Imagine what it might be like to go to school just a few weeks of the year! If you lived in rural Norway 250 years ago, that is likely to be your school experience.
On my recent trip to Norway I visited a number of
museums and historical parks where I learned some of the history of educational
practices in Norway. Beginning in 1739 both boys and girls were required to
attend school. In rural areas a teacher walked from village to village and gathered
children from the nearest farms to attend lessons for a few weeks of the year.
The teacher carried a chest in which he kept books and other materials.
This chest dating from 1760, which we saw in a museum
in Alesund, Norway, belonged to a teacher named Peder Knutsen Nossen (1736-1818).
Engraved on the top of the chest: This chest the books will carry, To teach the
youngsters, My mission will be.
The chest was inherited by Peder’s grandchild, who
painted her initials on it.
