THE FAILURE OF EDUCATION

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19961, 20 November 1934, Page 11

THE FAILURE OF EDUCATION

To the Editor of “ The Tlmaru Herald ” Sir, —I have observed in a recent issue of the “Herald” that Mr J. W. Preen stated that “the children of to-day have a chance which we certainly did not have, and if they cannot make good under the conditions—well they cannot blame the teachers, or the system, they have only themselves to blame.” This somewhat sweeping assertion that our educational system is ideal has given me cause to wonder if Mr Preen is correct in his observation. The average worker has a high opinion of education. He believes that its purpose is to enable mankind to understand and to solve many problems that arise from time to time from earning sufficient food, clothing or shelter to keep himself and his family in average comfort, and put away a little for his old age. He is certain, like Mr Preen, that the more education he gets the better. There never was a time when there was so much education, yet, despite that, the affairs of the world are more muddled than they have ever been before. That ; astounding fact somehow never seems to strike the people most concerned. In point of fact, organised education has completely failed to enable men to deal with the great problems of to-day. 1 It turns out enormous numbers of trained workers, but fails to show them how their skill can be put to use. It has no remedy for unemployment, no remedy for war and no remedy for socalled “overproduction.” What is the reason for this colossal failure of education? The reason is that every system of society, whether capitalist or feudal, has its own educational system—a system specially adapted to preserve it and defend it. This is all right so long as the system is working well, but that education becomes a great barrier to progress when man, : in his upward march, requires to ■ change his form of society. Orthodox | education to-day, therefore, being a • force for conserving capitalism is un- 1 able to throw any serious light on our great social problems. That is why, if the workers want to get the truth ' about social problems they have to go 1 elsewhere than to our existing organisations—generally to institutions such as the Timaru Public Library. Many writers of the interesting and instructive books in that excellent institution realise the vital necessity for the workers to study subjects such as economics and history written in a form that is not tied to the acceptance of the existing social order. One has to commence by clearing out the dust of ages that has settled on many of the governing class ideas, and set to work and study such books as those written by Bernard Shaw, G. D. H. Cole, Norman Angel, Bertrand Russell

J. A. Hobson, J. A. Salter, Sir R. Redmayne, W. T. Layton, R. W. Tawney and others. The reason why we should study such works on industrial history is because this subject deals with how men in all ages of the world have solved the “bread and butter problem,” a problem that has to be faced before any sort of history can be made. It shows how men fashioned tools and what great changes these brought. We know there was a time when men gained a living by using flints, and other old tools we see in our museums to-day. In history we should endeavour to trace the effects of those changes in tools and their ownership. History explains, for example, why lands and rivers, once as free as air, are now covered with notices—“Tresspassers will be prosecuted.” Of course I am not now referring to New Zealand in particular, but to the world in general. An intelligent study of history answers for us such questions as—Has private ownership always existed? Is the present state of affairs —with poverty and unemployment, on one hand, and great wealth on the other — always to continue? Is there always to be a working-class and a nonworking class, or is a great social change likely to take place? History explains the rise and fall of classes and of social systems. Its great advantage to us is that it helps us to understand the cause of present evils, and to forecast a way out. Economics and industrial history deal with successive historical movements caused by changes in the way men obtain a living, i.e., obtained food, clothing and shelter. Hence the value of these studies, which deal specially with laws underlying the production and distribution of these things. The importance of the study is all the greater ! because “production as carried on j to-day produces not only much wealth. ; but also much poverty.” Economics t deals directly with questions of vital interest to all people; Where do profits come from, the boss’s head or the workers’ hands? Why is the working class everywhere the poorer class? Do high wages cause high prices? Is unemployment an unavoidable and permanent feature of modern society? These are some of the questionsi-,which a study of economics will help.-us to understand. We must also ‘study economic geography for the scope,of this subject is the earth’s surface and the resources, and the influence which these exert upon human life and activities. Man must adapt himself to his environment, natural as well as social. This natural environment determines the rise of civilisation in certain particular regions. The valley of the Nile, for example, was the scene of an early civilisation, because it was a well watered, fertile and protected area; hence in Egypt one of the earliest civilisations arose. Before men ventured out upon the open ocean, the main regions of social development centred round an inland sea—the Mediterranean. After the ocean discoveries at the close of the fifteenth century, the world centre was shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic seaboard. The countries of NorthWestern Europe assumed the first place. Then came the supremacy of England, whose island position gave her an advantage over her rivals. With the industrial revolution, Britain’s supremacy was confined by her natural resources of coal and iron, found close together near the sea. To-day. whether in war or peace, international struggles are primarily for the purpose of securing raw materials, trade routes, etc. Hence the aggressive attitude of modern Imperialism.

I have already pointed out that all 1 our institutions are subject to change. This is also true of trade unions. At first, workers organised in various groups and according to the particular craft they followed, under a small employer. Then came the growth of markets, due to the use of waterways, roads, railways, and finally steamships, which opened up overseas markets. Each stage brought with it changes in tools used, limiting personal skill, increasing the scale of production, the size of the workshops, and the extent of the area from which men were drawn to work in the factories. Finally there came the great businesses, varying in their activities, and thereby causing constant movement of the working population in the pursuit of jobs. All these different conditions in the life of the workers changed their craft basis, eliminated the skill of the individual worker by the introduction of the mechanical tool, and brought changes in form, structure, and activities of the trade unions. All these changes have much to tell us and many lessons to teach that we can apply in our educational system. The points enumerated are not emphasised as strongly as they might be in our present educational system, except perhaps in the Workers’ Educational Movement, and this probably points to the reason of the colossal failure of modern education to solve current problems.—l am, etc., TOHANGA. Timaru, November 19.