NEW COMMITTEE TO INQUIRE INTO TEACHER-TRAINING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22818, 13 December 1948, Page 6

NEW COMMITTEE TO INQUIRE INTO TEACHER-TRAINING

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, Dec. 11. The membership of a consultative committee of teacher-training to inquire into the provision made for the recruitment education and training of teachers, the selection of candidates for training and conditions of admission was announced yesterday by the Minister of Education, Mr. T. H. McCombs. The Minister said that the present system of teacher-training in New Zealand had been in operation with only minor adjustments since 1919. In view of this and of the major changes in education during recent years due to the raising of the school-leaving age and the increasing number of pupils going on to post-primary education, it was evident that the system of teacher-training was in need of review.

Committee of Eight The committee will be Mr. A. E. Campbell, director of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, as chairman; Mr. A. N. B. McAloon, Wellington College, secretary member; Mr. D G Ball, chief inspector of primary schools, Education Department; Professor 11. E. Field. Canterbury University College; Mr. F. C. Lopdcll, district superintendent of the Education Department, Auckland; Mr. D. Mac Kay, principal of the Teachers’ Training College Christchurch; Dr. J. Murdoch, lecturer Auckland Teachers’ Training College; Miss M. A. R. Wix, Kclburn School.

The Minister said that he had given considerable thought to the constitution of the committee and had finally, after consultation with teacher bodies, decided on a small committee of eight. There was a very large number of interested organisations and to have given them all representation on the committee would have resulted in a somewhat unwieldly body.

The consultative committee would, however, take pains to see that the views and suggestions of every interested organisation were heard and considered.

HIGH STANDARD OF MUSIC ATTAINED : R.S.A. CHOIR'S YEAR

“In a long association with choral music extending over many years I have never had an experience to excel that provided when the choir presented Gounod’s Mass in G in Holy Trinity Church. That effort surprised us all. I think, and it says much for the assiduity with which the choir has worked that it was able, with such outstanding success, to present one of the finest and most difficult compositions after only one season's preparation for it,” said Mr. I. Birchnall, conductor of the R.S.A. Male-Voice Choir, at a gathering held on Saturday evening to wind up the year’s activities. The function was held at Low’s rooms, with W. R. Oxenham presiding and the choir members present in full strength. The earlier part of the evening had been spent at the Memorial Home, where the old people were entertained with choral and solo items, this being one of a number of visits paid to the Cook Hospital institution.

The conductor's comments on the performance of the choir were made in reply to a toast proposed by the chairman, Mr. Oxenham having attributed the success of the year’s work to the skill with which Mr. Birchnall had handled every demand made upon the organisation. The essential feature in choral work was harmony, said Mr. Birchnall, and this applied not only to the music produced but to the relations of the various groups and individuals who formed the choir. Throughout his association with them, members had responded excellently to his every request, and had submitted with the best of sportsmanship and musicianship to the requirements of practice and public performances.

Past and Present Presidents

The presence as guests of a past and the present president of the Gisborne R.S.A., Colonel R. F. Gambrill and Mr. Gordon Jones, were referred to in the toast-list, and responding to complimentary remarks by Mr. W. Oakdcn they .stressed the importance of the social and cultural sides of the association membership. Members of the choir were informed that their group, with others, was contributing substantially to the public standing of the association through the excellence of their performances. Colonel Gambrill followed up Mr. Birchnall’s remarks upon the necessity of harmony, and applied the theme to relations between man and man in all walks of life. The capacity to subjugate individual ambitions and aspirations to the good of the group, as in a choir, and to the community in a nation, was one factor which could solve many problems now besetting the world, he felt. The gathering enjoyed heartily the singing of some of the more popular numbers in trie choir's repertoire, a highlight of the evening occurring when Mr. Birchnall surrendered his baton to Mr. R. D. Kelly for a run through “Comrades in Arms.” The services of Mr. Oxenham as president of the choir were made the subject of repeated compliments, and the programme closed with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne” and the national anthem.