NOTES ON EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 April 1908, Page 11

NOTES ON EDUCATION

(By Socuates.) ■-

THE PLACE OF HISTORY IN CONTINENTAL SCHOOLS. \ln view, of the widespread interest in tlio movement for the establishment of a Chair or Scottish. History.'in Glasgow; University, and . 'of V: the 'extraordinary v attitude, .adopted towards it by a small number of .jjeople .to , whoso , the accident of position gives \ nnVadvi?iititious importance, .it may OP-"se- : r a 'writer 'in "the "Scotsman, • .to • givdisome'.'infprination'as to the treatment of, ; ri.itif>nal history, in schools abroad. ! In, Francs. - 'i In "Franco , great weight ,is attached to in-struction'-in history and. civics, and in the :i. higher r elementary schools a tin ee years ■ - coiirso'is given, tlio curriculum providing.m order;, for' French.history, from ,1500' to liß9, I'rotich history from 1789 to the present day, general', history from 1789 to tho present ■ : day.V.i-A'/'.fairly ' thorough, study ,'.of. ..the; naHional'histpiy precedes .the approach to geiie- • ral Aistory. It has to bo lemembcred that the/pupili who goes through this courso pas already been working at the history oi • France in" alomst every year of the primary i . echool, and , that in '"'consequence a I' ronch training college student has gono through '' ,thi^subiect : six 'or ,seven times,; before ;' tersi'on,, his' professional; curriculum. , The " cOnccntric method adoptod is .perhaps., opento', criticism, .... but. . must -admire, tlie thoroughness with :which-tho national story is-','learned. In college the -joiing teacher wbrks;'hard at ancient and classical history tKb- genoral history -of . European and other great'nations. : In Germany.. , i!ln T (the'.elementary' schools of Prussia and , Saxony, special attention ,is .paid to history, -::Which'rin'-:Prussiaimean's tlie. national\ story. ' - Iri;'.'order'that •;. thfe'. teachers, may'' be" competent'.'to deal ' with lit- great stress is laid ' upon it .in. tho training college course.... In Saxony, tho principle oF. starting from: local history isfapplied in a very'thorough fashion. Thoihistory .syllabus of .the: primary schools. . iir'Loipsio is as follows:—Class Vl.—Thud . school vear,- ages eight and nine, Ili'story of/'Leipsic. Class V.—Fourth school yew,. . ; siges!nirie' : aiid ten,' History of Saxony... Class I.V:. —Fifth school year, ages ten and eleven, . leading points: ..iir the History of Germany. ■ Class'lll— Sixth school,year, ages eleven-and twelve, short selections from Greek, Roman, and .Assyrian history, old German history to Charlemagne; 1 Class ll.—.Seventh school year; Qges twelve and thirteen, History of tho. Thirtyi l'ears' AVar. . Class I. —Eighth. school ye&r, ages'.thirteen and fourteen; History oi . Brandenburg—German lystory to tho proEejit.'time. This systematic instruction m . national history is undertaken bccauso. it is • believed to bo wortli doing, because those responsible; for the school coda arc convinced . that .an adequate knowledge of . the past is necessary to understand Alio present and to . ' guide • futuro development. As in France, .. the f,training - of: -the . 'teacher to' give . this thorough instruction in history is done m the)-.training' colleges—the Universities tak- .' ing'no pa'rt—and A thore' the/subjcct. is taken , ' up'-in; a vigorous fashion. • '. Iri.Other Lands, v.'.'This- extraordinary . neglect of. our .native . history ;.is i-not,; paralleled"-; anywhere .on tho Continent.;.. Tho general aim of the history , curriculum;in• tho Prussian higher schools in_'cliidbs ;a, knowledge of . tho epoch-making.l v -' events 'of .universal-history, .especially of Ger-man-and. Prussian history. In Baden, \yhilo thov. Gymnasium 'lays V meat stress on Greek . and; Roman ancient; history, tho Oberrealsohule gives'prominfcnco to German history, and:'in-all'schools tho course includes;a review, of the history .'of Baden. In the secondary (-schools of Sweden the'.national, history is taught in firstHhreo) classes', "revised in . the: next two, 'and taken up again on a bigger scale in; the remaining four. Universal history is.-taught .from the fourth class,upwards.. In Finland .the national) history' 13 considered tho chief object of historical but in all Finnish Beard schools generar his-- . . tory .is ' taught as a, foundation. ,for,.piii ex-planation-of the history of the country.. For the secondary schools of . Norway there: is an claborato historicalcurriculum, in which: Norwegian history is sido-by 'side' with genera!:history:' ,: Tha 'teacher. in :, suclv schools must'have pai»ed one 6f. theVtheoretical 'teachers! at the University,' which in the faculty of.Jiistory, philology, and phil-osophy;*-has Wenty-one, professors'and .four" :docerits:; In.'Portugal, tho national history is'.taught in,the primary .school, and in'four - of the! seven classes in tho secondary school. In Hungary and Servia wo find; the samo scrupulous, care to make sure that the his,'tt>ry; of. the country is well known, and that teachers'are- competent to teach it. Tho moral - of this survey is that tho teaching of tho history of Scotland must'bccomo more ■ promirient in air our schools, and that hi tho training. colleges and the universities proper Iprovision should'be made for the instruction and tho training of teachers. NATIONAL UNION OF TEAGHERS AND THE EDUCATION BILL, * ~T.he), Executive,, of 'IheSNational .-.Union' 'of TfSaelitsrs" at a meeting 'in London adopted various resolutions witJi- regard to tho Education- Kill. _.; ■ • -.First, heforo expressing a/ favourable . opinion: oiucther features of the Bill," they olfered .lijicotunromjsjng opposition to the . contraHtingrOui claiuses , as- vitiating fatally , ' tJicw.Ypr'iiiCiplcs of local public control and rfiligious freedom , for teachers, and would caiiss; irreparable dan>age'to: education, v Secondly, the Exc-cutivo welcoined:, the. Bill •»:-far;as'it affirmed full local public control, and'. miL.nagement of public elementary schools, - abolition 1 of .powers to impose crec-d t-c-sts "on 'teachers, and the obligation on a local a\w tK6rity : to> provide a free place in a public olohientary.. school for each •; child when . tho pareijts: demanded it. "" ' . -. Thirdly, th)e ! Executive 'welcomed waVnily the' projiosed consolidation and increase ofGovcrnlnent' , grants. /' . C' . Tourth the.' resolution approved .'.the : Bill in its apphcation to'single' school areas, and recommended tho same application to all : school districts, with a proviso' that,- instead of contracting out, the denominational' difficulty oe relieved by permitting trachers now employed in denominational schools in other than single school areas,'so long as they held thei_r : present posts, and were,--therefore.-not subject to further-creed tests, to voluntter to- give special s-religious- t®cliing out" of school hours in schools which were at present, denominational. •/ ! . . Other resolutions deplored the proposed repeal of) the Free Education .Act, which would create invidious social and claims,' and'as a.mater of justice that the compensation,clauses for teaghefs shpuld.be inserted. i t •AN AUSTRALIAN-STATESMAN ON ? • - ' education; ■ : ,",If fraction'of the time devoted by science'to'the'ihvestig'ation of the matter had been devoted .to the phenomena, of. the,;mind, i education problems woiild '-jiave hee'fi simpler,-' thus Mr: G. EL Reid, in the course of an te'achecs recently:'. that !the me^ of modern,-'times, while " speculating dh tHb wonders'^.of "physical evolution-frcim'i-proto- . , plasm to, man," neglected-tho greatest of all , the, >vonders and .mysteries'of creation: • "The most;-'important , fact, 'j the most t'rertiendous ; power,,: of. all,said lie, " rules, destroys,' aud-;crea'tes' more.'lhan aiiy other power, oxcept-that of, Gqd"Hin:self, : is left to'-;the. musty volumes', of u.nffiad 'meta'physi T cians. . Of all tho follies of u]>ilosophy,"surely this,is.the most stupendousK;Profound scienafter book" fri honour'.of this monkey or: that'apa; but;to most- 'of them, .the 'sovereign fact of all,;-iife"1s still repre-sent-e'd;-as it was-on the'"pagan, soil'of Imperial',' Romo many centuries ago) /by. that ' solitary, stone on which' was inscribed 'To tho Unknown God.' " ■ Teaching coiild 'never - be perfect in system,-he"cont'finded." until our knowledge'of the - humdh' mind"-was - greater. In emphasising the" importanco of good .examplo oil the part of tho teacher, ho pointed out that there two ways- to kribwledge—one by memory," the other by experience; but in teaching,' this meant one by- precept, and f.'tlie -other by example. "•Your school books," continued Mr. Reid, . "contain-an admirablo. selection of moral lessons and wiso (> precepts which it will.be your duty to_ impress upon tho, mimls of tho youiig;' and in teaching' these precepts you must also teach,, by your own conduct and example. Young minds.on the threshold of life find it difficult tojgrasp the' meaning of abstract terms, hut tbiiy sensitive to the teaching of, example.'*' . . . oA'--.: *«" -»-;■■■