EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE CONFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 85, 3 January 1908, Page 8

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE CONFERENCE.

THE PRESIDENT'S 'ADDRESS. • • (by telegraph—press association.): •. ■. Auckland; •-January-2. ' ,Tho twenty-fifth conference of the New iealand Educational Institute opened this morning. Mr. James :Aitken, B.A.,.presided. The visiting mombors > wore :■ warmly welcomod by the Mayor ,who oxpressed thei opinion thattho'attitude of ,the State towards the teachers of New Zealand; left something-to'bo desired,-and tho emolument of tho teaching profession had not'boon com- ( mensurato with tho importance of its work. Ho mentioned that tho Auckland City Council had given practical proof, of intorost in . ~ education by granting a sito for . a college, which,Mvitlrtho normalschool, should do much to further tho causa of education in Auckland. '■ ; 1 * Mr. Aitken,.in : the course of anxinterestingf! J . address, paid the. dual .ma.nageraont ,J ! sponsiblo ; for .the now experienced . in obtaining a sensible, and proper scheme; of. promotion and appointment, .such .as exists; :j in overy other■branch -of'this public '."service;' I 't ( Ho did not for a: moment' beliove;"dual yj agoment necessary.; con-T; trol was infinitely to : that of.a; J body elected as "tH'o; education' boards are/ j . There was: a constant andr large-variation,in | ; tho personnel of- and ;the- result; was:: that no : board, arid'-no - Board '-'ineinberf:' ( ' ' couid.Vwith' anything like-..effectiveness,; ] called j to. account forthe'oxpenditure of pub-«- ( lie moneys. It was immaterial' whether coni-: mitte'es orboards/hadHb-'go/a's'thb surviving- | ono would be'so vitally;/altered'in coristitli; | • tion that it would be entirely different. He: j thought the roll number-would be a fairer ■ basis for the grading of schools .and !payiH|;- . of - teachers ', than -the average attendance. 11 r~ - ■'.'There"is- but one more point to which-I' ; ■.' will "call your attention at' •. :this- v '..ibime,»V.; .. said! Mr. Ajtken,! "antl .I do. .so, not. be-., .j i cause Vl .tliink my fellow teachers ■ .not ' alive to " its importance; ,;, b.ut .be-,-cause I have to-cky the public' ear, , and on this matter it is the public that need' '' educating.,, V At: one time/ it /was" 1 thought" 't ■ that the only > equitable method 7 of grading ] ; - schools . and : paying teachers- was .according t to the av'erage'attendkuce! ■, I am .iijclined! ( - to think that,:' . with" proper.,' safeguards' ] , against roll .stuffing, the roll number would i be a fairer than ...the average,; and. £ I- am'also inclined to the'idea that, if. hard ( . work and plenty., ofcit--is 'thfr--thing-:that-is - l s . sought to be', the - reward, then' -grading ; might well be? in;'invorso proportion to at- f tendance. ' The :' smaller ......the.,- school .-.the a bigger the pay. However, that has snot, a yet been proposed.■'.! Eor, a Jorig time—an amazingly long time—the pointer'seemed ,to j indicate satisfaction. "qub'in'" >! , this matter, ; but if many-teachers thought of as I did on the question the satisfaction ] was only seeming, For/years l-have argued s ■: that average attendance alone'...is. not , at,- g •v all the', proper ..basis''on f the grade of a school for the of v fixing " the. payment ,to teachers' for • their . work. . When the attendance is far from j the dividing line between grades', V..'."causes' i which tend '.to teU - unfairly ' against, the j average 'are not .So much noticed,.'but when t : , , tho turning' point 'is\riear ' such'-.'-trifling'.'in- c eidents :as a shower of, rain, a-flower, show, t a race meeting, . pr performance by a • travelling company>-a]l circumstances ; 'lsis' I', quito -.out .of the,'-, :; jea'chv ; 1 .... ers' ; influence — .iriay • be 'sufficient' -to j, >" , determine the grade .of-:,the :schpbT : fbr a;>year; •>{ on th« lower insteadof the higher scale, arid, • if that is so, what may not happen . when •? •measles:,follows whopping, cough', arid inftu-, enza, : 'as;. actually happened . ffiis'Jast year I • In nearly every '.educational district in the Dominion ? Liko payment by results, which; 1 i proved such a hindrance to true education.in 1 | England, attendance grading, is too rough E . ; and ready to be . efficient, ana' tho pendulum has begun to swing-, towards something that: _t ' involves more thought, 'and. something 'thaiwill take tho circumstances more fully; iiiw < consideration.! It is indeed! less the place that 1 requires to be graded'than the teacherrrhi's 1 experience, his attainments, his culture, ;-the. I but .very real something : whicli' 1 . we call his personality. These, '! believe, .< , will be the determining factprs near future, which ~will servo as, the " grading c marks. Attendance no doubt will to some ex- i tent extent 'enter'into tho question, • and i . , rightly sobut it will be ' only : one,' instead' i 1 of being the only'factor, which .will' deter- i ; mine" a teacher's ' emoluments, and 'I very 1 'migtake the*.temper of the teachers)' t ; who , in._ the. j 6iS(' v 'l^f^^' :^« u t^Riisff' : -"m ',"s anything is how allowed tfie^'re- 1 c fonnl i t dau^'bf,.t^b' : de-' j leto tfto clause ''providing ..that''' ndn-officiial 1 members of tho executive',' who have acted for. i foiir years continuously, .shall-not":bp eligible j for re-election until the expiration of'twelve c months, was carried, by 29 to >IjS."V -;Qtrhet "r^- ; . solutions proposing minor amendments which t appeared on the order'paper-were-also : car--ried..' • : ' ; v 'V ( A Wellington jccomme'ndation affirming the ( 'dßsirability- of i t witb a view to str-oijgth'ejimg'- : staffs'-,so'' a"s';to i avoid uridiily'large'classes, was. carried. .t . .'A'No'rth Canterbury '< , that every school should havo at -least 60 ; , per ■ i cejnt. of ' adult "teachers jva3 lost/'it'being i stated 'that in tho -majority of cases tho c proportion was already 60 per pent. i An Aueklaiid' rworameiidation. that '.the- 'i •Minister.,be asked a revision' t .of th'p i existing- prbvisibn 'for the quarterly" j 'adjustmont of staffing:,was. lost.' ' i .Thq Institute conpTtidedf'thb: ;H at 5.30. ' : The Promotion', Committee's J - firßt'.order'of fHe-'day j^for' ;i|