Tigert, John J.

English

James Madison University

THE VIRGINIA TEACHER APRIL, 1923 NUMBER 4 VOLUME IV THE NATIONALIZATION OF THE TEACHERS COLLEGES By John J. Tigert, U. S. Commissioner of Education. THE educational system of the United States is the counterpart of the politi- cal system of the United States and furnishes an antithesis to the educational sys- tems of Europe as complete as the antithesis between a federation of many sovereign states deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed and a single sovereign state ex- ercising absolute power over its subjects. Un- der the theory that the state possesses rights prior to the individual, such as existed in the German Empire, it was possible to organize a type of education and, through the power of arbitrary government, mould a type of citizen approximating in uniformity the blocks turn- ed out of a mill according to a regular size and pattern. Under the theory that state government is derived from the individuals that compose it and the rights of the federal government are only such as have been con- ceded to it by compact of the respective states, as set out in a Constitution, education not be- ing one of the functions so conceded, as is the case in the United States, the system of edu- cation must essentially be varied and multi- form as are the thoughts and desires of the people from which it emanates. It is in ac- cordance with expectation, therefore, that the schools of America possess a myriad of dis- similarities in organization, administration, curricula, financial support, and in other es- sential points. Even where there is a tenden- cy to evolve, according to certain general principles of educational policy and practice, different localities of the United States find themselves at different stages in the evolution (Delivered before tbe American Association of Teachers Colleges, February 24, 1923) of these principles. The schools of the United States do not march under the same command- ers, or in the same formation, or according to the same manual of drill, or at the same rate of speed. In the entire system of education in this country there is no phase in which the lack of uniformity has been so conspicuous as in the particular phase of teacher-training. Here the only uriiformity has been in the consistent variation in the character of the agencies set up, the absence of a definite and continuous policy, and a disparity in different sections of the country in the process of evolution of these agencies. It is not necessary to trace the history of the teacher-training movement before a body composed of the heads of teacher-training in- stitutions. You are better informed about this than I. You are aware that teacher train- ing was transplanted to this country from Europe, but it is indeed difficult to understand why the matter which appears the most funda- mental in building schools, viz., the provision of an adequate teacher, found no place in the American system until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when higher learning had been provided for as far back as the first half of the seventeenth century. The need of a teacher seems to have been the last realization with us. Perhaps this was in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled in saying "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." In order to get a conception of the varied types, the lack of consistent policy, and the un- even appearance of these institutions in point of time, let me present the following sum- mary: 1823. Private teacher-training institu- tion established at Concord, Ver- mont. 1834. Teacher training provided at pub- lic expense in the academies of New York. 1839. First State normal school in the United States established at Lex- ington, Massachusetts. 88 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. IV, No. 4 1831. First college department of educa- tion established at Washington College in 1831, though the mat- ter began to be agitated at Am- herst in 1826. There are in addition to the above the city training schools and the country training schools for teachers. Here appear half a dozen different types of institutions for teacher training, arising sporadically in various places. One does not need to trace the development of these insti- tutions very far to discover an utter lack of definition of policy and relationship to each other on the part of these institutions, with the result that the appearance of these insti- tutions at different times in different parts of th country has precipitated clashes which have engendered irritation and counter irritation, cut-throat competition, reduplication of ef- fort, wasted energy, conflicting policies and functions, and chaotic conditions generally. There always has been and still is a con- troversy as to whether the function of the state teacher-training institutions is to train elementary and secondary school teachers, dif- ferent groups of educators taking opposing sides on this question. As there were practi- cally no public schools except elementary schools when the first teacher . training insti- tutions were established it is evident that at first it was not intended to train high school teachers. There is a tendency on the part of departments of education of colleges and universities in some places to attempt to arro- gate to themselves the training of high schocl teachers, while the normal schools are rapidly expanding into this field in various parts of the country. In 1875 there were 70 state normal schools in the entire country, but no teachers' colleges. The first New York nor- mal school, founded in 1845, became the first four-year college in 1890. This reorganiza- tion and expansion of teachers' colleges has continued rapidly in the last years, and a year ago, out of 157 state institutions for the prep- aration of teachers, 91 of these were giving four years of college work. Others are now preparing to offer such a course. The last legislatures in Maryland and Kentucky gave the normal schools of these states such author- ity. Meantime, there are abut 475 depart- ments of education in colleges and univer- sities, some of which are either intentionally or otherwise competing with these four-year teacher training institutions. Likewise the high school training class, which appeared in New York in 1834 and which overlaps the work of the normal school and teachers' col- lege, has continued flourishing until it is found now in more than half the states. Some years back there were considerably over a hun- dred of these classes in New York, with a total enrollment of neary 2,000. There were almost as many in Minnesota, while in Ne- braska there were 209 with an enrollment of 3,800, and Kansas had 282 classes with an enrollment of 5,000. The high school train- ing class is now found in more than half the states, and most of the states give it state aid. In Kentucky the 1922 legislature authorized the training of teachers in the high schools of that state; so this type of teacher training continues to develop in spite of opposition from some quarters. The city training schools have undertaken to do for the city what the normal school has attempted for the state generally, viz: to train both elementary and high school teachers for th cities. These schools have a partial function in that the normal schhools and teachers' col- leges do not train an adequate number of teachers in any state to provide for all the de- mands of both cities and rural communities. On the other hand, these institutions have un- fortunately had some effect in hampering the development of the state teachertraining insti- tutions. The county training school has as- sumed the same functions as the city training school and the normal school, but it has de- veloped in only one state as yet. One could go further with the outline, but we have gone far enough to show what an incoherent and inarticulate system we have in America for training teachers. The over- lapping of function, the lack of definite re- lationship and proper division of effort are all too evident. Out of all this chaos there appears much encouragement in the rapid progress being made towards expansion and standardization of state normal schools by conversion into four-year teachers' colleges. This movement is one that can be safely characterized as national, in the sense that it appears to be de- veloping at an frresistable momentum and is apparently destined to spread over the entire AmiL, 1923] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 89 nation and will tend to standardize the teach- ers' colleges in the nation to a degree com- parable to the colleges and universities. This movement had its inception in the East, but its greatest stimulus come from the West. Because of the unevenness in the evolution of education in point of time already pointed out, the normal schools of the East began as in- stitutions very largely of a secondary grade to train elementary teachers, while in the West at the outset there was need for trained high school teachers, the tendency being to set up normal schools at least of junior college grade in the more recent years, expanding to four years beyond the high school. Though the momentum for the teacher college move- ment seems greater in the West, yet it is op- erating in the East, as is evidenced by the ac- tion of the Legislature in Maryland in 1922, which, though it does not give the institutions of this state the title "college", yet author- izes the conferring of degrees upon gradu- ates of the four-year courses. This tendency toward nationalization of the teachers' colleges is the most hopeful sign that we have of anything like a consistent, co- herent, and sound policy in the tangled web that besets the teacher-training problem in this country. There is room for all the teacher-train- ing institutions that we possess and more, for enough teachers to anything like meet the demands within the state. Massachusetts comes as near as any, but does not train more than half the teachers required in the schools of the state. It is evident, therefore, that there is room for all the teacher-training agencies if a definite articulation of the sev- eral agencies could be worked out and a proper correlation of function instituted among them, so that their efforts may be sup- plementary rather than competitive. This will be difficult and will take time. Now that the normal school is practically assured of winning the field of training secondary school teachers, thus co-ordinating itself with col- leges and departments of education in univer- sities, there is a danger that a new combat will be precipitated by an attempt on the part of the teachers' colleges to give non-professional .or regular four-year college work. Although we believe heartily in the expansion of the normal school and in placing it on a college basis, we do not believe that it should under- take to enter the field of higher education ex- cept for the purpose of training teachers. A proper division of function demands this. Further, as long as the teacher-train- ing institutions are so far short of providing adequate teachers, they should not waste their energies, expend their moneys, and employ their plants and faculties in a field already occupied and less important to the schools of the country. Likewise, it is conceded that the faculties and type of instruction in the teach- ers' colleges do not yet measure up to the ac- cepted college standards. In a study prepared for the Bureau of Education in 1916 by Drs. Judd and Parker it was shown that 34 per cent of instructors in the regular colleges had completed the doctorate as against 7 per cent of normal school teachers, and that 61 per cent of college instructors had masters' de- grees as against 31 per cent for teachers in normal schools. In many respects the normal schools were discovered to be on a par with the colleges, and they have made some progress in raising the standards of their faculties since 1916. The 1922 Year Book of the Associ- ation of Teachers Colleges states that in 54 institutions from which reports were available, excluding teachers of special subjects like drawing, music, physical education, etc., 9 per cent of the faculties have the Ph.D. de- gree, about one-half the remainder hold the M. A. degree, and about 10 per cent hold the bachelor's degree. This is progress, but leaves the teachers' colleges still considerably below the level of the colleges in the prepar- ation of their faculties. This constitutes an additional reason why the teachers' college should not yet undertake non-professional courses in higher education. While we rejoice in the rapid growth of the four-year teachers colleges in all parts of the country, we believe and are glad to see that the two- and three-year courses are not being abandoned by these institutions. For a long time we shall have to provide these shorter courses for training elementary teachers who cannot secure four years of pro- fessional training. Some day we may achieve a goal of four years above high school for all teachers, but this will not be reached for some time to come. It is gratifying to note that of the sixty teachers' colleges from which reports are available, forty retain the one-year course, fifty-four retain the two-year course, and thirty-three retain the three-year course. 90 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. IV, No. 4 This indicates a laudable desire upon the part of these institutions to function so as to ren- der the largest service to the public school system and the state rather than to pursue a supposedly high policy of emulating the stand- ard four-year college which, while theoreti- cally raising the standard of the institution, destroys, in a large measure, its service to the public school system. With a proper division of service and a policy of co-operation between the teachers' colleges and the departments of education in our colleges and universities supplementing each other in the training of high school teachers, the teachers' colleges confining them- selves to purely professional work, and with the teachers' colleges properly dividing the labor of preparing elementary teachers with the high schools until such time as all the elementary teachers can find opportunity for training beyond the high school period, we can see a way out of the tangled skein in which teacher-training has been involved in the past. As the teachers' colleges grow, the high school training classes should be, and doubtless will be, eliminated. Likewise the city training school might go on sharing the task of the teachers' colleges, but without interfering with the growth of the latter. The private institutions and the county training schools do not seem to offer much of a problem, as their numbers are relatively small and they are not multiplying to any extent. In conclusion, let me say that I congratu- late this Association upon the merger of the American Association of Teachers Colleges and the National Council, and the merged organization should hasten the already rapid nationalization of teachers' colleges. The Bureau of Education desires to render all pos- sible service to this new organization, and its facilities are hereby proffered and pledged to it. Unfortunately, in the Bureau of Edu- cation we have not had a division distinctly serving normal schools and teachers' colleges such as we have had serving city school sys- tems and rural education. The Division of Higher Education has been obliged to at- tempt this service in addition to a much larg- er service to the universities and colleges. This has been inevitable because under the law the Bureau has been compelled to serve the Land-Grant institutions and has had in- adequate facilities to properly serve the teach- er-training institutions. After July i, as a result of increased appropriations, the Bureau will have a much enlarged statistical service and ten additional clerks. It has been suggest- ed to me that the statistical blank of the nor- mal schools and colleges is unsatisfactory. If so, if this Association will appoint a com- mittee to meet with representatives of the Bureau, we shall be glad to revise this blank and, with our enlarged statistical division, we can serve the teachers' colleges, we hope, more effectively than has been possible in the past. Likewise, if it is desired, the Bureau will be glad to continue and enlarge the in- formation which is sent out in mimeographed form for legislative purposes. This is gath- ered at little cost because of the use of the frank and is gotten out much more quickly than printed material. A similar service seems to have appealed strongly of late to the As- sociation of Land-Grant Colleges and the National Association of State Universities. THE KITCHEN IMPROVE- MENT CONTEST IN ALBEMARLE COUNTY THE family welfare depends upon hav- ing the home-maker in good health and spirits. How can she be in good health and spirits if she is exhausted all the time? ''A woman wants time salvaged from house- keeping to create the right home atmosphere for her children, and to so enrich their home surroundings that they may gain their ideals of beauty and their tastes for books and music not from the shop windows, the movies, the billboards, or the jazz band, but from the home environment.1 To create this environment she must have some time off from her work. In most cases the housekeeper has to spend so much time in her kitchen and work so hard while she is there that when she finally comes out of the kitchen, she is too exhausted to do anything, even be pleasant to her family.. It is estimat- ed that about 8,000,000 women work every day, and most of them many hours a day, in the farm kitchens of the United States. "Making these kitchens the well-ordered ^ iSee Department Circular 148 "The Farm Woman's Problems", U. S. Department of Agri- culture. 

The Nationalization of the Teachers Colleges

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The Nationalization of the Teachers Colleges

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