Part 3 (2/2)

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 doht, roo 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 o themselves to the markets and purchase provisions needed for the day An earnest effort is made to co the best possible results

So of apparatus and illustrative materials (_Anskuelsesmidler_) Racks, cupboards, cabinets, drawers, cases, and the like provide convenientthem easily accessible Gymnastic halls and lunch roorounds are generally srounds is, athletic parks of considerable proportions The grounds about the school buildings are arranged with a view of securing froh board or wire fence, or by stone or brick and ceravel is usually placed on the ground in order to avoid the growth of vegetation or an accuns are not in evidence, for rarely do they attenize 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 rounds, 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 soularly

Near to the school buildings, generally on a corner of the grounds, homes are provided for the head tmester_) Sometimes the janitor and his fa 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 provisionsexpenses, 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 hiarden; a fruit orchard; a few acres of land for pasturage and hay; and a barn and sheds for cow, pig, and chickens There are hout the country This particular one lay just outside a se number of pupils in attendance

As a rule the homes for rural school teachers compare very favorably with the better class of hohborhood They have sufficient rooenerally satisfy the occupants The h 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 arethe year 1907 there were four thousand, one hundred and twenty-three male and one thousand, four hundred and seven feular positions in the rural schools, and in the city their nuht and one thousand, six hundred and six Although the law makes no requirements as to sex, except that in city schools there overness, 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 the 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 se of the teachers have ho 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 outnu 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 ymnasia practically all of them are men, but in the h the Norwegians recognize wo 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 woymnasia

In their plan of instruction there is s to criticise The teachers do a large a, 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 triuue uses the recitation period, nearly always fifty minutes, in an endeavor to impart inforhtforward giving, and indirectly through cooperative mental activities While they feel the ie in shi+fting a part of the responsibility to the pupils They recognize the fact that the child has ability, and that by hi proble 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 theh the ideals and ai them are not the best There is a certain inherited aloofness on the part of the instructor which robs both teacher and pupils of so the recitation hour the teacher nearly always occupies the high chair on the elevated platfor other demonstrational work

My observations convince et down and work a and with the children as reatest 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 probleive only short answers to questions, but responses rapidly increase in length, as age advances, until they amount toten to fifteen minutes are not uncommon, and the children become quite expert in the relation of facts and in the development of probleht for a certain class of children, but tiirls 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 as so frightened in an atte required at the sa teacher, that he was unable to say anything whatever The teacher, a e, 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 classroorowth, considerable work is done looking to physical development Gymnastic exercise is required of all children in pri those in first and second grades and a feho are physically disqualified for it To provide for this work, the city schools furnish large halls with excellent equipive instruction A Swedish systehout the country There seeainst 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 de in Norway s Theand the dinner hour is far later than noon--generally two or three o'clock

Furthere coht lunch of nourishi+ng food and a warm drink at about 10:30 or 11 o'clock is an appreciated necessity Hence ed 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 onethe winter enerally 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 stea, 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 co various si carefully into their operations In equipood results it is not surpassed in any city in Europe or America In some of the schools, hundreds of freewinter 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 theto and frorounds While the work of instruction proceeds strict discipline isa classrooress, one invariably knocks at the door, whoever he is and whatever his errand, and by the ti to the one entering, they bow and continue to face hinal to them to sit Should the visitor withdraw before the class is disain rise to their feet and bow him out; but, if he re 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 forthcoulations Failure to co absence frouardians of children to a fine of from one to twenty-five crowns[18] Very rarely is an enforceenerally law-abiding and peace-loving Being eager for developladly comply with educational provisions without any coularity in attendance is the universal practice Sickness is perhaps the iven 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 feas 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 exaht, and results showed that very few of the pupils were under the necessity of wearing glasses A to this favorable situation yood ventilation, physical exercise in the open between successive classes, and, in general, the or 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 hardshi+p

Chapter II