19,000 pupils in two terms

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28984, 27 August 1959, Page 10

19,000 pupils in two terms

“On any ordinary day we are i likely to handle between 300 and i 400 children.” said Mr Griffiths. 1 “On some busier days when coun- ( try children visit the museum or I North Island children are making one of their frequent visits, the 1 number will be rather more. Such 1 visits are usually superimposed on < our regular pattern of work and i as such, represent extra work for < all concerned. But the spontaneous ; delight and enthusiasm of such children are so infectious that we • regard these visits as not so much i extra work; but as a rather re- i warding experience.” i The normal routine is geared ' to eight separate classes each i day except Wednesdays, when only 1 two classes arrive. This is because ; the changing eight Teachers' Col- i lege students, on whom the : museum's dependent for its teach- 1 ing force, have (each Wednesday) : to return to college after the first ’ lesson. Since Fridays are sports' 1 days in most schools, there are ! only six lessons on that day. The 1 weekly total of classes therefore ( is 32. But after the students have ' left on Wednesday mornings, it is 1 highly likely that a country school will visit by previous arrangement, so that the weekly total is usually 1 higher. ' i Students Trained ; ■ When the timetable of visits to J the museum is drawn up. it allows the first week in each teaching ' period of four weeks as a training ' week for students. During this ! , week the permanent staff make I our students acquainted with the 1 i museum and its material and with; j their own techniques. They con-, 1 icentrate on giving a background ’ of knowledge on the particular I lessons they will be teaching in ( the ensuing three weeks. “This' : does not mean that we hand out i ; : a stereotyped method of approach! ! to teaching at particular places i ’ within the museum,” said Mr '• Griffiths. “Rather, the aim is to! fit each display, or each item toj be handled, into the background' knowledge of each student and toj enourage him or her to develop a i personal approach to each dis-; play.” Two classes arrive simultaneously at the' museum. They will have been previously notified that they will be given lessons which they have already selected frdm a list of lessons sent to schools earlier in the year. Four students are allocated to each class. One class will be divided into four groups, each in charge of a student. and will at once go into the ! particular gallery or room where | ' the materials or displays relevant, , to that lesson are set out. They | i will be there, going from display to display for the next three; quarters of an hour. i In the meantime, the other class i will have gone into the lecture theatre where they have an intro-1 duction to their lesion. This intro-; duction is, however, nbt a lecture.; “On this point, I am most concerned that what does take place, is a model lesson: that is, it is a, model for the class teacher, for) ’ the students, and most important I of all, for the children,” said Mr‘ Griffiths. “I believe that it is very i I good for teachers to watch another! person handle their class, and to compare the sort of results ob-l tained. Thus, this half-hour intro- j duction demands active pupil par- i ticipation and the sort of response; that We get from them leaves! I no doubt about the popularity of' i the method.” ■ Change of Teachers j Children, of course, enjoy being taught by somebody other than their regular teachers. Slides, films, museum materials, as well as “chalk-and-talk” bring the lesson to life. “We are at pains to ensure that the children will be prepared for what they will see out in the galleries. OnCe the introductory lesson is over, the class is divided into four groups, each with a student, and off they go into the galleries for three quarters of an hour,” said Mr Griffiths. The first class returns to the theatre for the last half-hour of their visit. They have a summary to their lesson. This is an attempt to tie up loose ends, to straighten out misconceptions, (“I never cease to njarvel how children can complicate the simplest issue”), to fill in the blanks and generally pre* sent a rounded appreciation of the topic. Films, slides etc. may be üßed, but the personal approach of the education officer is the vital factor. “I am insistent that summaries and introductions be handled by the education officers, because it is my belief that children, teachers, and parents have every right to expect the very best from the visit,” said Mr Griffiths. Each year, the museum caters for about 30.000 children from standard Three to Form two (with i occasional classes from secondary schools) and trains about 80 stud- ; ents in its methods and techniques. . “What the children obtain from ! their visit will be better known , to parents than to us; what (students obtain from their teach-

ing section here of four weeks, we can only judge from their written notes,” said Mr Griffiths. “The students will teach a larger number and a wider range of children (in respect to age, ability, and behaviour) than in the rest of their two years at college. We demand, and get, accuracy in their teaching; indeed, the nature of the work demands the very greatest accuracy. > fl During the years since 1938 when the education section (or school service as it was then called) commenced, a very large number of children have visited the museum as pupils. It now, quite regularly, has students who were there as children in school groups. On the occasions when - staff address P.T.A.’s, or other such groups, parents who remember their own visits make them- i selves known and recair their - visits. Over the years, the last museum (through its education Section) has built a very consider- i able body of goodwill towards it- | self. The museum feels that the increased attendances of adults are a direct result of those 21 years' * work. “In a scientific institution such as the museum, the task of the education officer is (broadly speaking) to translate scientific works and explanations into a form understandable by children. This calls for an understanding of the implications of the material and its place in the order of things scientific. It is, naturally, quite possible to overlook or perhaps be unaware of the significance of cer- . tain items. One becomes understandably cautious in dealing with . any museum material and develops ( I a habit of inquiry and doubt t I about practically everything. In 1 (my opinion.’this is both necessary < land desirable," said Dr. Griffiths, i I ; Ideas And Beliefs < “It is our task to be as accurate 1 and objective as possible. We are I [ here to present all sides of the 1 story; to explain all the ideas 5 i about and beliefs concerning the I > material we use. We must be ; i scrupulously fair in our assessi merit of possibilities and probabili- ' ties concerning scientific theories. This is what colours our thinking. Such concepts are difficult of un-l derstanding for children who like! the World to be black and/or white, when it is. in reality, grey.” M~ Griffiths said. “This type of attitude is not gained overnight, but is the result of academic training. wide reading and an intimate I association with scientific matI erials. It is my belief that children lean develop such an attitude, too IBy encouraging them to adopt a i healthy attitude of curiosity and i querying of the world around I them; of doubt about things; of a jrefusal to accept everything read. I told, or heard as the truth; of prejcision in thought, and accuracy in (statement, we are helping them to ;be independent. Impossible of J achievement? It must surely dei pend on the teacher. There is little doubt that far too much of the (teaching in schools is dogmatic.” ’ Children are given every en-l 1 couragement to come face to face; [with museum material. Staff ar-i I range for them to handle duplicate' ■material, to assess its weight.; .colour, hardness, smell, taste (if; (they so desire) and general physi-j (cal properties. A Maori adze as- ■ sumes a new importance as a ■ (child hefts it in his hand and, ,eyes his neighbour speculatively .Who can forget the smell of 'whale-oil or the sickly cloying; odour of ambergris? Lessons as-i sume a new guise with the real I i objects in front of a group, and I curious things happen in such' I situations. Children who may be I , making heavy weather of school! . work often turn out to be rather I I brighter than teachers imagine. ; I Native Intelligence I “We of course, are so much less i dependent on the written word > (or academic ability) than on i native intelligence,” said Mr Griffiths. A child handicapped by ! an inability to read properly is f under no handicap here. The result | ' is that such children often show I an amazingly practical grasp of the I i situation. This is only to be ex-. ! pected. and serves only to under-; ■ line the difference between aca1 demic ability and intelligence, a' 1 difference (I feel) that is too often * overlooked or confused one for; i'the other. > In making use of all the senses, I; a child has a wider experience and ; ■ a deeper understanding which is ; more permanent. Of all the senses. . the most important by far in Mr - Griffiths's view is common-sense. ' He encourages children to look ( for the simple solution to a probr lem. He remembers asking one class how they would catch a 5 moa. The answers ranged from 1 holes dug in the path of the hapi less bird to monstrous machines I reminiscent of a certain Mr Robin- ■ son. One small lad finally asked . whether it would, perhaps, not be i easier to pick up a piece of driftliwood and wallop the bird over the II head. “I could have hugged him.” -Isaid Mr Griffiths.