a few of the pupils from the orphan asylum for the exercise
in the Seminary and only in the winter of 1799 were the les-
sons by the students arranged in a few classes of the Latin
school. These, however, had little purpose, as the members
were cast chiefly upon themselves." '

"The seminary was and remained a philological one, and
as such became a model and influential, for its leader, a sub-
ject of entire satisfaction and just pride, since the youth here

1 Vorbildung der Lehrer fiir das Lehramt, p. 26.



33] BEGINNING AND GROWTH 35

gained the enthusiasm for archaeology, which later in their
official positions caused them to carry out and uphold the
humanistic principle of instruction in higher education, which
has remained the standard until the present." '

Wolf remained with the seminary for twenty years, or until
the closing of the university by Napoleon after the battle of
Jena, when he was called as a member of the department of
education to Berlin.

The further development of this institution shows how at
first a purely philological and later a pedagogical seminary
grew out of the theological faculty.

It was not until the regulations of 181 7 that the training
of "skillful teachers for the gymnasiums" received special
attention, and then more especially through exercises in-
tended to give a general style in Latin."" It is fitting to re-
mark, however, that in later life Wolf laid greater stress upon
pedagogical training and felt that the absence of it had been
one of the weaknesses at Halle.

Following this beginning, many other similar



OTHER



philological seminaries sprang up in the various

PHILOLOGICAL ....

SEMINARIES univcrsitics. Among the earlier ones may be
mentioned the philological seminary at Kiel,
1777; the philological-pedagogical seminary at Helmstedt,
1779; the philological and pedagogical joint seminaries at
Heidelberg, 1809; the philological seminary at Konigsberg,
1 8 10 (distinct from the pedagogical seminary of Herbart) ;
the philological seminaries of Berlin and Breslau, 1812; the
renowned philological seminary at Bonn and the philological
seminary of Griefswald, 1822.

The first, and in many instances the only, object of these
seminaries was a purely academic one, laying the foundation
for research and extending the knowledge of the classics

* Vorbildung der Lehrer jur das Lekranit, p. 26.
'Barnard, Amer. Jour. Educ, 17: 485.



36 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [36

In voting to establish the philological seminary at Konigs-
berg, Schleiermacher, a member of the school council, said :
" The first object is only to excite a love for philology, and
after this is awakened and formed, when an individual incli-
nation is developed, free play must be given to it without
any hesitation ; but in every way must prevent young men
from limiting themselves to a narrow sphere and from finding
their vocation therein." ^

Matthew Arnold, in speaking of the training of teachers,
says : " Every Prussian university has a philological semi-
nary or group of exhibitioners^much like that which I have
described at Halle, not more than twelve in number, with a
two years' course following one year's academic study, and
alterthumwissenschaft (archaeology) being the object pur-
sued. There are generally two professors especially attached
to the seminary, one for Greek and the other for Latin." ^

This revival in learning spread, as might well

SPREAD OF THE , , 11,

MOVEMENT havc bccn expected, to other departments of
the universities, especially to the departments
of history, mathematics and the natural sciences. The deeper
study of the classics made it necessary to enter into the whole
life of the people, and history became especially prominent.
The fruit of this period is seen in such names as Wolf,
Heyne, Buttmann, Bekker, Ritschl, Dindorf, Niebuhr, Ger-
hard, O. Jahn, E. Curtius, Mommsen and many others of
equal renown.

Although the primary object of these de-

EFFECT ON

TEACHING partmental seminaries, like those described
above, was for scientific purposes, they greatly
influenced the teaching profession by overcoming formalism
and creating a love for scholarship and investigation.

Had it not been for the activity of the central school

^ Barnard's A^ational Education in the German States, p. 485.
' Arnold's Higher Schools and Universities in Germany, p. 74.



37] BEGINNING AND GROWTH T^y

board in upholding the pedagogical interest of the school,
this growth and enthusiasm in academic learning and the
better teaching resulting therefrom might of itself have been
felt as sufficient and prevented longer the professional train-
ing of secondary teachers.

We have already had occasion to refer to the
THE GYMNAsiAL ^ffo^ts of statc miuistcr von Zedlitz in trying

SEMINARY AT . tt 11

BERLIN ^^ establish a pedagogical seminary at Halle
for the training of secondary teachers accord-
ing to the model of the Dessau philanthropin. These
efforts at Halle were unsuccessful through the unexpected op-
position of Wolf; however, in the same year with this failure
at Halle (1787), von Zedlitz instructed Fr. Gedike, director
of the Friedrich Werdersche Gymnasium, and member of the
Oberschulkollegium to prepare a suitable plan for a peda-
gogical seminary to be connected with the Gymnasium,
which with but slight modifications met the approval of the
school authorities. The seminary was connected with the
Friedrich Werdersche Gymmasium of which Gedike was
director, and opened with five regular members in the spring
of 1788. It was the first institution of its kind founded by
the state and through State appropriation, and became at
once the model of all similar institutions.

The aim of the school, as indicated in the

ITS PURPOSE .,.,,,, -1

plan, was " to tram skillful and experienced
teachers for the Gymnasiums and Higher Latin Schools."
The work was to be both theoretical and practical, the ,
former through a study of the best schools and educational
literature, supplemented by pedagogical treatises prepared
by the students ; the latter through visitation and observa-
tion of the regular school work, by assisting in the class
work of the regular teachers, by oversight and care of
indifferent or backward pupils, and by actual teaching
according to instructions and under the supervision of the



CONDITION OF



38 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [38

director and the three other teachers of the Gymnasium
selected for this purpose.

Admission to the seminary was conditioned
on having completed their university studies
and having passed an examination including a
test lesson. Gedike had wished to include also strong
graduates of the Gymnasium who had not pursued uni-
versity studies, but in this he was overruled.

The members received a stipend of 150

PRACTICE- . , , , _ , ,. ,

TTTAr^uT^r^ thalers each, and were at first obliged to m-

TEACHING "

struct 10 hours per week in the different classes
of the gymnasium, the subjects changing half-yearly. They
were further required to assist the ordinary teachers in
correcting the written work of the pupils, and were obliged
to meet in monthly conferences, open to all teachers of the
gymnasium, to receive criticism and engage in pedagogical
discussions.

Owing to the amount of teaching and class assistance re-
quired of the seminarists the theoretical side was much
neglected; nevertheless, the school prospered and many of
the candidates were called directly from the seminary to
important school positions.

' In 1793 Gedike became director of the Ber-

TRANSFER AND y^^ Gymuasium of the grauen Kloster, and the

OTHER CHANGES

OF THE SCHOOL scmmary passed over with him to the new
position. It was during this year that he
organized a philological society composed of seminarists
who met monthly to work out and discuss Latin essays on
philological subjects. This step was fraught with great
consequences for the after-development of the school, and
not infrequently caused its pedagogical character to be lost
sight of. Regarding this feature Rein has expressed himself
as follows : "The pedagogical interest of the i8th century
began more and more to retreat before the philological one



39] BEGIXNING AND GROWTH 35.

of the 19th century, and under the guidance of Boeckh
(1819-1867J the seminary acquired a purely philological
character." ' This was equally true during the directorship
of Bonitz, 1867-1875.^ During part of the time of Boeckh's
administration he was director both of the gymnasial seminary
and of the philological seminary of the university, showing
the close relation existing between the schoolmaster and
philology.

The further development of this seminary contains much
of interest. First, on account of its double character, philo-
logical and pedagogical, now one, now the other subject was
accorded the greater attention. Second, there was the readi-
ness with which the seminary was transferred from one gym-
nasium to another in order to meet the convenience of the
director. 3 Third, the amount of time devoted to teaching
and practical school affairs as compared with their omission
in most of the seminaries connected with the universities.

At present this seminary is connected with the Kollnische
Gymnasium in Berlin, and still retains all the essential
features of the original plan of 1787, together with the classi-
cal character added to it by its founder in 1793.

Other pedagogical seminaries, modeled after
OTHER ^j^g above plan, have been established at Stettin

GYMNASTICAL ^ ^ -^ , „ t^.. ., r.^Tv/r i

SEMINARIES I oO", Brcslau 1813, Konigsberg 1861, Magde-
burg, Danzig and Posen 18S4, Kassel 1885,
Miinster 1888 and Koblenz 1889.

Aside from the above institutions there have

PEDAGOGICAL , , , ......

SEMINARIES "^^" formed many pedagogical seminaries in
connection with the different universities, oi

'Rein, Gymnasial Seminar, Encyc, 3: 128.

^ Compare Fries, Die Vorbildttng der Lehrer fiir das Lehramt, p. 55.

' At one time the length of membership was extended to four years, and the
eight seminarists were to give six lessons per week in alternate years in all the
four gymnasiums of Berlin.



40 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [40

which the one founded by J. F. Herbart in Konigsberg,
1 8 TO, may be taken as a type. These differ from the phil-
ological seminaries above described in that they are pro-
iessional rather than academic, dealing with the subjects of
philosophy, psychology, pedagogy and ethics instead of the
classics and philology.

They differ from the gymnasial seminaries in that their
students have not yet completed their university course, and
.are engaged in academic study along with their professional
studies. They also give more attention to theory and less
to practice.

Other seminaries of this kind, not including the ones
already mentioned at Helmstedt 1779, and at Heidelberg
1809, were those established at Halle 1829 (a reorganiza-
tion), at Kiel 1827, Jena 1832, Gottingen 1838, Leipzig
1861, and Strasburg 1876-92. "There are seven univer-
sity seminaries in Germany, distributed as follows: I. Giving
theoretical instruction only — Gottingen. U. Combining
theory with practice, {a) In connection with regular
organized gymnasiums — Heidelberg, Leipzig, Miinster,
Tubingen, Freiberg. {b) Having a model school of its
own — Jena. . . . The seminaries at Halle, Strasburg, Konigs-
berg and Kiel, which were renowned, are all discontinued."'
These seminaries do not differ much in the

THE AIM AND • i i i t r/- • i i i • i

essentials, but they difier considerably in the
details, due for the most part to the local con-
ditions through which they have developed. They aim to
give the student a thorough and systematic knowledge of
the more important pedagogical problems, especially in so
far as they relate to German education. In most of them
the classics receive a large share of attention, though pro-
bably not more than is due in a country where the languages
-.comprise so prominent a part of the curriculum.

' Bolton, The Secondary School System of Germany, p. 91-92.



4i] BEGINNING AND GROWTH 41

The two best known examples, Leipzig and Jena, are al-
ready quite familiar to American readers. Fries describes
the plan of the seminary at Heidelberg as follows : "Now
since 1876 the gymnasial director Uhlig, who is at the same
time Honorary Professor of Pedagogy and of Philology at
the University, conducts the seminary, into which the
students may enter after two years' study. They hear his
pedagogical lectures and are introduced under his guidance
into practice at the gymnasium. Here they begin with the
middle classes, then descend to the lower, finally concluding
with Prima. It appears always to be only a question of
single lessons for which the students prepare themselves
carefully under the guidance of the director and by visiting
the instruction in question. The director and the teacher of
the subject are present at the lesson, but only the former
criticises. So, for instance, the practice-teachings of the
classical philologists follow each other after this order:
Caesar or Ovid in Obertertia, Xenophon in Untersekunda,
Greek grammar in Untertertia, history in Quarta, German in
Quarta or Quinta, Latin in Quinta or Sexta, Herodotus,
Homer, Livius or Virgil, and history in Secunda, Sophocles,
Plato, Demosthenes or Thucydides, Horace, Tacitus or
Cicero in Prima. Accompanying these are common peda-
gogical discussions in weekly sessions which, according to a
communication of Uhlig, have been further extended in
recent times. The themes for the reports are determined at
the beginning of the semester and are taken from the most
diverse fields. For instance. General Didactics, Classical
School Readers, the Method of Grammatical Instruction ;
also the demands of Hygiene, Manual Training and Child
Play are presented for consideration."'

Courses in pedagogy are offered in most of the German
universities, usually under the department of philosophy,

^ Fries, Die Vorbildung der Lehrer fur das Lehramt, p. 30.



42 TRAINING OF SECONDAR\ TEACHERS [42

but these seem to be arranged rather with the thought of

culture and for the purpose of meeting the

UNIVERSITY professional requirements of the state examina-

LECTURES ON . .

PEDAGOGY ^"^^ 'u\-avl seriously to fit students for the office
of teaching. These pedagogical lectures, like
the pedagogical seminaries above described, do not seem to
be considered as an essential function of the university, but
rather as additions that may come and go with the individual
creating them ; for example, the discontinuation of the semi-
nary at Konigsberg on the departure of Herbart.

Out of this educational development there
DIFFERENT havc comc several forms of institutions for the

FORMS OF r • 1 . • • , , i i

TEACHERS' proisssional traming of teachers, the more im-

sEMiNARiEs portant of which are : I. For elementary schools ;
(a) normal schools, {b) seminaries in con-
nection with elementary schools ; II. For secondary schools ;
{a) gymnasial seminaries, {b) the university seminary with
practice school, (<:) the university seminary without practice
school.

Notwithstanding the many excellent institutions for the
professional training of secondary teachers, none as yet have
met the full approval of the German people. Both the uni-
versity seminary with provisions for practice teaching and
the gymnasial seminary have enthusiastic supporters, the
latter in greater numbers. In the former the student is able
to carry on his special university studies along with his
pedagogical instruction, thereby giving the latter an added
value — though it is also argued that this division of inter-
est is apt to weaken the work in both fields. Another point
made in favor of the university seminary is the fact that
every science carries with it a certain didactical principle
which can best be taught in connection with the science
itself.

On the other hand, it is argued in favor of the gymnasial



43] BEGINXING AAD GROWTH 43

seminary that the students having completed their univer-
sity studies are better qualified and are able to give their
whole time to the professional side under conditions the
most natural and also the most favorable to success. How-
ever, it has been felt that even here the student should
be given opportunity to pursue still further his scientific
studies.'

As in the elementary schools, so in the
PROFESSIONAL sccondary, professional training has become

TRAINING AN .1 • , , j. tU 4- -,^T,^^->»

the siJie qua non of entrance to the teachers

ESSENTIAL ^

REQUIREMENT profcssion, and the gymnasial seminaries are
considered to be the best institutions for this
purpose. They have met the favor of the provincial school
boards and have multiplied out of proportion to other forms
of teachers' seminaries. They aim to furnish the student
with a large amount of practice teaching under expert guid-
ance, and to bring into closer relation theoretical instruc-
tion and practical application. They are based on the idea
that thoroughness in subject-matter should precede the
purely professional study. In this they differ from normal
schools.

To become a member of a gymnasial semi-
nary one must have passed the State examina-

OF TO-DAY •' ^

tion (Staats-Priifung) which presupposes a cer-
tificate of graduation from gymnasium, or in special cases
from the real gymnasium or higher real school, and at least
three years' special study in the university. The number of
candidates at any one time is usually limited to six. The
seminary is connected with the gymnasium under the im-
mediate supervision of the director and the general over-
sight of the provincial school board.

The course consists of two years — a seminary year

^ See under Pedagogische Seminar fiir hokere Sc/iulen, Schmid Encyc, 2d Ed.,
5 : 688 f.



/ ^ Of THE



OF THE

UNIVE"



44 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [44

(seminar-jahr) and a trial year (probe-jahr). The former
is devoted principally to a study of the various educational
problems connected with secondary education, including
theory and practice, organization and management, methods
of instruction, recent educational history, school hygiene
and the use of apparatus and other helps in teaching. Dur-
ing the first year the student devotes considerable time in
visiting and observing the regular school work. He visits
the classes in which his own subjects lie, assists the regular
teachers, and in the latter half of the year does some teach-
ing under the guidance and criticism of the director and
other teachers of the seminary. If his work has been satis-
factory throughout the year, he is permitted to go on to the
second or trial year. The trial year may be spent in the
same gymnasium, though it is often spent at another insti-
tution. It is devoted to teaching (about ten hours per ;
week) and to the practical application of the pedagogical
principles learned during the first year. All this takes
place under the immediate guidance of the director and
other teachers. The candidate, however, is given full charge
and responsibility for the class. He continues his theoretical
studies and attends weekly conferences for the considera-
tion and discussion of educational problems as in the former
year. At the close of the seminary year the candidate pre-
sents a thesis on some pedagogical subject selected by the
director, and at the end of the trial year he hands in a report
of his teaching and of his own judgment in regard to the re-
sults. These, together with the reports of the director and
of the departmental teachers are submitted to the provincial
school board for final judgment. If the character and work
of the candidate have been satisfactory throughout, he is
given a certificate to teach in the grades for which he is
especially qualified by scientific study. " Since the higher
educational institutions in Germany have gained more



45] BEGINNING AND GROWTH 4^

definite shapes and aims, the conviction has become current
in increasing measure that for the teachers of these schools
there is demanded, besides the thorough scientific culture, a
special pedagogical preparation for the office of teaching,
and that the otherwise very beneficial arrangement of a trial
year does not answer all needs."' This was spoken in the
early eighties, before the addition of the seminary year, but
it shows the current of educational thought.

If we seek the motives out of which have

PEDAGOGICAL . . . ^r ■ ■ •

MOTIVES THAT g^o^n thcse complex though efficient institu-
HAVE SHAPED tious foT the profcssioual training of secondary
PROFESSIONAL tcachcrs, we find them in at least two principal,

TRAINING .1 1, • f T-U 4.U

though opposing, forces. Ihe one was the rea-
listic or scientific movement in education already mentioned as
the principal cause in the establishment of normal schools.
The other was the reaction of humanism against the inroads
of realism, or perhaps better, a systematic effort to
strengthen and enrich the classics by applying the scientific
method of investigation.

In the former movement the teaching of Ratich, Comenius,
Locke and Rousseau became crystallized by Basedow in his
experimental school at Dessau, which gave great promise
and furnished the school authorities with a concrete idea for
the new pedagogical seminaries. The normal schools had
already been established and were attracting considerable
attention. This but increased the desire to have teachers
trained in the new ideas and in the new methods as well for
secondary as for elementary education.

The first impetus came from this realistic movement
which made itself felt in elementary education and then
reacted upon higher education. It was now known as the
philanthropic movement, but it was the same spirit under a
new dress. As the reader will remember, State Minister

^ Schmid, Encyc. des Erziehungs-und U titer richtswesen, 2 Aufl., 5 : 688.



46 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [46

von Zedlitz was in full sympathy with the movement, and
backed by the school authorities it found its way into the
universities and became the basis of the first gymnasial
seminary under Gedike in Berlin.

In establishing pedagogical seminaries it was natural that
they should be connected with departments already in exist-
ence. The departments that seemed best fitted to train
teachers for the gymnasiums, aside from theology, were the
language departments, hence the relation of pedagogy to
philology. For this reason the state minister of education
did not hesitate to trust his new pedagogical seminary at
Halle in the hands of a trained philologist. For like reason
the government authorized J. M. Gesner, professor of ancient
literature at Gottingen, to establish the first philological
seminary with the expressed object of training theologians
for the oflfice of teaching.'

There was another movement, however, which if less
noisy, was none the less powerful in shaping the educational
legislation of the country. It was the movement which Dr.
Russell has described under the title of the "New Human-
ism."^ The scientific spirit had taken hold of the people and
was making great changes in educational affairs. The Ger-
man language had given expression to many classics. It
even seemed possible to buifd up an acceptable curriculum
for the higher schools without either Greek or Latin. It was
at this juncture that the great scholars, like Gesner, Heyne,
Wolf and others, began to apply the scientific spirit to a
deeper study of classical literature. Call it a revolt against
formalism, or a reaction against the spread of realism, never-
theless, it was an intelligent movement which gave to the
classics new life and new power. Other departments of the

' Gesner, like many others, while a classicist, had strong realistic or utilitarian
tendencies.

' German Higher Schools, p. 70.



.yl BEGINNING AND GROWTH 47

universities were stimulated and benefited. Philological
seminaries were established in the different universities and
became at once centers of thought and educational activity.
At first the seminaries had a double object, («) "to form
effective classical masters for the higher schools," and {b)
" to excite in all a love for philology." But they soon
neglected or gave up entirely the former object and devoted
all attention to the latter. " The seminars are the real
nurseries of scientific research. It is true that their pur-
pose was originally different. The earliest of their kind, the