SCHOOLS IN RUSSIA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 152, 13 June 1932, Page 5

SCHOOLS IN RUSSIA

SOUTHERN TEACHER’S VISIT. MARKED DIFFERENCE IN METHODS. A Christchurch teacher, Mr. George Ashton, now having a year’s teaching experience in London, writes in an entertaining manner on some of his experiences in Russia, which be visited during his three weeks’ holiday at Easter. “Schools in Russia,” ho says, “are quite different places from those in New Zealand or England. The children bounce out of their scats and interrupt the teacher at any time. They all work in groups of about six or eight, and in no room is there ever silence. While we were talking to the head in one factory school, a boy of about 15 came in without knocking and announced that, as he was the president of tho Camera Club, he proposed taking our photographs. Next, he arranged chairs, told us all where to sit, took the photograph with the manner of a professional, thanked us and left. “Also, if you want to know anything about the ‘Five Year Plan,’ ask a Russian child. He has a mine of information about it in his head, just as a New Zealand boy can tell you the ppsition of the leading teams in football or cricket. But one of the greatest experiments tho Russian schools have made, I think, is in the question of sex education. Boys and girls from 12 arc given direct, and straightforward knowledge in mixed classes.”