THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 4003, 21 June 1870, Page 4

THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

By Polly Plum.

The action taken by the Otago people in the matter of providing really good instruction for girls as well as for boys hasjgiven rise to some little discussion up here, and the newspapers, as well as private people, have been commenting upon it. Some are in favour of imitating the good people of Dunedm in this matter, whilst others are of opinion that we have schools enough, and that a few classes for girls would meet the present want. lam inclined to think that some radical change is wanted ; that some thorough system of female education is really requisite. Unles3 education means a smattering of showy accomplishments, and a barely elementary Juiowledye of English, with but a vague idea of the higher branches, sjnatax, composition, &c, girls generally are fearfully deficient, and the questions arise. What is the cause of this ? and where is the lemcdy ? The cause is three-fold. The number of incompetent teachers ; the frequent and injudicious changing of schools ; and the want of early home discipline. The number of incompetent lady-toachers is one of those subjects one feels a delicacy in. approaching. £o many really estimable women, who feel and deplore their own incompetence, are forced by circumstances to try and teach, that it seems cruel and ungenerous to mention this subject ; but yet it is hard that many of the best years in the lives of really promising girls should be wasted in order that these ■women should be fed. Ido wish some other means suited to their abilities were open to them, and that tuition were left to thoroughly competent, certified teachers. Would we tru3t the body of our dear child to an unskilled, an uncertified medical practitioner ? No, a thousand times no, and yet we trust their minds, perhaps their souls, without any guarantee of suitability and capability. Can wo wonder that so many girls, whose parents have paid immense sums for them, are yet ill-educated, nay, sometimes uneducated? As I said in some previous essay, many who have now no certificates are capital teachers ; but I would not have this a matter of piivato judgment. Let it be as necessary for a teacher to have a certificate as for a doctor or a lawyer. The competent would find no difficulty in passing an examination ; and as to the incompetent, the sooner the profession is free of them the better for all who have the interest of the young at heart. Better for the governess, who will find her qualification acknowledged and respected'; and better for the girls, who, if they will learn, will have some chance of succeeding. The second thirg, the changing schools, is an evil. Don't try schools : select one with the utmost care; be quite sure of the competence of the teacher, of her character, suitability, &c. ; and, having once placed your child there, leave her. If you want superior teachers for the accomplishments, &c, either get them yourself or get the teacher to arrange with suitable professors ; but be quite sure that she herself is thoroughly versed in plain English, school management, &c. These are the real requisites for the principal of a school. In this respect parents display lamentable ignorance and want of care. They hear a lady play two or three showy pieces, see a drawing she has done, or are shown a stand of wax-flowers she has made, and they at once decideto send their daughter to that school that she may learn to play as well, or make wax-flowers as well, or paint, or draw, as the case may be. Now this is a great error. It is true that a teacher to be quite proficient should be able hersplf to do readily what she expects her pupil to do ; but it is not everyone who can do things well that can teach others to do them. They may have the power of acquiring knowledge, and be quite deficient in the power of imparting it, which is quite a separate gift; and this is why some, who do not play, sing, or draw so well as others, will yet teach better than they can do, simply because they possess the talent of imparting knowledge — in which power some capital musicians, artists, &c, are quite wanting. Another thing : if your daughter does not progress, make quite sure of where the fault lies before yon remove her from a school. If she is frequently down lowinher classes, often in disgrace, and other girls are doing thoroughly well in the school in which she is doing so indifferently, you may make quite sure that the fault is in herself, however unpleasant it may be to think so, and that no ch&nge of schools will benefit her, as she will take elsewhere the same faults and failings that hinder her progress now. Nay, the change will injure her, for it will be throwing the blame of her own idleness and ill-conduct on to other shoulders'; and this must encourage her in what is Wrong. Naturally she will think her teacher, and not herself, to blame, or where would be the need of removing her ? And this is another of the great evils of constantly changing schools. Children have not the proper confidence in, and respect for, their teachers. They regard those xmfortunate ladies as "on trial," and their sharp little eyes and ears take note of every little word, and look ready to spy out some fault or failing that "Mamma" has objected to in some previous instructress. Now, I will ask anyone if this state of feeling in children towards their teachers, such utter want of respect as it implies, must not be terribly bad for' the children, themselves, putting the teacher quite out of the question. How can they respect and reverence the instructions of a teaoher of whom they think in this way ? And I beg of well-meaning but incautious parents to think of my words, and be more guarded 'in speaking before young people. And now I come to the last ieason of faulty education, the want of early discipline. How is it possible for the teacher to obtain I influence over the child, wheir the > parent! i has failed to do so ? Can a teacher hope to 'obtain authority where the parent has none? 1 Girle will even say, " I would riot go to such i a school : mamma could not make me if I I would not, and, as I shouldn't like it, V& stand out and hot go." Is it any wonder that when, in many cases, this is the terrible state of anarchy at home, education should be faulty. What can be done with a girl of fifteen or sixteen who is mob.' a afrtßgt V

to real obedience and self -discipline that she thinks it a grievance not to be permitted to be governed by lier whims and fancies ? What a fearful future must life with all its trials be to such' a weak defenceless nature ; and, as to eternity, one shrinks in horrorfrom the thought of such a state of mind, as a preparation for ; it. True, the world, its troubles, cares, trials, may teaoh the lesson of self-government, but it is harder than to j learn, it would be better to learn the lesson , gently at a mother's knee. Be sure, any mother who may read this, that it is your duty to teach the first lesson of obedience and j self-abnegation ; and, if you do not teach it, but permit the child to be governed by its own will, you place a stumbling block in its path through life, that will meet it at every turn from the cradle to the grave. You giveitamorebitter, cruel, and relentless enemy m its own ungoverned will than any foe it may meet in life can prove. It may be said that much of this applies to boys as well as girls, and it does : yet I am writing specially for girls, and trying to offer a few hints to mothers in their choice of schools for their i daughters. With respect to a school for girls similar to the one started at 0 tago, it all depends on whether we wish to secure cheap first-class instruction for girls, if we think it requisite and advisable. Ido for one, in spite of all that has been said about my bad opinion of men; and those men have read my writings very superficially and with a jaundiced eye who came to such a conclusion. I hold .the position of a happy wife and mother to be at once the best, the highest position a woman can hold on earth, and also the most natural to her capabilities; and, in this most blessed relation, a good education will help to make her a pleasant companion and a wise helpmate to her husband, and also a competent guide to those little ones who are committed to her charge. The mere reading, writing, and arithmetic 'are trifles — only the- keys of the vast storehouse of knowledge full of all that is good and uscfulboth for man and woman, and so bhereisnothinglike real knowledge for making us humble-minded and consistent. Superficial learning, not true erudition, is the fruitful parent of conceit. And if it is not a woman's lot to be a wife, then will she find tenfold the value of a, good education. The best men of this enlightened age are striving to open ways for women tlms situated to earn their bread. Men are doing more for us than all the women's « advocates who talk on the platform. College after college, presided over by grave professors, is now opening its doois to female students, and women have only _to educate and fit themselves for the position man is gradually according to them. Don't be afraid, gentlemen: only the unloved, those who have lost their love, and those who do not love, will ever desire to take tip an independent position,,