As a rule, those trained in the teachers' seminaries are employed in the primary schools. The students who avail themselves of the advantages of a university education and follow it by the training provided in the Pedagogical Seminary generally become teachers in the secondary schools. The seminary training in general is of such character that it may be put into use immediately upon entrance into the work of teaching. It also renders vital and usable for purposes of instruction the information and intellectual development gained during the long-continued and intensive schooling preceding such training.
III. TEACHERS' OFFICIAL TITLES
Throughout the school system of Norway teachers are given titles according to the nature of the positions occupied. In the primary school the man who does the supervising work (in America known as superintendent) is called the Inspektor; the head teacher or principal is termed the Overlaerer; and the other teachers, male and female, are spoken of respectively as Laerer and Laererinde. In the middle school and gymnasium the titles are Rektor, Overlaerer, and Adjunkt. The Rektor has the supervisory work and some teaching to do; the Overlaerer is one of the principal teachers who has been given the title and ranking, chiefly because of fitness and long service; and the Adjunkt is a regular teacher who has served the school for five years or more and has received permanent appointment.
Titles do not correspond strictly to educational equipment nor do they depend wholly upon term of service, though both of these may be and generally are contributory factors. For example: positions in the middle schools and gymnasia are open only to those who have certain educational fitness; the teachers with especially strong qualifications and superior ability are the ones most liable to receive early promotion to the higher class positions; and, when promotions are made, the persons who have taught for a long time enjoy some advantage over those with but slight experience. Titles correspond more definitely to classes of positions occupied than to any other thing that can be named. When an individual is appointed to a position carrying a title, that designation is invariably used in connection with his name. He is no longer John Johnson or Herr Johnson, but Rektor Johnson, Overlaerer Johnson, Inspektor Johnson, etc.
IV. TEACHERS' TENURE OF OFFICE
The teacher's tenure of office in Norway is very different from what we are accustomed to in America. Positions are of two kinds—permanent and temporary. Nearly all appointments in the past have been to permanent posts. This means that the individual occupies his place without molestation or any hint of insecurity until he chooses to resign or until he reaches the age of retirement.[19] Some appointments now are to temporary positions though generally they lead to permanent ones. Rarely, if ever, does a person who makes reasonable success in a temporary position fail to secure an appointment to a permanent post.
Permanency in position has a number of well-recognized advantages. Security of situation gives to the teacher a release from the uncertainty which constantly harasses the minds of so many where frequent change of position is the rule. A lasting appointment enables one to get a firm grasp on the local situation, and to utilize without waste all the momentum accumulated while occupying in a particular place. Furthermore, the teacher who feels settled in a position is able to establish a home, and to become identified with the community and its interest.
Since teachers continue for so long a time in a position, they and their pupils become as well acquainted with each other as with members of a common family. It is interesting to note how minutely a teacher knows the daily life and habits of his pupils. While the relations are not always the most congenial, they are known to be practically inevitable and impossible of escape so they each make the best of the situation and get the most out of it.
Again, when children know that it will be their lot to come under the tuition of a certain instructor who occupies a permanent post under state appointment, they work faithfully and usually eliminate any criticising attitude. In fact, long terms of service tend to inhibit the criticisms of both children and parents which sometimes attend teachers who occupy positions but for a short time. The situation conduces to a condition of harmony and cooperative activity. The children instinctively feel the authority of the teacher. They know that he has the support of local and state authorities, and that they will cooperate with him in carrying forward his projects. The teacher, in turn, recognizes his responsibilities in the premises and endeavors to occupy acceptably.