SCHOOL PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 15, 17 July 1937, Page 13

SCHOOL PROBLEMS

FROM ALL ANGLES

NEXT WEEK'S CONFERENCE

OVERSEAS LECTURERS

The invasion of Wellington by a number of prominent education experts from overseas begins tomorrow with the arrival from Auckland, via Rotorua and Napier, of the lecturers who are to take part in next week's sessions of the New Education Fellowship Conference. It will be the busiest and most important educational week ever experienced in Wellington, for during the five days of the conference over forty lectures are to be delivered by nine different lecturers, who between them will cover every phase of education. Teachers and others interested, to the number of about 1500, will attend the conference, and in addition there will, it is expected, be large numbers of the public attending the public lectures intended more especially for their benefit. Practically every available hall in the city has been drawn upon for accommodation, as there will be so much going on simultaneously. Every morning from Monday to Friday inclusive, from 9 to 10.30 o'clock, seven of the visiting lecturers will conduct seminars, a short lecture being followed by questions and discussion. These seminars, which are intended primarily for teachers and for those who have enrolled as members of the New Education Fellowship, cover all aspects of education. Then each morning at 11 o'clock one of the visitors will deliver a lecture on some general topic, of interest to layman and teacher alike, and every evening there will be an important public lecture. In addition to these activities there will be several afternoon lectures, demonstrations, and meetings of, study groups. Those attending the conference, therefore, will have no lack of good things from which to select: their difficulty will be to decide what to attend, seeing that it is impossible to be in more than one place at a time and that so much worth attending will be going on simultaneously. Mrs. (Dr.) Susan Isaacs, the noted child psychologist from England, will conduct daily seminars dealing in the main with problems connected with young children. Her public lecture on "Child Guidance" is to be given in the Town Hall on Tuesday at 11 a.m. Dr. Paul L. Dengler, an Austrian educational expert, will give a public lecture in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening, his subject being "The Children of Europe." Durin b the seminars conducted by him he will speak .j "Youth in Need of Leaders,'-' "Universities in Changing Europe," and "Children's Art," and his public lecture on Friday morning will be on "The New Germany and her Schools." He also has with him an exhibition of drawings and paintings by Austrian children. The Director of Education for Kent, Mr. E. Salter Davies, will give a public lecture on Wednesday morning on "Education for Industry and for Life." Among the subjects to be dealt with by him in seminars will be "The Education of the Adolescent," "Principles of Educational Administration," "Physical Education;" and "The. Training of Teachers." '■ • ■ ■ Rural education and problems connected therewith will be the main subject of the lectures by Dr. E. -de S. Brunner, from the United States. His public lecture will be given on Wednesday evening. "

Dr. F. W. Hart, also from the United States, will in his talks deal chiefly with problems of administration, and on Monday evening he will give a public lecture under the title of "Creative Administration." Mr. ; Hart will s.peak on . Tuesday afternoon on "Home and School." AN EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITION. "Films and the Children," "Tendencies in Secondary Education," and "The Teaching of History and Civics," are among the subjects to be dealt with in seminars by Mr. G. T. Hankin, the English Board of Education representative. Mr. Hankin will also give a public lecture on Monday morning on "Mechanical Aids to Education," this being illustrated with films, and another on Thursday evening on "Educational Trend's in England." In addition, he will be in charge of the English Board of Education exhibition, illustrating typical English schools and their work. This will be located in the 'Library Hall of the Technical College and will be open for inspection at times other than those when Mr. Hankin will conduct seminars on this subject. .

Scotland's representative, Dr. W. Boyd, will speak during seminars on

"Religion in Education," "Educational and Vocational Guidance," "The Training of Teachers," and "Standardised Tests." A public lecture by him on Thursday morning will explain the aims and objects of the New Education Fellowship, while on Friday evening in another public lecture his subject will be "A Scotsman Looks at New Zealand Schools." Mrs. Boyd will lecture on Thursday afternoon on "Parents and Children.'' Other meetings, study circles, etc., will be arranged in accordance with needs and circumstances as they arise during the week. Any important notices regarding meetings will be posted on a board in the lobby of the Town Hal!. The conference office, where all information will be obtainable, is in the N.Z.E.I, 'rooms in the "Evening Post" building. A bookstall for the sale of New .Education Fellowship literature will be opened in the Town Hall.

The official welcome to the visiting educationists will be on Tuesday evening in the Town Hall, prior to Dr. Dengler's lecture. ■ The speakers will be the Minister of Education, the Hon. P. Fraser; Professor T. A. Hunter, chairman of the national committee; and Mr. W. Martin, chairman of the Wellington local committee. • The Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, will preside.