INTERPRETATIVE CONCLUSIONS
1. The people and their ideals 181
2. Facilities for education 184
3. Directing authority and management of schools 187
4. Teachers' training 191
5. The teacher's life 195
6. The curriculum 197
a. Religious instruction and education 198
b. The classics 201
c. Physical culture 204
d. Vocal music 206
7. Lines of instruction in the gymnasium 207
8. Co-education 210
9. The school year 214
10. School lunches 215
11. Comparative attainments 217
12. Methods of instruction 220
13. Continuity of effort 222
Bibliography 225
Index 229
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF NORWA
_Chapter I_
BACKGROUND AND ORGANIZATION
I. INTRODUCTION
The history of mankind in Norway covers a period of at least five
thousand years and includes a great variety of interesting incidents and
conditions. The accounts of the earlier ages may be read only in
archaeological formations, while for more recent times, these silent
records are supplemented and enriched by traditions. All such accounts
are of deep interest and significance but only in a measure reliable. We
have no really authentic information regarding Norway's political
history until the reign of Harald the Fair Haired (860-930). We do know,
however, that, previous to his establishment of the sovereign state of
Norway in 872, the people had known only the rule of numerous petty,
warring earls and kings. Besides this, the entire country had been
subjected to the devastations of the vikings. These sea robbers were the
terror of all the coast countries in western Europe and the British
Isles until about the year 900 when sea robbery at home was abolished,
and the Norsemen became colonizers, migrating to surrounding islands,
the west and south of Europe, and probably America. Now when piracy
began to decline the people rose to a higher plane of living, and the
prosperity attained through peace and industry was found to be the more
desirable. A long succession of kings, some good and some evil, ruled
the land. Paganism was gradually overcome, and about the year 1,000
Christianity was established.
From this time on, for several centuries, the country experienced only
moderate visible progress though large gains were made in potential
powers. In 1381, Norway entered into a union with Denmark and remained
in large measure subject to her power until 1814. This period of more
than four hundred years was a season of little good and of great
hardships to the people. Their development received little attention,
the resources of the country and the cause of education were neglected,
and the masses were not recognized in a way that would tend to their
enlightenment and progress. The entire nation suffered from
international difficulties as well as from oppression at home.
Conditions remained unimproved and the latent powers of the people,
which had been accumulating for generations, found no adequate means for
expression.
When in 1814 the treaty of Kiel, sanctioned by the European powers,
forced Norway into an unwilling union with Sweden, the Norwegians
revolted; and, in their attempt to liberate themselves, adopted a
constitution for their government.[1] Their revolt created ill feelings
on the part of the Swedes while the demands for complete sovereignty by
Sweden were resented by the Norwegians. The adoption of this
constitution by the people of Norway and their standing so tenaciously
for its recognition are manifestations of the spirit which had been
developing among them for centuries. They believed that they were being
imposed upon and stood firm for their rights. They had felt the crushing
hand of foreign rule, they had observed the benefits of independence,
they had developed confidence in their own powers, and now they were
converted to the idea that the time for home rule was upon them. Civil
liberty was their dream. State rights came to be demanded. Their time to
act in a decisive manner had come. The people had grown into a nation
deserving and in need of larger powers, and their best advancement was
in great measure dependent upon the exercise of these powers. Conditions
then justified their demands and Sweden, appreciating the situation,
yielded, acknowledged the independence of Norway, and agreed to govern
in accordance with the newly adopted constitution. On the other hand,
Norway acceded to the demands of Sweden in accepting the King of Sweden
as theirs also.
Now for nearly one hundred years this union was maintained. Comparative
peace and prosperity prevailed and the outlook seemed favorable for both
nations. Sweden profited because of the new relations, and Norway gained
in strength and power through her experience in individual initiative
and governmental duties generally. While the relations between the two
countries were in the main friendly, on various occasions Norway felt
that her rights were not always respected. The people craved larger
privileges, more recognition among the nations of the world, and the
exercise of greater authority. The functioning of capacities that had
long lain dormant revealed to her the powers that were still latent.
Norway became eager for absolute independence and these feelings rose to
larger and larger proportions until desires became demands. All the
people were ready and offered their services, their fortunes (whether
large or scant), and their lives in the cause of freedom. Finally,
formally, and without bloodshed, the bonds uniting the two countries
were severed in 1905 and Norway became an independent nation.
Having briefly sketched the history of the country let us now turn our
attention to its geography. Norway, as we all know, lies in the
northwestern part of Europe, and measures over one thousand one hundred
miles from north to south and from two hundred to nearly five hundred
miles from east to west. Politically it is divided into eighteen
counties (_Amter_) and the cities of Christiania and Bergen. These
counties are subdivided into six hundred sixty-six townships or communes
(_Kommuner_) which are again divided into school districts or circles
(_Kredser_) numbering in all five thousand nine hundred seventy.[2]
The area is approximately one hundred and twenty-five thousand square
miles. Nearly all of it is made up of mountains which have no regularity
in distribution, a large portion of them being merely heaps of barren
rock thrown up in conglomerate masses. The valleys are as numerous and
irregular as the mountains. In them are lakes, rivers, and waterfalls,
their waters pure and clear as crystal. The lakes differ greatly in
outline and size. The rivers in their windings dash furiously through
precipitous, rugged, rocky channels, or glide murmuringly through quiet
valleys until they reach the fjords which appear like huge arms of the
sea, reaching deep into the earth and extending far inland. The
waterfalls vary from mere threads tinkling into tiny pools to great
torrents gushing over dizzy precipices. Viewed in combination these
features present an infinite variety of exquisitely beautiful scenes.
The climate of Norway is greatly diversified owing to the wide range in
latitude and the influence of the Gulf stream. In the northern part and
on the highest mountains there are vast fields of snow during the entire
year, while in some of the sheltered portions along the western coast,
the climate is well adapted to the cultivation of some of the tropical
plants. It is, of course, essential that all plants that are cultivated
be of rapid growth and of quick maturity, since their seasons are quite
short. The atmospheric conditions are excelled nowhere. Few locations on
the earth enjoy such freshness or provide so much mental and physical
invigoration. Just the joy of living is more than recompense for all
one's expense and trouble in going for a season into this summer home or
nature.
Being situated so far to the north the days of summer are very long
while those of winter are extremely short. This is noticeable even in
the southern part of the country, and as one goes farther north it is
more and more striking until upon reaching the arctic circle the summer
traveler has the unique experience of seeing the sun at midnight. It is
visible for weeks or months at a time, according to whether one is near
the circle or farther toward the pole. For corresponding periods during
the winter seasons the sun does not appear at all. It should not be
inferred that these sunless days are intensely dark and gloomy. On the
contrary, they, as well as the midnight sun, have fascinations peculiar
to themselves and are of deep interest, especially to the novice in that
latitude. The glitter of the stars, the glow of the moon, and the
palpitating brilliance of the northern lights, combine with the light
reflected from the vast snow fields and compensate in part for the
absence of the direct rays from the sun.
The industries and occupations of the Norwegians are dependent in large
measure upon environing conditions. Nearly one-fourth of the country is
covered with a heavy growth of timber; hence, lumbering affords a large
part of the most profitable employment. Much of the mountainous land can
be used only for pasturage and, as a result, dairying claims
considerable attention. Only a very small portion of the area (about
four per cent) is suitable for agriculture and owing to this limitation
of opportunity, comparatively few of the people are farmers. Their
numerous fisheries supply cargoes, and train loads of fresh and cured
fish to the markets of the world. Fishing is, in fact, one of the most
important industries, and a large percentage of the wage earners of the
country engage in it. Since the bulk of their travel and transportation
is by water, a great many become sailors. A certain amount of
manufacturing also is done, and this provides another means of earning a
livelihood. The fact that nearly all of the people are gathered into
cities, towns, and settlements along the coast, is explained by a
consideration of the activities and conditions herein set forth.
The people of Norway are large of stature, vigorous, and alert in mind
and body. They have ever been undaunted in their efforts to overcome the
great, natural barriers to progress and to secure what they believed
would be for their well-being. Toiling patiently and persistently,
suffering hardships on land and perils at sea, they have developed the
well-known characteristics of their sturdy race. The long, rigorous
winters taught the people to provide amply for the needs of the future,
and they learned also the economy of making every endeavor count for
permanency. It has been and is still their aim and intent to so direct
their efforts that their citizens may experience and enjoy not only in
the present the best conditions made possible by the world's highest
attainments, but that later generations also may reap valuable benefits
therefrom. They realize that it is easily possible for today's
provisions to supply the best for the present, and at the same time to
bless tomorrow and the next day and all the coming years.
The Norwegians are as democratic in mind and disposition as any people
of the earth. They demand that the masses shall receive whatever benefit
may come from prosperity at home, from their relations with other
nations, or from legislation. They advocate further that right now is
the time to increase opportunities, to multiply privileges, to raise
standards of living, and to insure through conservative action a
substantial basis on which the coming generations may safely build. In
accord with their aims and ideals they study the questions of education,
labor and capital, and many others of vital interest to the people. They
seek out sources, eliminating the undesirable and cultivating those of
favorable growth and fruitage. Recognizing their own resourcefulness and
ability, the Norsemen strive to gain for themselves and for their
descendants material prosperity and true culture. To these ends they
foster educational advantages for all, the development of the arts and
sciences, and the elevation of labor.
Educationally, they have ever been desirous of providing the best
possible advantages. During the latter part of the nineteenth century
and the few years of the present one, they have been in a position to
put into execution a number of advance ideas which they have done
without hesitation. Being observant of what other nations provide they
have been ready to select from various sources whatever good they found,
to eliminate any undesirable features which revealed themselves, and to
strengthen the weaker points. Though they have been forced by conditions
to assume and maintain a conservative attitude toward every new project
or attempt at reform, they have been also too democratic to permit
tradition or precedent to bind them down or to hinder them in making
changes in their school system, which they were convinced by experience
or study would be for their good. In harmony with this they have been
eager to make revisions where necessary; to introduce new features,
which had been tested at home or abroad and found successful; and to
cast aside relics of the past, unnecessary phases of work, and those
things which might be supplanted by materials of superior advantage or
value to the people served. They have become habituated to examining the
new from every conceivable viewpoint, to finding its foundations, to
testing its values, and to weighing its effects. When a thing has been
thoroughly studied it is accepted or rejected according to whether it is
adjudged desirable or undesirable for their use under existing
conditions. In their effort to answer the demands of the people and to
supply their needs, schools have been established according to local
requirements. That is to say, every community enjoys school advantages,
and every child in the entire state is privileged to receive instruction
for a certain number of weeks each year at the expense of the state. All
children are required to attend the schools of the state at least twelve
weeks each year for seven years, or to receive instruction elsewhere
which is equivalent to the amount required. In the more populous places
higher schools also are provided for those who desire to take advantage
of the opportunities afforded in them.
II. DIFFERENTIATION OF SCHOOLS.
It was early recognized by the Norwegians that through the means of
education, better than any other way, they could develop a people
qualified to pursue the arts, to cultivate the sciences, to appreciate
and enjoy the highest culture, and to maintain and develop their noblest
ideals of citizenship and richest conceptions of statehood. Having these
objects in mind they endeavored to establish schools of instruction and
training along every legitimate line. Beginning with the most essential
they worked unceasingly, providing additional worthy kinds of
instruction as rapidly as possible, until their efforts resulted in
their present school system.
Perhaps the most important feature of their work was the establishment
of primary schools, which furnish general education. These schools
provide seven years of elementary instruction for children between the
ages of seven and fourteen years, and are literally the people's schools
(_Folkeskoler_). The law requires that pupils must be regular in
attendance, and that parents, who fail to have their children in school
in harmony with the provisions of the law, be fined according to the
seriousness and extent of the offense. It is further provided that these
schools shall be in operation for at least twelve weeks in the year, and
that this time may be extended according to local demands or needs. As a
matter of fact, nearly all of them in the cities and many of them in the
country operate forty weeks per year. As a consequence of liberal
provisions and enforced regulations, Norway has achieved an eminent
place educationally among the nations of the world.
In the rural sections primary schools are held in comfortable, well
equipped, and conveniently located schoolhouses and are taught by
competent teachers who live near by in homes provided for them. In a few
remote, rugged sections of the country, where children are few and
scattering or where locations accessible to all cannot be found, they
have no fixed schools, but instead what are termed ambulatory schools
(_Omgangskoler_). There are no schoolhouses in these districts but the
officials designate certain houses[3] as the places where children go at
stated times to receive instruction. The teacher meets the children of
the neighborhood in a given home and teaches them for a specified time,
passes to the next designated place, and continues until his rounds are
completed. Formerly, a very large number of these schools existed, but
as roadways were extended or improved and the people became able to
erect and maintain schoolhouses, the demand for ambulatory schools
decreased until now nearly all of them are supplanted by fixed schools.
In 1837, ninety-two per cent of the children attending school in the
country were taught in ambulatory schools, while in 1907 this was the
case with less than one per cent of them.
In all the cities and towns excellent educational advantages are
provided. Usually their school year consists of forty weeks of six days
each. Every provision is made for the welfare of the children; excellent
instructors are secured, and the equipment for teaching purposes is of
the best procurable. Furthermore, no pains are spared in guarding the
children from physical discomfort and immoral conditions or
associations.
Simultaneously with the development of the elementary schools secondary
education moved along advance lines. In 1814, when Norway became an
independent state there were but four of the higher classical (_laerde_)
schools within her borders. These were the historic cathedral schools
(_Kathedralskoler_) which had been established for centuries. As time
passed, other secondary schools were organized. Higher education was
reorganized in 1869 and again in 1896, when by act of the Storthing
secondary education was made to include the middle school and the
gymnasium. The enactment defines these schools and states their aim as
follows: "The middle school is a school for children, which, in union
with the primary school, gives its pupils a complete, thorough, general
education, adapted to the receptivity of childhood. The gymnasium is a
school for young people, which on the foundation of the middle school,
leads on to a complete, higher, general education, which may also serve
as a basis for scientific studies. Both middle school and gymnasium
shall contribute to the religions and moral training of the pupils, and
it should also be their common aim to develop the pupils both mentally
and physically into competent young people."[4] The act requires that
the middle school shall be no longer than four years, and that the
gymnasial courses shall be of three years' duration.
The gymnasia of Norway take up the work where the middle schools leave
off, and provide three years of instruction which concludes with the
_examen artium_. The passing of this examination entitles the individual
to become a student in the university. Previous to the time of entering
the gymnasium the subjects of instruction are uniform for all; here they
branch into two or three lines, any one of which may be selected by the
pupil and followed to its completion. The main divisions of the work are
represented in the names of the courses--the _Real_ and the
Linguistic-Historical. The latter of these is again divided in some
schools, one of its two lines including Latin. The _Real_ course of
instruction is largely scientific while the Linguistic-Historical, true
to its name, embodies a large amount of language and history. In case
the course including Latin is offered, Latin replaces some of the work
in modern languages and history.
The middle school, then, is the second step in the educational ladder
and builds upon the work previously done in the primary school. No
middle school is privileged to include work lower down than the sixth
grade. In other words, the primary schools are the only ones which are
authorized to present the work of the first five grades or years of
school instruction. The courses of study are so arranged that a child
may pass from the primary school after completing the fifth grade and
enter directly upon the studies in the regular four year course of the
middle school. On the other hand a pupil may continue in the primary
school until its completion--seven years--and then enter a middle school
and finish its requirements in three years. While nearly all middle
schools present a four year course there are a few which offer only
three years of instruction. In order to enter these latter schools the
child must have finished the seven years of instruction in the primary
schools. Middle schools are under the inspection of state officials and
a uniform standard of work is required of all of them. The middle school
examination which marks the completion of the middle school course is
exactly the same for all pupils in the state. In any given year all who
take the examinations write on exactly the same questions on a specified
hour of a certain day.
The Royal Frederik University, established by King Frederik in 1811,
furnishes the summit of educational endeavor. Its five faculties--(1)
theology, (2) law, (3) medicine, (4) mathematics and science, and (5)
history and philosophy--represent the best products of the country and
maintain standards of efficiency paralleling the achievements of the
day. Besides the five faculties already mentioned there are (1) The
Practical Theological Seminary for the training of ministers and (2) The
Pedagogical Seminary (affiliated) for special training of teachers.
Through the endeavors of the faculties and seminaries enumerated, the
necessary professions, scientific organizations, and philosophic
societies are supplied with men of eminent qualifications. The state
also is supplied from the same source with individuals capable of
attending to the affairs of state in a dignified and competent manner.
To aid prospective teachers and to maintain high professional standards,
Norway early established a Teachers' Seminary in each of its six
dioceses (_Stifter_). Having made this ample provision for the training
of teachers, they were in a position to require a certain amount of
professional preparation of all candidates for appointment to teaching
positions. Adherence to this laudable principle has saved the state from
an overflow of incompetent instructors. While requirements were very low
for a long time, the increasing supply of qualified candidates for
positions warranted successive shiftings of them to higher and higher
standards. At present, the teachers of Norway, as a body, rank among the
best in educational equipment, professional training, and morality.
Technical, agricultural, military, and naval schools have been
established in order to keep pace with the world's developments along
these lines. The technical school in Trondhjem opened in 1910, sets the
requirements for admission as high as those at the university. Its work
promises to be of unquestioned quality and its prospects are very
bright. The students at this school come chiefly from the scientific
course offered in the gymnasia or from the several preparatory technical
schools of Norway. There are many of these lower technical schools doing
excellent work and some of them are modeled after American schools. The
work of the agricultural college and of the military and naval schools
is more or less technical along their respective lines and meets certain
requirements not elsewhere provided for. When one notes the variety of
schools maintained by the Norwegian state, it is evident that it is the
intent to provide for its citizens a very wide range of educational
advantages, and at the same time to develop the capacities of young
people until they are able to perform the offices of state and nation.
III. DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS AND PUPILS
The laws of Norway are specific in their requirements regarding
education, and the people are at hand to provide the essential means for
carrying out the demands. It is required that in each city or district
in the entire realm there shall be the necessary number of schools to
provide instruction for all children of school age. This is in answer to
the law which makes a requirement of a certain minimum amount of
education of all such children.
The primary schools are distributed in the cities, villages, and rural
communes to suit the convenience of pupils attending. Other and higher
schools are provided where most needed. As is true everywhere the bulk
of work is done in the primary schools. Rural and city schools have
their own laws and government, and are admirably adapted to the needs of
their respective constituencies. As would be expected, the rural schools
and the pupils attending them far outnumber those in the cities and
towns. There are in the country five thousand, nine hundred and seventy
schools attended by two hundred seventy-five thousand, one hundred and
fifty-five pupils, while there are but sixty-one city school systems
having an enrollment of ninety thousand, one hundred and twenty-nine
pupils.[5] It is seen that there are about three times as many pupils in
the rural primary schools as are found in the city primary schools. The
distribution and care of the city school pupils are, however, much
larger tasks than providing for those in the rural sections. In order to
show conditions in a given city we insert Table I which indicates the
number of classes and pupils in the several grades in the nineteen
primary schools of Christiania, and also gives the totals for the entire
city. Boys and girls attend the same school, but in this particular city
they are generally separated into different rooms where they are taught
by themselves. The schools are co-educational but not generally
coinstructional. As the table will show, some of them are
coinstructional through a part of the course while only one follows this
plan throughout its work.
TABLE I
Pupils in the Primary Schools of Christiania in the month of April, 1908
NUMBER OF CLASSES AND PUPILS IN THEM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Grade 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
Schools Cl. Pu. Cl. Pu. Cl. Pu. Cl. Pu. Cl. Pu. Cl. Pu. Cl. Pu.
A. {Boys 3 112 3 99 3 114 4 136 3 115 3 96 3 95
{Girls 3 107 3 113 3 116 3 105 3 111 3 191 2 83
B. {Boys 5 183 5 194 4 157 4 160 5 199 5 177 4 144
{Girls 5 178 5 184 5 196 4 140 5 188 4 151 4 149
C. {Boys 2 89 2 90 2 100 2 98 2 98 2 79 2 64
{Girls 2+1 99 2+1 96 2+1 101 2+1 95 2+1 97 2+1 89 2 77
D. {Boys 3 139 3 123 4 140 3 127 3 108 3 103 3 93
{Girls 3+1 119 3+1 132 3 117 3+1 139 3 028 3 110 3 101
E. {Boys 3 121 4 149 3 113 2 77 2 74 2 72 2 65
{Girls 3 115 4 152 3 101 3 116 3 115 2 77 2 60
F. {Boys 3 138 2 93 2 83 2 67 3 98 3 107 1 37
{Girls 3+1 122 2+1 102 2+1 104 3 104 2 77 2 79 2 65
G. {Boys 4 151 3 140 2 119 4 138 3 121 3 99 3 105
{Girls 4 147 4+1 157 4+1 148 4 134 3 106 2 80 3 93
H. {Boys 4 142 4 136 3 119 3 115 4 139 3 109 2 66
{Girls 3 131 3 136 4 131 4 142 3 102 2 80 2 69
I. {Boys 3 96 3 96 3 86 2 73 2 77 2 68 3 102
{Girls 2 79 2 68 2 82 2 79 2 68 2 71 3 102
J. {Boys 2 95 2 91 2 90 2 80 2 81 2 70 2 641
{Girls 2+1 87 2+1 109 2+1 98 3 93 2 66 2 68 2 661
K. {Boys 4 153 4 145 4 143 3 118 3 120 3 121 3 84
{Girls 5 170 4+1 153 4 139 4 154 3 123 3 103 3 93
L. {Boys 4 143 4 145 4 134 4 144 4 129 4 132 2 75
{Girls 4 158 4 148 4 141 4 132 4 136 4 157 4 131
M. {Boys 7 133 6 111 5 91 2 99 2 102 2 70 2 74
{Girls 136 108 115 2+2 124 2+2 115 3 97 2 72
N. {Boys 4 151 1 106 1 108 2 113 2 85 2 105 2 72
{Girls 3 109 1+4 125 1+3 127 2+2 108 2+1 100 2+2 106 2 64
O. {Boys 111 98 128 118 102 95 57
{Girls 5 90 5 98 7 126 6 104 5 88 5 98 4 73
P. {Boys 3 126 2 83 3 116 3 103 3 103 2 68 3 96
{Girls 3 113 3 117 3 105 3 113 3 99 2 80 3 100
Q. {Boys 4 155 5 192 5 168 4 158 4 155 4 149 3 116
{Girls 4 154 5+1 189 4 163 5 171 4 144 3 118 2 111
R. {Boys 154 159 131 112 3 107 2 83 3 104
{Girls 186 128 141 115 3 110 3+1 131 2 77
S. {Boys 5 185 4 151 4 139 4 135 3 111 2 75
{Girls 4 159 5 172 4 146 3 108 4 148 2 79
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total (Classes) 134 131 126 122 115 104 91 2
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- --
(Pupils) 5036 4878 4676 4458 4235 3753 3099 43
Average number
of pupils per
class 37.6 37.3 37.1 36.5 36.8 36.1 34.1
Schools for
Abnormals
{Boys 47 54 57 46 66 65 30 19
4+1 7 5+1 6+1 2
{Girls 18 53 41 37 47 33 18 9
Cl.--Class.
Pu.--Pupils.
1.--Classes made up of children requiring individual attention.
Total Condensed table
Total Classes Pupils of all groups
Schools Boys' Girls' Coeds. Boys Girls Classes Pupils Average
for class.
A. 22 20 767 736 42 1503 35.8
B. 32 32 1214 1195 64 2409 37.6
C. 14 14 6 618 644 34 1262 37.1
D. 22 21 3 833 840 46 1679 36.5
E. 18 20 671 736 38 1407 37
F. 16 16 3 623 653 35 1276 36.5
G. 22 24 2 873 865 48 1738 36.2
H. 23 21 826 781 44 1607 36.5
I. 18 15 598 549 33 1147 34.8
J. 15 16 3 595 606 34 1201 35.3
K. 24 26 884 935 50 1810 36.4
L. 26 28 902 1003 54 1905 35.3
M. 8 9 22 680 767 39 1447 37.1
N. 14 13 13 740 789 40 1479 37
O. 37 709 677 37 1380 37.5
P. 19 20 695 727 39 1422 36.5
Q. 29 28 1093 1050 57 2143 37.6
R. 8 8 31 850 888 47 1738 37
S. 22 22 796 812 44 1608 36.5
Total number --- --- --- ----- ----- --- ----- ----
of Pupils 352 353 120 14967 15209 825 30176 36.6
Schools for
Abnormals 3 39 384 256 42 640 15.6
In addition to the special features in this table, to which we have
already called attention, it may be observed that the total number of
boys', girls', and co-educational classes; the total number of boys and
of girls in attendance at each school; and the average number of pupils
per class in each school are also included.
The law limits the number of pupils in a class to thirty-five, except
temporarily or in case of stringency in financial conditions, and in no
case must there be more than forty.[6] It is seen in the table that the
average is above thirty-five in all but one school, but it has been
exceedingly difficult in the rapidly growing city of Christiania to
avoid congestion in the schools. In only one of the nineteen schools
does the general average come within the rule. If they plead economic
stringency then the averages of all fall within the limits.
Now a large percentage of children continue their education after the
completion of the elementary course. In 1907, there were nine thousand,
eight hundred and ninety-five pupils in the accredited middle
schools,[7] and one thousand, five hundred and ninety-three in the
gymnasia. About eighteen thousand others attended non-accredited
secondary schools and those of still lower standards--evening schools,
continuation schools, and various preparatory schools. Approximately two
thousand were in technical schools and about one thousand in teachers'
seminaries. Nearly every town of any considerable consequence has a
middle school where pupils from the town and surrounding territory may
receive its benefits. The larger cities have, in addition to a liberal
supply of middle schools, one or more gymnasia, according to their size.
The gymnasia draw from a wider territory than do the middle schools
because they are fewer and farther apart.
In addition to the six teachers' seminaries maintained by the state,
there are four private ones--ten in all. Table II indicates the
aggregate attendance at these institutions and the number of those who
passed the advanced examinations during the years designated.
The university, of course, draws its students from all over the State.
It has an attendance of one thousand, three hundred or more, about five
hundred and fifty of whom are annually enrolled direct from the
gymnasia. These students represent the best products of the country and
generally they work with earnestness and zeal.
TABLE II
Table Giving Attendance at Teachers' Seminaries and the Number Passing
Advanced Examinations.
Took Examination.
Year. Attendance. Male. Female. Total.
1901-02 755 204 135 339
1902-03 980 192 129 321
1903-04 953 216 184 400
1904-05 902 174 119 293
1905-06 955 208 147 355
--- --- -----
Totals 994 714 1,708
Annual Average 199 143 342
Private schools have played an important role in Norway. They have had a
long and interesting history. A number of them do part or all of the
work represented by the state primary and secondary schools and
teachers' seminaries. Most of them are located in the larger cities and
receive recognition and patronage from some of the best homes in the
land. Their influence upon education generally has been wholesome. The
valuable and attractive features introduced by them have operated like
spurs on those under state direction. The cooperative activity which has
characterized the relationship between the two kinds of schools has
resulted in the betterment of both and in the rapid advancement of
educational ideals and activities throughout the state.
There are, of course, some fundamental differences existing between
them. The private schools charge a regular tuition in every grade of
primary and secondary work. The state primary schools are free and the
tuition in its secondary schools is less than that charged in the
private schools. It is self-evident that private schools are dependent
upon tuition receipts for both running expenses and profits, while the
state and communal schools are supported largely by public taxation.[8]
Paralleling so nearly the work of the state schools, yet being more
expensive, the private schools have been under the necessity of offering
certain inducements in order to secure pupils. They have been made
attractive in location, in buildings, in equipment, in the personnel of
their faculties, and in other ways, and their efforts have been richly
rewarded as a rule.
All classes of schools are subject to state regulations and inspection.
Certain definite requirements must be met before a private school may
even begin to operate, and still higher standards must be maintained in
order for the work to be accredited by the state. Standards of
excellence are naturally set by state schools and the requirements fixed
by the state inhibit the starting of inferior schools under the pretense
of offering something "just as good." During recent years some of the
private schools--those well-known and respected because of the nature
of work and high standards of excellence maintained--have been given
special recognition by the state, and a few of them receive annuities.
When advancement in nature or improvement in quality of school work is
rewarded by increase in patronage from the state, zest is furnished in
the contest for first recognition.
Though the history of the rise, development and influence of the private
schools of Norway, together with a discussion of their present status
and worth, might furnish an interesting chapter, it becomes necessary to
let this slight mention suffice and to confine this work to a treatise
of the schools instituted and directed by the state. It may be added,
however, that the work of the accredited private schools equals in
quality and receives the same recognition as that done in state schools.
For example, all graduates from the private gymnasia pass the same
examinations for _artium_ as those who complete the work of the state
gymnasia and enter the university on exactly the same footing.
IV. PUPILS
The compulsory school laws which operate in Norway determine the age
(seven years) at which children shall enter school and the regularity of
their attendance. With this in mind, it is readily understood that as a
rule each class marches steadily forward, one grade each year, until the
completion of the school life. As a consequence there is but little
variation in the ages of pupils doing the work of any certain grade, and
the proportion of pupils of normal age in the several grades is very
large. In order to illustrate definitely, a concrete situation is
presented in Table III, which shows the exact conditions existing at a
certain time in one of their representative cities.
TABLE III [Transcriber note: table split to fit]
Table showing the age of pupils on April 30, 1908, in the several
grades, also the number in each Grade and relation to normal age.
Age and year of birth.
Grade No.
of 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17
Classes 1902 1901 1900 1899 1898 1897 1896 1895 1894 1893 1892 Total
1 134 27 3047 1790 164 10 5038
2 130 33 2730 1795 263 18 4839
3 126 22 2564 1730 319 36 5 2 4678
4 122 33 2287 1620 393 77 14 1 4425
5 115 32 2009 1528 511 136 6 4222
6 105 1 39 1856 1342 569 80 3878
7 90 28 1582 1129 231 3 3003
X[2] 2 20 22 1 43
T[1] 824 27 3080 4542 4556 4323 3996 3841 3537 1962 139 3 30186
Per
ct. 1908 0.1 10.2 15.1 15.1 14.3 13.2 12.7 11.7 6.5 1.1 ----
1907 0.1 11.3 15.3 15.0 13.5 13.1 12.6 11.9 6.2 1.0 -- ---
1906 0.1 10.9 15.5 14.6 14.0 13.4 12.5 11.6 6.6 0.8 -- ---
1905 0.1 11.2 15.3 14.7 14.0 13.6 12.7 11.9 6.4 0.1 -- ---
No. of Pupils of Per Cent. of
Normal Age. Normal Age.
Grade Under Norm. Over Under Norm. Over
1 27 4837 174 0.5 96.0 3.5
2 33 4525 281 0.7 93.5 5.8
3 22 4294 362 0.5 91.9 7.6
4 33 3907 485 0.8 88.3 10.9
5 32 3537 653 0.8 83.8 15.4
6 31 3198 649 0.8 82.2 17.0
7 28 2801 234 0.9 91.1 8.0
X[2] 42 1 --- 97.7 2.3
T[1]. 206 27141 2839
Per
ct. 1908 ---- ---- ---- 0.7 89.9 9.4
1907 ---- ---- ---- 0.8 90.9 8.3
1906 ---- ---- ---- 0.9 91.8 7.3
1905 ---- ---- ---- 1.1 91.7 7.2
1. Primary schools of Kristiana exclusive of schools for abnormal children.
2. Classes requiring special individual attention.
This table speaks for itself and needs no explanation. It is worthy of
note, however, that in comparatively few instances do the ages vary more
than two or three years, and that six years is the widest difference in
age to be found among all the pupils of any given grade of work.
Furthermore, we call attention to the fact that those above normal age
in no year aggregated as much as ten per cent of the entire number in
attendance. 10.1 per cent represents the entire number outside the
normal age--those above plus those below--for the year 1908. During the
three former years the percentage was still smaller. The reduction in
numbers of pupils in the sixth and seventh grades is due in large part
to the fact that so many pass from the fifth grade into the middle
school.
The same conditions of uniformity exist in the secondary schools. Having
entered at the age of seven and having spent five or more years in the
primary school, the pupils upon entrance to the middle school are
generally twelve or more years old. In some middle schools the average
age of those entering will at times be less than twelve years. This
latter condition is usually due to some local situation or rule
regarding age at entrance upon school work. In order to follow the age
question to nearer its limits we will present Table IV.
TABLE IV
Table showing the ages of pupils in State and Communal Secondary
Schools.
Middle School Gymnasium
I. II. III. IV. I. II. III. Date
Trondhjem(A) 12-1(C) 13-3 14-2 15-6 16-10 17-18 18-1 9-1-06
Kristiansand(A) 12 13-5 14-2 15-2 16-3 17-7 18-3 10-1-00
Kristiansund(B) 12-7 13-5 14-8 15-5 16-2 16-9 18-4 9-1-09
Fredrikkstad(B) 12-7 13-4 14-2 15-2 15-10 16-10 17-8 7-1-08
Lillihammer(B) 12-2 13-2 14 15-3 16 16-6 18-1 7-1-06
Larvik(B) 12-2 13-3 14-2 15-1 15-10 16-10 18-2 8-1-03
[Note A: State secondary school.]
[Note B: Communal secondary schools.]
[Note C: Age in years and months.]
Attention is called to the step from the last year in the middle school
to the first year in the gymnasium. In several instances there is
considerably less than a year of difference in age. This is but another
illustration of the tendencies of the sifting that goes on in the
natural process of selecting the fittest. Those of keenest intellect are
the ones who reach a specific requirement in least time and then proceed
in the pursuit of advance education. The ones sifted out are more
generally those whose advance has been more difficult, or those who have
lagged behind others of their own age. The absence of these tends to
lower the average age in the succeeding grade. Similar conditions in
emphasized form are in evidence when we study the ages of those who
enter the university from year to year. While the ages of those just
entering the third and final year of the gymnasium are on the average
more than eighteen, the ones who enter the university the following year
in September average nineteen years of age or a little less.
In addition to the tables showing the ages of pupils throughout the
several grades of preparatory and secondary education, the following one
is inserted to show the average age of those in attendance at four of
the teachers' seminaries. The advance in age with advance of grade is
not as regular here as in the other schools.
TABLE V
Table Showing Age of Pupils in the Teachers' Seminaries at the Beginning
of the Year, 1906-7.
Average age[A] in grades.
I. II. III.
Holmestrand 19-7 21-3 22-1
Levanger 20 19-8 21-4
Hamar 19-2 20-2 21-7
Stord 19-6 19-11 21
[Note A: Age in years and months.]
There is not as close correspondence between age or grade and
scholarship in the seminaries as we find in the other schools. The
greater variation is due to several causes, among them are the
following: (1) The law requires that a teacher must be at least twenty
years of age.[9] (2) The previous education of those in attendance
varies greatly. Many are desirous of getting as thorough and complete
preparation as their circumstances admit, while others are seemingly
anxious to enter on the lowest standard admissible. (3) Teachers who are
eager to improve their qualifications frequently return to the seminary
after a few years of teaching experience in order to complete the course
and prepare for the better class of positions.
Comparisons between the educational equipment of the American youth and
that of his Norwegian cousin at any given age are exceedingly difficult
to make. We have not yet established any specific units or norms by
which education may be measured. We can make neither definite nor
satisfactory quantitative or qualitative measurements of accomplishment.
However, a careful analysis of the respective courses of study, the
qualification of teachers, and plans of work, supported by the testimony
of those who have been teachers in both countries, seems to warrant the
statement that the completion of the gymnasial course of study in Norway
is comparable to the completion of the sophomore year of work in our
American colleges and universities. The average age of students is about
the same in both instances.
The American children spend a less portion of the year in school than do
the children in Norway. While in our schools we generally have but
thirty-six weeks of five days each in a year, inclusive of all regular
and special holidays, the schools of Norway are in operation forty weeks
of six days each, exclusive of holidays. Leaving out any consideration
of holidays, the American school year usually amounts to one hundred
eighty days, while in Norway they have two hundred and forty days of
school. In other words, eight years of primary school and four years of
high school in America represent only three-fourths as many days of
instruction and study as are included in five years of primary school,
four years of middle school, and three years of gymnasium in Norway.
That is to say, to provide the same number of days of instruction it
would take sixteen school years in America to equal twelve in Norway.
The specialization which characterizes the work of the students upon
entrance to the Norwegian university brings their study within much
narrower limits than that of our ordinary juniors in college. Their
general cultural education concludes with the taking of _artium_ while
ours usually continues throughout the liberal arts course in college or
until the degree of Bachelor of Arts has been received. A certain amount
of specialization is common among our students during the later years of
their college education, but it covers a wider range than in Norway and
the greater portion of it is reserved for post graduate courses. In
Norway the professional studies are taken up without any preliminaries
immediately upon entrance to the university. In the better professional
schools of America, one, two, or three years of collegiate work is
required as a preparation for entrance.
I. ORGANIZATION--RELATION TO STATE, COMMUNE, AND CITY
The highest educational authority of Norway is vested in the
Department of Ecclesiastical and Educational Affairs (_Kirke-og
Undervisnings-Departmentet_), and the chief functionary in this
department of government is a member of the King's cabinet
(_Statsraad_). The work of the department is separated into two
divisions, one of which supervises the ecclesiastical activities and the
other the educational work of the country. This latter division is again
separated into two bureaus, one having charge of primary education and
the other being in control of secondary educational affairs. These
bureaus perform the functions usually devolving upon such offices, the
work being largely clerical. In addition there are the diocesan
directors (_Stift Direktorer_) bearing the immediate responsibilities
in primary education, and a state educational commission
(_Undervisningsraad_) having large authority in secondary education.
Next to the department itself the school directors have authority over
primary education. In fact the director has all but complete control in
his territory even though the department is recognized as having the
higher authority or powers. The King's cabinet appoints seven directors
for the six dioceses into which the state is divided; two for the most
northern, because of its greater extent, and one for each of the other
five. The directors are paid by the state and are amenable only to the
state, hence they exercise their powers in an endeavor to effect the
best possible results educationally without fear or favor of local
influences. They act independently in their respective territories and
do not constitute a committee in any sense whatever.
The commission having chief oversight of secondary education consists of
seven men appointed by the King's cabinet. They are chosen because of
their efficiency in educational affairs without regard to the part of
the country to which they belong.[10] They work always as a committee,
and as experts serve the state for the general welfare of secondary
education. The many privileges and duties exercised by this commission
may be grouped together under the heads of inspection and supervision of
secondary schools, and arrangements for having examinations. Several of
the men constituting this commission are at the same time rectors of
leading secondary schools in the country. In fact they are chosen
because of their familiarity with and expertness in just such kind of
work. When it becomes necessary to seek advice in hygienic questions a
physician of recognized ability is added to the commission. His judgment
and instruction are respected and adhered to very closely.
The rural communes are divided into school districts or circles
(_Skolekredser_). Each district supports and maintains a primary school
with at least two divisions--an infant school (_Smaaskole_) for children
from seven to ten years of age, and a higher one designed for children
from ten to fourteen years of age. In districts where distances are
great or roadways difficult, two or more infant schools are provided.
Companies operating one or more manufacturing establishments or
industrial concerns, and generally employing thirty or more laborers,
are required to provide a primary school for the children of the men in
their employ. When once started these schools are to be kept up unless
the number of the employed is reduced below twenty. In case there are
other children who desire to attend such school, they shall have the
right to do so providing it does not interfere with the instruction of
those for whom the school was established. In return for this the
school treasury receives from the communal treasury a yearly amount
proportioned to the total cost for all pupils in the school.[11]
While the law requires that instruction shall be provided six days in
the week for at least twelve weeks each year, it also grants to the
communes the privilege of extending the time to fifteen weeks.[B] It
further provides the right to maintain six weeks additional, voluntary
instruction each year.[12] These privileges are generally taken
advantage of by both communes and pupils. The communes desire the
extension of time for school, and the pupils are very glad of the
opportunity to attend the extra time, even though their presence is not
compulsory. In fact the compulsory education law has been so rigidly
enforced for so long a time that regular attendance has become habitual,
and the exact provisions and requirements of the law are rarely thought
of by the pupils. There is, in reality, no law requiring children to
attend the schools provided by the state, but a certain amount of
education is obligatory. It is mandatory that schools be maintained in
all of the districts, but individual children may receive their
instruction in private schools if they choose, so long as educational
requirements are met from year to year. Pupils who belong to the schools
are required to be in attendance regularly, and children who receive
instruction elsewhere than in the state schools must meet the
requirements calculated to bring them to a certain educational standard
by the time they are fifteen years of age. Failure in this subjects
parents, guardians, and those providing schools for children of laborers
in their employ to fine or imprisonment.[13]
The work in the infant school includes or amounts to thirty lessons per
week while in the higher one there are thirty-six lessons. Accordingly,
the pupils in the lower grades receive a minimum of three hundred sixty
lessons a year, and this number may be increased to four hundred fifty
or six hundred thirty. In the higher grades they have at least four
hundred thirty-two lessons a year, and if the time is extended they have
five hundred forty or seven hundred fifty-six lessons a year.
Each rural commune has its own school board (_Skolestyret_) consisting
of a priest; the chairman of the municipal council; one or two
teachers[14] chosen by the body of teachers; as many other members (men
or women) as the communal council deems it advisable to select; and the
rectors of higher schools, if there be any, under the supervision and
inspection of the school board.
In the towns and cities the school board consists of at least one
priest[15]; a member of the city's executive council;[16] as many other
members chosen for three years as the municipal council deems it
advisable to select, at least half of whom must be chosen from among
parents who at the time of election have children in the city primary
schools; one or two teachers;[17] and, wherever the school board
controls higher schools, the rectors of such schools.
The members of the school board select their own chairman and act
together as a committee or board. Among its more important duties are
appointment of teachers and special committees, provision of course of
study with specific instructions regarding its presentation, and the
estimation of sums of money necessary to meet demands in the maintenance
of the schools for the year. This estimate of expenses is sent by the
board each year to the communal council which has charge of the
dispensing of finances for the commune.
The course of study, including the plan of instruction and directions
regarding the supervision of the schools as given by the board, is
minutely detailed and specifically stated. It includes a list of studies
to be pursued, the manner and order of their presentation, and the
number of hours per week to be devoted to each subject; an outline of
arrangements for entrance, promotion, and leaving examinations, with
provisions for exemption therefrom wherever such is deemed advisable;
all necessary arrangements for vacations; and other matters considered
essential in the maintenance and carrying on of a school.
For each primary school, or for the several schools, using the
same building, the board appoints a committee of inspection
(_Tilsynsutvalg_). This committee consists of a member of the school
board (chosen by the board), who is chairman of the committee, and three
other members. These latter members are chosen in the city by the
parents of children attending the school, and in the rural districts by
such parents and other taxpayers. A priest appointed by church authority
is added to committees serving town or city schools.
This committee of inspection exercises constant oversight of the school,
keeping the board informed with reference to all matters requiring
attention by that body. By the consent of the communal council this
committee may have an amount provided from the school funds for its use
in carrying out its work. The inspection is with special reference to
the physical and moral well-being of those connected with the
institution. Among the special objects of its endeavors may be
enumerated the solving of all hygienic questions, regular attendance,
good discipline, and proper moral conduct. The committee must also see
to it that children of school age, not in attendance at the state
primary schools, receive instruction in such quantity and of such
quality as to meet all state requirements. In general it is an
outstretched arm of the school board, feeling after the betterment of
the common schools in every possible direction.
Another committee (called the school committee--_Skoleraad_) is
appointed by the school board for each of the primary schools in the
city. The duties of the two committees are in a way complementary. While
the committee of inspection is occupied in matters external in large
measure, the school committee exercises functions more pedagogical in
nature, though it also has general watch care over the affairs of the
school. If there be a superintendent of schools (_Skoleinspektor_), he
is a member _ex officio_ of the school committee, and its chairman.
Under other conditions the school board designates which of the
appointed members of the committee shall be its chairman. In towns where
the number of teachers exceeds sixty, the school board may direct that
the school committee shall consist of the superintendent and the
principals of the several schools as _ex officio_ members and any
determined number of other teachers selected by the body of teachers.
The elected members are to be male and female in proportion to their
respective numbers on the teaching staff, exclusive of those who are _ex
officio_ members of the committee. The sexes separate into special
meetings for the purpose of election, each choosing its allotted number
of representatives. Election is for two years, one-half retiring each
year, the first time according to lot. Members whose terms expire are
required to serve longer in case of re-election. This school committee
holds regular meetings, according to its own appointment, at which the
members are required to be present. Furthermore, the chairman may call
additional meetings in cases of necessity, and he is required to call
special meetings when requested by the school board to do so. A majority
vote of the members is sufficient for the passage of any proposition.
While the duties of this committee are not specifically outlined, it is
intended that its work shall concern chiefly the internal workings of
the schools. Its functions are mainly pedagogical in character as
already stated and as evidenced in the following provisions in the law.
"The school board shall permit the school committee to voice its
opinions in every affair which concerns: (1) the general supervision of
primary schools, (2) general provisions concerning regulations and
discipline, and (3) text books and outlines of instruction." In addition
the committee is required to express itself regarding any matter
relating to the good of the school when asked by the board for advice.
The school board may also order that there be a teachers' commission
(_Laererraad_) for each school or for the several schools using the same
buildings, consisting of the teachers in the school. The chairman of
this committee is the superintendent of schools, a school principal, or
other member, according to the determination of the board. The duties
devolving upon this commission are in each case outlined by the board.
The superintendent of schools (_Skoleinspektor_) has general direction
of all the primary schools in the city system. His duties are similar to
those of the superintendent in American towns and cities. He takes the
lead in directing the policies of the schools and exercises large powers
in making them efficient. He is provided with well-equipped offices,
generally in one of the school buildings, where he and his clerks,
supplied by the school board, do the greater portion of their work.
A principal or headmaster (_Overlaerer_) is generally placed in charge
of each school. His duties are comparable to those performed by ward
principals in the United States. While the superintendent is the
superior officer and exercises general control and authority, the
principal has immediate charge of the work of the school. He controls
its activities in harmony with and under the direction of the
superintendent, consulting the wishes of the higher official and
respecting his opinions. The superintendent recognizes that for the one
in immediate charge of a school to have his hands tied or his liberties
too circumscribed means the hampering of the work; hence, he gives to
the principals working under him wide latitude in carrying out their
ideas. For example, if the principal is a believer in coeducation or,
on the other hand, a staunch advocate of segregation of the sexes for
instructional purposes, he is usually privileged to carry his policy
into execution in his school, even though the views of the
superintendent are not wholly in accord therewith. Throughout their work
they seek each other's counsel and advice, and cooperate successfully.
The private citizen in Norway plays only an indirect part in school
affairs, yet his interests are conserved in various ways. The local
pastor, who is a member _ex officio_ of the school board, generally
guards the interests of the masses. His influence and vote may be
regarded usually as a reflection of the popular mind. The chairman of
the municipal council, who also is a member of the board by virtue of
his position, is indirectly the choice of the people. The teacher or
teachers chosen to occupy on the school board nearly always work in
harmony with the public will. The committee of inspection has a majority
of its members chosen directly by vote of the people immediately
concerned. The press is free and educational movements are continually
discussed in the leading papers. Further than this, educational affairs
are common topics of conversation, being talked of on all occasions
under various circumstances and conditions. It may be said to their
credit that those discussing these subjects do so intelligently and
critically. The masses are alive to the educational situation, are
intensely interested in their schools, and are acquainted with the
provisions of the law concerning them. The people being so democratic in
tendency and so very frank in the expression of their feelings and
opinions, naturally reflect public sentiment; which because of being
understood has more weight and is correspondingly a greater factor in
legislative activities.
The primary schools receive their financial support from the state,
county, and commune. The state provides for city schools one-third of
straight salaries, which range between twelve hundred and fourteen
hundred crowns for men, and between eight hundred and nine hundred
crowns for women; two-thirds of additional salary paid because of long
service to the limit of eight hundred crowns per year for men and five
hundred crowns per year for women; and one-third of salaries paid for
positions requiring only part time, for teaching by the hour, and for
teaching in continuation schools. In certain cases where the treasuries
are depleted the state treasury furnishes as high as forty-five per cent
of teachers' salaries within the fixed limits mentioned above. In the
rural communes the grant received from the state amounts to forty-five
per cent of the teachers' salaries, and where finances are low this
amount may be increased to sixty per cent. The amount of this state
grant is figured on the basis of salaries that do not exceed twenty-four
crowns per week in the second or higher division, and nineteen crowns in
the first or infant division of the primary school, except in the county
of Finnmarken where the bases may be respectively twenty-eight crowns
and twenty-two crowns per week.
In each county (_Amt_) the county council provides funds for the
following purposes: raising teachers' salaries in case of long service,
erecting school buildings, supplying teachers' homes, paying substitute
teachers, purchasing apparatus, relieving communes and municipalities
where school expenses are disproportionately high, and maintaining
continuation and artisan schools. Whatever is required to defray the
expenses of the primary schools, in addition to state and county grants,
tuition, receipts from school lands or holdings, etc., is furnished by
the commune or municipality through its council.
The secondary schools are either state or communal. The state schools
are provided with grounds, buildings, and equipment by the communes in
which they are located; the remaining expenses are met by state grants,
tuition fees, etc. The expense of maintaining communal schools falls
largely upon the communes. The state furnishes one-third of the salaries
in both classes of schools, and all additional amounts paid to teachers
because of long service. While most of the secondary schools charge
regular tuition fees, all of them have funds which supply free
scholarships to a number of pupils each year. In some communes they have
been able already to provide free middle schools, and it appears at
least possible that all state and communal schools may sometime be free.
The aim in financing the school system is to equalize the burden of
expense as far as possible, and to recognize, at the same time, the
efforts of those directly concerned. In order to obtain the best
results, authority has been strongly centralized; school boards,
communal and county councils, and state officials exercise large
discretionary powers.
VI. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
The school buildings of Norway are justly reputed to be the most
magnificent, best located, and finest edifices of the country. They are
built of substantial materials according to attractive architectural
designs, and are provided with liberal equipment. The larger buildings
are usually constructed of stone, brick and stone, or brick and cement;
while the smaller ones are built of lumber and stone. In the erection of
buildings, great care is exercised to make them spacious and permanent.
All materials used are selected because of their durability and
suitability to purpose. In order to guarantee the best hygienic
conditions, the law provides that buildings must meet the approval of
experts in hygiene before they can be used for school purposes. This
means that the services of these experts must be secured in getting out
designs for school buildings, whether in the erection of new or the
remodeling of old ones.
The school buildings are heated by furnaces or stoves. The newer ones
are modern in every respect and, of course, have excellent heating
systems. Those which have done service for several decades are usually
heated by stoves.
The buildings are divided into rooms in such a manner that the daylight
nearly always enters from the left or the rear of the pupils when they
are seated at their desks. This rule is disregarded only in rare cases.
During the short days of winter it is essential to provide artificial
light. In cities and large towns they use electricity for lighting the
school buildings; in the country or in small towns, where the
municipalities do not maintain any central lighting plant, various
devices are installed. Sometimes gasoline is used and again ordinary oil
lamps are common. An abundance of light of the best procurable quality
is generally provided.
Besides admitting light the outside windows are of use in providing
ventilation for the school rooms. They are opened wide during
intermissions between classes, so that when the children come in from
their exercise on the play grounds they enter an atmosphere nearly as
pure and fresh as that out of doors. In addition, many schoolhouses,
especially those built recently, have regular ventilating devices.
The class room furniture in Norway, like that used in many other
European schools, is about as primitive in design and lacking in
attractiveness as anything found in the whole country. Its evolution
surely has been greatly retarded. In each room there is a small platform
high enough to enable the instructor to see all his pupils with ease. On
this platform is a desk and a high chair in which the teacher sits most
of the time while giving instruction.
The pupils' seats and desks are made of heavy lumber and attached to a
common base. This makes them clumsy, and they appear very queer to one
accustomed to the better designs now in use in some countries. Those of
recent make are for but one pupil, though older ones, some of which are
still in use, accommodate three or four. In construction the seat is
generally a solid flat bench with a low back. The desk has a slightly
sloping top, a small inconvenient shelf for books, and a receptacle for
pencils, pens, rulers, and other articles used by school children. The
Norwegians deserve commendation for the care exercised in the
arrangement of seats and desks. The distance and proportion between them
are regulated according to scientific principles looking to the physical
welfare of the occupants. The bodily posture of children in school
determines in large measure what it will be out of school. Far too
little attention has been given the physical side of education, and one
of the important problems in connection therewith is the proper
construction of schoolroom furniture.
In the smaller buildings, classrooms have commodious cupboards for
apparatus (maps, charts, globes, plates, etc.), and various things with
which the children work (sewing materials, exercise books, etc.). While
they have a liberal supply of excellent illustrative material and
teaching apparatus and the best of facilities for storing it, mechanical
appliances for its display and devices for its convenient use are
woefully lacking. Maps and charts are held in the hand or hung on a nail
or other fixture in the room; while globes and the like are placed on
chairs or improvised stands. In general the apparatus is awkward to
manipulate and as a result much of its value is lost.
Blackboards of proper size are very rare in the schools of Norway. As a
rule the board is about three by five feet in size and fastened to a
clumsy easel which elevates it so high that it is out of reach of the
pupils. To enable the children to use such a board a small platform is
provided. The child mounts the platform by means of a few steps and
there stands and does his blackboard work. In only one instance did the
writer during his visits to the schools find what appeared to him to be
an adequate amount of blackboard space. This exceptional condition was
in one of the primary schools where special equipment was installed for
the instruction of children below normal intelligence. The ample
provision of blackboard here is proof of a recognition of its value, and
the situation may also be regarded as an indictment against the
prevalent neglect in this line.
School room decorations are not as prominent as might be expected.
Despite the facts that the whole of Norway is picturesque, that her
artists are quite numerous, and that the masses of her people are more
than ordinarily appreciative of the finer phases of life, very few
paintings or pieces of sculpture adorn her schools. True, exceptions as
to this rule of scant provision of the artistic may be found; but, as in
all countries, they quite generally fail to appreciate the educative
values of art.
While, traditionally at least, the study and recitation rooms have been
considered of prime and greatest importance in school buildings, there
are others, accessory to them, which in their effects are productive of
quite as good results. Among them may be mentioned: offices, teachers'
rooms, libraries, laboratories, and other rooms for special purposes.
Some of these are not provided in all schools, but commonly all of them
are found in the city school buildings.
The offices for rectors, inspectors, head masters, etc., are admirably
arranged and handsomely appointed. They are provided with desks,
cabinets, chairs, settees, tables, and other furnishings which add to
convenience and comfort. The rooms for teachers are equipped and
furnished in a way just as suitable to their purpose. In these they
spend their vacant periods in study, reading, or in leisure, according
to their choice. Here, too, officers and teachers are served with
luncheons in the middle of forenoon and afternoon sessions.
There are libraries in nearly all school buildings. While many of them
are small some are of large consequence. The one in the Christiania
Cathedral School numbers thirty thousand volumes. This is one of the
oldest and perhaps the largest library in any school of the country, and
it is regarded with considerable justifiable pride.
The laboratories are furnished in harmony with their traditional plan of
instruction. Instead of having a supply of apparatus so that most or all
of the pupils may be occupied simultaneously in laboratory
experimentation, they have but one set of instruments. However, they do
furnish liberal quantities of materials for laboratory experimentation.
The teacher is the chief operator, one or two pupils assist in the work,
and the other members of the class are onlookers.
Where domestic arts are taught, rooms are fitted up especially for the
purpose. Stoves, cooking utensils, and many other necessary articles
are at hand ready for use. The efficiency of the work is in no wise
hindered by lack of supplies. In many instances teachers go themselves
to the markets and purchase provisions needed for the day. An earnest
effort is made to combine theory and practice in proportions suitable to
obtaining the best possible results.
Some of the larger buildings have special rooms for the storing of
apparatus and illustrative materials (_Anskuelsesmidler_). Racks,
cupboards, cabinets, drawers, cases, and the like provide convenient
means for preserving these supplies and of rendering them easily
accessible. Gymnastic halls and lunch rooms will be discussed in another
section.
The playgrounds are generally small, but some of the schools have, in
addition to the grounds immediately surrounding the buildings, athletic
parks of considerable proportions. The grounds about the school
buildings are arranged with a view of securing from them maximum
returns. They are enclosed by high board or wire fence, or by stone or
brick and cement walls. A heavy coating of gravel is usually placed on
the ground in order to avoid the growth of vegetation or an accumulation
of dust. "Keep off the grass" signs are not in evidence, for rarely do
they attempt to have grassy lawns.
They recognize the need and value of physical exercise in the open, and
provide means for it in connection with every school. It is specifically
required that all pupils go on to the playgrounds during the
intermissions (_fri Krarterer_) which come between all lessons. While
the children are at play one or more of the teachers are detailed to
supervise the grounds, while others are to patrol the hallways. Large
roofs are put up under which the children play when the weather is not
favorable to being in the open. On rare occasions when the weather is
bitter, pupils may be permitted to remain indoors. Children whose health
is extremely delicate are dealt with in leniency, and some of them are
permitted to remain inside regularly.
Near to the school buildings, generally on a corner of the grounds,
homes are provided for the head master or principal and the janitor
(_Vagtmester_). Sometimes the janitor and his family live in an
apartment in the school building. Generally, however, a double house is
erected, one part for the principal and the other for the janitor. These
homes are furnished rent free to these men.
Teachers in rural districts, as a rule, are supplied with a house and
sufficient ground for garden and the pasturage of two or three cows.
These provisions materially reduce living expenses, and, in a way,
recompense for the low salaries received. In one rural school the writer
found three hundred and fifty pupils taught in two divisions--forenoon
and afternoon sessions--by six teachers. The principal had been in
charge of the school forty-three years. One portion of the school
building provided a residence for him and his family. They had a small
garden; a fruit orchard; a few acres of land for pasturage and hay; and
a barn and sheds for cow, pig, and chickens. There are many similar
situations throughout the country. This particular one lay just outside
a small city, and this fact accounts in part for the large number of
pupils in attendance.
As a rule the homes for rural school teachers compare very favorably
with the better class of homes in the surrounding neighborhood. They
have sufficient room, are comfortable, and generally satisfy the
occupants. The majority of rural teachers have such homes provided,
though only a few city teachers enjoy this favor. In 1905, two thousand,
eight hundred and twenty-six rural teachers had homes furnished them
free of cost.
VII. GENERAL FEATURES OF INNER ORGANIZATION
Most of the teachers in the rural primary schools are men, while the
majority of them in the city are women. During the year 1907 there were
four thousand, one hundred and twenty-three male and one thousand, four
hundred and seven female teachers occupying regular positions in the
rural schools, and in the city their numbers were respectively eight
hundred and twenty-eight and one thousand, six hundred and six. Although
the law makes no requirements as to sex, except that in city schools
there must be at least one master and one governess, there are certain
forces operative which almost equal edicts of law. Traditionally,
teachers in the rural schools are men and, as previously stated, homes
are provided for them and their families. Appointments to teaching
positions are permanent. Teachers remain in their places until death
removes them or until they choose to retire on pension, which is, all
too often, long after they pass the time of their efficiency. It is
difficult to break with the old customs and hence the entrance of women
teachers into the rural school positions has been slow. In the cities
the conditions are different. There only a small percentage of the
teachers have homes furnished them, the number of teaching positions
without supervising responsibility is large, and the salaries paid to
women are lower than those paid to men. As a consequence the female
teachers have found easy entrance into the city schools, and at present
they outnumber the men two to one. Women have been teaching since 1869,
and the people are convinced that their ability as teachers is equal to
that of the sterner sex.
In the secondary schools, also, the majority of the instructors are men.
In the gymnasia practically all of them are men, but in the middle
schools there are many women teachers. Even though the Norwegians
recognize woman's ingenuity and efficiency in teaching small children,
they have not yet become converted to the idea that she is man's equal
in the more advanced educational fields. It seems probable that
tradition is the chief hindrance to the entrance of women into teaching
positions in the gymnasia.
In their plan of instruction there is much to commend and some things to
criticise. The teachers do a large amount of teaching, but they also
provide opportunity for the children to do a great deal on their own
initiative, so that they too may know the joy of discovery and feel the
triumph of mastery. The Norwegian pedagogue uses the recitation period,
nearly always fifty minutes, in an endeavor to impart information, both
directly and indirectly; directly by straightforward giving, and
indirectly through cooperative mental activities. While they feel the
importance of direct instruction, they see, also, the advantage in
shifting a part of the responsibility to the pupils. They recognize the
fact that the child has ability, and that by himself he is capable of
finding and recognizing problems, and of working them out to satisfying
conclusions. They appreciate that even a small child is able to carry
out many educative activities with a minimum of direction from the
teacher, and that the development which comes from this self-direction
and initiative is one of the most valuable ends of education. The intent
is that the class period shall be devoted to exercises which will
furnish information and, at the same time, make the children independent
and able to direct themselves.
Though the ideals and aims are excellent, the means for attaining them
are not the best. There is a certain inherited aloofness on the part of
the instructor which robs both teacher and pupils of some of the values
which come from closer association. During the recitation hour the
teacher nearly always occupies the high chair on the elevated platform,
except while using the blackboard or doing other demonstrational work.
My observations convince me that the teachers, especially the men, do
not get down and work among and with the children as much as seems
essential to the accomplishment of the greatest good.
Now the discipline and character of recitations also deserve attention.
When a pupil is called upon to recite, he is expected to pass to the
aisle and there stand erect until the recitation is completed. Only in
rare cases are children allowed to sit while reciting. I have seen
children only eleven or twelve years of age called to the front of the
room to analyze and develop a problem. The smallest children are
required to give only short answers to questions, but responses rapidly
increase in length, as age advances, until they amount to minute and
extended discussions of topics. Recitations lasting ten to fifteen
minutes are not uncommon, and the children become quite expert in the
relation of facts and in the development of problems presented. This
method of procedure is perhaps all right for a certain class of
children, but timid boys and girls are sometimes embarrassed to the
extent that they are unable to do credit to themselves, their teachers,
or the lessons. On one occasion I saw a boy who was so frightened in an
attempt to stand and recite, being required at the same time to look
into the face of a complaining teacher, that he was unable to say
anything whatever. The teacher, a man of advanced age, finally awoke to
the situation, and placing his hand on the boy's head, talked to him
about the lesson until he calmed the lad's fears and obtained a very
satisfactory response from him.
In addition to classroom activities connected with mental growth,
considerable work is done looking to physical development. Gymnastic
exercise is required of all children in primary and secondary schools,
excepting those in first and second grades and a few who are physically
disqualified for it. To provide for this work, the city schools furnish
large halls with excellent equipment, and special teachers to give
instruction. A Swedish system of gymnastics is in vogue throughout the
country. There seems to be no criticism against the system, and the
benefits testify emphatically to its efficiency. The apparatus is simple
and inexpensive, but the variety of movements and the numberless
combinations of them seem to answer every demand.
Certain conditions and customs prevailing in Norway make it necessary to
serve lunches at the school buildings. The morning sessions are long and
the dinner hour is far later than noon--generally two or three o'clock.
Furthermore, many children of poor parentage come to school underfed.
Opportunity to obtain a light lunch of nourishing food and a warm drink
at about 10:30 or 11 o'clock is an appreciated necessity. Hence most
buildings have lunch rooms arranged and equipped according to local
demands. Here, in the secondary schools, the family of the janitor
furnishes rolls, buns, cakes, cocoa, coffee, milk, etc., at a reasonable
rate. As stated before, the teachers have lunches served in their own
rooms. Some cities provide children in the primary schools with one meal
of wholesome food each day of school during the winter months--generally
from the middle of October until the first of May. This is free to the
needy children, and others obtain it at first cost.
In Christiania they have a central kitchen from which the city primary
schools receive supplies. This kitchen has a capacity for steam
cooking, ten thousand liters at a time. Only the best food is purchased.
This is carefully prepared and delivered every day in tightly sealed
cans to the several schools where it is served hot. The maintenance of
this kitchen is in answer to recommendations made by a committee,
appointed by the school board, after visiting various similar European
institutions and studying carefully into their operations. In equipment,
management, and good results it is not surpassed in any city in Europe
or America. In some of the schools, hundreds of free meals are dispensed
every day throughout the long winter. During the year 1908-1909, from
October 19, 1908, to April 30, 1909, (one hundred and thirty-two days),
the Christiania central kitchen furnished 616,821 free meals and 77,733
meals which were paid for by children in the schools. This work stands
as a testimonial to the beneficence of the people whose circumstances
enable them to maintain it.
The discipline of the school borders on the military order. The pupils
form in line and march in passing to and from classrooms and
playgrounds. While the work of instruction proceeds strict discipline is
maintained. Before entering a classroom where a recitation is in
progress, one invariably knocks at the door, whoever he is and whatever
his errand, and by the time he enters teacher and pupils are on their
feet. Turning to the one entering, they bow and continue to face him
until he is seated, which is a signal to them to sit. Should the visitor
withdraw before the class is dismissed, the pupils again rise to their
feet and bow him out; but, if he remains until they are dismissed, they
bow to him before taking their departure. Every activity indoors and out
of doors is closely supervised, and the control exercised over the
pupils is praiseworthy.
Attendance at school is regular in all grades. When children are absent
for any reason the case is inquired into without delay, and, unless
satisfactory excuse or explanation is forthcoming, the truant officers
are on hand to enforce regulations. Failure to comply with the laws
regarding absence from school, subjects parents or guardians of children
to a fine of from one to twenty-five crowns.[18] Very rarely is an
enforcement of these laws necessary, for the people are generally
law-abiding and peace-loving. Being eager for development, they gladly
comply with educational provisions without any compulsion, and
regularity in attendance is the universal practice. Sickness is perhaps
the most common excuse given for absence and, since excellent health is
characteristic of the people, this is infrequent.
Pupils are nearly always healthy, vigorous, and robust. One of the chief
points calling attention to this is the rarity of cases where glasses
are worn. In visiting schools I noticed that spectacled children were
very few. I was at first inclined to criticise what I interpreted to be
neglect of the eyes, but soon found that eyesight, as well as the
general health of the children, was being carefully guarded. Every
school has its physician whose duty it is to regulate sanitation and to
remedy physical defects of children. I ascertained that in some schools
special examinations had been conducted for the testing of eyesight, and
results showed that very few of the pupils were under the necessity of
wearing glasses. Among the causes contributing to this favorable
situation may be mentioned a healthful climate, regular drill in
gymnastics, proper lighting of school rooms, good ventilation, physical
exercise in the open between successive classes, and, in general, the
maintenance of a high state of physical vigor. The Norse take
justifiable pride in their physical development, and they pay
considerable attention to this phase of education. Consequently the
children are able to attack the strenuous activities of school life with
vim, and mastery of the course of study is not a hardship.
Chapter II
TEACHERS
I. QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATION
Teaching is a profession in Norway. Those following it have chosen it as
their life work. The people thus engaged deserve and receive the
recognition, confidence, and esteem of the masses, and they maintain the
dignity of their calling. As a class they rank high educationally,
morally, and professionally. With the advance in social ideals it has
been necessary to raise the standards of preparation for teaching, and,
as the years pass, further changes will be required. For a long time,
professional training has been demanded of every appointee to a teaching
position, and indications point to a rapid development of the quality of
this training until every resource is operative.
The law requires that to be eligible for appointment to a regular
teaching position in the secondary schools (middle school and
gymnasium), one must have had a course in the university and special
training provided in the pedagogical seminary. This means that the
candidate has completed: (1) the twelve years of work in the primary and
secondary schools, where a wide range of instruction and general
culture are provided; (2) a course in the university (four to seven
years in length), devoted to exhaustive research in the particular
branches of study which are subsequently to be taught; and (3) the
course of training given in the pedagogical seminary.
It is the aim and function of this seminary to provide for the
university graduates who are to become teachers the most practical and
complete professional training possible within the limits of time (six
months). It is readily evident that excellence in educational equipment
and intelligent insight into the business of teaching are among the
accomplishments of the profession. In fact, mastery of the field to be
taught and professional training in its presentation are requisites.
The certificates or diplomas issued upon completion of the preparatory
work just outlined are the only credentials required of the Norwegian
teachers. Being issued by the state they have a standard of value which
is uniform, recognized, and honored throughout the realm. Without these
papers it would be folly to seek appointment to a fixed (permanent)
post.
Besides the regular corps of instructors occupying on full time in the
general lines of instruction, there are many special teachers devoting
their energies along particular lines of work, such as home economics,
drawing, music, gymnastics, and manual training; and still others who
teach some of the regular branches of study only part time, whose
positions are not permanent. Special preparation is required in order to
obtain positions in these specific lines of work.
II. TRAINING OF TEACHERS
Norway early recognized the value of specific training for the work of
the teacher. The experiences of other nations served as object lessons
illustrating the good coming from the services of properly equipped
teachers and the dangers of proceeding without such. The state was eager
to lay substantial foundations, to conserve and develop every resource,
to build permanently and economically, and to profit by the experiences
of other systems. Consequently, the people moved forward in a
conservative manner and planned for the future as well as for immediate
needs.
Utilizing the strong points of other systems and adapting them to local
conditions, the state established six teachers' seminaries, locating one
in each of the six dioceses into which the country is divided, so that
they would be within easy access of the people attending them. Besides
these state seminaries, four private institutions, having almost
identical functions, have been established and are flourishing. The
private seminaries are located at vantage points not too close to the
State Schools yet where they will be within reach of a large number of
people. The favorable location of these schools makes it possible for a
large number of the attendants to live in their own homes, while the
large majority need be but a short distance from their homes.
The work of the teachers' seminaries is, of course, to provide special
preparation for teaching in the schools throughout the nation. Their
curricula are similar to those used in the secondary schools. The chief
point of difference between them is the attitude taken toward the
subjects of instruction. In the secondary schools the aim is general and
in a large measure cultural, while in the seminaries the attempt is
always to present the lesson or subjects of instruction in such a manner
that the pupils shall get both intellectual development and the correct
method of presentation. It is the intent that this experience shall help
to qualify for the successful teaching of the subjects studied. The work
corresponds closely with that done in the normal schools of America or
similar teachers' schools in other lands.
It is everywhere true that teachers teach as they have been taught. The
principle of imitation is illustrated clearly every day in every school
room. Teachers, like pupils, follow example more closely than precept.
Providing schools designed to fit people for the teaching profession
have ideal teachers, they will be able to turn out from year to year
groups of teachers, who, imitating their masters, both in the
application of scientific principles of method and in the exercise of
individuality, will in turn become ideal teachers. If the curriculum and
teaching of the training college are rich and varied, its products will
be characterized by efficiency and resourcefulness. On the contrary,
should the work of the school be narrow because of a cramped curriculum,
or on account of biased and shrunken ideals of the faculty, the results
will be unsatisfactory. The teachers who go out from such an institution
will be unequal to the tasks awaiting them--they will be unable to meet
the situation in the educational field.
Since it is a chief occupation of the training school to instill methods
of presentation, there is great danger of becoming mechanical,
machine-made, or stilted in one way or another. Quite the opposite must
be the nature and work of the teacher. The teacher should be able to
come down from the high platform and cooperate with the children; to
find the individual child and his interests and, in a genuinely
sympathetic spirit, to direct those interests; to discard set rules,
hard and fast lines, and pet theories; and to open up to each child a
vision of the fields before. In order to do these things the instructor
must be thoroughly familiar with child life: its nature, mental and
physical make-up, processes of development, conditions of growth and
activity, instincts, and hopes. He must also cherish and manifest a
sympathetic attitude towards youthful tendencies and aspirations, and be
able to inspire the pupils to noble purposes.
The seminaries of Norway, like those of other nations, fall short of
some of the conditions of excellence that we yearn for. They do not
include a sufficient amount of professional training nor is that which
is provided always the ideal type. Nevertheless, an earnest effort is
being put forth to approach these higher conditions as rapidly as
possible. The course of three years, besides furnishing a valuable fund
of instruction, provides a large amount of work in observation and
extensive experience in teaching. The training in observation generally
consists of work in connection with the state schools (primary and
secondary) in the immediate vicinity of the seminary. Into these state
schools the seminary pupils are permitted to go and observe the teaching
of the regularly employed instructors as they present the different
subjects in the curriculum. After having observed teaching for some time
and having carefully discussed class room procedure with their own
teachers, they are required to specially prepare and present some
lessons under the close, yet sympathetic scrutiny and supervision of
their masters. As time passes, more and more of this practice teaching
is assigned until proficiency is attained in the presentation of
subjects to be taught in subsequent years. While these schools do not
incorporate into their activities all things that seem important, it
must be said to their credit that they have done a great service in
qualifying teachers for the class of instruction which has already
raised the masses to their present place of literary distinction.
Besides the institutions providing teachers' training above referred to,
there was established in 1907 the Pedagogical seminary. This seminary is
affiliated with the university in Christiania but is not an organic part
of it. It was founded by act of the Stortbing and is supported by the
state. The function of the Pedagogical Seminary is to provide
professional training of an especially practical type for graduates of
the university who intend to make teaching their profession. The length
of the course is six months. Instruction and training provided in this
institution includes: (1) lectures in hygiene, psychology, history of
education, and principles of education; (2) observation of class
instruction by masters, whose teaching is the highest representation of
the art in the city; (3) discussions, formal and informal, general and
analytic, with the headmaster of the seminary concerning methods of
instruction, class conduct, and school management; and (4) practice
teaching under the supervision of masters whose criticisms are given in
such frank and sympathetic manner as to make them invaluable.
As a rule, those trained in the teachers' seminaries are employed in the
primary schools. The students who avail themselves of the advantages of
a university education and follow it by the training provided in the
Pedagogical Seminary generally become teachers in the secondary schools.
The seminary training in general is of such character that it may be put
into use immediately upon entrance into the work of teaching. It also
renders vital and usable for purposes of instruction the information and
intellectual development gained during the long-continued and intensive
schooling preceding such training.
III. TEACHERS' OFFICIAL TITLES
Throughout the school system of Norway teachers are given titles
according to the nature of the positions occupied. In the primary school
the man who does the supervising work (in America known as
superintendent) is called the _Inspektor_; the head teacher or principal
is termed the _Overlaerer_; and the other teachers, male and female, are
spoken of respectively as _Laerer_ and _Laererinde_. In the middle
school and gymnasium the titles are _Rektor_, _Overlaerer_, and
_Adjunkt_. The _Rektor_ has the supervisory work and some teaching to
do; the _Overlaerer_ is one of the principal teachers who has been given
the title and ranking, chiefly because of fitness and long service; and
the _Adjunkt_ is a regular teacher who has served the school for five
years or more and has received permanent appointment.
Titles do not correspond strictly to educational equipment nor do they
depend wholly upon term of service, though both of these may be and
generally are contributory factors. For example: positions in the middle
schools and gymnasia are open only to those who have certain educational
fitness; the teachers with especially strong qualifications and superior
ability are the ones most liable to receive early promotion to the
higher class positions; and, when promotions are made, the persons who
have taught for a long time enjoy some advantage over those with but
slight experience. Titles correspond more definitely to classes of
positions occupied than to any other thing that can be named. When an
individual is appointed to a position carrying a title, that designation
is invariably used in connection with his name. He is no longer John
Johnson or Herr Johnson, but _Rektor_ Johnson, _Overlaerer_ Johnson,
_Inspektor_ Johnson, etc.
IV. TEACHERS' TENURE OF OFFICE
The teacher's tenure of office in Norway is very different from what we
are accustomed to in America. Positions are of two kinds--permanent and
temporary. Nearly all appointments in the past have been to permanent
posts. This means that the individual occupies his place without
molestation or any hint of insecurity until he chooses to resign or
until he reaches the age of retirement.[19] Some appointments now are to
temporary positions though generally they lead to permanent ones.
Rarely, if ever, does a person who makes reasonable success in a
temporary position fail to secure an appointment to a permanent post.
Permanency in position has a number of well-recognized advantages.
Security of situation gives to the teacher a release from the
uncertainty which constantly harasses the minds of so many where
frequent change of position is the rule. A lasting appointment enables
one to get a firm grasp on the local situation, and to utilize without
waste all the momentum accumulated while occupying in a particular
place. Furthermore, the teacher who feels settled in a position is able
to establish a home, and to become identified with the community and its
interest.
Since teachers continue for so long a time in a position, they and their
pupils become as well acquainted with each other as with members of a
common family. It is interesting to note how minutely a teacher knows
the daily life and habits of his pupils. While the relations are not
always the most congenial, they are known to be practically inevitable
and impossible of escape so they each make the best of the situation and
get the most out of it.
Again, when children know that it will be their lot to come under the
tuition of a certain instructor who occupies a permanent post under
state appointment, they work faithfully and usually eliminate any
criticising attitude. In fact, long terms of service tend to inhibit the
criticisms of both children and parents which sometimes attend teachers
who occupy positions but for a short time. The situation conduces to a
condition of harmony and cooperative activity. The children
instinctively feel the authority of the teacher. They know that he has
the support of local and state authorities, and that they will cooperate
with him in carrying forward his projects. The teacher, in turn,
recognizes his responsibilities in the premises and endeavors to occupy
acceptably.
Now it is just as true that there are some disadvantages to permanency
of positions. Teachers are apt to become non-progressive and in some
cases, little more than fixtures. Change of environment stimulates
progress and development. Variety in teaching experience broadens the
capabilities and increases the usefulness of teachers. In addition,
children need the touch and influence of many lives. They receive
greater inspiration because of coming in contact with the personality of
a large number of teachers. However, too frequent change is wasteful. It
dissipates the energy of teachers and breaks the continuity of the work
of the children. Where the permanency of positions is absolutely
uncertain, the teaching profession is transitory and dwindling. Only a
few remain for long time in the work under such conditions. Many
efficient school men leave the profession annually because of this
discouragement.
At present, the feeling appears to be general that permanency in
position should be conditioned upon improvement in efficiency. Evidently
a recognition of this principle is a basic cause underlying the increase
in number of appointments to temporary teaching positions. This
procedure affords an excellent opportunity for weeding out the unfit. At
the same time it acts as a spur inducing growth and development.
Progressive tendencies, along with other qualifications, are regarded
necessary to appointment even to temporary posts, and, as implied
before, success in such positions is a prerequisite to appointment to
permanent ones.
In America, teacher's tenure of office is very short. Each year there
are many changes in the personnel of teachers throughout the country.
Here we have the extreme of uncertainty, while in Norway they go to the
limits of certainty in teaching positions. Both these extremes are
unfortunate. Could a golden mean be reached which would include proper
incentives to and recognition of continuous self-improvement and a
reasonable sense of security in permanent occupation, the profession
would call into its ranks a large and more efficient body of men and
women, and the schools would make greater and more substantial progress.
In order to illustrate the permanency of positions in Norway Table VI
has been arranged.
TABLE VI
Table indicating Retirement from Teaching Staff and Reasons for
Retirement.
Year | 1890 1895 1900 1905
Sex | Male Female| Male Female |Male Female| Male Female
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Total number of | | | |
positions | 3941 1187| 4402 2116| 4670 2613| 4865 2885
Total number leaving | 117 17| 88 22| 106 89| 110 90
Vacated after a period | | | |
of service from | | | |
1 to 10 years | 19 11| 21 13| 24 65| 20 53
10 to 20 years | 26 4| 10 7| 10 13| 19 19
20 to 30 years | 38 1| 18 | 16 5| 13 10
Over 30 years | 34 1| 39 2| 56 6| 58 8
Reasons for leaving | | | |
Death | 30 1| 24 2| 30 6| 32 11
Retirement on pension| 39 3| 48 3| 53 21| 59 22
Change in position | 9 | | 3 2| 4 4
Marriage | 9| 11| 47| 48
Various others | 39 4| 16 6| 20 13| 15 5
It is immediately apparent that the changes in the body of teachers are
rare. It is also evident that nearly all who leave the profession do so
on legitimate grounds. A few changes result from transfers in position,
a large per cent of withdrawals are retirements after extended periods
of service, and many vacancies are due to death. Fifty per cent or more
of the women who retire do so on account of marrying, a few die at their
posts, and many retire on pensions. Very few of the women teachers
retire to enter other lines of work. While the table does not indicate
how much longer than thirty years some teachers remain in the service,
it may be added here that examples are not rare where individuals
continue teaching for more than half a century. In most cases teachers
occupy the same position throughout their teaching experience.
V. TEACHERS' SALARIES
The salaries received by teachers do not average high in Norway. Many
provisions are made, however, for the reduction of their living
expenses. All those who serve the school authorities in Norway receive
certain benefits appertaining to the positions they hold. For example:
There is advance in salaries on promotions and after specified periods
of service; teachers are exempt from expense incident to particular
offices; school authorities send all official communications through the
mail free of postage; teachers receive pensions on retirement from
positions; the rural school teachers frequently receive, in addition to
their salary, a house to live in and sufficient land for the pasturage
of two or three cows, and in towns and cities some of the teachers have
homes provided, or are allowed a certain amount per year for living
expenses. These and similar concessions and provisions are extended to
the teachers according to enactments of the state, individual communes,
or municipalities. Generally, a regular schedule is made out by which
salaries are governed. Table VII indicates the salaries for different
positions in eight cities of Norway:
The table is made up from the salary schedules of typical cities of
various sizes. The values are in _kroner_ (one _krone_ is practically
the equivalent of twenty-seven cents in United States money). We note
that salaries are medium in the beginning, and that they increase at
regular intervals until certain limits are reached. When we consider
these limiting salaries, the long service generally rendered at the
highest rate, certainty of position, and the pension to be received upon
retirement, we are prone to admit that the advantages are not altogether
in favor of the higher salaries paid in our American schools. True, the
American teacher generally receives larger returns in dollars and cents,
but the Norwegian pedagogue is less mercenary than his American cousin.
He is satisfied when his wants and those of his family are liberally
provided for. His life is not strenuous. It is happy and filled with the
joys of service and the companionship of youthful souls. Anxieties are
in large measure overcome by the assurance that the state will provide
necessities when the time for retirement comes. Pensions are graduated
according to individual necessity as well as with reference to position,
term of service, and salary at the time of retirement.
TABLE VII
Schedule of Salaries paid to Teachers in the Primary Schools of eight
cities in Norway.[20]
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Salary After (in Kr.)
----------------------------------
Begin'ng 3 5 6 9 10 12 15
City Position Salary yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Christiania Overlaerer 3000 3400 3700 4000
Laerer, h.g. 3000
Laerer, l.g. 1600 1800 2100 2400 2700 3000
Laererinde, h.g. 1700
Laererinde, l.g. 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1700
2. Fredrikshald Laerer, h.g. 2200
Laerer, l.g. 1300 1450 1650 1750 1900 2000
Laererinde, h.g. 1250
Laererinde, l.g. 950 1000 1050 1100 1150
3. Sarpsborg Laerer, h.g. 1800 2000
Laerer, l.g. 1200 1400 1600 1700 1800
Laererinde, h.g. 1150 1250
Laererinde, l.g. 900 975 1050 1150
4. Fredrikstad Laerer, h.g. 2100
Laerer, l.g. 1400 1550 1700 1850 2000 2100
Laererinde, h.g. 1200
Laererinde, l.g. 1000 1100 1200
5. Drammen Overlaerer 2600
Laerer, h.g. 2300 2400
Laerer, lg. 1400 1600 1800 2000 2100 2300
Laererinde, h.g. 1300 1400
Laererinde, l.g. 900 1000 1100 1200 1300
6. Horten Laerer, h.g. 2000 2200
Laerer, l.g. 1300 1500 1700 1850 2000
Laererinde, h.g. 1100 1200
Laererinde, l.g. 900 950 1000 1050 1100
7. Tonsberg Overlaerer 2500 2650 2800
Laerer, h.g. 2400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400
Laerer, l.g. 1400
Laererinde, h.g. 1300
Laererinde, l.g. 900 980 1060 1140 1220 1300
8. Kongsberg Laerer, h.g. 1800
Laerer, l.g. 1300 1450 1600 1700 1800
Laererinde, h.g. 1100
Laererinde, l.g. 700 800 900 1000 1100
Chapter III
COURSES OF STUDY IN STATE SCHOOLS
I. INTRODUCTORY--RISE, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRESENT FORM OF THE CURRICULUM
We come now to a consideration of the course of study in the school
system as it has evolved and is now operative. As was true throughout
other parts of Europe, so in Norway, education during the middle ages
issued almost exclusively from the cloister and cathedral schools
(_Dom-og Kathedral Skoler_), and in them are found the germs of most
modern courses of study. Inasmuch as the successive steps in the
evolution of the recent schools of Europe from the earlier forms vary
but little in the several countries, and since the subject is already
familiar to nearly all students of education, we omit any technical
discussion of that interesting feature of history, and refer the reader
to any of the several works treating it fully. Suffice it to say, the
aim of the church in maintaining these earlier schools centered in the
development of a qualified clergy about whom should be gathered a loyal
following, well-trained in the dogmas, doctrines, and traditions of the
organization.
At this time the monk and a small company of disciples constituted the
school. The little group studied together from day to day in and about
the cloister or cathedral. Among them, very naturally, certain new
thoughts and ideals sprung up. The masters saw the new developments if
they were not themselves parties to them. As the newer thoughts became
fixed in the youthful minds, individual interests pressed harder and
harder still until provision was made for extending the work of
instruction as well as for widening the scope of activities within the
schools. While the aim was at first to give instruction and discipline
in lines necessary to a clerical career, it changed by degrees until it
included branches useful in legitimate occupations other than that of
the clergy. However, the diversifying of school activities and the
enrichment of the program of study did not keep pace with the changes
that were taking place in other phases of the social cosmos. A spirit of
unrest grew to proportions almost ungovernable until the middle age
renaissance in learning removed the fetters and brought relief by
effecting systems of education very fitting to the requirements. Great
credit is due to the leaders in the Reformation for the part they played
in placing means for instruction and education upon a more secure and
permanent basis, and for the service they rendered in giving to the
schools certain vitality that had rarely, if ever, been characteristic
of any similar institution.
The new type of school bore a stamp of general approval which enabled it
to gain a momentum which was not soon to be overcome. In fact, the
schools of all the more civilized countries are still largely dominated
by traditions dating back to the epoch-making works of such men as
Erasmus, Luther, Melanchthon, and Sturm.
Now the ideas of these famous educators were less subjected to change in
Norway than in the centers from whence they came. Until the union
between this country and Denmark came to an end in 1814, very little
thought was given to advancing educational interests in Norway. The work
of her cathedral schools had been little improved during the centuries
that had passed since their establishment. When at last Norway became a
free constitutional state and these Norsemen breathed the air of
freedom, felt the exhilaration of greater personal liberties, realized
that their destiny was to be of their own making, and fully sensed their
important responsibilities in the situation, they all, ecclesiasts and
politicians, capitalists and laborers, combined in developing their
schools in ways calculated to lift the masses to higher intellectual
planes. The changes wrought were in relation to what was to be taught
and to the extension of learning. An opportunity for instruction was
given to every youth in the land.