RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 290, 4 December 1920, Page 18

RANDOM SHOTS

*z4m_q_t

The forthcoming military display on tho Domain has been advertised .as a

"monstrous" affair. It is no more so than somebody's idea of English. By the way, the same mistake was made recently in advertising an entertainment at tho Town Hall, and was pointed out in this column. Everybody really ought to read "Random Shots." It pays. -j- till till itnliit..l t. "li only people would devote the money they spend in a week upon beer, picture shows, and horse-racing to educational purposes, all that is required could be accomplished."—Chairman of the Education Board during the week.

'"Ullo, Bill! Fancy meeting you!" "Cheer-i-o, ol' chap. Cummanavadrink." "Right-o." At the bar:— '• "Well, ol' 'orse, 'ere's luck. No, Bill, I can't. (Puts glass down.) I can't." "'Ere, what's the matter?" Ain't my company good enough?"

"Oh, yes. Bill. Yer my best pal. lint I can't drink. I've just remembered what Banks said about us, and those pore kids at Beresford Street wantin' a playground."

"So 'c did. I'm with yer. Thanks for givin' mc the tip, ol' chap. 1 reckon we'd a' 'ad three drinks apiece 'ere, eh? Well, we put the rest to the kids, eh ?" "Right y' arc." Exeunt in tears. ---I--*.-_•_•-• _•_*_■•-• I suspect that teachers feel themselves hampered in criticising Professor Shelley's views on education .by fear of being thought reactionary, but I hope some of them will !-ave their say. li? torn tes it. Tlie Tolstoyian idea 01 school with no desks, and the pupils doing much as they like, and everything made as pleasant as possible for "them, •would make the theme of an enterta'ning book. According to him teaclie s are tyrants, and children have wings, and there is no health in the system Nomohow I don't ieel in the mood Icr dealing lightly with thia idea of education; it seems altogether too serious in its consequences. What are you to say of a man who tells you with apparent seriousness that "no child was ever pun —ed justly in schools"? The school of educationists to which he belongs apparently believes that everything must be made as easy and pleasant as possible for the child at school. Da you remember the little girl in "Punch,"' who was left in charge of a nervous and inexperienced uncle for the afternoon? "Uncle John," she said, "Mamma says I'm ono of those children that . must be led and can't be driven, so you'd better begin by giving mc some cake." That's tho new education.. The child must not be thwarted at all. It must have tho freest i scope for its expression. If it wants to ; ask its neighbour in the middle of a lesson on vulgar fractions that child's opinion on the Charlie Chnplin picture at the theatre, it must be allowed to do so. If it is bored by an explanation of the changes in the seasons, the fault is the teachers for not making the lesson interesting enough, and the teacher must change his methods,' and so on.

*■--■-! M"M>_. There is this much in this theory ot education, that instruct ion should" be fresh and interesting, and the child's cooperation should be secured as far as possible. In other words, the child should be treated like a human being, not like a machine. But the fundamental objection to pushing tile theory to the lengths to which the extremists would go, is that it conflicts tragically with life. Life is a mighty serious business in which we have to suffer and obey, work hard, and do many unpleasant tilings. Is it 0. good preparation for life that a child should be led to believe that is easy and pleasant? Tlie contrast between the product of 6iich a hampering system and the realities of life, resembles the situation that would be created if you took one of tho sheltered young women from one of Jane Austen's novels and dumped her down in London to-day and told her to go and earn her own living.

*+4"M"J"t*!»*-+ One could write on this subject till the cows come home, or until the last was heard of Mr. Murray's case. How do 'hese "emancipators" expect children to obey their superiors when they become men and control themselves generally, when they have not been taught discipline and restraint at school? Everybody has at times to take orders from somebody else, or accommodate himself to somebody else, or deny himself something for somebody else's benefit. Will a child who is allowed complete self expression at school, including the right to chatter to his neighbour, bo disinclined afterwards to chatter in the course of a play, or a concert, or a lecture by a professor of education?

Much has been published ctf late in reference to the ignorance of Xew Zealand displayed in other quarters of the globe. One of the latest tales is told in Wellington hy Mr. R. Adair, wiio has just returned from a visit to the United •States. He relates that two school teachers were discussing Xew Zealand, and one declared it was an island off the Madras coast, while the other persisted that it was a part of Newfoundland. When showing a college group, in a IXew Zealand weekly paper, one of the number remarked in astonished tone:

"Why, this is printed in the English language, and yet it is puiblis'hed in Xew Zealand. Is it a translation?" The most colossal statement was made by a chairman who, introducing him to an audience, said: "He is a Xew Zealander, and a product of American missions."

Of a piece with these narratives is the reported act of a London Post Office official, who found it necessary to look up a reference book to ascertain wnere _"ew Zealand was, when asked to send a parcel to that unknown country! There is also the incident of an English newspaper gravely informing its readers that steamships had given up making Master—n, X.Z., a port of call! But then what can they be expected to know in England about Masterton? It was a Xew Zealander who 6aid the war had taught her so much; she had always thought Gibraltar was on the West Coast of Africa, and now she knew it was on the Straits of Dover!