THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF NORWAY DAVID ALLEN ANDERSON, Ph.D. RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS BOSTON _Copyright, 1913, by Richard G. Badger All rights reserved_ _The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A._ AUTHOR'S PREFACE This account is a descriptive statement of the organization, management, operation, and efficiency of the public school system of Norway. The intent has been to consider only the more vital features, those essentials which definitely shape the products of educational endeavor. Many topics of interest have been touched but briefly while others have been omitted altogether. Some attention has been given to pointing out good qualities of the Norwegian schools and to indicating wherein we might improve our own. The materials entering into the make-up of this dissertation were gathered during a summer and autumn devoted to travel and study in Norway. Much time was spent in study at the University Library in Christiania and still more in the visitation of schools. It was with pleasure that I availed myself of the opportunity to see the schools in operation. I observed recitations throughout the entire program of study in every grade from the kindergarten to the University. I also visited many special schools and other educational institutions both public and private. Further than this, I was benefited by frequent conferences with the leading educators of the country and by almost constant associations with schoolmen, patrons, and students. These personal investigations enabled me to become familiar with the spirit and work of the schools, and they furnish background for a large part of the content of this treatise. Since no adequate account of the schools of Norway is in print, the authority for this work has been gained chiefly from school laws, annual reports from the Department of Ecclesiastical and Educational Affairs (chiefly statistical), and the individual research referred to above.