(CZ) Škola vysokých studií pedagogických v Praze
(EN) School of Higher Pedagogical Studies in Prague

The School of Higher Pedagogical Studies came into being in the period of the bourgeois Czechoslovak Republic, in the year 1921, with the aim of bridging the gap between the demands on the work of teachers teaching at lower school grades, the teachers’ own educational needs on die one hand, and the low standard of teacher education provided by former Teacher Training Institutes taken over by Czechoslovakia from the Austro-Hungarian educational system, on the other hand.
The idea of higher education for elementary school teachers and municipal (non-selective junior secondary) school teachers dates back to the 19th century, and the teachers had expected that the creation of an independent Czechoslovak State would become a decisive turning point in this respect To their great disappointment, however, the ruling bourgeoisie proved incapable of realizing any fondamental changes with regard to improving the quality of the training of teachers of non-selective schools providing education for the masses. The progressive teachers realized, soon after the declaration of Czechoslovakia’s independence in 1918, how difficult the struggle for the establishment of a state institution of higher education for teachers would be, and therefore they try to solve the problem by opening the School of Higher Pedagogical Studies in Prague in 1921. This school was a self-help institution maintained by one of the largest teachers’ organizations, the Czechoslovak Teaching Community. The school had no effect on qualification, the students — teachers practically all of them — contributed to its operation themselves. They were acquainted with the topical problems of pedagogy, psychology and other sciences by teachers from the faculties of the Charles University. During the period of nearly two decades’ of its existence the school considerably extended the scope of its activities, providing a new type of teacher education in the form of a private pedagogical faculty (later called Two-Year Pedagogical Academy), taking part in the school reform campaign, developing relations with the Soviet school etc. No less important is the fact that the school became a centre of the progressive activities of Communist and progressively minded teachers, who significantly influenced the students’ world outlook.
We therefore regard this institution as a part of the progressive traditions of our higher pedagogical education.