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 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Social Science Association. 
 
 CHAIRS OF PEDAGOGICS 
 
 IN OUR 
 
 UNIVERSITIES. 
 
 A DISCUSSION 
 
 or THE 
 
 SCIENCE UND SRT'OF EDUCATION 
 
 A8 
 
 UNIYERSITY DISCIPLINES. 
 
 BT 
 
 EDMUND J. JAMES, Ph. D., 
 
 PrnfessDr in the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Published by the 
 
 PHILADELPHIA SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, 
 
 J20 Locust Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 \ 
 
 >\^.-- 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 Expansion of the College and consequent change in the character of its work. 
 
 Harvard College as an illustration. 
 
 Accidental character of our educational progress and consequent unequal develop- 
 ment of different subjects of instruction. 
 
 Result, that unimportant subjects have received undue attention, while very import- 
 ant branches have been almost or entirely neglected. 
 
 To the latter class belongs the subject of the Science and Art of Education. 
 
 This branch should now be introduced into our Colleges and Universities for a 
 three-fold reason : 
 (i.) Specific office of the University to further the development of science as 
 
 such and consequently of the science of education, 
 (2.) Liberalizing character of this subject. 
 (3.) Practical advantages resulting from its cultivation. 
 
 Inefficient character of our present teaching. 
 
 No requirement at present of any previous professional preparation for this im- 
 portant calling. 
 
 No evidence of professional study in the case of actual teachers. 
 
 Origin and cause of present state of things. 
 
 Normal schools and their functions. 
 
 Need of professional training for high school and college work as shown by charac- 
 ter of educational problems involved. 
 
 Possible methods of furnishing this training : 
 
 (l.) Inducements to private individuals to furnish these facilities. 
 
 (2.) Postgraduate seminaries for training of teachers for such work. 
 
 (3.) College and University Departments for the Cultivation of this Subject. 
 
 Advantages of such departments : 
 
 (I.) Would conduct the training of teachers under the best surroundings. 
 (2 ) Would tend to make teaching a real profession. 
 (3.) Would furnish facilities to all who care to improve their own work. 
 (4.) Would afford opportunities for the few choice spirits who are qualified by 
 nature to make contributions to the art and science of the subject to pre- 
 pare themselves properly for the work. 
 
 What courses should be established. 
 
 Certain objections answered. 
 
 Facilities offered in Germany, England, Scotland and the United States. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note I. Literature of the Subject. 
 
 " II. Functions of the University. 
 
 " III. Normal Schools and Their Work. 
 
 " IV. Argument for Training of Teachers in Regents' Report. 
 
 " V. Post-graduate Seminaries. 
 
 " VI. Proper Place for Training Teachers. 
 
 " VII. British Universities and Training of Teachers. 
 
 2 
 
 ♦ Roland* P. Falkner- 
 
Chairs of Pkoaoooics 
 
 IN OUR 
 
 UNIVKRSITIKS. 
 
 Among the interesting phenomena connected with Ameri- 
 can education of the last thirty years none are more 
 striking than the expansion of the college and the change in 
 the character of its work. A generation ago the college offered 
 to its students only one prescribed course of study in which 
 Classics and Mathematics formed the chief constituents. 
 These subjects were supplemented by a little elementary 
 instruction in natural science and a taste of moral science and 
 history. There was no recognition of the desirability of consulting 
 different tastes among the students, or of encouraging devotion 
 to any branches of study except those which formed the staples 
 of the curriculum. So many hours each week were devoted in 
 the Freshman year to Latin, so many to Greek, so many to 
 Mathematics. The Sophomore year was a continuation of the 
 Freshman year. In the Junior year a little attention was given 
 to History, Physics and possibly Chemistry ; while in the 
 Senior year a few hours were given to Political Economy, 
 Philosophy, Ethics and Constitutional Law. All the students 
 took the same number of hours in each subject. 
 
 The present curriculum is very different from the former in 
 all institutions, which have been enabled by the possession of 
 pecuniary resources to advance. The great difference may be 
 made clear by comparing the present curriculum of the institu- 
 tion, which has carried through these changes most consistently 
 with the one in existence a generation ago. Harvard College, 
 although not the first to begin this reform, nor successful in her 
 first attempts to introduce it, has by a series of happy coinci- 
 dences taken her place at the very head of the column and stands 
 to-day by universal consent at the head of American institutions, 
 
 3 
 
 ^ 
 
so far as number of different branches taught in its curriculum 
 and the number of courses offered in each branch is concerned. 
 
 This will appear more clearly by a brief comparison of one of 
 its late announcements with the typical course. The following 
 subjects were represented in the college by different courses, 
 aggregating the number of exercises per week indicated by the 
 figures following each subject : — 
 
 Hebrew, 6 ; Aramaic, 2 ; Assyrian, 6 ; Arabic, 4 ; Ethiopic, 
 2 ; Sanskrit, 8 ; Old Iranian, 2 ; Greek, 40 ; Latin, 40 ; English, 
 29; German, 24; French, 26; Italian, 10; Spanish, 12; 
 Philosophy, 30; Political Economy, 17; History, 45 ; Roman 
 Law, 6 ; Fine Arts, 17 ; Music, 13 ; Mathematics, 38 ; Physics, 
 21 ; Chemistry, 23 ; Natural History, 50; total, 471. 
 
 The typical college has something like the following : — 
 Greek, 11 ; Latin, 11 ; Mathematics, 12 ; History, 5 ; Physics, 
 4 ; Natural History, 2 ; French, 3 ; German, 3 ; Political 
 Economy, 3 ; Political Science, Ethics, &c.. 3 ; Philosophy and 
 Logic, 3 ; total, 60. That is. Harvard College offers nearly 
 eight times as many exercises per week in the various branches 
 of human science as the ordinary classical college.* 
 
 Important as this change in the number of subjects of 
 instruction has been for our college system, it is no more 
 important than another change intimately related to it though 
 quite different in character, and that is the revolution in the 
 kind of teaching afforded in each of the leading subjects. This 
 difference is much greater than one would infer from a mere 
 contemplation of the subjects announced in the catalogues. 
 / Even thirty years ago, for example, the subject of Political 
 Economy was included in nearly all the college curricula of the 
 country. But it was at that time taught by the president of the 
 college, usually a clergyman, whose time was fully occupied by 
 other duties, and whose attitude toward such topics was 
 hopelessly biased by the fact of his theological education and 
 profession. To-day it is taught in our better institutions by men 
 who have made a specialty of social and economic topics, and 
 
 * Of course, this could not be done satisfactorily without an elective system of 
 some sort — either elective study, elective course, or elective group system, nnder 
 which each student takes no greater number of hours per week than under the old 
 plan, but has a much wider range of choice in the selection of his subjects. 
 
whose whole time and attention are devoted to this department 
 of investigation. More than that, where thirty years ago, one 
 short course of perhaps forty to fifty exercises was considered 
 sufficient, to-day, no college of any size is satisfied unless 
 it can, at least, double or triple these opportunities, and several 
 of the centers offer a number of courses, each of which has 
 more exercises than were formerly offered in the whole 
 curriculum. The same thing is true of other subjects, so 
 that we can fairly say, that the teaching of such subjects was 
 formerly tutorial merely, and given by men who were qualified 
 in that subject only for a tutor's work, while to-day it is pro- 
 fessional and given by experts in the various subjects. This 
 difference is vast, and signifies a total revolution in the spirit and 
 results of college work. 
 
 This development, significant and far reaching as it is, has, 
 however, not been symmetrical. It has gone on in an almost 
 accidental way. The subjects which have received the most 
 careful attention have been in many cases those far removed, rela- 
 tively speaking, from the immediate demands of our national life. 
 Thus, the subject of Assyriology, than which it would be difficult 
 to find one more remote from all our practical interests, speak- 
 ing in a narrow sense, has received such an impetus, that an 
 American student can now find as good opportunities for its 
 study at home as abroad, and very much better advantages than 
 in most other countries. On the other hand, the subject of 
 Political and Social Science has received only inadequate recog- 
 nition, considering their vital importance to our political and 
 social development. The reason for this is not far to seek. 
 Our higher educational institutions are, to a large extent, in the 
 hands of private parties, who are bound in their management of 
 the institution by many an old provision of a will, or by strong 
 corporate or individual interests. They are dependent for their 
 resources upon private beneficence for the means of carrying on 
 their work at all. Every individual, therefore, who imagines 
 that he knows what the educational interests of the time demand 
 and who has a sum of money at his command, may practically 
 determine the whole course of an institution by giving the money, 
 on condition that it be used in a definite manner to promote a 
 
definite subject or subjects. The universities are, therefore, 
 rarely in a position to pay much attention to symmetrical 
 development, with a due regard to the wider interests of the 
 community. It is rather a wonder, under the circumstances, that 
 their curricula are as symmetrical as they are. 
 
 This circumstance makes it necessary, that from time to time 
 we should canvass our institutions and our national needs, and 
 ascertain whether the former are answering the latter to as full 
 an extent as possible. If it appears that in this accidental pro- 
 cess of development we are leaving great gaps, then it is our 
 duty to call attention to this fact, and urge upon the directors of 
 our institutions and upon the benefactors of the public, the 
 necessity of remedying such defects by timely action. 
 
 Prominent among the subjects which are fundamentally 
 important to our national welfare, and yet, which are almost 
 entirely neglected by our higher institutions, is Education in its 
 historical, scientific, and practical aspects. It is the purpose of 
 the present paper to investigate the relation of this branch of 
 inquiry to the country at large, to the teaching profession, and 
 to the higher institutions of learning themselves.* 
 
 If we examine our national institutions and arrange them in 
 order of their importance to national welfare, we shall certainly 
 put high in the list those pertaining to the training and 
 education of the people. The work of education itself is, of 
 course, of fundamental importance to national welfare, since it 
 is one of the most important means of transmitting to the next 
 generation the heritage of culture, which we have received 
 from our predecessors. It is the means by which the con- 
 tinuity of progress is preserved. Accordingly as it is well or 
 ill done is the basis of all future progress maintained. It is 
 moreover, the means by which each successive generation is 
 made more worthy than the preceding, to take up and carry on 
 the work of furthering civilization in every department.! 
 
 The work of education determines whether the individuals 
 upon whom will shortly rest the burden of managing the world's 
 
 * See note I, Appendix. 
 •j-Cp. Spencer on Education. 
 
affairs shall be properly prepared for their task, and con- 
 sequently, whether the sacrifices which all preceding generations 
 have made for this end shall be crowned with legitimate fruit. 
 Surely a subject of this importance can not receive too much 
 attention from those who are interested in the progress of the 
 race. 
 
 But the subject is of special importance to the welfare and 
 existence of the institutions of education themselves. It is 
 surely proper that a set of institutions which exist solely for the 
 purpose of promoting education should encourage and develope 
 the science of education itself and the art which rests upon it. 
 It is surely fitting that they should devote time and effort to 
 collecting all the information on this subject which is obtain- 
 able ; that they should investigate everything which pertains to 
 the proper ends and means of this very work in which they are 
 engaged. One would suppose that they would, as a matter, of 
 course, take care that this department of human learning so 
 immediately relating to themselves should be adequately 
 protected and fostered. 
 
 The subject is important in a special sense to a large and 
 growing class in the community, viz., the individuals who carry 
 on the actual work of instruction in our educational institutions 
 of all grades from the lowest to the highest. It is surely to 
 their interest that everything should be done to promote the 
 advance of human science in a field where their whole interest 
 is concentrated; that they should favor every plan which 
 promises to increase Dur knowledge of the human mind in its 
 relations to training, of the methods of reaching desired results 
 and of the proper kind of results to reach. 
 
 When, however, we actually examine the existing institu- 
 tions, we shall find that little or nothing has been done to foster 
 and promote this branch of human learning, in spite of its 
 importance in these various respects. In spite of the fact, that 
 we have some 300,000 teachers in this country whose success, 
 tested by any proper standard, depends on the fullest and 
 completest knowledge of principles and practice in this field; in 
 spite of the fact, that we have nearly four hundred higher 
 institutions of various kinds engraved in turning: out such 
 
8 
 
 teachers for this work ; in spite of the fact, that the public is 
 paying hundreds of millions of dollars in order to have this work 
 of education carried on by these teachers, and that it is therefore 
 vitally interested in their knowing everything possible about 
 this subject, the truth remains, that in this whole country 
 there is no centre adequately equipped for the purpose of 
 fostering and promoting this great department of human science 
 and art. In the case of most of our large institutions the subject 
 is not even mentioned in any part of their announcements. This 
 is exceedingly noticeable in regard to Harvard College,where they 
 seem to have thought of almost everything else, but pass over 
 this branch of learning entirely. 
 
 This state of things which may be explained, though it can 
 hardly be justified, will he touched upon again in another part of 
 the paper. 
 
 In our opinion, the time has fully come, when the subject 
 of education in its historical, scientific and practical aspects, 
 should find a place in the curricula of our higher institutions of 
 learning. This claim is made on a three-fold basis. It is, in the 
 first place, one of the prime functions of the University as such, 
 to contribute as far as possible to the advance of human science 
 in every department of life.* The study of this subject affords, 
 moreover, a liberal training, as surely as the study of many of 
 the recognized constitutents of our present curricula, and as 
 such, deserves a place by the side of other elements of a liberal 
 education. And, finally, the practical results which would flow 
 from such incorporation are many and great. 
 
 We are coming more and more in this country to recognize 
 what is a commonplace in all other civilized lands, that the 
 higher institutions of learning do not exist, merely in order to 
 transmit hereditary intellectual possessions of one generation 
 to the next ; not merely to train the rising generation in existing 
 science and art, but also, and quite as much for the purpose of 
 furthering science itself. Experience has shown, that in order 
 to secure adequate attention to any great branch of science, even 
 in the best of these institutions, it is necessary to recognize it as 
 a proper subject of university work, by establishing professor- 
 
 * See Note II., Appendix. 
 
ships, whose incumbents have the duty of promoting by 
 original investigations in every direction the subjects which 
 they represent. It is in this way, that that mangificent system 
 of higher institutions, the German Universities, have gained 
 the leading place in the education of the world. It is, in a 
 word, the wise endowment of research in connection with 
 a practical recognition of the value of such studies which has 
 produced this remarkable result. Other universities are follow- 
 ing this feature, which, although it did not originate in Germany, 
 has found there its best modern exemplification. We recognize 
 now, that if a number of professorships are established in any 
 department of learning and properly filled by suitable men, the 
 result can not fail to be a great widening of our range of 
 knowledge along such lines of investigation. When we can 
 count thirty or forty professors of the Science and Art of Educa- 
 tion in our American Universities, we may be sure that these 
 disciplines will be greatly advanced, and that the professors 
 will discover and elaborate much which will be of great value 
 from a scientific, as well as a practical point of view. It is 
 believed, moreover, that in such a country as ours, where the 
 division of labor is carried through so thoroughly, this is the 
 only method which will ensure the regular and rapid advance 
 of human science in this department. 
 
 But as it is, we have already a number of contributions to 
 the science of education, the study of which can not but result 
 in the same sort of liberal training, which is produced by the 
 pursuit of any other branch of speculative thought or institutional 
 history. In such Colleges as Harvard, Michigan, Cornell, Johns 
 Hopkins, Pennsylvania, Yale and many others, it is recognized 
 by the adoption of a partial or complete elective system for the 
 degree of A.B., that the value of any study so accepted is about 
 equal to that of any other in the course of liberal training. 
 Now, the subject which is called the science of education, 
 though still very limited, and made up for the most part of 
 disputed propositions, is of the same character as any other 
 branch of the philosophic or moral sciences, and if pursued, 
 even in its present form, would give the same kind of discipline. 
 The study of educational theories is a branch of the history of 
 
lO 
 
 philosophy, while the history of educational institutions and 
 processes and methods is also a branch, and a very important 
 one, of institutional history. Education can lay claim to the 
 same sort of treatment accorded to these subjects on its own 
 intrinsic merits as a branch of liberal training. It should be in- 
 cluded, therefore, as a branch of study in every college which 
 has adopted the elective system of studies leading to a liberal 
 degree. 
 
 It is, moreover, fitting, that the college and university 
 should afford opportunities for this kind of work, since they are 
 the great trainers of our teachers. Even in the State of New 
 York, which has, perhaps, provided on the whole, the best 
 opportunities for such education as may be gained outside of a 
 college, three-fourths of the principals of academies are 
 graduates of college. Fully one-third, if not one half of all the 
 graduates of the colleges of this country teach for a longer or 
 shorter period after graduating.* The colleges and universities 
 recruit their teaching force almost exclusively from the ranks of 
 college men, and they should furnish facilities for these men to 
 prepare themselves for their work.f 
 
 Finally, the subject of education should be included as a con- 
 stituent part of the curriculum of our higher institutions of 
 learning, on account of the great practical advantages which 
 would flow from such a step. It would contribute more than 
 any other one thing to an improvement of our educational system. 
 It would do this in several ways. As already noted, it would tend 
 to increase our knowledge of educational science and art, so that 
 all teachers who cared to do so could improve their work by 
 applying this increased knowledge. To those teachers who 
 desired to prepare themselves professionally for their work, it 
 would afford opportunities which do not exist at present. By 
 affording these opportunities, it would tend to beget a desire for 
 this sort of professional training, which could not but result in a 
 great increase in the number of those teachers who would thus 
 seek to prepare themselves better for their work ; and in this 
 
 * Cp. Normal Instruction in Colleges, Edward North, University of New 
 York. Regent's Report, 1869, p. 701. 
 f Cp. Note II'., Appendix. 
 
II 
 
 way a professional spirit would grow up, which would produce the 
 most beneficial effect in raising the character of the average 
 teacher. In other words, the universities would contribute a 
 very important service in offering to the teachers of the country 
 a professional training for their future careers. 
 
 The possibility of establishing in the universities a course 
 of study in the science and art of education, which would be of 
 aid to future teachers in preparing themselves for their work 
 has been much discussed of late both at home and abroad. 
 It is my firm conviction, after carefully following this discussion 
 as far as I have been able to inform myself from actual observa- 
 tion and from the literature concerning it, that those who have 
 maintained that such a course could and should be established 
 have made out their case clearly and conclusively. 
 
 The need of improvement in our teaching is, I think, 
 apparent, and is generally conceded. If we confine our attention 
 in the first instance, to the domain of so-called secondary educa- 
 tion, we shall have to admit, I think, that most of the teaching 
 done in this field is of a very low grade. Certainly, no one 
 who has passed through the different forms of one of our 
 preparatory schools, high schools, or academies, and who is 
 endowed with a reflective turn of mind can resist the conviction 
 that the great majority of the men and women who were en- 
 trusted with the task of training him were unskilled laborers 
 in this most important of fields. 
 
 The explanation of this fact in the case of many of the 
 teachers is easy. They are too young and too inexperienced to 
 be very successful in their work. But even in the case of those 
 who have been engaged in teaching for years, the majority of 
 them would be classed under the rubric of very moderate or very 
 poor teachers. The case is in nowise different in the colleges. 
 A very large percentage of the men engaged in the work of 
 college instruction are inefficient. Surely there is great need 
 of trying everything which promises to assist in remedying 
 this great evil. 
 
 The most striking fact relating to this condition of things 
 is the circumstance that in this whole department there is al- 
 most absolutely no trace of requiring any previous special 
 
12 
 
 training for the work of education. In the case of a physician 
 the community demands that he shall have attended some 
 special school organized for the particular purpose of training 
 those who wish to practice medicine. We insist that he shall 
 have the certificate of a body of specialists that he has given 
 some study and attention to the bodies of the patients upon 
 which he practices, that be shall have studied the nature and 
 qualities of the drugs which he proposes to give, and that he shall 
 have begun his practice under the eye of a trained specialist, 
 and thus acquire some skill before he may go out and set him- 
 self up as a physician. The same thing is true of the dentists 
 and apothecaries. We refuse to entrust even our teeth to the 
 care of any one who has not taken a course of special training 
 under competent authorities. Nay even the men who wish to 
 practice upon animals, even our cat and dog doctors, must first 
 prove that they have spent two or three years in studying all 
 that is known of cat and dog treatment before we give them carte 
 blanche in treating our useful or ornamental animals. It is only 
 in the case of those who are to undertake the treatment of the 
 minds of our children of whom we demand absolutely no evi- 
 dence of skill. Socrates accused the Athenians justly of exer- 
 cising more discrimination in the selection of the trainers for 
 their horses and cows than of the trainers for their children. 
 Since Socrates' time we have made great improvements in the 
 selection of the trainers of our animals, but we are still on the 
 level of the Athenians so far as selecting teachers for our 
 own children is concerned. 
 
 It is not only true that we have no special institutions whose 
 chief object is the preparation of teachers for this grade of in- 
 struction, but there are few courses in connection with existing 
 institutions which have for their purpose this peculiar training 
 suitable for the future teacher. Nor is this by any means a full 
 statement of the case. When we come to examine the system 
 of appointing teachers we shall find that no requirement is 
 made in such schools that the candidates seeking appointment 
 shall know anything about the subject of education in general or 
 the teaching of the particular branches he will take up, beyond 
 that minimum which he must necessarily have absorbed in com- 
 
13 
 
 mon with every educated man in connection with his own edu- 
 cational course or, possibly, that practical and empirical ac- 
 quaintance which it is presumed he must have obtained if he 
 has actually taught for a longer or shorter period. Nor is this 
 all. If we go into the schools themselves and inquire of the 
 actual teachers who are conducting the work how much time 
 and attention they may have given to the study and investiga- 
 tion, we will not say, of educational problems in general, but of 
 the special and particular problems connected with the branches 
 they are teaching, we shall be amazed at the ignorance dis- 
 played by the average teacher in such schools in regard to many 
 of the fundamental questions relating to his work. He knows 
 little or nothing of what his colleagues are doing in the same 
 line in other places, what experiments they are trying, what 
 results they are attaining, what ideals they have before them 
 and by what methods they are working towards them. He 
 knows, if possible, still less about what his predecessors did in 
 the same field before he entered it. He has never given any 
 time or attention to the history of teaching in his branch. He 
 knows nothing of the experience of the race in that department 
 though it may be a recorded one dating back 2,500 years. In 
 other words, he is going it alone without any reference to the 
 success or failure of the thousands who may have traveled the 
 same road before. 
 
 Not only is he ignora.nt of the thought and experience of the 
 race in the field in which he is at work, but he has never even 
 given any considerable reflection on his own account to the 
 work he is doing. He has no well defined idea as to the edu- 
 cational purposes and objects of the branch which he is teach- 
 ing, or as to the wisdom or unwisdom of the methods which he 
 adopts. In a word, nearly every element which is a distinc- 
 tively characteristic result of professional training is lacking, 
 not only in the candidates for such positions, but in large num- 
 bers of the present incumbents. 
 
 A striking confirmation of this view is to be found in the 
 class of considerations which determine the appomtment ta 
 positions in our secondary schools and colleges. Leaving out 
 the cases, which are unfortunately too numerous, where personal 
 
14 
 
 considerations are the decisive element, let us take an instance 
 where the determination exists to select the best men who can 
 be obtained. What are the questions asked in regard to the 
 candidate ? Suppose it is a position to teach mathematics in 
 a high school, preparatory school or college. Is he a gradu- 
 ate of a college .-' Has he taught .'' Did he succeed in his teach- 
 ing } Has he had a special course in mathematics ? Can he 
 manage the boys } If you can answer these questions in the 
 affirmative you are perfectly content — greatly rejoiced, in fact, 
 since a man who can fill this bill and will take the remuneration 
 offered is a avis vara. And yet, even in this case, there is no 
 trace of a requirement that the candidate shall have had in any 
 peculiar sense a professional education. Scholarship and a 
 knack of getting along with the boys are the two things sought. 
 No question as to whether the candidate knows anything of the 
 most improved existing methods of teaching his subject ; no 
 question as to whether he knows anything of the experience of 
 the great army of mathematical teachers who have preceded 
 him ; no question as to whether he has studied the opinions of 
 the great thinkers as to the peculiar educational function of his 
 special branches, or as to their relation to other branches, and 
 their consequent position in a liberal or technical curriculum — 
 in a word, no question which would indicate that this man is 
 going into the department of teaching this subject rather than 
 into any one of numerous occupations where a knowledge of 
 mathematics might be useful to him. The very most that is 
 required is *' successful experience in teaching," which means 
 simply, under ordinary conditions, ability to manage a class of 
 boys or young men so that they will observe reasonable order 
 during the class room hour. Ordinarily we are content, as we 
 must be, with the assurance of a very moderate amount of 
 scholarship. 
 
 In other words, we do not recognize in this department of 
 education the desirability of a professional training as distinct 
 from a mere knowledge of the subject-matter of teaching, or 
 from empirical experience in the class room. It is as if we 
 were to be content in the case of the civil engineer with a 
 knowledge of mathematics, or in the case of a physician with a 
 knowledge of materia medica. 
 
15 
 
 This is not true of all departments of education. There 
 is in the field of so-called elementary education a growing rec- 
 ognition of the desirability of some sort of professional train- 
 ing, as is demonstrated by the rapidly increasing number of 
 normal schools. We would not maintain that these schools 
 have done all that was expected of them by the enthusiastic 
 men who labored for their introduction into this country, nor 
 can we admit all their advocates claim for them as they actually 
 exist in this country to-day ; nor can we allow that even under 
 more favorable circumstances they could achieve what certain 
 educators claim for them. But we must admit that they have 
 contributed powerfully to improve the condition of elementary 
 schools in all countries where they have been properly organ- 
 ized and managed, and that this advantage has come chiefly 
 from the circumstance that they recognize the necessity and 
 possibility of some kind of professional training for those who 
 expect to teach in our elementary schools.* 
 
 The field of the normal schools, however, at the best is 
 extremely limited, and it is simply impossible that they should 
 ever furnish the kind of training in education which must be 
 given if we are to improve our educational system rapidly and 
 continuously. They do not make m,any or valuable contribu- 
 tions to the science of education, and we cannot expect it of 
 them under present conditions, or indeed, under any conditions 
 which are likely to be realized for generations to come. They 
 do serve as valuable distributing reservoirs of the science and 
 art, which are evolved elsewhere, and we can not now do with- 
 out them any more than we can allow ourselves to remain de- 
 pendent upon them for the training in educational art and 
 science which teachers in other fields require. 
 
 It is a curious circumstance that the recognition of the 
 necessity of some sort of professional training is characteristic 
 of Elementary education, while in the domain of secondary and 
 higher education there is scarcely a trace of it. 
 
 It seems to me that the explanation is to be found in three 
 facts. The great advance in this respect in elementary educa- 
 tion is due chiefly to a historical accident. When the work of 
 
 * See Note IV., Appendix. 
 
i6 
 
 developing elementary schools was finally taken up in earnest 
 the demand for teachers immediately outran the supply. It 
 was simply impossible to get a sufficient number of persons who 
 possessed the requisite scholarship to teach even the three R's. 
 The recognition of this fact was followed by the establishment 
 of schools for the education of teachers. The work, in the first 
 instance, was nearly entirely academic in character, i. e., it was 
 confined to the teaching of the subject-matter alone, and a large 
 majority of our so-called normal schools in this country are still 
 in this stage, i. e., they are nothing but academies, even where 
 they pretend to be something more. But the possibility and 
 desirability of developing a professional training in conneetion 
 with such schools soon became evident. As . a result, there 
 was a thorough going and in some cases a rapid 
 revolution and evolution, and the professional school 
 emerged from the academy. Our best normal schools can now 
 fairly be called professional schools, for even where they keep 
 the academic work and instruct in all the branches taught in 
 our common schools, as most of them do, the whole instruction 
 has a professional character and is given with reference to the 
 fact that the pupil is to become a teacher in these and similar 
 branches. 
 
 The history of higher and secondary education has been, en 
 the contrary, a very different one. Our colleges and universities 
 have always sent out more men with a moderate degree of 
 scholarship and a willingness to teach than could find places in 
 our schools and colleges. As a consequence, the public has 
 never felt the necessity of special institutions to impart the re- 
 quired degree of scholarship, and as the teachers acquired 
 their education in an institution which existed as much for the 
 future lawyer, doctor, clergyman and merchant as for the 
 teacher, it was undesirable and impossible to shape the instruc- 
 tion for the special benefit of the last class. 
 
 In these two facts then lie, I believe, the explanation of the 
 origin of the present condition in regard to this question. Its 
 continuance is owing to conservatism and to the general preva- 
 lence of what must be regarded as a perniciously false idea that 
 a thorough knowledge of the subject-matter of teaching is a 
 sufificient preparation for a teacher's work. 
 
While, therefore, the present state of things can be easily 
 explained, it can not be so easily justified. There is the same 
 inefficiency in our secondary and higher work which formerly 
 existed in every branch of elementary education. It is due in 
 part to the same cause, viz.: lack of acquaintance with educa- 
 tional literature and educational experience. It may be largely 
 remedied by similar means, viz.: the professional training of the 
 candidate in the science and art of education before he may 
 enter the work. We suffer at present on the one hand from 
 the inexperience of the beginner, the evil effects of which may 
 be greatly reduced by calling his attention, before he begins his 
 work, to the pitfalls which lie on every side of him, by present- 
 ing to him the results of educational experience and thought, 
 as to the significance from a general and a special point of view 
 of the branches he is going to teach and the methods with 
 which the great and small educators of the world have tried to 
 accomplish what they considered desirable ends. We suffer on 
 the other hand from the experience of the routinist, who, hav- 
 ing begun his work with no acquaintance with the problems or 
 history of education has continued it, one might almost say, as 
 a handicraft, with no desire to know what others are doing or 
 have done, are thinking or have thought on the work in which 
 he is engaged. He would have been a very different teacher 
 had he begun his career with an appreciation of the importance 
 and success of his work, with the knowledge of its relation to 
 the past and the present, and under the influence of the 
 esprit de corps which ever springs from a consciousness of 
 being a part of a learned professional body. 
 
 The professional training of teachers for our higher schools 
 and colleges is as necessary as the professional training of ele- 
 mentary teachers.* This will appear, \ think, from the follow- 
 ing consideration : 
 
 The problems of secondary education, i. e., of education in 
 our secondary schools are, for a part of the course, exactly the 
 same as those of the so-called elementary education. The 
 term secondary school we apply to those which fit for colleges 
 and universities. Now very many such schools take the boys 
 
 * See Note V., Appendix. 
 
i8 
 
 and girls at an early age, usually at ten years and often younger. 
 Of course, in the case of such pupils the pedagogical problems 
 are exactly the same, somewhat modified, it is true, in some in- 
 stances by the studies pursued. If one set of teachers profit 
 by a professional training in work of this grade, it is reasonable 
 to suppose that the other must do so, too. 
 
 Again, the problem of secondary education in those grades 
 above the lowest — say in the three years immediately preced- 
 ing the college — although not exactly the same, are quite as 
 broad, complicated aud difficult as those in the lower grades. 
 In some respects, indeed, from a practical point of view they 
 are more difficult, since in the case of the latter, one knotty 
 question, viz.: what branches should be studied is in a large 
 part decisively determined by the practical demands of our mod- 
 ern life and the subsequent course of study. Reading, writing, 
 and arithmetic must be largely studied in the early years. 
 
 In the third place the pedagogical questions of the college 
 are in many respects similar to those in the upper grades of 
 the preparatory schools. In the average college, indeed, with a 
 prescribed course and text-book study, there is but little differ- 
 ence in the problems of instruction except those growing out 
 of the age of the pupil. A foreigner in passing from the high- 
 est form of a preparatory school to the freshman class of an 
 ordinary college would notice but little if any difference either in 
 subject or method in the instruction of good teachers. 
 
 Finally, the larger pedagogical problems which are decided 
 in our college and university faculties relating to subjects of 
 admission, methods of examination, system of electives, are 
 such as imperatively demand for their proper decision that 
 thorough acquaintance with the problems of education, their 
 genesis, development and solution which if general, can only be 
 the accompaniment of a course of professional instruction 
 which shall embrace all who wish to teach. 
 
 So much for the importance of the problems involved. 
 The necessity of some preparation on the part of those who 
 are to settle these problems, either theoretically or practically, 
 follows almost as a matter of course. 
 
 Logically speaking, there are several ways in which this 
 might be done. The State might demand, as Adam Smith 
 
19 
 
 proposed in speaking of a similar topic, that all candidates for 
 positions in our higher schools and colleges should pass a State 
 examination in the science of education, educational history, 
 biographical, institutional and methodical, leaving the individuals 
 to get the necessary instruction where they can, trusting to 
 individual energy to organize schools for this work as a business 
 enterprise. All educational history, however, shows that such 
 a scheme is unsatisfactory. No high degree of acquirement can 
 be demanded as a matter of fact. The State might, however, 
 establish in addition, special post-graduate schools, whither 
 graduates of college might go and get this special training prior 
 to beginning the work of teaching. The Government of 
 Prussia has done this to some extent, and although the experi- 
 ment seems moderately successful, yet, it has never been tried on 
 a sufficiently large scale to decide its practicability.* The State 
 might also establish courses in the science and art of education, 
 in connection with the existing schools for higher instruction, 
 and require all candidates for such positions to pass an examina- 
 tion in such courses. This is what Germany has done on a large 
 scale, and the result is, that Germany leads the world in educa- 
 tional matters, the German literature on educational topics being 
 equal in value to that of all other countries. Scotland has also 
 done something in this line. These plans in their entirety we 
 can certainly not adopt here at present. It would be, politically 
 speaking, impossible to require our private colleges to limit 
 their appointments to those who had passed such a State exami- 
 nation. Some of our State institutions in the West, have began 
 the work by establishing courses of this kind, though they have 
 few or no special privileges for students who have completed 
 them. 
 
 Another method, and one which is practicable here and in 
 thorough sympathy with our American way of doing things, is 
 for our existing colleges and universities to establish such 
 courses, make them thoroughly efficient, and then trust to the 
 growing insight of the public and of teachers themselves to 
 beget a public sentiment which would make their completion a 
 necessary part of every teacher's equipment. 
 
 * See Appendix. Note VI. 
 
20 
 
 A great advantage of this last method lies in the fact, that 
 the teachers in acquiring their professional training would be 
 subject to the liberalizing influences of a great centre of culture, 
 and would thus avoid that narrowness which too often 
 characterizes those who are trained to a specific calling in 
 special schools which have no connection with liberal depart- 
 ments.* 
 
 One of the chief practical advantages of such a develop- 
 ment, as noted above, would be its tendency to make the calling 
 of teacher a profession. Our schools are to-day, speaking 
 generally, taught by men and women who have no idea of re- 
 maining in the work any longer than they can help. The 
 majority of teachers in all grades from the ungraded country 
 schools to the college are teachers, so to speak from necessity. 
 They are women waiting to get married, young men waiting until 
 they can get money enough to go to the Law or Medical School, or 
 finish their theological course or become dentists or veterinary 
 surgeons — anything, in fact, except teachers. The average life 
 of the teacher in the United States, taking in all classes, is not 
 over four years at the outside. An examination into the educa- 
 tional condition of the great State of Illinois, showed that the 
 average public school teacher did not continue in the work 
 above three years. Even the superintendents of city school 
 systems, presidents and professors of high schools and princi- 
 pals of ward schools, were only teaching until they could find 
 something else to do. 
 
 The reason for this state of things is, of course, a very 
 complex one. It can not be sought in one circumstance. A 
 very important ground is to be found in the fact, that the 
 pecuniary inducements are so low, compared with those offered 
 in other professions. But after making all allowances, one of 
 the most important reasons is to be sought in the fact, that the 
 great majority of teachers, especially in our secondary schools 
 and colleges have really never become interested in the 
 scientific aspects of their work. It is simple, bald handicraft, 
 with no touch of the ideal or scientific in any of its aspects. 
 They have no notion of the great and increasing literature on 
 
 * See Appendix. Note VII. 
 
21 
 
 the subjects they are teaching. They have never been called 
 to look at the relations of their field of work to other important 
 ■departments of human science and art. They are ignorant of 
 the grand opportunity for scientific work of the highest type. 
 Now, the establishment of such courses of instruction would do 
 this very service. Men, whose attention were attracted to the 
 subject, would spend longer time in preparing themselves for 
 the work, and having prepared themselves, specially they would 
 be much slower in grasping at some other calling at the first 
 opportunity. The recognition of the better class of work would 
 lead to an increase in the salaries of the teachers themselves, 
 and thus in a double way would the tendency to develope a pro- 
 fession be strengthened. The common contempt which attaches 
 to the idea of the teacher, it must be confessed, is justified by 
 the work of the teachers themselves. An intelligent community 
 can but attach a stigma to work of any sort which is 
 absolutely unskilled. And of this character, is much, if not 
 most of the teaching done in our country. 
 
 It is not merely the acquirement of a professional training 
 which improves the character of the rank and file of the follow- 
 ers of a calling ; but the persistence in the calling, which the 
 acquirement of such training favors, tends to raise the general 
 level of skill. It is from this point of view that such courses 
 of training in the universities promise much benefit to the 
 teaching calling. 
 
 Even if this result should not appear in its full extent, yet 
 marked advantages would flow from such courses. We have 
 already in this country scores and hundreds of teachers who, 
 since they are in the work, earnestly desire to improve it in 
 every way possible. Many have followed the calling for a long 
 term of years. They are thoroughly alive and energetic and 
 wish to keep abreast of what is doing in other places and 
 countries. Few of them have such a knowledge of foreign 
 languages as would enable them to profit very much by trying 
 to read publications in those languages on such topics. Now 
 how can they get this information ? They wish to study the 
 science and history of education. They would like to know 
 the educational problems of other times and the methods which 
 
22 
 
 were adopted to solve them, since, by a comparative study only 
 can they hope to get clear ideas as to real essentials of educa- 
 tion and be brought to distinguish between the necessary and 
 the accidental. They wish assistance and encouragement from 
 men who are thoroughly familiar with this field and have made it 
 the study of their lives. Now, where shall they go to get this 
 sort of aid .'' To our sorrow be it said that there is no place 
 this side of the Allegheny mountains where anything valuable 
 of any considerable extent is offered to them. Nor is there, 
 east or west, any place where facilities for the study of the art 
 and science of education are provided to anything like the same 
 extent as for the study of physics or history or chemistry in 
 very many centers. 
 
 Even if no others were reached it would be ample return 
 for such an outlay of money if only this class could be aided in 
 their efforts for improvement. There are, moreover, in every 
 community, and fortunately for us their numbers are large in 
 this country, some persons who choose this department of work 
 because they would rather teach than do anything else in the 
 world. These are the people from whose conscientious devotion 
 to duty we have to promise ourselves most in the way of actual 
 improvement of the science and art of education. They should 
 have every facility for properly preparing themselves for this 
 great work. In no other way can adequate facilities be offered 
 them. 
 
 Consider for a moment the magnitude of the mere money 
 interests involved. The cities of this country, for example, are 
 expending millions and millions of dollars in schemes of public 
 education. Where do they get the men to guide and direct the 
 work of organizing this magnificent machinery .'' They are at 
 present men who amidst many difficulties of work and limited 
 means have done their best to learn something of the problems 
 and methods of education. Usually they are men who have 
 had no opportunities to learn anything of the subject except 
 what they could snatch up in the midst of a busy life. Is it 
 any wonder that many mistakes are made ? That the same 
 mistakes are made again and again which have been made in 
 countless numbers of cases before them, and which might have 
 
23 
 
 been avoided by the possession of a little knowledge of the ex- 
 perience of the world in other places and times ? 
 
 What courses then relating to this subject could and ought 
 to be given in connection with the universities ? 
 
 It is possible in all our larger colleges to give such courses 
 as one professor could conduct. They would include lectures 
 upon the science of education, upon the history of speculative 
 thought in this department, and upon the classical writers and 
 thinkers in this field. The history of educational institutions 
 should also receive attention. The practical aspects of the sub- 
 ject should not be neglected. The description, history and dis- 
 cussion of methods of teaching, the plans of organizing and 
 conducting schools and school systems, and other matters re- 
 lating to practical aspects of the subject should be fully treated. 
 In a few centers pedagogical seminaries should also be estab- 
 lished for the purpose of exciting an interest in original inves- 
 tigation and of training these few and choice spirits from whose 
 work we could promise ourselves some substantial contributions to 
 the science and art of this subject. It would not be necessary, 
 of course, for all who were looking forward to be teachers to 
 take this whole course. The lectures should be so arranged 
 that a student by attending four or five hours for a year might 
 get some notion of the importance and relation of the work to 
 his special department. 
 
 Many objections will be advanced to this general idea. It 
 will be said, for example, the teacher is born, not made. A man 
 who has the making of a teacher in him will be a good teacher 
 without special preparation, and a poor teacher will remain a 
 poor teacher, do what you can for him. This is the same old 
 argument which is made to do duty on all similar occasions 
 when it is proposed to organize any special professional in- 
 struction. It was made against the medical school, against the 
 dental, law, veterinary, and technical school. The idea is almost 
 absurd on the face of it, and it is with considerable difificulty 
 that one restrains one's self sufificiently to speak in conventional 
 language of such an argument. Of course you cannot make a 
 good teacher out of a man who lacks all the qualities of a 
 teacher.* Nor can you make a good preacher out of a man who 
 
 * See Appendix. Note VIII. 
 
24 
 
 lacks all the elements of a preacher, nor a good lawyer or phy- 
 sician out of a man who is naturally fitted for neither profes- 
 sion ; nor, to take a more striking example, a good painter or 
 musician out of a man who has not natural talents for such 
 callings. And yet no one would think, now-a;days, of making 
 that any objection to theological, medical, law, painting or music 
 schools. 
 
 Cicero answered this question in that delightful oration for 
 the poet Archias in the passage beginning: Quae ret quispiam 
 Quid. 
 
 " After all this eulogy of learning and culture, some one may 
 ask me: How would you answer this objection, viz.: that those 
 illustrious men whose glorious deeds are recorded in literature 
 were not trained by this culture. Well, that is true of some, 
 and yet I am sure of this at any rate : I will grant that there 
 have been many men of excellent mind and great ability who 
 without this training have been eminent and cultured by virtue 
 of a certain native, I might almost say, divine gift and power of 
 their own. Nay more, I will add this, that natural ability with- 
 out culture is of far more importance in all weighty matters 
 than culture without natural ability. And yet, after all, I 
 maintain that when to excellent natural ability is superadded 
 that sort of modification which is effected by culture, then 
 something remarkable and altogether unique is bound to ap- 
 pear." 
 
 Cicero might also have added that as very few men ever 
 possess this high order of natural ability, the problem of actual 
 life is how to make the average man better fitted for the duties 
 which come to him, and that such training is especially adapted 
 to improve this medium sort, which, after all is said and done^ 
 constitutes the great majority of mankind. 
 
 This special training in the history and methods of educa- 
 tion increases the power of the very best, who alas ! are too few 
 in number ; makes the average man, who forms the great ma- 
 jority of all, better qualified for his work, and keeps the worst 
 from making the grossest sort of mistakes. Just as a course in 
 a medical school certainly improves the best man who has all 
 the natural qualities of a good physician, improves even more the 
 
25 
 
 medium man and keeps the poorest talent from actually butch- 
 ering his patients from mere ignorance. 
 
 The college or university which is the first to provide 
 really good facilities in this department, not merely nominal 
 facilities, such as exist at one or two of our institutions already, 
 will certainly reap a harvest which it will richly deserve. 
 
 It is a curious phenomenon of this movement that mem- 
 bers of a college faculty have often expressed their contempt 
 for such a plan as this in the very same meeting where in a dis- 
 cussion of some important topic of college pedagogics they 
 have displayed the most astounding ignorance not only of ped- 
 agogical principles, but also of all history, even of the college 
 system of our own country. I remember talking with one of 
 the most prominent members of the faculty of Michigan Uni- 
 versity in regard to the establishment of such a chair in that 
 institution. He remarked that there was no use of such a de- 
 partment. There was no need of such instruction in colleges. 
 All such work should be relegated to the normal school. The 
 very same week the college policy in regard to some of the most 
 fundamental questions of education, was altered after a long 
 discussion, every aspect of which was an almost purely peda- 
 gogical one. The professor showed in its course that he had 
 never studied such topics and insisted that he did not need to 
 do so, although he took a prominent part in the debate and 
 thought his opinion was entited to much weight. 
 
 Before closing this paper, it is desirable to present briefly 
 what is done in other countries in this field. As is generally 
 known, the appointment of teachers in Prussia, is regulated by 
 general law of the state, whether the teachers are to be 
 appointed in private schools or public. It is also known that 
 their system of schools is so arranged, that much of the work 
 done in this country by our preparatory school and college is 
 there done by one institution, viz.: the gymnasium or real school. 
 Now, no master may be appointed to a position in any of these 
 schools until he has passed a state examination in certain set 
 subjects. This examination must furnish proof that the candi- 
 date has graduated from a real school or gymnasium, has pursued 
 at the university special studies in the subjects which he pro- 
 
26 
 
 poses to teach. Thus, a man who wishes to teach Greek or 
 Latin in a gymnasium, must show that he has graduated at a 
 gymnasium, and then studied Greek and Latin for three years 
 at a university after graduation. All candidates are examined 
 in Philosophy and Pedagogics. The instructions to examiners 
 direct them to assure themselves that the candidate possesses a 
 general knowledge of the history of Modern Pedagogics, and a 
 familiarity with the essential elements of methods of teaching. 
 
 To give those who expect to be teachers an opportunity to 
 prepare themselves in this subject, lectures on Pedagogics are 
 delivered in all the universities. The Government is not con- 
 tent with leaving the subject here. So much is demanded of 
 all who expect to become teachers. Special opportunities are 
 provided for those who desire to pursue the subject further. 
 This is done by two classes of institutions : 
 
 L The seminaries in connection with the universities and, 
 
 II. Post-graduate seminaries on an independent basis. 
 
 It is evident, however, that the Germans are not at all 
 satisfied even with their present opportunities. There is an 
 active movement in favor of providing more extensive facilities 
 showing two things; (i) that they are well satisfied with 
 present results as a beginning, and since the new plans involve 
 working along the old lines, and (2) that present facilities are 
 insufficient. 
 
 In a paper by Dr. R. H. Hofmann, Professor of Pedagogics 
 in the University of Leipzig, published in i88r, the author 
 takes the ground that much has been accomplished, but also 
 that much remains to be done. According to his statement, 
 five professors lecture regularly in Pedagogics in this university, 
 and the lectures are well attended by those who expect to 
 become teachers in the various branches of study. 
 
 The facilities for this sort of work in England are very 
 inadequate, being even inferior to those in our own country. In 
 two Scotch Universities, however, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, 
 chairs of Pedagogics have been established, and men who wish 
 certain public positions in the school system must be examined 
 in this branch.* 
 
 * See Appendix. N. IX, British Universities and the Training of Teachers. 
 
27 
 
 In our own country, a start has already been made, which 
 is worthy of a brief mention. 
 
 Chairs of Pedagogics, either in form or reality have been 
 established in the Universities of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, 
 Cornell and Johns Hopkins. The work at Michigan is worthy 
 of special notice on several accounts. 
 
 It is under the charge of an accurate scholar of long, 
 practical experience. It extends at present over two years and 
 embraces seven courses : 
 
 1. Practical course, discussing the art of teaching and 
 governing, four hours per week, for one half year. 
 
 2. Theoretical and critical, four hours per week, for one 
 half year. 
 
 3. School supervision, three hours per week, for one half 
 year. 
 
 4. Seminary, three hours per week, for one half year. 
 
 5. History of education, three hours per week, for one half 
 year. 
 
 6. History of education, three hours per week, for one half 
 year. 
 
 7. Comparative study of educational systems, two hours per 
 week, making the equivalent of ten hours per week, for one 
 
 '"^N^ year. 
 
 The system in Michigan University, is the elective under 
 which one subject counts for as much as another, and the extent 
 to which those courses supplied a want, may be judged by the 
 number of students taking courses. The growth of this 
 attendance will also indicate the part which the offering of 
 such facilities have in developing a want for them. 
 
 The number of students choosing the practical courses 
 grew from 32 in 1879 to 74 in 1886, more than double. 
 
 The number in the historical courses rose from 4 in 1883, 
 the first year in which the course was offered, to 36 in 1886. 
 The number in the theoretical course remained nearly stationary, 
 rising from 65 in 1879, to 70 in 1886. Of the two hundred 
 students graduating from the college department in 1885 and 
 1886, eighty-three had taken one or more of these courses. The 
 total number of different students attending all these courses 
 rose from ^2 in 1879 to 117 in i! 
 
28 
 
 In closing this paper, let me briefly summarize and present 
 in a slightly different form, the considerations which I have tried 
 to emphasize. 
 
 The cause for which I plead is the establishment in connec- 
 tion with our colleges and universities, of ample opportunities 
 for the professional training of teachers for our higher schools 
 and college. 
 
 The grounds on which this is urged, are in brief, the 
 following : 
 
 I. There is great need of such training, as is evidenced by 
 the fact, that the average teaching in such schools is far below 
 what it might, and should be in point of efficiency. As a class, 
 the actual teachers in our schools are, to a large extent, men 
 and women who are looking forward to entering some other 
 occupation as soon as practicable, and are devoting their whole 
 time to preparation for such work. Having given little or no 
 attention to the study of professional questions before they begin 
 their work, they are not compelled to do so after entering it 
 by the example or precept of their colleagues. Looking forward 
 to some other calling, oftentimes out of mere lack of interest 
 in their present work, they rarely ever begin the serious study 
 of professional questions, even where for lack of opportunity 
 they never leave the business. It is evident that the work of 
 such a class as this, can not be of a very high character when 
 tried by any fair test of efficiency. It is also evident from any 
 close examination of the work actually done. Any director or 
 head master will tell you in close confidence, that it is very easy 
 to get teachers, but very difficult to get good teachers. Every 
 parent knows quite well that the really good teachers of their 
 children are the exceptions, and they can only judge, of course, 
 by the most superficial considerations, such as the order the 
 teacher keeps, the hold he may succeed in getting of the boys 
 in certain external directions, etc. There is a vastly greater 
 number, who without giving any such signs of incompetency as 
 would strike a parent, are doing the children untold damage by 
 false methods and through ignorance of the simplest pedagogical 
 principles. There are other evidences also — but it is not neces- 
 
29 
 
 sary to take more time to prove what almost all will agree is the 
 case, that much of our teaching is of a comparatively low 
 grade. 
 
 II. It is possible to remedy this inefficiency to a con- 
 siderable extent, by such a course of special training and study 
 as can be established in connection with our colleges and 
 universities. This is proved by the experience of Germany, of 
 Scotland, and of certain States in our own country. Of course^ 
 we do not maintain that the completion of such course will of 
 itself make a teacher. The study of a science will never of it- 
 self make a man capable to practice the art. But it will be of 
 untold value, in that it makes the work intelligent, and raises it 
 from the rank of a mere calling or handicraft to that of a fine 
 art. It puts scientific work in the place of mere empiricism,, 
 and thus makes the possibilities of the case in the direction of 
 good work, enormously greater. It makes the natural born 
 teacher a much better man for the work, by really filling him 
 with the true professional spirit, and equipping him with the 
 latest and most approved means of doing his work. It im- 
 proves the mediocre teacher, relatively speaking, to a still 
 greater extent, and makes a passable teacher out of the most 
 unpromising stuff. It circumscribes very much the damage 
 which the hopelessly unfit man would otherwise do, in this 
 most precious of all vineyards. It will tend to improve the great 
 rank and file of teachers, just as the establishment of medical 
 schools and dental schools, have raised the rank of the great 
 mass of medical and dental practitioners. Indeed, I know no 
 better comparison for the purposes of illustration than this 
 very class of dentists. The practice of dentistry was for a long 
 time, the merest empirical, unskilled handicraft. The dentist, 
 was the village barber or blacksmith. So long as the business 
 was carried on as a secondary matter by men who followed other 
 callings as well, and who had had no other preparation for their 
 work than what they could pick up empirically from their own 
 experience, it was evident that there was no hope of any con- 
 siderable improvement. The establishment of special schools 
 for instruction in this art has raised it from one of the lowest 
 of trades, to the rank of a profession. Teaching in our 
 
30 
 
 higher schools and colleges has long been, at least, respectable, 
 owing to the necessary scholarship, which even the pretense of 
 such work requires, but it is not now and never will be a true 
 profession, until it is fully acknowledged that to the highest 
 form of such work, a special preparation is necessary. 
 
 III. In accordance with these views, it should now be our 
 endeavor to secure the establishment of such professional 
 courses in connection with our colleges and universities. Such 
 instruction if it consisted only of courses of lectures on the 
 history of educational doctrine and educational institutions 
 would be exceedingly valuable, in that they would, at least, in- 
 troduce the student to the general direction of educational 
 development and progress. But in addition to these, there 
 should be practical courses which should deal with the methods 
 appropriate to different subjects in the different stages of school- 
 work, and a seminary which should have for its object the 
 encouragement of original work on the part of the members in 
 the sphere of pedagogics, theoretical, practical and historical. 
 
 IV. The establishment of such courses would bring with 
 them the following advantages : 
 
 1. As said before, it would offer an opportunity for the 
 teacher to secure such preparation for his future calling, as could 
 not but result in much more efficient work in the school-room 
 in every direction. 
 
 2. The existence of such opportunities could not but result 
 in attracting to the line of teaching, those who have a 
 natural taste for such work, and who would expect to follow it 
 as a permanent calling. 
 
 3. The natural result of this would be, that more men and 
 women would take up this occupation as their life-work, which 
 would mean that a long step had been taken toward making a 
 profession of what is now only a trade. 
 
 4. The reflex action of all this would be an enormous im- 
 provement of our schools ; a great change in the social position 
 of the school-master as such, and a corresponding change in 
 the public estimate of the importance of good education. 
 
 5. The advantages thus far enumerated, would all accrue, 
 even if as a result of all this work there should be no positive 
 
31 
 
 additions to our knowledge of the science and art of education. 
 But one of the chief advantages of this line of development, 
 would be the increase in our knowledge of pedagogics, which 
 could not but follow the establishment of such opportunities at 
 \the great centers of learning in this country. We may say now, 
 that a very small fraction of the teachers of this country in our 
 higher schools and colleges are giving any attention or thought 
 to the development of the science, or to improvements in the 
 art of education. The causes of this are various, but the most 
 important one of all, is the utter ignorance of what is within 
 the easy reach of any society in regard to the history of the 
 science and art of pedagogics. Their attention has never been 
 directed to the fact, there is here a great and largely neglected 
 field of investigation which is peculiarly theirs, and which holds 
 out large promises of great results if it be properly worked. 
 The probable additions to our knowledge of the theory and art 
 of education which would follow a successful attempt to turn 
 the attention of great numbers of teachers to their careful 
 snd systematic study are simply incalculable. It can only be 
 compared to the progress in the science of medicine, of juris- 
 prudence, of dentistry, of physics, of chemistry, which has been 
 the outcome of making the universities the nurseries of these 
 sciences, and to some extent, the arts belonging to them. To 
 the higher schools of a country, the colleges and universities is 
 entrusted the nurture of science par excellence. Theirs, the 
 duty to receive, preserve, and increase the stock of knowledge, 
 which is the outcome of all previous civihzation and progress. 
 
 In a word, the establishment and proper equipment of these 
 departments will contribute to the advantage of our children 
 directly and indirectly by giving them better teachers ; it will 
 secure a better application of the money spent on education ; it 
 will give teachers a better opportunity to prepare themselves 
 for their high calling ; it will dignify their occupation and tend 
 to raise it to the rank of a learned profession ; it will further the 
 very purpose for which our educational institutions exist ; and 
 last, but by no means least, will result in a wide extension of 
 human science — which is itself one of the chief ends of 
 humanity. 
 
APPEN DIX. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 The literature on this subject is not large, although, it is in 
 some respects important and significant. The addresses pre- 
 pared by eminent specialists for particular occasions form the 
 most valuable portion of it. The following list contains refer- 
 ences to the most accessible portion of the literature. 
 
 1. Prof. S. S. Laurie, of Edinburgh University. — Inaugural 
 Address before the University on the Training of Teachers. 
 London, 1882. 
 
 2. J. G. Fitch, M. A. One of Her Majesty's Inspectors of 
 
 Schools. Relation of the University to the Teaching Pro- 
 fession, in Lectures on Teaching. Cambridge, 1882. 
 
 3. Prof. W. H. Payne, of Michigan University. — Education 
 
 as a University Study in Contributions to the Science of 
 Education. New York, 1886. 
 
 4. Prof. Edward North, of Hamilton College. — Normal In- 
 struciiou in Colleges. University of New York Regents' 
 Reports. 1868. p. 701. 
 
 5. Dr. Thomas Hill, President of Harvard College. — The 
 
 Study of Didactics in Colleges. Barnard's American Jour- 
 nal of Education. Vol. 15, p. 179. 
 
 6. Report of Committee on the felt need of stipplying pedagogi- 
 
 cal training to the studettts of the Colleges in the State, made 
 to the Convocation of the University of New York. Re- 
 gents' Reports. 1882. P. 39. 
 
 7. Prof. C. V. Stoy, of the University of Jena. — Educational 
 papers in various German periodicals. 
 
 8. Dr. Fricke, of the Waisenhaus, in Halle. — Das padago- 
 gische Seminar. Halle, 1883. 
 
 9. Prof. E. J. James, of the University of Pennsylvania. — The 
 
 32 
 
33 
 
 Higher Education of Teachers at the University of yena. 
 New England Journal of Education. Vol. XVIII., p. 356 
 and p. 372. 
 
 10. Weilingen. — Das PddagogiscJie Seminar in Jena. Jena. 
 Gustav Fischer. 1880 (.?) 
 
 11. Karl Schmidt. — Geschichte der Pddagogik. — Vol. IV., 
 p. 782 and foil. 
 
 12. Mathew Arnold. The Prussian Schoolmasters ; their 
 Training, etc., in Higher Schools and Universities in Ger- 
 many. Macmillan & Co. 1874. Pp. 6"/ and especially 82 
 and foil, 
 
 13. Other references to the subject in the Standard German 
 Histories of Education. Reports of Discussions in School- 
 masters' Associations and Conventions given in the Edu- 
 cational periodicals, particularly the Londojt Jonrnal of 
 Education, Die AUgemeine Schulzeitung, etc. 
 
 14. WiESE. Verordnungen und Gesetze fiir die Hoheren 
 Schulen in Preussen. 1864-74. 
 
 15. Illinois School Journal. Normal. Illinois. Vols. I & II. 
 
 16. Herbert Spencer. Essays on Education. New York, 188 1. 
 
 NOTE II. 
 
 The great function of a University is to teach ; and to sup- 
 ply the world with its teachers. The very title of Doctor which 
 marks the highest academic distinction in each of the faculties 
 implies that the holder is qualified to teach the art he knows. 
 And if the experience of these later times has brought home to 
 us the conviction that the art of communicating knowledge, of ren- 
 dering it attractive to a learner, is an art which has its own laws 
 and special philosphy : it is surely fitting that a great Uni- 
 versity, the bountiful mother whose special ofifice it is to care 
 alike for all the bases of human culture and to assign to all arts 
 and sciences their true place and relation, should fill an honored 
 place for the master science, a science which is so closely allied 
 to all else which she teaches — the science of teaching itself. 
 J. G. Fitchs " Lectures on Teaching'' Chapter I. 
 
34 
 
 NOTE III. 
 
 Whatever objections may be made to Normal Schools there 
 is no use of shutting our eyes to the fact that their graduates 
 have succeeded in getting hold of many of the most prominent 
 situations in our educational system in competition with college 
 graduates. No one would think of maintaining that the curric- 
 ulum of the average normal school is to be compared with that 
 of a college so far as its scholarship or culture value is con- 
 cerned. The only ground, then, on which we can account for 
 the growing preponderance of normal school graduates in posi- 
 tions for which their curriculum scarcely fits them, is that the 
 advantage which they enjoy from their technical training gives 
 them a start which the college man in the time which he de- 
 votes to teaching as a rule, can not overtake. 
 
 An eminent educator in the State of New York said more 
 than twenty years ago : 
 
 " The great deficiency of college graduates is ignorance of 
 the methods of instruction now adopted in our better schools 
 and ignorance of school discipline and management. The work 
 these graduates are called upon to perform is entirely different 
 from that of the professors who have made the last and perhaps 
 strongest impression upon them, and whose methods they are 
 unsconsciously inclined to imitate. College work is far from 
 fitting students for acadamic teaching. Often it unfits them by 
 substituting the more recent impression of college class work 
 for those of the preparatory school from which they came. 
 College graduates are superior in culture and general knowledge 
 but deficient in technical skill. Unless our colleges do some- 
 thing toward preparing teachers, a large part of the work of 
 academic teaching must go into the hands of females." 
 
 What was foretold has come to pass. The proportion of 
 females in the teaching body of these schools has steadily in- 
 creased and they are almost without exception normal school 
 pupils. Of course this is not the only cause of this substitution, 
 but it has been undoubtedly a contributing cause. The super- 
 intendent of a system of city schools, in conversing with the 
 writer about the choice of assistant teachers in the city high 
 
35 
 
 school, said that for all positions which they could at all fill he 
 preferred normal school graduates to college graduates. 
 "Neither class remain very long with us if they are really able, 
 and the normal school men have the great advantage that they 
 can begin from the very first hour and attain a fair degree of 
 success, while the college men, if fresh from college, flounder 
 around in the most helpless way, and require two to three years 
 to become as efficient as the normal school men are when they 
 begin. Of course if they were to remain for a long series of 
 years this difference would disappear and the culture of the 
 college would tell in the long run, but as it is, the men for us are 
 the normal school ijien wherever they can teach the subjects 
 at all." 
 
 A similar though by no means so marked difference is 
 observed in Germany in favor of the technical training of the 
 normal school graduate as compared with the average teacher in 
 the gymnasium ; for although the latter has had a training in 
 this respect much superior to our college men, yet it is still very 
 inferior to that of the Normal School graduate. 
 
 No one can doubt, who has taken any pains whatever to 
 institute extended comparisons, that the teaching in our elemen- 
 tary schools is much better on the average than that in the 
 secondary school and college, and that the teachers in the former 
 come much nearer realizing the ends which they set before 
 them than those in the latter. Those ends are oftentimes not 
 the highest, as we should expect from the culture of the teachers, 
 but they are kept clearly in view and pursued with a system and 
 determination which results in as high a degree of success as is 
 possible under the circumstances. 
 
 There is no doubt that so-called secondary and higher edu- 
 cation have much to learn in this respect from elementary work. 
 
 NOTE IV. 
 
 " Young men who intend to engage in the work of higher 
 instruction need careful training before entering thereon, both in 
 the fundamental principles of the profession and also in its 
 technique ; because first : good teaching and successful school 
 
• 36 
 
 management is an art which must be learned either by careful 
 and definite previous instruction or by school room experiments 
 of which pupils are the subjects and too often the victims ; 
 because, second, the teachers in academies and high schools 
 are teachers of teachers and become the models after which 
 many teachers of common schools shape their methods : third, 
 a large percentage of the teachers in our higher schools con- 
 tinue in the employment but a few years at best, and have no 
 time therefore to waste in a school room apprenticeship, too 
 often disastrous ; because, fourth, the chances for a permanent 
 continuance in the profession of desirable young men would be 
 largely increased if the first steps in it could be made pleasant 
 and successful by careful previous instruction and because, 
 fifth, in the language of President Hill, there is a sense in 
 which Didactics may be called a liberal study ; it is that every 
 student may be considered prospectively as the head of a 
 family, and that therefore the art of teaching is of universal 
 utility — a view which has been urged with great force and 
 cogency by Herbert Spencer, who adds in conclusion : " the sub- 
 ject which involves all other subjects and therefore the subject 
 in which the education of every one should culminate is the 
 theory and practice of teaching." 
 
 Report of Committee of Convocation of University of New 
 York. Regent' s Report, \^^l. 
 
 " If there is a philosophy of education and an art of teaching, 
 they are as applicable to the advanced departments of instruc- 
 tion as to the elementary. The teachers of academies as much 
 need systematic education into the best methods of their duties 
 as do the teachers of the common schools into those peculiar to 
 them. Many a lad after he has completed his elementary edu- 
 cation has had his taste for study absolutely destroyed and his 
 scholarship ruined by an unskillful teacher." 
 
 Regent's Report for 1^6"/, p. xx. 
 
 NOTE V. 
 
 The proposition has often been made that this training 
 should be given in special post-graduate schools. Thus Presi- 
 dent Hill of Harvard College, in the address referred to in Note 
 
37 
 
 I, said that Normal Schools should be attached to our Univer- 
 sities, and bachelors of art who intend to teach should be urged 
 first to take one or two year's special instruction in the art of 
 teaching. The committee which reported on this subject to the 
 Convocation of the University of New York in 1881, (Regent's 
 Report for 1882, p. 346,) remarked that such a school would in 
 the present state of our education be too likely to repeat the expe- 
 rience of the French Ecole Normal, which after being twice 
 closed on account of insufficient patronage, did not secure 
 a firm foothold until after thirty-six years of vicissitudes. We 
 may add that it does not even now correspond to such an insti- 
 tution as President Hill proposed. The various philogical 
 seminaries in the German Universities are in so far pedagogical 
 seminaries as that they are intended for the special benefit of 
 those who expect to become teachers, but their attention is 
 almost entirely confined to developing a sound scholarship in 
 philology, and but little effort is devoted to studying padagogy 
 in any but this indirect form. The post-graduate pedagogical 
 seminaries in Prussia, although they have done a good work, do 
 not at all answer the purposes which can be attained by the 
 system proposed in this paper. As a matter of fact, only the 
 merest fraction of those who hold the higher positions in 
 the gymnasia or real schools have ever been in these seminaries 
 at all. The reasons why such institutions are not likely to suc- 
 ceed are numerous and of force in all countries alike. 
 
 NOTE VI. 
 
 It is not good that this science, or indeed that any other 
 science should be mainly pursued per se, in separate training 
 institutions or professional colleges where the horizon is neces- 
 sarily bounded, and where everything is learned with a special 
 view to the future necessities of the class-room scholar. It is 
 to the Universities that the power is given in the highest degree 
 of co-ordinating the various forms of preparation for the busi- 
 ness of life ; of seeing in due proportion the study and the prac- 
 tice the art and science, the intellectual efforts which make 
 the man as well as those which make the lawyer or divine. It 
 
38 
 
 is to the Universities that the public should look for these in- 
 fluences which will prevent the nobler professions from degen- 
 erating into crafts and trades. And if the schoolmaster is to 
 become something more than a mere pedant, to know the rules 
 and formulae of his art and at the same time estimate them at 
 their true value, it is to the University that he must look for his 
 guidance, and it is from the University that he should seek in 
 due time the attestation of his qualifications as a teacher, be- 
 cause that is the authority which can testify that he is not 
 merely a teacher, but a teacher and something else. 
 
 J. G. Fitchs " Lectures oji Teaching." Chap. I. 
 
 NOTE VII. 
 
 BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AND THE TRAINING OF 
 
 TEACHERS. 
 
 There is no professorship of education at any University 
 of England, Wales, or Ireland. At the Universities of Cambridge 
 and London there are special examinations for teachers, on the 
 results of which certificates or diplomas are granted ; but there 
 are no educational degrees. Technically speaking, therefore, 
 education is not a university subject in these countries. At 
 Cambridge, under the auspices of a teachers' training syndicate 
 appointed by the university early in 1879, lectures on teaching 
 have been given for eight years past ; but they are not per- 
 manently established, and may come to an end at any time. 
 They are, as a rule, fitfully and poorly attended, and cannot as 
 yet be pronounced a decided success. Except in the training 
 colleges and at the College of Preceptors, there is no other sys- 
 tematic course of lectures for teachers outside Scotland. 
 In Scotland there are two chairs of education, established 
 in 1876 out of funds left by the well-known Dr. Bell, 
 one at Edinburgh, and the other at St. Andrew's. Both these 
 chairs are very ill endowed. In 1886 a school-masters' diploma 
 was established at the University of Edinburgh. 
 
 I shall endeavor in the space at my disposal to describe 
 what is actually being done for the training of teachers by these 
 various agencies. 
 
39 
 
 I will begin with Cambridge, and first as to its courses of 
 lectures. They usually consist of one set on psychology in its 
 bearing on teaching, delivered as a rule by Mr. James Ward of 
 Trinity College; another set on the histor}' of education ; and a 
 series of disconnected lectures on practice delivered by promi- 
 nent 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 delivered 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 little time to devote to other 
 subjects ; and, second, because it is the habit at our universities 
 to look upon lectures as merely preparation for examinations, 
 and to value examinations solely by the prizes attached to them. 
 Now, there are no prizes attached to the teacher's examina- 
 tions and the head masters of our public schools practically ignore 
 them altogether, while the University Agency for the supply of 
 masters does not even mention the certificates on its form of 
 quahfications. 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 lec- 
 turing at Cambridge a short while ago, on the history of edu- 
 cation, can remember on one occasion to have counted as many 
 as seventeen undergraduates present. At the time there were 
 about nineteen hundred undergraduates at the university, of 
 whom perhaps one-quarter were destined to become school 
 masters, at least for a time. 
 
40 
 
 Before a candidate can enter for the examination of the 
 Cambridge 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 examinations 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 examina- 
 tion far more widely available, especially for women, who form 
 about nine-tenths of the candidates as a rule. In the ex- 
 amination 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 ; (b) the elements of the art of education, or the ap- 
 plication 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 required 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 concerning Education,' and 
 'The Teaching of the Jansenists at Port Royal.' (3) The prac- 
 tice of education ; (a) method, which deals with actual teaching 
 and examination ; {b) school management, which deals with hy- 
 giene, furniture, apparatus, time-tables, etc. One paper is set 
 on each of three groups of subjects; and a fourth paper is 
 
41 
 
 added, containing a small number of questions of an advanced 
 character on each of the three groups. It is into this paper 
 that questions on physiology and physical training are usually 
 introduced ; 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 ex- 
 amination, 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 certifi- 
 cate which I have just described. Candidates must "have been 
 engaged in school-work for a year in some school or schools re- 
 cognized for the purpose by the syndicate." Training-colleges 
 of course come under this designation, " if the syndicate is sat- 
 isfied with the duration and character of the training in practical 
 work received by the candidates." The bases for the certificate 
 are, {a) examination of the class taught by the candidate ; {b) 
 an inspection of the class while being taught ; {c) 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 stu- 
 dents of those few training-colleges which are established 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 stu- 
 dents, 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 un- 
 connected 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 Cambridge in 1876, the objects mentioned 
 
42 
 
 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 schoolmasters ; (3) To secure 
 the greatest possible economy in cost as well as time." I can 
 not 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 general educa- 
 tion. Who knows but that some day we may get it to mean 
 both that and something more ? 
 
 For the present, the only part the University of London 
 can play in the higher training of teachers is that of an ex- 
 aminer. As I have already said, it possesses an ' examination 
 in the art, theory, and history of teaching.' Unlike the Uni- 
 versity of Cambridge, it restricts its examination 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 educa- 
 tion.' 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 
 Cambridge from the Earliest Times to 1535 A. D.' by Bass 
 Mullinger; ' Education and School,' 'Theory and Practice of 
 Teaching,' by E. Thring ; ' On the Action of Examinations,' by 
 Latham ; ' Quelqes mots sur I'lnstruction publique en France,' 
 by Michael Break 
 
 There are no doubt great advantages in the direction of 
 definiteness 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, with- 
 out having shown any particular knowledge of the theories and 
 
43 
 
 methods of Froebel and Pestalozzi. As a matter of fact, one or 
 two questions on these last 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 im- 
 portance. The University of London grants but one certificate, 
 — not two, as does Cambridge, — and includes in that one, as a 
 sine qna noii, 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 examiners 
 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 conse- 
 quence 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 incompetent ; all the higher qualities must remain 
 unassessed. A large part of those who take degrees at the Uni- 
 versity 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 experience ; hence the insist- 
 ence on the practical test as an integral part of the London ex- 
 amination for teachers. The Cambridge examination 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.* 
 
 *The chair at St. Andrew's is held by Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn, whose name 
 and work must be well known in the United States. 
 
44 
 
 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 qualifying examination 
 in Latin and mathematics, and stood in the first division of the 
 government list of successful candidates for Queen's scholar- 
 ships (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 
 M. 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 psychological, dealing with the 
 intelligence and moral nature ; fifty are on method, dealing with 
 principles of teaching and the detailed application of these ; the 
 rect 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 practice 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 uni- 
 versity instituted a school-masters' diploma specially for 
 secondary sehool-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 ap- 
 pointed by the university court. The subjects of examination 
 in April, 1887, were, (a) the professor's lectures ; {b) Locke, 
 
 LofC. 
 
45 
 
 • On the Conduct of the Human Understanding ;' (c) Milton, 
 'Tractate on Education;' (d) Comenius, 'Great Didactic' 
 Each candidate must further give evidence either that he has 
 attended a course of practical instruction in a training-college ; 
 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 univer- 
 sity of his practical aptitude as a teacher in some special sub- 
 ject 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 conclusion 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 ; {d) 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 examination 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 possess- 
 ing a university degree, or who have passed some examination 
 equally satisfactory to the college. What most concerns us 
 here are the strictly pedagogic subjects. To begin, then, with 
 the associateship. Candidates 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) 
 
46 
 
 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, including the sketching of a 
 lesson on some assigned subject, the suggesting and discussing 
 of cases of difficulty in teaching and discipline, and the propos- 
 ing and criticising of methods. For the licentiateship the can- 
 didates 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 
 educator to be selected by the candidate, or a description of the 
 organization 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 educational 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 Christ- 
 mas. During 1886, for the three diplomas together, 136 candi- 
 dates entered, — 70 men and 66 women. Of these, 45 obtained 
 associateship, 4 the licentiateship, and i the fellowship. This 
 will serve to show both how much the examinations are used, 
 and the severity observed in awarding the diplomas. 
 
 H. COURTHOPE BOWEN. 
 
 Science, Vol. X., No. 247. 
 
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OP THE PAPERS READ 
 BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Those Marked * out of Print, f Not Printed. 
 
 1871. Compulsory Education. By Lorin Blodget. * 
 Arbitration as a Remedy for Strikes. By Eckley B. Coxe. * 
 The Revised Statutes of Pennsylvania. By R. C. McMurtrie. * 
 Local Taxation. By Thomas Cochran. * 
 
 Infant Mortality. By Dr. J. S. Parry. 
 
 1872. Statute Law and Common Law, and the Proposed Revision in Pennsyl- 
 
 vania. By E. Spencer Miller, f 
 
 Apprenticeship. By James S. Whitney. 
 
 The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of Pennsylvania. By Francis 
 Jordan. 
 
 Vaccination. By Dr. J. S. Parry. * 
 
 The Census. By Lorin Blodget. * 
 i8'J3. The Tax System of Pennsylvania, By Cyrus Elder. * 
 
 The Work of the Constitutional Convention. By A. Sydney Biddle. 
 
 What shall Philadelphia do with its Paupers ? By Dr. Isaac Ray. 
 
 Proportional Representation. By S. Dana Horton. * 
 
 Statistics Relating to the Births, Deaths, Marriages, etc., in Philadelphia. 
 By John Stockton-Hough, M. D. 
 
 On the Value of Real Scientific Research. By Dr. Ruschenberger. 
 
 On the Relative Influence of City and Country Life, on Morality, Health, 
 Fecundity, Longevity and Mortality. By John Stockton -Hough, M. D. 
 1874. The Public School System of Philadelphia. By James S. Whitney. 
 
 The Utility of Government Geological Surveys. Professor J. P. Lesley. 
 
 The Law of Partnership. By J. G. Rosengarten. * 
 
 Methods of Valuation of Real Estate for Taxation. By Thomas Cochran. 
 
 The Merits of Cremation. By Persifor Frazer, Jr. 
 
 Outlines of Penology. By Joseph R, Chandler. 
 i8'jS' Brain Disease and Modern Living. By Dr. Isaac Ray. f 
 
 Hygiene of the Eye, Considered with Reference to the Children in our 
 Schools. By Dr. F. D. Castle. 
 
 The Relative Morals of City and Country. By William S. Pierce. 
 
 Silk Culture and Home Industry. By Dr. Samuel Chamberlaine. 
 
 Mind Reading, etc. By Persifor Frazer, Jr. 
 
 Legal Status of Married Women in Pennsylvajtia. By N. D, Miller. 
 
 The Revised Status of the United States. By Lorin Blodget. 
 i8'^6. Training Nurses for the Sick. By John H. Packard, M. D. 
 
 The Advantages of the Co-operative Feature of Building Associations. 
 By Edmund Wrigley. 
 
 The Operations of our Building Associations. By Joseph I. Doran. 
 
 Wisdom in Charity. By Rev. Charles G. Ames. * 
 iSyy. Free Coinage and a Self -Adjusting Ratio. By Thomas Balch. 
 
 Building Systems for Great Cities. By Lorin Blodget. 
 
 Metric System. By Persifor Frazer, Jr. 
 i8'f8. Cause and Cure of Hard Times. By R. J. Wright. 
 
 House-Drainage and Sewerage. By George E. Waring, Jr. 
 
 A Plea for a State Board of Health. By Benjamin Lee, M. D. 
 
 The Germ Theory of Disease, and its Present Bearing upon Public and 
 Personal Hygiene. By Joseph G. Richardson, M. D. 
 iSyg. Delusive Methods of Municipal Financiering. By William F. Ford, f 
 
 Technical Education. By A. C. Rembaugh, M. D. 
 
 The English Methods of Legislation Compared with the American, 
 By S. Sterne. 
 
iSjg. Thoughts on the Labor Question. By Rev. D, O. Kellogg. 
 
 On the Isolation of Persons in Hospitals for the Insane. By Dr. Isaac Ray. 
 
 Notes on Reform Schools. By J. G. Rosengarten. * 
 jSSo. Philadelphia Charity Organization. By Rev. Wm. H. Hodge. 
 
 Public Schools in their Relations to the Community. By James S. Whitney. 
 
 Industrial and Decorative Art in Public Schools. By Charles G. Leland. 
 
 Penal and Reformatory Institutions. By J. G. Rosengarten. 
 i88i. Nominations for Ptcblic Office. By Mayer Sulzberger. 
 
 Modelling for the Study of Human Character. By Edward A. Spring, f 
 1882. Municipal Government. By John C. Bullitt. 
 
 Result of Art Education in Schools. By Chas. G. Leland. 
 
 Apprenticeship at it IVas and Is. By Addison B. Burk. 
 i88j. The American Aristocf-acy. By Lincoln L. Eyre. 
 
 A Plea for a New City Hospital. By Thomas W. Barlow. 
 
 Some Practical Aims on School Hygiene. By Dr. Lincoln, f 
 
 The Pending School Problems. By Professor M. B. Snyder. 
 
 Municipal Government. By Wm. Righter Fisher. 
 
 Social Condition of the Industrial Classes. By Lorin Blodget. 
 1884. Progress of Industrial Education. By Phillip C. Garrett. 
 
 A Plea for Better Distribution. By Charles M. DuPuy. 
 
 Formation of Public Libraries in Philadelphia. By Lloyd P. Smith, f 
 
 Best Means of Regaining Health. By Dr. Walters, f 
 
 Milk Supplies of our Large Cities, etc., etc. By J. Cheston Morris, M. D. 
 i88s- Alcoholism. By A. C. Rembaugh, M. D. 
 
 Sanitary Reforms in Large Cities. By Dr. Leflfmann. f 
 
 Sanitary Influence of Forest Growth. Dr. J. M. Anders. 
 
 Outline of a Proposed School of Political and Social Science. By Edmund 
 J. James, Ph. D. 
 1S86. The Organization of Local Boards of Health in Pennsylvania. By Benj. 
 Lee, A. M., M. D., Ph. D. 
 
 Manual Training a Valuable Feature in General Education. By C. M. 
 Woodward, Ph. D. 
 
 The Gas Question in Philadelphia. By Edmund J. James, Ph. D. 
 
 Trade Dollars : The President'' s Power, etc., etc. By Dr. James C. Plallock. 
 
 The Balance of Power between Industrial and Intellecttial Work. By Miss 
 M. M. Cohen. 
 
 Wife Beating as a Crime, and its Relation to Taxation. By Hon. Robert 
 Adams, Jr. 
 
 Defeat of Party Despotism. By Rev. Dr. Leonard W. Bacon, f 
 
 Land and Individualism. By Kemper Bocock. f 
 1887. Chairs of Pedagogics in our Universities. By Edmund J. James, Ph. D. 
 
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