prenticeship-schools of France, is steadily increasing. Indeed, judging from the published accounts of these schools, and from the writings of some of the most prominent educationists in the United States, an enthusiasm is spreading among Americans in favor of workshop instruction, which is likely to have an important influence on the industrial progress of this eminently practical and inventive people.
In the report of the Commissioners on Technical Instruction, notices will be found of some of the principal Continental schools which are now fitted with workshops. Sir John Lubbock, in the article above quoted, has supplemented this information by reference to the "Slöjd" system of manual instruction which is adopted in Sweden. An interesting account of this system has been written by M. Sluys, who is well known to educationists from his connection with the École Modèle of Brussels. Since the report of the commissioners was published, the movement in favor of workshop-teaching in schools has advanced rapidly in France. Nearly every large town has now its higher elementary school (a type of school as yet scarcely to be found in this country) fitted with workshops for wood and iron; and, out of one hundred and seventy-four primary schools supported by the city of Paris, ninety-five are now provided with workshops, ninety for instruction in carpentry and wood-turning, and five for metal-work. In these schools the manual teaching has hitherto been given either before or after the ordinary school-hours; but the Municipal Council of Paris attach such importance to this training that it is proposed to make the workshop instruction a part of the regular school curriculum. This change will necessitate a rearrangement of the school-hours and the provision of workshops in the remaining seventy-nine schools in which they have not yet been fitted. But it is confidently expected that the municipality of Paris, which has done so much for the technical education of its artisans, will not hesitate to incur this additional expense. The action of the city of Paris gives additional weight to the recommendation of the English commissioners on this subject.
Experiments of introducing workshops into elementary schools have been tried in this country, with results sufficiently encouraging to justify the extension of the system. In Sheffield, Birmingham, and Glasgow the results have been eminently satisfactory. In London the experiment has recently been tried on a small scale, and under not the most favorable circumstances, in the Beethoven Street schools; but the report of Mr. Tate, the energetic head-master, is so encouraging that the School Board of London is very desirous of extending the system of instruction to a large number of the schools under its control. In his report to the board, Mr. Tate says:
