The Condition and Tendencies of Technical Education in Germany

by Arthur Henry Chamberlain

In certain sections, Nassau and Hanover for example, state aid came early to the continuation school. In 1874 an increased appropriation resulted in the betterment of the schools then existing and in the further establishment of like institutions. Here the communities must meet the cost of building, heating, lighting etc., and one-half of all the expenses not covered by the actual tuition. Since 1878 there is a fairly general acceptance throughout the Empire of the statute providing that all employes under eighteen years of age must be allowed to attend a continuation school, the period of attendance to be determined by “competent authority”. This naturally leads the Public Instruction Department to be free in its financial support.

It will be understood that in most cases six hours per week is the attendance required and that only those who have left the Volksschule or lower school and are not attending any higher institution are admitted. In Saxony a somewhat different condition exists. Children who have not made satisfactory progress in the Volksschule must, perforce, attend the continuation school for two years.

The writer of this paper was thoroughly impressed with the work of the Sunday classes as seen in Leipzig, Saxony, during the summer of 1899. His first introduction to such work was made, when on joining a group of boys, several of them carrying draughting-boards, he was conducted by them to their school. The general character and deportment of the boys, the spirit and enthusiasm manifested by them, and the thoughtful and intelligent quality of the work produced, fully justified in his own mind, the validity and worth of the Sunday class instruction.

As between the schools located in the cities and those in the smaller towns and country places, there is some slight difference. They may be classified as (a) rural or (b) city schools, on account of their location. The distinction lies rather in the arrangement of their curricula, the needs of the students in the particular locality being kept in mind. In the rural schools the programme of studies is somewhat general, comprising the German language, arithmetic, mensuration, nature study; and in some instances may be added to these, geography, German history, drawing, gymnastics and music. This programme is elective to the extent that the capacity and previous education of the pupil are considered, and too, the ability of the teacher, local conditions and the time spent by the individual student. Such schools are admonished not to take on the character of technical institutions, but rather to continue the general education begun in the Volksschulen. Only under certain conditions is less than four hours per week of instruction permissible.

In Prussia the city continuation schools are of two grades, each grade made up of a number of classes. In the lower grade schools, instruction is given in accordance with the particular trade or calling the pupil is to follow. In the upper grade, work is much the same, proficiency being the chief additional feature. When six hours of work is the minimum, language, arithmetic, elementary geometry and drawing, form the body of the course; while penmanship, geography, history, grammar and nature study all are taken up in connection with the reading work. Business forms are not overlooked. In the more fully equipped schools where the teachers are prepared for such branches, higher mathematics, mechanics, physics and advanced drawing are taken up.

If, as before stated, the various types of continuation schools overlap, the same is true regarding the trade and industrial continuation schools. While in many instances the work in the latter schools is of a general character, aiming to supplement or round out the education of the pupil, we find that many of the original schools of this class have developed into a form of special or trade school. This is brought about through pressure from without, as it were. When a certain industry predominates in a locality supporting a continuation school, it is only fair to suppose that the work done, general though it may be, will be colored to some extent at least, by the demands of such industry. If this process of merging is carried sufficiently far, as is in many cases done, the school may lose almost or entirely its original trend, and from a Fortbildungsschule, fall into the class of trade or Fachschulen.

In the main then, the instruction given in a continuation school proper, is either of a theoretical nature or involves some form of drawing perhaps, thus rendering any other than an ordinary school room unnecessary for class use. In the city of Leipzig the situation is dissimilar to that in some north German cities. Here the classes are arranged according to the various trades followed, as bookbinders, printers, lithographers, bakers, metal workers, workers in wood and stone, etc. There are again in Southern Germany simply schools of drawing with special reference to the various trades and industries. In addition to these are classes of a general nature for boys not following special trades. Such schools however, cannot be found in the smaller towns or in the country. Certain other Saxon cities have schools of somewhat similar character.

In the Consular Report, Vol. 54, No. 202, page 447, 1898, Mr. J. C. Monoghan says, writing under the title Technical Education in Germany:

“The supplementary schools are for the people who have to work, what Chautauquas, summer schools, and university extension courses are for others.—Parties in politico-economic circles have found that the system of common school education under which boys and girls were given an ordinary education in reading, writing, arithmetic etc., up to their fourteenth year, was inadequate, partially if not wholly, to the ends aimed at in such a system. To supply this defect it was urged, and finally proposed and favorably acted upon, that graduates of the common schools, boys especially, in some few cases girls too, should continue to get instruction a certain number of hours a week. This was made compulsory. Manufacturers, shopkeepers, and mechanics in whose employ such boys were found, and not the parents, were made responsible for the boys’ attendance. In these schools, as indicated in the foregoing, the boys get as good an idea as possible of the trade or branch of business in which they are employed. As a rule, the hours of attendance are early in the morning or a certain number of afternoons in the week. Sunday mornings are not thought too sacred for such work. It seems to be an acknowledgement that the years hitherto given to a boy in which to get an education, viz., from his sixth to his fourteenth year, are not enough to prepare him for the struggle for life that he has to enter upon. Men have told me, successful merchants and agents here, that they owe more to the hours spent in the developing or supplementary schools from the practical character of the instruction given and the information imparted, than to the many years spent in the common schools. While one is hardly willing to believe this, there can be no doubt of the good work done, and being done, by the schools referred to.”

The Handwerkschulen in Berlin are very similar to Fortbildungsschulen in Leipzig for example. These schools have seen a marvelous development during the past few years. They have a technical quality, giving much attention to drawing. The sessions are in the evening, eight hours per week, the fee being six marks the half year. They are attended by journeymen and apprentices who come recommended by their employers. In connection with these schools various Sunday classes are conducted throughout the city, each center specializing along certain trade lines.