The School System of Norway

by David Allen Anderson

COMPARATIVE ATTAINMENTS

In the study of the school system of Norway it is interesting to compare the school life and attainments of the pupils with those of American children. It is true that until we have established norms for measuring the results of education, we cannot make accurate statements regarding the relative standing of pupils nor estimate precisely their accomplishments. However, we are able to single out some features of importance and compare them in a general way.

It has been noted that the Norwegian pupils begin school at seven years of age, while the American children commence at five or six. Many prominent educators believe that our American children start to school too young. They are of the opinion that their development, physical and mental, would be better if they did not begin formal school work until at least seven or eight years of age. The greater physical development of the Norwegians, due to their later start, gives them a distinct advantage. Their bodily strength and vigor supplement and aid their mental growth.

Passing through Norway's successive grades of school to the completion of the gymnasium requires twelve years. The same length of time is used in reaching graduation from our American high school. Now it is generally conceded that a graduate of the gymnasium in Norway is two years in advance of a graduate of the American high school; or in other words a student entering the university from Norway's gymnasial course has an education equivalent to that of an individual entering the junior year of work in an American college or university. Some would rank the Norwegian even higher than I have here suggested; however, only a very general comparison can be made.

In consideration of these conditions the question arises: How shall we account for the fact that we use two extra years in order to reach approximately the same standard? It is recalled that the Norwegian entering school at seven and progressing at the normal rate are ready for university work at nineteen while the Americans begin two years earlier in order to reach the same attainments at the same age. If the Norwegian pupils accomplish as much in twelve years, beginning at seven years of age, as our American children do in fourteen years, commencing at five, should we rest satisfied, or should we modify our system so as to profit by their experience? Why permit traditions or precedent to rob us of choice benefits within our reach?

Again, the students entering the Norwegian university are older and more mature both physically and mentally than are ours. Being older, their habits of life are more definitely formed, and they are better fitted to undertake the responsibility of self-direction. It has been suggested by some that we extend the work of the high school in order to keep our children under parental guidance until they are sufficiently mature to care for themselves at less hazard.

The course pursued by Norwegian pupils is uniform for all until the last two years of the secondary school, when certain branches of study may be chosen for major attention. When students start to the university they enter immediately upon specialized lines of work and pursue them to their limits. The American pupils are privileged to elect a considerable proportion of their secondary school work, yet they do not generally specialize at all until their junior year in college; frequently they postpone definite specialization until the beginning of graduate courses.

Fundamental social characteristics enter into educational ideals, and each nation, very naturally, develops a system of schools peculiarly adapted to its needs. There are, of course, general underlying principles which operate in all educational systems and place them on similar bases; there are also certain features, essential in the make-up of the individual systems, which are not common. These peculiar factors give distinctive character to the various systems and are of telling effect in determining their excellencies. Whether these special phases affect the life and accomplishments of the pupils, the nature of their work, the management of school affairs, or other educational activities; they render the different systems almost impossible of comparison. However, they are suggestive, and frequently they may be modified and used in improving the systems of other countries.