EDUCATIONAL REFORM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 4 June 1938, Page 23

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

ABOLITION OF MATRICULATION A TEACHER’S VIEWPOINT ADDRESS TO OTAGO INSTITUTE The abolition of the matriculation examination, the widening of the school curricula, and the desirability of unification of control were the principal matters dealt with by Mr N. Matheson in his presidential address at the annual meeting of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute yesterday Mr Mathegon also referred to the improvements carried out by the Min-* ister of Education (Mr P. Fraser) since he came into office, and gave an instructive insight into the faults and failures of the present educational systemRecent Improvements

“One cannot but be struck by the real improvements made in education in New Zealand during the past two years or so," said Mr Matheson. "Mr Frasei took office with a long Het of arrears to be made t up—a list formidable enough to daunt the stoutest heart. It says a great deal for him that he has managed in so short a time not only to put things bac] to the pre-de-pression state of affairs, but also, particularly during the past year, to make a genuine advance, As an institute, we owe allegiance to no political party, and rightly so. Political affiliations are a matter for the individual. But no one connected with education, whatever may be his political views, can, in common justice, refuse to grant to Mr Fraser unstinted praise for his attitude towards the educational needs of this country.” Prepared for bis task by long years of active interest, the Minister had shown an enlightened and sound appreciation of the social value of an improved education system, he continued, Moreover, he had shown himself willing—in fact, anxious-—to take the initiative in instituting reforms,. He cited as an example the new regulations for grading schools—the peak roll number. That was more than teachers had asked for; it seemed more than they dared hope for, when for years they had vainly fought for the substitution of average roll for the ridiculous and inequitable average attendance as a basis of staffing. Apart from a catching-up of some of the arrears due to that dismal period of dire poverty, genuine advances had been made, the speaker added. Probably the most outstanding one and the one that was exercising the thoughts of teachers more than anything else was the abolition of proficiency and the resultant freedom. It would be presumption on his part to advise primary teachers on any such practical theme as the “ New Freedom,” hut he did want to refer to what he considered might he the effect on secondary education. Too Rigid Curricula

“ For years,” Mr Matheson continued, “ educationists have consid" ergd that education was too bppkisH, tpp narrow, too far removed from the pupil’s life, and, rightly, you laid the blame for a large measure of its faults on the proficiency examination. Years ago, attempts at a eomprornise were made. and. while the examination was retained, some measure of freedom was granted by lessening the requirements of it so that it might not bulk so largely in the compilation of a curriculum- More time could thus be allotted to real education. Immediately a murmur of criticism arose from secondary teachers—the pupils were coming into their schools ill prepared. These wailings were commonplaces. And why? Because the complained-of rigidity of the primary school cannot compare with the cast-iron rigidity of the secondary, “ The ties that bound education to the proficiency examination are no? thing to the chains that link secondary education to matriculation. Thousands of pupils every February enter the gates of secondary schools from Kaitaia to Riverton, and more than half of them ‘embark on a course totally unsuited to their needs and abilities—a nineteenth century curriculum into which twentieth century children are forced, Moreover, it is a curriculum based on that of the Eng= lish public school, which caters for a totally different class—children of the wealthy, aiming at a career in the army, the navy or the university. A curriculum, too, that is based on the out-of-date faculty psychology which assigns false values tp ‘subjects ' —mathematics will teach reasoning; French and Latin will train the memory; science will strengthen powers of observation. The result is instruction and not education. The emphasis is on the subject and not on the child. And how the subject suffers in the process, to say nothing of how the pupil suffers! “The Hallmark of Learning”

“ Education,’ the speaker said, “ ha? corns to mean a certain amount of knowledge ready to be trotted out on examination day and forgotten as soon as the pupil leaves school. Examination-governed education forgets that three parts of what Is learnt at school Is useless, and yet, by its emphasis on factual knowledge, it tends to kill that mental zest that is the basis of self-edpca-tion—education that is not concerned with school life only but is continuous throughout life, that is life, in facjt' lam not blaming the secondary school nor the secondary teacher The position is forced on them.

“ Pupils entei the schools in the hope of getting rnatricplation-rrthe ‘open sesame’ to all the (so-called) good jobs. The school has to do its best to give all these pupils that halb mark of learning. Many fall by the way Some few even acquire an education in spite of the system, not because of it, I \yill freely admit, too, that most of the secondary schools are fully conscious of the futility of much of their academic labours, and are doing what they can to remedy the position, and would do more if they were able In this respect, boarding schools have a decided advantage, and possibly the classroom gets the credit that should belong to the organised activities out of school hours,

“Apart from its crippling effect on the subjects," the president continued, “I believe, too. that as at present instituted and conducted, this examination has a doubtful prognostic value, even if we have regard for its original object only, that, is, the selection of those who are likely to benefit by a university education It is ter rigid in its requirements Why & compulsory foreign language, irrespective of the course to be followed at the university is included, I dp not know. Is it argued that a man is not educated

who does not know a foreign language? I think this compulsory subject causes more misery and drudgery to secondary pupils than everything else, unless it is compulsory mathematics, !< Then, of course, there are potent arguments against any subjective valuation. Imagine the effect of a neatly written paper following a run of almost indecipherable scribbles. Imagine, perhaps, the effect of a heavy dinner or a touch of indigestion on the examiner’s reception of an unfortunate error. The element of luck, the type of paper set, counts too much to allow this single examination to decide whether a pupil’s three or four years at a secondary school have been a success or a failure.

“ Stick-at-it-ive-ness ”

“ You will perhaps imagine from this tirade,” he said, “ that I am opposed to academia education root and branch- Not so While not believing, for instance, that mathematics is the subject par excellence for training reasoning power, I believe It affords valuable practice in reasoning, and helps to form a habit of mind—a mental discipline as it were. It gives a pupil,a chance to develop that ‘ stick-at-it-ive-ness that is so valuable. So does anything that is difficult, provided it is not so difficult that it discourages effort But what of a boy, say, in woodwork, who decides to make a logbox? Be gets a blue print from his instructor, finds his timber and goes ahead. Is not he practising his .reasoning and habituating himself to continued and concentrated effect? And at the same time he is making something—and is giving way to his instinct for creative art. Which is the more valuable subject to him? Then what of the boy who sits up till all hours fitting up a home-made wireless set? He has developed more ‘ stick-at-it-ive-pess ’ in a week-end than in a whole term's mathematics and has learnt more about electricity in a month than he would learn in the classroom in a year. This is because his wireless set is real to him —-his school lessons are not. I will grant you that a purely academic education is real /to the academic-ally-minded, I will grant you also that there is c. certain amount of realistic education in secondary schools—that all pupils are not aiming at matriculation. But I firmly believe that far too many are, by force of circumstances, embarked on a course suitable only for the few. Abolition Desirable If that examination could be what it was meant to he —a university entrance qualification—it would be much better, But so long as it existed, so long would it be regarded as the measure of a successful secondary education, It was impossible to force employers not to regard it as that. The only solution seemed to be to abolish it. When secondary education was so organised that a pupil received what fie was mentally capable of, there would be no need for it. The academic type would go on as at present, and why should not the university doors be open to him? “ I suppose that there will never be perfection, and that there will always be educational misfits —those children, often the victims of parental ambition, entered on the wrong course. But, is not the freedom of the primary school likely to lessen their number? The school leaving age is to be raised to 15—we hope that it will not stop at 15. An influx of non-academic types to the secondary school will result. It seems that the secondary school will be forced to broaden its curriculum and base the type, and not, as at present, only the amount of education, and educable capacity. “ I believe, top, with your new freedom, the academic child will leave the primary school better fitted than before, to take advantage of an academic secondary education, In - an endeavour tp get all pupils through proficiency, the smart pupil tends to be kept with the average of the class. Now, he can go as far as he is capable, and that is as far as he should go. But your nonacademic type will be less able than before to fit himself into the narrow groove of academicism. That is why I say that the secondary school will be forced to cater for him. UNIFICATION OF CONTROL

Nothing, to my mind, will, or can, be a greater force in bringing about this desirable and, in fact, necessary change than unification of control of all types of school. A single controlling authority must be in a better position to bring about that continuity that is so necessary throughout a pupil’s school career. And to bring about that continuity and coordination to its fullest extent, a unified inspectorate appears to me to be necessary. Get rid of the emphasis on subjects—l might add get rid of the grading system—and 3 unified inspectorate working with a unified board would rapidly bring about that co-ordination so vital to educational progress. I once read or heard some one define the object of educational control as I To provide the right education for the right pppil under the right teacher. - I would ask, ‘ How can that eventuate unless under a single controlling authority? ’ ”