THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14000, 4 March 1909, Page 7

THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION

WHAT IT IS. HOW BEST TO ACHIEVE IT. Mr. Frank baton, science master at the Auckland Grammar School, sends us the following :— Since the flow of technical depreciatory adjectives has ceased, I suppose I may assume that the truth of my statements, and the justice of my interpretations are fully admitted. The letter from the pen of Dr. Haeusler has confirmed, if necessary, my "remarks relative to the Realschulen of Germany, while- their similarity to the Grammar School was at. the same time made clear by the curriculum he gave, which (if music is omitted), is identical with that of the Grammar School. In bringing to a close my contribution to the controversy, I would like to add a few general remarks, which the unfortunate writer of the notorious letter of December 29 probably intended to say (but didn't), when he quoted Herbert Spencer's definition of education. • . - The purpose of education is to fit » man to make the fullest use of life. To do this he must know (1) how to preserve his life; (2) how to enjoy his life; (3) his duty to the State and how to fulfil it. No man can be really "a good citizen,"

as the'classic phrase is, who is ignorant.

of or neglects any one of these conditions, and no scheme of education is complete that omits to provide for his training in any of these three departments of knowledge. The performance of one's duty to the State—so often neglected nowadayswas considered -so important by the ancients that they applied to the

man who neglected such knowledge the

word from which our • English word "idiot" is derived. All the ills that beset our political organism are due to the neglect of these three essentials, but to point out the remedy is much" easier than to apply it, for the disease is of long standing, and the cure is slow. When "W. 8.,, Te Kuiti (whose writings ever. give pleasui'2 and profit), in a recent letter condemned our university education as tending to draw men from "the land," wherein lie the only resources of the country, he was indicating one important phase of the disease, though, I think, he assigned the wrong cause. In my opinion the cause* of that and other forms of the evil are (1) a wrong view of life; (2) an excessive desire to make money quickly and easily; (3) a wrong idea of pleasure ; (4) an utter neglect of the duty of the individual to the State.

The remedy is not less education, but more, and that of the right kind. To bring about such a cure is the object of an ideal education. The euro will be long and costly, but the end will more than justify the means. Should ore doubt it, let him think of New Zealand with a widespread agricultural ~ population, an absence of labour disputes and diminished town populations. The reverse of • these is due to ignorance of or aversion from the first principles of political economy, yet how can the knowledge of such things be obtained except by the preparation of the mind to receive su;h knowledge, and the instilling of a-I desire into the mind of youth to acquire that knowledge from all possible sources? In other words, youth is the time when the mind should be developed, and the desire for knowledge implanted therein. The actual number of facts learned is of no importance, but it should be small. Moss facts are collected into books. The object of education is to teach a man where 10, find the facts, and to train his mind to be able to use them. Any system w : l h aims other than these, is not an educational system. * • ' :

The main outline of such a system is fairly well agreed upon by those who have studied the question. It consists, of three parte, to which have been given the names, primary, secondary and higher. Primary education extends to about 13 years, secondary from 13 to 17, and higher education, of course, follows thereupon. Higher education proceeds, according to the intended career of the individual, along two very different lines, which might be called philosophical" and " technical," the former being pursued by those intending to enter the professions, the latter by those who aim at being the "captains of industry." These two lines were at one time very distinct. The University formerly considered that it had no connection with " technical" work, but that is now changed, and all universities have their "technical" faculties; the leading technical colleges of London are constituent colleges of London University, and Cambridge is proud of her engineering and agricultural schools. ■ Concerning primary and higher education, there has been comparatively little difference of opinion among experts, but •the exact function of secondary schools for boys has been much discussed, especially as regards boys going directly into business, or continuing their education at the technical school. W<th regard to girls, this difficulty is much less pronounced. Those occupations in which women mostly engage, e.g., millinery, cookery, dressmaking, require knowledge that should be possessed, by all girls to some extent, and hence the general education of girls differs radically from that of boys. It is now becoming recognised that two classes of secondary schools for boys are needed(a) Preparing boys for the University and Technical College ; (b) for boys who will, not continue their studies more than one or two years. The (a) schools are of the Grammar School type, and are worked in two divisions, Latin and non-Latin, according as the boys are proceeding to the University and the professions or to the technical colleges. In them,,mind development is, or should be, the main object, and the subjects taken are chosen from that point of view, and without any reference to future utility. The (b) schools are still in the experimental stage. They are for boys who have no desire to continue their studies more than two years before entering business. The subjects are chosen so. as > to fit them, as far as possible in the time, to do their future work intelligently. Their aim is thus quite different from that of the (a) schools, and hence their methods are entirely different also. The " preparatory day school," mentioned by Mr. George, is of this type. In districts where there is one dominating industry, such schools should be quite practicable. In the country districts, for instance, agriculture is the obvious basis of study, and if properly equipped and staffed such schools should be exceedingly useful. The teacher, however, must be specially qualified by experience and inclination toward the subject, otherwise the instruction will be farcical and the education nil.

In New Zealand towns, however, the problem is much less easy. There is no dominating industry, while to prepare boys for commercial careers tends to accentuate the vicious propensity, apparently so strong among boys at present, to enter an office or do anything whatever that does not necessitate manual labour. • It is here that the need of Auckland lies. A very large number of boys enter the Grammar School without any intention of completing a four years' course. Such boys gain very little benefit from the school, and the school, gains no credit from them. If a school existed, equipped with workshops, which could instil into its scholars a respect for the dignity of labour,-and a desire to work intelligently, it would repay almost anv expense. It probably would be expensive to start, but the upkeep need not be very great. • - ■/ Finally, I would say, no matter what the class of school, education is costly, and the expense lies not in the building and the : equipment but in the staff.; Mental development is entirely dependent, on the teacher. ' If. the influence of his person- ; ality is frittered away on large classes practically the whole of the! ' money spent is wasted. '.:When the number of: boys increases past a certain limit the efficiency of

the machine falls off. rapidly, so thai the benefit received per boy in a; class of 35 is much lees than half of that received in a class of 25—a number accepted as the limit in England, but exceeding that on the Continent. ,If the number rises to (say) double the' limit the mental training received is negligible and the money spent ie practically all wasted. Should these words chance to come beneath the eye of a Minister of Education harassed by the fruitless task of trying to extract money from stones or other impecunious objects, I can well believe that he will smile a hopeless, unbelieving smile, but the fact remains that the worst kind of economy is that which demands from a machine a greater output than the limits of the machine allow. Any teacher of gymnastics or physical exercises knows that it is impossible .to teach properly a class that is much in excess of 20, and in most physical culture schools that number is taken as the limit, and yet the development of the most intricate and delicate machine ever made, the human mind, is supposed to be able to be attained with classes of 40 and over. Most people seem to : think that teaching and keeping boys quiet are one and the.same* thing, and hence some education authorities look with equanimity on classes in primary schools with upwards of 60. Of course a "capable teacher can keep them quiet, and talk to them, but an effect equally good would be attained by letting the boys sit with a gag in.the mouth and feet in the stocks while a gramaphone repeats the various facte that in some quarters are considered equivalent to education. And yet employers complain that they cannot obtain boys with any intelligence! ! : ; ' Though much that I have said departs entirely from the points of the original controversy, I believe that it is" very pertinent indeed to the title under which the various letters have appeared. I hope, however, that I have made it clear that there is no antagonism between the socalled " practical" education, and the older variety. Both are necessary parts of one great system that has to supply the wants of that complex organism, the nation. There are many boys to whom the ordinary (a) type or Grammar School type of training is of little value owing to their inability to complete the whole course. For such boys a " preparatory trade school" attached to a technical college should be provided. Possibly it is in this direction that the day school attached to the Technical College is developing. If that is so, and if Mr. George can overcome the manv difficulties besetting the problem, he will have conferred a benefit upon the people of Auckland, and among his well-wishers I willingly subscribe myself. ..,.■';■./,■/'.