OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16668, 13 April 1916, Page 3

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

(Conducted by Magisteb, to whom all communications must be addressed.) FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. [Magister will be glad to receive Nature Notes, marked papers containing educational articles, diagrams, details of experiments, etc., ol Bcholastio Interest to teachers and pupils. Corre«>i>oudetitß must use ONLY one side ol the paper, unci whether using a pen name or not, must send both NAME and ADDRESS.] EDUCATION AND THE WAR. Last week I maue extracts from " Tho Times on War and Education," tho supplement to " The Times Weekly Edition," January 21, and said I would make further references to it. .' While all tho articles arc good—they cover four pages Witness size- — eome make "a. moro immediately direct appeal than, others. The following is tho article, " French Schoolmates To-day," tho first paragraph being omitted:— " Quite as brilliant is the record of those teachers, overtaken by the tide of war, who for over a year have remained at their posts in the districts still hold by the invader.. Though no statistics arc compiled, it is known that many have been shot by tno enemy in endeavouring to protect the interests of France; others have been removed as hostages to Germany, while etill others have been killed while performing humble- duties. When, at the approach of the enemy, all civil authorities havo evacuated a town, the French school teacher is expected to remain to safeguard the civil population. To him falls the duty of negotiating with tne German military authorities of Dargaining with them in regard to proper payment for goods requisitioned, and of performing all the functions of administrator, at the same time of keeping up the courage and high sense of patriotic discipline among tho stricken inhabitants—and even, if poseible. holding classes as usual. " Behind the firing line the tasks of the teachers who for reasons of age or infirmity are not • mobilised are almost as arduous. At the outbreak of the war the schoolhouse in the country districts at once became the rallying centre of the community. It is the school teaoher who twice daily receives the official communiques; and, in small, out-of-the-way places, where newspapers are rare, he copies' them in his own handwriting, to be distributed in the district. More often he reads tnem aloud to the assembled villagers, comments on tho military operations, and keeps the community irrtelli'gently informed about the course of the war. He reads and writes the letters for the illiterate, receives notices of the deaths of relatives of the people of his district, killed in action, arranges the forwarding of packages to the front and to prisoners of war. It was under the direction of tho school teachers of France that before the end of the winter campaign of last year over 500,000 woollen mufflers, pairs of socks, mittens, etc., were made and forwarded' to the troops in the field. Under their initiative many echoolhouses have been turned into ' garderies' (play rooms), where tho smaller children of the community are kept •while; their mothers and elder sisters are at work in the field or factory. Thes.e children, whose ages range from 10 months to six years, are cared fos from morning until nightfall. They are given three good meals, and are often provided with clothing collected by the teachers. The work receives no subvention, from the State, and is supported entirely by funds which the school teacher is able to collect. They further instituted the 'Noel du soldat,' to provide Christmas presents for the troops in the field, a penny from each child bringing over £20,000; while the teachers themselves all over France agreed to give at least 2 per cent, of their monthly salary for Red Cross and similar purposes." . -

Now,, contrast this with- German ideals. " War and courage have accomplished greater things than love for one's fellowmen," says ; and press, platform, puJpit, and school have made, enct art. still making-; this the vital prinoiple of life. "War is the great educator"; "Without ■war the world would wallow , in materialism" ; " Peaco is a dream, not even a lovely dream" ; in such phrases is war glorified and justified. The following article, the first paragraph=-omitted; is-headedr ," Wlhat German Children Are Taught," and is.written by a correspondent in Germany:—-"" "In the schoolrooms throughout the empire to-day the true meaning of the great war is being interpreted according to this point of view. Pupils are- being- taught that this war had to come sooner or later. Germany, it is argued, has developed so rapidly during the past 50 years through the might, of German arms, German industry, and German intelligence, ,thafc she was destined to be siirrouhded ; by a . circle of enemies jealous of her growing power. German children are being told that 50 years ago Germany began to assert herself by the conquest of Schleswig-Hotetein (that old German State) in 1864. This beginning of the struggle for German unity was continued in 1866, and the first stage completed in 1870 by the creation of the German Empire under the; Prussia. Even in those days England looked askance- on the growing power of Germany. It is being instilled into the minde of young Germany that the hatred of neighbouring States grew apace with the increase of German naval, military, .and industrial power. Gerirany did everything to keen the peace of the world, but was attacked on all frontiers, and is now fighting a defensive war for the outraged honour of the Fatherlaiid.

"These ideas, current in Germany at large, are being ground into the minds of the next generation with all the thoroughness ,of the German method by her leading educators. The German schoolboy is being taught by- his elders that the peoples of all other nations—not Allied—are cowardly liars end slanderers, and, that Germany alone stands for truth and righteousness, and relies on'the strength of German arms to vindicate German virtues and ideals. Everything foreign must go. Nowhere has this ' anti-foreign' rage 'been more virulently in evidence than in the class room. The ' Verdeutschungsbewegung' (Germanising movement)- has gone to such limits that many German pedagogues even declare that it is a sign of slavish weakness on the part of Germans to leaTn > to speak foreign tongues, to act, to think like English or Frenchmen. ' A German must shave his head in order to remain a German when living abroad, so rapidly does he assimilate the customs and manners of other peoples,' a well-known German, remarked to me with much bitterness. But the Germans will see to it, so they declare, that their children shall not in the future be the slaves of any foreign raoe;"

ANZAC DAT, APRIL 25. /What are you going to do about it? I have often referred to the Education Gazette and Teachers' Aid issued by the Victorian Education Department and filed in every school, a publication the like of which ought • to be issued in our dominion. Well, in the March issue there is a programme drawn up for Anzac Day, but as April 25 comes in the Easter Holiday week the day is to be commemorated _ on Thursday, the 20th. This is how this historical landmark is referred to as regards its celebration, but, I imagine, in our case the time table will be suspended in the morning and the afternoon made free:—■ The anniversary of the day on which the Australian and New Zealand troops made their heroic landing on the. Gallipoli Peninsula will be celebrated in all schools of the , State. The following procedure is recommended: ■ The morning meeting will be conducted in accordance with the time-table of the school. Tho first hour of the afternoon meeting will be devoted to patriotic songs, recitations, and readings (see The School Paper for material). Maps may also be displayed, and pupils may read essays they have written. Tho pupils will then assemble in the schpolground, and carry out the following programme:— , 1. Sing Kipling's "Lest Wo Forgot." 2. Short addresses. 3. Reading of Honour Roll. 4. Sing " 0 God, Our Help in Ages Past." 5. Addresses by returned Anzacs. 6. Saluting of the flag with the following declaration: —"I love God and my country; T honour the flag; I will servo tho King, *nd cheerfully obey jay parents, teachers, and the laws." 7. Sins £■>«■ J-J&vional Anthem, including tfitf rollowing verso: — God bless our splendid men, Send them safe homo again, God save our men. Keep them victorious, Patient and chivalrous, They are so dear to us: God savo our men. As it is desired that the ceremony should be one of commemoration, oven moro than one of celebration, it is hoped that tho addresses will dwell upon the sacrifices of our mefi, their loyal devotion oven unto death, and their splendid achievements; also upon Australia's debt and solemn responsibility to them and their families, and upon our grief at the groat losses suffered, but also upon our proud recognition of their splendid worth. Whon arrangements can bo made for a bugler to be present, tho ceremony may fittingly conclude by tho sounding of the "Last Post." Tho children should bo i# formed of the significance of this before thov

proceed to the schoolground. During the sounding of the call, the audience should stand reverently, and, on its conclusion, disperse quietly. Let mo make on additional suggestion or two. About a fortnight ago there appeared in tho Times— at least, I think 1 read it there- 7 "Tho Ghosts of Gallipoli," by Horatio Bottonjley, tho editor of " John Bull." It would be a good idea, I think, if somo of tho best readers in tho upper standard were coached up to read thie before the assemblage, for I assume most schools will have a. littlo ceremonial in tho morning. An Australian writer, referring to it, says : " Nothing finer has been written during the war than this inspired tribute to the dead. When I read it I could not help wishing- that it had come from nn Australian pen. I have not been so thrilled for years, and I believe that every Australian who reads it (tho writer should have taken a wider outlook and said Australasian) will feel the same." • It first appeared in the "Sunday Pictorial," London. It hae also been reproduced in '" Tho Mirror" (Australia) for March 18. Read tho article and keep it. Another suggestion. Try to procure the presence of returned Anzacs in your district —if you haven't one, borrow one. He may not be a speaker, but he can relate experiences to so>mc one who can act as his deputy, and also relieve him from any charge of 'self-glorification. Perhape, too, you may get tho loan of somo Anzao and Egyption curios.

Again, have you a fairly good map of the Gallipoli? Use that, too, if you can. Further, most schools, thanks to the Navy League, havo a Navy League Map of the "World. Use that in working out the theatres of war, trade routes, naval battles, and so on.

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. I think I 'have before suggested to boys and girls to read Punch; at any rate, if not to read it, to study its pictures, for here we have historical caricatures with a purpose developed in a high think so, at any rate, though the Germans, no doubt, cannot see anything in our good-humoured satire; there isn't enough of tine Goth and the Hun in it. Why, even Americans cannot at times appreciate Punch. In the New York Times book review, January 16, we read .the following, but perhaps the writer thinks he is smart in the way he puts it: "A good joke finds favour in the columns of Punch-H3specially if it has a dash of timeliness in it." Pernaps it is because it must contain this dash of timeliness that "there is nothing in literature less permanent than humour." , From "R. M.," Manapouri, the following has come to hand: — . Dear*'"Magister,"—Did you ever make tho acquaintance of our little 'frog-hopper,' which, I suppose, is an aphrophora, and which is, as* far as I know, anything but common, at any rate in this locality. 1 don't.supposo it is quite identical with a spumaria, but one call easily understand why the English peasant dubs them 'cuckoo spittle,' and the French call them 'spring froth.' I was quite puzzled when I made the discovery of this queer little insect. The blobs' of froth on the leaves of a fuchsia tree gave me much concern, and my rough investigations did not reveal the cause of it, until I was put on the right track by perusing a volume which contained an extract from a work by De Geer. I was afterwards able to find the delicate grublike tenant of this house of bubbles, but they are quite uncommon, and I have not noticed any this spring. De Geer says they have the means of causing the inner part of the froth 'ball to dry up, and then the final changes take place under the exterior film. Surely, if'this is so, it must be one of the remarkable things in Nature. To the passerby it looks as if a few drops of rain could blot out every one of these curious dwellings; and, now I come to think of it, I do not remember seeing the froth on anything but the native fuchsia. —Under the heading Cuckoo-spit the Encyc. Britt .says:—" A frothy secretion found upon plants, and produced by the immature nymphal stage of various plant lice of the familiar Cercopidae and Jass*idae, belonging to the homopterous division of the Hemiptera, which, in the adult condition, are sometimes called frog-hoppers." Harmsworth's Encyo. adds to this: —"The common frog-hopper is aphrophora spumania, a, small grey insect about a quarter of an inch long, with four similar wings. They feed upon the juices of plants, and form the frothy substance known as 'frog-spit'; hence, also, the name 'froth-fly.' Within" these lumps of white froth lies tho small white larva with its prominent black eyes. As the name indicates, the adults are capable of active, jumping movements. The myth .of tho connection between the froth of the larva and the frog, or ouckoo, is as old as Afistotle, and is common on the Continent, as well as in Britain." 'What v this myth is, I do not know. Who can enlighten us? And who has seen this "froth" anywhere else besides on the fuchsia?