EDUCATION OF GIRLS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 9869, 15 January 1918, Page 3

EDUCATION OF GIRLS

(By Phoebe Myers.) The nineteenth century has been called "The Age of the Child,’’ and it is probable that when itg history is written tho twentieth century will bo, called "The Ago of tho Mother/’ and tho second is the corollary of the first; for the results of the child-study period have ,-hown the supremo importance of the mother In the life and education of tho child. Embodied in the idea of “mother" is that ol "home’’; but tho home exists, not so much for tho mother as for the child, because it is only in a true homo that the child can be ■ properly educated. Hence has arisen in this century an attempt to revive training for home life, and this has been necessary because, owing to new forces and new. opportunities iu education, women failed to see that the home, because of tho changed outlook, was lagging behind in the educational race, and was not adapting itself to modern conditions of life. Recent proposals of the Council ot Education to remedy the defect in New Zealand have mot with adverse criticism in soma quarters on the following grounds 1. More effort will be required on the part of tho girl than on that of tho hoj. 2. A lower standard of attainment will bo required of tho girl, and consequently she will bo handicapped as a wage-earner. 3. The prominent position to be occupied by women in tho education of girls. 4. The supposed intention of separation. 5. A trained mind can acquire all requisite knowledge by concentrating for a short period on. some definite course designed for the purpose. 6. Similar preparation will not bo demanded of the boy.

■Many of these objections' have teen already met by others, notably by Miss Ulraphn. but. as the . subject is now occupying public, attention, it is perffaps advisable to discuss .more fully tho problem to be faced; for since it promotes thought, is both helpful and Hopeful. It has been argued that the boy and the girl should receive exactly ■the same kind of training. This is hardly in'accordance with tho results obtained from research by leading biologists who have arrived at these* conclusions ;L- .

(a) That a greater effort is required on tho part of Nature to produce the female than to produce the male.. • (b) That the fundamental difference between them is that the male is disruptive and the female is constructive. Consequently their needs must he different, and therefore : their treatment should bo. -Also, under normal conditions of life, the boy is to be the “home-builder," the girl the , “homemaker,” . and experience has taught that reforms, to be successful, should begin with the girl, because of her greater influence' on the destiny of tile nation. Tho "home-builder’’ is, by inference, also the home-protector, and this aspect of his responsibility is now recognised in New Zealand as of paramount importance. The; formal training for this begins at the age of. fourteen, but the actual training must begin iu the cradle, since experience has proved undeniably that the first five years of life are the most important, because in them are Iqid the foundations of physical, mental, and moral efficiency. The training at this period is entirely in the hands of women, and therefore it is of the utmost importance that they shall be prepared lo perform the requisite duties. . 1 • ■

It is argued that‘every girl will not be a mother, and • thereifpre ' she tvould be handicapped as a wage-earner, if time were' given to such preparation. Almost every woman, at some period in her life, as mother, sister, nurse, teacher, matron, social worker, has to act in tho capacity of mother, and therefore should know something of the needs of children and how to cater for them. Her duty as 'a citizen implies that the children and the homes of the nation are her care, just -as the man’s duty is -.to . proteot - them and their . homes from danger- from without. Moreover, the man who is first called upon for this service is- not the father of a family, but the man who has no home of his own, and it is by virtue of bis citizenship that he is called. REPLIES TO OBJECTIONS.

Objections 1 and 2. namely. "That greater effort will be required of the girl, that a lower standard of attainment will be required of her, and that she will therefore be handicapped, in hev preparation for the industrial world," are fallacies, since duo provision is made for the recognition of-such work, and so far as the second objection is concerned, the educative value of any subject depends on its method of treatment. Therefore the remedy for any detect iu this respect is improved, that is, more scientific teaching—not teaching of more science—and better-trained teachers.

'Objection 3. —“That women are to occupy a more prominent position, in theteaching of girls" is hardly sound logically. since it assumes that knowledge gained by experience is of less value than that, obtained in other ways;, for women have had to live through the difficulties that beset the girl, and therefore should be better qualified to guide, her, particularly through the most trying period of her development.

Objection 4. —The question of complete separation was never raised by the council. and therefore needs no defence. In passing though, it may. bo well to observe that, even iu family life, tho boys and the girls do not wish to be always together, and the desire for-separation is strongest at the beginning of the early adolescent period. Obi notion s.—lf “a trained mind can acquire all that is necessary in a short period/’ if is strange that so many University women, in different parts of the world, particularly those who have become mothers, have deplored their lack of early training, and are most prominent in, advocating a change.

Objection 6*; —"That similar preparation will, not be demanded of the boy" is hardly correct. “He .always has been regarded as the breadwinner and trained to-that end. Now. as previously stated,* ho is to bo the protector, and, in that capacity, as has been, recently proved, must be physically, mentally, and morally oincicnt. Consequently such training makes greater demands than on one who is to be merely a wage-earner. Similarly with the girll. .She is to be a citizen, and has .to learn’-the meaning of the expression ‘‘noblesse oblige"; for principles bring responsibilities, and her duty is to prepare herself so that she may be fit for the highest responsibility she may be called upon to undertake; she must be physically* mentally, and morally efficient for motherhood. ' If she is thus equipped, she will be a more —not less—highly-qualified wage-earner. Alorepver. this sense of responsibility will discipline her in the very best way, and 1 th o lack of true discipline is a source of danger both to her and to the State. In order to promote physical efficiency -yon which both mental and moral efficiency largely depend—much greater attention will have to be paid to the study of hygiene in all its many branches—with regard to the person, food, clothing, homo, community, and so on —and at no stage of life can it be neglected, since the needs of the body vary at the different stages of life. Each one of these branches, rightly taught, for. that is most important, will up avenues of employment for .women, avenues at present closed to them, and these will replace the home industries of the self-contained home of earlier times. The food question alone, with its bearing on efficiency, opens vast possibilities, and the urgent need of a pur a food supply makes it necessary for women to study the problem thoroughly. No smattering, or

superficial knowledge, f will make for efficiency—the supreme need of the moment in every department of life—and, since “efficient housekeeping is the beginning of good citizenship," it follows that the best brains of those who are Chiefly concerned are not. too valuable to be devoted to such a purpose. # -There is .no thought of early specialisation in the proposals, that ha.vo been brought down, because all educationists worthy of the name recognise that that would.be unwise. There is, however, the to give “a bias towards home life." a thorough training in every branch of # study undertaken, a fundamental basis on broad general principles that may be the foundation of speciansation m any department of- industrial or professional life. Tho chief aim of the council's report is to retain all that is in our present programme, and modify it go that home life may be elevated to its rightful olace in a national system of education. Only by such means can the nation be made worth v of . of those who have, given up their lives for home and motherhood.