IGNORANT TEACHERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 496, 1 May 1909, Page 15

IGNORANT TEACHERS.

SERIOUS CRITICISM. BY AN EXAMINER. '. Some verj' serious criticism, of the elementary school teachers who present themselves for the certificate examination is made ; in the: report of . the English Board of Educatipn .for the year 1907-8. •1 "There were a considerable number of :papers,".-says-:the}'Chief Examiner in History,. "which; may'.be passed over as worthless. They varied greatly in number \in different centres, and. are much, fewer proportionately amongjthe men than among the women. In some centres there were hardly . any of these among tho men's papers, and generally the marked superiority of the work done by tho men is one of the most noticeable features of tho examination. . ; Of.-these papers there is one the worthlessness of which is obviously.the result of low • intelleotual calibre and general want of edu- : cation. ■ V . , 1 'Sometimes in tho middle of a good answer ; which seemed to show real t well-ar-ranged knowledge would oome a singular jlapse; 0.g. ; a candidate would give a correct and .full list of relics of Roman occupation, but. include in it 'the great cathedrals.' This, single lapse of memory is sufficient to show that the; whole .of the answer must have been learnt without any secure basis r.i' historical knowledge. I think the explanation is.th&t most of thoir preparation has been done by means of correspondence classes; if tho question is" one that has . been done for these classes, then they know the answerif not. they are quite at sea. • ".What is, perhaps, most noticeable in many papers, including several that have attained fairly good marks, is'the ignorance of common things, the want of information that 'may almost bo classed as general information rather than as general or special .historical, .knowledge.; Perhaps the' moststriking mistake is one that was quite 00mmon even in good answers; many who gave a correct account of. the causos of tho revolt of the American oolonies went on to say that now all or many of our colonies send representatives to:, tho English Parliament, and few seomed to know that the great colonies aro self-governing." Much of this criticism, says tho report, applies in somo measure to the. whole of tho examination. Complaint is also made of the teae-liing of French: ... "Much of the work' called French is of little or no value, but this result is worthy of sympathy rather than blame. Much hard work is done with old-fashioned books and methods, of teaching that boloiig to twenty years ago. ,If French is to bo continued in the school drastic change? must be mado. One or more teachers properly equipped to teach ' French in accordance with ■ approved methods must lie appointed .to the permanent staff, and the teachers who are notspecially qualified to givo accurate instruction in French should be relieved of this part oi their work."