EDUCATION 91 



the foreign student in the way of mere formal study of 

 educational theory as a university subject, much less 

 does it hold out any inducement to the mere seeker 

 after academic distinction. 



On the other hand, for the educator of mature mind, 

 able to use his educational theory as a tool, capable 

 of observing, judging, and evaluating educational or- 

 ganization and practice, France offers an almost virgin 

 field for study. With a highly organized educational 

 system in full working order, with practically every type 

 of educational institution in successful operation, France 

 yields to no other country in the world in the excellence 

 of its individual institutions of learning. These are 

 well worth the study of the professional educator, from 

 the University with its traditional faculties, as well as 

 its more modern adjuncts (to say nothing of independent 

 institutions of university grade like the College de 

 France, the ficole des Hautes Etudes Sociales, the Institut 

 Oceanographique, and the like), through its famous old 

 lycees and other types of secondary schools, its various 

 grades of scientific and technical schools, its commercial, 

 industrial, and agricultural schools, all the way down to 

 the modest primary school. Each type or each school 

 has an organization and in many cases a methodology 

 of its own. 



In view of the practical trend in French education, 

 the absence of education courses, in the narrow sense 

 of the term, occasions no surprise. In the University 

 of Paris, only one professor, DURKHEIM, lectures in that 

 field, announcing three courses under the general cap- 

 tion: Science of education and sociology. One of these 

 courses is in ethics; one is concerned with the history of 

 pedagogical doctrines; and one is a practical course de- 

 signed to meet the needs of candidates for the master's 



