The story of education; Education in Germany

Your Pacific University program today and in the broadcast the follow is based upon the story of education published by Chilton books in June 1962 co-author with your narrator was Dr. Eugene M. Lask an assistant superintendent in charge of teacher recruitment for the New York City Board of Education. By presenting these excerpts from our book The Story of education we are hoping that you our listening audience may be better able to understand the whys and wherefores of our own American schools. Our topic today the evolution of education in Germany. Early in the 19th century several prominent Americans return from Prussia and those he asked about the schools they had visited also influencing American thought was the report on the organization of German schools made in 1831 to the French government by Victor cousin in the 1850s Fromelles kindergarden idea began its growth in this country. After a visit to price in the 1860s Edward Sheldon brought some

Pestalozzi trained teachers to asswage in New York to help improve the teaching of his own staff. Oswego as the experiment became so well known that normal schools in other American states adopted pother lots in methods. Here bargain ism had a similar a popular vogue in the United States during the final two decades of the century where Bart's ideas became so widely used in American teacher training institutions that in 1895 there was form the National hair Bart society later renamed the National Society for the Study of education. Until the 1930s most American educators looked upon German universities as the best in the world due to their unusually high standards the teaching and research. Considering these influences upon America it seems worthwhile to examine the evolution of German education in order to understand our own. The Renaissance period is usually considered the starting point of modern education

at the time England and France were laying foundations for their later world empires Germany was still politically decentralized town authorities fought church officials for the privilege of setting up their own schools in due time the German towns won this right by appealing to the local ruler for support against the local bishop. Sometimes they even carried their appeal to the pope indicating perhaps the school politics is not exclusively an American or even a modern phenomena as town and church reached agreement for joint operation of the schools that was being established in Germany. A public Perl educational system frequently the priest would do the teaching while the town paid a salary and looked upon him as a public official. Renaissance education in the German states as elsewhere was intended mainly for use of the upper and wealthy classes with its ideals being centered on

humanistic classical studies and the cultivation of gentlemanly graces during the Reformation period the aims of education were being broadened with some opposition developing against the separate Latin School for aristocracy provisions for vocational education an interest in teaching trades to poor children indicated the growing economic and political influences of the time. The middle classes were attempting to widen the scope of vernacular education to make it meet more adequately their commercial needs. The growing use of printed books brought about a wider dissemination of Luther's German translation of the Bible. His catechism hymn book and the school books written by the great reformer himself and his followers. Two of the ease your hand Bogun Hagen and Philip Milan thong urged the Protestant rulers to study their schools and to reform them by civil authority. Often times the transformation of Catholic in the

Lutheran churches did bring with it a reorganization of the schools as a result of surveys by prominent educators. Several other German states and free cities issued codes for the conduct of schools. Also influential at that time was your hand Sturm who laid the foundation for the German gymnasium by his division a secondary school into regular classes taught by different teachers. Note where there was a River Academy end for children destined to live their lives in court. They were taught dueling with sword and pistol writing music heraldry geography history mathematics science vernacular languages. The religious enthusiasm of piety is I'm a reform movement among Lutherans urging a more sincere and active religious devotion stimulated the creation of a public religious system of schools in the various German states. August Hermann Franke established virtually an empire educational

system a free school for poor and orphaned children. Every night there school at the elementary level in Latin gymnasium for secondary students who could afford to pay a patagium or higher school originally intended for nobles but eventually something of a scientific academy and a teacher training institution he received sufficient financial and moral support from the King of Prussia to establish several hundred schools in which the communities paid tuition fees were poor children. While those who could afford to pay did so. Question school laws a 17 13 and 7 game 7 game made it possible rape for all parents to send their children to school and in a 737 a general code provided governmental aid to build school houses and to pay school masters. The Prussians Kokoda 1763 he laid the foundation for a national system of elementary education and was chiefly the work of Joanne Haggard

a pious clergyman who had worked with Frankie at penance from 5 to 13 was made compulsory and definite school hours were prescribed by state inspectors supervisor schools but church officials prepared the examinations to obtain a license teachers had to be approved by both state inspectors and the church Consistory. That 1763 law prescribing rather minute detail the qualification of teachers curriculum and textbooks for control came in 1787 when a coed took the supervision of schools away from the clergy and made a State Ministry of Education responsible for secondary as well as for elementary schools also instituted was a leading examination one the secondary school graduates had to pass before admittance to the university. All this represented a highly centralized educational system under state

control for authoritarian purposes. But also coming into prominence at that time were certain important middle class aims that demanded more stress on practical subjects useful in preparing us for the various trades and occupations it seemed highly possible for a few years that the defeat of the precious army by Napoleon Bonaparte at the battle Yanna. Might bring some liberalism into the authoritarian educational system. The philosopher Johanne fight urged that education be used to unite the German people and to regenerate their spirit by linking the ideals of nationalism with those of liberalism. He preached the class distinctions to be wiped out. And all Germans unite under a strong national state. However in 1815 the Congress of Vienna brought with it a reactionary nationalistic spirit in which repressive decrees were issued and the liberals hunted down and

silenced. Again in 1848 there was a resurgence of the liberal movement this soon perhaps passed the Lothian ideas of the regeneration of society through education began giving way to religious disciplinary and military obedience education were used as a tool to make the common people satisfied with their appointed position and society am above all loyal to the monic. The two track educational system had become firmly established by 1830 with education being compulsory from 6 to 14 and wherever possible separate schools for boys and girls being maintained at the age of six about 90 percent of the school population went to the book schulen while the upper class children attended voice children. As a three year preparation before entering one of the secondary schools at nine years of age. Prince Otto von Bismarck was the man who crippled German liberalism and

created a military empire in his country calm a policy against any outside interference in the affairs of Germany aimed especially at the Roman Catholic Church. Bismarck sought to remove all control of the schools from the clergy. This led to the school inspection law of 1872. But after the abandonment Aquatica and specks in lives would be very Do the clergy regardless of the law. The 1872 law did recognize that the different religious groups in the states constituting the German Empire were to be reconciled as they control by setting up schools as Protestant Catholic or Jewish whichever happened to be the dominant local group. Where every community was divided the alternative was to maintain separate schools or to give special religious instruction for each with a different face. Such a policy invited many difficulties. Also with the objective of training

skilled workers for the industrialization of Germany vocational and continuation schools were established in the cities in 1871 Kaiser Wilhelm the second issued a decree to teachers informing them that their prime purpose as educators was to combat the dangerous doctrines of socialism and communism by the beginning of the 20th century German education had become a highly centralized nationalistic agency designed to produce patriotic subjects knowing their place in society promptly and efficiently RBD into orders and loyal to Emperor and fatherland. It was this type of single purpose education that helped build the gigantic manpower machine for human destruction in both world wars. Adolf Hitler carried even further these educational objectives than had Chancellor Bismark and Kaiser Wilhelm following World War 1. The Weimer Republic tried to reverse the aristocratic and centralized character of German

education by making opportunities more flexible and by increasing the chances for advancement for the masses of German children in order to adapt schooling for local needs the Republic granted German states more authority in educational matters. Hitler's rise to power ended this Liberalism Naziism took over the government in 1933 and soon revealed its opportunistic nature by attacking anything that people disliked and by claiming to do everything the masses wanted. Control of the schools was an initial step in gaining mastery over the political economic social and cultural life of the people. This meant destroying the power of the federal German states and educational as well as in other political matters. To achieve such an objective the whole of the churches over schools had to be broken. This involved destruction and there is to create a two track system and the building up of

elementary schools with the consequent decline in secondary education in order to replace the old aristocracy and the prosperous middle class with the people inspired to give. I'm questioning loyalty to the party. There was developed a mass cool idea designed to instill Nazi ideology within growing youth. Are the school physical activities were substituted for the highly formal booky over evil like a live character most of the pre-Nazi secondary schools. In fact. The sixth day of each week was taken from class work and devoted to the Hitler youth activities when in 1945 the United Nations occupational authorities began their work in Germany. The problem was to create a democratic educational system to replace the very thorough job a gnat's vacation done by Hitler's schools. Complications arose from the fact that England France Russia and the United States all had zones of control.

A typical problem textbooks used in the Russian zone contain considerable communistic propaganda apparently aimed to arouse distrust of the democratic processes.