EDUCATION FELLOWSHIP

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 131, 4 June 1936, Page 7

EDUCATION FELLOWSHIP

IMPORTANT CONFERENCE PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR There is every prospect that some 12 to 15 distinguished overseas educationists will attend an educational conference. in .New Zealand during 1937. A committee representative of nationwide educational organisations met for the first time on Tuesday evening to discuss preliminary arrangements for I the conference. The committee is constituted of representatives from the Education Department, the Education Boards' Association, the New Zealand Educational Institute, the University, the Secondary Schools' Association, the Technical School Teachers' Association, and the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. Professor T. A. Hunter (University of New Zealand) presided, and Mr. G. R. Ashbridge (New Zealand Educational Institute) was elected secretary.

In outlining the steps already taken, Dr. C. E. Beeby (New Zealand Council for Educational Research) explained that the New Education Fellowship is an organ/ation of persons interested in progressive methods in education. Its headquarters are in England, and it has branches in 47 countries. Arrangements have already been made for a conference of the Fellowship to be held in Australia in August, 1937, and New Zealand has been invited to organise a session of the conference to be held either before or after the Australian meetings.

The following educationists are definitely attending the Australian conference, and have expressed their desire to participate in a New Zealand session if such can be arranged:—Mr. Salter Davies, Director of Education, Kent; Mr. P. E. Meadon, Director of Education, Lancashire; Dr. Cyril Norwood, Oxford; Professor F. Clarke, Adviser to Overseas Students, Institute of Education, University of London; Dr. Susan Isaacs, Specialist in Infant Development, Institute of Education, University of London; Professor I. L. Kandel, Teachers' College, Columbia University, the leading authority on comparative education; Dr. Wm, Boyd, Professor of Education, Glasgow University; Mr. A. Vedel, principal of one of the chief folk high schools, Denmark; Professor E. S. Brunner, Teachers' College, Columbia, authority on rural sociology and agricultural economics; Mr. Lismer, Director of Art Studies, Toronto; Professor Hart, University of California, authority on educational administration; Dr. Malherbe, Director, Bureau of Educational and Social Research, Pretoria; Dr. Cunningham, chief executive officer, Australian j Council for Educational Research.

Other possible visitors include:—Dr. P. Dengler, University of Vienna; Dr. Hu Shih, University of Peking, China; Dr. H. R. Hamley, London University; Sir George Newman, Ministry of Health, London; a representative from the Board of Education. London; a representative from the Institute of Intellectual Co-operation; Dr. Schairer, Institute of Education, London; Rektor Zilliacus, a leader in Scandinavian education; Dr. Jessup. Director, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and a representative from Japan.

The general proposal is to have a session of the conference in each of the four centres, and to arrange, if possible, for the schools to close for upwards of a week to enable teachers to attend. The conference will probably take the form of seminars and discussions during the day with big public lectures in the evenings. Boarding and billeting arrangements will be made for teachers from the country and from other centres. A fee will be charged for the conference which, it is hoped, will practically cover'the expenses. At a similar conference held in South Africa in 1934, said Dr. Beeby. 4000 teachers and others attended, and the whole conference showed a slight profit which was being used for the publication of the proceedings.

The members present expressed themselves unanimously in favour of the conference. It was pointed out that such an opportunity will probably not offer itself to New Zealand again in a lifetime. Coming as it does at a time when educational reorganisation is being discussed on every side »the visit of such outstanding educationists might well mark a turning point in New Zealand education. The representatives at the meeting were unable to pledge their organisations in any way, but after a general discussion on ways and means, all agreed to put the proposal before their respective bodies, with a view to ascertaining what backing is forthcoming. A further meeting in a fortnight's time will then be able to make definite and authoritative arrangements. The conferences of primary, secondary, and technical teachers held in May were all very favourable to the scheme, and the Minister of Education has expressed his general approval. It is, therefore, very probable that the project will go forward.