Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - From College Teacher Training to State-directed Teacher Training in Sárospatak
SECONDARY SCHOOL AND COLLEGE 174 Lajos Dezső fact that the transition of ownership had ushered in significant changes, the most obvious being that the curriculum was state-mandated. This was viewed as a step backwards since there was less time allotted to most of everything. The state regulations, which were enacted in 1869, prescribed less hours of study in the curriculum than the number which were scheduled when the College had itself determined the curriculum. The number of class hours was reduced in the different year levels to thirty-one, this from the previous number of between thirty-eight and forty-one hours. An equally marked change took place in the content of the curriculum, also. The proportion of liberal arts subjects included in the curriculum increased while the proportion of all other subjects decreased, pedagogy decreasing from twenty-two to fourteen percent while natural sciences, mathematics and music also decreased by four to five percent. Not surprisingly, the resultant reorganization was the subject of numerous discussions within the teaching staff, its members often organizing meetings to reflect on their own subjects and area of concentration and sending the collected suggestions to the Ministry. One such suggestion involved extending the duration of such a training program to four full years. Approval for this was granted in 1882. Acting on another suggestion of the professors in Patak, the MNER, in 1909, mandated ‘health studies’ to be taught as a separate subject. One of the reasons for the national renown of the College in Patak dwelt in the fact that its teaching staff functioned as a closed, creative group and intellectual workshop. The members of the staff, between eight and twelve in number, often audited each other’s classes, organized expository classes for each other and not only encouraged their students to join various societies but they themselves also participated in many, too. Adhering to a planned schedule, they often visited classes in the ‘practicing school’ and travelled to other national and international institutions to study the work being done there. One of the most prominent and principal figures behind this fruitful intellectual work was Lajos Dezső (1847-1904). After having completed his studies in Sárospatak, he taught in Szentes for a while. He passed the bar examination and, in 1873, he was invited to be a professor in Patak. As an elected teacher already, he spent nine months in Germany, Switzerland and France, and much like Árvay and Zsindely who had preceded him, he was able to introduce and implement in Patak some of the most important international developments and applications which he had encountered and learned. Not surprisingly, he was appointed by the Minister of Education to be the director in 1875, at the age of only twenty-seven. He proved to be an excellent leader. In addition to the innovations which he had learned abroad, he also developed a detailed plan for a student residence which could be paired with the TTS and thus have the two institutions function together as one integrated unit. Nothing proved his progressive and advanced thinking better than the fact that his plans regarding the school in Patak - as proposed in 1883 - would become reality thirty years later, and not only for Patak, but for the entire country. He placed great emphasis on teaching his students the importance of a healthy lifestyle and patriotism; he organized study tours for them and devised newer ways of keeping in touch with the parents. He also left a legacy, this including not only the textbooks which
