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Glite Dictionary
normal school

normal school

3 6.7
A college that trains people to become primary school teachers
  • noun
  • /ˈnɔrməl skuːl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : escuela normal
  • With this in mind, the student was observed a total of three times during his normal school day.
  • normal school day
  • attend normal school
  • normal school setting

Examples

  • If this place closes down, we have to go to other schools, and by that I mean normal schools.

    St Trinian's (2007)

  • I did get to go to a normal school throughout and and made some of my best friends.

  • Many of these institutions began as normal schools, and many continue to have teacher training programs.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The typical pattern had students attend the normal school following the completion of their eight years of common schooling.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The highest-ranking students could receive free normal school educations and guarantees of teaching jobs.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Sampling was conducted during a normal school day to ensure that HVAC conditions would be representative of ordinary classroom conditions.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The normal school offered a comprehensive curriculum for aspiring elementary teachers.

  • She attended a normal school where she learned how to effectively teach young children.

  • After completing her degree at the normal school, she became a primary school teacher.

Synonyms

teachers college
vsnormal school
2.8

A college that trains people to teach in primary schools

typically denotes a two year program specifically training elementary teachers

How Vocational

trade school
8 3.0
normal school
  • Archaic
3 6.7
secondary school
  • US
15 2.0

Surface Forms

normal school singular
normal schools plural

Morphology

normal + school

Although composed of the familiar words 'normal' and 'school', in this phrase 'normal' has a historical/specialized sense (from French 'école normale') meaning a teacher-training institution rather than 'ordinary', so a B1 learner who only knows the common meanings would likely interpret it as a regular school. The institutional, lexicalized meaning is not derivable from the constituent meanings without prior exposure, so it is opaque to typical learners.

Etymology

Normal school comes from the French name école normale, where normal meant 'standard' or 'model' and the school taught the usual way to teach. That's why today normal school means a college that trains 'teachers'.