History of Education Part 30

CHAPTER XLII

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF GERMANY

=Literature.=--_Parsons_, Prussian Schools through American Eyes; _Klemm_, European Schools; _Prince_, Methods in the German Schools; _Seeley_, The German Common School System; _Russell_, German Higher Schools; _Bolton_, Secondary Education in Germany.

We have traced the historical development of education to the present time. It now remains for us to examine briefly the educational systems of a few leading countries, in order that comparisons may be made, lessons drawn, and the present condition of education clearly set forth.[171]

The plan of discussion to be followed in each of the four systems considered will embrace, 1, _Administration_; 2, _School Attendance_; 3, _the Schools_; 4, _Support of Schools_; 5, _the Teachers_.

=Administration.=--Each German state is independent in its school system, though there are many features in common, and there is a mutual understanding on most educational questions between the various states, which makes their systems practically uniform. The system here described is that of Prussia, which, being the largest, most populous, and most influential of the states comprised within the German Empire, as well as the foremost in educational development, may well be taken as a type.

There is a minister of education whose jurisdiction extends over the whole kingdom. He represents the school interests in the Prussian diet or _Landtag_, listens to appeals, distributes school moneys, and is the general educational executive officer. Each of the thirteen royal provinces has a school board whose presiding officer is _ex officio_ the royal president of the province. With him are a.s.sociated other royal counselors, and pedagogically trained men,--school superintendents and princ.i.p.als. This board consists of men of highest integrity and intelligence. Their duties extend to the higher inst.i.tutions of learning, and to inst.i.tutions for the unfortunate; they have charge of the school finances of their provinces, adopt the school books that are used in the higher schools, and appoint teachers in the normal schools.

They report annually to the minister, and as much more frequently as he may require.

The thirteen royal provinces are subdivided into the so-called _governments_ (_Regierungen_), of which Prussia contains thirty-six.

These _governments_ have an administrative school board similar to that of the province, with duties within their territory corresponding to those of the provincial board. They come into close touch with the schools, have a voice in the appointment of teachers and in the selection of text-books for the elementary schools. Their work is especially with the common schools, while that of the provincial boards is with the higher schools.

The _governments_ are subdivided into districts. There is a district school board similar to that of the larger territories mentioned, but the chief and most important school officer of the district is the school inspector. The district inspector is always a man of pedagogical training and experience. He is appointed for life and devotes his whole time to the schools in his district. His efficient and wise inspection of the schools insures their success. The district school board erects school buildings, determines the amount of the teachers' salaries, oversees their pensions, enforces compulsory attendance laws, decides upon taxable property, fixes boundary lines, and provides for the finances.

Finally, there is the local school board for each separate school. These men have charge of the external matters of the school such as the direct enforcement of attendance, the repairs, supplies, etc.; but they may not interfere with the teacher in his work. In the country villages they have a voice in the choice of the teacher. The teacher may appeal to them in matters that need immediate attention.

In the administration of the schools men of the highest character are chosen without reference to their political leanings. There are usually teachers among the number, on the principle that those who have made the most careful study of education are the most competent to administer it.

=School Attendance.=--Every child in normal health is required to attend school between the ages of six and fourteen for every day that the school is in session. Parents are held responsible for the attendance of their children, and may be fined or imprisoned for non-fulfillment of the requirements of the law. In case parents are unable to secure the attendance of their children, the latter are placed in reform schools.

The law is carried out with great strictness and wonderful efficiency.

For example, in 1893, out of 5,299,310 children of school age in Prussia, there were only 945 unexcused absentees,--that is, 2 in 10,000. All parents expect their children to be in school every day, and the children grow up fully impressed with the idea that they are to attend school regularly. The chief reason for the efficiency of compulsory attendance in Germany lies in the fact that it covers every school day, and therefore does not allow the formation of habits of truancy.

=The Schools.=--The common school (Volksschule) of Germany reaches every child, as we have seen. In villages the s.e.xes are taught together; but in cities they are generally separated. The school hours are from eight to eleven in the forenoon, for six days in the week, and from two to four for four days in the week, Wednesday and Sat.u.r.day afternoons being holidays. These hours may be varied to suit local conditions. The school is in session for about forty-two weeks each year. Each teacher is required to give about twenty-eight hours of service per week, while the pupils must attend from sixteen hours (for beginners) to twenty-eight.

The common schools of Prussia are now practically free. The common school is intended for the common people, and it is not followed by a high or secondary school. This is the greatest weakness of the German school system. It perpetuates the cla.s.s system, and effectually prevents the child from rising above his station.

The sole opportunity for the child of the lower cla.s.ses to receive a higher education is through the normal school, and even this privilege is limited to a small number of the pupils who show special ability. We may mention also the _Continuation_ schools, which are held evenings and Sundays. These schools are rapidly multiplying and becoming more efficient, as many of them are held in the daytime. They furnish an opportunity for the child who has completed the common school to review his work, and also to add some subjects that will be of utility in his lifework.

In general, there are three cla.s.ses of secondary schools,--the _Gymnasium_, the _Realgymnasium_, and _Oberrealschule_. Each prepares for the university, and each has nine cla.s.ses; namely, _s.e.xta_, _Quinta_, _Quarta_, _Untertertia_, _Obertertia_, _Untersecunda_, _Obersecunda_, _Unterprima_, and _Oberprima_. These schools differ chiefly in the amount of cla.s.sics they offer, the _Gymnasium_ laying stress upon the cla.s.sics and the _Realschule_ upon the realities.[172]

Neither of these schools succeeds the common school, and the boy who is to pursue one of these courses of study must begin at not later than nine or ten years of age.[173] Thus, if a professional life is chosen for a boy, he cannot attend the common school,--at least not for more than the first three or four years,--but must be sent to one of the schools above mentioned, for they alone prepare for the university, and without a university course he cannot enter a profession. The university is the crowning inst.i.tution of the German school system.

=Support of Schools.=--About one half of the expense of the schools is paid from the general state fund, one third from local taxation, and the balance comes from income from endowments, church funds, tuition, etc.

The general tendency is to make the schools free, according to the recommendation of the minister of education, but some communities still continue to charge tuition. In these cases, there are poor schools for those who cannot pay tuition, thus affording school privileges to all.

=The Teachers.=--All teachers of the Prussian common schools are normal graduates, or have had an equal pedagogic preparation.[174] Graduates of the university seldom enter the common school work; they teach in the secondary schools, in private schools, and as tutors. The common school teachers generally come from the common schools. If a child shows special aptness for teaching, the attention of the school inspector is called to him, and, with consent of his parents, he is sent to a preparatory school for three years. His work there is entirely academic in character. At seventeen he enters the normal school and has another year of academic work, after which he begins his technical work. His normal course is three years, the last year being given almost entirely to professional work. Each cla.s.s in the normal school contains from thirty to thirty-six students, thus making the total number of students in a German normal school about one hundred. As only about thirty can enter from the whole district, it will appear that the opportunities for children to extend the common school course are very limited.

After completing the normal course, the graduate is provisionally appointed to a position for three years. He is now under the oversight of his former princ.i.p.al, as well as of the district inspector. If he proves successful in teaching, he is required to pa.s.s a final examination, chiefly on pedagogical questions, and then has a life tenure, and can be removed only on the ground of inefficiency or immorality. The average tenure of office with teachers is twenty-five years. The salary is often very low, but with free rent, fuel, and light, the schoolmaster's income is by no means inadequate. His salary increases with the years of service, and his prospective pension also increases year by year.[175]

The German schoolmaster is a state officer. He commands, by virtue of his position, the respect which his character, his self-sacrifice, his efficiency, and the great work that he is doing deserve. "It is the schoolmaster that has won our battles," said Von Moltke; and it is he that is preparing Germany for the arts of peace as well as those of war.

The Prussian school system is the most efficient in the world, at least so far as the education of the ma.s.ses is concerned. It has practically obliterated illiteracy in the kingdom, more than 99 per cent of the recruits received into the army in 1893 being able to read and write.

Many countries have materially improved their school systems by adopting some of the lessons taught by Prussia.

The three most important features of the German school system are:--

1. _Only professionally trained teachers can be employed._

2. _Such teachers are appointed to permanent positions._

3. _The attendance of every child during the entire school year is compulsory._

FOOTNOTES:

[171] It will, of course, be impossible within the limitations of this work to give more than a mere outline of these systems. The reader will find full discussions in the works referred to in the Literature.

Particular attention is called to the Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education from the year 1895 to the present time.

[172] In addition to these schools, there are also the Progymnasium, the Realprogymnasium, and the Realschule, which, as their names indicate, are modified forms of the princ.i.p.al types. These schools do not offer the full nine years' course. See footnote on p. 236 for explanation of the work of these schools.

[173] Russell's "German Higher Schools" fully describes these inst.i.tutions.

[174] In 1893 there were only 241 teachers out of 71,731 in Prussia, who were outside of the above requirement. These 241 were old teachers who began before the law was so strict, and who, because of their efficiency, are retained. In a few years this band will entirely disappear, and all will be normal graduates.

[175] For full statement of salaries and pensions, see "German Common School System," pp. 172, 195. Though the German teacher's salary is much smaller than that of the average American teacher, taking into account the greater purchasing power of money in Germany, the simple habits, and fewer demands upon the purse, the German teacher is fully as well off as the American.

CHAPTER XLIII

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF FRANCE

=Literature.=--_Parsons_, French Schools through American Eyes; _Richard_, The School System of France; _Weigert_, Die Volksschule in Frankreich; _Schroeder_, Das Volksschulwesen Frankreichs; United States Commissioner's Reports.

=Administration.=--France, like Germany, has a minister of education who sits in the cabinet of the president. The work of his office is divided into three departments, _higher_, _secondary_, and _primary_, and at the head of each there is a director. There are two advisory bodies in charge of education. One has general oversight of all the school interests of France. The other is divided into three boards, appointed by the minister himself, for supervision of the three departments above mentioned. The general board consists of sixty members, fifteen appointed by the president of the republic, and the others appointed by the board itself whenever vacancies occur. This body meets once a year to hear reports, to pa.s.s upon the general school policy, and to legislate for the schools. Out of its members.h.i.+p is chosen an executive committee that meets once a week, and upon which devolves the chief management of educational affairs. This committee is answerable to the general board, to which it renders an annual report. Men of the highest character and intelligence const.i.tute this board.

The whole of France is divided into seventeen parts called _academies_.

These divisions do not coincide with the political divisions, but are made merely for convenience in school administration. Each _academie_ has a school board to which is committed the general oversight of all educational interests within its territory, and particularly the care of the higher schools.

A narrower division is into _departements_. There are ninety of these in France and Algiers. Each is governed by an educational council which has charge of the elementary schools. The princ.i.p.al officer of a _departement_ is a school inspector, a trained educator who devotes all his time to the schools. In each _departement_ there is a normal school for each s.e.x, though in a few instances two _departements_ combine to maintain one normal school.

The _departement_ is subdivided into _arrondiss.e.m.e.nts_. Each has an executive officer and a council in close touch with the schools. Lastly there are the _cantons_, whose school board has direct control of each individual school.

In this manner from the highest to the lowest division there are executive officers with well-defined duties--all working together in perfect harmony and with great efficiency. Trained teachers often sit in these councils as members and advisers. Thus the highest pedagogical training of the republic is utilized to obtain the best administration of the school interests.

=School Attendance.=--School attendance is compulsory upon children from six to thirteen years of age for every school day. As in Germany, the child is not compelled to attend the public school, but must receive instruction for the required time and in a manner approved by the State.

It is the right of the child to be educated, and the State a.s.serts its prerogative to secure that right to the child, whatever be the att.i.tude of the parent. But the manner of securing it is left to the parent if he chooses to exercise that privilege. Although France has had compulsory education only since 1882, the law is effective, and grows more so each year. In 1895, 91 per cent of all the children of school age attended school regularly.

=The Schools.=--In the arrangement of her schools, and the perfect articulation between them from the mother school to the university, France has the most perfect system in the world. The _mother_ schools (_ecoles maternelles_) take children from two to six years of age and care for them from early morning till evening, thereby permitting parents to go out to service. They combine the idea of the day nursery and the kindergarten. These schools, in communes of 2000 or more, are supported by the State, as are other schools.

Instead of the _mother_ school, sometimes the _infant_ school (_ecole infantine_) takes the child from four to seven and prepares him for the primary school. This school is more nearly like the kindergarten than the _mother_ school. It is supported wholly by the State and is a part of the school system, its work being entirely in sympathy with that which follows. In this respect, France has taken a more advanced step than any other nation.