SOME SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

SOME SCHOOLS.

BY N. T. SINCLAIR.

LESSONS FOR NEW ZEALAND.

No. 11. We all know the type of school which thinks largely in terms of chest measurement; the school whose athletic " bloods," be they almost utterly devoid of brain, rule their fellows (and often masters too), and are worshipped by them to at least partial exclusion of every other ideal. And the question is whether the perhaps unmerited'reproach of priggishness is not better than the blatancy of the young ass who flaunts his school colours as the outward evidenco of aristocracy and athletic prowess —an aristocracy often of wealth newly acquired and a vicarious athleticism. At least we must ask ourselves whether that school is necessarily the best that wins most games and scholarships, whoso name is most often before the public eye, whose boys the most obviously opulent. It is the average non-prizewinners, the boys of average or low ability, scholastic and athletic both, by whom a school stands or falls. And if they are turned out honest, God-fearing gentlemen, the poor not striving vainly to ape the rich (for I am convinced that in the best school it is impossiblo to tell rich from poor), the unathletic not claiming a distinction they do not possess, then that school has achieved a measure of" success; and incidentally contributed in 110 slight degree to combat the rise of Bolshevism, which nothing fosters sooner than a wanton, illadvised display of wealth. That school 100 must be judged by its failures, those who have failed to stay the course in the race against wealthier competitors, who have learned habits they can ill afford, and have grown to regard display as an essential of life. That there are many such the course of many a life proves only too clearly. We can all think of examples. And so it is that the headmasters of most of the greatest public schools eschew advertisement. Their athletes will not be found figuring in the illustrated press. Their teams do not habitually play games before idolising thousands. Often it is unknown to any but his intimate friends whether a boy's father lie peer or ploughman. He sheds his title temporarily on entry, and stands on merit only. Need lor Real Culture. If the English school is at all in advance, it is in the treatment of the boy of non-scholarship brain. In the grammar schools education is so much a privilege, free places arc so much a rarity, that the average dull boy is led to make an immense effort to avert the withdrawa. of that privilege; while, in the public schools, the threat of superannuation (a polite name for the expulsion of all boys who do not attain, certain standards of learning by certain ages) is very real. So that, in both, the problem of the brainless athlete, for instance, is much less acute. Very often, indeed,' lie discovers that lie possesses a brain. Of the treatment of such in New Zealand I have now no knowledge. But in my own days lam sure I hat very few realised how great a privilege this universal secondary education was. So much for learning. In a day school, of course, there is comparatively little scope for the other elements of Arnolds definition of education. The association with, and instruction and disciplining bv, a fine body of men is salutary. Of necessity, however, such association is comparatively slight, and a very gieat deal is left to the home. And rightly so. One would do well to remember, however, that New Zealand is a country in which the standard of education is ever rising; that every boy, be lie tradesman s son or artisiaii's/has the very best chance of raising himself far above his father s station and lus father's standard of culture. That being so, it Lehoves us to consider seriously whether, with the great advance in education, there goes coiresponding advance in culture and morality. \nd we should ask ourselves in all sincerity whether our day schools do meet that ever growing need. Not Homes ol Snobbery.

Tn saying this I am not advocating the public schools as against the day schools. But I do point oift the danger of a generation growing up without a definite lead in matters of morality and religion; foi admittedly the place allotted them m many modern homes the world over is of the slightest, Any institution then, be it dav of, public school, which strives to give this lead—and, whatever the uniniHate may think, the. public schools have tl.at aim above all others —should be an immense asset to a country. It, will bo seen that the public schools such as we have been considering are anything but homes of snobbery except perhaps a very few whose influence in my opinion is almost wholly bad. Especially is this so in these post-war da\s, when every thinking person realises that coordination between the classes is vital. Boys come from homes of every kind, for scholarships are numerous; and the day has passed when the rich eyed the poor scholar askance. In schools where brain rules lie is a most important personage. In ti.e very fact, however, of the schools' accessibility to all classes lies the danger, iiioio especially marked in this new country of ours, (hat mere membership of them may be taken as the hall-mark of aristocracy; that boys may be sent, there to acquire, not education necessarily, but an external polish, not the fundamental principles of religion and honesty and culture, but the consciousness of belonging to a class apart. In tlie older schools, with their strong traditions, many a boy, sent by fond parents in that mistaken purpose, has conformed to the majority of his fellows, and made a worthy citizen despite his parents. But in a new school, with its name to make, the risk is that there should be headmasters who may put popularity first, and pander to the desire of potential parents that their son's school should be the obviously prosperous and popular one. The temptation must be immense; for it is so easy to build up an at least temporarily prosperous school on tlioso lines. Precautions Against Class Consciousness. .But if in England, where class distinctions are. traditional and ago-old, there are yet wise headmasters who do their utmost to eradicate class consciousness, there seems to me' vital need in New Zealand that headmasters should fight against any tendency to allow such distinctions—almost entirely arbitrary with us—to spring up. That there are such school in New Zealand I know. The " public school " in New Zealand is still largely on its trial. If it is to make any real ana constructive contribution to the country it will not merely produce a class conscious of aloofness in dress and accent, and superiority in wealth; the net result of which is to produce another class resentfully and Bolshevistically conscious of inferiority in those respects. Nor will it slavishly follow the traditions of tlio English schools. But, culling what is best from thorn, it will develop in accordance with the country's needs. That is, it will strivo to produce a class of men, by their very privileges called to bo the employers and the leaders of the land, who will have sympathy with and understanding of the difficulties of their fellows; arid will, Jiy their own character, give to tlioso less favoured that lead in morality and religion which will justify in the eves of the many their possession I of rank and wealth and honours.