Abstract
In the beginning of the nineteeth century, as the movement to establish independent teachers seminaries became noticeable, Massachusetts was the first pioneer state to set these seminaries on their way in the United States. Three free normal schools, in Lexington and Barse, in 1839, and at Bridgewater, in 1840, were established in Massachusetts. These schools were established under the regulations of 1839 and 1840, and came under the supervision of the State Board of Education, but directly under the Committe of Visitors. Problems such as lack of understanding of teaching as a professional occupation, the relatively high expense besides the tuition, and the low wage base of teachers, which seemed to be blocking the sound development of normal school education in the late 1840's, were found through careful analysis to necessitate an extension of the term of study and a betterment of the various situations under which the students had to carry on their work during this period. As an outcome of the great emphasis placed on the training of women teachers by the State Normal Schools, more and more women teachers took their place in society daring this period. However, as Mann pointed out, their advancement was not based on the fact that women teachers were thought to make better teachers, but because they could be paid less than men. Though a relatively large number of normal school graduates came to be employed in Massachusetts, the main purpose of the normal school was not eminently successful, because the low pay and the low social status did not encourage most teachers to stay in their position permanently. In practice and in organization these normal schools, seen from the stand point of the teachers seminary movement of the early nineteenth century, were still far from the ideal. But as putting the ideal into same sort of form, highlighting the problems of that time, and putting stress on the need for the professionalization of teaching, this development in the late 1840's must be considered important.
