The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-01-13
TEACHERS COLLEGES
ARE THEY NEEDED?
Normal School Budget)


tion which met in November at Grand
Forks. It's title is "The Teachers
College-Its Place in the Educational
System" 1t was prepared by Or. ): u
EVEN, president Of the Mayville Nor
NAL School. Because of the length
of the paper we find it necessary to
divide it into two or three INSTALL
ments. The second and the third IN
stallments, if there be third, will be
given in the next two issues OF the
Normal School Budget. Editor. :,
A teachers college is normal school
that has attained it's majority, recelV-
inc high school graduates, training
them for four years in cultural and
professional subjects, qualifying them
to teach in the public schools; kinder
rarten. grades" or "high"', and
granting them in evidence of scholar
ship and didactic proficiency college
degree. , :.
The designation normal school IS
vcrring on the obsolete. AS we no
longer write books on "Schoolkeep-
ing" but on "Education' or admin
istration." we may in the near future
cease to discuss the normal school,
IN order TO near ~ oI'S
about the teachers college.
The name Of normal school (mod,,
el or pattern schooD was sponsored
by Austria as early as TIA: 1t re-
ceived a new lease of life at the hands
of France in 1875, which succeeded
in yetting a passport for 1t to otner
Romance languages and to the Eng
lish tongue. Germany prefers no"
the term "Lehrerseminar" (teachersS'
seminary: Norway ''larerskole,.
teachers school) Denmark, Finland,
sweden likewise prefer the Teutonlzed
to the Romance designation. Our
country too, is gradually getting away
from the, French usage. France
sncaks consistently of it's Ecoles nor
males primaries and superleures.
America. however, differentiates be-,
tween the average normal school ana
the "schooI of education IN a uni
versity. What France calls Ecole
normal superieure, department of
the university at Paris, Germans anu
Scandinavians call seminar IN peu-
agogy, while we in current usage
would term it a university school OF
education. Since the name OF teach-
ers college is also increasingly assert
inc itself. normal school, may soon
become technical term OF the past:
A change in name often implies
more than what is nominal. When the
Normal school assumes the name OF
teachers college it means that TINS
tvne of school will be professional
training school for teachers in our en-
t;ra nuhIic school system, giving for
a four years college training with
tha emphasis on the vocation OF teach
ing. . ,,,ovo-
mani to convert all Of our norman
schools into teachers colleges. 1T IS
Claimed that the specialized training
~ n,athodology and education impart-
ed in the old-fashioned, norma l' t,ano
to live on restricted diet rather Ilaaa
on the wholesome fare OF a college
mater, even as given to 1resl''''"''
or a sophomore. c.,s :,
Changes in the Normal Schools IN
Northern and Central Europe
The countries in Europe nave
rradnaIIv been lettering then, Norman
schools in order to meet the DEMANDS
81 the rest of the public school system:
sweden. which has the best puplc
schooI system in the world IN SO Tar
80 no Grades are concerned has built
mor ~ Schools and equipped them most
me- o.a enif;cently. 1t has fifteen state
n schools of which nine are IRE, tor
n nv, ,'' and six for women. These
schools offer four year courses: "na9
thav have done for gymnastics ana
=, ;,,,al training constitutes most
n,orthv and valuable contribution TO
the cause of Education, not 10 i'le ad
tion their we'll balanced currlcuia n anu
efficient teaching technique. nen
mark, which has the best unliof ~
evolved school system from tne XII,
derparten to the university, mas only
four state normal schools (tor mem
hit sixteen private flour for women,
two for men, ten co-educationa). II
has raised it's normal school stand
ards yerv much since 1894, now re-
curing three years normal school
tra;n;eo after one years practical eX-
nerience in teaching. Germany, when
before the war had the highest devel-
oned system of university education;
was steadily improving its normal
schools and smoothing the pain OF
their alumni to the university, "hlch
in that country, unlike ours is purely
postgraduate institution.
Normal Schools in Germany
Before discussing the place OF the
teachers college in our own education-
al system, it may be we'll to dwell a
little longer on the normal school ST.
uation in the country we looked to
when we put the normal school on our
own soil-Germany. =,
Of the German states dealing with
the normal school problem, Prussia:
which is one-half of Germany in area
and in population, had, in 1914, 1856
state normal schools; that is, consider,
ing the proportion of population, and
making also one allowance for our
schools of education more than twice
as many normal schools as in the
United States. These schools give
three years of preparatory work fol-
lowed by three years Of normal school
work proper, the equivalent of what a
Junior in our average college has re-
ceived. In 1906, Prussia had only
eleven nomal schools; in 1926, twenty
eight; in 1887, forty-five; in 1906,
1873; and in 1914, as stated, 186-a re-
markable increase. The teachers grad
,,.+;ar f,o,,, +baeo ;pctit,1t ions teach in