SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 247 



are generally introduced into the other papers. It may be well to 

 note that among the many things coming under the head of 

 methods of teaching and school management we find mentioned 

 physical exercises, drill, and recreation. But there is another point 

 of still greater importance. The University of London grants but 

 one certificate, — not two, as does Cambridge, — and includes in 

 that one, as a sine qua non, practical skill in teaching and in the 

 management of a class. No directions are given as to how this 

 last and most difficult test is to be applied. But hitherto the plan 

 adopted has been to require the candidates to send in sketches of 

 lessons on four different subjects chosen by themselves, and to give 

 one or two of these lessons to a class in the presence of the examin- 

 ers. But inasmuch as, in the necessity of things, such classes as 

 can be got near at hand have to be chosen, the teachers know noth- 

 ing personally of the children, and are quite in the dark as to the 

 actual knowledge which the class possesses. The consequence is, 

 that the test is far from satisfactory, and merely serves to show 

 what a teacher will do under very distressing circumstances. At 

 the best, it can only reveal whether a teacher is altogether incom- 

 petent : all the higher qualities must remain unassessed. A large 

 part of those who take degrees at the University of London are the 

 teachers of elementary and middle schools ; and these, by the time 

 they have graduated, have already had many years of school ex- 

 perience : hence the insistence on the practical test as an integral 

 part of the London examination for teachers. The Cambridge ex- 

 amination is rather designed for those who intend to become school- 

 masters and school-mistresses. The London examination has only 

 been in existence some three or four years, and so far has been but 

 very little made use of. 



As I said at the commencement, there are two chairs of pedagogy 

 in Scotland, — one at the University of Edinburgh, and the other 

 at the University of St. Andrew's. Their work is sufficiently alike 

 to allow one description to do for both. I will choose the chair of 

 Edinburgh, held by Prof. S. S. Laurie.' This chair was founded in 

 1876, and commenced work with fourteen students, — a number 

 which has steadily been added to, until the total has now reached 

 fifty-one. Of these students, about three-fifths are ' senior students ' 

 of the denominational training-colleges, who, having passed a quali- 

 fying examination in Latin and mathematics, and stood in the first 

 division of the government list of successful candidates for Queen's 

 scholarships (i.e., entrance scholarships at the training-colleges), 

 are allowed to attend the university. The remainder are students 

 who have graduated or are about to graduate. This latter class 

 will not be likely to attend in larger numbers until either the subject 

 of education is included in the studies qualifying for an IVl. A. degree, 

 or an act is passed requiring all school-masters in Scotland above 

 the elementary grade to hold a diploma in education. A long course 

 of eighty-five lectures is delivered between the first of November and 

 the first of April. Of these lectures, about a dozen are purely psy- 

 chological, dealing with the intelligence and moral nature ; fifty are 

 on method, dealing with principles of teaching and the detailed ap- 

 plication of these ; the rest are on the history of education. These 

 last naturally vary considerably from year to year ; but every year 

 a careful analysis of Quintilian and Locke is given. I must confess 

 that the choice of these two last as staple subjects seems to me 

 peculiar. All the students attend three examinations, and write 

 three essays. These form the subject of professorial criticism. 

 Those students who have not been, or who are not, training-college 

 students practise the art of teaching in the normal schools (by 

 permission), and are examined by the head masters of those schools 

 on practical matters of school management. The head masters 

 report to the professor. Last year the university institute^ a 

 school-masters' diploma specially for secondary school-masters, 

 which, however, is to be conferred only on graduates in arts of 

 Edinburgh. Candidates, moreover, must have attended the class 

 of the theory, art, and history of education in the university, and 

 must pass an examination in these subjects conducted by the 

 professor and an examiner appointed by the university court. The 

 subjects of examination in April, 1887, were, {a) the professor's 

 lectures ; (b) Locke, ' On the Conduct of the Human Understand- 

 ing ; ' (c) Milton, ' Tractate on Education ; ' (d) Comenius, ' Great 



^ The chair at St. Andrew's is held by Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn, whose name 

 and work must he well known in the United States. 



Didactic' Each candidate must further give evidence either that 

 he has attended a course of practical instruction in a training-col- 

 lege ; or that he possesses the government qualification in the prac- 

 tice of teaching required of graduates and provided in the ' Scottish 

 Code ; ' or that he has taught publicly for at least one year in a 

 school, and holds such a certificate of practical skill from the head 

 master as may be considered satisfactory by the university. Lastly, 

 each candidate must satisfy the university of his practical aptitude 

 as a teacher in some special subject or subjects in which he has 

 received instruction in the university or in any institution recognized 

 by the university as qualifying for degrees. I may note in conclu- 

 sion that the fee for the diploma is two guineas. I have not yet 

 been able to ascertain whether St. Andrew's is likely to follow the 

 lead of Edinburgh in instituting a school-masters' diploma. 



It only remains for me to speak of the College of Preceptors in 

 London. This institution provides three courses of evening lectures 

 for teachers, and confers diplomas of three grades, — associateship, 

 licentiateship, and fellowship. The lectures are on {a) psychology 

 and its relation to teaching ; ib) practical teaching ; and (c) the 

 history of education. The courses used to consist of ten lectures 

 each ; but in future the number of lectures on the first two subjects 

 will be doubled. They are open free to all members of the college 

 (annual subscription one guinea), or to any one else on payment 

 of half a guinea for each course. 



The examinations for the three kinds of diploma all include tests 

 of a general education of gradually increasing severity ; but these 

 tests may be omitted in the cases of persons possessing a university 

 degree, or who have passed some examination equally satisfactory 

 to the college. What most concerns us here are the strictly peda- 

 gogic subjects. To begin, then, with the associateship. Candi- 

 dates must give evidence of having been at least one year engaged 

 in teaching, or of having attended a year's course of the lectures for 

 teachers at the college. The subjects are, (i) the elements of 

 mental and moral science ; (2) physiology, with special reference 

 to its application to the laws of health and to physical and mental 

 education ; and (3) lesson-giving and criticism of methods, includ- 

 ing the sketching of a lesson on some assigned subject, the sug- 

 gesting and discussing of cases of difficulty in teaching and disci- 

 pline, and the proposing and criticising of methods. For the licen- 

 tiateship the candidates must give evidence of having been at least 

 two years engaged in teaching. The subjects are the same as for 

 the associateship, with the addition of logic in its application to 

 education; while the third section now includes "a thesis on the 

 life, character, methods, and influence of some distinguished edu- 

 cator to be selected by the candidate, or a description of the organ- 

 ization and methods of some school of repute derived from personal 

 inspection and examination." The candidates for the fellowship 

 must give evidence of having been not less than five years engaged 

 in teaching. Sections No. i and No. 2 are the same as before, but 

 of a more advanced character. Section 3 becomes "government of 

 a school, including lesson-giving and school organization in all its 

 departments." Section 4 is " the history of education and educa- 

 tional methods, with studies of distinguished educators, English 

 and foreign ; and a description and discussion of the methods and 

 organization of schools and colleges of note at home and abroad." 

 The fees in the first case, for examination and diploma together, 

 are two guineas; in the second, three guineas; and in the third, 

 six guineas. Examinations are held twice a year, — at midsummer 

 and Christmas. During 1886, for the three diplomas together, 136 

 candidates entered, — 70 men and 66 women. Of these, 45 ob- 

 tained the associateship, 4 the licentiateship, and i the fellowship. 

 This will serve to show both how much the e.Kaminations are used, 

 and the severity observed in awarding the diplomas. 



I fear that all this will read as a very dry statistical account. It 

 would have been pleasanter and easier to have flowered forth into 

 criticism and exhortation ; but those who really wish to know how 

 matters now stand, will, I believe, find my facts more useful than 

 my views are ever likely to be. H. Courthope Bowen. 



The total number of children within the age of compulsory 

 school years in Prussia is 5,500,000, of whom 4,800,000 attend 

 school. There are more than 700,000 teachers, in 33,000 elemen- 

 tary schools. The average number of pupils to one teacher is 78. 



