The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 1908. TEACHERS AND TEACHING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 89, 14 April 1908, Page 4

The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 1908. TEACHERS AND TEACHING.

A school for te vachers, such" as is now being held in Blenheim, cannot but be productive of good. There is much to learn if one would teach correctly, .and in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom 7. Oldmethods ,may be revised and new systems deyised afr such gatherings, and teachers thus acquire increased stores of knowledge to enable them The better to prosecute their arduous task of imparting instruction. Ihe idea is a good one, and might be extended with advantage. More and more is demanded of teachers as new nelds of knowledge are opened up and it would almost appear to be impossible to keep pace with the requirements of the present day, either m the acquisition or the imparting or learning. Scholars are> expected to have more than a mere bowing acquaintance with an infinite variety of subjects, . though, they- can at best.obtain but a smattering of them a?i Z ■ unfortunate teacher, to be able to impart even that smattering must have his brains so well filled as to illustrate the rhyme depicting a, village pedagogue: ' °

mr , . Ar.d still the wonder grew, lhat cne small-head' could carry all he knew." " There Is much of doubtful utility attempted to be taught in the present .day. bo much is sought to be crowded into the few hours flowed tor instruction that it is surprising -I alL? tlung T at all is imparted with tne thoroughness desired. Far better ■would it be if less were attempted as under the old regime. Few subjects ■ and 'those taught thoroughly would be better for telcher and pupil 2 nf, Result of the present-day method is the. partial neglect of so many subjects in which it is desirable that pupils be particularly instance. How many boys or eirls S ed *?? of P o^P^lic7chools g aTe good spellers? The proof-reader of LmS 7 •'■■ news PaPer is constantly .dfSSJIiS 10 Cn^ taCt With evidences lot slip-shod spelling upon the part of compositors which d^es not Reflect +W i Up°n the s? hoo|| through which they;. We passed How frequently, for instance, is the word village renYf>? g& <>«***&* becomes oichadist " the word aquatics appears. ..a S+ " acquatics," and so on. Ihe greater part of a proof-reader's time is oeciipied m correcting such blunders as these, and as to dividing words m accordance with their syllabic formation, such a thing is hopelessly beyond the average compositor, he knows nothing of it. How taiight?. Mr Parker, at the gathering of teachers yesterday, touched upon another iwiase of the same queshc 'J-1 + bad wntme- He knew, 1 ti two smart young fellows who had recently failed to secuTe positions in business houses simply and solely because of their poor haidwnting. This defect ha S P generally been associated with genius, so these young men may fcake - h ' Y n b e a | writer always has the consolation of barred from business pursuits he may oecome'a doctor, a lawyer, or even a journalist! Handwriting, however wretched and ill-formed is seldom a bar-to any profession. We have lately had through our hands perhaps the worst specimen of call ?S hy VT bGen °"r lot to see for >eai 3 , and it emanated from the office occupy the judicial bench and become terrors to evil doers! Then there a™e other defects which might be noted, such as common errors of speech of which -done" for did. -th P e rn"'for those, arc examples. The verb "can" X 3 1S0 f**™**? used where "may" s clearly indicated: "can I goout?" .'can I sit clown?" and so forth, bucii instances of slipshod, hurried SSr-V* tea? hing could be mutt of cloL , 1 th% t6? cher m^r Tears dicier v*Xd ?l ln a TVen7 milch '■-^ Pv-uod J:cy can bo grasped

by children, whose minds are not yet attuned to the necessity for them? There are many who hold the opinion that the instruction required in country districts should be an intensely practical one, such as would , fit the children to occupy the positions they are most likely from their environment to be called upon to fill. This country is gradually becoming one of small holdings, and its continued prosperity depends upon settling an increasing population upon the soil. A very great deal of the education °! i y°unS in country districts should therefore be of a character to qualify them for working to the best advantage tho land they may occupy. Ihis may be .done without neglecting ?, , n e. r necessary subjects. Mr Jesse Colhngs, the author of the "Three Acres and a Cow " Bill, has now introduced a Small Holdings Bill into the British Parliament, and concerning this he says :—"The country paid nearly twenty, millions sterling in elementary. . education annually, and tnat sum t wag,likely to be increased. Ui it four .and a half millions came tfo.m agriculturists, and in return the children were taught to dislike agriculture and long for the life of the tig towns. He had a Bill which was a complement of the one he referred to, which provided that there should t. e(*ucation, in rural elementary schotpls suitable to children intended for rural Hf e . .He would have a sch?<f, garden, where the children could be taught the elements of farmIiJ gi aJt c would have a cow kept, that the girls might learn to milk and so on. ..At twelve the boy could ?°?%}\ *nd at thirteen use a flail, but if they left it, until, a girl was SilW T^ 6 talke^ Liilkmg she would never begin to hflf fe' aild tbo same thiSg ap? ZttrJ 1 »>en yeomen holders, peasant proprietors, and proper education, offering a prospect wm^ l-rt On the land > and they ■I£it d thr a^ peal w™]d p^^t tf II r^ in6re attractive opento day'" +v °vef crowded trades of T'W'n .^tllo^ going quite so far S^ed-%% I*^iU ne^eless be agreed, that there is a great dear in that for which he contends. * ■