Part 5

The essential purpose of the liceo of the first class is to prepare for the university, or for the professions; and national scholarships are granted, including maintenance at the hostels, or annexed boarding halls which were established five years ago.

The system of secondary education has long been criticized by Chilean educational thinkers as being too largely mental and literary, and as paying little, if any, attention to the physical and moral. The attempt to organize sports and physical exercises in secondary education has met far less encouragement than in other South American countries.

By decree of May, 1917, classes for illiterate girls over 7 years old were annexed to liceos for girls, the ministry basing the number to be admitted upon the attendance of the year previous. This was stoutly opposed by the National Educational Association as being a confusion of classification, a violation of the continuity of the educational system, and an evasion of the palpable duty of the school authorities, which should press the Government to establish fitting and proper schools for such illiterate girls.

The Government has appointed a commission of prominent men for the study of reforms necessary and advisable for programs of secondary education for girls. As matters stand, the same programs of study are set for both boys and girls, a traditional arrangement the disadvantages of which are coming fully to be recognized.

Despite unfavorable and antiquated programs of studies, the Province of Nuble has made noteworthy progress in female secondary education. In Chillan, its capital, are conducted four liceos, three of which are for girls. Ambitious courses in the classics, social sciences, and rudimentary science are offered. One of them, the Instituto Pedagogico, founded in 1912, exercises far-reaching influence over the social, moral, and artistic conditions of the Province. The American Liceo, a private institution, conducted by teachers from the United States, devotes especial attention to the teaching of English, colloquial and literary, and also gives instruction generally along thoroughly modern high-school lines.

TRAINING OF TEACHERS.

Chile’s system of training teachers is distinctively eclectic, borrowing, as it has done, from France, Sweden, Germany, and the United States. Before 1870 French influence predominated, the great Argentine educator, Sarmiento, himself a pupil of the school of Saint-Simon, having founded the first normal school in 1842 while in exile from the tyranny of the dictator Rosas. German influence became pronounced about 1880, when that nation began to supply men and women teachers in the normals and as instructors in all grades of education. Since 25 years ago the tide began to turn toward North American influence, especially of the type of education developed in the Northwestern States. The Chilean ideal is a judicious combination of (1) an institution for the training of teachers for public schools who shall have adequate culture, specialized training, manual skill, and theoretical and practical knowledge of modern subjects, and (2) an institution for training in social relations and habits, exercising steady influence on the social environment of the school by means of popular courses and conferences, and participation in popular movements.

The full course in the 16 training colleges for teachers covers five years, of which the first three are devoted to general education and the last two to professional training. The course for the fifth year is essentially professional, consisting of pedagogy (history, methodology, and practice teaching), 17 hours weekly; Spanish, 1 hour; English or French or German, 4 hours; civics and economics, 2 hours; hygiene, 2 hours; horticulture or metallography, 2 hours; drawing, 1 hour; manual arts, 2 hours; music, 1 hour; physical education, 3 hours. All expenses are defrayed, in return for which the pupil is pledged to teach for seven years in the national schools.

The actual method of instruction is along German lines. Object lessons, those in natural history and history and geography have all impressed recent foreign visitors as essentially Herbartian. Perhaps in no other country of the world, since the well-drilled German schools fell into chaos, is the influence of the normal schools upon the system and method of public instruction more powerful than in Chile. Indeed, this potent influence has overleaped the boundaries of Chile proper and affected every country of Latin America. A supreme example is the influence of the Instituto Pedagogico, the best known of Chilean normal schools, founded in 1909, with predominatingly German faculty, which has developed into a type of higher normal school with a colegio annexed, emphasizing practice teaching with subsequent criticism and courses of general pedagogy and methodology in every subject. Its certificates rank highest in the secondary and normal education of the capital city; students are attracted to it from the other Latin-American States, and return home to reorganize education there along its lines. Its boast is that it inspired the establishment of the Instituto Nacional at Buenos Aires.

Scandinavian and Belgian influences are at work in the Instituto de Profesores Especiales. Established in 1906, it was definitely reorganized in 1910 and installed in the building especially constructed for it. Of its 300 pupils 200 are women, and the majority of both men and women are active teachers in the schools of the capital. It offers courses common to all the specialized sections, such as psychology, French, pedagogy, civics, and school legislation, and includes five sections, fundamental to its organization: Physical education, manual arts, drawing and penmanship, domestic economy, and vocal music. For the convenience of teachers, instruction is given from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 8 p.m.

The last few years have seen wide extension of the demand for rural normal schools, and many critics of the existent schools have urged that they follow those of the State of Wisconsin as a model. The essential solidarity of educational aims of the South American republics is shown by the fact that Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia during the same period drew their inspiration from the same North American source.

The decree already mentioned under the head of primary education emphasizes the duty of the normal schools to prepare free of all expense primary teachers for any of the three grades of instruction. Each normal school is also required to have annexed such specially organized practice schools as shall be necessary. At the discretion of the President of the Republic, the normal schools shall offer special courses for those students who have passed the examinations of the fifth year of the colegios, with the aim of attracting such students into the field of teaching. That the need of wider training of the teachers is a pressing one in Chile is shown by the fact that, in 1915, of 3,000 rural teachers, only 350, and of 6,240 primary teachers of the nation at large, only 2,435, had normal school training. The service had to be recruited by 2,000 graduates of primary schools who passed examinations, and by 1,850 applicants who held no certificate and were allowed to serve as temporary substitutes.

Of special interest is the annual reciprocity of teachers between the Government of Chile and the Universities of the States of California and Washington, arranged in 1918. Each party is to send four. For the present the Chilean commission has expressed predominant interest in secondary education, and has called for one university professor, one normal-school teacher, one teacher of technical subjects, and one teacher (preferably a woman) in secondary education. The universities mentioned will act as the agents in the selection of the instructors.

Interchange of university professors has also been arranged with Uruguay, which is for the present confined to medical instruction.

The National Educational Association has at many meetings pressed for the scientific and practical training of the teachers of Chile in vocational studies; and for the appropriation by the Congress of a definite sum for sending normal teachers abroad for study in the modern practical and sociological subjects.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

For this branch of education the National Educational Association in 1917 recommended that there be established by law a Council of Industrial Education composed of a director and 12 members, four of whom shall be professors of the fundamental technical branches, one a woman inspector of vocational schools for women, one an inspector general of primary education, one the director general of railroads, and one a director and inspector of army munitions. Their duties should be to exercise superintendency over the entire system of technical and industrial education to be organized in the Republic, over the national school of arts and trades, and over such industrial schools for girls and women as might be established. On this board should be likewise all inspectors and officials of such branches as might be later established. A bill embodying these provisions was introduced in the Congress but has not as yet been acted upon.

Steady progress in all branches of technical education has been shown. The schools of higher primary grade offering technical courses number 288, with physical training and gymnastics compulsory in all grades. There were also in operation 29 technical colegios for women; 6 agricultural colegios; 10 commercial schools, controlled by the commission upon commercial education; and 3 schools of mines.

The department of industrial promotion has urged upon the Congress the establishment of a chain of industrial and agricultural schools.

With the establishment by law of the Industrial University of Valparaiso there will be completed the full cycle of industrial education in Chile, consisting of: (1) Elementary industrial training in two schools already established and in six more to be established; (2) secondary industrial training in the School of Arts and Crafts; and (3) higher industrial training in the Technical School of Valparaiso.

In November, 1918, met the first National Congress of Dairying, organized under the auspices of the Agronomic Society of Chile. It urged the legal organization of instruction in this branch in (1) special schools of dairying in northern and central Chile; (2) courses annexed to already established schools of agriculture; (3) in establishments of secondary education for youths of both sexes in popular meetings and public traveling courses; (4) in rural primary schools for illiterate adults.

It is appropriate to mention just here the comprehensive project of the board of missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States for the establishment of an agricultural and industrial system of education in southern Chile. It has been approved by the Government of Chile as a potent aid in the uplift of the peon class. A ranch of nearly 4,000 acres has been purchased along the Malleco River, on which it is purposed to train the native population in the rudimentary subjects of instruction, and especially in modern agricultural methods. The management will employ the best available experts in horticulture, agriculture, and domestic arts to be found in the South American countries who may be acquainted with the needs of Chilean rural life.

THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILE.

This body plays a larger part in educational thought and leadership than the corresponding body in any other Latin American State. Its activities are planned for close articulation of the social and educational needs of the nation. One of the furthest reaching is the public-extension work in subjects of university and secondary instruction. In 1917, its eleventh year of operation, it held 14 conferences at the University of Chile, with an attendance of 15,000, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous year. The subjects treated were patriotic, historical, literary, artistic, sociological, commercial, and medico-therapeutic.

In secondary extension during 1917 there were held in provincial capitals 19 conferences on subjects more popular and more exclusively educational and sociological.

The department of university extension has also for three years devoted itself to collecting international data upon immigration and naturalization laws, and has cooperated with all the labor organizations of the Republic to hinder the passage of premature and unscientific laws in this field.

The activities of the association cover a wide range. In his report for the year 1917 the president reviewed the activities of the body and examined the most important problems to which it had addressed itself during the period. They were:

1. The establishment of a rural normal school, a project not yet realized.

2. Democratic education by the progressive elimination of primary courses of education in secondary institutions.

3. Obligatory primary instruction, sought by a law passed by the Chamber of Deputies in 1917, but as yet not acted upon by the Senate.

4. Nationalization of the Chilean system of education, a question which needs to be presented still more in detail to the nation and the Congress.

Like Argentina, Chile has a grave problem in the assimilation of alien elements, and her nationalism is alarmed at the activity of the school organizations of diverse races existent on her soil. French students of education are intensely interested in this development as a vindication of their prophecies, for they have long been pointing out the Germanization of Chilean education.

The association has vigorously urged legislation requiring the close and systematic inspection of all nongovernmental schools, especially those of secondary grade in north Chile, where German propaganda has for years been an open secret, carried on, as was well known, by a German-Chilean Union of Teachers, and where German liceos exist in full operation. The association urged the requirement in secondary schools of essentially national subjects, such as Spanish and the history, geography, and civics of Chile, taught by Chileans and descendants of Chileans.

In the field of physical education, the activities of the association have been specially directed to securing proper playgrounds for schools and to arousing practical interest in this field among philanthropists and the public at large. The association has taken strong ground for antialcoholic instruction in primary and secondary schools, urging that such be incorporated in the textbooks in the study of physiology, hygiene, and temperance, and in independent courses in public schools and State colegios. The project encountered opposition in the National Congress. The association has also grappled with the problem of immorality, issuing in May, 1917, appeals to families on sexual ethics and the systematic inculcation of ethical ideas of sex by educational and therapeutic measures. During 1917, fraternal relations were established with Brazil and Bolivia, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Higher Normal Institute.

EDUCATION IN URUGUAY.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

The marked educational awakening of Uruguay during the last biennium has been only one phase of the universal demand of the nation for a new social and economic adjustment. Perhaps the chief manifestation of this has been the adoption of the new constitution in place of the old, which had been in force exactly 90 years. At a plebiscite of November, 1917, the constitution as formulated was submitted to the people and adopted by a vote of 85,000 to 4,000; and it became the fundamental law of the land on March 1, 1919. As regards its bearings upon educational administration, the most noteworthy change--and perhaps that around which centered most opposition during its consideration--was the provision which divides the executive power between a President and a National Council of Administration.

The latter body, composed of nine members elected for six years directly by the people, and absolutely independent of the President, has charge of all matters relating to public instruction, public works, labor, industries, public charities, health, and the preparation of the annual national budget. The administrative officers of public instruction of all grades, including the minister, are appointed by the National Council and are subject to its authority according to such particular laws and regulations as the Congress may enact. This substitution of a composite board for an individual as the fountainhead of educational authority is an experiment whose operations will be observed with much interest in a country of South America habituated by tradition to authority concentrated in an individual.

ILLITERACY.

_Instruction of adults and the night schools._--The problem of combating illiteracy, as in all the more progressive South American countries during the last biennium, has received more systematic consideration than during any previous period.[2] As will be seen later in the consideration of the rural schools, measures have been taken which are of unusual importance for the instruction of youthful illiterates. In the related field of instruction of adults who are illiterates or nearly so, work of a creative nature has been done in Uruguay. The mere statistics show progress, the courses offered for adults in the year 1916-17 being 55 in excess of the former year and the enrollment 5,284, an increase of 1,671 over that year; but the new spirit animating this branch is the notable feature. The authorities have kept it steadily in mind to carry adult education out from the capital city to the rural districts; and the national authorities of primary education have cooperated efficiently in lending schoolhouses as places for adult instruction and encouraging primary teachers to assist in this work. The Government has furthered the study of the problem in the researches of Señor Hipolito Coirolo, director of the largest night school for adults in Montevideo. Señor Coirolo spent nearly two years in collecting systematic data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay, which were naturally confronted by the same problems in adult illiteracy. In March, 1917, he presented to the authorities the results of his findings in a project for the organic reform of instruction for adults in the night schools. Señor Coirolo maintained that the time was ripe for progress in this field to keep pace with the other educational demands, more especially as it was admitted that the prevailing system was a more or less poorly made combination of regulations and practices covering many localities and periods, and had been only tentatively adopted by presidential decree in 1903, and given legal existence in 1907, when 35 night schools were organized. All familiar with conditions knew that they were now completely out of touch with modern social and educational demands.

[2] See executive message of May, 1917, accompanying project of law for appropriation of $50,000 for appointment of 100 assistant primary teachers for the Departments of the Republic.

Señor Coirolo found the curriculum of night schools too largely theoretical and bookish and in only a few instances offering practical instruction. After careful study of the subjects offered in the night schools of progressive countries, he urged that the night schools of the future be organized upon the following main lines:

1. The completion of 17 years of age requisite for admission.

2. The division into three classes, each occupying a year according to the degree of illiteracy, and the division of each class into three cycles of three months each, the cycle to be the unit of time, without limitation upon the transfer of pupils from one cycle to another.

3. The subjects to be introduced in logical sequence and to be taught in accordance with the development of the pupil and to consist of reading, language work, writing, arithmetic, elements of applied geometry, singing, drawing, moral instruction, elements of anatomy, physiology, hygiene, civic instruction, geography, and history (national and universal); talks and lessons on objects of daily life, manual arts, domestic economy, and household arts; elements of political economy, sociology, psychology, duties of parents, accounting, and industrial training. Individual conferences with teachers, reading, writing, and arithmetic are to be continued through all three years; and each year is to close with a review and finishing course, devoting attention to individual needs.

4. Under the head of general administration the proponent urged the elimination of religious instruction in night schools, less attention to examinations for promotion, the prohibition of holding night schools in buildings occupied by children during the day, and careful inspection of night schools by appointed authorities.

Certain of these provisions were embodied in a ministerial decree of October, 1917, which stressed the importance of this branch of education in the national life, and appropriated $10,000 for the increase of the staff of teachers in commercial subjects and domestic arts.

PRIMARY EDUCATION, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.

In 1917 slightly less than 100,000 pupils were enrolled in the 1,014 public primary schools of Uruguay, an increase of 2,500 over the preceding year. Of these, nearly 65,000 were enrolled in the city of Montevideo alone.

In administration and inspection the authorities in this field were active and progressive. Tentative reforms in the programs of study for the schools of towns and villages, a step long urged by them, were outlined by the minister of education; and wider latitude was allowed such individual schools in the matter of adapting nature study and practical courses to regular school work in accordance with local conditions and occupations. This step was in keeping with the attention paid to rural schools, which will be discussed later.

By executive resolution of July, 1917, the long-discussed change in the school year was made by which it shall hereafter open March 1 and close December 15. As with the similar change in Argentina, beneficial results, especially in the rural schools, are expected, as this arrangement is in conformity with climatic conditions. The change was made after investigation among the teaching force, and the country teachers won a victory over their city fellows, who favored vacations in the summer. This is but another and a significant effect of the steady centripetal attraction of the overshadowing capital city, more marked even in the new countries of South America than in the old ones of Europe. The country teachers have openly expressed their wish to spend the longest possible time in the capital, in spite of the inconveniences of such a sojourn in the summer. A further light upon the country teacher’s point of view is shown by the information that the long vacations in winter permit the small landowner to employ his children in labors of battage, which begin in December and last most of the winter. The schools are therefore practically empty in winter. It is manifestly wiser to put the former long vacation of July at this time.