EDUCATION METHODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18175, 22 August 1922, Page 9

EDUCATION METHODS.

NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT.

VALUE OF HOME INFLUENCE.

PREVENTION OF UNDUE STRAIN.

I The necessity for an improvement in j education methods was forcibly em- ; phasised by Mr. E. C. Purdie, secretary to the Board of Education, in an address before the Rotary Club yesterday. Mr. C. Rhodes presided. In the course of his remarks the lecturer expressed the opinion that after the experimental stages had been passed Now Zealand would see the Dalton system of education established in every school. Looking back over 50 years of progress, said Mr. Purdie, the present-day educationist was confronted with the question, " Have we done what should have been done?" He had no desire to speak in a spirit of alarm, but he could not escape the conclusion that as regards the true fundamentals of education the country had failed. It had failed to achieve success in that all impoi-tant matter—the training of the child to possess a spirit of reverence.

This failure of education was due partly to the method employed. When the State assumed responsibility for the training of children parental control as a reflex action partly disappeared, and matters would go from bad to worse without the introduction of some movement to restore parental responsibility for then- children. This movement would come from the schools.

Teachers' High Ideals. The teachers, said Mr. Purdie, were wholeheartedly attempting to advance the improvement'of the child. They had improved themselves immensely in the past 20 years. (Applause.) Among tho children themselves the attitude toward education had redically changed since his boyhood. Now the' children lived to go to school, and in the school they gained nothing but good, whilo tho teachers, from his own observation in the Auckland district, were actuated by a keen desire to improve tho character and lives of the children under their control. (Applause.) There were, however, defects in the system which any observant eye could see. No teacher could keep fully occupied the whole of the day any child above the average mental calibre. He had no hesitation in saying that 30 per cent, of the boys in the average class could pass through two or even three standards a year, instead of passing through one, as at present. The result of keeping those 30 per cent, back was to encourage fitful habits and discourage the boys' personal responsibiltiy in their own success.

Advantages of the Dalton System. Mr. Purdie spoko highly of the Dalton system of education, which provided for a set amount of work to be carried out during a given time, the time spent on each subject being left largely to the pupil's discretion and individual requirements. The Dalton system was introduced in one Auckland school last February, and was now in operation in sev eral" other schools. When the experimental stage was over he ventured to say it would be in operation in all schools. The school which adopted the Dalton system in February was visited in July by an inspector, who found that eleven out of the twelve boys in Standard VI. were fit to pass into the secondary department on a proficiency certificate. "In ordinary circumstances," added Mr. Pudrie, "those boys from July to December would dawdle their time away. " The children to-day from the time they enter school till the time they leave it, are kept keyed up and keyed up— always in a state of high tension, from the infants' department up. And I would like to know whether the neurosis so prevalent to-day is not perhaps due to the methods of the schools. I speak \yith great diffidence as a layman, but I believe a great amount of this neurosis is largp/y due to our schools. If one who has been associated with education work for 40 years is prepared to say this, then perhaps it would be worth while for the medical fraternity U> consider this aspect of the question, (Applause.) ''We are a people who have magnificent traditions," said Mr. Purdie in conclusion.

"We have the finest raw material on the earth in our hoys and girls. As fathers and as citizens we must see that -we do not, fall away from those high traditions by neglect of the fundamentals of education." (Applause).

Criticism of Free Education. Mr. ,T. Maughan Harriett., commenting upon the lecturer's remarks upon the lack of parental responsibility, suggested the introduction of paid education as a. possible remedy of the defect.. From time to time he had discussed with teachers their difficulties, and found one of their obstacles lay in fighting against the lack of home influence. This had impressed him to such an extent that he was coming to believe it might do good for the people to pay for what they valued. Free education after all was perhaps a mistake. Every facility would have to be afforded to ensure that the children would have a. complete education, hut he believed a .keener interest would be taken by parents in their children's education if they had to pay for it. however small the amount. Mr. Barnett also commented on the series of breakdowns on the part, of teachers which had come under his notice.

Mr. Purdie said the "Dalton •while not increasing the number of teachers, would enormously decrease the nervous tension imposed 0 n them..