Mu& b educationhaving reflected upon the materials which they will be able to use in
the classroom (textbooks, song collections, etc.) and for the prepara-
tion of their lessons. For this purpose, an educational library, as well
as bibliographical information and information regarding gramophone
records, is placed at their disposal.
This information for assistance in the keeping up to date of teaching
materials is supplemented by the Cabiers d’lnformation et de Czdture
Mmicale Popdaire, which keep readers informed about new publications.
Theoretical knowledge alone, however, is obviously not enough
for the purpose of preparing a future teacher for his real task; he must
also be brought into direct contact with classes. For this reason, part
of his training consists in demonstration lessons, which reveal and
develop his ability to teach. The student teachers also learn what they
must and must not do; experience is the only, and the best, adviser in
this held. Lessons, practice in directing choirs, the presentation of
recorded works, lectures and talks leading up to post-school activities-
all this must play a part in the training of future teachers, and enable
their instructors to discover their capacities and to guide them.
Training for popular educational activities also includes information
about the relevant potentialities ; those destined to be organizers must
know how to organize instrumental ensembles (brass bands, brass
and reed bands, etc.) and what repertory to choose for them.
The courses bearing on general culture are mainly intended to
develop in the future teacher a general outlook which will prevent
him from splitting up his knowledge into a number of watertight com-
partments, as it were, such as music, history, literature and the arts.
Except in the case of the history of music, such courses cannot and
should not aim to provide detailed knowledge or erudition. But all
the courses and lectures seek to broaden the student teacher’s know-
ledge by giving him a general conspectus (comprehensive views of
history and art), so that he will have a deeper human understanding
of history and of the various externalizations of man’s creative genius.
The general programme of studies includes courses in the history
of music, courses in general history and the history of art, literary
studies (analysis of texts, exercises in style), and lectures on culture.
Cultural visits, in France and abroad, also have a place in this scheme,
which is designed to broaden the student teacher’s horizon and develop
his sensibility.
The professional training is rounded off by the community life at
the seminars and teacher-training centres, and by personal contacts
with instructors whose aim is to make the education they give