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NOTES ON GERMAN SCHOOLS With Special Relation to Curriculum and Methods of Teaching BY WILLIAM H. WINCH, M. A. LATE SCHOLAR OF ST. JOHNS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS AUTHOR OF PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION 1 Popular Education is a subject which can no more be known without being treated comparatively, than Anatomy can be known without being treated comparatively. MATTHEW ARNOLD. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1904 All rights reserved jig Booft is insuifoetf t mtinww Jelp as mati its f o tfjs Btittsli f oteigit fKce, tfje of ftfs iWaJBgtg m tomang, t ie at Berlin, anfc fflrerman cf 0ol Bisectors, anti Ecacfjets, mg toarmeet tljanfo ate ttie for facilttiES granted, atib muclj assistance CONTENTS PART I CHAP. PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 3 II. GRADES OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL FEES . . 11 III. SCHOOL HOURS AND HOLIDAYS .... 17 IV. SCHOOL BUILDINGS 19 V. THE TEACHERS, THEIR TRAINING AND SALARIES 24 VI. METHODS OF TEACHING 38 VII. CURRICULA OF SCHOOLS 46 VIII. EXAMINATION AND PROMOTION OF CHILDREN . 55 IX. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 61 PART II X. ARITHMETIC 69 XL READING, SPELLING, WRITING, AND COMPOSITION 99 XII. HISTORY 114 XIII. GEOGRAPHY 126 XIV. GERMAN GRAMMAR 141 XV. FOREIGN LANGUAGES i. FRENCH 162 u. ENGLISH 184 XVI. OBJECT LESSONS AND SCIENCE .... 203 XVIL DRAWING 231 XVIII. PHYSICAL EXERCISES 248 XIX. SINGING 255 PART I NOTES ON GERMAN SCHOOLS CHAPTER I I NTRODUCTI ON IN the Journal of Education I the following paragraph occurs Dr. J. M. Rice, the editor of the Forum, has been giving specimens of the work that is to be undertaken by the Bureau of Educational Research recently organ ised under his guidance and direction. The object of the Society is to discoverwhat a pupils average know ledge and ability should be at different stages of school life, according to the time he has devoted to those subjects, and in this way to gauge the relative worth of schools and teachers. The difference revealed in the schools of six different cities by tests in arithmetic applied by Dr, Rice is astonishing. Thus in Standard IV. the highest average of city 6 is below the lowest average of city I I quote this paragraph because it indicates that, to some extent, America recognises the need for com parative work with definite tests if real educational progress is to be made, and because I have attempted i July 1903. 3 4 NOTES ON GERMAN SCHOOLS to apply a definite system of measurement and test to some of the subjects taught in German schools. It is of little use to pile up work in educational exhibitions, or to show samples of great excel lence, unless we know the conditions of. their production, the age of the pupils, their length of school attendance, the regularity of that attendance, the number in class, and the time devoted to the particular subject of instruction. In fact, much of the excellent work thus shown inspires in experienced teachers very grave doubts a to the fairness of its production. It is not difficult to get such work done if other subjects and other pupils are comparatively neglected and there is a direct temptation to this neglect if schools are to be estimated by the special work in special subjects of a few picked scholars. I am not arguing for the abolition of Exhibitions, far from it I am pleading only that they should be scientific in the best sense of that much-abused word. Moreover, even opinions formed by the in spection of workdone under normal conditions may be very misleading, unless these impressions are carefully checked by actual tests. This book is not a treatise on German education as a whole. Not months, but years of patient inquiry would be necessary to undertake such a task. I rather hoped by confining my work within narrower limits to accomplish something of more permanent value...