CLASSICAL EDUCATION. In the universities of Great Britain archaeology, anthropology, numismatics, epigraphy, psy chology, philology and geography are recognized as essential to the classical scholar who would understand and describe clearly condi Lions of life in the ancient civilizations. Western Europe has learned to realize the measure of its debt to Greece and to estimate the nature of the legacy it has received from Imperial Rome. The precision of classical literature leads to a sense of proportion, a standard of values, a respect for the truth of words, and accuracy of thought. In the principal secondary schools classical studies are not losing ground (see PUBLIC ScHooLs). As historical links exist with university foundations, the great public schools conserve the best traditions of classical scholarship. In the ordinary secondary schools Latin in taught as one of several competing subjects. Of new methods in use the following is one of the most interesting and most original.
A working system has been devised by which this method can be applied to Latin and Greek. Time is saved, because the whole lesson is taken up with the language, attention is kept, because the language used is real to us instead of artificial ; understanding is easy, because what we do or see, explains what is said. In proportion as we exclude English words from our minds, we come to think in the language, and a feeling for its idioms and turns of speech is soon developed. Since the vocabulary used is simple and deals with every-day and familiar life, the attention can be exercised on the peculiar inflections which distinguish the ancient languages.
Grammar is learned after use, not before, and is therefore less irksome. Short exercises are used, to illustrate grammar; they do no harm if they come in their proper place (after use) and in due proportion.
With the reading book, from the very first all is read aloud and explained in the same language, the explanations being written and learned. English is never used unless it cannot be helped. When the pupils are fit to read an author, they know enough to dispense with English. Formal translation from English into Latin or Greek, the most difficult of all exercises, is reserved for' the last two years of school life. Whoever does not understand must ask. No one is blamed for not understanding; all are blamed for not asking.
In the reading lesson every line of the matter is read aloud; and very often the mere manner of reading shows whether the text has been understood, and if it has not, it can be explained simply by correct reading. By reading the memory is filled, the ear is taught, the taste is trained; the language, in short, is learned in the most effective way. So much so that verses of all sorts, lyrics included, are written with ease by imitation. But the real merit of this method lies in its effect on the learner. From the first stage to the last, the learners are willing to learn, and happy in learning. (C. BR.; W. H. D. R.) The United States.—Classical education in the United States began with the founding of Harvard college and the Boston Latin school in about 1638. Following the English model (probably Cambridge) the only requirement for entrance to Harvard was the ability to read and speak Latin, and some knowledge of Greek forms, and this was also the aim of the Latin school. All lectures were in Latin, the curriculum consisted almost wholly of the classics and students were required to speak Latin on the campus. The subsequent progress of classical education has been divided roughly into three periods : the pre-revolutionaiy period, the period to the close of the Civil War, and the modern period.
During the first period admission requirements remained much the same, as at Harvard, even arithmetic was not required until 1693, and then not universally. In the colleges the classics re mained supreme, although arithmetic, geography and anatomy were included in the curriculum of William and Mary in and physics in that of Yale in 1701. Also the forerunner of the University of Pennsylvania, under the influence of Benjamin Franklin, made considerable provision for science, and an impres sive programme in science and history was announced by Columbia in 1754, which, however, as not adhered to.
The middle period was one of great educational expansion. Many new colleges and secondary schools were founded, and the States began to make provision for higher public education in the State universities. Public high schools also began to multiply. The curricula of the colleges were greatly extended, and the ap pearance of new subjects in the requirements for entrance in volved provision for them in the fitting schools. At first Greek and Latin, later Latin alone, were obligatory on all candidates for degrees, and while in some academies, notably those for girls, and in the State universities, the tendency was to greater freedom, still the general tone of education was cultural, interpreted as classical.
The modern period has been one of revolution, both in ideals and practices. The carrying out of the theory of universal educa tion, and the rapid growth of industrialism demanded greater pro vision for vocational and scientific training. The public high schools still clung closely to the classical tradition but they showed the new influence in the great broadening of their curriculum. Where this was not done, vocational and trade schools discarded the classics for a more immediately practical training. In higher education, either separate scientific and technical schools were established, or increased provision was made for science in the colleges and universities, and modern languages and the social sciences vied with the natural sciences in pressing their claims.
Room for the new subjects could only be obtained at the ex pense of the classics. The first to be seriously affected was Greek, which, though vigorously defended, had by 1928 been eliminated almost entirely from the curriculum of the secondary schools, and was studied by very few undergraduates in college. Latin also was severely curtailed and at one time seemed likely to go the way of Greek. Since the World War, however, there has been some reac tion in favour of Latin in the colleges and it has continued to hold a large place in the schools, partly because it is still an important requirement for entrance to college. It was estimated that over 1,QoD,DQo pupils were studying Latin in the schools in 1928. It is not, however, the Latin of former days. Under the attacks of the new psychology and the advocates of practical studies the teach ing of Latin, which formerly had been largely a mechanical prepa ration for entrance examinations, has now been adapted rather to the immediate needs of the pupils studying it. In 1920 the general education board arranged with the American Classical League to conduct an investigation of the classics (chiefly Latin) in the sec ondary schools. In the report, published in 1924, the aims of the teaching of Latin were set forth as follows: to read and under stand Latin ; to increase the pupil's ability to understand the Latin element in English, and to read, speak and write English; to de velop historical and cultural background, correct mental habits and right attitudes towards social situations; to increase the ability to learn foreign languages; and to give an elementary knowledge of the principles of language structure. In the furtherance of these aims extensive recommendations were made as to curriculum and method of teaching. These have been very widely adopted and the text-books are rapidly being reconstructed to carry them out. As a result the outlook is bright for continued support of Latin, particularly in the secondary schools, as an important element in American education. (G. L.) France.—In France during the greater part of the r 9th cen tury, the position of classics in secondary schools was supreme. They alone led to the baccalaureate :—sole entrance to the uni versities and the liberal professions. Towards the end of the century, a strong movement in favour of modern languages and science arose. In 1898 a parliamentary committee was appointed to inquire into the subject. They reported in 1899, but it was not till 1902 that their conclusions were embodied in the estab lishment of four alternative courses, a full classical, a Latin modern languages, a Latin-science and a purely modern course, all of which led to the university. These courses remained un changed for nearly 20 years, and during that period the classical candidates for the baccalaureate, who in 1904 numbered 3,337, fell to 2,775 in 1924. The Latin-modern rose from 1,217 to 5,964, the Latin-science from 2,229 to 5,241 and the science-modern languages from 2,742 to 5,241. Thus, while Greek declined, the students taking Latin increased more than twofold and amounted to over 70% of the candidates.
The World War brought its aftermath of discussion. In 1922 M. Berard, the minister of public instruction, proposed to make Latin and Greek obligatory in the earlier stages, and to cut down the courses of two (classical or modern). A bitter struggle fol lowed, in which the majority of expert opinion was against him. None the less, in May 1923 the President of the republic issued a decree embodying the proposals of M. Berard, and requiring a certificate of proficiency in Latin and Greek from all future candidates for the baccalaureate. A year later the Ministry fell and was replaced by a Radical one. The two courses have been maintained, but classics are no longer obligatory for all, though as the curricula of the girls' schools have now been assimilated to those of the boys, a classical education is equally open to the former.
Germany.--In Germany up to the end of the loth century, classics were likewise supreme. The full classical school, the Gymnasium, was with one or two exceptions the sole avenue to the university and liberal professions. In 1890, at the instance of the kaiser, a conference was called in Prussia. Its conclusions, largely embodied in the curricula of 1892, reduced the number of hours given to classics and dethroned the latter in favour of the mother tongue, while the universities were thrown open to pupils from the Realgymnasium (Latin-modern school) and to a large extent to those from the Oberrealschule (modern studies school). Similar reforms had already been adopted by other German states. The next outstanding feature was the founding of Ref ormgymnasia, where the first language was French, Latin not being introduced till the fourth and Greek till the sixth year, both being taught intensively. This type was largely adopted in Prussia before the war. Classical studies have been open to girls since 1904, but the number taking them has not been very great. For education since the war, no statistics are available, but ac cording to one authority, "the desertion of schools with Latin as a central subject is general." Others are less pessimistic and the prevailing opinion seems to be that the Reformschulen will ultimately be the future type of German classical educa tion.
Italy.—Of the other European countries, the most interest ing one from the classical standpoint of view is Italy. Here, thanks to the reforms of Gentile, there has been a strong reac tion in favour of classics, and by the royal decrees of May and Nov. 1922, classical studies have been strengthened in the higher schools not only of the purely classical but also of the scientific type. Latin in fact is now obligatory in all secondary schools. Room for this increase has been found by cutting down the num ber of subjects and reducing the time given to mathematics; the main object of the reform being to replace the former encyclo paedic aim of the school by a cultural one based on direct knowl edge of the classics. Latin is also a principal subject in the girls' high schools.
The situation in general may be illustrated from the practices of some of the leading Spanish American countries. In the Argen tine a movement to make Latin an optional subject began as early as 1870 and was realized in 1886; in 1891 proposals began to be made to drop it and by 1901 it disappeared entirely except in three schools that enjoy special privileges of autonomy. Greek had disappeared as early as 1863. In Chile Latin ceased to be required for graduation from a secondary school in 1877 and gradually disappeared. In 1925 an inquiry elicited the opinion that room should be found in certain schools for the study of Latin with or without Greek. It is significant to note, however, that all students in the Instituto Pedagogico, the institution for training secondary school teachers, must take Latin, if they wish to be come specialists in Spanish or any modern foreign language. In Uruguay Latin grammar was taught in the first two years of the secondary school course in 1889 but was dropped in 1909. Latin is required in Mexico of students who plan to enter the faculty of law of the university.
In Brazil the exception to the general practice may be f ound, for here Latin is required for four years of the six year second ary course and Greek survives in some schools on an optional basis.
The secondary school situation is reflected in the universities. The general absence of liberal arts faculties has been noted. The small number of professors of Latin or of Greek is to be found at the Universities of Buenos Aires and La Plata in the Argen tine, in the Instituto Pedagogico of the University of Chile and in the University of Concepcion in Chile, and in the private Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario in Colombia. Latin, if not Greek, is still cultivated by the ecclesiastical orders and it is under the direction of their members that those who are in terested in the classics may pursue their studies beyond the level of the secondary schools. (I. L. K.)