ADULT EDUCATION

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20199, 30 March 1931, Page 12

ADULT EDUCATION

1931 SEASON OF W.E.A. OFFICIAL OPENING. The official opening of the Workers' Education Association's 1931 season was held in the Trades Hall on Saturday evening. Mr H. D. Acland presided, and Colonel G. J. Smith (chairman of the Canterbury College Board of -Governors) and Professor J. Hight (chairman, of the Tutorial Class Committee) were also present. .■ ,'j., Mr Acland- reviewed the foundation of, the ( Association 17 years ago and the progress that it .had; made, i He believed, that. it - had. done ono of -the greatest educational jworks possible in Now Zealand, because it had kept onlyone' aim in. viW—the pursuit;of, know-; -ledge, the study and the appreciation of, •new tideas, '■ He,,apologised .for /the absence of, Professor Shelley and • of i Mr - E,- J.; , Howard,-M;P< , . ; . - Dr. ■Hight spoke on . the Dominion* annual report fcr last year,* and congratulated the Association: oxi' its sue-' cess. ..He mentioned that more .than - a ' quarter of the! students in New Zealand were: living ,thei. Canterbury district. JThpre could; be no". doubt-that the edu-j cation provided, was meeting a 'great Opjeed.' / ■- j.

Another favourable sign in the annual ; report was . the' support - from : locfe.l bodies. The income from' that source was growingi and, "thongh it was J still ■ too small in comparison with their needs, it was a hopeful indication of the support that the Association might receive. It . was necessary now for them to progress and develop. A large field of influence for the W.E.A. lay in broadcasting. The Dominion Council had set up a committee to report" On a possible . scheme, and that committee would report shortly. Another extension that should be attempted was in science—by general courses on the nature.and meaning of science in general. Again, in every centre, special study should bej made of New Zealand and her cultural development. There was a' tendency at; pjegsent for New Zea- . landers to regard .tiielr culture as exclusively an Epglish or at least a Euro- , pean product; That ..was not a healthy 'tendency, and New Zealanders should' adhere to standards of their' own and keep' their .own special New Zealand ■quality. 'They milst draw tHexr talents and abilities in essentials from their > native sources, In this time ihe W.E.|A. movement- , must -be developed in: the minds of the' | people. They must guard against pessi-* 'mism, and they must guard also againstfoolish optimism, "Our studies 'of- the world must sh<>w us the way to a settlemeat of our problems and <our. : studies of the arts, must show us that .man does -not live by bread' alone, Finally, tho W.E.A. student' must understand that there is^a need, for'moderation in all things. He must hot*be.east down by: blinding pessimism or inflated 'by equally blinding optimism. Mr G. Manning,, secretary of the As-, sociation, fipoke, in ,place of Professor J. Shelley, director of the WJB.A. He welcomed the students present and' traced the development of the movement in Canterbury since its'foundation. The following programme was given Sdnring.jgie < l Mr A'. Jt^eq^^!9^^|ba v ' t C. ' Afteri we * of , the the late.; ' .from this naming,, juid week-hy-| weei jpr<sgramaj9 - Monday—lo,3o a.rdi, Trades Hall,: >p.m., -Trades Hall, Enblic Shaking, Mr] John Bigg; pan,, " laboratory, Canterbury College, , JEx-i perlmentalJPsyehoJoprj-Dr. (3,E.?®eby; 8:15 .p.m., '223} peranto, N?'SCr"Ben, ,M.A.. V \ Driima; Professor J. S^eUey. •Wednesday^ Hor-, , tiaultural Botany,: Mr', Baradtt;' "8 Trades Hall,, EconpmicSj <Mr G. . Lawn; ;M.A, C .pirn;,- physics'iaboratory,' ; v :; of- the. Physical 'WoHd, Dr. Jiapleod; p.n»V Little;, Theqtrp, .Canljerljury ■, College: Psychology ".and Anthropologyjl Professoir J. Shettey and' Dr. G." J@. ; 3all,^Music,^^ie ! 1 v ßey, Hubert Jones, Mus. JBac.;. 8. p.in.,' Trades jlntarriational, Belations, M.A., G. Liwn,j M-A., vA. %agyngto ft LLJB., If; M>Bell,-f * I>iday—7,3o p.m.; T'rades Hail, Polk Dancing, Mjss G, Ferguson, 8,A., and' Miss Gwen Eankin.