chars There is no other way"
When Martin Luther gave impetus TO
general education in Germany Duke Err
nest, Of SaXe-GOtha, was the first Of the
rulers TO conceive the idea of establish
ing institutions for the practical prepare
ton of teachers. This was late in the sew
enteenth century. Duke Ernest died, but
his scheme was realized by his grandson,
Duke Frederick II. In telling Of the
trials through which the normal schools
passed, liz. Klemm draws freely with credit
from the works of A. H. FranCke, founder
OF the educational institutions in Halle
j. ]. Jecker, who established the first
normal school in Berlin; DR.. Rein. Daniel
Kruger, Dr. H. Stephan, the re-inventOr
OF the phonetic method of teaching read
ing: DR. Weber, of Bremen, ami several
others.
Pedagogy is an important branch in the
course of study in the PrusSian normal
schools. Pedagogy with the Germans is
a collective term, embracing history. sci
enCe and the practice OF teaching. The
paper Of Or. Klcmm is made one of the
records of the Bureau of Education. and
it would he pleasing to that office if it
would be generallyread by teachers through
out the United ) tatcs.