90 EDUCATION 



KERGOMAKD, BINET and RIBOT (these latter two, psy- 

 chologists), have all made valuable contributions to the 

 development of educational thought. 



But during the past hundred years French educators 

 have been nothing if not practical. Teacher-training 

 has loomed large in French educational life. In support 

 therefor one has only to cite the centenary of her higher 

 normal school, celebrated over two decades ago, and the 

 hundred and sixty or more primary normal schools, scat- 

 tered through the various departments, to say nothing 

 of the girls' higher normal schools, two higher primary 

 normal schools, as well as other teacher-training institu- 

 tions all included within an area less than three-quarters 

 the size of Texas. 



In all these training schools, three aims have been 

 constantly kept to the fore: The student should know 

 his subject thoroughly; he should know more than his 

 subject; and he should know how to teach his subject. 

 It may fairly be asserted that during the past generation 

 no country in the world has succeeded better than France 

 in accomplishing this triple purpose in teacher-prepara- 

 tion. 



Curricula, courses of study, methods of instruction 

 and organization, textbooks, and innumerable other 

 details are regulated by a central authority, usually at 

 Paris itself, after carefully culling the best ideas from 

 the educational leaders of the country. A system or- 

 ganized on such a basis may make less striking innova- 

 tions in educational procedure, and may reduce the 

 opportunities for experimentation and scientific work, 

 but at the same time it conduces to more consistent 

 educational progress. In fact, long before the term 

 gained general acceptance, France was following a kind 

 of pedagogical pragmatism in the conduct of its edu- 

 cational affairs. In a word, France has little to offer 



