GENERAL SUPPORT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20452, 2 November 1934, Page 7

GENERAL SUPPORT.

Changes in Education System Urged. MR SEAMAN’S PROPOSALS. General support for the principles enunciated yesterday by the president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, Mr A. M. Seaman, in urging drastic changes in the education sys-. tern was accorded to-day by professional and business men in Christchurch. The cessation of free education at the primary school stage was one of Mr Seaman’s contentions, and he criticised the New Zealand system of teaching. “ There is something to be said for Mr Seaman s contentions,” stated Professor J. Macmillan Brown, formerly of Canterbury College. “ In competitive examinations talent is brought out, and it is difficult to avoid competition in finding the pupils who are worth advancing. I have always believed in ■ the scholarship system, and I am the only living member of the University Commission of 1879-80, and I remember quite well we were very strong on having scholarships from stage to stage in education. Training to Curriculum. “ Of course there is an objection in that the schools set themselves to train boys and girls for the curriculum that will fit the scholarship, whereas in the free place system the teachers and inspectors can see personally who are the best pupils to send forward.” There had always been, said the Professor. a tendency to attack examinations, and he did not see how they could be done without, even competitive scholarships. Since he came to New Zealand the criticism of examinations had been reappearing, but they were to an extent necessary. It was the law of life generally that animals competed against survival, and the same was true of men. He could not see how that competition could be done away with without seriously affecting the evolution of human beings. “ The main objection to examinations,” said the Professor, '* is the frequent inefficiency of the examiners. Again and again I have found examiners tending to ask definite facts, and that will never bring out the talents of the competitors. You must give them scope for their talents in order to find a comparison.” Encouraged Originality. In his own classes at Canterbury College he had competitions practically every hour of the da)-, either oral or written, but he toook care that the subjects set and the methods of examination encouraged originality. The result was that his classes were extraordinarily effective, not only on the teachers of Canterbury, but all over New Zealand. He allowed a number of graduates to sell copies of the notes on his lectures and on his methods of examining, and he remembered Mr Alpers and his partner telling him that they made £6OO by it. The notes were used by teachers in almost every town in New Zealand. “ In using competition in lectures and examinations I took care,” he stated, “ that the names of those committing blunders should not appear, and whenever I read out a passage of originality and ability I named the author. I used encouragement instead of discouragement in every way. “ I am therefore by no means opposed to such a proposition as deciding the place of scholars by competitive examinations, whether it is from primary school to secondary school or from secondary school to university. What I would chiefly look after is the type of examiner, the one who would not conduct his tests by setting mere appeals to the memory, instead of to the imagination and finer faculties of the scholar.” barrister’s View. “ I belong to the generation of which Mr Seaman speaks the dav« when one got his primary education free and there were pretty liberal scholarships,” said a well-known barrister and solicitor. “That was the system that has produced men of considerable intellectual worth in New Zealand. “ Looking round it does not seem to me that the system of giving free secondary education to everybody has improved the intellect of the people. On the other hand, I think with Mr Seaman that a great many young people get a smattering of secondary education which does not lead them anywhere, and makes them discontented with any jobs, except * white collar jobs.’ There also seems to be a lack of thoroughness in the work of young people, speaking in broad terms. That is the general tendency of the day, and it applies to people of all ages, but the present education system does not seem to be doing much to combat that state of affairs. “ More Serious Preparation Needed.” “ If this country is going to hold its own in the world, there must be much more serious preparation for the work of life, and much more thoroughness in work. This country is still largely a pioneering country, and people should be encouraged to attain real skill in farming and pastoral work and generally those occupations that are more or less of a pioneering nature, and still lie before the country, and will do so for 100 years to come. “ One result of the present education system seems to be not to encourage the formation of pioneers, but to make almost everybody aim at work in the professions or in the offices, and many of those who are entering upon such occupations simply lower the standard generally and attain no satisfaction to themselves. I think that in each section of the educational world, before ; anyone is allowed to advance, he should show capacity. That would apply to rich and poor alike. “ I believe it is to the advantage of the country to assist boys and girls of , outstanding abilitv to attain the highest education which they can absorb, providing they show promise and ability in certain directions. Written examinations are not an adequate test of ability for particular positions. There are plenty of people who pass written examinations—which are largely a matter of cramming —and through lack of personality or some other reason are failures in the jobs they enter upon.” Thinking Up To Capacity. The manager of a city concern, who controls a large body of employees of varying types, said he thought Mr Seaman was quite right in his ” diagnosis ” of the education system as it operated to-day. The remedy, however, was very difficult to determine. One of the reasons why the present system miscarried was that the aim appeared to be to equip all and sundry with a given amount of knowledge, rather than to

teach them to think up to their respective capacities. There were doubtless many who went right through the education process as a sort of passive product, while others became mentally conscious at a comparatively early stage. The former remained a passibe product, and the latter became a mental explorer. This fact suggested that it was the teaching personnel as much as the system that was at fault. The man trained to detect mental awareness would probably find it and be able to impart learning in spite of the hampering of a defective system. The teacher who was unable to do this would not become a true educationist, even though the system, as a system, were perfect. The whole thing, he added, was that the aim of the education system should be to develop wisdom, and wisdom was only the right use of knowledge. Therefore the mere possession of knowledge, without the ability to use it rightly, was not education. And yet the educational system as it was devised. and it was true, also, very largely of the staff, was capable of and aimed only at imparting knowledge. (Mr Seaman’s statement is outlined on Page 14.)