To Massachusetts belongs the honour of having led the way in the establishment of Normal Schools. The Massachusetts Board of Education, established in 1838, at once took up the question of the training of teachers for the public schools. A member of the Board, the Hon. Edmund Dwight, of Boston, offered $10,000 on condition that the Legislature would appropriate an equal amount towards providing for such training. His offer was accepted, and three Normal Schools were opened, each of which was to continue for three years as an experiment. The experiments proved completely successful. There are now six State Normal Schools, which are under the direct control of the Board of Education, and supported entirely by the State. Tuition is free to all who undertake to teach in the State Schools. The arrangements for boarding vary with each school.
The State appropriates $4,000 per annum to be divided among those students of Normal Schools who stand in need of such aid.
Text-books and reference books are free.
[7] “The design of the State Normal Schools is strictly professional; that is, to prepare in the best possible manner the pupils for the work of organizing, governing and teaching the public schools of the Commonwealth.
“To this end there must be the most thorough knowledge; first, of the branches of learning required to be taught in the schools; second, of the best methods of teaching those branches; and third, of right mental training.
“The time of one course extends through a period of two years; of the other, through a period of four years, and is divided into terms of twenty weeks each, with daily sessions of not less than five hours, five days each week.”
Studies.
Two Years’ Course:
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, book-keeping.
Physics, astronomy, chemistry, physiology, botany, zoology, mineralogy, geology, geography.