PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN SCOTLAND. AREA-POPULATION-EDUCATION. SCOTLAND, originally an independent kingdom, but since the union of the crowns of Scotland and England on the accession of James VI of the former, to the throne of the latter as James I, in 1602, and the act of Union in 1707, an integral portion of the kingdom of Great Britain, occupies the division of the Island north of the Tweed, Solway Frith, and the Cheviot Hills. It has an area of about 30,000 square miles, with a length of 217 miles, and a breadth ranging from 43 miles to 125, not including numerous islands which line its coast, and constitute no small portion of the whole area. Out of 19,639,377 acres, only 4,438,137 are under cultivation. The population in 1861 was 3,062,294 distributed over three great divisions, differing in the natural configuration of the country, and the industrial condition of the people, viz. :—First, 1,487,276 in the Lowland Parishes: Second 80,000 in the Hebrides and Highland Parishes; and 1,012,270 in 79 Burghs (Parliamentary and Royal) and 289,057 in 78 Towns having each 2,000 inhabitants and upwards. In each of these subdivsions the organization of public schools differ, and will require separate treatment. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. Public instruction in Scotland is secured through three great departments, which may be called Elementary, Secondary and Superior. Although not legally so designated, yet the institutions in each have a legal basis, though not very closely defined and limited, and the whole is without any efficient system of local or state administration, inspection, or control. 1. ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION is provided in institutions of various kinds, the core of which is the national Parochial system, which in its germ, existed as early as the Christian Church in Scotland, and which took its present shape in the acts of the Privy Council in 1615, and of the Scotch Parliament of 1633, and of the Church of Scotland in 1689. To these departments, although not exclusively, belong: (1.) Parochial Schools which exist by operation of law in every parish, which together (917) cover the whole of Scotland outside of the boundaries of the burghs. (2.) Side Schools, authorized by act of 1803, in parishes so situated or so extensive that a single school can not adequately provide the (3.) Sessional Schools in the large towns, and burghs (each of which (4.) Parliamentary schools, established since 1835, by an act of Par- To the elementary department belong a large number of non-parochial (1.) Burgh Schools, or Grammar Schools, established by the Council or municipal authorities of Burghs created by Royal charter. (2.) Academies, or Institutions, both in and out of Burghs, founded by subscription, and managed by directors selected from the subscribers. (3.) Parochial Schools with advanced classes. To this department belong a large number of Private Schools, some of which are exclusively boarding or day schools, or a mixture of both, but all of them having elementary classes; also the Hospitals or endowed boarding schools for special classes. III. SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION is given in four Universities, which have close connection with the schools and classes of Secondary Instruction. To the above department may be added: IV. SPECIAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND AGENCIES. For thirty years, the friends of a truly national system of public schools-comprehensive enough to embrace citizens of all creeds and of all localities, no matter how remote, or how scattered the inhabitants may be, and good enough to realize the wishes of all classes of society for the education of their children-without ignoring the many excellent features of the old Parochial and Grammar Schools, which have given to Scotland in spite of many natural disadvantages, a high place among the prosperous nations of modern Europe-have labored strenuously for a reorganization. Out of these efforts has issued an Educational Commission, appointed in 1866, composed of twenty eminent and competent citizens, with the Duke of Argyll as chairman, from whose successive Reports in six volumes, we draw in literal extracts (slightly modified in a few instances) the following account of the systems, and schools of every kind now in operation in Scotland. 1 The self-government of the English schools, which is their most distinguishing feature, and which is greatly fostered by the management of their different sports, produces an excellent moral discipline upon many boys who learn little or nothing else at these schools. Each public school is a little world, with its own rules and ordinances and traditions, and in the government of it the boys play their parts just as they do in the greater world. By cultivating the different qualities that come to the surface in the playground, Public-school boys create an individual manliness, self-reliance, and a general healthy tone and esprit de corps throughout the whole school that is of immense importance in after life. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION. The Burgh and Middle-class schools of Scotland are arranged on three principles, viz.:-(1.) With the head master, elected with absolute authority; (2.) With head master having limited authority; (3.) With two or more masters, having co-ordinate authority. (1.) There are a few schools in the country which are placed under a master with powers somewhat similar to those enjoyed by the head master of the English Public schools. In these schools the head master is supreme in all matters affecting the internal arrangements of the school. He regulates the work, arranges the classes and the time-table, appoints and dismisses the teachers, and is very little, if at all, trammeled by his directors or managing body. He is superior in position and in point of emolument to the other masters, and, like them, liable to dismissal at short notice. (2.) A second class of schools contains those which are under a rector who is nominally supreme over the internal affairs of the school, but is often, and indeed generally, nothing but a medium of communication between the other teachers and the managing body. He has not the appointment, or even the nomination, of the under masters, neither does he regulate the work, nor even enforce the discipline of the school without consultation with his board of management. In these schools he may, or he may not, be in the receipt of a higher income from the school than the other teachers, and he may, or may not, exercise a limited supervision over them. (3.) The third class of schools is that in which their are certain departments just as there are certain classes in the universities. Each master is supreme over his own department—“ a pope in his class-room," as it was put by one of the professors,--and is responsible to no head master, or, indeed, to no one directly, and to the public only indirectly. So long as his department is well filled, it is a matter of little moment to him how the rest of the school goes on; he has no interest out of his own department. In these three classes of schools then, the head master's power is absolute, or it is limited, or it does not exist, but all teachers have co-ordinate power. The arguments in favor of the third form of school organization, which prevail generally in Scotland are mainly four. H 1. In schools where the teachers are all independent of each other, you are more likely, it is said, to get efficient men. First-rate men will not submit themselves to authority, but must be allowed to go their own way, and be under no supervision. 2. When a man has to work for himself and his own fees, and not for the good of the school, he will be more zealous and vigorous in his own department; and wholesome rivalry between the different teachers will have a good effect upon the discipline of the school. 3. It is better that a school should not be dependent on one man. In schools where the rector is absolute, every thing depends on him; and if he is insufficient the school suffers. In schools where all teachers are equal, one may be bad, and the rest good, and the school does not suffer. 4. Where you have teachers with co-ordinate power, you have free choice as to subjects of instruction; all subjects are on an equality, and there is no subordination of all to one, such as is found in most of the great English schools, and some of the Scottish schools. The first argument is more plausible than real. Good men will submit to legitimate authority, if it be judiciously exercised, and if they are adequately remunerated. There are quite as distinguished men in the English Public schools as in the Scottish; but in the latter the remuneration is on a very different footing from what it is in the former. It is not a question of submission to authority, it is a question of emolument. 2. It may be quite possible that some men will exert themselves more, and teach more zealously, when their actual living depends upon the result of their work. But this tells another way. Zeal roused by such a motive very soon degenerates, and not unfrequently results in popularity hunting. We saw several indications of this. Teachers in more than one school of this class were obviously afraid of offending their scholars, lest they would leave them and go elsewhere. If the classes are optional, scholars are very apt to attend or not attend, in accordance with the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the class. If the teacher is a strict disciplinarian, they find the class unpleasant; if he is easy, they like him and remain. When teachers and pupils are on this relation with each other there is an end to efficient teaching. 3. The third argument in favor of the co-ordinate system may be answered thus:-It is quite true that in schools with a supreme head master every thing depends on him, and if he is a failure the school suffers; whereas, when the teachers are co-ordinate, two may be good and two bad, and the school may not suffer. But in the first case the evil is detected at once, and the head master, dismissible, as we have said before, at short notice, is changed. In the second case, there is no one to discover the evil, and it may go on for years before it is discovered, to the detriment of the school and the serious loss to the pupils who passed through the inferior teacher's hands. And when it is discovered, under the present tenure in Burgh schools at least, the inefficient teachers can not be dismissed, but may remain for life. 4. The argument founded on the equality of all subjects of instruction, is in reality an argument that affects the curriculum of a school, and not the relation of masters to each other. The position of different studies in a school is determined by a variety of causes. A subject is valued or not according to its place in the school course; according to the time assigned to it; to its value in examinations; to the share given to it in deciding prizes; and by the fact that inattention to it is or is not visited by punishment. All these causes go to determine the value of the different studies. The fact that the head master teaches one branch in particular has comparatively little to do with it. But it is by no means an established truth that equality of all subjects of instruction is a good thing for any school. The monopoly of one subject, coupled with the neglect of all others, is one thing; but the preponderance of one subject with fair play to all others, is a different thing. What is really wanted is a balanced curriculum, with or without optional classes at a higher rate, giving fair play to all branches, and not too much or too little to any. This argument therefore is met by a denial of the fact. The true theory of school management in all schools of any importance is, we believe, a head master appointed by the managers or directors, but untrammeled by them. Freedom from interference is an important element in this theory. Nothing is so dispiriting to a man whose heart is in his work, as the petty annoyances, ignorant obstructions, and little interferences of those who may be in a position of authority over him; but who, having no interest in the work themselves, take a sort of jealous pleasure in asserting their authority, and in finding fault with their subordinates who do their duty. A managing body of this stamp would seriously damage the best school. A head master should be protected from all interference of this kind. He should be subject to dismissal on short notice by them, so that the school may not be burdened with an incompetent head; but, in other respects, he should be independent of his managers. He should be supreme over all the teachers, even to their appointment and dismissal, and they might assist him as a school council with a consultative, but not a legislative voice. He should be paid at a much higher rate than the other teachers, and should, both by position and character, be a man to whom the other teachers can look up and respect. Lastly, he should have entire control over the internal economy of the school, and be held responsible for the success of it. This view is corroborated by observation and by experience. Professor Shairp, who before he became connected with the University of St. Andrews, was ten years in one of the best schools of England, writes in reference to the organization of Madras College : In order to carry out this system it would be absolutely necessary that a head master with very full powers should be appointed to preside over the whole institution. He ought to be a man not only of strong natural ability and great energy, but of large and varied attainments, knowledge of men, and power of management. |