Unification Of Teaching Profession Urged

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30368, 18 February 1964, Page 7

Unification Of Teaching Profession Urged

Unification pf the whole teaching profession to bridge the gap between primary and post-primary schools was urged yesterday by Mr K. McNaughton, president of the North Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute.

“I was interested to read the recent statement by Mr H. C. Evison, Canterbury regional president of the Post-primary Teachers’ Association, in which he expressed concern at the ‘general lack of co-ordination between primary and intermediate .schools on the one hand and the post-primary schools on the other’,” said Mr McNaughton. “The institute shares his view that this has almost certainly caused a serious waste of ability and learning potential in this age group,” he said. “A curriculum planned to cover the classes from Form I to Form VI, as recently proposed by the Minister of Education (Mr Kinsella), would be of great assistance in bridging this gap. Any co-ordination in planning curricula all the way from the infant school to the university would be applauded,” said Mr McNaughton. “I cannot, however, endorse Mr Evisbn’s naive suggestion that a Form I to Form VI school causes this harmful break to disappear. What is the point in shifting the break between • primary and secondary to another agegroup—the end of standard IV? Post-primary education extends its range while primary is reduced in scope, but the break remains. “The crying need is for one teaching service in place of the dual control which at present operates from either side of the wide gap which is our mutual concern. Such a unification might be a slow and difficult process but this should not prevent us from attempting to bridge the gulf,” said Mr McNaughton. “The New Zealand Educational Institute, representing more than 10,000 primary school teachers, has for many

years sought to bring about the constitution Of a single teachers’ organisation. An acceptance of this goal by postprimary teachers would do far ihore to remedy ‘the general lack of co-oridnation’ of which Mr Evison speaks than his proposal for the Form I to Form VI schools that the Currie Commission was prepared to support only to a very limited degree,” said Mr McNaughton.