NOTES ON EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 107, 29 January 1908, Page 11

NOTES ON EDUCATION

(By Sociutes.)

TEACHERS'. PF MUSIC. Professional musicians from the various centres of the Dominion assembled in Wellington last vreck, and, during a two days' conference, discusscd important matters relating to their professional betterment and the advancomont of mtisio generally. A confci-enco .of this description is a significant sign; to'us. that this country is entering upon tho finer stages of its. civilisation. The cultivation'of the aesthetic arts is becoming something, riither in the nature of a public duty tHan a hobby of tho leisured -class and thi precarious livelihood of those who would toaoh' tHem.. ' Of those arts, music may be said to stand first in general popularity, for its 'distinguishing/ charaotoristics appeal. to' by far the greatest number. There arc very few peoplo to whom tho strains of music do not ap.peal, and fibers arc few who have not, at some, time,or other,! desired to attain, in tho performance. of this art, some degree of proficiency.: Given natural aptitude, and that essential to'success,'the quality of 'persevering industry, the question- arises: 'Who shall toach 'the , aspirant to musical 6rainer.ee? The profession of music-teaching is at tho present: time being exploited in very much tho same way as the school-teaching profession.was in the beginning—by; incompetentand unqualified instructors/• There 'arc a great 'many teachers of musio in this country. Of theso, quite a large prcentago might bo classed as mediocre; while the romainder are capablo j instructors) in whom teaching ability, s is ' -happily; co-ordinated with a high standard of musical -knowledge ' 'and proficiency. ' / At present, the musical -profession in New Zealand-is not, property so .called) a profession at all.V A'profession,'as wo understand it, is " a:-. Hold of human effort, a sphere of labour, ifryou like, where, as far as a prescribed standard of officidncy will render possible, -mediocrity is barrod. Of these who would' entory certain jlegree of intellectual capacity .is. required "as, an earnost of their ability, to" engage;'upon the assimilation of tho theory andj;pra<jtice of their particular profession with a reasonable hope of success. Then follows a'period of apprenticeship, or studentship, at the conclusion of which the' would-li'('; <<iijl;Tripcr, doctor, cleric, or teacher is ca.!,l<;d upon I 01-show,o 1 -show, in the process of a' standard., fxaiitiiifltion, .-that he possesses the necessary 'qualifications for his particular art or craft, and that, tho public whom'he-.is about i ( u oqiloifc is, duly safeguarded f from tb« • ituscMdvtfiu- results of. superficiality. HfiTing the examination 1 he is "said .to hr eu Mitel' iri' whatever ■ branch of,.the arts'' or crafts'ilie has studied. In other; Words, he is '.'hall-marked,'/..and. his certificate'or diplomii .is his gnarantcc; in"very much the samo maDnor. as' standard stamp on .a of silver .. is iiccoptcd as a guarantee of its genuineness;

' Among musicians in this country there is no,such guarantee. Any person, no matter how poor ; a musician he may be, has the right to . enter the profession 'of-music-teach-nig, and offer his services to the public, at a price.; If ..'the work bo proved valueless, his clie'ntelo will, of course, dccline, hut in the,.meantime he has probably instilled', into those- pupils who have been unfortunate enough, to have passed through his hands, ideas in music, and methods of execution, which may be utterly at variance with the orthodox principles of the art, and which must, be;exceedingly difficult to eradicate. _ The 'truth of the whole matter is that the time has now arrived for tho classification and registration of music teachers, whereby, the. ..professional interests- of duly qualified musicians, and the musical interests of the' public at large, will bo- proporly safeguarded. But'how? - The first division—for purposes Vof classification—of' professional musicians. reveals; tho fact that sopo - aro performers . pure and simple, fhdir livelihood as public entertainers; others are musio : v.te'achers, who never appear in tho capacity . of: performing musicians; whilo others,",--(again,' ,ar~e.'both performers .'and. teacher's,'- " • ■■ • x:

The musical entertainer does not appear to call s for any special treatment as' regards registration. Ho classifies himself, or rather, the public does, and his value may be said to bo.proportionate to the gratification which his public performances afford. It is not so with those musicians who teach, for, in tiicir case, musical ability, howovcr great, is of very littlq. use .unless it can bo successfully Co-ordinated ■■■with - teaching ability. It' hits taken us a vpry long time to arrive at a c|ear'understanding of this 'most important, element in the theory' and practice of education—that tlio successful teacher is be who has: the ability to impart to others what lio hinisolf has learned. For year 3 past the scienco of education has suffered froni the iniquitous absurdity that an acadomic degree, in itsolf, constituted a sufficient passport to the teaching profession.' We aro : now fairly unanimous in the conclusion that it, doe's nothing of the kind. Knowledge itself is one thing, but the ability to impart '|t is-quite a different tiling.--It may therefore be laid down'as a principle in the scienco of education, that.'the primary test of a candidate's ntnoss:' for the teaching profession is his aptitude for the work. Having proved his capacity' in- this direction, his scholarship will then determine his fitpess for the higher or.lowor grades, of his profession. !' In »the teaching of music, therefore, wo mustbe, governed by precisely tlio same principles. The most brilliant pianist who ever,.charmed a delighted audience with his public performances might conceivably have proved; a disastrous failure when he essayed to teach' his art to others. So, when wo come, to 'consider thc\ question of registration 'of music teachers, we naturally enquire, on what basis?

If .to this question the answer bo given that 1 -a"'certificate or diploma from ,an accredited:'examining body, testifying that a particular candidate, has proved his or her ability to understand the theory of music and to play upon a particular instrument in accordance-with.;the prescribed standard, will constitute a sufficient guarantee of such candidate's qualifications as a teacher of music, then it must be confessed that such a system would bo practically worthless. It is.,assumed that registration as a teacher of music implies teaching ability, and an ■ examination certificate is no criterion of such." Once this point is admitted, the. whole question'broadens out, and takes within its scope, not only tlio registration of music teachers, but their training and classification. The best, and, in fact, th'o only solution to the whole question, is the establishment of a' conservatoire of music, or, in other words,, a, training college for music teachers. Here fembryo members of the profession would not only learn their art, but receive instructions as to the best methods of imparting; it to others. Let it bo clearly understood that examination certificates are, in themselves, of a particular value, and there is no intention iii this article to discredit this in any way. The danger lies, however, in estimating teaching capacity, by a reference to examination resnlts.;

_ There is very,little doubt that tho examinations which are conducted by tho Associated Boards of the Royal Academy of Music, and also by those of Trinity College, have assisted in no small degreo to raiso the standard, of the music teacher's work. The preparation of pupils for these examinations has-croated a domand for a higher, class of anchor',, and by a process of what wo might term natural select-ion mediocrity is diminishing in the ranks of the profession.

"Tor Honour," protested tho seedy prisoner; dis is jisfc a caso o' polico persecution. Dey're tryin' ter keep mo down, yer Honour. YW' ain't gain' to lot cm keep mo down, aro vou "Certainly not," replied the magistrate. "I'm going to send you up for two months."

Mr;-Andrew Collins put in on appcarance at a meeting of the Carterton branch of tho Wellington Timber Yards and Sawmill Union « workers on Saturday week. According to tho "News" a long argument took place between, membors of the branch and Mr. Collins, who is general secretary of the Union and the proceedings wore somewhat lively. The general secretary retired from tho meet-■ng-room and tho members of tho branch proceeded with tho ordinary business in harrnnliv.