3.7. R EPORTES DE RSE E INSTITUCIONES DE ACCIÓN COLECTIVA
3.7.2. Global Compact de la ONU
In 1916 Albania was invaded by the Austro-Hungarian troops. The Serbian and Montenegrin troops left the country. Two thirds of Albania, as far as the Vjosa river, in the south, was invaded by the Austro-Hungarians, while Vlora and later Djirokastra, with the other districts around them, were invaded by the Italians and Korcha by the French. During the Austria-Hungarian invasion significant
education developments happened in Albania. The Austrian-Hungarian government exercised an educational policy known as Aksioni shkollor*{Schoo\ Action), which implied development of education in Albania by extending the network of schools and Albanian language education.
The Aksioni Shkollor was applied in the context of the Cultus Protectorate*, which the Austrian Hungarian Empire enjoyed since the 18* century. To apply this policy, the Austrian-Hungarian Government relied on the Catholic Church to take care of the catholic population which constituted 15% of the Albanian population, located in the north of the country. It took actions to prepare the clergy, subsidize Catholic Orders and institutions and opened a number of non-secular schools. Also Albanians were given the right to self administration, develop their national culture and use their language. For more than two years the schools, which were opened in the framework of Cultus Protectorate, applied the Austrian-Hungarian curriculum. The German language was introduced as a second foreign language in all schools (Kanini, 2001).
The opening of a number of schools required teachers. Therefore a number o f teachers were trained in the rende të shpejta. During this time, in the Normal School of Elbasan two training courses with pupils from all over Albania were conducted. Seventy pupils participated in the first two-month training course (July-August 1916) out of which 30 came from Kosova. Upon completion of the first course in Berat, Salih Djuka* submitted to the Prefect of Berat his training plan for teachers who would be working in the qytetënore* (elementary school) and in the Normal School. The rende të shpejta were conducted in several other regions of Albania. During the Austro-Hungarian occupation they extended as far as Kosova, Prizren, Peje and Vuchitem. Later, in 1918 the Normal School of Elbasan was united with the qytetëse (Gashi 1967, pp. 36-37).
In the Italian occupied areas the schools were of a low quality. Teachers were Italian soldiers who, in addition to other subjects, also taught Italian. There was no common curriculum in these schools, hence a chaotic situation prevailed because each individual teacher applied his own teaching methods. In the
mainly French dominated area, Korcha, in 1917, the French opened a Lyceum, which was the first Comprehensive Secondary School (gjimnaz) in Albania. All subjects were delivered in French and the French curriculum was applied.
As a response to unsatisfactory conditions prevailing in Albania’s schools, efforts were made to revive the national culture and education. With the help of the Austrian-Hungarian government, in August
1916,
the General Directorate of Education (GDE) was set up in Shkodër headed by Luigj Gurakuqi. It functioned as the supreme education authority and had three Directorates under its umbrella, the Directorate of Education (DE) of Shkodër, Berat, and Tirana. It defined the aim of the Albanian schools, which was “to provide pupils not only with knowledge, but also to impart on them humanistic feelings, integrity and responsibility, love of their motherland, strong character, all those qualities necessary for a nation to exist”(Kanini2001,
p.115).
Elementary education was made compulsory for children from7-12
years of age. Schools and dormitories were put under the direct supervision of the GDE of the Bërzik (region). Teaching was done in Albanian. Also Albanian schools were opened in Ulcinj, Plavë (now part of Montenegro), Djakova (in Kosova) and in other areas.As the training and retraining of teachers was top priority for the GDE, Luigj Gurakuqi took quick measures. With the decision No.
685/ni
dated 23.3.1917
two Normal schools were opened: one in Shkodër and the Normal School in Elbasan was reopened, their directors being Gaspër Beltoja* and Aleksander Xhuvani* respectively. They focused mainly on the rapid preparation of teachers through the rende të shpejta. These were also started in Shkodër, Tiranë and Pejë (Kosova) to train temporary teachers.In addition to training teachers in the Normal Schools of the country, the GDE also supported the training of teachers in other countries mainly in Austria, Italy, France and Germany. The government provided highly qualified pupils with a full scholarship and some with a partial stipend. Out of the sixty Albanian young people who studied in the schools of Austria in
1917, 39
attended normal schooland thirteen were female. The San Adrian College in Italy became an important centre for the education of Albanian boys (Kazazi, 1992).
The Normal School of Shkodër was opened under the direct auspice of Luigj Gurakuqi and of the Komisia Letrare* in Shkodër. The aim of the school was „To train boys for the People's Schools*
(folkeschule) in Albania" (Dizdari 1987, p. 21). It received financial support from the Shkodra people.
The state provided 36.000 korona* (crowns) every month to pupils with high results and who experienced economic difficulties. Only pupils with high achievements benefited from this scholarship.
The management o f the school was required to report on the pupils' progress to the government. Pupils who attended this school were required to sign a document stating that upon completion they would serve education for five years with no pay. During 1917 the school functioned as a rend i shpejtë. Forty teachers were trained in this course (Dizdari, 1987 p. 27). On 15 September of the same year, the klasa gatimore* (preparatory course) in the Normal school of Shkodër was opened. It accepted pupils who had completed either the five-year elementary school, or a three-year school or any other similar school of this level.
The academic year in the Normal School of Shkodra lasted six months. The teacher training programme was designed by Gaspër Beltoja. Pupils learned logic, methodology, personality psychology, age psychology, psychology with elements of sociology, applied educational psychology, general pedagogy, didactics, history of pedagogy and laws on elementary education and methodology of pedagogic practice. The rendi përgatitor of the normal schools provided pupils with comprehensive education (Prendushi, 1978, p. 137). Pupils were supposed to learn French and Italian or German and Italian and Albanian language and „moral education" were extremely important. Pedagogic preparation and Albanian language were a priority for the school. If a pupil received a «negative mark" in the subject areas of pedagogy, teaching practice, Albanian language and mathematics, he was not entitled to sit for an oral examination.
Pupils were evaluated by the teaching staff of the school every three months. If they failed to demonstrate acceptable skills while they were attending the preparatory course, they were dismissed (Kazazi 1992). At the end of the pedagogic course, participants were awarded a certificate that qualified them to teach in the elementary schools of the country. These newly qualified graduates worked a two-year probation period and during which they were supervised to make sure that they had mastered the teaching skills. Afterwards, they sat an exam in pedagogy, pedagogic practice and the Albanian language. Retraining of teachers was organized annually via the «General Teachers' Conference.
The Normal School of Shkodër was short lived. The Serbian orthodox clergy put pressure on the Directorate of Education, which subsequently ordered its closure for the 1919-1920 academic year.
Two other qytetëse, one for the Moslems (muhamedanë) and one for the Christians, were opened (AQSH. MA 1920, p. 257), while the Orthodox clergy started their own school in Shkodër. The Moslem clerics started a madrase* with the support of the Moslem community; some of the schools received support from the state administration. Therefore, the Ministry of Education in September 1922 opened the State Gymnasium of Shkodra (Gjimnazi Shtetëror i Shkodrës), which had a provisional normal branch (Repishti & Luli, 1972, p. 25).
Because of the growing interest in and support in 1919 a Catholic School was opened in Shkodër, the Normal Branch o f the Saverian College, headed by a Catholic priest. Padre Ambros Marlaskaj. In fact it was founded in 1888 at the initiative of the tradesmen of Shkodra and managed to survive for a number of years due to the support of the Austiian-hungarians. Later, when the Austiians left and the Italians came, it continued to operate with the Italian funding. The curriculum of the Normal Branch o f the Saverian College included a number of subjects but Albanian language and mathematics were of high priority. The course on pedagogy started in grade two all the way to graduation in grade four, which was the year when pupils graduated from the school. Upon graduation, the young teachers taught in the schools of Shkodër, Durrës, Pejë, Djakovë and Prizren.
Two years later, in 1921, the Normal Branch for the girl’s school Stigmantine Sisters was opened again in Shkodër. The Stigmantine Sisters had opened several schools for girls, some of them were religious and some of them public schools. This one was a religious school and was established on the foundations of a former school, which had been opened in 1879. It received financial support from two sources: the Inspectorate of Education and the GDE. In 1922, the Provincial of the Franciscans in Shkodër (Provinciali i Franceskanëve të Shkodrës), Pal Dodaj, in a letter sent to the Ministry of Education, requested that the school become a boarding school for girls so that education of women could be encouraged.
The Normal School of Stigmantine Sisters was a comprehensive (e plotë) secondary school, of four- year duration, starting after the gatimore class. The structure of the school comprised: the junior elementary level - senior elementary level and the normal level. The school curricula was approved by the GDE. In addition to general subjects, pupils studied pedagogy, methodology, practical exercises (pedagogic practice). French or Italian were the two foreign languages taught. Professional subjects were taught by outstanding Albanian Catholic scholars from high ranking clergy. Pedagogy was taught in the second, third and fourth year; a total of eight hours. In the second year pupils studied general psychology; in the third they studied didactics and edukatë* (mësim i edukatës i.e. values) and in the fourth year the history of pedagogy. Pupils were introduced to Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Quintilianni, Rabule, Comenius, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel and Herbart as well as French, Russian, Italian and American scholars of the 20* century. The Boys’ Normal School and the Girls’ Normal School curricula were almost the same except that in the boys’ curriculum the subject areas o f hygiene and home economics were replaced by agriculture. (Programa e mësimëvet të shkollës normale mashkullore dhe femnore, 1925, Shtypshkronja «Mbrothësia", Kristo Luarasi, Tiranë). Passive pedagogic practice took place in a mentor school, one hour a week in the first semester and two hours per week in the second semester. While the four-year pupils had their pedagogic practice throughout
the school year in all the classes of the mentor school. In 1932 the school became part of the normal branch of the State Gymnasium of Shkodra (Kazazi, 1992).
Pupils studying in the normal schools were exposed to different scholars and their theories, however the prevailing pedagogy in the schools of that time was the herbartian pedagogy. The influence of Herbart was evident in the rigid structure of the lesson, which was markedly characterized by the authority of the teacher. Herbart‘s five formal steps preparation (gatim) - aim (qëllim) - presentation (të paraqitun) - summary (të përmbledhun) - exercises (drills) became very popular particularly during 1919-1920 with the I-IV grade curriculum designed by Gaspër Beltoja. In 1920 he adapted the book
“Pedagogjia theoritike” from German for primary school teachers and normal school students. In fact Herbartianism had already been introduced in the School fo r Francescans in Shkodër where an adapted version of the Austrian-Hungarian curriculum was applied (Koci, A. Popullor, 1965, No. 4, p. 92).
According to Kobuija (1999 interview), the introduction of Herbartian pedagogy was a spontaneous development. The influence of the Austrian education system and curriculum would inevitably influence on Albanian education and introduce Herbartian pedagogy in Albania’s schools; at that time Herbart had become quite popular in Europe.
The Herbartian pedagogy was introduced in Albanian schools under conditions in which education in Albania was still chaotic. At that time, the central government’s control of the curriculum left much to be desired as the numerous private and foreign schools were operating their own methods and pedagogy. Under these conditions the herbartian pedagogy was a utilitarian solution to control education and put it on track. It disciplined and standardized the teaching process and made the school controllable. On the other hand, it eliminated the democratic character of education that had been encouraged during the Rilindja Kombëtare Shqiptare. Teaching became standardized but authoritarian.