114 Transactions.- -Miscellaneous. 



But, good as the German training institutions are, they 

 do not fully satisfy the aspirations of the teachers themselves. 

 It should be noted in passing that all the more important 

 educational reforms in Germany have originated with the 

 teachers. Their suggestions have seldom been at first ac- 

 ceptable to the Government, but, in the end, reasonable 

 changes have been made, and the substantial justice of their 

 demands acknowledged. 



The report of the United States Bureau of Education pub- 

 lished last year contains a historical review of the German 

 and other systems of training for teachers. In the sixth sec- 

 tion of the review a summary is given of the opinions of lead- 

 ing educators on training institutions. The German Teachers' 

 Union, a body sixty thousand strong, had submitted certain 

 inquiries to forty-two of the ablest directors of normal schools. 

 Seventeen of those addressed answered all the questions put 

 to them. The rest declined to answer, chiefly to avoid what 

 appeared to them criticism of the Government. 



The first question was as follows : " Is it advisable to or- 

 ganize the normal schools in such a way that they can offer 

 professional — that is, pedagogical — -training exclusively, or 

 should they also offer academic instruction and general educa- 

 tion, wdiich must be the basis of professional work?" Thir- 

 teen of the seventeen replies were in favour of the separation 

 of general education from purely professional training. Among 

 the reasons given were the following : ' ' The purpose of a 

 teachers' training-school is to prepare its students for their 

 profession; the art it has to teach is the art of teaching; the 

 school can accomplish this task satisfactorily only if the gene- 

 ral education of its students has to a certain extent been com- 

 pleted before they are admitted; the mixture of general pre- 

 paration and professional training now existing is the chief 

 obstacle to progress in the training of teachers, l)ecause it 

 necessitates a low degree of requirements for the general 

 education — lower than is desirable in the interest of jDopular 

 education." 



The second question was, " In what manner, in case the 

 first question be answered in the aflirmative, shall the gene- 

 ral ^preparatory education be obtained? Is it desirable to 

 (a) establish special preparatory schools for teachers, or {h) 

 should the existing normal schools be extended downwards 

 by establishing preparatory courses, or (c) is attendance at 

 secondary schools to be commended ? If so, which one — the 

 classical (gymnasium), or the modern (real gymnasium), or 

 the citizens' high school (without Latin)? " Six replies were 

 in favour of the existing high schools, and all recommended 

 the citizens' high school as the most suitable. 



These are the only questions that concern us in New 



