New Britain herald., 1930-06-24
rs GET DIPLOMAS
At NORMAL School


opean school systems for the pur-
pose of adapting that which was
good TO American educational con-
dltlons, and they still do this. 1t is
only recently, however, that Euro
pean education has borrowed ex-
tensively from American education.
Recently they have recognized, even
more clearly than We, that the ideal
Of a, free universal public education.
Of the provision Of an open road to-
the capable. is a necessity in a mod
ern civilization,
Great as have been the achieve
ments of American education toward
the realization of It's ideal. It is i'm
Portant that We recognize that We
have progressed only part of the
"ay. Il IS stlll true that educa-
tlonal opportunity in this country
and in this state depends very large
~ upon the accident of place of
residence. It is still true that this
state has not accepted its RESPONSE
bllities IN the direction of providing
suitable opportunities in the field of
higher education for its youth. It
is still true, and perhaps this is the
most important of all, that we do not
recognize that the opportunities for
education on the elementary letel
deserve to be Just as rich, Just as
fine, as on any other level. Any
consideration Of the real merits of
the case fails to provide convincing
argument for the present practice OF
providing an elementary school pro-
gram which is only slightly more
than one-halt as expensive IS the
secondary school program.
Teacher of Greatest importance
The item Of greatest importance.
as we'll as of greatest cost. in the
education Of the child IS the teacher
TOO often We have lost sight Of this
fact in apportioning school expendi-
lures. The school plant, the equip
ment the supervisory staff, all oc-
cupy q, position Of relatively minor
importance as compared with the
extreme necessity Of having Z, well
qualified teacher IN every classroom.
Connecticut has made remark
able strides during the last 10 years
In the matter Of qualifications of
teachers. That period OF time has
witnessed the establishment of a
state system Of certifcatlon which
guarantees 4 minimum Of prepara-
ton for all teachers Of the state
Since 1925 all new elementary teach
ers have been required to be Nor
nal school graduates. Prior to that
date High school graduates were
permitted to teach in the elementary
schools with only six weeks Of pro-
fessional preparation for that work
This requirement Of Normal school
graduation for teaching in the ele-
mertary school marked one Of the
greatest educational advances in the
history of education IN Connecticut.
Now. effective with the class
which IS beng admitted 70 ore Of
the Connecticut State Normal schools
next September, the state is increas-
ing the length of It's Normal school
curr!cula to three years. It IS an
excellent indication of the sound
educational sentiment Of this state
that this change met with the hearty
approval Of the public and Of the city
and state officials with whom It was
discussed.
From the standpoint Of the
teacher these higher standards for
certIhcation indicate clearly that
teaching is moving rapidly toward
professional status By that is
meant that teaching is taking on
those characteristics which are COM
mon TO all recognized professions
We will approach more nearly
TIC professional level Of preparation
with the increase IN tbs length Of
the Normal school curricula. Tenure
has increased very rapidly during
the last six or seven years.
with the increase IN prepara-
ton and IN length Of service viii
come a greater development Of pro
fessional consciousness. We are
probably approaching a time when
teachers will BE- proud of their
calling We are probably approach
ing 3. time when It will not be I'M
usual for q teacher 10 refuse to use
her office for political purposes, as
one principal in 4 nelghborlng city
refused to do in 4 recent school
committee election. She Is reported
20 have stated that she was alone
among the teachers of her building
in taking that stand
within the next few years We
should expect to see still further ad-
vances in the requirements for en-
tering the teaching profession. The
requirement for ele-
mentary teachers should be in