The training of teachers in the United States of America — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The training of teachers in the United States of America
John Stuart Mill · en
It is usual for the Normal Schools of the Eastern States to postpone
the study of strictly pedagogical subjects until half or more of the
course has been completed. School methods are sometimes taught in
connection with academic subjects in the early part of the course;
but such instruction, coming, as it does, before any principles of
the science of education have been considered, or any practical
experience has been gained, must be purely empirical. At the Normal
School, Millersville, Pennsylvania, school management is taken
during the first year, and applied psychology (as distinguished from
empirical methods), history of education, and school teaching, are
required during the second year. If the student takes up a further
scientific or post-graduate course, additional professional studies are
required--viz., psychology and the philosophy of education, ethics,
logic, and professional reading. In the Westchester Normal School,
Pennsylvania, no professional work is taken up until the second year.
Then psychology is studied, and history of education; and methods
and school practice are taken. The additional pedagogical studies
for the advanced courses are the same as at Millersville. At the
Normal School, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the students, after having
studied the elements of psychology, during their first semester, leave
all technical studies until the fourth semester, when they take up
simultaneously, study of the body, study of the mind, principles of
education and methods, school organization, school government, history
of school laws of Massachusetts. A fifth semester, when it can be
given, is devoted entirely to professional work and actual teaching.
At the Normal School, New Britain, Connecticut, psychology is given
four times a week during most of the two years’ course. Text-books
are not used except for reference. No pure psychology is studied, but
school subjects are taken up one by one, and their facts and methods of
treatment are used to illustrate psychological principles. The history
of education is studied side by side with this applied psychology;
but not much time is given to this subject in class. The lives and
works of the chief educators only are taken, and private reading
is much encouraged as accessory to the class work. At the Normal
School, Willimantic, Connecticut, psychology is studied one hour a
day throughout the last year, and is treated almost entirely from the
physiological standpoint. No special text-book is used, but Spencer
and Darwin are recommended for reference. The history of education
is not taken up systematically in class, but the work and influence
of modern educators, such as Arnold, Thring, and Horace Mann, are
thoroughly discussed. At the Normal School, Worcester, Massachusetts,
class work in psychology is taken almost daily throughout the whole
course. The value attributed to the subject, and the unique way in
which it is studied, together with other points distinctive of the