Ав 1917 40.27 серуг • BARWARD UNIVERSITY BRADUATE SCHOOL OF VENATION MONROE C GUTMAN LISKARY ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 30 CENTS PER COPY INTRODUCTION. During the deliberations of the International Congress of Mathematicians at Rome in 1908 steps were taken to organize an International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics, the members of which were to prepare or procure reports on the teaching of mathematics in different countries. Most of these reports were ready for the Cambridge congress in 1912, but since then several more have appeared. At this writing 18 countries have published 178 reports, containing over 12,000 pages. Germany has already issued 50 reports, with a total of 5,393 pages. About a fifth of this space is required by the United States for its 14 reports (the present report being the fifteenth), and about a sixth of the same space by each of the following countries: Austria, with 13 reports; Great Britain, with 34 reports; Switzerland, with 9 reports; and Japan, with 2 volumes. The reports of France cover some 700 pages. Of more modest dimensions are, in order of size, the reports from Belgium, Russia (including Finland), Italy, Sweden, Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, Australia, and Roumania (1 report of 16 pages). From this statement it will be observed that much greater detail is given in the case of some countries than in others. Moreover, even in reports of about the same length different subjects are emphasized. As this bulletin is based very largely upon facts drawn from the reports to the International Commission, the treatment of its sections varies with the extent of data at hand, and lack of uniformity is a necessity. No claim is made for originality of presentation. For the most part only those schools which are under the immediate direction of the Government have been considered. And even here discussion is limited to the best schools for boys and to the teachers in such schools. As a rule the schools for girls are not as completely organized nor of so high a standard. It has seemed to me desirable to include in this bulletin, when possible, very brief independent sketches of the educational conditions in the various countries, so that the reader may receive here in connected form condensed but definite accounts of the following phases of educational work in the country under discussion, in so far as they bear on the preparation of teachers of secondary mathematics: (1) The general educational scheme; (2) secondary 1 1 For greater detail along this line the reader may be referred to Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education (5 volumes, New York, 1911-1913). As to mathematical instruction the Bibliography of the Teaching of Mathematics, 1900-1912, by D. E. Smith and K. Goldziher (Bu. of Educ., Bul., 1912, No. 29), Washington, Government Printing Office, 1912, contains titles supplementary to the bibliographies in the following pages. schools and their relation to that scheme; (3) the mathematics taught in the secondary schools and the pupils to whom it is taught; 1 (4) the inducements (such as salary, pensions, social position) to young men to take up secondary-school teaching as a profession; (5) the universities of the country, the courses of mathematics and allied subjects they offer, and the diplomas or certificates they confer. With this in mind, one may get an intelligent idea both of the preparation of the secondary-school teacher for his duties and of the type and caliber of men who take up such work. An endeavor has been made to picture conditions of the present day. Only occasional brief historical comments have been introduced. At a meeting of the International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics held at Paris in April, 1914, the commission decided to study the theoretical and practical preparation of professors of mathematics in the secondary schools of different countries. It was considered that such a work "would constitute in a certain sense the crown of the labors of the commission." Early in 1915 a questionnaire was published in order to acquaint those who might consent to prepare the special reports for different countries with the questions which the commission wished to have them answer. As far as I have been able to learn, only two reports based upon this questionnaire have been published at this writing; these are the brief report (14 pages) by W. Lietzmann, concerning Germany, and the longer report on Belgium by J. Rose. It is hoped that the general report submitted herewith may be considered a worthy contribution to the commission's special inquiry. At the present time superintendents, inspectors, and principals in many parts of the United States have been forced by public opinion to consider numerous radical changes in methods of secondaryschool education. If a high minimum standard of preparation were required on the part of each teacher, and the position of the teacher were made such as to attract in sufficient numbers the best talent in the country, other difficulties would disappear. Most countries considered in this bulletin have far higher standards than we with respect to teachers of mathematics in secondary schools. The degree of this superiority is exhibited throughout the following pages, and some of the chief points are summarized in the last chapter. In what follows, statements concerning countries now at war refer, for the most part, to ante bellum days. December, 1917. R. C. A. 1 For fuller account of the work in mathematics see Curricula in Mathematics, a comparison of courses in the countries represented in the International Commission on th Teaching of Mathematics, by J. C. Brown (Bu. of Educ., Bul., 1914, No. 45), Washington, 1915. L'Enseignement Mathématique, tome 17, January, 1915, pp. 61-65. See also pp. 129–145. |