A normal school was responsible for training primary school teachers in France. This system, which had long been an essential part of the structure of state primary education, lasted in France from 1808 to 1990–1991. They were commonly called or . Later, they were integrated into the IUFM, which trains primary and secondary school teachers.
For a time, Japan followed the French model with the creation of normal schools in 1886. archive
Normal schools in France During the First Empire (1804–1814), article 108 of the Imperial Decree of March 17, 1808, concerning the organization of the University of France, provided for the creation of "normal classes" within the lycées or collèges "intended to train teachers for the primary schools". After the short-lived first normal school in Paris in 1794, the second "normal school" was created in Strasbourg in 1810, mainly thanks to the prefect Adrien de Lezay-Marnésia. Initially, this normal school for boys was only an annex of the lycée for boys of Strasbourg, before being granted autonomy in 1820.
Before 1879 Until 1879, the normal schools for boys and girls provided mainly moral and religious education. During the Restoration (1814–1830) and then the July Monarchy (1830–1848), the number of normal schools for boys reached 13 in 1829, 47 in 1832, and 56 on June 28, 1833, according to the table Table archive in Minister François Guizot's circular letter to prefects on July 24, 1833 and as presented on page 180 of the (394 pages) published by P. Dupont's Librairie normale in Paris in 1834. drawn up by the Minister François Guizot on July 24, 1833, in his circular letter to the prefects. This table lists 35 "boarding schools" and 21 "day schools" for these 56 normal schools in operation, 15 normal schools in project, and 18 departments without projects out of a total of 86 departments.
The Guizot Law (1833) On January 2, 1833, François Guizot, Minister of Public Instruction, presented his bill on primary education to the Chamber of Deputies. In his introductory [archive] Introductory speech to his bill featured from page 3 in the second volume of François Guizot's (493 pages), published by Michel Lévy frères in Paris in 1863. speech, he stated:
But then, lamenting that thousands of rural communes still lack primary schools and that, in the others, a large proportion of children do not attend school, the Minister continued:
After defining what it means to be a good [archive] Definition of a good teacher by François Guizot. teacher and lamenting the fact that they often are not, the Minister continued:
François Guizot wanted to oblige each department to create a normal school to train the competent teachers that France needed. This bill, after being quickly debated and amended, was approved by the two chambers of Parliament.
The Guizot [archive] (in French) of June 28, 1833, cited in the (394 pages) published by in Paris (1834).Law on primary education was promulgated by Louis-Philippe I, King of France, on June 28, 1833. Contrary to François Guizot's wishes, the new law did not apply to girls, whose education continued to be governed by the previous, more restrictive regulations. Some of the articles of the new law concerned normal schools and teachers since the law required each département to have a normal school for boys:
Article 11: "It shall be the duty of each department to maintain a normal school, either by itself or by association with one or more neighboring departments". [archive] Article 11 and following of the law of June 28, 1833. "The general councils shall deliberate on the means of ensuring the maintenance of normal schools. They shall also deliberate on the advisability of several departments uniting to maintain a normal school. This union shall be authorized by royal order". Article 12: "Every teacher of a local normal school shall have 1) a suitably equipped room, both for his living and for the accommodation of his students; 2) a fixed salary, which shall not be less than 200 francs for an primary normal school and 400 francs for a superior normal school". Article 25: "In each department, there shall be one or more normal education committees responsible for examining all applicants for certificates of aptitude, both for primary normal education and superior normal education and which shall issue such certificates under the authority of the Minister. These committees shall also be responsible for conducting admission and graduation examinations for normal school students [...]".
On July 24, 1833, the Minister sent a long circular letter [archive] , page 116 and following of (394 pages) published by , Paris in 1834. to Prefects on this law of 25 articles concerning primary education for boys only. In it, the Minister explained how the law was to be applied, particularly concerning normal schools:
The expenses "must be paid either from the students' pensions or the proceeds of scholarships established by the State, the department or the communes". "[...] The General Council will therefore have to set the pension rate for each student and create a certain number of scholarships or parts of them for candidates who do not have the means to pay either all or part of their pension. [...] For my part (says the Minister), I intend to use part of the credit at my disposal [...] either to contribute to the fixed expenses or to create scholarships in each normal school. I urge you to invite the municipal councils of wealthy towns to set up similar scholarships, and those of rural communes to pay all or part of the board of the student they wish to have as a teacher. It is to be hoped that charitable individuals and associations will also set up scholarships in these establishments".
This means that aspiring teachers had to finance all or part of their short studies at a normal school themselves unless they were eligible for all or part of a municipal, departmental, or state scholarship. At the end of these short studies, they must obtain a "certificate of proficiency". [archive] to be entitled to teach.
The regulations of 1833 established the certificate of proficiency required to teach in both private and public schools. There were to be two such certificates: a "primary" certificate (BE in French), followed by a " superior " certificate (BS in French). As a result, anyone over the age of 18 who wished to work as a primary school teacher or head a primary school would have to have not only a certificate of good character but also a certificate of proficiency (BE or BS), depending on the level of the school, obtained after an examination organized in each department by designated committees.
First normal school for girls (1838) On June 2, 1833, David Lévi Alvarès, in partnership with M. Lourmand, opened a regular course for aspiring female teachers at the Hôtel de Ville, Paris. Every Sunday, five hundred of these aspiring female teachers attended this gathering in the Salle Saint-Jean.
Five years later, in 1838, France's first normal school for girls was founded. This was facilitated by the royal order of June 23, 1836,Title VI of the royal order of June 23, 1836 analyzed from [archive] which extended some of the articles of the law of June 28, 1833, except for articles 11 and 12 concerning the creation of a normal school (for girls) in each department. However, ten years later, in 1848, there were already eight normal schools for girls, as well as some thirty ("normal courses"), which provided a small amount of training for girls who wanted to become public school teachers, at a lower cost to the departments. In 1863, for the 85 French departments, there were only 11 normal schools for girls and 53 normal courses for them.
During the Second Republic (1848–1852) and the Second Empire (1852–1870), normal schools were viewed with suspicion by the authorities, who suspected them of promoting democratic or even socialist ideas. As early as June 18, 1849, Alfred de Falloux, Minister of Public Instruction, presented his bill Introductory statement to his bill published by [archive] in favor of freedom of education to the Constitutional Assembly:
" [...] Seeing successive governments lay their hands on public education, it seems that they have all prided themselves on improvising a society in their image. Freedom of education, finally established in our Constitution, must put an end to these illusions and these attempts. [...] The family, just as the individual, must not rebel against the State, the State cannot and must not arbitrarily take the place of the family". " [...] What is the moral value of a normal school? Not all primary teachers are educated in normal schools. However, out of about 1700 vacancies each year, these schools provide no less than 750 to 800 individuals, and these individuals, who should serve as models, are currently the focus of the harshest The criticisms can be found at the bottom of page 167 in [archive] criticism. Serious, impartial, political voices have been raised calling for the absolute abolition of normal schools. [...]The school itself has been attacked as fundamentally vicious". " [...]These are grave objections. However, we believed that the project could be continued with the counterweight of a rigorous training program and that, in any case, this program should produce its recruits before dispensing with the resources of the normal school. Above all, we sought to leave it to the General Councils to judge the needs or perils of each department; we raised their vigilance and reinforced their severity". "[...] It may come as a surprise that not a single article in the draft concerns the teaching of girls [...] Instruction has remained too isolated from education, and education too isolated from religion. [...] This is the goal we have tried to achieve... by entrusting the moral supervision of primary school to the parish priest or pastor".
During the debates in the Assembly, Victor Hugo (now a Republican) declared himself firmly opposed to the bill, which he considered too clerical and reactionary. Although it was debated and amended, Alfred Falloux's bill was nevertheless passed. And so, on March 15, 1850, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, President of the Republic, promulgated the Falloux law concerning primary education. Article 35 of this law concerns only normal schools for boys, whose existence is called into question by its first and second paragraphs:
Article 35 - "Each department is obliged to provide for the recruitment of communal teachers, either by maintaining the aspiring teachers in primary schools designated by the Academic Council, or in the normal school established (for this purpose) by the department itself". The General Council of the department or the Minister in the Superior Council (on the report of the Academic Council) may abolish the normal schools, with the exception, in both cases, of the rights conferred on those receiving scholarships.
Article 35 of the Falloux law (March 15, 1850) obliged the départements to ensure the recruitment of aspiring teachers but left them free to choose between the normal school or the simple primary schools reserved for this purpose. It also explicitly stated that the normal schools for boys could be abolished by the General Council or even by the Minister of Public Instruction. As a result, the number of normal schools would not increase, it would even decrease, even though religious instruction would be given in these schools by a resident chaplain with considerable authority.
Generalization of normal schools (from 1879 onwards)
Jules Ferry Laws (1879)