EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 275, 13 August 1908, Page 4

EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

"MACISTER'S" 'STRICTURES. OPINIONS OF HEADMASTERS. THE THINGS THAT MATTER. Thero appeared in TnE Dominion on J lon day an indictment, by "Magister," of what tho writer crmed tho "new" ideas in priijiarj school education in New Zealand. Th< "new" education; -asserted "Magister," r.-ai "nothin more nor less than an aggregatioi of ideas, which, instead of being dovetailec into the old scheme, had been heaped indiscriminately upon it, and so obscured tin structural elements of the whole," a state ol affairs which, ho argued, constituted a seri ous menace to tho thoroughness of the instruotion which should be given in the clo mcntary principles of education, Round tli'j Schools. , I'rimary education, asserted "Magister," stood, to-day, at the parting of the ways; and its safety lay in a course which steered midway between stolid conservatism on the ono sjde, and the educational faddists 'on the other. With a view to ascertaining tho opinion* of headmasters on the points raised hj "Magister," a representative' of Tub Do minion visited soke of the city schools liexl day. Those who were interviewed were practically unanimous in -their ■ support ol tho arguments ■ adduced. Tho "Essentials" ; Neglected. ,■ Tho function of primary-' education, 'said one of these gentlemen, was tb- prepare the embryo citizen for the battlo of : cvery-dsj life. Incidentally,' it was a preparatory phase of higher education, but above-all thiiigs, it was tho training ground of tho average citizen. "What ho waiits—what: lie is entitled to, in' fact—is a ' thorough grpsp ol the essentials of knowledge,"said the speaker. "Ho is'entitled'to be"'grounded— thoroughly grounded—ini- those ■ subject's which he of necessity must require i'n liif work-a-day lifo'wheri ho leaves school. Hom do we usually sizo up ; a man? First, by !ii( conversation. Does lie enunbiato 'his wordi properly? Can he put together an'ordinarj business letter? Can he read'liis'newspaper or a book intelligently? Can:he'"solve"the ordinary arithmetical, problem's with' which ho has to-deal in his,daily business? If ha csn do al| these things, lie has'been given /a grasp of the; 'essentials,'- Thesa ' are ' his fuiidameiitalp-—the lowest limif 'of 'practical elementary knowledge, " ' ;■

Tho "Non-Essentials." ,< "Tho other day," be continued,-"I went into ouo of. tho senior class-rooms and found them grappling with the problem'.of latitude and longitude, as per the new syllabus; but, later, I found, when discussing 'with them certain' aspects of tho Peninsular.: war, thai their' geographical ideas about France and Spain were of the vaguest descriptidn. They will forget all about the methods'of solving problems in latitude and longitude soon after they leavo school; some of them will probably never hear of such subjects again, bul what of their knowledge of the actiial world f How will they be able to read thei newspapers intelligently, if their "geography ii deficient f" ' , . ~ 1 "Tk# fact is,'' said tho intervie-weriiV'that you cannot expect 'thoroughness: unlesstjie scope of tho information to be given iir mor< circumseribcd? . ac: "Exactly" h« replied. :•••' • Learning Dangerously Pleasant. u-.-> , Many of tho new ideas' in teaching' .w&'re basDd on tho principle of lightening tlio'burden of learning by making, tho work'' mora pleasant for the pupils; this, said'the speaker, tended to relax the discipline of toil and weaken the combative stamina of the pupil. "When these youngsters leave school," he observed, "they wMijt find tho 'world a bed of roses, where ! their workwill .be mado _ easy, interesting,liind pleasant, and the training, they are'lion''getting in school is a poor preparation for wllat lies before them." - "- 1 •

The "book-teacher" or "theorist" in education was, ho asserted, mainly respaiisible'for theso new ideas in education, and ho hinted that certain highly placed experts in tho Nov/ Zetland Educational world wora of .that type. v ' The Syllabus Jettisoned. "I don't mind telling you," said another headmaster, "that so far as geography> is concerned I havo thrown tho syllabus overboard altogether.- The average age in Standard Six is twelve years, and such problems as those relating to the equinoxes and the pltno of the ecliptic are beyond the comprehension of these.youngsters. I know teachers who cannot understand them.' Tho syllabus in geography is far too involved and'intricate' for the primary school." He also condemned tho text-books in ari: tlmietic as approved by the Education Department. • They wero entirely unsuited for practical work in the schools. There were not nearly enough examples given, in his obinioii, and.be intended to discard thepij in tho senior classcV at any rate. Brush-Drawing. • : One of the • headmasters • interviewed was asked whether brush-drawing l was accepted in lieu of formal drawing, or if extra time were, as alleged by "Magister," filched from the school week. 1 " ' "Well" ho said, "I have been informed that tho work dono in;the 'brush-drawing.' and 'wood-work' classes (the latter .embraces scalo drawing), will be accepted a! fulfilling the requirements of the inspectors, but then I have' my scholarship work to think of. The draughtsmanship implied by 'brushdrawing' and 'wood-work' won't pass for the requirements of the scholarship examination. lam therefore compelled to find timo f»r extra drawing."

Explslting tho Capitation. Grant. • The opinion was freely [expressed that tha capitation grants in respect, of manual and technical instruction had been exploited by tho'schools, with littlo real, benefit to the pupils in their preparation for tho battle of life. "The inspectors appointed under tha Manual and Technical Instruction Act haya never visited my school," said one headmaster. He said that perhaps some arranger ment had been come to wherqby the district inspectors' reports were accepted as a guarantee that the grants l had been'duly earned. "Of course, ho remarked, "it might bo argued that the :; Technical School can supply the instruction required by tho toachcrs, but it cannot assess the value of the instruction given by those teachers ..to their pupils. The result' is that such work is assessed in tho ' show exhibits' of the more adopt scholars. Personally, I do not think tho Government is getting a return for its money." The "Norman Battla-Ax'a," Inquiries as to tho " Norman Battle-Axe," referred to by " Magister,". in his article elicited tho fact that there were two "<;en.tres" for instruction in woodwork—ono at South Wellington, and -tho other at the Normal College, T'homdpn. At tho South Wellington centre the same system was in Vogue as in. tho beginning, lmt.it was understood that those schools ;which wero attached to tho "Normal College centre had been engaged in -constructing models of battle-axes,' as a co-ordinate fcaturo of their work in history. -, "My principal objection to the woodwork and cookery classes," romarked one of tha headmasters, "is that the classes are so organised that-1- loso practically one whole day, in order to obtain two hours' instruction. Tho girls of-my senior class aro absent ono half day, practically, and the boys' .section of that clas? ' mark 'time,' so to rpeak, during their absence, ffp new icork ran be taken. Then, on another htlf-d**, while the boys are absent at ei#as, .the girls aro compelled to n>ti-iv' tiusf. This, } consider,, accounted to snir? extent for l!i. weakness in its 'general .work of one of iiv classes last year." " *• "" Formal Grammar. Formal grammar—parsing and analysis— was not'recognised by the new syllabus, so it was stated. Tho study' of how. ever, was impossible without it, and in man;, of the. schools its necessity had been sfe fa* admitted, that it was even now receiving recognition in the senior classes.