EDUCATION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14746, 31 July 1911, Page 4

EDUCATION NOTES.

From time to time one comes adrr* ' 1 in newspapers and mag«i D „ ' I usually m a pessimistic ton/ *>% ■ l question of whether com pu JJJ fti ■' j | for the masses has been a succeT C ' U ° a The enthusiastic sarno £ **•' -\ I doubt about the ultimate success T? * ' i cannot close our eye 5 to the fact a* 9 I success is not as pronouncedY, ™; M i! * been expected. r There \i sons which account for this .& »+ \ I place we have in the past, I tk; i ! £ »* V totally wrong conception of had * suited to the people P at lag. fe°U 1 education for some centuries *A , lde »l 1 nineteenth was a bookish onV gS *? «* J wholly on a knowledge of the effi 4* " I perly taught Latin *£$ GiftST ?«, doubtless, a- well-trained; m£d Z?■>**• ' I ong ago pointed out by one of the .n- *** 11 houses" of the educational worid A$ U ' l to wit, that "the most learned. m i 0 : ' not the wisest men." TnTedt?^, ' I suited to the needs of the b ' Et ■- I that will fit them to liveX£ & * °»« 1 * best possible way, and henceL uV" «* ' I s:ty be very pnffi '■ | , For girls, this would mean, T*~ -. " \ domestic science in its Various hr? ll ; 1 together with such literature , Wfc I music, and physical culture as S"'*' '' ample outlet for spending leisure £® n ' :; : need not be feared that tins sZ, %*'* ■'J ing; properly interpreted it would'fi""** much wider than the present iff* I does domestic science mean, for Hal 1 It means a knowledge of cookery tS ? I work, and housew ferv-not the tni iT- v ' ' i '- of a maid-servant mind--but l a 1^ 9 ' 1 knowledge. It means, in tt S'V 1 ■ cookery, a knowledge of nature 8 2 % I how carrots and turnips and cabbaSt'l' of soils and their chemical ennft;* I and of the elements found hvsfc ' I foodstuffs, and of the assimnE' I body of them. It means a knowli" 1 L he digestive organs, and of the 3 ° ! foods most valuable for nourishment ? means understanding why bread ri»?K-#lf ' I process of baking, why alcohol VprZ . 10 bread, what baking powder ifw ■' 1 whole meal is better to digest than ? 7 1 mixed with calcium sulphate and 5 J^ 1 hundreds of other things Srifi, 1 .,? J nccted.with the important process of £ I in| It means a knowledge of readS? « wfltmg, and arithmetic, in order to mS ' ' up household accounts,.a training of J2d and eye in judging quantities, and ft! I power of imagination, in order to give I ' I variety of menu. It moans, in short ' I training of all the faculties so dear to the ' 1 theoretical psychologist, plus a knowledge ' " | of life s conditions, such as would make for . • I self-centred . contentment. And so on with ■ the other branches mentioned. • ( \ 1 . '~ ' '''<■' ,' (• j Similarly, an education suited for thV ' ! average boy should be based on his future" ' I ! environment. , The argument may be used 1 * that we are not all going to be domestic workers or farmers, and if (he suggested course were taken in the wrong '. way, the!■'.' argument would be a good one. ■ But taken' ' properly the mere knowledge acquired is' ■ of little consideration, it is the training of faculties, the forming of habits' and '.ten-';';'. ! dencies to behaviour, that are the everpresent goal to the true educator, and this 1 ' : ; goal can be more easily reached, surely/ I by the line iof least resistance, than by the! j I present circuitous curriculum. Apart from j J the fact that in my opinion we are on the-'.', j wrong tack in the matter of primary eflui! [ cation, there is v another, cogent reason' why.,; . | i compulsory education has not as yet beets' ■ ■ i the success hoped for. ' And this is that ill' I has not had a fair trial, owing to the did- \ astrous social conditions of the children in . | the older countries of the' worlll; | Take, for example, the accompanying I extract culled -from one of the Home edu-.,, i cational journals, published recently.."Of-. ' i «i total roll of 339 it was found that It ; j families occupied only one room per fam- i i ily for sleeping and living, and 72 families only two rooms per family. There- . were 70 cases where four persons sleep in . ! one bedroom, 31 cases where five sleep in one bedroom. 25 cases; where six so'sleep, ■ , and 17 cases where over six sleep in the one room. On a rainy day it is found that over 100 of the boys have, boots $0 poor that they are soddened with tbe.wet, and 65 children are so badly clothed as h". • be actually exposed to the weather Fur- , ther, 91 _ children go to bed between nine and; ten, 67. between ten and 11, and 21' ' - later, than 11. Moreover, 47 children were found with heads or clothinghabitu' ' ally verminous. Of. the children c?.amin-:'i 49.per cent, were prescribed for medical treatment. The home circumstances of ', the children are deplorable. • . Not only is \ , there poverty, but the,conditions are un-,',', .\ . healthy and sordid to a degree, and the . home environment is such as in be a posi-*. tive hindrance to intellectual advance." This report is on a London slum school, the children from which, will in: many ; ;'{ , cases, probably swell the ranks of the hooligans, who are usually the hooks on which moral tags are hung ■ pointing out the failure of our education system. But in face of facts like those quoted are the tags : deserved? • •' ■, . " During the past week the promised con .Vl|'P ference on overlapping was -held.'- No ' positive resolutions „■ were passed, but, ; ■ doubtless, the, exchange of thought by the participants, served to clear the air. It is often the case that when street corner rumours are face to face with facts, they are like the Arabs who " noiselessly • fold •;;., ■ their tents and silently steal away." Still, j hearing the other man's '.point of view is, always a good one, and I feel sure the conference was worth while. It has always seemed to me that overlapping in the case of our two main public seondary schools, is encouraged by thoughtless j parents. If a boy be destined for the pro- | fessions and will remain at school for at, v least three or four years, then the Gram-: mar , : School is equipped to give him. the sort of education he wants. If.he be intended for trade or business, then■-»•■'," Technical Day School is equipped for giving him the necessary business bias, wun-' out neglecting the study of those humanistic subiects necessary for, all, .whether crofter or king. v. When a . boy is - completing. , ■ his • primary school course if the parents. would onlv consult the headmaster, they would be 'better able to determine. top? ther with the help of the boy's own inclinations, what career he had heft ■aim at. ' - ■' -■■' ■; ■'"'•;'/i-:\: : -•:';;: ;J •' ■.■■.■.■■■■;: :.■:■■■.■■;::■;;■■;,,■,::.:.;,;■■■'_—.;'. •; TmwWßi^W^ft According to a report presentee? recently to the Auckland Board of Education by the chief inspector, a very important change is foreshadowed in reference to the employment of pupil teachers. In the past an examination has been held _ yearly, to test the examination fitness tax ■ the profession of those applicants, wro have not passed either the matncuMion or the junior Civil service examination*. Applicants who have passed the two latter examinations receive preference in'»r. ■ pointments, and rightly, too, I'tains,- , other 'things: being equal. You caawj very well teach if you are only a .P 3 ? 8 ■ in front of your scholars, but below », ; , final decision is arrived at in the matter , I trust the Board will - pause and S||| carefully all round the subject. There is l a distinct dearth of. properly-taunea teachers at present in the Dominion, ana before closing one of the alleyways 01 supply it would be wise to-be-cpute »=» that the supply in other ways is adequate. Again, is it not doing a distinct i»J« s £? j to the bright, intellectually-minded • chil- . dren of many of our country districts^r : Where . there is ; a district; high school within reasonable reach it is all ■ ngw, - as the bright boy can have free jmttofl .; at his door. , But are there ho districts in which* the district. high school is absent., ,. Those who ; know the province well can, cite dozens of districts where. the Clever . child has no chance of preparing for tw examinations, either of which will quamy him for entrance to the profession.' l m " being so. would it not be wiser to keep the candidates' examination for 80 ™T,. years vet, so as to bring into the »- those few, who, given an equal chance, are quite rfale to hold their own with the more favoured ones? lhey «■. , usually farmers' sons and form a very a.sirable section of the cosmopolitan col-, lection that comprises the teaching pro- -;... fession. ■ , ,-..;:;.!;