IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 86, 4 January 1908, Page 6

IN OTHER CENTRES.

(FROM OCtt SrECIAI, CORREEPONDENTfI.) ' V:, ~ —- « ' . i •: auckland '.V j . January 3.'.j Dealing, editorially with the Presidential iddress...to the Educational. Institute',' th« 1 'Star,'V after referring to the old system, ' ;ays: Nothing was left to'the discretion "of' j ho teacher, and accordingly very, little was eit oo the imagination or the initiative of ;ho scholar. Judged- by any standard of effiliency recognised by. the highest educational authorities to-day, such work could result ( inly in failure, in a partial and delusive sue- , jess, and in so far as the methods of leading and learning now iii voguo in our piinary schools, represent a Gtroug (oiitrastr ;o the old machine-made system with its pre- ' :rustean examinations, the change lias been iwnitely for the better. No one, v/ho has ntelhgently considered tha subject; fan doubt /hat a system which makes fair allo.v.vno or the personal equation in both teachers ind scholars, and which regards tho way'in ffhich a tiling is learned, or an cpimon :ormed, as infinitely, more important than ;he. reproduction of - dead .facts,.'is. at. liinst v. stop on. the right road toward-t.ho, rialsation of | the; best educational idoals, but is Mr.. Aitken. pointed out,, thovoy con ileteness'of tho chango from the cM svs;em to tho new constitutes in-itself a danger • iq the cause of true education.:; The swing if the pendulum has brought us in a moment from ono extreme to tho other. Our teaching was once " largely unscientific. - It must now bo not;only scientific in tho broad sense, but it must deal'very largely with the subject matter of the natural and physical sciences. Tho learning of our pupils svas once too rigidly precise,- too mechanical, ;oo dependent upon memory. Now, "The wheel has gone full. circle,"' and we are ashamed to insist.upon a literal and accurate knowledge of facts, or to call upon children to use their memories lest we should lay jurselves open to the charge of relapsing into superstitious of tho old examination and percentage era. Mr. Aitlcen naturally touched with a light hand upon the more obvious Meets of the new primary school syllabus, - and ho might with justice have worded his protest . much more strongly.. No one can examine the. new syllabus, with its portentious array,of pseudo scientific subjects, al-. most submerging what used to bo regarded as the permanent essentials of primary education, without feeling that, as Mr. Aitken puts.it, the work in which careful application and'the accurate reproduction of facts are requisite is being elbowed out of the way by nature - study and observation lessons. To put tho case on tho very -lowest ground, wo. oannot conceive it possible that teachers or children can find time or.energy to cover tho immense range-of subjects now. , set before them,, but the faults of the now system appear to us to lie - deeper than this. . -Its tendency is to ignore such eminently useful subjects as,history and grammar in favoui of subjects in which the individual powers of the pupil are supposed to be,more freely exercised, and to substitute-, for the close application and careful- memory training that the old system involved, a vaguo bowing acquaintance with superficial scientific facts arid theories for which there; is no time and no room in an already overcrbwded primary school - curriculum. The new system fails through aiming too high, : and striving •• to cover, too much ground, and it fails also through, largely ignoring the' importance of memory'as an educational factor, 7 and' tho valuo of, such subjects as .demand in their study the acquisition of precise,, and definite facts in an orderly and systematic way. Mr. Aitken did not say all this, but the linos that his address' followed lead in this direction, and we hold with him that'one of the worst dangers that our educational system has to foar is the modern tendency to diverge as far as possible from' the old order of : things, and in endeavouring to reform the abuses of tho old system to forgot-its merits and sacrifice nearly all that was valuable in it without any. fair equivalent. , The 'Frisco Service. < - One of the captains of the Oceanic Steamship Company's service, writing to a friend in Auckland, remarks that in shipping circles in San Francisco it is generally considered .likely that tho Subsidy Bill nbw before the United States Congress at Washington will go through during the present session. On, tho passing or otherwise of this measure will depend the renewal of the company's service to Australia, as the subsidy provided for sixteen-knot boats is £100,000, tho amount' formerly aimed at by tho company •in lieu of tho £00,000 thou granted.' Tho Bill is daily-expected to como before Congress, and as it was only defeated last year by two votes, its supporters are very sanguino of success on the present occasion; Tho Sierra, Sonoma, and \ontura are now being overhauled at San Francisco, and if the subsidy Bill goes through, each vessel,' to bring its steaming capacity up to 16 .knots, will bo fitted with oil-consuming furnaces in place .of those for coal, the company, considering that- faster Gpoed will thus bo assured. This stop will probably necessitate the erection .of oil tanks in Auckland. If the ' service , should be again resumed, the writer considers that the first of the vessels should ■ roach- Auckland some time in February next. He,concludes as follows: —"Of course, everything depends on the passing of thp. .Bill, .hut tl)s renewal of tho service is generally considered probable." Meot.ifigs by Telephone. The .private telephone service has become such an institution in the Tiniroto district, Poverty Bay, that foi\ nearly, two years the members 'of the School Committee of that township havo only met onco—on the occasion of the annual meeting of householders. Tho committee; meetings are conducted regularly each month over tho telephone. At tho customary', hour of mooting tho members_pf tlie Committee, are placed in communication by telephone. The minutes are read and. confirmed in the usual way, and business proceeds, over the instrument.. Annual meetings must, of course,, bo called to allow tho general public to attend if they so desire. Tho introduction of the telephone, connecting nearly every homestead in' : tho' locality, as well as tlioso away in the Raukituri and Te Keinga valleys,, has been a big boon to tho. sottlers, who transact' nearly all their businoss amongst themselves and with tho town oVer the wire, without having to leave their homes at all. Cardinal Moran. During Cardinal Moran's stay in Auckland in February lie will bo presented with addresses from tho Bishops and priests, tlie laity, and tho- Now Zealand H.A.C.B. Society. • The Starring of tlie Schools. Tho large dimensions attained by tho " apprentice " clement in the staffing of'tho State schools was dwelt upon by somo of tho speakers at tho Educational Institute meeting. Mr. S. C. Owen, of tho North' Canterbury Institute, in moving a resolution affirming tho desirableness of more adequate staffing of the schools, said that many of tho schools were being worked by staffs composed of half or more than half "apprentices." In the various trades tho proportion of apprentices to journeymen was limited by tho Arbitration Court, but in regard to tho school there was no such provision for limitation. There was, lie said, too great a tendency to leave tho work of instructing scholars to pupil toadierc. Personally, lie said, amid a chorus of " Hear, hear," lie did not think pupil' teachers should be counted on the staff at all. "They arc pretty useless," lie said, " for tho first year or two, and tho only time they get useful is about the time they leave to go to a training college. A strict limit-," ho said, " should be placed upon tho proportion of pupil tcachcrs." Mr. F. J. Ohlsoii, an Auckland delegate, in endorsing Mr.. Owen's remarks, said thai very often pupil teachers were placed ill charge of classes. In his own school there had been cases iu which pupil teachers with' somo experience had boon taken away and their places filled by others with no experience, and yet theso latter in somo cases had to take charge l of classes.