CHAPTER VII.-PHYSICAL EDUCATION The Swedish System, Boston Normal College In view of the growing interest in Secondary Education in the United Kingdom and the important problems awaiting solution, the Gilchrist Trustees decided in the early part of 1893 to send five women teachers to America, for the purpose of studying and reporting upon Secondary Schools for Girls and Training Colleges for Women in different parts of the United States. The Trustees made their intention widely known, and invited the governing bodies of the various women's colleges and associations of teachers to submit to them names of persons specially qualified. Out of the list of able and experienced women teachers thus furnished to them, the Trustees, after careful consideration of the qualifications of the numerous candidates, selected the following five and awarded to each of them a travelling scholarship of £100 to enable them to spend two months in the United States in prosecuting their enquiries:-Miss A. Bramwell, B.Sc. (Lecturer at the Cambridge Training College); Miss S. A. Burstall, B.A. (Mistress at the North London Collegiate School for Girls); Miss H. M. Hughes (Lecturer on Education at University College, Cardiff); Miss M. H. Page (Head Mistress of the Skinners Company's School for Girls, Stamford Hill); and Miss A. Zimmern (Mistress at the High School for Girls, Tunbridge Wells). The five scholars visited America in the summer of 1893, and submitted to the Trustees carefully prepared reports, one of which-viz. that by Miss Burstall--is presented to the public in this volume. The Trustees have aided in the publication of these reports, because they believe that a knowledge of the educational systems and experiments which have been tried in America cannot fail to be of interest and value to those engaged in teaching in the United Kingdom. 17, VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, S.W. R. D. ROBERTS, Secretary to the Gilchrist Trustees. IN the following pages I have attempted to state the results of an enquiry into Secondary Education and Institutions for the training of women, made by me as one of the Gilchrist Travelling Scholars, during a visit of two months to the chief cities of the United States, in April, May and June, 1893. A list of the cities and institutions visited will be found below. In order to fit myself for this work, I devoted some time to a course of reading in American educational literature. This is abundant, and while travelling in America, I was able, through the kindness of the various school and college authorities, to form a somewhat wide collection of books and pamphlets dealing with the various aspects of the question; a bibliography of these and other works read is given below. I have thus been able, to some extent, to understand the aims of American educators, and check the observations I made in the schools themselves. I have also quoted from reports and other writings of Americans in order to put their views before English readers. The instructions from the Trustees state that the Report should be framed so as to furnish "information or suggestions that may prove useful to those concerned or interested in similar branches of education in the United Kingdom." To do this properly it has been necessary to follow, as far as possible, the example of Mr. Llewellyn Smith, in his Report to the London County Council, and "cover a somewhat wider ground than per haps is usual in official reports." I have, therefore, endeavoured to connect the phenomena of American education with national characteristics, and with social and economic conditions, in order that allowance might be made for any differences between the two countries. I have also been obliged to give some pages to a general account of American education before discussing secondary education, for, in the United States, the unity of the system is such that it would be impossible to understand part without considering, at least in outline, the whole. This remark applies especially to the chapter on State organization; but neither the time nor the resources of the present writer would allow such minute and thorough study as in Mr. Llewellyn Smith's classic work. That which is distant can only be seen in large outline: those who feel so strong an interest in American education as to desire to examine it more closely and in greater detail, will find ample information, more particularly of a statistical character, in the Annual Reports of the Bureau of Education, and in the circulars published under its authority: these works are accessible to English readers, particularly through the pedagogic library of the Teachers' Guild. The great Report drawn up for the French Government by the State Commission (headed by M. Buisson), after months of study in America, and dated 1876, is a mine of information. It can be consulted at the British Museum. Its general plan and arrangement somewhat resemble the present much less complete Report. I am, however, bound to say that my own scheme was completely drawn up, and in part carried into execution, before I read M. Buisson's admirably lucid and most valuable volume. The table of contents will show the method I have used in attempting to report upon the subject of Secondary Education. Some introductory observations embody the generalizations I have been able to form as to the most character |