SCHOOL COMMITTEES CONFERENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2429, 3 October 1900, Page 71

SCHOOL COMMIT TEES CO NFERENCE.

A conference of delegates frcm the Dunedin and suburban school committees via? held~al the- Noimal School on Wednesday evening. Mr W. E. MAdam presided, and the following were present : Mentis G. C. Israel and G. 3?leury (Union street), F. Milhcr (George street), O. J. Watson and Captain Stewart (High street), H. Webb and G. H. Ford (Morning ton), W. Somemlle (Macantlrew road), J. Braithwaite and E. Cameron (Arthur street), G. Moir (Kaikorai), and Hugh Miller (St. Leonaids). The Re\. A. Cameron (Anderson's Bay) sent a verbal apology lor absence through his co-delegate, the chairman. Apologies were also received from Air M. Finer and Mr W. Barclay.

The following report by the special cony ■jnitteo appointed to consider the question oi the change of school books was read by the Secretary : —

The question of the change of school books authorised by the Otago Jiaucation Hoard's, circular of the Ist March last has attracted the attention of many of tne school committees afd.iated to tais conference, and has now been submitted for the consideration oi the delegates by special resolution of the St. Clair and Mojuingtoii committees. As ,theie seemed to be a lack of information regarding school books geneially, the conference appointed us a subcommittee to investigate tuid report at an early meeting. \Ve have now to lay before you the results oi our inquiries, which on many points are not quite go exhaustive and satisfactory as could bs desired, but which for obvious leasoas have only been obtained by personal interviews with those "whom we considered the most reliable authorities on the subject.

We find that there is a geneial consensus cf opinion that the niajonty ot the books prescribed lor use by the JtLaucation -fcioaid pie suitable for the requirements 01 the syllabus, and on the score of expense make no umeaoonable demands upon tne parents. ladeed, the fact that a change of Readers only has oeen authorised should satis, y the aeiegc.tes that there is little justification for the assumption that heavy expense vail be entailed upon parents. Various suggestions by teachers weie offered as to the possibility of economy in history and geogiaphy by the use ot one book m each subject lor tne l'hird Staxidaid, and one advanced book for the Fourth, Filth, and Sixth Standards. Geneially, the books now in use for the teaching oi History, geography, grammar, and arithmetic we;p appiovcd, and we think that no exception can lairly be taken to the cost of the books requued by the regulations.

Upon approaching the question of Readers, however, we found a marked diversity of opinion, especially as regards the merits ol the " Imperial Readers ' prescribed by the board icali standards. Several repie^entativo teachers who favoured us with their views, while agreeing that the 13 years' use of ths previous Headers had made a change neceasai3 r — a change, indeed, sought by the teachers themsel\cs, — considered the Reader prescribed by the board was not in accoi dance with the desne of a majority of the head teacheis, wlio, after much deLibeiation, had chosen and recommended m preference the '" Royal Crown Readers, the " Ship Readers," and " Longman's New Headers," for the following reaso.is . — That the " Imperial Readers " contain too much

extraneous matter; that the matter geneiall} is unsuitable and inappropriate; that there is not sufficient variety, and too niuch fiction and local master, the necessary local matter being equally well arranged in other series; that theit is too large a proportion of poetiy unknown as literature ; that the publishers are necessarily at a disadvantage in not being able to use copyright matter; that <he language lessons should ba placed at the end o.f all the books; that the undue amount of extraneous matter does not encourage but kills a love foi reading ; that it prevents the use of supplementary Headers, which are a pleasure to teachers and taught and a profit to the pupils ; that local matter should appear in a separate and smaller series ; that children should have the advantage of the best possible Readers, with extracts from the best books in the English language, such results being only obtainable by the keen competition of firms ot standing in various parts of the Empire, whereby continual improvements would be adopted and the best talent employed ; that local production will tend to insularity of a pronounced type ; and, finally, that the illustrations and binding are inferior, and the type abovs the Third Standard too small and trying to the sight, especially m the language exercises. We have thus summarised the objections of a nunibei of teachers to the use of the lieadeis prescribed by the board, but it must also be stated that opinion ■was expressed by equally competent authority in the ranks of senior teachers that the foregoing sweeping criticism is unfair and unwarranted; that while admitting the Imperial Headers -to be more dimcult and exacting than those desired by -many other teachers, the selected prose and poetry lessons were supeiior as literature and equally well arranged ; that the introduction of the local matter by the compilers of the prescribed Readers supplied, a felt want and had even been imitated in recently issued Readers published in England for use in the colony; that the extraneous matter is appreciated, and that no complaints iiave been received with lespect to the type of the upper or other standard Readers ; that the defects in the binding and illustration's are exaggerated, and as they stand, the " Imperial Readers are very creditable piorhictions, and especially deserving of encouragement as the meritorious result of local enterprise. In the course of our inquiries we were favouied by a lengthened interview with the boaid's inspector, who satisfied us that the Readers adopted by the board had their unanimous approval, and were unhesitatingly accepted by them as prefeiable to the English Readers suggested by some of the teachers ; that the extraneous matter, so freely commented upo.d, is an original and desnable feature, and compiled largely with a view to the benefit of the fciualler school?, which have not the facilities of teaching enjoyed by the large schools; that no leasonable exception can be taken to the .lessons of the upper standard Readers, which include extracts from literature which has stood the test of 3 - eais. The msi^ectors made clear to u<3 that the teacheis would not be expected to drill the children m all the language lessons for examination purposes, and called special attention to the fact that a change of reading books only had been authorised by the board, and that whereas thiee Readers were prescribed in IZ--g'and, only one was required heie with a view to economy, consistent with due efficiency ; that the use qf alternative Headers is undoubtedly desirable, but that these should be in the form of standaid works, provided by school committees and kept in the schools ; that a school paper, if capably edited, would not be objectionable, but thai good books were preferable, as encouraging a taste for Tending. Our attempts to obtain the testimony of some of the teacheis of smaller schools have not been quite so successful, for the reason that the *' Imperial Readers " have recently come into general use, but we have evidence that, while it is considered that the lessons are more difficult than formerly, the aids to teaching were appreciated.

Many teachers approve the publication cf & school paper, but admit the difficulty of «eaJs£tenli editorship ; while xer.oznmendations

were made by some that the school Readers should be chosen in the open market by a special board, comprising tLe Minister of llciucation, the Inspector-general, ore inspector, and one repi cseiitaiivo of the Educational Institute, to be introduced tv. o standards at a time, and pdopted for the whole colony for a period of five years, smallei Reudeis to be irsued by the Government illu,stiatmg the discovery, histoiy, sceneiy, and indi'stnes, etc., of New Zealand. Suggestions were also mnde to us that the Government should obtain all school books used in the public schools and issxte them diiect at fhst cost.

For the information of the conference we have thus auniiaansed, ps briefly as possible, the information, criticisms, and lecommeiidations we have been a'jle to gather fiom the most reliable sources, and now leave the matter in the hands of tho delegates. In the face of 50 much diverse competent opinion, the difficulty of non-experts 111 forming an unbiassed judgment will readily be iccognisecl, and foj this ren son we have mutually agreed to retain our liidivich'al opinions 0:1 many debatable points. But viewing fairly and ciisprssioiiatcly tho demand for a charge of RskTcis, tho deliberate coiiridcration of a suitable substitute and the final choice of the " Imperial Readeis," we are satisfied that the board and its abo chiirman (Er Blown) acted to the best of their judgment on tlie advice of the mspootois, who should unquestioapbly bo the mo=L reliable guides -in fucl'i matters. Time will show whethev tho ncwly-mlioduccd ReadeiP possess the superior ad'-antpocs and facilities foj taaciuv;; claimed for them by the inspecioi.i, and xseir.onsvl inteieot»will doubtless prompt the locr»l vrablishers to improve the binding, mustictions, and tyne when necessary. Y7e tlisiefOiO recommend the conference to give die '" Impeiial Readers ' the opportunity of 0 rrmcient ajd «ptisfactoiy test," say, for at least 12 months, when the les-ults of the examination* of 1901 are laid before the several school coiamittee= of the district, and comparison with those of previous years can be made. In conclusion, we desire to scknowlcclge tho courtesy of the inspectors nnd teachers who have given us the bepofit of their knowledge and p-xuerieiice upon the vaiiotis poiata submitted to them m connection wi*"h the vexed question of the school books. W. E. AuTonw Caiieroi\ t . Geo. C. Israel. HnnrERT Webb. M. Fraer. The Ciairman moved — " That the report hs received." Mr Somerville seconded the motion pro forma. Mr Webb said trafc he was very mvcli impressed by t'.iC s-trong objection to tLc Readers from several lc-adinq, teachers in tho employment of the board. When the committee interviewed the inc-peetoro they asked them to explain this. One of the inepccioiv admitted Ibat some of the teacher? in the larger Fchoolobj2ctod to these books, and suggested they opposed them because it miglit have th 1 ? effect cf lowering 1 their passs= He thought thi Ilathe/ weak, although it might hnvo some weight, as although a head teacher's position might i:oi be seriously affected by a reduction in the number of pasces, his prestige dcper.de' l on it. What the teachers considered tl.r blemish of o:ie of the books in particular wp c considered b5" the inspectors one of its merits. Th? t was tl c language exercises. There waf no doubt Hat tLo language exercised were difficult and the inspectors admitted tLat it would not ba fair to the teachers to exarrin r oft all cf them*. There might, however, eneily ho a misunderstanding as to what lessons the school i\?s to be examined on. He (Mr Webb) had come to the couclu?ioa that it was m excellent book (apart from siich objection.as small type, binding-, etc.), but ho did noi think 'c'-olars of fie Sixth Standard should be expected to master it. He thought the book more suited to children of 16 or 17 year' of age. In any case, he was satisfied that tho book ought to have a year's trial.

Mr Israel said t 1 at one of the inspectors wen I the length of paying if a teacher tool 15 of these language lesions and drilled the children in them it would be uru?ecs«ary to take the whole book. It was almos-t unanimously accepted that the " Imperial "Riader,- " for the higher standards were on the dimcult side. He did not consider tho I a weakness, and, looking back at his own school dnyf, he thought the books in use then were more difficult than the average books wed vi the present time. The condemnation of the teacher* was .too sweeping. They could f-ec nothing favourable in ii at all. One of their made the reservation that there was a favou:able fide, %>a3much as the " Imueria 1 Readers " were a, local production. The report had been made as brief as possible, and their object in <£>kiug up the question \ia c that the board had selected books that din not commend themselves to the conference. That, at any rate, had been the idea that Maconveyed by the action of the eonferencs. But he himself did nou think they ought to be too critical in these matters. Tho committees sent men of average intelligence (fometimes more us) to represent them on tl € board. Tne board were guided by their experts, the inspectors, whose advice they iiere Lkely to lake in preference to that of the teachers, lie did not think that any nine men that might be chosen by the conference could have honestly acted in any other way than the board did. They had deliberately chosen the " Imperial Readers'' on the advice of thoir experts, and he did not think the conference had the right to protest against it. They might speak generally against their action, but he did not think "they should go the length of a protest. Mr H. Miller asked if it was a fact tl'al one of the inspectors had had a hand in the compilation of the book?, and shared in any of the profits that accrued. As to the difficulty of the books, '.9 thought if a boy could not master the Sixth Standard books he was not fit to grasp the ordinary duties pertaining to office work. Ho also wanted to know if the head masters ere bound to teach the language lessons.

Mr Israel said that the Rev. Mr Cameron's objection to the language lessons was that thextended to encourage laziness on the part of the teacher if tbey were freely used. Instead of picking out t^eir own language exercise-;, they would be apt to get the children to study up the language lessons from the book. As to the question of an inspector beinp interested in the books, thai ■un.s not denied. The Auckland Education P-oard encouraged their inspectors to a_i-^i=t in the compilation of works of this kind, and he could not see what objection there could be to it. The inspector in question the other evening told tho committee he had nothing to do with the initiation of these book?.

Mr Braithwaito thought the committee were to be congratulated on their report in many respects. It dealt iuslly with both sides of the question, and to some extent was noncommittal, as far as some of the members of the committee were concerned. Ho thought that possibly the best thing the conference could do would be, toeing that there was such a difference of opinion in regard to the Readers that had been introduced, to suggest the adoption of an" alternative aefc oi

Renders. He did not think they would come in conflict with the " Imperial Headers," and it would give thcuc who objected to them pprrnispion to ihc another ret lie would s,uggCit that the alternative set should be Nelson's " Royal Crown series, n.k recommended by the Educational Institute. It hm too late in i\e day to talk about the uniformity of Reader's throughout the colony. In Christchurch Lhoy already had three feet=; of Readers, in South Canterbury three or four, oncl so on in the otl er privinoei. Ke nuvo r ! — "Th'it tliii conference respectfully Miggc.=r& that the Education Board "-ha 1 ! permit the use of an alternative !-et of Readers, o.aO that such Readers be the Royal Crown Readers.' " JMr E. Moir seconded the motion. A good deal of tli.-cu-'ion followed, and ovenUiilly the motion to receive the report was put and Lamed. Dur Eraithwaitc's, motion was then put, and caiuieJ by six vole? to five. Captiiu Stewart moved — " That the conferei cc believe- that the time lia^ come when New Zealand should Lave a uniform pet of tehool bock-, a'ld tVit we n=e all ouv effortsto b-'inef aboit'. thi- desirable reformation." Mr Wilson &pccnclc r l the motion, which evoked a good deal of di cussion. The debate was, oventinlly adjourned, after a vot n of thanks had bsen passed to the com mitlee for their report.