Part 14 (1/2)

To find lodgment in the heart and expression in the experiences of youth, religious principles must be made to appear practical and vital

They must be shown to be desirable in theion successfully oneexa and power, and a syenuine teacher with a knowledge of youth and ability to help others obtain a clear conception of the beauty and worth of the nobler life

Religion and morality are so intimately bound up with life's activities that it is difficult to consider them in and of themselves It is quite impossible to curriculize and present the up in consciousness the idea that they may or may not be phases of life When this is attempted it is liable to di

It is at least possible that the h specific occasions which arise apart froenuine experience in real life is the best illustration of what ion mean, and it furnishes thethese lines

Few lessons and no subjects of instruction can be fully presented without giving considerable attention to their ious phases If a lesson is coious contributions will have been taken over and appropriated along with any and all other contents When the ious values inherent in school studies receive their proportionate e special courses for their study The seriousness of the situation at present lies not in the fact that there are no special courses of instruction in ion, but rather in the condition that teachers fail to recognize their opportunities for giving such instruction They should iion are co and reality to every hu to see these subjects taught as separate branches by individuals who could make them profitable, it is nize their own responsibility in this regard, whatever subjects they have to teach

_The Classics_

In common with those of many other countries, the school curricula of Norway have been saturated with the classics For a long tiely to the presentation of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages About 1850, there arose a demand for an education which was , es, and honition and the people becaan to investigate what right the languages of the ancients had for occupying so large a proportion of attention in school work

Gradually the ancient classics were replaced by more modern educational materials Hebrew and Greek were in their turn dropped froiven to work regarded as more vital and beneficial In 1896, a very decisive step was taken when by legislative enactes--was omitted from the list of subjects required in the school curriculu has been severely criticised by soht and duty it was to decide studied the hly at home and abroad, and after calment, passed the law, and put in into immediate execution The momentum of former practices, the force of tradition, or the exaian state in its action It does not pern nations to do its thinking, nor ”well-enough” systeround is seen clearly Norway moves forith all its power, deterreater opportunities Such was the condition of the state in its consideration of the classics in their school curriculuht elect to pursue the study of the ancient languages should have the privilege to do so and they provided for them such opportunity However, they were definitely convinced that to require all pupils to study these subjects in order to complete courses of study or enter the university was an injustice To their credit be it said that when they are convinced that a certain course of procedure is best they have the e to pursue it In this particular instance the people were fully aware of the fact that they were taking a step which was a decided deviation frohtforward course pursued for centuries by the leading national educational systeood, under their own conditions, and looking forward to their future as a state and nation, it would be the wiser solution to leave the classics behind and devote y to studies which they conceived to beto note the recent tendencies in this direction in other countries In the United States Latin is beco less and less a required subject of instruction in the high schools, and each year lengthens the list of colleges which do not require it for entrance

Even conservative and classic-loving Germany has recently opened the doors of her universities to those who have finished the Real-gye that the way of the classics is not the only road to higher culture and learning

It has conized that the schools exist for the learner rather than the learner for the schools To debar an individual froes for which he is prepared simply because he has not met certain inherited traditional prescriptions is rapidly beco unorthodox Norway seems to have set the pace for other nations in at least this one respect, and her clearsighted er areatest present utility is being followed by other nations of sound pedagogical principles

_Physical Culture_

Few are the instances where the physical develop the Norwegians Gyhout the entire course of study until the coy the pupils to go into the open air during the interood effects Athletic sports also have recently become more important features of school life

Fortunately they have not reached a point of specialization where their values are open to question

Buildings and grounds are constructed and laid out with the physical welfare of children in yrounds supplied with the advantages most essential in the accoorous body in which to develop a sounda crowded condition the rule in the larger schools Strange as it may seem, the same unfortunate condition prevails almost universally in our own land where there appears to be little excuse for congestion

However, the size of the grounds is perhaps a matter of minor importance, especially when coarded as incidental; use is the all-irounds are not used We rarely have but one, if any, interreater portion of which is occupied in going for the ians' enforced, frequent, and regular use of the playgrounds are in evidence on every hand

Robust, vigorous, buoyant, active, healthy, sound, alert, and the like adjectives are the appropriate ones to use in speaking of the physiques of their pupils

Were the influences of bodily conditions upon rowth and activity fully appreciated, the schools would doubtlessadequately for physical education Physical developarded with considerable favor for some time, but it has usually been a secondary affair when it should have been introduced as a vital feature Educational syste and development of the physical as well as the mental life They are dependent upon each other and are in fact two phases of the same life It is obviously wasteful to seek to develop the one without regard to the other, or to attempt the cultivation of one at the expense of the other

_Vocal Music_

Music is a national spirit and loyalty Plato wrote: ”Any er to the whole state, and ought to be prohibited When e, the fundae with theht write the nation's songs he cared not who ht write its laws Music in the better forreat acconized As a means of education, however, it receives far too little attention

The quality ofin the schools of Norway has so it a powerful contributor in developing loyal and competent citizens is the use they make of the best compositions from their oriters Their poets and e a of their heroes and of their national ideals and achieves reflects the soul of their fatherland The influence upon the lives of the pupils contributes to solidarity of the nation and to love for its institutions

Contrast this with the results of the rattle of rag-tis Too much of our public school, Sunday school, and church music has been of this order Public schoolmore attention than they receive Recent introduction into many schools of victrolas with records ofartists of the world point to a recognition of the educative value of the better quality of selections To hear the same productions direct from the soul of the artist would be many times as effectual as any mechanical reproduction, but this is beyond the reach of the ive assurance that the near future will see itimate place in our educational provisions

LINES OF INSTRUCTION IN THE GYMNASIUM