NOTES ON EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 19 October 1907, Page 10

NOTES ON EDUCATION

« (By "Socrates.")

"School Carries." The question of organised games in schools lias recently heen before tho Education Board. The proper co-ordination of free gymnastics with mental development is generally admitted to be a sound principle in education. Mr. John Arrowsmith, who writes in the "Paidologist" for July, says that tho best way of developing the brain is by play. "Man is whole only when he plays," is a' wise saying of an ancient philosopher which modern science has fully justified. There is constant interaction between the brain and tho muscles. The use of the hand, for example, developes the speech centre: — "The use of the muscles in the young develops brain centres as nothing else yet has been proved to do. . Every muscle group which is allowed to become atrophied through disuse also causes tho atrophy of the part of the .brain which controls it. When the brain of an adult is examined who has suffered amputation of a limb in childhood,, the. part of the brain governing tho muscle group of that particular limb is found to bo undeveloped. The Eest Games to Develop Brain. Tho zest, the enthusiasm, the complete abandon of children when playing games which they like, give to play its value. Ordered drill is of far less value. It is too mechanical :— "When a child shots and yells, and hops and iumps boisterously and barbarically, ho is enlarging his blood vessels, flushing his system and clearing his lungs of residual air. When tho pleasurable excitement of play acts on tho heart, the muscles arc strengthened, but when children are compelled to go through exercises which they detest, the brain "becomes depressed, the heart weakened and no good is obtained. Battledore, skipping, running, romping, swimming, ball games, hockey, tennis, golf—all deep breathing exorcises are better than any system of mechanical drill ever devised. Body movements, leg movements, arm movements—the big muscles first and in their natural order of development are those which are used in play. Regulation gymnastics can never bring forth from tho child such complete and intense joy as-ordinary play brings forth." The best forms of exercise are thoso' which the child has inherited from its remote ancestors : — ... "It is because the child hrings out in play the actions of the cave man'that'these seem, to us, to be entirely purposeless. His play is a system of ideographic hieroglyphs. He rehearses.in play actions which were vital'tc the oxistence of his species ages ago, when the ice sheet was slowly receding from the land. Throwing' with precision in bal, games; hitting with, a club in cricket; dodging,.running, holding and kicking in footbal! aro all echoes of tho primitivo fighting instinct when only those survived who were the most expert." _/ ' Teachers' Annual Conference. The annual conference of the District Institute delegates to the New Zealand Educa-tional-Institute is to be held at Auckland in January next. There are over 50 remits from district institutes coming up for consideration. Some are purely technical, some relate to the syllabus, some to superannuation, while others are of a general character, It is impossible to more than comment on 8 few of the-more important. Central v. Local Control. As is well known, there is considerable difference of opinion regarding the present sys tem of local control. Under a parochial sys torn, tho controlling authorities tend to be come close corporations in the matter of'ap pointments of teachers, and thus a serioui injustice is inflicted on teachers from outsidi districts. Further, as the relations betweer tho controlling authority (tho Board) and iti employees (tho teachers) become more inti mate, the danger, arises,.of. local influence ii securing promotion.-'Those., who favour : national system pf by the creation o a central* inspectorate. and,.- advisory boan have in view tho evils which have resultei from the operations of local control. The; overlook the-fact that a central.body. can not,' from tho nature of the case, get .inti close personal touch with a staff of em ployees scattered over a largo area. In esti mating tho value of a teacher's work, th< personal element, local circumstances, am previous conditions are important factors It lias been firmly established, as an under lying principle of school inspection, tha " surface " evidence is not a true indicatio: of the value of school work. _The advocate of local control realise the importance o having as inspectors men who have know: thei rteachers for some time, and dare' in position to approximate, from their know ledgo of a man's personality, and the circum stances of his school, a just estimate of th results of their inspection. Tho North Can terbury District. Institute favours local con trol. It sends a remit to tho conference a follows:—"That it is inexpedient tolnterfer with' tho measure of local control now en joyed by Education Boards." i Wanganvj thinks I .otherwise, for its remit oh.tho sul ject'runs:—"That the inspectors ought .t be placed under tho control of the Educatioi Dopartmont." " Teachers' Residences. " ' One of tho most unsatisfactory features h the domestic economy of Education Boards i the country teacher's residence. Some of th< country residences are in a wretched condi tion. They are small and decrepit, and ii almost every caso out of all proportion t< tho teacher's social position. It has fre quontly happened that - when a ' desirabl country vacancy has been announced, • i teacher, after having inspected the residenci provided by the Board, has "shied." Hardl; one of tho residences is equipped with i bathroom, lit is a common remark that i house allowance is much to be preterm than a houso which is minns such miportan conveniences as tho bathroom and wash house. The Auckland and North Canterbur; District Institutes arc moving in this-mat tcr. Auckland thinks "that the Educatioi Department should bo asked to, providi teachers' dwellings with washhousos am bathrooms." North Canterbury would b satisfied if teachers' residences were, a least, as good as workmen's homes: —" Tha the attention of the Minister for Educatioi bo called to the very unsatisfactory condi tion of many teachers' residences. Improve ments should be provided so that theso resi lenecs should have at least tho same con i-onionces as the workmen's homes." Scholarships. v Tho. following remits from the. Wellingtoi District Institute are significant signs of th limes:—(a) "That the time-has arrive vhen, owing to the establishment of a libera Tee plan system, all primary scholarship should be abolished; and that.the fund thu sot free should be used to defray the board ng expenses of those who aro compelled t ivc away from home." (b) "That a pupi nullified to enter a secondary school fre shall, where tho various schools aro access bio, attend a District High School, a Tech lical School,, or a High School, according a iuch pupil elects,to follow a general, a com neicial or handicraft, or a University cours if study: provided that the pupil's • choice b subject to the approval of his Headmaste inti the Inspector." General. ' ...■■■.' There arc a number of remits dealing wit! ,ho vexed question of payment upon avcrag Lttendanee. Some" also deal with the systcr if staffing upon''a . basis of average attend nice. The evil of working any system upoi i fluctuating basis has been omphasised ove ind over again. It is unfair to the teacher vho is subject to ' fluctuations of salar, through no fault of his own, and it is bad fo ;ho school, which frequently has to work o m increased attendance with a staff base ipon the attendance of the previous year.