JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20708, 4 May 1929, Page 14

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

PROTEST AGAINST ESTABLISHMENT. DISCUSSED BY TEACHERS’ INSTITUTE. The question of tlie establishment of junior high schools was the subject' of a prolonged discussion at the monthly meeting of the Dunedin branch ot the Otago Educational Institute last evening, when, it wag decided that -a resolution express--1 i;.g the opinion that the articulation between primary and secondary education , could best Be served by more generous stalling accommodation and equipment in the primary schools should go forward from the meeting to the forthcoming conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute. Mr J. C. Smith occupied the chair. Mr W. A. Sproat opened the subject by stating that the pronouncement of. the Minister of Education on this vexed question would be deferred until it had been thoroughly considered at a conference of the various educational bodies. Up to the age of 12 years, said Mr Sproat, a child’s inherent qualities were being matured, md the next throe years were for their development, • Under the present system the maturing and development of these qualities were cared for by the primary and- secondary schools and the university, but, unfortunately, the articulation between these three was far from what it should be—in fact, there was hardly any articulation at all —it was mostly dislocation. All ‘teachers knew the difficulty that a child transferred from one school to another had in adjusting itself to new conditions, and this difficulty would surely be accentuated in' the case of a transfer from a primary to a junior high school. The report i presented by the Syllabus Committee was 'illuminating. There wore, in fact, two reports—one from the majority and one from the minority—and his sympathies lay with the latter. At the same time, •no authoritative report on the # forking of the junior high school system in New Zealand had been submitted. The system had, no doubt, worked in parts of America, but why had it not spread to England and Scotland? Scotland had instituted an advanced department in connection with its primary schools, and he considered that New Zealand should ’be able to an organisation to shit its* conditions. In the old Standard VII, despite the disadvantages under which the teachers bad to labour, good progress was made, and with the present advantages, something along these lines should should carry a child through to the age of 14 years, which was preferable to a break resultant on a transfer to a junior high school. With more generous staffs and better acommodation and equipment, the teachers would be able to give Iheir scholars a sound education from the age of 5 to 15 years without a break in its continuity. . They would , then have, the opportunity of finding a child’s, inherent qualities and developing those qualities, after which it could be drafted to a finishing school. He 'moved -" That as, in the opinion of this branch the establishment of junior high schools is fraught with uncertainty, inasmuch as the system has not been thoroughly tested in. New Zealand, and educationists differ as to . its suitability for New Zealand requirements, we are of opinion that the articulation between primary and secondary education can best be served by more generous staffing accommodation and equipment in our primary schools.” ; The chairman seconded the motion. Mr H. Betting pointed out that the Syllabus Committee was surely thoroughly armed with facts when it met. Out of the ID members who sat on the committee, 10 with primary school .interests stressed, the necessity fbr junior high schools, and the minority report was signed by only three members, all of whom were laymen. Mr Botting went on to describe the working of tlie system at Waitaki, and pointed out that the expense , of fitting* up many primary schools with the necessary apparatus and staffing Ahem with special teachers, would not be nearly so great if children were centralised in one junior high school. Moreover, it seemed to him that, the high school would tend to create an atmosphere which could not be obtained in a primary institution.Mr W. Slater said he considered that too much attention was being paid to the subjects taught and not enough to character building. It would be better for the child to be educated throughout by a teacher who was acquainted with its earlier career. If the post-primary curriculuin were as thoroughly overhauled as the primary curriculum had been, there would be no need for the proposed drastic, disruptive, and expensive change. New Zealand would, in time, evolve a system to suit its own needs. Mr P. Hargreaves said that the problem resolved itself into whether a child should remain in a primary school or be transferred to some other institution. It might be possible to evolve a scheme on the lines of that which had been laid down in England, where it was agreed by some authorities that the school curriculum, after a child reached the age of 11 years, should be widely diversified, and that this should be carried out by the medium of higher top classes. Others, however, maintained that from a psychological point of view, transference was preferable. Taking everything- into consideration, junior high schools, as a seperate entity seemed to be the ideal. Air C. F. de Berry expressed the opinion that education was not a process that could be cut up and labelled in various sections; it was one continuous process, and modern psychologists stressed the necessity for unity and continuity in a child’s' development. Because certain conditions were satisfactory in England it did not follow that they would be so in New Zealand, for, as a matter of fact, the same problems had never occurred in New Zealand. In _view of the fact that junior high schools could not be established in the country, it was doubtful whether it would be wise to transfer children from the joyful environment of the country to the town, and such transferences would in time accentuate the drift to tlio towns. It was clear that the establishment of junior high schools would necessitate wholesale transferences. The district high schools and Seventh Standards could do everything that was necessary if they got the proper teachers in sufficient numbers. Mr J. Rodger said that as headmaster of a school from which pupils had been transferred to a junior high school, he had found that he had secured better results up to Standard IV since the pupils of Standards V amt VI had moved on. Nevertheless, he was not prepared to admit that, the secondary school teachers were so intimately connected with the pupils and their’ home lives as were thos-e of the primary schools. In his opinion the Government would spend its money to better advantage by improving the conditions of the little children in the infant rooms than by establishing junior high schools. The motion was put to the meeting and carried. Prior to the discussion, a gramophone recital of speech records was conducted by Mr J. Fleming, who commented in an interesting fashion on the records, and, a-t the conclusion of the recital, he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.