[1] In 1886, McMurry enrolled in universities in Halle and Jena, Germany, with interest in studying educational theories and psychology.

McMurry studied the works of Karl Stoy and Willhelm Rein, who were two of the leading German Herbartian educators at the time.

In 1891, McMurry returned to Illinois State Normal University and became a professor of pedagogy as well as a training teacher for the university's model school, where he began to incorporate Herbartianism into his educational models and lessons.

[1] He returned to the United States and was hired at Columbia University where he was appointed professor in 1898.

While at the Illinois State University, he introduced the "practice-teaching" method,[1]which is now commonly known as "student teaching" and is found in most teacher training programs across the country.