The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 50

XIII. Normal School

XIII. Normal School.

Faculty.

First Semester.

Senior Pedagogics [ unclear: 20]
Junior Pedagogics [ unclear: 10]
Total [ unclear: 36]

Second Semester.

Senior Pedagogics [ unclear: 17]
Junior Pedagogics [ unclear: 3]
Total [ unclear: 29]
Total during the year [ unclear: 58]
The candidates for graduation are fifteen in number:
With Elementary Degree, (Pe. P.) [ unclear: 5]
With Academic Degree, (Pe. B.) [ unclear: 16]
Total [ unclear: 15]

As in former years, I desire to commend very heartily the earnestness [ unclear: and] courteous demeanor of the students connected with this department, and to [ unclear: express] my satisfaction with the general results of their work. The new system of rigid [ unclear: entrance] examinations, while reducing the number of students, adds, in every [ unclear: direction], to the efficiency of the Normal College, securing for its students greater [ unclear: manumit] of mind and more extended scholarship.

Mrs. Thos. K. Sudborouh

, Professor of Pedagogics and Dean of Normal Faculty.

Conditions of Admission to the Normal School.

No student shall be admitted to any class of the Normal College until he [ unclear: shall] have had recorded to his credit, on the books of the University, a passing grade of [ unclear: Gramm] on a scale of 100 in the following subjects, viz.: English, [including [ unclear: Gramme] Spelling and Reading,] Arithmetic, Geography and United States History. [ unclear: This] passing grade may be obtained either by regular work in the academic classes, or [ unclear: his] the case of new students, by special examinations, which examinations will, in [ unclear: all] cases, be under the direction of the heads of those departments to which the [ unclear: subject] above mentioned respectively belong.

Students may, upon satisfactory examination, be admitted to advanced [ unclear: standing] in the department, under the general rule of the Faculty governing promotions.

Degrees Granted by the Normal College.

I. Principal in Pedagogics (Pe. P.)
II. Bachelor of Pedagogics (Pe. B.")
III. Master of Pedagogics (Pe. M.)

Students are graduated in two distinct Normal courses, one academic, and [ unclear: the] other elementary.

The Elementary Normal Degree (Pe. P.) is conferred upon those students who successfully complete the "Public School" Normal course, which extends over two years, and which is arranged to meet the requirements of the School Law of the State * in the preparation of teachers for the district schools of the State of Missouri. The work necessary for this degree will be found in the course of study which follows:
Course of Study for Elementary Degree.
Junior Year. Hour.
First Semester. Algebra, Elementary I
Pedagogics and Form Study II
Geography, Physical and Political III
English Analysis and Rhetoric V
Second Semester Plane Geometry I
Pedagogics—School Law II
Civil Government and U. S. History III
Form Study and Book-keeping V
Senior Year.
First Semester. English Literature and History I
Elementary Physics III
Pedagogics, Mental and Moral Philosophy IV or V
Anatomy and Physiology (½) Zoology (½) VI
Second Semester. Botany, Descriptive and Structural I
Elementary Chemistry III
Pedagogics, Science and History of Education IV
Form Study, Elocutionary Reading VI

* "Section 7077 (Revised Statutes of Missouri Public School Laws of Missouri:

"No person shall be granted a certificate to teach in the Public Schools established under the provisions of this chapter, who is not of good moral character, and qualified to teach Orthography, Reading, Penmanship, Arithmetic, English Grammar, Modern Geography, the History of the United States and Civil Government.

"No certificate shall be granted for a longer period than one year, unless the person examined, in addition to the above, is found capable to impart instruction in the elements of the Natural Sciences and Physiology."

The work to be done in the common school is thus provided for by law.

The Academic and Elementary classes are united for work in Pedagogics during the Senior Year:

Degree of Master of Pedagogics (Pe. M.)

The third degree granted by the Normal College is that of Master of [ unclear: Pedagogies] (Pe. M), "the highest and most scholarly degree of the University." This degree is conferred only after due examinations in the five schools of science, and in any four of the five schools of language.

State Certificates.

A practical business advantage is afforded to graduates of the Normal Department of the University in their receiving from the State Superintendent of Public Schools, State Certificates, entitling them to teach, upon proper contract with the local board, in any county of the State without re-examination. The language of the State Superintendent on this point is as follows:

" To graduates from your full course. I will issue State Certificates (on parchment [ unclear: and] permanent). To those from your lower course (the Pe. P's), a special for three years."

This secures to all our graduates, about to enter upon their professional duties, legal certificates, upon which valid contracts may be made with Boards of [ unclear: Director?,]

Positions for Graduates.

While we are unable to promise positions to our graduates, we make every [ unclear: effort] to assist them in establishing themselves in their chosen professions. The reports which we receive of the work of our alumni are most encouraging; they seem to [ unclear: indicate] that our students leave the University with a laudable ambition to place [ unclear: them selves], through earnest and well directed effort, in the foremost ranks of the [ unclear: profession].

Fully three-fourths of all graduates of the department, since it has been [ unclear: under] my charge, have taught either in this or other States during at least a part of the present year, and at remunerative salaries.

With the purpose of placing Boards of Directors in communication with [ unclear: teachers,] we pay special attention to all letters of inquiry from persons desiring to secure the services of competent instructors. Many of our students are teachers of considerable experience, so that suitable selections may be made from their number for nearly all grades of schools.

Among the Books used in the Department for study or reference are the [ unclear: following:]

Methods of Instruction.

Instruction in the Normal Department is given principally in the form of leetures, upon which are based discussions by the class of the points presented; the comparative maturity of mind shown by our students of advanced standing and their earnestness, render these discussions of the greatest value. They cover the practical as well as the theoretical side of pedagogy. A primary aim of all work in this department is the development of independent thought, and students are encouraged to advance frankly and freely their own opinions, even where differing materially from those ordinarily held. Incorrect views and crude opinions are rectified with comparative ease through such discussions.

Rosenkranz's "Pedagogics as a System," has been used with success as the basis of discussion in scientific pedagogy.

The following is a Synopsis of the work in Pedagogics. It will be observed that the work of the Senior Year is required of all candidates for graduation.

Course of Study in Pedagogics.

First Year.

Second Semester.

General Principles governing the presentation of Subjects of Instruction. [ unclear: The] Recitation, its mechanism, its purpose. The Lecture System of Teaching, [ unclear: the] Catechetical Method, the Method by Dialogue. Preparation for Recitation—that [ unclear: of] Teacher, that of Pupil. Supervision of Pupil's Study. Questions and [ unclear: answers] their Form and Contents. Immediate Results to be sought in class work, [ unclear: Mental] and Moral habits to be cultivated thereby, attention, clearness of expression, [ unclear: concentration,] exactness, Self-reliance, Truthfulness. Assignment of Lessons, [ unclear: Written] and Oral Examinations, Home Work.

School Law: Legal Qualifications, Duties and Rights of Teachers, [ unclear: Elections] Compensation and Duties of County Commissioners, Boards of Directors, State [ unclear: Superintendent,] etc. Annual Meetings, School Warrants, Care of School [ unclear: Property,] Investment of School Moneys, etc., etc.

There will be required monthly essays on assigned topics.

The students will prepare abstracts of all lectures given during the Semester [ unclear: and] will submit their note-books for examination and grading.

One Teaching exercise will be required of each student at sometime in the [ unclear: course] of the Semester.

Second Year.

First Semester.

Review of School Economy, Lectures on the School Law, Methods of [ unclear: Instructions] in Special Subjects, Primary Instruction, Teaching the Alphabet, Spelling and [ unclear: Pronunciation.] The Word Method, The Phonetic System, Early Instruction in [ unclear: Numbers,] Illustration of Numerical Operations, the Grube Method. Object [ unclear: Lessons] their Value and Method. The Kindergarten, its Theory and Practice. Methods [ unclear: of] Teaching to various classes, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Methods in [ unclear: English] Grammar (practical and scientific) and in United States History. Methods [ unclear: had] Geography, with Beginners, with advanced students, Map Drawing, [ unclear: Penmanship]

Mental and Moral Philosophy taught in a course of Lectures by the President [ unclear: of] the University.

Exhaustive notes will be required on all topics discussed in the presence of [ unclear: the] class.

A Thesis on some assigned topic will be prepared by each student, and [ unclear: will be] due before the Christmas Holidays.

One Teaching Exercise will be required of each student in the course of [ unclear: the] Semester. Students will be ready to give their exercises before the class by the [ unclear: fir] Tuesday in November.

Second Semester.

Education as a Science * Nature of Education, Its Form, Work and Play, Authority and Obedience, Correction of Moral Obliquity, Office of Punishment (in Civil Society, in Education) kinds and degrees, Limits of Education: Subjective, Objective, Absolute. Special Elements of Education: Physical, Intellectual, Practical, etc. Studies and Reading Matter suited to the mind in its various stages of development. Method of presentation of knowledge as determined by the stages of mental growth: Illustrative Method, Method of Demonstration, etc. Act of Learning: Mechanical Element, Dynamic Element, etc. How Man is Taught: By Experience of Life, Through Printed Page, By School Instruction, Ethical and Social Culture, State Education, Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, Colleges and Universities, Technical Schools.

History of Education—Particular Systems and standpoints illustrated. Education in China, India, Thibet, Persia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome. Education among Northern Barbarians, among the Jews, Education in Middle Ages as affected by Feudal System, by Chivalry, by the Crusades, by the Free Cities, Modern Ideal in Education.

Individuals who have influenced Educational Thought: Beacon, Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Dr. Arnold, Horace Mann, etc., etc.

National systems of education (modern) Russia, Germany, England, France, Switzerland, America, etc.

Special study of American system, in its relation to State and Federal Government. Necessity for supervision. Duties and qualifications of supervisors.

Notes will be required on all special topics and discussions, where not treated at length in the text book in use.

One teaching exercise will be required of each student. Students must be ready to give their exercises by the first Tuesday in April.

During this semester the theses required for graduation will be prepared. All such theses will be due on the first Tuesday in May; they must be on some educational topic and of such length as to occupy about fifteen minutes in their public reading.

* The general arrangement of topics is essentially that of Rosenkranz, whose work is made the basis of instruction.