HEADMASTER’S CREED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 72, 18 December 1937, Page 10

HEADMASTER’S CREED

The Ideals Of Modern Education

ROLE OF THE TEACHER “Having now completed a decade as headmaster of this great, school, 1 want to communicate to you a few of my convictions as a teacher—a sort of schoolmaster’s credo,” said the headmaster, Mr. W. A. Armour, speaking at the annual prize-giving at V ellington College last night. “First, I believe that the aim of a headmaster is the production of good citizens. The soul of education is discipline—discipline of the mind, the body, the spirit. Citizenship in a country where liberty still has a meaning involves obligations of a peculiarly grave kind. “Second, I believe that all formal education is a means to a single end, namely, the cultivation of a personality. Every child should be trained to live the fullest and happiest possible life as an individual, while at the same time contributing his full share to the life of the community in which he is placed. ” “Third, I believe that the purpose of all education is the production of good men. which is not quite the same as the production of good citizens. If we can teach the boys to think, we are doing more than improving their minds: we are giving them the power to interpret experience and to make wise choices. We are developing character when we implant an impatience with loose thinking, with shoddy and superficial conclusion, with acquiescence in the second rate. Value of Games. “There is undoubtedly a close relationship between physical education and the education of the mind. Games are the natural British way of securing bodily fitness and games make three most important contributions to the production of good men. These are physical fitness, the development of the team spirit or escrip de corps, and. what is perhaps the highest but least recognised contribution, the artistry developed in the good exponent of any game. The proper training of the physical, mental, aesthetic, emotional and spiritual sides of a boy’s nature will tit him to use his leisure time wisely arid well.”