TEACHING SERVICE PROMOTION AND APPOINTMENT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 8, 9 July 1912, Page 4

TEACHING SERVICE PROMOTION AND APPOINTMENT

EVIDENCE OF EXPERTS. BEFOEE KOFAL COJrMIBSION. I The Education Commission continued i its investigation yesterday afternoon after The Post went to press. Mr. M. Cohen, the president, was in the chair. Tho general subject of the afternoon wa6 the classification and appointment of teachers, bub other aspects we're also touched. Mr. F. H. Bakeweli, assistant inspector to the Wellington Education Board, in examination, said there was an absolute necessity for a guiding authority for the control of education. He did not belierve in a differentiation between certificates for teaching primary and secondary subjects. He could not say how personal knowledge of a> teacher's qualification could be ascertained under a Dominion scheme ot classification- He would favour the abol|tion of the present scholarship examinations. He believed in something like the "accredited" system in vogue in the United States. He thought that where for years a school had been in a state of high efficiency it might be left without inspection, so that the inspector might devote his time to the less efficient school. TOO COMPLEX. Mr. John S. Tennant, principal of the Wellington Training College for Teachers, said the present system of appointing and classifying teachers was unduly Complex. The present syllabus was the best so far New Zealand had possessed. Criticisms had arisen largely from amisinterpretation of its spirit. Simplification of arithmetic by adoption of the metric system and some form of spelling reform would .release one-third more tinie for teaching other subjects. School libraries Were important. He thought there should be power to extend the length of the training of a teacher in the Training College. The establishment of rural and domestic classes in primary schools was one .of the greatest reforms in recent years. There ,was a want of correlation between the different branches and stageK of education., ' In examination, Mu. Tennant said there was an undoubted tendency on the part of teachers being trained to place the literary far above the professional teaching attainment*. He thought a simplifying of classification was a remedy. He was in favour of lengthening the training period to three years in exceptional cases. The prizes in the profession were not sufficient at present). He believed in separating the infant departmont of schools altogether from the standards. As compared with ten years ago, he could Got say whether the finished product of the primary schools was better now or worse. Probably the finished product' fifteen years ago would have certain advantages, but, taking things all round, they were turning out a more intelligent all-round pupil than they did fifteen years ago. A scheme had just been' arranged by which train- ■ ers of the Training College mignt have 1 opportunities of visiting the teat schools and seeing the best methods of teaching as actually practised in everyday school-life in the Dominion. 4 SOME-DISABHJTIES. 'Mr. W. S. Latrobe, M.A-, Director of the Wellington Technical School, said that in his opinion , salaries in tho j primary •choolis . were too low j the teacher's surroundings were, often uncomfortablie, the training of teachers was usa*lly incomplete, and classes were often far too large. In technical and secondary schools the teachers were usually competent co far as knowledge of subjects was concerned, but were not (generally trained sufficiently in teaching methods, and the general science of pedagogics. Salaries in these schools were too low also. He thought the present capitation system was uiTsound iv, principle, and cumbrous in practice. It should be abolished .In .favour of a method similar to that adopted in the case of university colleges, which, indeed, as at present constituted, were largely technical and continuation evening schools. The establishment of evening classes in the University colleges for students who were employed during th« day in earning a livelihood or in the ordinary practice of their profession, was a distinct encroachment on the legitimate field of technical school work. Th« intrusion of the University into matters, outside iit own sphere had had bad effects both on the University and on the technical education fcyßtem. For the University it meant missing largely the main aims of a Undvetwity — thait of being the highest centre of national spirit and national thought, an aim which, realised, would make it the nurs-, ing of national leaders. This bad effect entailed loss of prestige to the University and a, cheapening of tho degrees granted. For the technical school it meant a lose of some of the higher work. A, consequent increase of difficulty in maintaining a high scientific standard, and the logs of lie essential quality of University in its own sphere. It was absurd to say that a child who had received a. drilling in reading, writing, and computing was well educated. Sufficient prominence was given to these subjects already in the primary school syllabus. The rest of the syllabus might be simplified for the present, not b,ecause the subjects were not suitable, but because the teachers were not all sufficiently trained ia their work in these subjects. UNIVERSITY OK TECHNICAL SCHOOL. ' In answer to questions by members of the Commission, Mr. La Trobe said he would be very much inclined to say from Ms experience that the University degree should be granted only to stud-* ents in residence. He was uot entirely in favour of compul6Oly continuation classes. Free-place students attended better than those who paid fees. He believed that the general lesult of a moderate course in woodwork, was undoubtedly good and useful from a general point of view. There was a difficulty in getting teachers with a good scientific training as well as a good practical knowledge of the trades. The method of payment by capitation grants was simply an inducement to controlling authorities to take up popular subjects on the list for the sake of the capitation they earned. It would be fairer if local contribution were subsidised with borne additions from other sources not now available. A* regarded primary, schools he believed in the retention of cookery and wood work in the i<yllabuß for the upper classes. AN UNSATISFACTORY SYSTEM. Mr. William Henry Leader Foster, M.A., said he had been teaching for thirty-three .years. Ho Appeared on behalf of the New Zealand Educational Institution, and read a report of the I'psohitions of the Wellington branch in iegard to the subject of classificat'-on and appointment. It submitted that the existing H\stem of appointment and promolion wat> unsatisfactory to teachev?, and not in the interest oT teacheis. " This was due to tlie lack of any definite and \ expressed policy of the Education Bosud < in the. matter of appointment, and also

to the power conferred by the Act on existing committees of making appointmente in certain cases. The Wellington branch of the institute submitted through him a number of recommendations to remove tho dissatisfaction and unrest in the teaching profession, among them being the following: — (a) That the present system of appointment, in which both education boards and school committees participate, be abolished, and that tho power to appointment be vested in the education board alone ; (b) that the board direct its school inspectors, to classify teachers for the purposes of promotion on the basis of (1) teaching ability, (2) educational - attainments, (3) length of service ; (c) that the teachers be informed confidentially of their classification, and that any teacher dissatisfied have the light of app«il ; (d) that on the occma-ence of a vacancy, the inspector should recommend to the board a teacher for promotion, choosing him or her from the classification list of those eligible and in order of merit; (c) that the board make the appointment in accordance with the inspector's recommendation. It was contended that these recommendations conserved the basic principle that promotion should depend on' efficiency. The witness, .in examination, said he was not prepared to express an opinion on the desirability or otherwise of a Council of Education controlling primary, secondary, and technical education through five or six educational' districts. TWO HEADMASTERS. Mr. George Macmorran, headmaster of the Terrace School) Wellington, said the effective working of the syllabus depended on a reasonable interpretation of its suggestions and an efficient staff. Arithmetic in Standard V. and VI. was too much to b» covered in one year, and the course in mathematical and physical geography waa too difficult. The witness h«r* went into a technical criticism of certain aspects of the syllabus. He was rather more hopeful now than eight years ago about Nature ijtudy, but he did not think much of " Civics " as it was taught. Mr. James Costin Webb, headmaster of the Thorndon Normal School, gave other specialised evidence on behalf of the New Zealand Educational Institute. The Commission adjourned at 6 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. to-day.