Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - First part - IV. Education and Mental Culture - 4. Technical Education. By Lector A. Söderblom, Ph. D., Chalmers' Polytechnical College, Gothenburg - G) Professional Schools - 5. Swedish Gymnastics - Swedish Gymnastics, by Prof. L. M. Törngren, Stockholm
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
348 IV. EDUCATION AND MENTAL CULTURE IN SWEDEN.
G) The previous account of the polytechnic instruction in Sweden confirms
our above pronounced opinion that it occupies a high place in our days. It is,
however, not to be denied that the pure practical training has been, in some
degree, neglected. In order to mend matters, the Town Council of Stockholm, in
April 1901, appointed a Committee, which should investigate the case and bring
forward a proposal for the improvement of the practical instruction in mechanical
arts. Experts have therefore been sent abroad for the purpose of studying the
question, and printed forms with questions have been sent round to our chief
manufacturers and employers of artisans, in order to learn their opinion in the matter.
The work of the Committee is not yet finished, but there is good hope that the
result will be the founding of a number of Professional Schools, where the
instruction should be given in technical evening classes, specialized more than at
present for each different branch, and in exclusively practical, elementar}’ classes
for mechanics, as well as in industrial schools for women. There has already
been started a School for Masons and one for Tailors in Stockholm — private
enterprises, it is true, yet enjoying a considerable grant from the City.
5. swedish gymnastics.
The Swedish gymnastics derive
their origin from Per Henrik Ling
(1776/1839). Before his time, it is
true, interest had been awakened
in favour of a more thorough
exercise of the body. Various
writers as well as school
committees had urged the importance of
athletic exercises in the training
of the young, and both our
universities had their fencing masters;
but there existed nothing of
gymnastics in the present sense of the
term. The conception of the
»Philanthropists» with regard to bodily
training was never realized in
Sweden.
Ling’s appearance at Lund in
1805 as university fencing master
was the real beginning, and by
the founding of the Central
Gymnastic Institute (1813), which was
also owing to Ling’s initiative, the
first and most essential step forward was taken towards establishing
that seat of learning whence, as Ling’s prophetic eye had foreseen,
Per Henrik Ling.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
