IMPROVED EDUCATION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 July 1922, Page 2

IMPROVED EDUCATION.

THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE

(By George Gifford.) lhe time is out of joint ; O, cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right."

nn Tot/ *hf, »'h'^ world is echoing poor Hamlet's plaint; unlike him however, most of us do not consider ourselves destined to find the, key to the riddle. We are content if we can allocate the blame for the chaotlcon* dition ot the universe; but even finding a scapegoat is not always as easy w,™ T nn' °f courße' tfiere is af ways the Government to tilt at; but a Government's back is broad, ancl forms a somewhat easy target so the most enterprising souls look round for 'systems" winch they can revile For this particular pastime the educational system is for the moment first favourite. a

A cynic once remarked that every man thinks that he could edit a newspaper ; to-day it seems as if everyone thought that he could improve all existing educational systems Unfortunately the criticism aimed at our present methods is seldom of the constructive variety; indeed, it is inter-, esting to note that the most severe remarks are passed by those oeoole who have probably never heard' of Pestalozzi or Rousseau, let alone Dewey or Montesson, and who certainly have no conception of the principles for which these masters stand. " In our efforts to find the culorit the educational system is not the only one to be called in question, but the teach- I er is unfortunately less able to defend himself than the members of other i professions. All around us we see undersized or anaemic people, and we hear of incurable diseases and raging epidemics, so we ask bitterly: "What are the doctors and dentists doing? Why is our health usually indifferent and our physique often "ooor? Why are countless people, while still quite young, equipped with artificial teeth? Why does cancer take increasing toll of our friends?" Doctors and dentists, however, have been smart enough to get in with their retort first. They caustically reply: "Because you do not take enough exercise, or you do take too much drink. Because you don't swallow enough vitamines, or you do swallow too many bacteria." Then they hurl at us a Latin name for our particular ailment, and we live—**'a day, less or more"—as the case may be. The teacher, however, is not able to employ the impressive vocabulary of the laboratory or the surgery, and he would certainly not be understood by the average layman if he couched his answer in the didactic phraseology of the phychologist. What he should reply to the parent who wonders why his child is "not getting on at school" is: "Because you do not understand what 1 am trying to do. Because you do not support my efforts, and often undo in the home what I attempt in the schoolroom." The wise teacher, however, refrains from giving expression to these thoughts^ knowing full Well that numbers are against him; for the master of 100 pupils has 200 critics, unless any of his scholars happen to- be orphans.

In H. G. Wells' "Joan and Peter" one «rets an ' illuminating glimpse of the eternal tragedy of 'the teacher, that sower of unseen harvests, who finds himself perpetually up against time, custom, misunderstanding, and world inertia. During his search''for a suitable school for his words, the hero encounters a particularly sympathetic schoolmaster. This disillusioned man recounts the stoi-y of his early enthusiasms, great endeavours and still greater failures; summing up sndh;, "All life, I suppose, is largely disappointment, but a * teacher seems to accomplish a smaller percentage than most men of tbe great things he sets out to do." He then adds bitterly: "If you want to so e the p-enera-lions running to waste like rapids you nv*st put v-pr heart and life into a private school." .

THE INITIAL PROBLEM. Tlie primary and most vital problem that confronts the educator is: "What are we aiming at? For what are we educating our children?" The Spartan of old trained his son with one object alone— to be a soldier; the ancient Roman went further, and taught his child to look forward to becoming a citizen or that splendid empire. For what is the youth of the greatest nation that the world has ever seen beino* trained? The teacher undoubtedly attempts to find the answer in his efforts to build character, but he woncs always with a very cautious eye on examination lists and inspectors' reports.

lhis is the day of catchwords and of hall-digested ideas. The language of education bristles at present with such expressions as "auto-education " "selfgovernment," and "repressions " Few laymen, however, seem to have grasped the principles underlying these phrases ihe most eminent educationist in tne Dominion remarked that the old idea of a teacher was a cross between a policeman and an encyclopaedia, while to-day the teacher aims .at being "guide, philosopher and Iriend." A generation or so ago a dominie stood tvith tawse in hand wiiile- terrified or inattentive youngsters '-memorised long lists of apparently meaningless words To-day under the Dalton plan, which is attempted in many infant schools in the Dominion,, and throughout the entire school m one case, the child is given a timetable 01 its work for some days or weeks and is then expected to get through that work in his own way and accordmg to his own arrangement, guided and helped, but not taught by the teacher 'lhis principle involves much painstaking labour on tlie part of the teacher, but.it is claimed that ex, .cellent, though possibly not immediately apparent, results are -obtained by this method.

Modem education aims at indue-in-the child-to teach himself and to govern himself; a far harder ta.sk, be is said, tor the teacher than the enforced discipline and lecture-like lessons of the last generation. Educationists claim' however, that the results on both lines are greater. To inculcate a love of work for work's sake, and to train the child to do his duty to himself and to his neighbour because he realises the necessity ior .so doing, and not from the lea,- G f punishment, is the ideal of the present day instructor. The adult knows that tlie work he does best is that which he likes doing, but he realises that to attain proficiency in his art or business he must put in a tremendous amount of spade work, and he ■willingly submits to the necessary ..rudgery ior the sake of the end he has

in view. It is often said that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains, but it is equally true that genius likes j taking those pains; it is the driving foree_ within, and not outside pressure, that impels any man who does anything worth while in the world. The object of the teacher is to so encourage the liking of the child for his task that he willingly submits .to the inevitable drudgery. With regard to discipline, it is contended that children who have been educated on strict lines in large schools are apt to be institutionalised (i.e., that individuality and originality have been warped), and that they boy or girl who has been most carefuly sheltered and reared in the home and school is likely to succumb most readily to temptation when the restraining influences are removed. Certainly experiments such as the "Little Commonwealth" go to show that the most incorrigible spirits can be taught to govern themselves when all efforts at repression by outside authority have proved unavailing. "Man is bom free, and is everlastingly in chains." The right to choose and to wear willingly his chains is wh-nt the teacher of to-day claims for his disciples.

THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY. In these days the teacher eagerly studies all avai.abie literature on ps^cnoanalysis and the new psychology-gener-ally, because he fancies that the new knowledge may provide a swift and magical solution ot all educational problems*; the burden of his profession lies heavy upon him, and he hopes (poor man) that the new knowledge may have an answer to all his difficulties. Of course this is a delusion; there is no magical or external solution to the I problems that confront the teacher, and no formula that will suddenly make him1 master of the intricacies of the child's mind. Moreover, the terminology ot the new psychology is so abtruse that the average individual is apt to feel that he is being enmeshed in a tangle of vertrage.

Sir Ernest Rutherford tells us that when we can release the' energy of the J atom we shall have sufficient power j (among many other such feats)*to lilt! a liner from New Zealand to England j in au incredibly short apace oi v.nie.J Certainly no one would dreim of contradicting such an eminent" authority, but the ordinary mortal ley Is that, lor the moment, he must still rely upon the New Zealand Shipping Company. Similarly, when the psycho-analysts tell us in highly pedagogue terms that the most evil 'thought or action is only repressed energy, and that its power shall be transmitted into a vital force, we cannot help feeling that for the time being we must stilt trust to improved methods of our present system of repressions. . Doubtless we all look forward to a future "Where each for the joy of the workitag, And each, in his separate star, Shall draw the thing as he sees it, For the God of things as they are." At present, however, we <\re dwelling on a planet which is apt at times to feel over-congested, and our most difficult task is to help our children to fit themselves into their environment. There is no doubt that psycho-: analysts, psychologists and educationists -f enfr""'*'d :n a «tvenuous and HercuI«an task, in which they need more i.xup ana encouragement and less destructive and hostile criticism. ]_>r Crighton Miller lucidly concludes his most able work, "The New Psychology and the Teacher," on these lilies: j

"The new psychology has taken us back towards the conception of happiness as 'unimpeded energy,' and has shown that our belief in enforced control is largely the projection of the distrust of our own unconscious energies. Each in his own tongue, -many a witness has testified to the necessity for making our thought about human affairs dynemic and not static, vital and not mechanical in its categories. It is not easy to keep pace with thought on these, lines and to respond to this challenge. Least of all is it easy to accept its implications in education. It makes a great demand upon energy—a demand which can hardly be met by those whose vital forces are largely repressed. Small wonder if some prefer that the children they teach should exhibit an orderly torpor or a mechanical regularity rather than any unlooked for or ni'-s'directed outburst of energy."

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