UNIVERSITY COMMISSION

Evening Star, Issue 18998, 21 July 1925, Page 6

UNIVERSITY COMMISSION

* OliL'S SECONDARY EDUCATION EVIDENCE OF SOUTHLAND PRINCIPAL FACILITIES INADEQUATE. The University Commission—-Sir Harry R. Reichel (chairman) and Mr F. Tate—resumed this morning. That, in spite of entrance scholarships and bursaries, facilities for university education in New Zealand were inadequate, was the statement of Miss M. Johnston, ladv principal of the Southland Girls’ High School, Invercargill. It was difficult, she said, for girls to obtain entrance scholarships. This was largely due to the fact that the dcaprtmental regulations required girls to take, during their first two vears at a secondary school, a. full course in home science and practical housecraft. There was nothing corresponding to the latter for the hoi s. The only solution seemed to be the reservation of a certain number ot scholarships for girls only, the number to bo proportionate to the number of girls qualifying. The latest regulations for the medical preliminary examination made physical science a compulsory subjecthome science was not accepted. In practice that debarred girls from the medical profession. Bursaries, though helpful, were inadequate from au economic point of view, especially when a hursar had to live away from homo. The maximum bursary 'was £SO per annum and iocs —and that only for certain courses. Many parents were unable to finance deserving bursars through _ their courses. Would it not be possible to establish a system of State loans at a nominal rate of interest to assist deserving students ? Outside the four centres arts students unless children of well-to-do parents, were practically debarred from university education. In university towns they might undertake pupilteaching for two years, then go on to training college. There was an urgent need for the establishment, in connection with the university, of a properly-equipped training college for secondary school teachers—the practical work of the students to be done in the post-primary schools (of all types) of the centre chosen, the theoretical work to lead to the diploma in education, which should receive adequate recognition by the Education Department. In the event of the establishment of four separate universities, provision must, ot course, be made for mutual acceptance 'of entrance qualification ami for transfer during course. The question of the recognition of New Zealand University degrees in other countries was mentioned. Under the Burnham scale, in Great Britain, a “ good degree ” was a degree, of a university in Great Britain. Degrees of other universities wore not recognised in that connection. The present system, with its attempt to teat three to five years’ work of the pupil by means of a three-hour paper was most unsatisfactory. It led, in practice, to the neglect of cultural subjects and, conversely, to the fostering of “cram.” The only alternative to a system of accrediting seemed to be the setting of an entirely different type of paper, testing “content ” only, except in the case of English.

The relationship of the syllabus for matriculation and that for entrance scholarship to the various university courses required consideration; e.g., in mathematics, there was very little difference between the proscriptions for entrance scholarships and for the B.A. degree. M ould it not be feasible to encourage post-graduate work, .both" in and out of New Zealand, by a series of loans, as suggested above? QUESTIONS ANSWERED. In reply to questions, Miss Johnston said the facilities for girls obtaining entrance scholarships were inadequate. The only chance for girls of parents not in the best circumstances to get to the University was by getting a scholarship. There had been no definite attempt in New Zealand to provide a secondary course for girls as distinct from the course which the boys were given. The entrance examination for boys and girls should be differentiated.

_ The Chairman: The medical regulations required physical science as a compulsory subject for the medical preliminary. Home science, which is part of the secondary school course, is not accepted. Therefore girls are almost definitely barred from entering the medical profession. Miss Johnston ; Yes.

Mr Tate suggested that the home science which was taught was of great benefit to the majority of girls, where there would only be a few who would benefit hr the leaching of science. He suggested that an arrangement might bo made for the girls wishing to take science to take it at the Boys' High School in the .same time. Miss Johnston further stated that she would be in favor of a scheme by which those who could not afford to come to the University centres were given the bursaries rather than those who could afford it. Mr Tate: Is it the best service you can do to endeavor to send girls along to University work? Js it not a fact that a great many of them suffer physically as a result of the strain? Miss Johnston replied that a great many suffered through teaching while studying at the University. Miss Johnston agreed with Mr Tate that an improved system was needed for the training of secondary school teacher's SECONDARY TEACHERS’ TRAINING PROBLEMS OF AGGREDfIIHG Professor Lawson (Professor of Education) submitted the following statement : “ Knowledge of subjects is t-ho first requisite for a secondary teacher. Tills knowledge should be at least up to advanced standard in one subject. All candidates for training should have a degree. • 1 Training of secondary teachers will help to solve the problem of accrediting, because the quality of the school work depends upon the teachers. A teacher trained is better than the same teacher untrained. “ Training would need to bo controlled from the University. This would bring about a closer nexus between the University and the Training College. In New Zealand the best results would be obtained by having one central secondary training group for the whole dominion. Lour groups, composed of, say, twelve to fifteen students, could not have, allotted to them four special staffs in science, languages, mathematics, history, and English. Of course, with four centres special local needs can be met. The training staff should be people of proved ability as teachers, should possess an honors degree, and should give evidence of a knowledge of the theory of educational practice and methods. “ Training makes a teacher conscious of the art of his profession; it creates a professional spirit, and. so a pride in doing the work in a professional manner. During nine years’ experience in training secondary teachers in Melbourne, I saw secondary teaching standards rising steadily both in departmental and in the non-departmental secondary schools. j “ Special training—e.g., Dalton plan i for a subject or a class, direct method in Latin or French, Heuristic method j in science—should be made possible. .Classes foj teaching gractacg. ghouljjLM.

I sought in all types of secondary schools ! as well as in upper standards of primary schools: special remuneration ought to be ottered to approved teachers having students attached to their classes. It ought to bo possible for the University and the Education Department to co-operate for the benefit of education in the appointment, status, and payment of staff. “ Students engaged in a full university year should be freed from other work." This is particularly cogent for secondary teacher training courses, where of necessity considerable time | must be given to lesson-preparation. ' Each year a group of teachers who have already proved their worth should be given halt or full-time off for the year to enable them to take the secondary training course. The establishing" of a school or use of an established secondary school to provide the : nucleus of the training would he necessary. “ Compulsory registration of teachers :s required. It ought not to be difficult to get an Act of Parliament to this effect. Registration should he controlled by a schools’ board. | ACCREDITING. I “ Accrediting depends on training ! and compulsory registration. Accrediting would have to be administered I under a schools’ board regularly constituted under the University, and giving representation to the University, the departmental and non-dopartmental secondary schools, and if desirable also to business interests. The board should determine what standard would be rc- | quirod for registration—presumably a year’s training. The board should have power to approve schools after inspection of records of qualifications of staff, laboratory equipment, and so forth, as well as on proved ability of such schools to reach standards required by the University in matriculation and similar examinations. Inspectors appointed should have the right to cooperate with university teachers _to I assist in inspection before approving school laboratories or syllabi, j “At present it is a common com- ' plaint that science is_ badly taught in many schools. Direct knowledge gained by the University teacher of the laboratory and .other conditions would .make-for improvement, and would give I professors and lecturers an immediate contact with _ the sources of their student material. | “ This system cannot be introduced at 1 once. Registration and training should begin at once; also the board should be constituted at once, with power to frame all conditions and requirements for the operation of accrediting at the earliest date. It will be four or five j years at least before any accrediting certificates can be issued. Here, again, the University and the department , could co-operate in regard to payment and status of staff. EDUCATION COURSE.

“ I am doubtful about the present I education course in the University, with j one professor undertaking it all. Only 1 a pantosophist professor could manage 1 the whole syllabus efficiently. 1 am i inclined to think that education should disappear from advanced and honors courses; that the pass bo reduced; and that the diploma should bo greatly dc- ! veloped to work in with and include : the training of secondary teachers. The honors course and the advanced are of less direct value to teachers than the pass.” | Professor Lawson was questioned by ! the members of the Commission. He gave reasons for his belief that the needs of secondary education in New . Zealand would bo best served bv the development of one secondary schools' I training college, since it would be difficult to select more than one properlyequipped staff. He thought it would be necessary to have a practice school, staffed by experienced teachers. Mr Tate said that to-day secondary education had developed in such a way as to dominate both primary and university training. That had to bo put right, and might be dono by the training of secondary teachers. | Professor Lawson said lie did not think there should be any hindrance to | providing a better system of training secondary teachers. TRAINING COLLEGE RELATION TO UNIVERSITY Messrs J. Wallace {chairman Otago Education Board), J. A. Moore (principal of the Training College), and T. R. Fleming (senior inspector) presented a statement from the Education Board. It read | “The Otago Education Board sub- , mils the following statement in opposition to the proposal that, at each ! of the four-university colleges, there shall be a school of education on the same footing as the, school of engineering, school of medicine, etc., and that the professor of education should be the dean of the faculty', and have charge of the training college. ! “The board is not in favor of the : suggestion that the university college should take over the control of the training college. It is of opinion that the principal of the training college should be selected by the Education Department and the Education Board.

I “To these two authorities is enj trusted the direction and management of the primary schools and teachers. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that they will have a more complete knowledge than the University Council is in a position to obtain of the training most suitable to equip the teachers for their particular work in the schools, and that they will, accordingly, ho better fitted than the University Council for prescribing tho qualifications, both academical and practical, which the director of that training should possess, and also for appraising the merits’ of the different applicants for the post. TRAINING OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. “For the training of teachers for secondary school work the board is of opinion Hint the existing secondary department of the Normal School should be enlarged both in respect of the number of pupils and of the staff. There should bo at least three leachears emlpoyed in that department, ono of whom should specialise in languages and one in science and matiicamtica. There should he a properlyequipped laboratory in connection with the Normal School secondary .department. “ The board further thinks that from 5 to 10 per cent, of the secondyear students should bo given a continuation course of ono year, and that their training during that period should partly coincide with the trainitig given to tho students in division C (graduates). “The board holds tho view that tho policy now adopted at tho Dunedin Training College of allowing worthy students to attend University lectures should be continued. (At present ToG students are attending one or more University classes.) HOSTELS. “The board desires to emphasise tho urgent need of establishing hostels for Training College female students. Tho •number hoarding in Dunedin at present is 177.”