Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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I 93 0 75146 Q!g,7Z7ZZ'7J67'.S'd7'j1 in an experimental stage. Preparation for admission was inadequate, and the course of study was short. Specialization was unknown. 4 Changes came but gradually. The history of this school is typical of the evolution of the whole American system of teacher training. It was not until 1866,-twelve years after the school was established,-that the course was prolonged from one and one-half to two years. Four years later an advanced course of four years was offered. Forty years had passed before high school graduation was required for entrance. In 1896, the present main building was erected and a training school, occupying the first floor, was gradually developed. The training school building,-a model of its kind, was erected in 1912, one-half of the cost of construction being contributed by the City of Salem, which was equally liberal in the contract governing its operation and maintenance. In 1908, the commercial department,--probably the first in the country to com- bine in a functioning manner the technical and the professional training of teachers of the Commercial subjects,-was established. This course has evolved from one of two to one of four years, leading to the degree of bachelor of science in education. More recently departments for the preparation of teachers for junior high schools and for mentally retarded children have been established. Each of these courses is three years in length. The elementary course has also been prolonged .to three years. After a century of experimentation and slow growth there has evolved a science of education, and teaching is atlast generally recognized as a profession, but a thought- ful analysis of the past achievements and a careful inventory of present conditions,- great as our accomplishments have been,-leaves no doubt of the need of further development of our teacher training institutions. What, then, of the future? Without depreciating the quality of service that is now being rendered by the normal schools of this State and by normal schools and teachers' colleges and uni- versity departments of education throughout the country, it is expedient to anticipate, if we may, -the future development of these institutions during another period of ninety years. This may seem a bold venture, but there can be no doubt that much more of liberal education, of technical knowledge and experience, and of sound and exten- sive professional training will be required of our teachers in all fields in the future than has been expected in the past. Massachusetts has long since adopted the policy of admitting to her normal schools only qualified graduates of secondary schools and of requiring of them not less than two years of professional work. By natural processes of evolution courses of three and four years, the latter leading to the degree of bachelor of science in educa- tion, having been established. We are now well on the way toward making three years the minimum amount of time allowed for the preparation of teachers for the elementary school, in all the normal schools of the State. This will naturally lead to the adoption of a four-year curriculum for the junior high school department, as well as for the senior high school department and the several departments engaged in pre- paring teachers of art, music, household arts, manual arts, the commercial and other special subjects. 17

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7 5 ffl efffzfzztueffsrzfy I 930 The building was dedicated and the school opened, September 14, 1854. The school opened with a faculty consisting of the principal and one assistant teacher and with seventy-two students, of whom forty-eight were subsequently graduated. Of this first class, Miss Rebecca Manning, of this city,-a cousin of Nathaniel Haw- thorne, and Mrs. Josephine CDevereuxD Farrar, of Bradford, Mass., are the only surviv- ing members. . Since its establishment there have been enrolled more than nine thousand students of whom nearly six thousand have been graduated. During its history there have been live principals and nearly two hundred and fifty teachers, including those who have taught in the training school. ln consequence of the steadily increasing membership, the original building, which had served the needs of the school until 1870, was enlarged at an expense of 825,000 This building, nowowned by the City of Salem and occupied by the school administration oliices of the School Department, continued to serve the purposes of the State until the present building was completed and occupied in September, 1896. From that time until 1912, when the training school building was erected, the ele- mentary school occupied the first floor of the normal school building. History and biography are inseparable. Not only had this school the advantage of the experience of the earlier normal schools and of a much larger measure of popular support, but it was extremely fortunate in its early leadership. The vigorous and constructive administration of Doctor Edwards attracted wide attention. After having practically established three normal schools, he was successively State Super- intendent of Schools of Illinois and President of Blackburn College. In 1857, Alpheus Crosby, for many years professor of Greek in Dartmouth College, became the successor of Doctor Edwards. He not only magnified the importance of scholarship, but he did much to keep the fires of patriotism burning during the four dark years of the Civil War. Professor Crosby was succeeded by Doctor Daniel' B. Hagar, a scholarly man already widely known in educational circles as the efficient principal of the Jamaica Plain High school. In the language inscribed on the memorial tablet written after thirty-one years of efficient service, he was A noble teacher-a patriotic citizen-a lover of truth-a Christian gentleman. ln 1896, Doctor Walter P. Beckwith became principal of the school. His ten years of service were conspicuous for a highly practical administration which was the log- ical sequence of his long experience as a teacher and superintendent of schools. All of these men and the present principal have been ably supported by faculties of efficient and loyal teachers, many of whom have achieved national prominence as teachers and authors in their respective professional fields. All available reports of the work of the school in early days indicate excessive emphasis upon the academic element, yet there is abundant evidence of a consistent effort to emerge from this type of education into what we now call professionalized subject matter. The essential facts of psychology were taught, together, with the fundamental principles of teaching, but the application of these principles in the normal schools themselves came but slowly. Training schools were few in number and 16

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75 M effmzz'-vermfy 1 930 The needs of a complex society must be supplied by a more elaborate system of education than that of former years: and there must be a corresponding differentiation in the preparation of teachers. Special needs must be met by more highly specialized training. Longer and more intensive courses of professional training have become imperative. Such professional standards demand a degree of material reward that will attract to, and retain in the profession, teachers of the highest type. The increasing demand for teachers of physical education should be met by one of our normal schools rather than by private institutions. The courses offered should make liberal provision for instruction in anatomy, physiology and hygiene, carried beyond the elementary stage, as vvell as for a complete program of instruction in physical training and athletics. Public school systems are finding employment for school nurses, and but few who have had adequate professional training for this particular form of service are avail- able. One of the normal schools might profitably engage in the preparation of school nurses in cooperation with one or more selected hospitals. The library facilities in many normal schools throughout the country are inade- quate. The library should occupy quarters which vvill accommodate large numbers of students who vvill use it as a study hall. The library itself should be carefullychosen, vvith especial reference to the needs of each department in the school, and the general library should include a large and comprehensive collection of books calculated to meet the general needs of an educational institution of a high grade. It should be under the direction of one or more trained librarians vvho have sufficient ability as teachers to give instruction in library methods to all students. . There should also be adequate opportunity for graduates in service to secure professional degrees. In part, this may be accomplished by a closer co-ordination between the normal schools and the State Division of University Extension and by establishing closer relations vvith university departments of education. At least some of the normal schools should at once be authorized to confer the master's degree. It is a question for careful consideration vvhether the school year should not be divided into quarters so that the summer quarter, at least in certain schools, may constitute a definite unit of professional Work. Such an arrangement of the calendar would facilitate the continuation of professional work by teachers in service, and would be of great assistance in the evaluation of credits. . There is novv a marked tendency to require at least the equivalent of a master's degree as a prerequisite for a position as a teacher in a normal school. This degree should be based in large measure upon professional Work, unless adequate professional training in addition to four years of academic Work is already possessed by the candi- date. Obviously, successful experience in teaching should be another requirement, and continued professional training in the service should be encouraged, if not absolutely required. It is apparent that no less professional training should be required of reach? ers in the training school, since they are the instructors who set definite ezfamples in the technique of teaching and who apply the theory of the normal school in apractical, not to say philosophical, way, The normal schools ought to be leaders in curricula and selected subject matter as 18