A Summer School seems to differ from an Institute mainly in relation to the amount of professional work undertaken. It is usually open for from four to six weeks, and has a great variety of courses. I was able to attend several of these, and was kindly allowed to hear some of the lectures given and to observe the work.
One of these held at Benton Harbour, Michigan, was chiefly attended by those district teachers who wished to prepare for the teachers’ examinations. It was really a private Normal School, which used its buildings in July for a Summer School. The subjects given were mainly those necessary for the teachers’ certificates, with some classes on Methods, and School Management and Drill and Elocution.
Of quite a different kind was that held at the Cook County Normal School. This was almost entirely professional, and held on much the same lines as the ordinary work of the school.
The Summer Assembly at Chautauqua includes a Summer School, which again may be said to include a special course for teachers, called the Teachers’ Retreat.
In addition to the Summer Schools, there are summer courses provided for teachers at many universities. Cornell University makes special provision for such a course, of which the following is an announcement.
“In the summer of 1892, courses of instruction were offered by professors and instructors of this University in Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, English, French, German, Drawing, and Physical Training. The Summer School has now been made an integral part of the University, and for the summer of 1893, courses are offered in the following subjects:
Greek,
Latin,
German,
French,
English,
Elocution,
Philosophy,
Pedagogy,
History,
Political and Social Science,
Mathematics,
Physics,
Chemistry,
Botany,
Drawing and Art,
Mechanical Drawing,
Physical Training.
Without excluding others qualified to take up the work, these courses are offered for the special benefit of teachers. They afford a practical scheme of university extension, by which the teachers themselves are taught under university instructors, by university methods, and with access to university libraries, museums, and laboratories.
The courses are open to women as well as to men, and the same facilities for work are extended to these students as to the regular students of the university. The amount of work implied in these courses is so great that students are advised to confine their attention to one or two subjects. Every opportunity will be given for original research under the guidance and with the assistance of members of the instructing corps.”
In 1892 a summer course in Psychology and Pedagogy was held for two weeks at the Clark University. All the resources of the University—books, apparatus, etc.—were placed at the disposal of the students. About seventy men and women attended. Other universities arrange for similar courses, but these two suffice to indicate the lines of work.