Education -- Norway; School management and organization -- Norway
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
clumsy easel which elevates it so high 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 normal intelligence. The ample
provision of blackboard here is proof of a recognition of its value, and
the situation may also be regarded as an indictment against the
prevalent neglect in this line.
School room decorations are not as prominent as might 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 may be found; but, as in
all countries, they quite generally fail to appreciate the educative
values of art.
While, traditionally at least, the study and recitation rooms have been
considered of prime and greatest importance in school buildings, there
are others, accessory to them, which in their effects are productive of
quite as good results. Among 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 commonly all of them
are found in the city school buildings.
The offices for rectors, inspectors, head masters, etc., are admirably
arranged and handsomely appointed. They are provided with desks,
cabinets, chairs, settees, tables, and other furnishings 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 many of them
are small some are of large consequence. The one in the Christiania
Cathedral School numbers thirty thousand volumes. This is one of the
oldest and perhaps the largest library in any school of the country, and
it is regarded with considerable justifiable pride.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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