PRIZE ESSAY: Award of the American Institute of Instruction* WHAT IS THE TRUE FUNCTION OF A NORMAL SCHOOL? By GEN. T. J. MORGAN, Rhode Island State Normal School, Providence, R. I. bg orber of % §oarb of gl hectors. BOSTON : WILLARD SMALL. 1 886. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN OAK STREET WHAT IS THE TRUE FUNCTION OF A NORMAL SCHOOL ? By Thomas J. Morgan. In this paper the term “ normal school ” is used as a generic term, applicable to that class of schools in America in which teachers are trained. The specific work of any particular school must be determined by any peculiar circumstances that condition its activities. This discussion undertaken in this case is limited to American schools. The plan of the essay is as follows : An introductory sketch is given of the tout ensemble of educational agencies, in order to bring into bold relief the work of the school teacher. Next, with a view of showing the function of the nor- mal school, an outline of study is given, a plan of a training school sketched, the special function of the school in relation to the profession is set forth, and some considerations are offered against the prevailing custom of doing so much academic work. Owing to the peculiar structure of our government we have no national system of education, such as obtains in Prussia. Each State has its own system, and these are by no means alike. It is consequently impossible to speak of the American system of education except by way of accommodation, and then only in general terms. t 4 mr. Morgan’s address. GENERAL SURVEY. The active agencies at work to mould our national life by the instrumentality of teaching, and which are immediately affected by the normal school, are the following : — 1. The family. The child’s first teacher is the mother; its first school, the nursery. The atmosphere of the home life is a most potent factor in moulding the child’s character. All of our youth must graduate from the home into the school, where their career will be determined by the influence of the home. 2. The idea now widely obtains that it is necessary for every State to provide the rudiments of education for the whole body of children of school age. The Re- public, because it is a republic, — a government of the people, and by the people, — must, as a matter of self- preservation, see to it that the essentials of good citizen- ship, intelligence, and civic virtue shall be universally diffused. To secure this the State establishes and maintains at public expense free schools, open to all. These schools comprise the district (chiefly ungraded), the primary, and the grammar schools. There are also many private schools of corresponding grades. The two specific ends aimed at in the common school should be the awakening of the faculties, and the im- partation of that knowledge that will be of the most practical utility. The pupils are to be trained for free- dom and for usefulness. Every child is to become a producer, and not a pauper ; a law-abiding citizen, and not a criminal ; a respectable member of society, and not a tramp ; an intelligent voter, and not a tool for vdemagogues ; a patriot, and not a partisan. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY „ ]gi6 GENERAL SURVEY. 5 There is a growing sentiment that the work of the common school should be made in the highest degree practical. It does not and cannot impart a liberal ed- ucatibn. It aims at immediate practical results, rather than at culture. The mass of those who receive its benefits go no further in their studies, but enter at once upon life’s duties, which means, in too many cases, a mere struggle for existence. There are many advocates of some sort of industrial training in connection with the public schools, to take the place, in some degree at least, of the old system of apprenticeship, which will give to the laboring classes something of skill, and so relieve their toil and break their bondage. Competi- tion, which naturally increases with the growth of the population ; division of labor resulting from the growing complexity of our civilization, and the tyranny of trades unions dominated largely by foreigners, many of whom have had a technical education abroad, — would seem to necessitate some practical enlargement or 1 addition to our present educational agencies for the masses. It should not be forgotten, however, that the higher grades of schools, soon to be mentioned, are largely recruited from the district and grammar schools. The seeds of culture sown there are to reach their maturity in the university. The door of every country school- house should open towards the college. The work of the common school is characterized by its elementary nature, its thoroughness, and practical- ness. The administration of a firm and wise discipline, the inculcation of good principles, the formation of cor- rect habits, the awakening of a lofty ideal of life and duty, and the development of a manly character, as well as the awakening of mind and the imparting of knowl- 6 mr. Morgan's address. edge, enter into the responsible duties of the common- school teacher. The far-reaching results that must flow from the common-school work lend to it great dignity and importance. The qualities requisite in a common- school teacher are good natural endowments, an estab- lished character, a mastery of the subjects to be taught, skill in governing, aptness in teaching. 3. Next above the schools just described are a group of those that may be called secondary. They are the high schools, academies, seminaries, and private fit- ting schools. Receiving its pupils from the grammar schools, the high school attempts to do a threefold work. First, to complete the task of fitting the student for the duties of life, by giving him an acquaintance with the elements of the natural sciences, especially in their relation to the arts and trades. Its mathematical drill extends to algebra, geometry, and surveying. Second, it seeks to impart something of liberality to the culture, by giving its students a knowledge of rhetoric, literature, history, English composition, etc. And, third, it seeks to give, to those who desire to pursue a college course, a preparation that will fit them to do so with ease and profit. There are several open questions in relation to the high school ; for example, How can the course be modified so as to meet the varying wants of the pupils ? In some cases the high school already em- braces at least three so-called departments : a boys' English department, a girls’ English department, and a classical department. Should the industrial idea pre- vail, it may be forced to still further differentiate its work. Another question is in regard to the enlarge- ment of the course, so as to enable those who cannot GENERAL SURVEY. 7 pursue a college course to receive in the high school as near an equivalent therefor as possible. Still another of great moment is the adjustment of the high-school work to that of the college. It is very evident that the requirements for those com- petent to fill chairs in these schools must increase more and more. Broader scholarship, riper experience, and greater weight of character must be combined with practical skill and knowledge of life. 4. The colleges constitute a third grade of schools. These embrace a wide range of diverse institutions, some founded and maintained by the State, others es- tablished by private munificence. Many of them are scarcely more than high schools, or academies ; others — like Johns Hopkins — are universities. The most marked feature in the present status of the older and stronger colleges is their development into universities, giving greater liberty of choice and larger range of studies. The methods of teaching are corre- spondingly changing. Original research, lecturing, and laboratory work are increasingly important. 5. Last of all, and completing the chain, are the various technical schools, each designed to train stu- dents to excel in some chosen calling or profession. The law, medical, and theological schools, the military and naval academies, the art schools and schools of technology, aim to give a minimum of general culture and a maximum of special instruction. The special fitness of a teacher for these schools is his grasp of the science and mastery of the technique or art of his calling. 8 MR. MORGAN S ADDRESS. CONCLUSIONS FROM ABOVE SURVEY. The most obvious suggestions arising from this hasty survey of our educational agencies are the follow- ing:— 1. Education is a very complex process, and in- volves the co-operation of very diverse agencies. 2. All these agencies — home, school, college, uni- versity — are parts of a great scheme, all working toward a common end, — to fit men and women for life in general, and the individual for his particular sphere. They constitute a solidarity, and what affects one affects all. They act and react upon each other. 3. There is a vast aggregate (say 300,000) of men and women who may be classed as public teachers, — those who give their time and energies wholly or chiefly to this work. With the enormous growth of our popu- lation, this number is steadily increasing. 4. There is a rapid increase in the proportion of female teachers. In a prominent Western city (small) almost every teacher is a woman. The great mass of normal-school pupils are women. In thousands of cases the only school training ever received is from women, and very frequently they themselves have never been taught by men. 5. The most momentous question which now con- fronts the American people is that of public education. All other considerations are subordinate to this. The nation is committing its very existence, as well as its highest weal, into the hands of its school teachers. These considerations lead naturally to the discussion of the question of the true function of the normal school. PROFESSIONAL STUDY. 9 The vast and increasing number of persons demanded as teachers in our public and private schools, and the wide influence exerted by them, call for careful consid- eration of the means for securing those best qualified for teaching. In the opinion of very many the normal school is the best agency yet devised for fitting teach- ers for their especial work. What, then, is the true function of the normal school ? The general reply is at hand : the normal is a professional school whose dis- tinctive work is to prepare men and women to teach. COURSE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDY. But the question demands a more specific answer, which will be furnished in part by outlining a course of study, which, subject to modifications, would best meet the wants of candidates for the profession of teaching. Anthropology • The teacher’s business is to care for, develop, train, and instruct children and youth. That which underlies all his work, and renders any intelligent performance of his duties possible, is a knowledge of the child-nature. i . He needs to know physiology. Education neces- sarily has to do largely with the body. Not only is the ideal goal, sana mens in sano corpore , but all the pro- cesses of mental and moral culture are dependent upon physical conditions. The teacher needs a thorough knowledge of the structure of the body and of the laws of hygiene. The questions of ventilation, heat, exer- cise, overwork, recreation, are so vital that nothing save careful, special investigation of them, in their direct practical relation to school teaching, can insure even an ordinary regard for the pupils’ physical well-being. io mr. Morgan’s address. If any other considerations were needed to enforce this requirement, it may be found in the fact that many of the simplest laws of hygiene are constantly violated in schools of all grades, and that school-life, which should result in physical robustness-, produces multi- tudes of physical wrecks. 2. The teacher needs to know psychology. The watch-maker must know the internal structure of the watch ; the engineer, that of the engine. So the teacher needs to be especially versed in the mental constitution. Teaching, whether regarded as a process of drawing out the intellectual powers or as imparting knowledge, is conditioned upon the laws of mental growth and assimilation. No teaching can be successful that does not comply with these laws. There may be good teachers who have never made a formal study of psychology, apart from their observations upon their scholars and their unsystematic reflections upon the facts observed. A careful study of the science of the mind, before entering upon the work, would, however, have greatly facilitated it, saved them from mistakes, and spared their pupils the inconvenience, and often- times injury, of being experimented upon. The human mind has a very complex organization, and the laws of its development can be understood only by careful study. The special fitness of particular studies for the training of mental powers is apparent only by surveying the powers to be developed, in close connection with the studies designed to develop them. The remedy for the one-sidedness of education, result- ing from the too common method of cramming the memory, can only be found by such a study of the human mind as will bring into bold relief the various powers, — PROFESSIONAL STUDY. II perception, memory, imagination, the thinking and rea- soning faculties, in their mutual relations. 3. The course should include a study of the ethical nature. The human being is capable of the most varied affections, appetites, desires, emotions, etc. He has a conscience and a will. His happiness and his useful- ness depend upon the proper unfolding of these powers. He is to grow up, not to a life of selfish indulgence, but to be a member of a community, considerate of the rights of others. The teacher who would train this being for the proper performance of all his social duties, and the enjoyment of all his privileges, must make a careful study of the laws of his moral growth, strive to form correct habits, and to unfold a high order of moral character. His study of ethics may include also an investigation into that body of accepted moral truth recognized by all as essential to the regulation of mutual intercourse in society. The teacher is to influence his pupils chiefly by moral power, the plying of right motives. He will be greatly aided in this by a study of the child’s heart, and an examination of the fundamental principles of right government. 4. This group of studies pertaining to man is not complete without logic. This is essentially psycholo- gical. The laws of right thinking are quite as important as the laws of right feeling. The highest outcome of intellectual education, on its practical side, is the power to think profoundly, and with ease and pleasure. To analyze, compare, reason, form just judgments, enter largely into the practical duties of life. There may be correct thinking without the study of formal logic, just 12 MR. MORGAN S ADDRESS. as there may be correct speaking without formal gram- mar, and elegant expression without rhetoric. But grammar and rhetoric are acknowledged to be in a high degree helpful, when properly studied, to a correct and elegant use of the mother-tongue. So logic, both as a science and an art, may be so taught as to greatly aid in securing skill in detecting fallacy and error, in investigating truth, and in properly arranging thoughts for the greatest effectiveness. A special reason for teaching logic in normal schools is its relation to methods. The proper division, ar- rangement, classification, and presentation of a subject are simply so many forms of applied logic. The suita- ble teaching of every subject, the definitions in geogra- phy, the inductions in natural science, deductions in geometry, analyses of sentences in grammar, exam- ination of literature, construction of essays, all depend upon a practical knowledge of correct thinking, or logic. These anthropological studies that have been named as the basis of a normal-school curriculum might be sup- plemented in advanced courses by inquiries into ethnol- ogy and sociology, and whatever else would throw light upon man as an educable being. These studies per- taining to man are pursued in all colleges and many high schools. But instruction in them in the normal school should be thorough, comprehensive, and with constant reference to their pedagogical bearing. If those who enter the normal school could be thor- oughly well informed in the facts of physiology, psychol- ogy, ethics, and logic, as a condition of entrance, it would be all the better for them ; the time could be spent in exhibiting the significance and use of those facts in the work of education. PEDAGOGY. *3 PEDAGOGY. This group of studies should be followed by an- other, which may be termed pedagogical. This con- sists of : — I. An inquiry into the philosophy of education. Edu- cation, considered as development, is simply evolution, or an unfolding to maturity of activity and strength of all the powers of the human being. It differs from evolution in matter, as in the tree or animal, in this : in man it is the result of conscious effort on the part of the individual. All psychological growth is conditioned upon exercise. All education, therefore, must be self- education. It is evolution from within. It is a process self-originated, self-directed, and terminates in self. The function of the teacher is chiefly that of supplying the external conditions for the maintenance of the native energies, the protection of them from unhealthy employment and dissipation, and the furnishing of the opportunities for their exercise. The child’s ' individuality and freedom should be sacredly respected. All educational processes are to be based on a careful study, not only of child-nature in general, but also of the idiosyncrasies of the individual pupil. Education seeks primarily the formation of right habits, — physical, mental, and moral. Its pur- pose is to put the child en rapport with his environment, nature, society, God. Every child is a man in minia- ture, a possible type of the race, capable under educa- tion of attaining an exalted degree of capacity for enjoyment, and power of performance. The ideal good in education is to put within the range of every individ- ual, without regard to sex or social status, the attain- 14 mr. Morgan’s address. ment of noblest possibilities. It is to enable each one to make the most of himself for time and for eternity. The philosophy of education necessarily embraces such questions as physical training, college sports, and school amusements, the co-education of the sexes, in- dustrial education, courses of study, and all other mat- ters that pertain to the broad subject of the completest unfolding of man in his entirety, and his fullest equip- ment for duty and privilege here and hereafter. It sweeps the whole field of educational endeavor, public and private, in all its grades and stages ; comprehends all its aims, means, motives, and agencies, and seeks to secure the highest results for all concerned. II. A history of education. Much is to be learned as to both the philosophy of education and methods of teaching by studying the systems of education that have been formulated, the theories that have been pro- mulgated, and the methods recommended and followed by those who have wrought on this great question in past ages. Nothing, perhaps, so liberalizes the mind of the teacher as the intelligent study of the words and ways of such men as Locke, Ascham, Rousseau, Come- nius, Pestalozzi, Froebel, and Spencer. III. Didactics , or the principles of teaching. There has come to be recognized a very considerable body of principles or first truths, regulative in their character, and very suggestive and helpful to the young pedagogue. To analyze these, discuss them, trace them in theii origin and follow them to their practical issue, are a valuable exercise. Some of these aphorisms may be instanced : — PEDAGOGY. IS 1. Exercise is the fundamental law of growth. 2. Each faculty must be exercised in accordance with its own laws of unfolding. 3. The chief aim of all primary teaching is mental development. 4. Nothing should be done for a. child that he can be led to do for himself. 5. Interest on the part of the pupil is the sine qua non of all satisfactory progress. 6. There is a proper order for the development of the faculties, which in general statement is, first, the perceptive faculties, then the memory, power of lan- guage, imagination, and last of all, the reasoning powers. 7. The studies to be taught should be chosen with reference to especial ends. 8. They should be adapted to the age and attain- ments of the pupil. 9. In the early stages of a liberal education, the studies are chiefly disciplinary, and teachers should so use them. All should be so correlated, however, that one will lead naturally to another, and together form a system. 10. In the later stages of education, whether long or short, some reference should be had, in selecting the studies to be pursued, to the future occupation of the student. IV. Methodology . Didactics has to do with training or development, while methodology investigates the laws of instruction, or impartation of knowledge. Di- dactics discusses the laws of growth ; methodology, the laws of unfolding truth. Didactics has to do with mind ; methodology, with matter. Didactics is concerned with 1 6 mr. Morgan’s address. drawing out ; methodology, with putting in. They often run parallel, and are sometimes confounded, yet they are really distinct in their province of inquiry, separate in thought, and should be discussed apart. Method- ology includes a discussion of isolated principles, or fundamental truths, and also of the systems founded upon them. Among the subjects treated under method- ology may be mentioned, — 1. The kindergarten. This is really a system or method devised by Froebel to initiate in the mother’s arms, and in the nursery, the work of child culture. 2. Objective teaching. The first stages of all edu- cation should be experimental. When the child has acquired the power of gaining knowledge readily and accurately without helps, then objects hinder instead of aid. 3. The topical method of presentation is to be fol- lowed as soon as the attainments of the pupil will justify it. 4. The art of questioning constitutes a very impor- tant element in all methods of instruction where recita- tion is used. 5. Analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, the study of words and the study of things, thought and expression, knowing and doing, memory and rea- son, should as far as possible go hand in hand. They should never be violently severed. 6. The text (or reference) book and oral teaching should supplement each other. 7. For the higher grades of instruction the lecture system has special advantages. 8. Laboratories, apparatus, and illustrative museums are helpful in all stages of instruction. PEDAGOGY. l 7 9. The pupil is to be incited at every stage of his progress to independent research, observation, experi- ment, verification, thought, etc. 10. In general, we are to proceed from the concrete to the abstract, simple to complex, the part to the whole, and vice versa , and from known to unknown. V. Methods . After this general survey of method- ology, or rather in connection with it, instruction should be given in the method of teaching special subjects, such as form, color, size, weight, number, place, time, and language, to young children. Reading, writing, spelling, drawing, plants, and animals for those older. Arithmetic, grammar, rhetoric, geography, literature, history, the natural sciences, etc., for advanced grades. While it may be that there is no one method to be followed in teaching any subject, every subject is best taught by a method, and he is most likely to find the best method who diligently and intelligently seeks for it. VI. School economy. The student who has a clear idea of the nature of the being to be educated, and the character and method of the education, is prepared to consider the organization of the school, the making of a programme, the keeping of records, the adminis- tration of discipline, the legal rights and limitations ol the teacher. For an advanced grade of students it would be proper to discuss the building and furnish ing of schoolhouses ; heating, lighting, and ventilating , duties of school officers, including superintendents ; the grading of schools, school systems, etc. In short, what- ever pertains to the administration of our complex school system would furnish suitable topics for this course. 1 8 mr. Morgan’s address. Before leaving this branch of my theme, let me say that it would not be necessary, or even desirable, per- haps, that each class should pursue this entire course. It would be sufficient if the normal schools could give such instructions in the great fundamentals as would set students thinking, and so teach them that in all these questions they would be likely to reach right conclusions. Thus their influence could not fail to be profound, far-reaching, and healthful. It would eventu- ally pervade the entire teaching force of the country. It will thus be seen that great stress is laid upon the thought that one great function of the normal school is to formulate a body of educational doctrine. Perhaps nowhere more than in teaching is seen the power of truth. Any reform in educational ideas or methods becomes effective only when they become controlling forces in the teachers. At no time are teachers so im- pressible, so open to receive truth, as during that for- mative period of preparation when they give themselves up to be taught. When rightly taught as above, they will be aggressive, independent, and wisely conservative. It is worthy of especial consideration that the problem of education, while old and involving invariable ele- ments, is essentially a new problem, to be worked out by each new generation in its own way. On its practi- cal side, education is the- training of the individual for citizenship ; that is, for the successful discharge of the particular duties of his special station in life. But a man’s duties are determined by his environment; that is, by the demands of the ever-changing civilization amidst whose influences he lives and labors. Educational doctrine must embrace not only the un- changeable element of man’s nature, but also the PRACTICE SCHOOLS. *9 changeable elements of the life of which he makes a part, and normal schools must recognize these truths in their teaching. PRACTICE SCHOOLS. Along with this professional instruction, the work of next highest importance to be done by the normal school is to train its pupils in the actual work of teach- ing. There is a science of teaching, and any person will be a better teacher if, before entering upon his work, he masters at least the rudiments of that science. The more familiar he is with these elements, the more easily can he apply them in his work in the school- room. But teaching is no less an art, in which the highest success is attainable only through practice. Experience is the verifying process that must make evident to him the truth of his philosophy. Under a wise system of teaching under criticism, pupils may very greatly expe- dite the matter of acquiring both experience and skill. A student is better prepared for the independent work of the school-room by even a few weeks’ preliminary handling of classes. As difficulties and perplexities occur, they are referred to the master for solution, mis- takes are corrected, and excellences are acknowledged and commended. By this means, it should be noted that the schools would not only be saved in a measure from the blunders of inexperienced teachers, but, what is a matter of the highest importance, they would be permanently spared the infliction of those who by this testing process are found wanting in the essential ele- ments of success as teachers, and are refused certificates, and advised to seek other callings. 20 mr. Morgan’s address. How the normal school shall supply the need of train- ing, and so fulfil this important function, is a mooted question. Several methods are followed. One is to allow the under-graduates or pupil-teachers to teach under the eye of a head teacher, who has the chief re- sponsibility for the discipline and progress of the class. Another is to assign pupil-teachers to particular classes for definite periods of, say, ten weeks, and hold them responsible for arranging the work, instructing the classes, and maintaining discipline. Their work is fre- quently inspected by their appointed critics, and their failures and successes are pointed out. This system varies widely in some of its details. For example, in some schools no teaching is done until the pupil has finished his professional studies. In others the study of method and practice in teaching go together. An- other method, wholly distinct from this, is to call upon the pupils, each in his turn, to teach his own class.' It is not my purpose here to criticise these various plans. It is sufficient to say that, in my judgment, formed after a somewhat varied experience and wide observation, a practice school is an essential factor in a complete normal school ; that pupil-teachers derive an mvaluable experience by teaching veritable children, and actually exercising authority for a continuous series of months ; and that under proper supervision this can be done without detriment to the children. THE MODEL SCHOOL. A third great part of normal-school work is to em- body and exhibit the highest type of a school. It should be a model school. The grounds, buildings, furnishings, apparatus, cabinets, libraries, the classification, instruc- CHARACTER BUILDING. 21 don, and discipline, should be of the highest order. The faculty should represent the last best word in the educational world, be ever on the alert to catch the newest theory, and to adopt and hold fast that which is good. The school, in order that it may be a complete object-lesson, should embrace the kindergarten, the primary, intermediate, grammar, and high school grades. There are several reasons for such a school. First, it is a complement to the philosophic ideal, showing that what ought to be, may be. Second, it enables the pupil- teachers to become familiar, by actual participation in the daily life of such a school, with the best principles of government and methods of teaching. Third, such a school is an object-lesson of great value to the general public, putting before them in concrete and impressive form the new education. CHARACTER BUILDING. ^The great fact should not be overlooked that the normal school is, first of all, a school, a seminary of learning not only, but a place for character building. It is so to train the pupils — the future teachers — as to repress the evil and foster the good in their lives ; to form habits of system, punctuality, industry, self-con- trol, independence, thoughtfulness, moral earnestness, etc., so that they shall be prepared to teach by example as well as by precept, by their lives as by their words. The most forceful fact in the teacher’s work is his personal character. What he is, what he loves, what his ideals are, what he thinks, by what motives he is gov- erned, what company he keeps, what books he reads, even what his amusements are, all enter vitally into his 22 mr. Morgan’s address. work as a fashioner of youthful minds and manners. The normal school, by wise methods, inculcates noble principles, holds up for imitation the best examples of the teacher, and strives to create in the minds of its pupils an ideal of the schoolmaster toward which they are ever to aim. A PROFESSIONAL SPIRIT. Even a cursory glance at the relation which teaching sustains to the well-being of humanity, and the progress of the race in all that is good in personal character, domestic and social life, art, science, industry, govern- ment, philosophy, and religion, shows that it ranks along with the highest of human callings. Luther said, “ If I were not a preacher, I would be a teacher.” Teaching should stand high among the professions. It should be rigorous in its exactions of the requirements of those who seek to enter it, lay special stress upon character, learning, and largeness of soul, and jealously exclude the unworthy and the incompetent. It should allure to its ranks the noblest spirits, by offering the best facili- ties for the prosecution of their chosen work, suitable recompense for faithful service, social recognition, and a reasonable certainty of fixed tenure of office, so long as the work is efficiently performed. Normal schools, properly equipped and ably managed, having before them the one distinct object of training men and women for this high office, do, by their very existence, call attention to the difficulty, importance, and dignity of the profession. By the philosophy which they teach, the methods they pursue, the standard of requirement for admission, the elimination of the in- competent, the dismissal of the unworthy, and especially EDUCATION IDENTICAL. 2 3 by constantly adding to the number of those thoroughly fitted for good service, the normal school awakens a professional spirit — a philosophic, philanthropic, pa- triotic spirit — in those who give themselves to this high calling, not as a means of livelihood, a dernier resort , but as to a noble life work, to which they may worthily devote all their energies and attainments. THE PROCESS OF EDUCATION IDENTICAL. Much mischief has resulted from violently separating education into distinct stages. The process of educa- tion is an identical one, the same throughout all its progress from the cradle to the college. It is the same mind taking its initiative lessons as it learns to recog- nize its mother’s smile, which later pursues its investi- gations by peering into the heavens through the tele- scope, deciphers monumental inscriptions, or searches into the deep things of religion. The same laws gov- ern its growth and acquisitions throughout. Philosophy of education embraces the whole scheme of psychical evolution, and recognizes it as subject to the same gen- eral laws of didactics and methodology. Formerly it seemed to be thought that any one could teach children, and that without special preparation. Now the drift of public sentiment seems to be that only primary teachers need a professional training. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR ALL TEACHERS*. The truth seems to be that, in order to attain the highest results, all who teach, whether in the home, the school, or the college, need a special training for the work. 24 MR. MORGAN S ADDRESS. The lecturer in the university, the professor in the col- lege, the teacher in the high school, no less than the grammar master, the primary instructor, and the kin- dergartner, require not simply culture, education, but pedagogical training. A very important part of the normal-school work is to train men and women for all grades of school teach- ing, especially the higher grades. Any one at all familiar with the work of high schools knows that much of the teaching in them is very faulty. Worse teaching than is done in some of the high schools and academies is, perhaps, nowhere to be found, unless it be in some of the colleges. Many a college graduate goes halt- ingly through life, simply because his instructors were ignorant, or negligent of their work as teachers. Normal- school training that would serve to improve the work done in many of the colleges would be a national bene- fit. Besides this, the universities and colleges are the centres of thought, and the educational ideas and methods that obtain in them will be dominant over all those who come under their influence. If those who are to teach there could have a special pedagogical training for their work, the influence of both their exam- ple and precept would be immediate and profound in developing a professional spirit. The young men aspiring to positions as teachers in high schools, academies, normal and grammar schools, — all of whom should be college bred, — would be influenced to seek a normal training. The mass of teachers for country schools must come from secondary schools. If these were taught by professional teachers, we should at once have a class of men and women imbued with a professional spirit. The influence of college and high PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR ALL TEACHERS. 25 school would thus be enlisted on the side of normal schools, instead of being indifferent or hostile. West Point trains men not simply to act as second lieutenants or captains of companies, but also as colonels of regiments, brigade, division, and corps com- manders, and as generals-in-chief to command the armies of the United States. Grant, Sherman, Sheri- dan, Hancock, Meade, McClellan, Thomas, were all trained in the military academy, and the history of their achievements vindicates the policy of the government. The normal school, as a professional school, should do for the teaching profession what West Point has done for the profession of arms. The theological seminaries do not spend their strength in fitting men simply to be pastors of feeble country churches. They strive to give such a training as will fit them for the most difficult posts, where the severest demands will be made. Natural selection and the survival of the fittest do the rest. The strongest and ablest go to the front, the weaker fill the easier positions. Andover, Union, Princeton, and similar schools strive to furnish leaders, and thus to lift up the whole body of the profession. The high places demand men of professional training. The example is conta- gious, and few country churches are now satisfied with an untrained pastor. The theological schools begin at the top, and so reach the mass. The normal school, as at present organized, is no^ doing that work. Practically it sets itself to the task of training men and women — chiefly women — for primary and grammar school work, and teaching in the rural districts. By arranging its course of study, and lowering its standard of admission to accommodate 26 mr. Morgan’s address. those who seek to fit themselves for teachers in lower- grade schools, it practically shuts out those who have had a university course and who aspire to teach. Few of the teachers in university or high schools have ever had a professional preparation for their work, or have ever seriously thought of having such. So long as the high- est places in the profession of teaching are open to, and filled by, unprofessional men, the profession itself must suffer from the lack in professional skill of those who have knowledge and culture, but lack ability to train and impart. The normal schools in America are doing a good work, and have helped to bring about a condition of things and a state of public sentiment which is already calling for something better. The establishment of chairs of pedagogy in colleges is in response to this sentiment. The point insisted upon here is that the time has come for the establishment here and there of normal schools of high grade, designed expressly and exclusively to give a strictly professional training to col- lege graduates and others possessed of a liberal educa- tion, to fit them for the best work in teaching in high schools, academies, normal schools, colleges, and uni- versities. Undoubtedly, one function of the normal school is to train teachers for the country schools and the lower grades of city schools ; but what is here insisted on is that this is not its only or its chief work. There is the same need of professional training for teachers for the higher grades as for the lower. The conditions of teaching in the country districts are such that there is little inducement for those who have a normal training to remain there permanently. If they aspire to teach ACADEMIC WORK. 27 in the city, they at once come into rivalry with graduates of college and high school, who, though without profes- sional training, have the advantage of broader culture and of local influence. In so far as normal graduates who have had only a grammar-school training before entering the normal are employed as head masters in grammar schools, teachers in high schools, professors in normal schools, to the ex- clusion of college-bred men and women, it may well be questioned whether more harm than good may not ulti- mately result. Technical training cannot take the place of scholarship. Breadth is indispensable to the highest culture, and should be required of every teacher of high grade. The normal school is not to displace the col- lege and the high school, nor to rival them, but to sup- plement their work ; not to substitute technical training for scholarship, but to add to culture the best profes- sional training. ACADEMIC WORK. A large part of the strength of normal schools is spent in giving their pupils the rudiments of the com- mon-school studies. They do academic instead of pro- fessional work. Against this policy it may be urged that it is a waste of resources. The normal-school faculties are required to do what the faculties in the high school should do. It creates rivalry and jealousy between the normal and high schools. It degrades the normal from a professional to a secondary school, thus helping to defeat its own ends, — the creating of a profes- sional spirit. It fatally lowers the standard of attain- ment that should be required of every teacher. It overcrowds the course of study, and, by attempting to 28 MR. MORGAN S ADDRESS. teach both matter and method, does neither with thoroughness. It attempts the impossible. Students need more culture and discipline than are now required upon entering normal schools, and the separation of matter and method before they can fully grasp the sig- nificance of methodology. A complete separation of matter and method, a thor- ough differentiation of the normal school into that of a strictly professional school, would, it is believed, be productive of the following results : The normal schools would at once take higher rank and compel greater re- spect. The ranks of college and high-school teachers and grammar masters would be more largely recruited from the normal graduates. The professional work would be better done. Normal-school teachers would turn their energies toward producing pedagogical litera- ture rather than school books. Normal students would go out with more clearly defined notions of what con- stitutes professional training than they now possess. The antagonism between high school and normal school would at once cease. It is worthy of note that, in the early educational his- tory of this country, the great institutions of learning were designed as theological schools, and their work was miscellaneous and elementary. By a natural pro- cess of evolution and differentiation, the academy, the college, and the university have grown out of the divin- ity school. The divinity school proper, now leaving to those the work of general culture, seeks to do strictly professional, post-graduate work. The normal school is undergoing something of the same healthy metamorphosis. The improvement and multiplication of the schools of all grades, where those CONSERVATIVE CHANGES. 2 9 who wish to teach can receive the requisite instruction in the subjects to be taught, and the growing public sentiment, or rather demand, for a higher order of pro- fessional training, unite in rendering it possible and desirable for the normal school to do distinctively and exclusively professional work. CONSERVATIVE CHANGES. Of course no radical revolutionary change should be suddenly introduced. That here suggested should be gradual. One such school might be enough to start w r ith. It would be soon followed by others. For the present, under the traditions of the normal schools, and with public sentiment as it now T is, they will be obliged to do academic work. But it should be done under protest, and with a constant aim at realizing the true ideal of the normal school as an institution of high order, graded to meet the necessities of persons of varied ability, taste, and destiny, admitting only those whose scholastic attainments warrant it, and giving to them the broadest and mcJst thorough professional cul- ture possible, and so recruiting all grades of the profes- sion of teaching with those who will give it dignity, and do for the public the best kind of work. It is absolutely necessary that those who teach should be well grounded in the studies required in the schools in which they teach ; and if those who enter the normal school are found deficient in these studies, it will be necessary, for some time to come, as it has been in the past, to provide some means for a thorough review. Where there is a well-organized practice school, the academic work can be done there. In some cases a 30 mr. Morgan’s address. preparatory department may be maintained ; in others the normal faculty must do this work. But so far as possible it should be separate from the professional work; and should be distinctively and professedly aca- demic, with stress laid upon the fact that the work is extra normal and temporary. SUMMARY. To sum up, the normal school is a professional school, and ranks with the theological seminary, law school, medical school, and military academy. Its place is that of a post-graduate school. Admission should be limited to those who have completed their academic or scholastic work. Its spirit, methods, equipment, and teaching force should be of the highest order. Its in- struction should be confined to those subjects which sustain the most intimate relation to the peculiar work of the teacher. Its great function is to add constantly to the number of those who dedicate themselves to teaching as a life work, and who seek to become, by personal character, scholarship, and pedagogical skill, able to do the best kind of work in whatever sphere of teaching they enter, whether in the kindergarten, the grammar, high school, college, or professional school. It should seek, by concentration of energy upon strictly professional work, to touch the profession at every point, and vitalize and ennoble it in every part.