THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3335, 13 February 1918, Page 50

THE WEEK.

In our consideration of the subject of education last week we arrived at the two . main conclusions that "education," as the wore! is commonly used now, means "preparation for life," and that the first essentials of that part of education that begins at school are the "three R's " After that, the authorities differ to such an extent that we hardly know where we are. I daresay things will sort themselves out in time, and one thing I should like to see altered is the present too sharp distinction between primary, secondary, and university education. Some day we may have a great national scheme of education which will be a broadly-planned whole, from the first kindergarten studies to . the research work of the trained student, though naturally all will not want to go so far as this last. There are symptoms that we are approaching something of the kind. The advocacy of "continuation schools" and technical schools shows that a '"primary" education alone is not considered- sufficient for those who are to take their place well in this complex modern life of ours, and the university is, extending its work and opening its doors wider every day. It.is standing less and less oh its dignity, and concerning itself more with the affairs of every-day 'life, as we see by the way in which it calls to its councils men who themselves have had no university training, and opens up courses of study to thqse who have not passed the magic barrier of matriculation. In short, it is recognising that it has to play its-part in an education that is not a question of

academic learning alone, but of preparation for life, and for citizenship of one's community. 'lf education means this, then it seems inevitable that some sort of training' in home science should be part of the education of every girl, since the greater pai*t of the necessary cooking and cleaning and child-rearing of the world falls upon its -women, and in this country, at the present time, no girl knows when she may not have to do her share. Later on, if we get to co-operative housekeeping and communal kitchens and such-like, a great deal of the work may be done by, specialists, just as much of the work that used to be performed in the household is done now; but I don't think that time will come just yet, for the Briton has a great hankering for the privacy of a home, where he and his family can do what they choose in their own the women of the race will be the makers of that home so long as women have the bearing and the nourishing of the children, which will be always. The potential woman doctor, or lawyer, or scientist, or business woman is also a' potential housekeeper and mother. Well, then, how is she going to get her preparation for that part of her life? There are three principal schools of thought, as one might say, on the subject. There are those who say that she should get it in her own home, those who advocate school and university training, and those who maintain that no special teaching is necessary, as any intelligent and well-trained woman can run a house if she has to, principally by the aid of common sense and a cookery book. With these last I disagree very much, even though I know one or two who can support their contention by their own personal experience. There

are people who seem capable of undertaking anything that comes their way and making a success of it, but I do not think they are in the majority. Most of us, if left to ourselves, find out things only by painful experience, and - through many mistakes and failures. Anyway, a great deal depends on what Tone means by "well-trained." I was arguing about these things the other day with someone who supported this third view, and I pressed for her. definition of "well-trained." She said she meant one with a trained hand ae well as a trained mind, and when I asked what sort of hand-training she advocated, she instanced carpentering, or—well, cooking, or sewing, or something of the kind. Well, then, if you are going to train her hands in this way, and include a certain amount of science in her mindtraining, as I think this friend of mine would consider necessary, and there you are! The girl has had something of a training in home science,_ by accident, as it were, and especially if she has Jived in a well-ordered household could soon pick up the work of a house comfortably, if she were quick and capable. But every girl's training by no means includes science and cookery, and it is to impress upon her that it should, that home science is being made such a point of.

Is there really a necessity for science, some may ask, especially those who think the girl can get her training best at home? Well, yes, there is. You see, we have learnt a lot in the last few years. Take feeding a family, onfi of the housewife's principal duties. You have to give them not, only what they like, and what seems to agree with them at the moment—but you ought to know what you are giving them and why. You should know something of food constituents, know what a "well-balancer meal" is, have an acquaintance with "calories," and know which foods give the best value for their cost in money, time, and energy. The food question is going to be a very big one for the world for some time to come, and a great deal depends on the way in which we women make use of the available supplies. The methods of our mothers and our grandmothers may not be the best methods for these present times, and though a "girl can learn much at home, the more she can put into practice there what she learns elsewhere the better. I do think she must learn _ elsewhere as well. Some say that time is too filled up, and classes too large for a girl to learn much in her school years, and that a short course at a special college after leaving school is the best thing. So it is a very good thing, if the girl will ta*ke it; but so many girls, from choice or necessity, plunge straight into wageearning or training for a profession directly they leave school, and would consider themselves just as much "handicapped" in comparison'with boys if they had to take a domestic science course after leaving school as while they are at it, and would avoid it if possible. Still, I don't much mind where a girl gets her training so long as she does get it, and so long as girls and parents recognise, what they do not at present, that because of her possible dual career in the future, and also because the strain _of adolescence is greater in the case of girls than of boys, a girl should spend a year or two longer on. her education than her brother does. SHe has more to learn, and for a year or two she should take things more slowly. The time of slacking off in mental work would actually be a good time for getting her hand in at the practical part of home-making. It's a great nuisance, of course, but I don't see any other way out of it so long as girls will be girls. They arn't men, and the lives of the great majority will be different from those of the men, and therefore you can't successfully train them the, same way. It is better to recognise the fuel and be done with it. ELIZABETH.