“A NATIONAL DISASTER”

Evening Star, Issue 21093, 4 May 1932, Page 6

“A NATIONAL DISASTER”

IF KINDERGARTENS CEASED MOVEMENT PROMISES SOCIAL STABILITY DR R. LAWSON'S ELOQUENT APPEAL “ There was never a time when the whole structure of human society was in so unstable a condition as it is today. The structure has cracks in it and is trembling in every country in the world. Here is a structure which promises stability. It is a small movement, but it is a good one. 1 see a future in the movement and society functioning as the kindergartens sot With this declaration Dr R. Lawson, professor of education at the University of Otago, concluded a brilliant and eloquent plea for the maintenance of kindergartens and a protest against the withdrawal of the Government. capitation grant aqd the “ very repressive and oppressive method ” against the movement by the. raising .of the primary school entrance age, at the annual meeting yesterday afternoon or the Dunedin Free Kindergarten Association. . Dr Lawson said that he had the honour of ■ making his first public appearance in the Council when he arrived in Dunedin eight years ago, and ho had then spoken on the work of the kindergartens. He regarded the work as foundational in strlicturo, and it would be nothing short of a national disaster if the kindergartens in Dunedin were to be starved. He agreed with the chairman’s remarks on the dual nature of education. If the development of children in education were neglected they would not bo doing their duty. Society was the background on which the picture of education was taken, and the claim for the kindergartens was made not only in the interests of the child but in the interests of society. He claimed that the type of work done in the kindergartens was vital for the future welfare of the. people of this country. They were not only of individual benefit to the child. Society in New Zealand was a living organism, and any offence or injury to that organism was liable to injure the body as a whole. The instructional view of education .was simply the pouring in of information. If any organism was starved at any stage of its growth it would be lessened vitally and dynamically at a later period. _ In kindergartens in the slums of big cities he had seen the genesis of society-good-will, co-operation, and trustfulness—and the potentiality of a great society they could be and would be some day. If they allowed kindergartens to be cut out of the very life of their community they would do irreparable damage, perhaps not to-day or to-morrow, but the damage would manifest itself in the course of a generation. He had a greater respect for practical men than certain laymen, but practical men did not see much behind the balance-sheet or the profit and loss of the moment. What they wanted was some vision or spirit of idealism that looked into the future of the society. If they defrauded the little children of laying that basis of sentimental complex, as' some of the dynamic psychologists would say, they ■were striking at the very fundamental of the structure of their lives and lowering the standard of the generation to succeed. It was a maxim that during the first five years of life was laid down the line of the physical and psychical life. Good education was possible without being able to- read or write. The kindergartens aimed at establishing happy, useful, and beautiful relations between human beings. That was possible without reading or writing, although not at the highest. On the other hand, he knew that the kindergarten had to handle many children whose social background was not what they would expect to exist in the “ city beautiful.” _ If they defrauded those children in the foundational years, in the years of growth and adolescence, they would appear in a ramshackle or inartistic way. Ho was not exaggerating when ho said that if they obliterated kindergartens they would aim at assisting the subversive fprees in the world to-day. Kindergartens aimed at all the fine things in society. It was on those grounds that he urged them to assist kindergartens, and deplored sorrowfully the movement aimed at cutting the kindergarten system out of the educational polity. There was a proposal to raise the age of entrance to primary schools, said Dr Lawson. That in itself was not so vital an account. He_ knew from experience that it was possible to get education, as normally understood, at seven or eight years of age as at any earlier age. But there was this point: that if the school entrance age was increased the overflow would make towards the kindergartens. The proposal seemed to him to be a very repressive and oppressive method against the kindergartens. Not only were they having their subsidies- cut away, but a measure of this sort would be a direct method to wreck the kindergartens. On the present basis bo could not see how they could absorb the overflow.

In the interest of the social organism as a whole he hoped that the question would be taken up and that the movement would not be allowed to stifle at this time. Surely it was extraordinary that after forty years of functioning in Dunedin and contributing so much to the welfare of the children and society a vital part of the body social should be cut out. It was like cutting the heart out of a human being and expecting him to live, if ho would be allowed to use perhaps an extravagant figure. Perhaps if they worked from the top to the kindergartens they would not do so much harm, but by starting at the little youngsters they were cutting out the foundation. Ho could see in the children promise of a golden age. If they continued right up through the schools tho type of environment provided in the kindergartens a happier world would result.

la some kindergartens he hail sgen children who had left begging to be taken back to live in their idealistic world. Instead of squelching the kindergartens, everything should be done to advance them. Dunedin was the oldest educational centre in Now Zealand, and had supported everything for the uplift of children. Society as a whole confidently looked to Dunedin and Otago not to allow the movement to be injured. Unfortunately people had to look through economy-tinted glasses, which prevented long sight. They could only see the balance-sheet or the profit and loss of to-day. There was never a time when the whole structure of human society was in so unstable a condition as it was to-day. The structure had cracks in it and was trembling in every country in the world. Here was a structure which promised stability. It was a small movement, but it was a good one. He had talked in an idealistic way, but ho spoke as bo saw, and he saw a future in the movement and society functioning as the kindergartens set it.