iii. Practice in Teaching in the Common Schools.
The standard of admission to these early Normal Schools was low, and at that time, opportunities for any thorough study outside universities were few, especially in the case of women. Accordingly their theory of training gave the greatest importance to “a careful review of the branches of knowledge required to be taught in schools.” The first business of a Normal School was said, by Horace Mann, to consist “in reviewing, and thoroughly and critically mastering the rudiments of elementary branches of knowledge.” And although conditions have changed much since 1839, most of the Normal Schools of the United States still pursue the lines of work adopted by Massachusetts. Standards of admission have been raised, courses of study have been correspondingly extended, but the Normal Schools, with a few exceptions, still remain more or less efficient schools for the teaching of ordinary subjects, and devote half the course, and in many cases even more, to academic work. It is thus a distinctive feature of Normal School work to pursue school subjects side by side with professional, or pedagogical subjects. But there seems a general tendency to emphasize the academic part, at the expense of the professional. Examples of the courses of study for Massachusetts and New York, two of the foremost of the Eastern States in educational matters, will indicate this.
Normal Schools of Massachusetts.
Two Years’ Course:
Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry.
Book-keeping.
Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry.
Physiology, Botany, Zoology, Geology.
Mineralogy, Geography.
Language, Reading, Orthography.
Etymology, Grammar, Rhetoric.
Literature, Composition.
Penmanship, Drawing, Vocal Music.
Gymnastics.
Psychology, Science of Education, Art of Teaching.
School Organization, History of Education.
Civil Polity of Massachusetts and of the United States, History and School Laws of Massachusetts.
Four Years’ Course:
Subjects required in the Two Years’ Course, with the addition of:—
Advanced Algebra and Geometry, Trigonometry, Surveying.
Advanced Chemistry, Physics and Botany.
Drawing, English Literature, General History.
Latin, French, German or Greek.
The order of studies, and the relative lengths of time spent on academic and professional studies, is determined by the president of the school. In the Bridgewater School, pedagogical subjects are not studied systematically until the fourth term or semester, for those who take the Two Years’ Course, and the seventh semester, for those who take the Four Years’ Course. Thus with the exception of a single semester, and a few hours of the first semester given to an introduction of psychology, the whole of the two years or four years is devoted to school subjects. In the Westfield School, the last half-year of the Two Years’ Course is devoted to pedagogical subjects, and the additional work of the Four Years’ Course is entirely academic.
The studies prescribed for the Normal Schools of New York State are in three courses:
i. The English Course, comprising the usual English subjects, Mathematics and Science. This occupies three years.
ii. The Classical Course, comprising more advanced English subjects, Mathematics and Science, with Latin and Greek, or German and French. This occupies four years.
iii. The Scientific Course, including all subjects of the English Course, with two years’ study of two of the languages, Latin and Greek, French, German.