The History of Education Part 61

REVOLUTIONARY IDEALS AT LAST REALIZED. With the creation of the Third Republic, in 1870, a change from the old conditions and old att.i.tudes took place. Up to about 1879 the new government was in control of those who were at heart sympathetic with the old conditions, but were forced to accept the new; from 1879 to 1890 was a transition period; and since 1890 the Republic has grown steadily in strength and regained its position among the great powers of the world. The first few years of the new Republic were devoted to paying the Prussian indemnity and clearing the soil of France of German armies, but, after about 1875, education became a great national interest among leaders of France. [12] France saw, somewhat as did Prussia after 1806, the necessity for creating a strong state system of primary, secondary, and higher schools to train the youth of the land in the principles of the Republic, strengthen the national spirit, advance the welfare of the State, and protect it from dangers both within and without.

PROGRESS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN FRANCE, DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, AS SHOWN BY THE REDUCTION IN THE PERCENTAGE OF ILLITERACY AMONG ARMY CONSCRIPTS, AND AMONG PERSONS SIGNING THE MARRIAGE RECORDS

Years Army Marriage records conscripts Men Women 1790 53.0% 73.0% 1827 58.0% 1833 47.8 1840 42.8 1845 37.8 1850 35.7 1855 33.7 32.0 47.0 1860 30.0 30.4 44.8 1865 24.4 27.5 41.0 1870 19.7 26.8 39.4 1875 16.0 20.0 31.0 1880 14.7 16.1 24.5 1885 11.5 13.0 20.2 1890 7.8 8.7 12.8 1896 5.1 5.8 7.8 1901 4.4 4.4 6.3

Millions were put into the building of schoolhouses (1878-88); new normal schools were established; a normal school for women was created in each of the eighty-seven departments of France; the academic and superior councils of public instruction were reorganized to eliminate clerical influences (1881); religious instruction was replaced by moral and civic instruction (R. 290); and clerical "Letters of Obedience" were no longer accepted, and all teachers were required to be certificated by the State. The Law of 1881, eliminating instruction in religion from the elementary schools, was followed, in 1886, by a law providing for the gradual replacement of clerical by lay teachers. In 1904, the teaching congregations of France were suppressed. All elementary education now became public, free, compulsory, and secular, [13] and teachers were required to be neutral in religious matters. [14]

Since 1871, also, technical and scientific education has been emphasized; the primary and superior-primary schools have been made free (1881) and compulsory (1882); cla.s.ses for adults have been begun generally; the state aid for schools has been very greatly increased; _lycees_ and colleges for women have been created (1880); the _lycees_ modernized in their instruction [15] and the reorganization and reestablishment of a series of fifteen state universities of a modern type, begun in 1885, was completed in 1896. The reorganization and expansion of education in France since 1875 is a wonderful example of republican interest and energy, and is along entirely different lines from those followed, since the same date, in German lands.

After the lapse of nearly a century we now see the French Revolutionary ideas of gratuity, obligation, and secularization finally put into effect, and the state system of public instruction outlined by Condorcet (p. 514), in 1792, at last an accomplished fact.

II. NATIONAL ORGANIZATION IN ITALY

IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK OF NAPOLEON. So much has been written about the deluge of blood that took place in Paris in the days of the Commune and the time of the National Conventions, and of the military victories and autocratic rule of Napoleon Bonaparte, that it is difficult to appraise the importance of either, from the point of view of the progress of civilization and of the organization of modern political inst.i.tutions, at its true worth. The faults of both are prominent and outstanding, but it nevertheless was the merit of the Revolution that it enabled France, and along with France a good portion of western Europe, to rid itself of the worst survivals of the Middle Ages, while to Napoleon much of western Europe is indebted for the foundation of its civil inst.i.tutions, unified legal procedure, beginnings of state educational organization, and modern governmental forms. Writing on this subject, Matthew Arnold [16] well said:

With all his faults, his [Napoleon's] reason was so clear and strong that he saw, in its general outlines at least, the just and rational type of civil organization which modern society needs, and wherever his armies went he inst.i.tuted it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 178. EUROPE IN 1810 Showing the control of France when Napoleon was at the height of his power.]

That the French Revolution's merit and service was a real one is shown by all the world, as it improves, getting rid more and more of the Middle Ages. That Napoleon's merit and service was a real one is shown by the bad governments which succeeded him having always got rid, when they could, of his work, and by the progress of improvement, when these governments became intolerable, and are themselves got rid of, always bringing it back. Where governments were not wholly bad, and did not get rid of Napoleon's good work, this work turns out to have the future on its side, and to be more likely to a.s.similate the inst.i.tutions round it to its pattern than to be itself a.s.similated by them.

In the Italian States, the Netherlands, some of the French cantons of Switzerland, the Rhine countries, and the Danish peninsula, in particular, the rule of Napoleon, imposed by his armies, carried out by rulers of his selection, and maintained for a long enough period that the legal organization, civil order, unified government, and taste of educational opportunities of a new type which his rule brought became attractive to the people, in time proved deeply influential in their political development. [17] All these nations still show traces of the French influence in their state educational organization. We shall take the Italian States as a type, and examine briefly the influence on the development of state educational organization there which resulted from contact with the forward-looking rule of "The Great Emperor."

DECLINE IN IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN ITALY. In a preceding chapter (p.

503), we mentioned that the rule of Napoleon in northern Italy awakened the national spirit from its long lethargy, and caused Italian liberals to look forward, for the first time since the days of the Revival of Learning, to the time when the Italian States might be united into one Italian nation, with Rome as its capital. This became the work of the mid- nineteenth century (see dates, Fig. 179), though not fully completed until the World War of 1914-18. Italy stands to-day a great united nation, with a large future ahead of it, but as such it is entirely a nineteenth- century creation. From the time of its intellectual decline following the Renaissance, to the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy remained "a geographical expression" and split up into a number of little independent States; up to the time of Napoleon it was a part of the German-ruled "Holy Roman Empire."

After the great patriotic effort of the period of the Revival of Learning (p. 264) in Italy, and the rather feeble and unsuccessful attempts at a reform of religion which followed, the intellectual development of Italy was checked and turned aside for centuries by the triumph of an unprogressive and anti-intellectual att.i.tude on the part of the dominant Church. The persecution of Galileo (p. 388) was but a phase of the reaction in religion which had by that time set in. Education was turned over to the religious orders, such as the Jesuits and the Barnabites, and instruction was turned aside from liberal culture and the promotion of learning to the support of a religion and the stamping out of heresy.

Though a number of educational foundations were made, and some important undertakings begun after the days when her universities were crowded and Florence and Venice vied with one another for the intellectual supremacy of the western world, the spirit nevertheless was gone, and both education and government settled down to a tenacious preservation of the existing order. Scholars ceased to frequent the schools of Italy; the universities changed from seats of learning to degree-conferring inst.i.tutions; [18] the intellectual capitals came to be found north of the Alps; and the history of educational progress ceased to be traced in this ancient land. In the early part of the eighteenth century the schools there reached perhaps their lowest intellectual level.

THE BEGINNINGS OF REFORM IN SAVOY. The first and almost the only attempt to change this condition, before Napoleon's armies went crashing through the valley of the Po, was made in the seventeenth century by two Dukes of Savoy. By decrees of 1729 and 1772 they took the control of the secondary (Latin) schools in their little duchy from the religious orders, and established a Council of Public Instruction to reform the university examinations, see that teachers were prepared for the Latin schools, and take over in the name of the authorities of the duchy the control of education. Though inspired by a political interest, the two dukes brought into their little kingdom the much-needed ideas of honest work, effective administration, and public spirit, and laid the foundations for the control of education by the public authorities later on. The only other attempt to improve conditions came in Lombardy, in 1774, which then was a part of the Austrian dominions and felt the short-lived reforms of Maria Theresa (p. 562; R. 276). Elsewhere in Italy conditions remained unchanged until the time of Napoleon.

NAPOLEON REVIVES THE NATIONAL SPIRIT. In 1796 Napoleon's armies invaded Sardinia, Lombardy, and the valley of the Po, and he soon extended his control to almost all the Italian peninsula. For nearly two decades thereafter this collection of little States felt the unifying, regenerating influence of the organizing French. Monasteries and convents and religious schools were transformed into modern teaching inst.i.tutions, brigandage was put down, and efficient and honest government was established. The ideas of the French Law of 1802 as to education were applied. Every town was ordered to establish a school for boys, to teach the reading and writing of Italian and the elements of French and Latin; the secondary schools were modernized; and the universities were completely reorganized. Some of the universities were reduced to _licei_ (_lycees_; secondary schools), while others were strengthened and their revenues turned to better purposes. The universities at Naples and Turin in particular were transformed into strong inst.i.tutions, with a decided emphasis on scientific studies. A normal school was founded at Pisa, on the model of the one at Paris. New standards in education were set up, the study of the sciences was introduced into the secondary schools, and the study of medicine and law was regenerated.

With the fall of Napoleon his work was largely undone. The firm, just, and intelligent government which he had given Italy--something the land had not known for ages--came to an end. The little States were "handed back to the reactionary dynasts whose rule was neither benevolent nor intelligent, while the ever-ready Austrian army crushed out any local movement for liberal inst.i.tutions." The laws regarding education were repealed, and the schools the French had established were closed as revolutionary and dangerous. The normal school at Pisa ceased to exist; the university at Naples was dismantled; the one at Turin was closed; and the Jesuits were allowed to return and reorganize instruction. The result was that a common discontent with ensuing conditions made Italians conscious of their racial and historical unity, and this finally expressed itself in the revolutions of 1848. These failed at the time, and the heel of the Austrian oppressor came down harder than before. Liberty of the press practically ceased. The national leaders went into exile for safety. The prisons were filled with political offenders. The schools were closed or ceased to influence. The Pope, fearing the end of his earthly kingship approaching, united firmly with the Austrians to resist liberal movements. Finally, under the leadership of the enlightened King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel (1849-78) and his Prime Minister, Count of Cavour, the Austrians were driven out (1859-66) and all Italy was united (1870) under the rule of one king interested in promoting the welfare of his people.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 179. THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY, SINCE 1848]

SARDINIA LEADS TO NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL. The movement to free Italy was essentially a liberal movement. Many hoped to create a republic, but chose a liberal const.i.tutional monarchy under Victor Emmanuel as the most feasible plan. Cavour understood the importance of public instruction, and from the first began to build up schools [19] and put them under state control. In 1844, a normal school was opened in Turin. In 1847, a Minister of Public Instruction was appointed and a Council of Public Instruction created, after the plan of France, In 1848, a General School Law was enacted, and the organization and improvement of schools was begun with a will. In 1850, a commission was sent to study the school systems of Europe, and in particular those of France and of the German States. A Supreme Council of Public Instruction was now formed for Sardinia, and the process of creating primary schools, higher-primary schools, cla.s.sical and technical secondary schools, colleges, and the reorganization of the universities was begun. In 1859, when the growth of Italian unity was rapidly extending the rule of Victor Emmanuel, [20] a new law, providing a still better state organization of public instruction, was enacted. A Minister of Public Instruction appointed by the King, a Supreme Council of Public Instruction, and a Department of Public Instruction as a branch of the government, were all provided for, after the French plan.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 180 COUNT OF CAVOUR (1810-61)]

This Law of 1859 was later extended to cover all Italy, and has formed the basis for all subsequent legislation. It clearly established a state system of education, though the religious schools were allowed to remain.

It also established control after the French plan, with a high degree of centralization and uniformity. The schools established, too, were much after the French type, though much less extensive in scope. The primary and superior primary at first were but two years each, though since extended in all the larger communities to a six-year combined course. The two-cla.s.s school system was established, as in France and German lands.

The secondary-school system consisted of a five-year _ginnasio_, established in many places (218 in Italy by 1865; 458 by 1916) with a three-year _liceo_ following, but found in a smaller number of places.

Parallel with this a seven-year non-cla.s.sical scientific and technical secondary school was also created, and these inst.i.tutions have made marked headway (461 by 1916) in central and northern Italy. Pupils may pa.s.s to either of these on the completion of the ordinary four-year primary course, at the age of ten. Above the secondary schools are numerous universities. The normal-school system created prepared for teaching in the primary schools, while the university system followed the completion of the _liceo_ course. [Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 181. OUTLINE OF THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE ITALIAN STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM]

The influence of French ideas in Italian educational organization is clearly evident. Before the French armies brought French governmental ideas and organization to Italy almost nothing had been done. Then, during the first six decades of the nineteenth century, the transition from the church-school idea to the conception of education as an important function of the State was made, and the resulting system is largely French in organization and form.

SUBSEQUENT PROGRESS. From this point on educational progress has been chiefly a problem of increased finances and the slow but gradual extension of educational opportunities to more and more of the children of the people. The church schools have been allowed to continue side by side with the state schools, and the problem of securing satisfactory working relations has not always been easy of solution.

In 1877 primary education was ordered made compulsory, [21] and religious instruction was dropped from the state schools, but the slow progress of the nation in extending literacy indicates that but little had been accomplished in enforcing the compulsion previous to the new compulsory law of 1904. This made more stringent provisions regarding schooling, and provided for three thousand evening and Sunday schools for illiterate adults. In 1906, an earnest effort was begun to extend educational advantages in the southern provinces, where illiteracy has always been highest. In 1911, the state aid for elementary education was materially increased. In 1912, a new and more modern plan of studies for the secondary schools was promulgated. Since 1912 many important advances have been inaugurated, such as elementary schools of agriculture, vocational schools, continuation schools, the middle-cla.s.s industrial and commercial schools. The World War directed new attention to the educational needs of the nation. Italy, at last thoroughly awakened, seems destined to be a great world power politically and commercially, and we may look forward to seeing education used by the Italian State as a great constructive force for the advancement of its national interests.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Show how the Revolution marked out the lines of future educational evolution for France.

2. Explain why France and Italy evolved a school system so much more centralized than did other European nations.

3. Explain Napoleon's lack of interest in primary education, in view of the needs of France in his day.

4. Show that Napoleon was right, time and circ.u.mstances considered, in placing the state emphasis on the types of education he favored.

5. Explain why middle-cla.s.s education should have received such special attention in Cousin's Report, and in the Law of 1833.

6. Was the course of instruction provided for the primary schools in 1833, times and needs considered, a liberal one, or otherwise? Why?

7. Compare the 1833 and the 1850 courses.

8. Explain why all forms of education in France should have experienced such a marked expansion and development after 1875.

9. Explain why great military disasters, for the past 150 years, have nearly always resulted in national educational reorganization.

10. Appraise the work and the permanent influence of Napoleon.

11. Explain Napoleon's interest in establishing schools and universities, when the Austrian and Church authorities were so interested in abolishing what he had created.

12. What did the dropping of religious instruction from the primary schools of both France and Italy, both strong Catholic countries, indicate as to national development?

SELECTED READINGS

In the accompanying _Book of Readings_ the following selections are reproduced:

282. Le Brun: Founding of the School of Arts and Trades.

283. Jourdain: Refounding of the Superior Normal School.

284. Cousin: Recommendations for Education in France.

285. Guizot: Address on the Law of 1833.

286. Guizot: Principles underlying the Law of 1833.

287. Guizot: Letter to the Primary Teachers of France.

288. Arnold: Guizot's Work as Minister of Public Instruction.

289. Quinet: A Lay School for a Lay Society.

290. Ferry: Moral and Civic Instruction replaces the Religious.

QUESTIONS ON THE READINGS

1. Just what att.i.tude toward education did the action of Napoleon in changing the character of the school at Compiegne (282) express?