Horace Mann Centennial Recalls Fight For Graduate Educational School Here

This year marks the centennial of Horace Mann's entrance upon an educational career in Massachusetts, the man who fought for reform and innovation in education, who established the normal school, and who died saying. "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.'

In connection with such a centennial it is profitable to look at Harvard's contribution to education.

Perhaps no department in the University has suffered more to survive and to come into its own than the Graduate School of Education. Like Sociology, Government, even English--which long ago had to contend with the classics for existence, the School had to beat and claw a way into what it deserved.

Its history is, for the most part, that of one man's efforts: Paul Henry Hanus. His career was an acceptance of Horace Mann's last charge.

The history of schools for the teaching of teachers is not a pleasant one, for universities, the rightful guardians of the fortunes of education, had been bitterly prejudiced against their development.

They did not begin to study education until late, as it was natural that they should shy from turning their eyes inward upon themselves.

One of the first full professors was Paul Henry Hanus, Professor of Education, Emeritus, in the Graduate School of Education, who was appointed to the Harvard Faculty in 1891.

The reason for his appointment lies in outside pressure. At the time the public urged that Massachusetts establish a state university for teachers, which Harvard naturally opposed.

The Faculty were chary to a Westerner coming here to teach Harvard professors how to teach, and Hanus was forced to work alone. His courses, which did not count towards a degree, were given as a part of the Philosophy Department's curiousness.

Finally in 1906, after tremendous persuasion of stubborn elements, he won enough support to set up a division of education in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In 1920 he reached another mile-stone when the division was separated and a Faculty of Education came into being. An endowment of two million dollars enabled the bringing forth of the Graduate School of Education.

Until 1927 the School offered the degree of Master of Education for the passing of four courses with honor marks. At that point it realized the standards were not high enough for the training of teachers and administrators and the teaching of educational history and policy. Henceforth it gave a two year course with emphasis on subject matter as well as professional knowledge of education.

The fault with this program was that the training, solely in the hands of the School, placed more weight on courses in education than on the subject which the young teacher expected to teach.

Thus two years ago a program was launched whereby the Faculty of Arts and Sciences cooperated with the Faculty of Education for the better preparation of teachers.

Now the degree of Ed.M. and the A.M. in Teaching are not based upon the passing of a certain number of courses, but upon achievement in examinations and in apprenticeship.

The latter aspect applies only to the inexperienced, who gain practical instruction in teaching by working in high schools and private schools nearby during the first month.

At present the enrolment of the School is 350, both men and women, and the Faculty numbers 33, of whom seven are full professors.