October 28, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



211 



■connected lectures on practice delivered by prominent head masters 

 and other teachers. Amongst these last may be mentioned as 

 specially valuable the lectures on stimulus and on discipline, by 

 Mr. Arthur Sidgwick, formerly an assistant master at Rugby ; and 

 one on ' A Day in a Class-Room,' by Dr. Abbott, head master of 

 the City of London School. As far as I know, only one connected 

 course of lectures on the practice of education has ever been de- 

 livered before the university ; viz., that by Mr. Fitch, which has 

 since appeared as his well-known ' Lectures on Teaching.' It may 

 well be doubted whether the sporadic lectures by eminent school- 

 masters above referred to can be properly said to form a part of 

 training in any real sense ; but they are certainly more attractive 

 than a prolonged course, and are in many ways suggestive and 

 stimulative. The reasons why these lectures as a whole are not 

 more satisfactorily attended are mainly two, — first, because under- 

 graduates, while reading for their degrees, have very Uttle time to 

 ■devote to other subjects ; and, second, because it is the habit at 

 our universities to look upon lectures as merely preparation for ex- 

 aminations, and to value examinations solely by the prizes attached 

 to them. Now, there are no prizes attached to the teachers' ex- 

 aminations, and the head masters of our public schools practically 

 ignore them altogether, while the University Agency for the sup- 

 ply of masters does not even mention the certificates on its form of 

 qualifications. It is no wonder, therefore, that undergraduates do 

 not crowd the lecture-room. It is only fair, however, to state that 

 the lectures on education suffer no more than others under similar 

 drawbacks. The writer of this paper, when lecturing at Cambridge 

 a short while ago, on the history of education, can remember on 

 one occasion to have counted as many as seventeen undergraduates 

 present. At the time there were about nineteen hundred under- 

 graduates at the university, of whom perhaps one-quarter were 

 destined to become school-masters, at least for a time. 



Before a candidate can enter for the examination of the Cam- 

 bridge Teachers' Training Syndicate, he or she must have given 

 evidence of something of the nature of a sound general education. 

 The test is not, as at London and Edinburgh, that the candidate 

 must be a graduate of the university. Some nine fairly simple ex- 

 aminations are named, one of which must have been passed ; or, to 

 make the condition still more elastic, the candidate must have " been 

 presented for examination by a training-college approved by the 

 syndicate." This lowering of the initial test, no doubt, still further 

 removes education from the status of a university subject ; but it 

 renders the examination far more widely available, especially for 

 women, who form about nine-tenths of the candidates as a rule. 

 In the examination of June, 1886, held at the three centres, Cam- 

 bridge, London, and Cheltenham, fifty-one candidates passed, of 

 whom only three were men (students of the Finsbury Training- 

 College). There are two certificates granted, — one for the theory, 

 history, and practice of teaching ; and, where this has been won, 

 another may be obtained for practical efficiency in teaching. The 

 subjects for the former are: — (i) The theory of education: (a) 

 the scientific basis of the art of education, or pure psychology ; 

 (d) the elements of the art of education, or the application of 

 psychology to school-work in the training of the faculties (the 

 senses, memory, conception, etc). (2) The history of education in 

 Europe since the revival of learning, a general knowledge being re- 

 quired of systems of education which have actually existed, of the 

 work of eminent teachers, and of the theories of leading writers on 

 education up to the present time. A more detailed knowledge is 

 required of special subjects set from year to year. For example, 

 the special subjects for 1887 are, 'John Amos Comenius, his Life 

 and Educational Works,' by Professor Laurie, and ' The Life and 

 Work of Arnold;' those for 1888 will be 'Locke's Thoughts con- 

 cerning Education,' and ' The Teaching of the Jansenists at Port 

 Royal.' (3) The practice of education : (a) method, which deals 

 with actual teaching and examination ; {6) school management, 

 which deals with hygiene, furniture, apparatus, time-tables, etc. 

 One paper is set on each of three groups of subjects ; and a fourth 

 paper is added, containing a small number of questions of an ad- 

 vanced character on each of the three groups. It is into this paper 

 that questions on physiology and physical training are usually in- 

 troduced ; but, notwithstanding this, I cannot but think that these 

 last-named subjects are not sufficiently represented. Candidates 



must be twenty years old before entering for the examination, and 

 must pay a fee of fifty shillings to the syndicate. 



The certificate for practical efficiency, as I have pointed out, can 

 only be obtained by those who already hold the certificate which I 

 have just described. Candidates must " have been engaged in 

 school-work for a year in some school or schools recognized for the 

 purpose by the syndicate." Training-colleges of course come under 

 this designation, " if the syndicate is satisfied with the duration and 

 character of the training in practical work received by the candi- 

 dates." The bases for the certificate are, (a) examination of the 

 class taught by the candidate ; (i) an inspection of the class while 

 being taught ; (t) questions put to the teacher in private after the 

 inspection ; and (d) a report made by the head master or mistress. 

 I do not think there have been many candidates for this certificate 

 other than the students of those few training-colleges which are es- 

 tablished for teachers of middle and higher schools. But then they 

 are almost the only people who use the examination at all. 



It may be as well to mention here that the syndicate does not 

 prescribe the use of any particular books for its examination, except 

 those mentioned under the head of ' special subjects.' Mr. Ward 

 has, however, from time to time put forth a list of some of those 

 books which may be safely recommended to students, and from 

 which they can make their own choice. I need scarcely say that 

 Dr. Barnard's admirable compilations play a prominent part in 

 this list. 



I have given a very full description of the Cambridge scheme, 

 both because I consider it, on the whole, the best unconnected 

 with a training-college in Great Britain, and because by so doing I 

 shall be saved the trouble of entering into such minute detail again. 

 Let me mention here, for the information of the curious in such 

 matters, that in the charter of Cavendish College, founded at Cam- 

 bridge in 1876, the objects mentioned are, " (i) To enable students 

 somewhat younger than ordinary undergraduates to pass through a 

 university course, and obtain a university degree; (2) To. train in 

 the art of teaching those students who intend to become school- 

 masters ; (3) To secure the greatest possible economy in cost as 

 well as time." I cannot ascertain that any steps have ever been 

 taken to realize the second object. Probably all that was meant 

 was that the college was intended to provide ' pupil-teachers ' in 

 the elementary schools, with an opportunity for finishing their gen- 

 eral education. Who knows but that some day we may get it to 

 mean both that and something more ? 



The University of London is simply a corporation for examina- 

 tion purposes. It provides no lectures of any kind ; that is, it does 

 not educate, but only tests education. It is hoped by many that 

 before very long this state of things may be changed ; but for the 

 present the fact stands as I have stated it. For the present, there- 

 fore, the only part the University of London can play in the higher 

 training of teachers is that of an examiner. As I have already 

 said, it possesses an ' examination in the art, theory, and history of 

 teaching.' Unlike the University of Cambridge, it restricts its ex- 

 amination to its own graduates, and it grants a ' teacher's diploma ' 

 on the result. There is no restriction as to age, and the fee is five 

 pounds. Four papers are set, — • one on ' mental and moral science 

 in their relation to the work of teaching ; ' two on ' methods of 

 teaching and school management;' and one on 'the history of 

 education.' The science and the methods are very much the same 

 as at Cambridge ; but the history consists solely of set books. It 

 is described as " the lives and work of eminent teachers, and the 

 systems of instruction adopted in foreign countries." The set 

 books for 1887 are as follows : ' History of the University of Cam- 

 brido;e from the Earliest Times to 1535 A.D.' by Bass MuUinger; 

 ' Education and School,' ' Theory and Practice of Teaching,' by 

 E. Thring ; ' On the Action of Examinations,' by Latham ; ' Ouelques 

 mots sur I'lnstruction publique en France,' by Michel Br^al. 



There are no doubt great advantages in the direction of definite- 

 ness and thoroughness to be derived from the use of set books ; but, 

 on the other hand, it leads to this unsatisfactory position, — that 

 in 1887 teachers will gain their diploma without having shown any 

 particular knowledge of the public instruction of England, Germany, 

 and Switzerland, and, what is worse, without having shown any 

 particular knowledge of the theories and methods of Froebel and 

 Pestalozzi. As a matter of fact, one or two questions on these last 



