PUPIL TEACHERS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7182, 5 June 1891, Page 3

PUPIL TEACHERS

PROPOSED CHANGE OP KEGULATIONS. » The following very important report was presented to the North Canterbury Board of Education yesterday :— The Committee appointed to consider and revise the Board's regulations relating to pupil teachers has the honour to present the following report :— The Committee has given a great deal of time to the discussion of the important subject submitted to it. It has held many meetings, and has taken a large amount of evidence, orally and in writing, from the Secretary, the inspectors, the officers of the Normal School, and from the head masters of Bchools in which pupii teacherß are most largely employed, and who have had the greatest amount of experience in connection with them. The investigations of the Committee leave it no reason to suppose that the pupil teacher system has not, on the whole, worked well. It has introduced into the service a great number of excellent masters and mistresses; and must evidently be, for many years, the principal, if not the only, source to which the Board can look for the maintenance of a regulai supply of teachers. But, as embodied in the present regulations, it is faulty in several important respects, the imperfection of which must seriously detract from its utility. For the efficient working of the system three points need special attention. First that, as far as possible, no one shall be appointed who does not show some aptitude for, and promise of success in, the profession of teaching. Secondly, that the services of anyone who, on trial, is found not to possess the necessary qualifications shall be dispensed with at an early stage. Thirdly, that, during his apprenticeship, the pupil teacher shall receive systematic instruction, not only in subjects of examination, but in whab is of far more consequence, the methods and practice of teaching. The present regulations do not quite sufficiently provide for the first of these three points, and leave the other two entirely unprovided for. At present there are no means, except in case of misconduct, of getting rid of an unsatisfactory pupil teacher. Once appointed, however incompetent or unfitted for school work he may be found to be, he has to drag through hie four years of so-called apprenticeship, only to find at the last that his time has been altogether wasted; that he cannot be admitted into the Normal School, and that the Board has nc intention of giving him any further employment. Again, though the Boarc impUedly undertakes (in the old form oi agreement it did expressly undertake] that the pupil teacher shall during hii four years' term receive the benefit oi regular training, there is nothing to ensurt j that such training shall be actually given

The regulations are silent on the subject A pupil teacher may be kept among thi infantsforthefoarwholeyears,andleaveth< school without having seen anything ol standard work ; or may be confined exclusively to one or two standards, and get no experience in any of the others; while, unless an inspector interferes, the Board has no means of discovering or remedying the evil. The Committee doeß not Bay that such extreme cases are frequent. But there is evidence that many pupil teachers pass through their term of apprenticeship without getting the careful supervision, and variety of practice and technical instruction, which it is one of the conditions of their engagement that they shall receive, and the absence of which frustrates the very objects that the Board had in view in appointing them. To meet these defects, your Committee proposes that the first year of every pupil teacher'u service shall be probationary. Towards the end of the year, the head master will be required to report to the Board on the probationer's performance, and on the degree of capability and promise of satisfactory progress which be has exhibited. If the report is favourable the appointment will be confirmed, and the pupil teacher will be allowed to proceed through the remaining three years of his course; bat if the report is adverse, and the master's unfavourable opinion is confirmed by an inspector, the engagement will terminate at once. In this way all intending pupil teachers who are found unsuitable will be removed at the earliest opportunity, and while they are still of an age not to be debarred from entering on other pursuits. Further, the Committee proposes that a pupil teacher's course of practice in the school shall extend from the infants to, at least, Standard IV., and that no pupil teacher shall remain in charge of any one class, or in any one division of school work, for more than a year, unless under exceptional circumstances and with . the approval of an inspector. The Board will thus have a guarantee that every pupil teacher receives that amount of systematic training in the business of his future profession which is essential to his gaining the full benefit of his apprenticeship ; or, in case of neglect, the master can be called to account for his • breach of a specific regulation. Among minor amendments are— That th< age of admission shall be from fourteen upwards, so that a suitable candidate need not be rejected because a little older than a prescribed maximum; that all candidates for admission shall have passed the oixth standard, or have matriculated ; that the payment for the instruction of a single pupil shall be raised to .£l2; and that any teacher may be declared incompetent to instruct, whose pupil teachers fail at two successive examinations. A draft of the regulations, as amended, accompanies the report. But the alterations proposed by your Committee involve some important consequences, which have obliged it to extend its inquiries beyond the strict limitß of the subject referred to it by the Board. The existing regulations conclude by requiring that all pupil teacherß Bhall come to the Normal School, at the end of their engagement, for a course of training. In practice, however, this regulation was modified when the system on which the Normal School is now conducted came into operation. Since 1888 only Buch pupil teachers have been admitted as were recommended by the inspectors, and every year a few have been left out aB not considered eligible for admission. Tour Committee cannot approve of this exclusion. It appears to it that the training in the Normal School iB the proper conclusion for a pupil teacher's course, and that any pupil teacher suffers an injustice who is shut out from what he has been warranted in looking forward to aB the preparation which would fit him for his future profession. The answer to this objection hitherto has been that there are always some expupil teachers who have shown no qualifications for the profession. But if the proposed amendments are adopted such a rejoinder will no longer be possible. The weeding-out process, hitherto left to the end of the fourth year, will then be performed in the first. And when all unsatisfactory pupil teachers are dispensed with after one year's trial, it follows that all who proceed to the fourth year will, without exception, be eligible for further training. The Committee then found itself confronted with the difficulty of want of accommodation. As the students in the Normal School are put in actual charge of classes, under the supervision of the permanent staff, there is no room and no possibility of finding work for more than a certain number. To meet this difficulty, the Committee suggested that, besides the Normal School, other schools in or near Christchurch might be utilised aa practising schools for the students ; but, before making any recommendation to the Board, it thought it advisable to ascertain whether such an arrangement would meet with the concurrence of the Committees who have charge of those schools, and be found practicable by the head masters. The Chairmen of Committees and the head masters of Christchurch East, Christchurch West, Sydenham, Richmond and St Albans were accordingly invited to a conference for the discussion of the subject. All attended, except the Chairman of Richmond Committee, who was unable to be present. Your Committee has the gratification of reporting that it was met by these gentlemen in the most friendly spirit, and they showed every desire to facilitate the proposed arrangement consistently with the interests of their own schools. Ultimately the general features of a scheme for the distribution of the students were agreed upon, the detailß of which will be fully worked out in the regulations of the Normal School. It may be mentioned, as one considerable advantage of the new scheme, that it will lead to a reduction of the number of pupil teachers employed in the largest Bchools; while the saving thuß effected will compensate for any increased expenditure required for the employment of additional assistants in the Normal School* E. Meredith, Chairman. The report was ordered to be printed and considered at the meeting of the Board on Wednesday next.