VICTORIA COLLEGE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 161, 1 April 1908, Page 9

VICTORIA COLLEGE.

4 OPENING OF THE TERM. . ADDRESS BY PROCESSOR MACKENZIE. The first term of tho 1908 session at Victoria College opened yesterday-afternoon. In accordance with tho usual custom,»an inaugural address to new students was delivered by Professor H. Mackenzie, Chairman of tiio Professorial Board. There was a very large attendance of students. STUDY AND SELF-DISCIPLINE. Professor Mackenzie, ( in his opening remarks, said that they had 110 doubt entered their University course influenced by more ; or less definite aspirations to acquire such culture as would enable them to givo a creditable, account" of'themselves in. their future life-work. Ho was afraid that there was a disposition nowadays, even iii what might bo considered accredited academic circles, to maks things easy for the_ student;, in fact, some educational authoHtied would ' seem to entertain the heretical notion that'a student should not be required' to undertako any' ■studios unless they, wero congenial: to his iniiid. Ho-was forced to believe that the young student was not in a position to ; direct himself wisely or Avjill; ■ho needed help.' He was also of opinion that, the ilnost helpful and. humanising,discipline was to bo got'from the'necessity of, studying subjects that wore really difficult and uncongenial.. It would be quite timo enough for, the student to engage on tho lines, of his special mental interest, or favourite study,, iwhen he had been disciplined in. what ho, jnigljt call -tlio school; of difficulty and ad.'vcrsity..'" Ther'o was, further, a-.disposition on; tho'part of educationists to dispense with, a good ;dpal of'the. old preliminary-: training, , and; get \tho young 'people, under way withtheir dofinito life-ivork earlier' than w'as. formerly' thn cas6..;7This'was duo, 'in.a iiioa'stire, to tlio'economic conditions of the time;, which laid upon parents tho necessity of supplementing their incomes,,by utilising tlio .labour tif their■ children;,

. A "KINDERGARTEN"'-SPIRIT. ' \ -There' had, been for sonin few decades .now, continued tho speaker,:ai kind of kindergarten, spirit in the "academic air, Which had tended' -to.'induce an increasingly \epjcu'rean' and utilitarian- . temper. '.Tney : could '. readily understand this wlrqn "it Was considered that ■social lifo ..was becoming , increasingly;;,coniplox, aiid tlie standard of- living, steadily highpr:-.'ln fact; there Was a pretty general feeling, that there Was not tune nowadays fpr the acquisition of 'mere, educational -a'ccoiriplisliments or; They too. easily forgot that they bould acquire' learning without culture—knowledge ;without education proper.' The training' and discipline which should foi'iri. the: bii'so' of operations in, the learned . professions'. had less, attention'' bestowed "on'tliom riow than 111 bygone years'. He was prepared to -adriiitV't-hat undo'r t-ho-'old and alPbilt supe'rSeded-achdemic reginien. a. good.doal: of,'timo'was wasted '.over subjects' that' possessed little or.'.no. vaitio'to the student. This was due,-to'tlie fact that tliesp subjects' had acquired a,'.'traditional Sanctity and reputo,' as ,intellectual .disciplines..- Now that itieit . Were occupied" With'-. tilings : and their, properties, 'with life-processes and fuiictipns,. witli -'iiiin'd -'a-iid its 'Oporatiohs,' tlio fediib«tional' contro , ; of gravity was - changed. 3'ho .knowledge and belief of their time wero. deterhiirted''.by ; the, . iiaturo and, intrinsic worth j'of , things '-and 'ideas, not hy.'. a pro{Caripus. academic'authority:or":traditioh. ; r ..ln tlie circumstances, - tliey' were', in - a' position ideas'entertained by educationists- as to thja value of - tho old academic regimen. -'. ' -- -, . - ■ . A MAN OF CULTURE. . A. University man, contended the speaker, ought to ;bo a man of .culture, as well as a man ,of-, knowledge. • ■It. ,was, not enough that ,ho . knew tilings and .their proporties, or .the; human mind and - its /operations; ..ho /must be abltf to give clear and .adequate; literary expression to whateyer. knowledge - ho acquired, if lie, wero. to- bo regarded as a man Of ciiltiiro., Whether, a .student wero. to - be-' ;cdrnc; k .man, of gcnuilio; culture .or/jiot \woulA .d.ope'iid tfery largely op, tlio: use ho. made; of., .tlio'/facilities provided-') at'/his ,college, for ' tho' Kenpral development.', ol; '- . his social ; n'nd>intellectual .nature; It was , to : bo remom-bei-tfd that , culture was not - the; accompahi-, rneht.. of:.any particular /study or' profession. It, was rather tho - atmosphere . which: oiivoloped,' genuine learning. The student who bpgan, to specialise at too early an ago, or, befor.p; ho had • had a. gobd all-roulid training: . in what are goriorally regarded as tho es'sen-. tials of: a .'liberal educatioir^: was ,not - likely to .'.become a man of genuine culture. ..Tlio work:!.prescribed; by.' tlio University, for, .the 13.A. degree Was; 'on - tho whole,. such as. might"bo, calculated.-.to.',produce a: good.-all-" round typo .'of... geiieri] ' intelligenco',, arid, mental culture in. Students; and was, also,. ,suck:. as. all^vh'o,. contomplated entering; 0.110 'of.,the> *':.leiavoctl r professions should.; bo .re'quired 1 to, shtiw ,a; general ■ acquaintance '.with. THE, "GOSPEL OF/PLAY." Referring to.' twotypes ofstudoiits -: at a University, -Professor;,Mackonzio--'said; that thero. Was, first, 1 tho .student'vwho caine to tlio collegO/ well, -, prepared. : :for ."University Work, biit :.Who'' Wa'S',too' often preoccupied by tfliat Was known as tlio " gospel of play.", Tho .Other typo was represented-by ! the student who came indifferently prepared; and who'- frequently- failed to"' do justice to .'the Social and rccreativo sido-."of his natuj'o. He did, not' think at Was necessary for ,him to emp'hasi-so tap value of. the .social' and creative; sides of- University life.: - They'.,in Now,, Zealand fully recognised; their valiio, and ho :.3oinetinies feared ' lest they, like' so many American ' Universities,,': might' - unduly- . aggraiidiso sport; and recreation', as elements in education.: Jle 1 was; assured'-, that 'many: .distinguished. American-Educationists-wero of opinion'that the " gospel of-play " :was producing a very .'incapable ?claiss of students ',in. the United. States. > Thesocial and rccre'at.'i/e- sides' of - human -nature; needed to bo t]ovelope<l, / for gonuino culturo. was. unattainr able without a: modicum of! attention-: to theso. lini»rtant as. these were, they-should 'certainly, "occupy ' 'ai -subordinate;; position 011 tho student's'prpgramme. ;' THE "EXAMINATION" EVIL. ' % v There was; a' disposition' ill- theso days to discredit, examinations. He was decidedly of opinion that too much' had'been: made of .examinations in the past'/ but: tlio idea'entertained by not a few that examinations could be wholly dispensed with seemed to him ludi-crous'.-in the, extreme. They must have national (or international) standards 1 in .education,'as in other things;- and they must provide means, ; that wero absolutely above suspicion, to determine the 'mental''.standard attained by pupils or students. This-was not a matter jihat could bo left to the discretion, 'of individual schools or xpllegesi' A'li examination was. tho'only -satisfactory.method of discriminating between - pupil and .pupil, or student and student, tf the matter .Were left to individual schools and colleges, or to !individual- teachers ■ anrj... professors,' tlioyWould- soon find greatness thrust'oil crity and incompetency,; How, npart froni s'olllo examination of a searching kind,, were they to convince tho " general gender " that 0110 student was of exceptional'and another of medioore parts •'or ability?! It was, of courso, admitted that some of the very ablest students, failed>to. do• justice ito'themselves in examination; but, after all, theso wero but exceptions. Tiiero was /no hardship in .■having to submit to an examination test. That' tho examination system could bo modified or Simplified'to advantage, -he readily conoeded. If,, for instance, inspectors of secondary schools wero Stato officials, and required to insist on definite standards of educational attainment in tho highest forni, in secondary schools, 'the , matriculation examination could bo dispensed with, so far as.tlio pupils who had passed through the'full secondary school course with credit . Wero concerned. Again, students actually '-attending' > University classes might lie required-to submit- to threo 'or'four short examinations during the courso of tho session, rather than 0110 examination at the end, for terms. ; Students could-be classified 011 tlio aggregate of marks secured in these examinations. Exempted studoiits and coilcge-studcntr., who for • somo reason had " missed " any of tho class examinations, might he granted mtfro. • " passes'" : .'for- " tonus by spccial examination (as for terms under.the existing arrangement.)' If tlioy introduced this system of periodic class examinations, in lieu of ono terminal cxamir nation, it would tend to induce students to

systematise their methods of work, and it would certainly mako against "cram." If tlioro was anything approaching cram in their work at: Victoria College, it was not due to their methods of teaching or to their, examination systom; it was duo to tho fact that students failed to adopt systematic methods in their studies. THE N:Z. UNIVERSITY."' It was sometimes whispered, said Professor Mackeiizioi that tho University of Now Zealand had not given as good an account of itself as it ought to have given in tho life ,of the community. He .did not think that this could ho fairly maintained. Tho New Zealand University had up to this point not been in n position to provide satisfactory facilities for research or specialisation; -it had dono little more than mako provision for the acquiring of a general culture dogreo. It was absurd to suppose that the University of New Zealand, witli its modest revenue and indifferent educational facilities, could compete with tho Old AYorld Universities with their vast endowments and their princely equipment. ■ Tho smallest-University in Scotland, for instance, had more professors than were to bo found in tho whole of the Dominion, and n library containing nearly as many books as are to bo found in the libra-, ries of tho Dominion. The demand for musclo was likely for a .considerable time to como to bo greater in New Zealand than tho demand for ' brain. While this continued so; University wOfk was not likely to receive the recognition to-which;it was entitled. T|ie coqt 6f providing educational facilities for tho Dominion was necessarily very.'high from'tho fact that" the country was- so sparsely populated.'Regarded from: the point of view; of territorial area, Scotland had fifteen teachers to every! 0110 in New Zealand, and yet- the average number of pupils to every teacher was tho same in New Zealand as in Scotland. That meant-' that education' in Scotland relatively much lfess costly than in New Zealand. . It accounted, too, for the fact that tho teaching profession in New Zealand'was. but', indifferently 'remunerated ' as compared with the x Scottisli'teacher.■ V, ' '

V . SCIENCE, LETTERS, AND ART. There was not at present, said the speaker, muolv room for- exports or specialists in ScioncO ill the Domniioit, and; consonuprttly, only a very small pei'contago (probably, not 5: per cent.) of the .students attending. ,tlio New Zealand University Colleges :wero 'Working 1 with "a view to a scieuco degree, and so entitled'to bo regarded.as bonarfide students of. science. In-, the' circumstances it might not be out' of placo to' direct "the attention of the. oomniunity and of the Education Dc--1 partmont to tho- fact that the not incom--siderable 1 number of exit or ; post-graduato scholarships ' 1 offered, to Now Zealand students are confined'almost exclusively to the very, small number'who -are specialising to : some cxteiit:. in science." Now/ they had heard- a, great deal,- from timo to., timb; about tho futuro of i art and literatntoin'-. New 11 Zealand, and not a few peoplo seemed to bo greatly oxereised as to why t-hoy (tho student's) WcrO not giving greater prottiise. of', achieving distinction in letters and art. ;,;He' was decidgdly -of opinion' that tho main reason-, for: this; indifFerent. achievement iti: this epil-'iicction-was- that the.v, had, in largo 1 measure;' Out.'themselves, adrift from ; what ".had -beoiv called the " classic tradition' of tho lott'fcrecV world." Tho work 'insisted;, upon jn . cPii-: -nection with,the general side of education was too-'ineagfo. _ Very little .genuine interest was taken .in.*it.. Tile majority, of students regarded it, not-as a-,-"-thing'-in itself,';' having.a value and influence as such; but as a 'riiero ; mcaiis- to fjoino 'purely .utilitarian! end. ; 'lf -they- were to achieve distinction in arts and couragei young ;mon !'and women to! bestow more;attentiou on the general culture sido pf University education, . :