normal school

normal school
(formerly) a school offering a two-year course and certification to high-school graduates preparing to be teachers, esp. elementary-school teachers. Cf. teachers college.
[1825-35]

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also called  teachers college  or  teacher-training college 

      institution for the training of teachers. One of the first schools so named, the École Normale Supérieure (“Normal Superior School”), was established in Paris in 1794. Based on various German exemplars, the school was intended to serve as a model for other teacher-training schools. Later it became affiliated with the University of Paris.

      Normal schools were established chiefly to train elementary-school teachers for common schools (known as public schools in the United States). The first public normal school in the United States was founded in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1839. Both public and private “normals” initially offered a two-year course beyond the secondary level, but in the 20th century teacher-training requirements were extended to a minimum of four years. By the 1930s most former public normal schools had evolved into teachers colleges, and by the 1950s they had become departments or schools of education within universities.

      This assimilation of the normal school parallels the halting elevation of teaching to the status of a profession over the last 150 years. The normal school represented a forward step over the monitorial system (the practice, in the 1800s, of assigning teaching responsibilities to the most deserving eighth-grade graduate). By the end of the 20th century, licensing requirements had stiffened considerably in public education, and salary increases and advancement often depended on the earning of advanced degrees and professional development in school-based settings.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Normal school — Normal Nor mal (n[^o]r mal), a. [L. normalis, fr. norma rule, pattern, carpenter s square; prob. akin to noscere to know; cf. Gr. gnw rimos well known, gnw mwn gnomon, also, carpenter s square: cf. F. normal. See {Known}, and cf. {Abnormal},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Normal school — School School, n. [OE. scole, AS. sc?lu, L. schola, Gr. ? leisure, that in which leisure is employed, disputation, lecture, a school, probably from the same root as ?, the original sense being perhaps, a stopping, a resting. See {Scheme}.] 1. A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • normal school — n. [based on Fr école normale] a school, usually with a two year program, for training high school graduates to be elementary schoolteachers …   English World dictionary

  • Normal school — A historic marker commemorating Florence State Teachers College in the United States, now the University of North Alabama, the oldest state supported teachers college south of the Ohio River. A normal school is a school created to train high… …   Wikipedia

  • normal school — A teachers college. State Teachers College v Morris, 165 Miss 758, 144 So 374; Normal School Dist. v Painter, 102 Mo 464, 14 SW 938. A school particularly for the education and training of school teachers. 15 Am J2d Colleges § 4. Not a common or… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • Normal School Historic District — U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Historic district …   Wikipedia

  • Normal School for Colored Girls — Miner Normal School U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • normal school — Synonyms and related words: academe, academia, alma mater, college, college of engineering, community college, degree granting institution, four year college, graduate school, institute of technology, ivied halls, journalism school, junior… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • normal school — nor′mal school n. edu a former school giving a two year program to high school graduates preparing to be teachers • Etymology: 1825–35 …   From formal English to slang

  • normal school — noun Etymology: translation of French école normale; from the fact that the first French school so named was intended to serve as a model Date: 1838 a usually 2 year school for training chiefly elementary teachers …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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