SCHOOL TEACHERS

Southland Times, Issue 22730, 5 November 1935, Page 4

SCHOOL TEACHERS

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE t MONTHLY MEETING /At the monthly meeting of the Management Committee of the Southland branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, the following members were present: Messrs J. W. Lopdell, vicepresident (in the chair), G. F. Griffiths (secretary), H. D. Gazzard, F. N. R. Downard, T. B. Haydon, J. A. Cushen, C. N. Lawless, A. Thomson,’ A. P. McDonald and L. J. Clapp; Misses M. Baird and J. Watson. Mr Thomson reported that the subcommittee set up to carry out the cataloguing of ths'teachers’ library, had completed the work. The library was now entirely classified and in readiness for the use of teachers, and as it contained many of the latest books on education, the committee was confident that it would prove of great value to members.

. The main part of the evening was occupied by a talk from Miss Sanders, a Canadian exchange teacher, at present on the staff of the Waihopai School. Miss Sanders is a member of the staff of the Queen Mary School, North Vancouver. She is at present in the Dominion on six months’ exchange with Miss E. B. Pay, of Waihopai School, who is at present in Vancouver filling Miss Sanders’s position. Miss Sanders dealt comprehensively with many interesting phases of the Canadian education system, comparing it with the New Zealand system so far as she had seen it in operation. One gained the impression from Miss Sanders’s remarks that in some directions the New Zealand system compares favourably with the Canadian, while in others it is less progressive and up-to-date.

“Each of the Canadian provinces has its own Department of Education which has full control of the curriculum and administration of education for the province,” she said. “Each important town in the province has its own school board, elected by the residents. These boards are responsible for the local administration of the schools within their respective areas. The boards, however, have no part in determining the syllabus of instruction used in the schools, this being the sole right of the various provincial education departments. It is not usual for teachers to move from one province to another. Teachers do not require to move from one school to another to gain promotion as in New Zealand, there being a considerable number of salary increments attached to each position.

“Normally children enter the Canadian schools at six years of age, but during recent depression years, when a marked falling-off in numbers has taken place, teachers have been permitted to enrol pupils at five years of age. As in New Zealand, a country school may be established in Canada when seven or eight children are available. When the roll number of a country school approximates forty, the school is staffed by two teachers.” A striking contrast between the size of classes in New Zealand city schools and Canadian city schools was drawn by Miss Sanders. In the Canadian city schools, she said, the class taught by one teacher in a room ranged in average size from twenty to twenty-five pupils, no class being larger than forty. Canadian schools for staffing purposes were graded on roll number and not on average attendance as in the New Zealand system. In Canada, most of the text books, all writing and drawing materials and paper were supplied by the Education Departments free to the pupils. It is Miss Sanders’s opinion that the equipment of the Canadian schools is superior to that found in New Zealand schools. In most schools each class has a good set of reference books for use of pupils, while in each school there is an excellent teachers’ library containing a wide variety of reference books. Schools are well provided with firstclass maps, charts, etc. Schools receive an annual grant from the Education Department for the purpose of keeping libraries well stocked. These grants have not been cancelled even during the years of economic depression. The parent-teacher organizations in Canada do a great deal also in the provision of equipment for schools. These latter are a comparatively new departure in Canadian school organizations. In all the large schools there is a special music room containing gramophone, piano and radio specially suited to children’s singing. Sets of records of good music are available and there is also a musical library. In all the main subjects of instruction, there are specialist teachers attached to groups of schools. These specialists pay frequent visits to schools and guide class teachers in their particular subjects, thus maintaining a high standard. The oversight of the whole of the teaching is in the hands of the Education Department’s inspectors of schools, who visit and inspect th’e work as is done in New Zealand.

The Queen Mary School, where Miss Sanders teaches, is one of Vancouver’s largest and best schools. It contains sixteen rooms which are larger than most of the classrooms Miss Sanders has seen in New Zealand. The rooms are well-lighted and ventilated. The whole school is heated by oil fuel. Throughout the school the floors are soundproof, so that, for instance, in the assembly hall, when the pupils are marching, conversation can be carried on across the room. The floors are composed of wooden blocks fitted together in an intricate pattern. An adhesive material is spread over the floor and the blocks are then pressed down into it, forming a perfectly sound-proof floor surface. At the conclusion of Miss Sanders’s talk a vote of thanks, proposed by Mr T. B. Haydon, was carried by members of the committee, and Miss Sanders was invited to be present at the next monthly meeting.