SMALLER CLASSES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 196, 20 July 1937, Page 13

SMALLER CLASSES.

Ter Press Association. DUNEDIN, July 19.

Tlie opinion that small classes ■were essential to successful teaching was expressed briefly but very emphatically by Rektor L. Zilliacus, headmaster of an experimental school at Helsingfors, Finland, in a commentary which followed his address on “Pupil Activity in Modern Education” at the New Education Fellowship Conference to-day. “I could not teach classes of 45 and 50 pupils,” he said, “and I fell I cannot speak to teachers who have that responsibility. All 1 can do is to take off my hat to them in silent reverence. He quoted extreme examples of dogmatic instruction to illustrate that in earlier days the characteristics of each child were not studied. Teachers had their own strictly defined ideas and children had to absorb w.hat learning they could within tabulated and narrow confines. The change to brighter classrooms and more activity meant a lot of bustle and noise, a good deal of which was no doubt sheer reaction, but it led to the institution of systems which encouraged children to study for themselves and to take an entirely different interest in their work. Rektor Zilliacus explained some of the ..working of his own school in Helsingfors and the need for an ample supply of working materials.