Michael Neander was another of Melanchthon's pupils who became great as
a teacher. Neander was for forty-five years the sole teacher of a Latin
school at Ilfeld. Though he never had many pupils, his school was
pronounced by Melanchthon as "the best seminary in the country." He was
a most successful teacher, and the students whom he sent to the
university were found to possess the very best preparation, and always
stood among the first. He was well versed in medicine and chemistry, and
was one of the best Greek and Latin scholars of his time. Contrary to
the practice of his contemporaries, he favored the teaching of
geography, history, and the natural sciences. His position in regard to
the sciences places him in advance of other educators, and in this he
was a follower of Melanchthon, who also believed that science should be
taught.
Neander is celebrated also for the Greek and Latin text-books which he
wrote. Speaking of these books, Paulsen says, "What he especially
emphasized is: as few and as short rules as possible, and these rules
are to be progressive; at the proper time they are to be committed to
memory. The pupil must also commit words, phrases, and sentences to
memory, which is equally important." Lastly, he gave a careful outline
of the work of a boy for every year from the sixth to the eighteenth.
This was especially valuable for that period when parents and teachers
alike had nothing to guide them except the monastic course of study, and
when the world was giving birth to new theories in education as well as
in religion.
Neander's whole life was concentrated on the work of teaching, and in
the schoolroom he found his greatest joy. Here, also, he made a lasting
impression upon his pupils and upon mankind. His father was mistaken
when he addressed the boy, "Into a cloister with you; you will amount to
nothing in the world."
* * * * *
Other great teachers in the schools and in the universities carried
forward the educational work begun by the great reformers. Many cities
had founded schools, and several of the German states had established
school systems. The educational ideas of the Protestant Reformation had
taken deep root, and were destined to spread over the whole world,
gaining in force with each succeeding century.
The practical outcome of this great movement was the establishment of
schools in every village in Germany under the direction of the pastor,
and where he was unable to teach, under his clerk or assistant. As the
chief purpose was to prepare the children for entrance to the church by
confirmation, religion was the center of the school course. But reading,
writing, arithmetic, and singing were also taught.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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