By referring to the programs of work arranged for the successive years in the schools of Norway, one readily sees that there is but little variation in subjects of study from the first grades of the primary school to the completion of the gymnasium. The change of greatest importance is the introduction of foreign languages—German and English the first and second years in the middle schools and French the first year in the gymnasium.
When the child enters school he begins subjects of study which represent the several fields of knowledge. The teaching aims to keep him in touch with these in ways adapted to his stage of development. As the pupil grows the scope of each subject enlarges. They advance together. Keeping the subject definitely in mind for a long time tends to the creation of permanent interests and at the same time makes possible its assimilation into the very life of the learner. It becomes vital and usable after being acted upon in the various stages and conditions of life through which the child passes. Inter-relations and associations with other subjects of study and various phases of life are affected, which give to it distinct values. Too often we find in our own schools that hurried and intensive study of certain subjects does not create permanent interests nor prove of real worth.
If natural forces in the child are recognized and utilized they facilitate the learning process and make school activities profitable and delightful. It is a well attested fact that at certain periods in the psychological development of a child mastery of special phases of learning is easy for him. Courses of study and plans of instruction should be prepared in such a way that the different phases of work included may be presented and stressed while the nascent period of interest is on.
We Americans are given to dividing a subject into its separate phases, studying them consecutively for short periods of time, and then forgetting them. The plan is wasteful and unpedagogic. Note the manner in which we break up the work in mathematics and in the mother tongue. It is questionable whether there be a single valid argument favoring such practice.
The Norwegians present mathematics as a single and comprehensive subject. The same is true in their teaching of the mother tongue. The plan is advantageous from every view point. It is certainly conducive to economy of time and efficient results. Instead of breaking up subjects of instruction and isolating their several phases from each other, we ought rather to keep them intact and set about coordinating the several branches of instruction as closely as possible.
Education should seek to associate and interrelate the truths we obtain and to organize our knowledge into an effectual system. The formation of a comprehensive curriculum, with arrangements for its presentation in harmony with sound psychological and pedagogical principles, is a matter of pressing importance.
While the school systems of the present are evidently superior to what any past generation has known, yet the investigations of psychologists and educationists stress the fact that in many ways they are weak and inefficient. The accumulated experience of the past needs overhauling by masters with insight and foresight. Educational methods and principles which have been tested and proven worthy should be put into operation. Each nation should devise and adopt the most perfect educational system possible, and this then should be carried into execution by an army of qualified teachers responsive to the call for truly consecrated service.