SCHOOL EXAMS

Southland Times, Issue 22215, 6 January 1934, Page 16

SCHOOL EXAMS

PROFESSOR’S STATEMENT.

GROWING CRITICISM OF SYSTEM.

Educationists the world over have been paying more and more attention to the thesis that examinations in their present form do not constitute the ideal method of testing the intelligence of school children and students. This view finds solid support in the finding of the English Medical Research Council published recently in the cable news. The council’s investigations, based on observation of the growth and development of 4300 children over the last 15 years, suggest that disproportionate emphasis has been placed on examinations in the British educational system, to the disparagement of practical and purely cultural subjects and physical development. Views in accordance with this argument have been commonly expressed by leading psychologists and teachers during the last few years, according to Dr James Hight, Rector of Canterbury College, who was approached on the subject by a representative of the Christchurch Press. ?.t the Imperial Educational Conference in 1927 many prominent delegates from all parts of the Empire advanced similar criticisms of the manner in which examination results were interpreted as an infallible guide to the mentality of the student. The Duchess of Atholl, in a paper before the British Association two or three years ago, put forward convincing arguments along the same lines founded on the views of those who were in a position to speak from experience. Many influential journals in Great Britain, including the 'Spectator and the New Statesman and Nation, were every year giving more and more prominence to the question, and it was becoming invariable to include in the programme of educational gatherings some consideration of the evils arising from and alleged to be arising from the examination system. A Faulty Technique. “Everyone recognizes that examinations are necessary,” continued Dr. Hight, “but, on the other hand, most of us feel that we have not developed a perfect examination technique and that we do not regard examinations in their true perspective.” It was obvious that there was a great deal of justice in the criticisms levelled at the present system, but critics should be careful not to fall into error in making their attacks too virulent or their statements too sweeping. There was always a tendency to swing too far from one view to its opposite, and few thinking men would deny that there was a great measure of good in academic examinations.

Referring to the statement that the practical studies and study of the pure arts were implicitly discouraged in practice at the approach of examinations in the school year, Dr. Hight said that it was impossible to avoid concentrating on things which could be definitely measured when tests were being made. Subjects such as music and painting, physical drill and training for citizenship, did not lend themselves readily to examinations, and, under the present system, it was difficult to avoid an over-emphasis on the regular and common subjects at the expense of the others. Professor Shelley’s Views. Cordial agreement with the conclusion reached by the council was expressed by Professor J. Shelley, Professor of Education at Canterbury College. Conditions were still worse in New Zealand than they were in Great Britain. Twelve or 13 years’ experience in the Dominion had convinced the professor that “bookish” or examination subjects were emphasised much more in this country than in England. If the predominance of these subjects in the English system was condemned by such a competent committee as the Medical Research Council there was a much greater need to condemn the evils existing in New Zealand. “Examinations tend to dominate the teacher, even if they do not dominate the ideas embodied in our schools,” said Professor Shelley. “Teachers are at the mercy of the need for getting children through recurring tests, to the detriment of the true culture and education they should derive from their schooling.” It was impossible to examine students in subjects, such as the appreciation of art, comprising the more active type of education. Thus there was a spreading tendency to neglect these essential subjects. Their value was generally admitted in theory, but in practice too great emphasis was placed on those subjects commonly regarded by the public as useful in passing some test or obtaining some degree. Herein lay the danger to true education.

The outside public almost invariably weighed up the standing of a school by its examination results. Professor Shelley mentioned a school in London, which rigorously refused to train its scholars for any examination. Although this school was attended by children of means, who had no need to pass examinations preparatory to earning their livelihood, it supplied an example of what could be done along non-ex-amination lines. Instruction was based on broad principles and a great deal of time was' devoted to those subjects regarded by the members of the Research Council as necessary for mental health. To achieve and retain mental health creative expression was absolutely essential and not merely the reproduction of intellectual facts.