EDUCATIONAL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13390, 4 February 1907, Page 3

EDUCATIONAL.

RETURN OF MISS/GRANT. EDUCATIONAL METHODS COMPARED. ) ■ Miss Grant, head mistress of th< New Plymouth High School arrivoc back in Now Myimoiitih on Saturday aftsr a trip extending over thirteen months in the Old World. Miss Grant trave'kd Home by the Cape, and Came oack via Suez. She visited England, Scotland, Ireland, Gocmjanj and France, and saw most of th« best schools in> each country. Miss Grant was shown over the Cheltenham Girls' School, London, by Mis« Beal (whose diiath was reoetttlj reported) who was . one' of tiie pioneers of higher education for girls in England. In most of the places visited Miss Grant found that the methods advocated by Mr Hogben, Inspector-General <A Sch<yalsi for New Zeail^ind, w-ere being carried out. S>be had a, long talk with the Secretary of the Association of English Headmistresses, who placed & lot of documentary informtaticin at 1 - her disposal. The Hyjh Conwiiissi omer Avas also very kind, and, granted Miss Grant all kinds of facilities. The best schools in Beirlim were visited. There was some difficulty in getting admission, but thas was, geined . with the help *of the- British Amibassador. In matnenxatdes Miss Grant found that New Zealand was greatly in -advance" of Germany, but languages were especially good; A great deal of time was given to them. The methods of .teaching were very mueji the same as -those used hert*. Phaneiics were not so much used as in Scotland, where v<My> good results were obtained. The methods of teacMng drawing. Miss Grant thought, were better in Slcotland' tihan dn Entgilamid, wheno, :!a turn, they wcro bettor than in Germany. Miss Grant qualifies thi^ statement by saying that she saw more Scottish schools than lEngfish. Of course the Old >Vorld schools had a great advantage over New Zealand, schools in equipment and apparatus of all kinds, and in buildings a nd fittings. The number., of pupils t» ea'dh telaoher in English schools Mis^ orant, the classes at Cheltenham being composed for th# "mdst part of five students.' >I» the school there were abb" t^a tbwwandft pupils; and over a huhclred teachers. The teachers could Hardly reeJise dealing , with classes of greater dimensions. , Another? great advantai?e at the English schools was the .large number oi,;p^ipils, which made specialisation among' lechers 'possible. A feature which Miss Grant liked afiout the schools was that the pupils stay at school longer, in Germany a child 'goes to school at. 6 years old, and if he passes each examination he will leave at the age of sixteen, feut many stay longer. Things wer» \ery similar in England. - " , Miss Grant was astounded at "the, ut^ter lack • of games in German I schools. The Kaiser, however, Wat* taken, the matter in. hand], and is- in-l troducing games, to the intense disgust o$ phe .boys. The b*>ys have to devote aix afternoon each week* t<> "learnjng how to jjlay." . At one school the headmaster- was, '^d. (atuman who 'Bad an Oxford tlogree and he made an ' endeavour to introduce totjnjs, . The court' was marked off witb scratolves on the gra\el of the play graxind and vowing to the grand personality of the 'master the game was kept going though th<j : quality .of the play was poor. There were a good many courts in the .German capital, but Miss Grant did hot see any games which the' New Plymouth High School Tennis Club . could not have won. There were also a good number of "sports parks" ; and scxnue idea of the state of affairs is given by the /act that ttoh o Germ-ans had to borrow &. word from the English language to ddscribo them. France was visited while the schools were having their summer vacations , so that the school methods could not be observed. Miss Grajtit, however, met many of tho teachers and discussed matters with them. The French Lyaees (High Schools), she found,. . were doing excellent work -and gradually making a name for themselves in • international educational circles. The S^xrbonne, • unlike the English P Uiiiversities, did not board stuxb den'te, but of (ihese there were a twelve thousand, ' the number once .having "baen thirty th'otiaamp. lAHfigli y , educational authority / staged tHat tttfe * c "natural" method ol teecShingilangua^gos Ha&i been 'adppted almost uniJe vei^ally/: .In F^aride" ; Jphojietjce wchre :0 g»e!aitry- !«sed 'In - I»acihi!ng'lanig»uafeies. iC Of lall ih«( schools visited OffiteS Grant a was most > pleajse'd with "tine methods oi a teaching in all subjects, at the Dunle dee Oirls 1 Sign' Schtool. (MissiGran^ ftfiorotigHly, enjoyed her tr|ip r tbodgK the vfa>ys£ge tntowgn the Rddl Seal was fttncontfoVfalbUy iwatlm, b. even in mSd-jwiot^r. For style, shape, and -good wearing «j qualittes in hats just try *'The Denton" hat. It s the best half guinea le hat in the market. Obtainable only from "Tht K«sh'."— Aavi."