May 8, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



735 



year of study and conversational teaching 

 in Prussia would bring them. The oppor- 

 tunity is virtually that of a traveling fel- 

 lowship. The teachers have the right to 

 attend instruction in all classes of the insti- 

 tution so far as it is beneficial to their work. 

 Many teachers in the United States who 

 consider the plan may not welcome the idea 

 that they are to remain at one particular 

 institution during their official connection 

 with the school system in Prussia ; and that, 

 further, they are under the direct guidance 

 of the director of the institution to which 

 they are assigned. These restrictions, how- 

 ever, have their advantages. The privilege 

 of becoming acquainted with the school 

 system of Germany in all its working de- 

 tails and the fact that this privilege is 

 accorded the visiting teachers under most 

 dignified and agreeable circumstances are 

 worthy of emphasis. The director of an 

 institution to which a teacher is assigned 

 will, with his colleagues, take a personal 

 interest in introducing the teacher into the 

 social life of the community. Good-fellow- 

 ship is extended to him, and with this the 

 opportunity to gain an intimate knowledge 

 of German ideals in teaching and to observe 

 German methods in practise. In the United 

 States such an opportunity is usually ac- 

 corded a visitor who gives evidence of sin- 

 cerity in his desire for the privilege, but 

 in Prussia the privilege is rarely granted 

 to any one except through formal applica- 

 tion to the Royal Minister of Instruction. 

 In no ease are teachers to take part in 

 the formal instruction of the institution 

 which they visit. They do not do the work, 

 or even part of the work, of a regular 

 teacher. This would impose too heavy a 

 burden upon the visitors and would render 

 their relationship with the students too 

 didactic. The plan is for the visiting 

 teacher to teach conversation in his own 

 language in an informal manner for not 



more that two hours each day, his classes 

 being small groups of upper classmen who 

 wish to perfect themselves in the language 

 of the teacher. The students and the 

 teacher discuss the manners and customs 

 of the teacher's home, the school arrange- 

 ments, the family life, the conditions of 

 public life, the social usages, etc. Work 

 of this nature will not interfere with the 

 teacher's leisure for study and observation, 

 and for short trips to communities other 

 than his own. 



DETAILS OP THE SYSTEM 



All matters of business connected with 

 the exchange of teachers are transacted 

 either through the Prussian Minister, whose 

 address is Berlin W, 64, Wilhelmstrasse 68, 

 or through the Carnegie Foundation for 

 the Advancement of Teaching, 576 Fifth 

 Avenue, New York City. All communica- 

 tions from those interested in the matter in 

 the United States should be addressed to 

 the president of the Carnegie Foundation 

 for the Advancement of Teaching. 



All applications from institutions for 

 teachers from Prussia and for appoint- 

 ments of individuals to go to Prussia should 

 be filed at the office of the foundation not 

 later than June 15, to go into effect in 

 October. In making application a teacher 

 should give his full name, address, date and 

 place of birth, citizenship, religious faith, 

 academic preparation for teaching and in- 

 formation concerning his fitness for the 

 work, and preference in regard to situation 

 in Prussia. Formal application blanks for 

 this purpose may be had upon request from 

 the offices of the foundation. 



The candidate for appointment to a posi- 

 tion in Prussia should be a graduate of a 

 college which requires for admission the 

 usual four-year high school course. He 

 must have been for at least one year a 

 teacher, though not necessarily a teacher 



