EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21449, 15 April 1935, Page 18

EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS

to ina twioi or nir. rnrr;s. Sir,—X have read with interest the pamphlet, sponsored by the South Canterbury Teachers' Institute called •'Order out of Chaos." There is no doubt that an educational overhaul from top to bottom is loir.; overdue. That, the Minister for Education recognises this is apparent from the fact, that, he is sendiir; the Director of Education abroad to study new methods. It occurred to me that, one of the improvements that mii'lH bo tried is a reduction in the duties of the primary inspector. We have a certain number of these in each educational district with a sort ol Mussolini or senior inspector in charge to sec that his regulations, or perhaps tin: departmental regulations, are .strictly carried out.

The presence of a male inspector in an infant room criticising anu judging the methods and organ is; 'i< i of its women teachers has alwuy. seemed to the observer as ru.iculeus. is there anything more fatuous than a portentous inspector talking down, to babies who are terribly impressec:, but at the same time do not understand a thing he is talking about. He assumes an undeserved dignity in the role of critic because he was once a headmaster who knew very little of practical infant-room work in his teaching days, and as a pupil teacher he learned less. In a word, he nas assimilated the theory, but certainly not the practice.' What we want are two or three; specially-trained women inspectors who understand small children, are capable of giving sensible constructive criticisms to teachers both young and old, ignoring trifles but appraising results. They should be prepared to give model infant-room lessons when necessary at a moment's notice, and should have personality enough to inspire confidence and friendly feeling in mistress and young teacher alike. Now we come to the district high school, deservedly unpopular in most country districts. Most folk with any means at all will struggle to send their children to a "proper" high school. Farmers' sons do not all want agriculture forced on them. They consider they will have all they want after they leave school. But for those who can afford it there is the agricultural college, where they will get the good of practical teaching on a large scale. Adolescent boys and girls who have obtained proficiency and still want schooling will tell you they are sick to death of primary methods and the primary atmosphere. They want to have a hand in their ow education. They are feeling their way, and do not want to go on any set lines. The district high school inspectors are all recruited from the primary headmaster class and obviously have primary minds. A number of them, with perhaps a few exceptions, are not qualified very highly academically; neither are some of the headmasters. They have achieved a B.A. or an M.A. degree before the standard was raised, are mostly middle-aged and quite content to have knowledge just a little ahead of the matriculation standard. The same can be said of th: teachers in these high schools. They are pri-mary-trained, highly-graded, but low academically; indeed, academic training seems & secondary consideration. What is the use of this high grading if a teacher is only a lesson or two ahead in knowledge of the subject that he is teaching? Here again there should be trained inspectors, cultured, broad-minded, up-to-date, secondary trained, without the primary complex that is so obnoxious and irritating to boys and girls in the adolescent stage. In a word, we want a different style both of teacher and inspector for a district high school, especially a country school. There will be plenty of employment for inspectors in the standards, but they are out of place in the infant room and are too apt to colour the district high school with their primary methods, which in this case are unsuitable.

"Proper" high school teachers have to drop their primary methods if they have been trained that way or the boys or girls will simply and silently ridicule them—Yours, etc., COMMITTEE-MAN. April 13, 1D35.