THE NEW EDUCATION

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LVIII, Issue 66, 20 August 1937, Page 4

THE NEW EDUCATION

INTERNAL, CONTROL OF SCHOOLS.

TRAINING FOR CITIZENSHIP,

(Written for The Guardian)

No. 5

"My word, you have a better time at school than I did in my day!" How often children hear such expressions as this. Things certainly are different. What is this difference? It is more than a change in discipline. In schools of the old type — and there are still some about—the teacher was the chief consideration. His will was law, his opinion the only one taken into consideration. [The class was treated as a company of soldiers, an awkward squad needing the vituperative tongue of a sergeant-major. Everything was done at the word of command. Subjects were outlined in a systematic and methodical order; languages were studied in a strictly formal way, grammar being the essence because it admitted of precise teaching and testing; likewise history and geography, and, of course, mathematics. And this point of view obtained in all phases of school activity. The teacher was an autocrat, and the pupils had no part in organising anything or suggesting anything. Their thinking and planning were done for them; all they had to do was to learn and to obey. GRADUAL CHANGES. What was the reason for this ? The school was looked upon as a place where children came to learn definite and well-defined subjects. Gradually, however, it came to be suggested, only suggested at first, that perhaps subjects were not altogether the most important factor in a child's education, that perhaps the children themselves deserved some consideration. This led to a study of the children themselves. It came gradually, very gradually, to be realised that there was a considerable difference in individual children, in their mental and physical needs, in their mental and manual possibilities, and therefore a need for various methods in dealing with different types of children. The science of psychology established very definitely | the need for studying each individual child, and for suiting methods of education, as well as subjects, to the varying types. It was recognised that children learn by doing. Beginning in class subjects, this doing has gradually been extended more and more into all the activities of school life. Children in both primary and secondary schools have been given a greater and greater share in the working or running of the school. At first these activities amounted to very simple efforts such as collecting or giving out books, marking work under strict supervision, but even these helped to develop a sense of responsibility. MODERN TENDENCIES. I From these small beginnings the responsibilities of pupils have been more and more extended until to-day the activities of pupils cover many phases of the internal management of the school. This extension has not proceeded blindly altogether, or by chance, but it arises from a realisation that pupils learn to manage by managing, learn to govern by governing—themselves as well as each other. They learn to "run" society by taking a share in managing what are to them some of the most important interests in their present life. So we have become familiar with boys and girls managing their own school sports clubs. In many schools in New Zealand this activity has been widely extended, and there are many schools in which the process of self-government—not the prefect system—is well developed. In some of these, some sort of a school council is elected by the different classes, even in a primary school, and this council carries out much of the detail and even disciplinary work formerly done by the teachers. At Rangiora High School there is a body representing the Board of Governors, the staff, and the pupils. This body manages the affairs of the school. Regular meetings are held during school hours, reports are given of the various activities, and many of these are almost wholly controlled by the pupils. At the recent Fellowship Conference, Mr Zilliacus described activities in his own school in Finland. These are somewhat in advance of those mentioned, one striking addition being a school bank, with its own currency issue.

Pupil management has certainly

come to stay. It emphasises the importance of the individual pupil. In a democracy it is the individual who counts, and if our democracy is to survive, we must give our future citizens training in the management of their own affairs.