MORAL TRAINING IN SCHOOLS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12159, 24 March 1900, Page 6

MORAL TRAINING IN SCHOOLS.

The President of the Educational Institute chose a wide and important subject! for the address which he delivered at the annual meeting of the North Canterbury branch last evening. Without going so far as to declare that moral training is entirely neglected in our schools, we may at least say with justice, that too much attention, is paid to the development of the child’s mind and too little to the development of its character. After all, as Mr Lecky puts it, character plays a larger part than intellect in tjie happiness in life, and happiness is'what one would seek for all children. We are very far from attaining an ideal system of education, but there is no reason why the best should not be made of the system we have; and certainly Mr Voss was able to point out a direction in which very great improvement could be effected. It would be difficult to praise too highly the, tone of his addresis, and it does not require an expert to appreciate the matter. It would be well for New Zealand and her children if all her teachers had as noble a conception of their calling as Mr Voss has. It was noticeable at the outset that he accepted the system as it was, and devoted himself entirely to the work that may be (lone by the teacher. There must have been a strong temptation, in dealing with such a subject, to enter into a discussion of the advisability of Bible-reading in schools, but Mr Voss avoided that dangerous ground, and his address became in consequence far more practical and more solid. We need not follow him through his admirable summary of the methods by which moral training may be imparted to the 'scholars, He dwelt with wisdom on the great possibilities of History as a means of teaching morality, and his reference to the need for patriotism was happy in the extreme. But it was when he came to the personal influence of the teacher that he spoke with greatest force. The private life of those who have the training of our children in their bauds must be above suspicion. We would not suggest that the schoolmaster should attempt to direct all his scholars into one groove. One of the most fatal mistakes in education—if we may again quote Mr Lecky—is the attempt which is often made by the teachbr to impose his own habits and tastes on natures that are essentially different. But the schoolmaster is bound to exercise an unconscious influence on the thoughts and actions of-those committed to his charge. One of. the first questions a boy puts to himself when he contemplates an action of dubious morality, is “.What will teacher say?” Nor is it merely fear of punishment that imspires the thought. We do not think that Mr Voss in any way exaggerated the importance of the. teacher’s personality in the development of morality in the pupil, and we trust that his remarks will be carefully studied by every member of his profession.