NOTES ON EDUCATION
By " Socratcs." THE PRINCETON PRECEPTORIAL SYSTEM. Tho precoptorial system inaugurated at. Princeton University by its president, Professor Woodrow Wilson-,' two years ago, is now an established institution. The preccptor, as ho is known at Princeton, is not a tutor; neither is he a coach. His function and aim is, by personal association with individual students, to quicken their interest in the work. In tho South Atlantic Quarterly, Mr. E. G. Elliot, ono of the preceptors at Princeton University, discusses tho purpose and methol of this innovation. He says:— "'j'jia .purpose, ot the new system, which is not now - except-in the fashion of its application, as President Wilson has so aptly expressed it, is to combine tho intimacy and closeness of contact between professor and student as it exists in the small college, with the inspiration that should como from thp broader life of the university—the intimacy of association and tho inspiration it is t-lio task of tho preccptor to apply." Tho-system is clastic in its application to the different branches of knowledge, and to the varying capacities of thin students." The writer illustrates his article with tho manner in which it is applied in tho department of history, polities and economics. "At.the-beginning of the Junior year," says lie, "all students, who hrtvp solcctcd the department, are divided into as many groups as there are preceptors in the department working with Juniors. Tho number in each group is from twenty to twenty-fiVo, so that each preceptor has this number of men under his direction in tho courses of the department. Those samo men, who aro assigned to a particular preceptor at tho beginning •of the Junior year, remain under his direction till the end of their course.", Ausworing the question: " What does a preceptor do-?" lie says. "He meots the twont.y or moro men assigned him, in groups of not more than four or five, ono hour a week" in oacli course taken in tho department, for ,a conference on a certain amount "of reading assigned in connection with the courso." Upon the skill with which the preceptor handles tho work does its success depend, and on tho mental attitude and equipment of' tho latter rests success or failure., These conferences interest the students in; their work, introduce, them to good books, show them the delights that spring from intimate Contact with great writers,/the charm of' a well-stocked mind, and, in i brief,'tciid "to mako reading men of thorn." With all these purposes a minimum of work jhust bo done, and this is assured by tho preceptor's authority to debar from examination * students whose work has been- unsatisfactory. Men of like minds and tastes aro grouped under this system. Tho bright men are segregated and'met individually, or by twos or threes, and, given 'a wide liberty iri thoir -reading -and-conferences.- Tlio dullards or sluggish students can likewise ho grouped, as well as tho mediocre ability of tho class. One thing that the procoptor has to do is to point out to tho student tho fact that certain' great bodies of knowledge are intimately related, and to point out tho points of contact and relationship as ,they arise. To an outsider tho most apparent change is noted in tho character of tho conversation, whether in rooihs or iri chtbs; it is'no longer .of' sports ! and- rrecords,• but- of ' books; and' men. Men are becoming<enp}igh\.intp I r,ested ; in tho things they read of to talk about them,' and this is exactly what tho system desires thoy should do. Indeed, something of a literary and intellectual 1 atmosphere is making itself felt. Tho attitudo of tlio avcrago undergraduate ■ toward 'tho ..faculty : is decidcdly changed. Hostility has yielded before tlio intimate • 'relationship •of pre-' coptor and student, and in its place has como an -intelligent appreciation Of another , viowpoint^ MACDONAUD' COHLEGE' 'AT "STE. .- . . ANNE'S. .. . "Taking many a sterling lesson from tho' •collcge • at.,- Guelpll ; ..from; sister; colleges throughout the Union, "has 'fisdn tho' Mncdonald Collego at'Ste. Anno do Bellovuo, on tho Ottawa llivor, 20 miles west of Montreal. Tho grounds, through which pass the main lines of the Canadian Pacific.ancl tljo Grand, Trunk railroads, aro 561 acrcs/in",extent, arranged in three areas : '(1) The campus, with plots for illustration and research in grains, grasses arid flowers, 74 acres; (2) The smallculturos farm of 100 acres, for horticulture and poultry-keeping; (3) Tlio live stock andgrain farm of 387 acrcs. All tho buildings aro of fireproof construction, in stone, brick,' steel and concroto, with red tile roofing. Ew>ry. • nishod With ; '\vatef six horizontal tubular boilers, each of 150 hip. Tho college now, about to bp opened has Dr, Robertson for its principal,, or president. It is understood to havo cost Sir.William Macdonald roughly, aboiit £416,670. Ho has placed its administration in tho hands of the trustees of the M'G ill-University. • "Macdonald Collcge has three departments; (1) The school for teachers, which takes tho place of the Protestant Normal School, removed'from'Montreal. Special regard, is paid the needs of rural districts. (2) Tlio School' of Agriculture, which aims to provido thorough training both in theory and practice. (3) Tlio School of Household Sciencc, to impart instruction in' all that concorns good housekeeping. In engaging his staff, in discussing, item by item, the programmes of study, Dr. Robertson has sought to profit by tho widest experienco available. ; Ho stands ready to modify any detail in' which tho future may show an opening for improvement. There is ho charge for admission.' Board costs, with a room to. oneself,;'3dol. '50cents. (14s. 7d.) a week; where tiro sliaro a room, 3dol v 25 cents. (13s. 7d.) each. Next year the collcge farms will bo worked,' in part, by apprentice students, who will have an opportunity ■to oarn enough in fjixjnonths t'o 'pay'for /thoir board'-'tlio .tor. ... THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. ; ; "This school offers many courses; let it * suffice to mention tho two-years' course. It includes field and cereal husbandry, animal and_poultry husbandry,- homo dairying and. horticulture. Farm machinery will be taken apart, re-assembled, and tested; at need, mowers, self-binders, and the like will be repaired. Object lessons of tho first ordor are given on the main farm; its 387 acres are thoroughly drained and cultivated and havo good roads. Its, buildings comprise a farmhouse, several cottages and barns, with stables for horsos and cattle, and a sanitary piggery of concroto. Tho equipment for the study of cattle and swino is capital; a fair example is the dairy.herd of.puro-hred, Ayrshires, one of the best in America. The smallcultures farm of 100 acres is for productive work, for • investigations in • fruits largo and small, in vegetables and poultry. There aro several acres of applo-orchard, displaying the Fameuse and other leading; varieties.-;',' Spacious poultry runs accominmodate" about a thousand fowls. SCHOOLS FOR TEACHERS AIsD HOUSEKEEPERS. "A word as to tho sohool for teachors, which proffers a comprehensive and thoroughly practical training in tho : art and scionco of teaching. Its live classes aro (1) elemontary, (2) advanced olemetary, (3) kindorgartening, ,(4) model-school instruction, (5) pedagogy, including study of tho history of oducational theories and practico, of educational methods and philosophy, the organisation and management of schools. On tho campus is a school for the village of Sto. Anne's, ombodying tho best rural methods; its classes aro available for toachcrs-in-train-ing. In addition thoy havo acccss to schools in Montreal, easily reached in less than nil hour." THE EDUCATION OF THE CANADIAN FARMI4R. Dr. James Wilson Robertson, Principal-of tho Mapdonald Collcfto, Sto. Anne do Bollovuo, Quobcc, is, the subject of .an .interesting articlo by Mr. Goorgo lies, 1 author of " Inventors at Work," in tlio "American .Review of Reviews " for November. Di-. Itdbortson may safely be said to havo been 'a poworfyl influonco in'tlio 'agricultural and' pastpral prosperity of. Canada, for. it has b'ebi'i'/.'duo to his'('energy' and enthusiastic personality that tho Canadian .farmer has been-induced, to appreciate tho tremendous importance of systematic scientific training in tho theory practice of his industry. Dr.
influence.with tho farmer is .strengthened by tho fact that ho himself has been one.of them.
The following extract deals with the part played by Dr. Robertson and Sir William Macdonald,' an enthusiast in educational reform in Canada; in establishing a system of' training-in' manual and technical subjects which has been productive of astonishing' results: — " ' -•. - '•■■■■ _ MANUAL TRAINING CENTRES. " Tho Canadian elementary schools wero too bookish; thoy did not appeal, as they' should, to tlio skill of hand and eye which fully call out intelligence, and prepare for tho homo, the farm, the workshop, the mill, where most girls and boys as they grow up must'do their work. With Dr. Robertson as counsellor, Sir William Macdonald founded throughout' Canada 'manual-training centres at twontyrono places, attended by 7000 children, and, costing 3000 dollars (£750) a.month for teachers' salaries during thrco-years. .At tlio ond'of that term the local authorities wore free to continue tlio schools if they ■ pleased. In ©very province manual training has been continued, and with constantly' widening popularity. . In Nova Scotia, for instance, moro than twenty school centres of the Macdonald typo havo arisen; built and conducted with local funds. Ontario had at first Macdonald. schools in three cities; now,' counting thoir progony, sho has 40 mannaltraining centres. _ To-day about 22,000-chil-dren; are attending manual-training- classes in Canada, and that instruction now forms part of the normal school courses throughout tho Dominion. CONSOLIDATION AND REFORM OF COUNTRY SCHOOLS. "In Canadian townships tho schools'wero sadly inadequate, chiefly through being too small, and out of touch with homo life, with parental occupations. Most of them wero attended by as few as twenty to thirty pupils, and, as a rule, ono teaehcr taught as best she could boys and girls all the way from seven to fourteen years of ago. Here, surely, wore defects crying for remedy. Hand in hand, Sir William Macdonald and Dr. Robertson went to work with a will., Thoy investigated how in Ohio, and other States of tlio Union, many potty schools ,had been, superseded by consolidated schools at contral points. In many cases it. was found that tlio consolidators had continued much tlio snmo courses, and methods of study, .which had prevailed in the one-room schools of old. It was-deemed well that in Canada.consolidation should ,ho chiefly, a means o,f -enriching tho .whole' round of instruction, .sfhoolr gardening, by..,sowing and cooking clas'sos,!. by carofully chosen courses in manual, train-, ing. ■ _ . "A prime necessity of the reform was, of courso in providing transportation. How this might easily be accomplished had bo-n shown long before, as individual dairies had given place J.o creameries and cheese facto-, l'ies. If routes for the carriage of their milk and cream could be readily established and maintained, why not similar routes for the conveyance -of children to a consolidated school? There they would rocoivo varied and complete instruction, tho classes graded as in cities, , every teacher, as in Montreal or Toronto,- keeping to subjects she had. thoroughly mastered. Four consolidated schools were founded by Sir William Macdonald, in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prmcc Edward Island, with classes.in manual training!.household science, and nature study, based on w'ork in school gardens. Tho cost of preparing special teachers, of erecting and equipping .the schools, and of meeting all the expenses beyond those previously, borne by tlio. 26 ■ ' concerned, was ■ lSo,oo'odol., (£37,500) for three years. This capital cxr ample-hadi the 'usual .-effect? of, inciting-on-lookers ; ;to-.iido-..'likowise. -At Riverside,"'and:Florencovilloj: New Brunswick, are lian'dsoinbconsolidated schools, \roared and sustainediliy.' theso '.communities for thomsolm jwsNto as Scotia has now 22 consolidations .'in atiioi; room of 53 schools of the old and inferior scale. On an avorago, the daily attendance at' tlio Macdonald . consolidated schools-,'ha.s been 55 -per cent, moro than- at tho schools thoy :supplanted; at Kingston, Now Brunswick, the figure is;l4o per cent. . ( y: ;' ' . SOHOOL GARDENS. ' """ 'fEvery, Macdonald school has. a sch'&t'iiar-.; den. Besides those at tho four original'''consolidated .schools, a garden was laid '.out ..at oacli of fiyo. rural, schools jn ca'ch'.of.fiyo. provindosj' 25 in. all. A*, triaindfl'instructor• toolc chargp'of-'cyei'y gronp'of fire;;' giving one'day;" overy week to Oacli school in his circuit. Tho. outlay' in" three years .grow, 'to 40,000d01'. (£8333 6s. Bd.). , Tljo plots, varied from .15 to 120 square foot., the smallest being assigned to little tdts. 'A wide variety of grains and grasses," vegetables and flowers, word' sbwii,. with tho incidental effect of adding much beauty to school grounds. At Hillsboro, Princo Edward Island, partnership was ono •year introduced' with' happy offcct. ' •While oacli pupil was responsible for his own plot, he shared with three others tlio work of keeping-in order tho intervening-paths, of' making the wholor co-operative area as handsome as pqssjblo. "These simple Wessons form what Robertson calls tho. tripod of-good farming: (1) sowing solected seed on prepared soil; (2) protecting crops against insects' and fungus diseases; (3) a rotation of crops adapted to tho soil and to tho markets. At' Tryoh school gardon, Princo ..Edward Island, the children reaped ,32. per ccnt., moro .wheat from a plot sown with selected seed,than war,.'bo.rno on an adjoining plot sown .with unsijloctcd seed. When barley followed clover, it yielded 17 per cent, more than when barley followed n cereal without clover stubble having boon ploughed in. As rofnarkabln as theso results in crops are tho effects,on tho young sowers and reapers' themselves. Uniform examinations for ontrance to high schools are hold throughout Ontario in July. In 1906, in Carleton county, from schools •,without gardens, <19 percent., of. tho candidates-wero. successful; from five Macdonald,schools, whero all candidates had been school gardeners l for three: consecutive years,.7l per ccnt. were admitted, mostly with high standing. TRAINING TEACHERS. - "Sir William Macdonald and Dr. Robertson had now entered lipoi'i ah educational ro- - form , s.o. broadb and ; deep, so novel,-in. many details,..that it, demanded- 'toochersi ! trained : . on-,purpose:- Recognising this ncedj"Sir William Macdonald provided at'tlio Ontario Agricultural College, Guolph, two large ' buildings, equipped - for tho due" instruction of' teachers. Hero .arc headquarters for manual training' and household science, with brief courses in cooking, sowing, and other domestic arts. iSliort courses in nature study and school gardening are-'free to toachers. " I,'o promoto their attendance, four provincial governments havo granted scholarships which' havo already enabled 200 toachers to tako selected_ instruction. In 0110 important regard this college at Guclpli has an enviable record: Two out of overy three of its graduates return to the farm. This dividend back to tho land is considerably higher than is usual at other such institutions.
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Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 72, 18 December 1907, Page 4
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2,399NOTES ON EDUCATION Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 72, 18 December 1907, Page 4
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