Part 3 (1/2)

The school board may also order that there be a teachers' commission (_Laererraad_) for each school or for the several schools using the sa of the teachers in the school The chairman of this committee is the superintendent of schools, a school principal, or otherto the deter 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 A the policies of the schools and exercises large powers intheenerally 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 heade 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 ie 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 ie of a school to have his hands tied or his liberties too circuives to the principals working under hi 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 uards the interests of the arded 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 alork 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 educationalpapers Further than this, educational affairs are co talked of on all occasions under various circumstances and conditions Itthese 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 the so democratic in tendency and so very frank in the expression of their feelings and opinions, naturally reflect public sentiht and is correspondingly a greater factor in legislative activities

The primary schools receive their financial support from the state, county, and coht salaries, which range between twelve hundred and fourteen hundred crowns for ht hundred and nine hundred crowns for wo service to the liht hundred crowns per year for men and five hundred crowns per year for wo only part ti 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 lirant received from the state amounts to forty-five per cent of the teachers' salaries, and where finances are low this amount rant 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 Finnht crowns and twenty-two crowns per week

In each county (_A purposes: raising teachers' salaries in case of long service, erecting school buildings, supplying teachers' ho apparatus, relieving communes and municipalities where school expenses are disproportionately high, andcontinuation and artisan schools Whatever is required to defray the expenses of the prirants, tuition, receipts fros, etc, is furnished by the coh its council

The secondary schools are either state or cos, and equip expenses are rants, tuition fees, etc The expense of ely upon the communes The state furnishes one-third of the salaries in both classes of schools, and all additional a service While ular tuition fees, all of them have funds which supply free scholarshi+ps 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 com 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, coe discretionary powers

VI BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

The school buildings of Norway are justly reputed to be the nificent, best located, and finest edifices of the country They are built of substantial ns, and are provided with liberal equips are usually constructed of stone, brick and stone, or brick and cement; while the smaller ones are built of lureat 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 iene before they can be used for school purposes This etting out designs for school buildings, whether in the erection of new or the res are heated by furnaces or stoves The newer ones aresystems Those which have done service for several decades are usually heated by stoves

The buildings are divided into rooht 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 tohere theplant, various devices are installed Soain ordinary oil laht of the best procurable quality is generally provided

Besides ad ventilation for the school roo intermissions between classes, so that when the children corounds they enter an atmosphere nearly as pure and fresh as that out of doors In addition, ular ventilating devices

The class room furniture in Norway, like that used in n and lacking in attractiveness as anything found in the whole country Its evolution surely has been greatly retarded In each rooh to enable the instructor to see all his pupils with ease On this platforh chair in which the teacher sitsinstruction

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 accustons now in use in some countries Those of recent h older ones, some of which are still in use, accoenerally 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 coement of seats and desks The distance and proportion between the to the physical welfare of the occupants The bodily posture of children in school detere 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 schoolroos, classroolobes, plates, etc), and various things hich the children work (sewing materials, exercise books, etc) While they have a liberal supply of excellent illustrativeapparatus 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 roolobes and the like are placed on chairs or ieneral the apparatus is aard 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 cluh 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 norence The anition of its value, and the situation ainst the prevalent neglect in this line

School rooht 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 enerally fail to appreciate the educative values of art

While, traditionally at least, the study and recitation rooreatest is, there are others, accessory to theood results A 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 cos

The offices for rectors, inspectors, head ed and handsomely appointed They are provided with desks, cabinets, chairs, settees, tables, and other furnishi+ngs 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 e consequence The one in the Christiania Cathedral School numbers thirty thousand voluest library in any school of the country, and it is regarded with considerable justifiable pride