CHAPTER LXI.

The Grading of Schools.

1. Our brief sketch of the varieties of education and schools has disclosed a definite grading of the latter. The elementary school is the lowest. The second grade of schools comprises the following: the gymnasium (college), the Realschule (non-classical high school), and the higher girls' school. The third and highest grade comprises the schools of pure and applied science, i. e., universities and technological schools. If we compare this grading with that outlined for the organization of the educational content,' we shall find that the elementary school corresponds to the child's school period, and that the secondary schools correspond to the three other age periods mentioned there: immature boyhood, mature boyhood, and mature youth. But the third grade of schools lies beyond the age periods treated in that chapter. Thus the question arises how the higher schools are to be adjusted, on the one hand, to the mental and physical development of the student and, on the other, to the educational content that they have to deal with. We shall turn to the history of education for the answer to this question.

In the higher studies of the Middle Ages the lower faculty of the liberal arts was distinct from the higher faculties, as is expressed in the familiar saying, "Universitas fundatur in artibus. The special and regular preparation (in as far as it was given) for the ordo artistarum constituted the lowest grade of studies. During the Renaissance this lowest grade of studies developed into the Latin school, and the faculty of arts was converted into the faculty of philosophy. In principle it was still maintained that the Latin school, the faculty of philosophy, and the higher faculties should constitute three grades of schools; but the introduction into the philosophical faculty of matter other than philosophy, especially of the experimental sciences, brought this faculty continually closer to the higher faculties; and wherever mathematics and philosophy were not systematically separated off as propedeutic studies from the rest of the course, the actual results were two grades of higher studies instead of three. However, the loss of the middle grade was scarcely realized, because the Latin school had developed into

1 Ch. XXXIX.

the gymnasium (college), whose course led up to the university faculties, which were now considered of equal rank. Still the change involved a break in the sequence of what had been an excellent grading of the higher studies.

2. Educationists of widely divergent views have realized the need of repairing this break, and recommend that a course in philosophy, pursued either at the college or at the university, should complete the student's general education. Herbart styles philosophy "the true perfecter of education";' and remarks, 'No gymnasium truly finishes the education of its students, and to do this is the function of the so-called faculty of philosophy.' "The faculty of philosophy," says Schleiermacher, “is the basis.... The real university is contained in the philosophical faculty, and the other three faculties are special schools.... Every university student should devote his whole first year to the study of philosophy.... He must first assimilate the general, else he will miss the essence of a university education. "3 Hermann Kern says: "The studies of the faculty of philosophy serve the purpose partly of general education and partly of professional training. But even in the general education courses of the university the students are left to their own resources with regard to the truly pedagogical co-operation of the various studies. The university does no more than offer an opportunity, in its school of philosophy proper, for finding the unity of the varied learning.... This state of affairs should force the gymnasium to prepare its students for the university studies in such a way as will make them regard the university, not merely as a professional school, but as the perfecter of their general education."

Ziller recommends that the lyceum be introduced to prepare the graduates of the gymnasium for the professional schools of the university: "Because the general education, even as imparted in the classical schools, is not complete without a course in philosophy, it is obvious that the elements of philosophy, including logic, ethics, and metaphysics, should be mastered before taking up the professional studies." Ziller suggests

1 ABC of Sense Perception, translated by W. J. Eckoff, New York, 1896, p. 151.

2 Pädagogische Schriften, edited by Willmann, I, p. 110.

3 Erziehungslehre, edited by Platz, 1849, p. 564. 4 Grundriss der Pädagogik, § 92.

5 Grundlegung, § 4, p. 96.

that the lyceums imitate the methods of the gymnasium, and thinks that the lyceum courses might well be given by the small universities, now struggling for existence; and he advises the student to arrange in the meantime, for want of something better, his own course in elementary philosophy. Karl Peter arrives, on different grounds, at the conclusion that the first period of the classical course with its rigid forms of study should be succeeded by a second period, which, while paying more attention to the liberty and individuality of the students, would treat all studies, except the ancient languages and mathematics, as electives. Peter would call only the second period of the classical course gymnasium, since he regards the first period as a preparatory school."

3. If we consider these various opinions in the light of historical developments, we shall readily see how the connecting link between the college and the university can be recovered. The problem is to fit the college student for the professional schools of the university, which can be done by teaching philosophy systematically and thoroughly, employing exercises for the understanding and assimilation of its educative content; and this had best be done in the college itself.3 Philosophy, as taught in the college, will by reason of its content have some relation to the university faculty of philosophy, but in method of teaching it must be adapted to the age and mental development of college students, who may thus be prepared gradually for the greater liberty granted at the university.

The college course in philosophy should include, besides the elements of philosophy, the elements of physics and chemistry and a systematic study of religion. In the language classes the comparative study of ancient and modern literatures should be taken up, and frequent opportunities should be given for exercises in style. Mathematics should be studied chiefly with a view to its application to astronomy and natural philosophy. But to carry out this program of studies, we must have proper correlation between the different subjects as well as with what was previously learned, and a very important_point-the philosophical instruction must be correlated with the student's circle of thought all of which requires other than university methods of teaching, as the regularity and discipline of school

1 Ibid., § 4, p. 96 and in the Zeitschrift für exakte Philosophie, IV, p. 17. 2 Ein Vorschlag zur Reform unserer Gymnasien, 1874.

3 Cf. Schwickerath, Jesuit Education, St. Louis, 1904, pp. 195 ff.

And

routine are obviously essential. Hence this program of studies may well fill out the last two years of the college course. so we shall have the following grades of schools for secondary and higher education: classical high school-freshman and sophomore classes of the college-junior and senior classes of the college-university.'

Willmann uses the following terms for these four grades of schools: “die gymnasiale Vorschule-die Lateinschule-das Lyzeum-die Universität."

II.

THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF SOCIETY.

CHAPTER LXII.

The Transmission of Intellectual Treasures.

1. The standpoint of the individual may suffice for obtaining a view of the system of schools, but it is only from the viewpoint of society that one can understand the essence and nature of the school. The individualistic view holds all schools to be created merely by necessity. It contends that each individual in need of an education should have his own teacher; but since the number of teachers is inadequate, one teacher is placed in charge of a number of pupils, so that the scarcity of teachers is ultimately responsible for the school system. In opposition to this view, it is necessary to emphasize the social character of education. Education is, indeed, the inner formation of the individual, but in its end and content it is the result of the cooperation of a union of forces. To be educated is to belong to the class of the educated. To acquire an education is to acquire a share of what is the common property of a class, and an education can, therefore, be acquired only through regular and systematic co-operation, though it is not confined to this cooperation. The numerical relation between teachers and pupils is an external occasion for opening schools, but by no means the principle of the matter. Aristotle's explanation of society, that it is created for the sake of life, but continues in existence for the sake of making life beautiful (roû ev §îv čveka), may be applied to the school. The school is established in order to meet the needs of the many requiring instruction, but continues in existence for the sake of education, which is itself a phase of beautiful living. In both cases the demand is the first thing to be considered, while the institution that supplies the demand is considered in the second place only. But in point of fact and in accordance with the nature of education, the demand merely created the supply, and the character of the institution created by it is of primordial significance.