Dollars not solution of all educational problems

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32564, 25 March 1971, Page 9

Dollars not solution of all educational problems

(By

A. P. BREWER)

To a retired school* teacher uncomfortably close to his allotted span, the premature and slightly hysterical reactions of teacher and student groups to the suggestion that the education vote might be cut are disturbing. I confess to a jealous regard for the high standing of my former profession and a sad reflection that its members, of all people, should be guilty of supporting a twopronged fallacy of our times. The fallacy is that a Government democratically elected should be castigated for failing to govern and, at the same time, be threatened with dire consequences when it dares to do so. It is also a mistake to believe that, in this disgustingly mercenary age, the almighty dollar can solve all problems; in particular, there has been an implication that the worth of an education system is in direct proport on to the size of the education vote, Duties, rights I am suffering from a serious attack of nostalgia for

the bad old days, when obligations and duties were considered more important than rights. Some years ago, when the great depression had passed away and a splurge of building began, I attended the opening of a grand new school in Auckland.

The newly appointed head master, after making a speech of thanks to the department •for providing such a fine 'building, added that he was i sure, however, that palatial • schools and lavish equipment, i welcome though they might 'be, were hot prerequisites .for a successful educational i institution. ’ With the simplicity of a I Churchill, he said: “I feel (certain that I could make a I good school in the shelter of i a hedge if need be." Shades of Socrates.

I recall my first appointment to the secondary department of a district high school. My senior was a woman, a wonderful teacher, and we occupied two rooms in the primary building. When a third teacher was appointed we put a curtain across the larger room and two of us taught there. Class in tent As this proved difficult, we erected a tent and this remained a great success until the new school was built. Our teaching aids consisted of chalk, a few blackboard instruments and dusters which we supplied ourselves. We had no staffroom, of course, but, as we spent our intervals in the playground, we did not need one.

I cannot recall any threats to strike, or, indeed, any complaints. During that time we produced one Rhodes Scholar, at least one All Black, one New Zealand cricket representative and a host of people who made

their mark in later years. The credit for this was almost entirely due to the remarkable woman who was the senior secondary teacher; but it was due also to the happy and contented approach of teachers, pupils and parents. Clock noise One incident provided a thought - provoking comparison. On an occasion when the senior woman was absent and ill, the Education Board sent a reliever for my class and instructed me to take over Forms 4 and 5. At the time I could not afford a watch. I had to rely on the wall clocks supplied in those days. I noted that the clock was not going and asked one of the senior boys to start it.

“Sorry, sir,” said Ray (the later All Black), “we are not allowed to start that clock.” “Why bn earth not?” “Miss says it makes too much noise when it ticks!” My next appointment was as sole secondary teacher at a newly established secondary department in the Far North. It meant an increase of $6O a year; unfortunately, the first year’s rise was absorbed by the removal expenses.

Three assets There was no school. We began in a building known as the “Soldiers* Hall,” and our equipment consisted of a number of old desks, a table, two blackboards and some chalk. But we had three invaluable assets:, pupils eager to learn, a teacher eager to teach and parents thrilled with the attainment of a goal—their own high school. What a gloriously happy time I spent in that school and with those boys and girls. We did not worship money. We had none. Our wealth was in human lives, and in the quality of these we were passing rich. We had no pilfering, no vandalism, no delinquency, no moaning. We had signal success in examinations because the pupils wanted to work. We had some considerable success in sport because the same enthusiasm ensured maximum effort, and we actually produced an All Black.

The school was our life. We had picnics, concerts, trips to Auckland, dances—we even built an open air theatre in the school grounds, and made our own props. Great time When the senior pupils were discussing their future careers after matriculating, I was astonished that almost all, boys and girls alike, said they wanted to be teachers. I asked them why. “Well, sir,” said John, “you have a great time!” They did not know that I was at my wit’s end and burning the midnight oil to keep ahead of the marking and preparation for all subjects and air forms. But John was right. I had a great time. My salary, by the way, was about $56 a month and there was no social security then. Only a few years ago, before primary schools were given libraries, we built our own room, 28 feet by 18 feet, fully equipped with adjustable shelving and group tables—the latter supplied by the Education Board.

Through generous donations from many firms and private individuals, and because of voluntary labour, the project cost us about $BOO. The board simply did not

have the money to provide ■ this building. Instead of i saying, "Why should we do it?” we did it—and enjoyed i ourselves immensely in the I process. Housing need - Some years ago at a dtsI trict high school of which I i was/headmaster, the secondary department had been i suffering from serious staffing i shortages. We decided that I housing was essential if we , were to fill the vacancies. We did not bother to ask the department. My committee members scoured the district and obtained control of i several houses. To do this, I they had to pay the rents i until such time as the houses 'were required. i This they did for some months, and out of their own pockets. Once again the cry was not, “Why should we?” Something needed doing . so they did it, and the school reaped the benefit. Free books As for the possibility of a cut in the education vote (and this has been denied by the minister), I read recently a statement to the effect that, if the free textbook grant were reduced, those children whose parents were unable to buy books would receive an inferior education.

Everyone who has been in the profession for any length of time knows that the Education Department has always been prepared to supply free book to deserving cases. Over the years, I was never once refused a request where assistance was warranted. While I do not want to see the free textbooks abolished, it is not true to say that, if it became necessary, the less wealthy would suffer.

It would not do any harm, either, to cut down on the endless expense engendered by a frantic desire to implement every whim and harebrained scheme put forward by so many over the past years. Our cupboards are often crowded with discarded evidence of someone's white elephant idea. If the meaning of the word "economy” still has significance in these frantic days, it is surely up to everyone to tighten belts, work unselfishly for the common good and lift our country from the economic quagmire in which it is floundering. Wrong aim The besetting sin of our times is selfishness and II

bellow that this is due largely to a mistaken aim in our philosophy of education. Selfishness Is the curse of our nation; it is the product of the sophism which has plagued the world with increasing intensity for more than 30 years. It is evident especially in impressionable youth. Young people, with their rampant idealism, are quick to respond to stimuli, good or bad —and in our day they are more bad than good. I grow increasingly tired of hearing the blame placed upon parents. I do not believe that parent* were the first offenders. There has been a fundamental error in educational philosophy which has spread its baleful influence over the Western world and has created inevitably, a vicious circle more potent for evil than the wage-price spiral. In the 19205, that fine educational philosopher John Adams, gave clear warning of the chaos to come. In brief, he pointed out that the generally accepted aim of education through the years from Athenian times was selfrealisation. It was the business of the educator, whether parent or teacher to enable the child to realise his full potential. Catch phrases But, first in the United States and later in all Western countries, a different emphasis was laid on selfrealisation and preference was shown for self-expres-sion. This was the error, for self-realisation and self-ex-pression are by no means the same; in the final analysis, self-expression is merely a euphemism for selfishness. It has given rise through the years to three successive catch phrases: in the twenties it was: “I must be allowed to live my own life;” that evolved into, “This is a young people’s world;” and lately it has become, inevitably, “Nobody tells me what to do.”

So we are back where we started. If a Government is to govern it must at times tell all of us what to do, and a democracy can work only if we are prepared to do it. One can but hope that teachers, practising the highest calling in the land, will show the way to a new unselfishness and will once again place duty before rights, society before self, and hard-won democracy before anarchy. —Copyright “New Zealand Herald.”