Secondary Education in Norway. Bulletin, 1930, No. 17

The main purposes of this study are: (1) to assemble and report the facts about secondary education in Norway, and (2) to interpret to some extent the educational philosophy of that country. A minor purpose is to furnish the data that will help place properly in the schools of the United States any young people from Norway who may come here to study. The Norwegian system of education is the national scheme of human training worked out in a little more than a century of independence by a homogeneous people numbering about 2,800,000 living in a rigorous climate and in an area so mountainous and broken that not more than 4 per cent of the land is under cultivation. Agriculture, industry, commerce, fishing, forestry, and mining--pursuits that develop in the folk that follow them, independence, initiative, courage, and perseverance--are the chief occupations. They develop wanderlust also and Norway has given freely of her human wealth to other countries. In these circumstances the Norwegians have erected a political, social, and educational structure for a democratic people and have woven into it a culture that is in many ways singularly distinctive, and that is among the finest cultures of the world. In that culture the scheme of secondary education plays an important part. This bulletin is divided into seven chapters, as follows: (1) General characteristics of the Norwegian school system; (2) The administration of secondary education; (3) The middle school; (4) The gymnasium; (5) Other types of secondary schools; (6) The Norwegian teacher--his preparation, service, and social status; and (7) Conclusion. A bibliography is also included. Individual chapters contain tables and footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.]