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Peter Tibor Nagy: The 1938 reform of teacher training for elementary education

In Hungary between the 1840s and 1958, teacher training for elementary education took place at the secondary level, in 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-year institutions for male and female trainees alike. The act of 1938 was an attempt to establish an institution for this training at the tertiary level. The paper presents the professional and political debates regarding the redefining of teacher training institutions. On the one hand, the organisation of elementary school teachers was interested in a normal „Hoch-schule”, based on the general secondary school matura examination. On the other hand, the staff of elementary teacher training schools proposed a special „Hoch schule”, based on a special secondary school final examination, administered by an education oriented school. This latter version would preserve the teacher training school in its original form, only with longer training time. Two other actors made their mark in the debate: the churches, maintaining most teacher training schools and women’s organisations, because teacher training schools for women served as general women’s schools for middle class girls, not preparing them for professional life but for that of a housewife.

MAGYAR PEDAGÓGIA 104. Number 3. 251-262. (2004)

Levelezési cím / Address for correspondence: Nagy Péter Tibor, Professzorok háza, Felső¬ok¬tatási Kutatóintézet, H–1146 Budapest, Ajtósi Dürer sor 19.

 
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Magyar Tudományos Akadémia