IN RETROSPECT

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 14, 9 May 1933, Page 8

IN RETROSPECT

WORK OF EDUCATION

FAR FROM PERFECTION

TEACHERS AND PARENTS

While pointing to.many .evidences of progress during the past fifty years, Mr. W. F. Abel, president of, the New Zealand Educational Institute, in addressing the annual conference today confessed that they were still far from reaching perfection;..they still had to discover what real'education meant. Mr. Abel said that the '. institute owed a great debt to the old stalwarts, who had had the ability and enthusiasm to found the institute in times when courage had been necessary to make a beginning and risks had been run by teachers taking part in institute affairs. "Education boards and education board secretaries in those early days' had very different ideas about what crtistituted legitimate criticism on the part of their servants, and the- founders of this body had to be men of strong courageous fibre," said Mr. Abel. "That they were not lacking in breadth of view and length of vision and high ideals is easily gathered from a perusal of the early records. You haye only to remember that great battles had to be fought for recognition of opinions expressed by teachers for a Dominion scale of salaries, for a centralised inspectorate,' for a superannuation fund, and generally for reform in all branches of educational work. Men were found to lead in all the great movements,, and to these leaders throughout the fifty years of progress we owe a. tremendous debt." '■ ' •• A THING OF GROWTH. A comparison was drawn by the president between the attitude of education boards of years ago and education boards today. "The institute, thanks to the genius of its founders, declared its reason for existence to be the promotion of the interests of education within New Zealand," he said. "Of course, such a body must be granted the right to watch the interests of its members, and it has to be acknowledged that the promotion of educational reforms is wrapped up inextricably: with the welfare of those whose duty and privilege it is to educate the youth qf the country. Wonderfully developed and improved as the system has become, there is no' desire to blink the fact that.it falls far short of perfection. Education is a thing of growth. New times and conditions demand new aims, new methods, and new policies, and the years to come will provide sufficient work for the best intellects of the :day. Today the vexed question of superannuation and the • administration of the service ate tw,o items * worthy of our most serious study. ■ Here I should like to say that after giving considerable thought to th,e proposals recently promulgated by the institute in its statement on the report of the Economy Commission, I am firmly of the opinion that in advocating a national board, to have full control under the Government, of the Education Department, the-instituto is on' right and sound lines. Is it too much to hope, now that the opportunity of making, a change has occurred, that the Minister of Education in making arrangements for the. administration of this Department should seek early legislation to enable him to establish a council on lines advocated by the.N.Z.E.L?" CONFIDENCE OF PARENTS. After referring to some? of the achievements of the' institute ■■ during the time it had been in existence, Mr. Abel proceeded: "It is not too much to say that school "teachers" today enjoy the confidence of the parents of the pupils. Isolated cases of want of confidence do not disprove this fact, but •rather throw it into relief. Knowing that this trust exists in the individual, it is difficult to understand why groups now and then should show, some animus against the teaching profession. True, education costs money, and in that fact I think can be found the reason for the occasional seeming jibes that are directed towards us, and in the fact that the importance and ' value of a good education is not well recognised by certain types of; minds. There can be little doubt about it. We, as teachers, stand,well with the people of the Dominion. The jubilee celebrations that^ are being held furnish evidence of the respect, nay, even love, of men and women for their schools and schoolmasters. And therein lies the necessity for thankfulness arid, knowing the-shortcomings pf which :we are guilty, even for humility. It was the custom once to plead for a higher social standing "for teachers. With that plea I have nothing > but impatience. The right social standing, is only to be gained by recognition of work skilfully planned and conscientiously performed. Nothing elso matters."- .■;■■.■■' . ■ '. FAR FROM PERFECTION. "Since 1883," Mr. Abef Went on to say, "we have travelled many miles along the road of progress. Great advance has been made in the attitude of the teacher towards his pupils and in educational method; but we are very far from reaching perfection in our technical and professional work. We have still to discover what real education means. Old methods have been discarded and new ones tried, often immeasurably superior to the old. Some have still to stand the test of time, and many may be, modified or even abandoned in our search for the 1 ideal. After another 50 years teachers will look back,on,the present-day "state of things and marvel that such things could be.. Our duty is t6 move along the path of progress.with Open minds, ready to seize that which seems good and discard that which has been tried and found wanting, keeping our minds young and fresh in our relations with; splendid youth, recognising the sacred trust that is ours in guiding thought and inculcating principle and in building; the character of,the youth of this Dominion."