OPINIONS OF TEACHERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19939, 7 May 1928, Page 11

OPINIONS OF TEACHERS.

" DECIDED IMPROVEMENT."

PREPARATION FOR REAL LIFE.

HELPING THE BRIGHT PUPIL. That Auckland teachers were generally in agreement that the new primary school syllabus was a deckled improvement on its predecessor was the opinion expressed by headmasters of several of Auckland's leading schools before they left for Wellington last evening to attend the annual conference of the New Zealand Elducational Institute. It is expected the new syllabus will occupy a good deal of attention at the conference and that many suggestions will be submitted to the Minister of Education.'

The elasticity of the provisions was one of the main attractions of the syllabus, said one teacher. "It is leaving 'cram' for culture," he said. "We will be able to treat each child as an individual. Preparation will be for real life more than for an artificial life."

The indication given in the syllabus that the present proficiency examination may be replaced, by a leaving certificate was favourably commented upon. "The examination has been a thorn in the sido of progress for a long time," said Mr. R. P. C. Harrison, of Belmont School, a former president of the Educational Institute. In the large Auckland schools last year, he said, an experiment had been tried by which headmasters were able to test tlieir pupils. The results had been most successful, the principal advantage being that the child who suffered from nervousness was not penalised. Air. Harrison said the syllabus showed ample signs of careful planning. He was strongly in favour of a seventh standard for children who would otherwise go to a secondary scliooi for a year only. Such children would do better in the school they had been through than if they were transferred to a new environment for a year. The new and wider provisions for the teaching of music were also approved. Mr. Harrison added he was opposed to the early introduction of elementary mathemathics to the schools. This instruction could be well replaced by the teaching of hygiene and physiology, which had been given the "cold shoulder" previously. The added liberty allowed to teachers in giving instruction was a good step. Mr. E. Varley Hudson, of the Normal School, said the new syllabus was designed to help the brilliant pupil in getting quickly through school, but the institution of smaller classes in schools would also have allowed more individual instruction. Undoubtedly, bright pupils could stand quicker promotion without danger to health.