Hartvig Nissen

Hartvig Nissen , Ole Hartvig Nissen, (born April 17, 1815 in Melhus , † February 4, 1874 in Christiania ) was a Norwegian teacher and school reformer.

Life

His parents were the pastor Peder Schjelderup Nissen (1775-1826) and his wife Bolette Margrethe Musæus (1774-1859). On June 12, 1843, he married in Christiania Karen Magdalena Aas (October 26, 1820– January 24, 1900), daughter of Sorenskrivers and chancellery Johannes Henriksen Aas (1770–1822) and his wife Kristine Colban (1791–1863).

In 1835 Nissen began studying philology at Christiania University. He stayed three semesters in Copenhagen to study Sanskrit. During his student days he was an active member of "Den filologisk Forening", which was founded by the rector of the Cathedral School in Trondheim, Frederik Moltke Bugge . In the spring of 1843 he passed his exam.

In the same year he sent out an invitation to attend a training institute based on newer and more recognized principles. He had brought these principles with him from Denmark. It was a question of giving greater consideration to science subjects in school. They were implemented in Nissen's Latin and Realschule in Christiania, which began in 1843 with 33 students and which he founded with the school reformer Ole Jacob Broch . Nissen's goal was the equality of the natural sciences with the classical subjects and the direct admission of pupils of the elementary school in the high school. His understanding of the natural sciences also included the inclusion of a living language as the first foreign language in the curriculum. His publications and his first private model school also resulted in the new high school law being suspended indefinitely in 1845.

Hartvig Nissens School, former girls' school.

Nissen's next school project, Nissen's Girls' School , was founded in Christiania in 1849. In a series of articles in Christiania-Posten , he insisted that girls should receive the same education as boys. This was a radical view in the 1840s, but it paved the way for female teachers in the 1860s. From 1861 many female teachers were trained.

In 1850 Nissen initiated the establishment of "Selskabet til Folkeoplysningens Fremme" (Society for the Promotion of Popular Education) and was its chairman until 1855. It should promote civic education and counteract the development of uncontrollable mass movements such as the teetotaler movement. Another great school reformer, Ole Vig , edited the society's magazine, the Volksfreund . The collaboration between the two can be seen as a line of coherent school policy from Bugge's idea of ​​a single school to Venstre's school policy in the 1880s and 1890s.

From 1850 to 1854 he interrupted his practical work at his school and became an expert on school issues in the church department. At the same time he was a teacher in pedagogy in the university's theological-practical seminar. In 1853 he traveled to Scotland to study the school rules there. On his return he wrote a description of the Scottish elementary school of almost 500 pages. Together with Bugge's scholarship report of almost 1000 pages from 1838, this is a central document in Norwegian school history.

At the end of 1854 he resumed his duties as rector of the two schools that bore his name, but continued to be involved in school policy issues, in particular the new law for rural elementary schools that was in preparation. In 1856, as a private citizen and school director, he submitted his own draft law for elementary schools. The draft was sent to the various school commissions for consultation and a royal commission was set up to consider the proposal. But they did not agree with most of Nissen's points. However, the State Council in the church department of Hans Riddervold now shared Nissen's views, and so the draft was submitted to Storting, which, after deliberation, passed a law that followed Nissen's basic principles. From 1860 the country schools became Christian-middle-class schools similar to the city schools: In addition to basic Christian instruction, they were now supposed to educate the youth to become conscious citizens of society.

In 1857 he was the first to campaign for the annual meeting of the Storting, which until now had only met every three years.

In 1865 Nissen became "Ekspedisjons boss" for school matters in the church department. In the same year he sold his two schools. State Councilor Riddervold wanted him to be the senior technical director for school affairs in Norway. At the same time he was chairman of the commission for the reform of high schools. Shortly before the appointment, Nissen had published a series of articles "Om Ordningen av vor høiere Skolevæsen" (On the order of our higher schools), which caused a heated argument in the press. His view of the future schools was largely shared by the school commission. In 1869 the Storting passed the law for the higher schools. It is the last link in the great school reform behind which Nissen stood. A three-year community school for all children has been introduced here, and the new name of the school marks the demise of the old Latin school. The encyclopedic training principle had triumphed. No subject was superordinate to the others, as had previously been the case with religion and Latin.

Tomb for Harvig Nissen in Oslo.

The law of 1869 also required new teacher training, which was drawn up in 1871. A linguistic-historical and a mathematical-scientific teacher examination were introduced. Nissen also wanted to introduce one-year pedagogical training with exams to better qualify university graduates for teaching in schools, but this proposal was not accepted by the Storting. It was not until 1905 that a six-month practical pedagogical seminar was provisionally introduced, which was only expanded into a one-year seminar in 1992, as Nissen had originally proposed.

In 1873 Nissen took over the Kristiania Cathedral School as rector, but died after half a year in office. His Latin and Realschule was closed in the same year, his girls' school was taken over by the city in 1919 and still exists today, since 1955 under the name Hartvig-Nissen-Schule and as a coeducational school .

Awards

Since 1852 he was a member of " Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab " and in 1864 became a Knight of the Order of St. Olavs .

Remarks

1. ↑ "Department" is the name for a ministry. The schools ruled in the church department.
2. ^ "Council of State" was the official title for most ministers in Norway.
3. ↑ Hartvig Nissen . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape  17 : Mielck – Nordland . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1924, p. 980 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
4. ↑ "Ekspedisjons-Chef" was the head of a department within the church department, so more than a department head today, more like a state secretary for his area.

literature

• Rolf Grankvist: Hartvig Nissen . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon ; Retrieved February 27, 2010.