DRAWING SYLLIBUS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11879, 10 November 1893, Page 3

DRAWING SYLLIBUS.

Report of Committee of Educational Institute. The following ia the report of the Committee of the Educational Institute, on the drawing syllabus, as drawn up and presented by them ia October 1892. We publish it at the request of Mr Jas. Aitken : — 1. That the introduction of geometrical terms and defhitions such as " Igosceles," " Equilateral," '■ njagoDnl," " Apex," "Altitude," into the school course of children of the average ago of eight years, serves no useful purpose, but rather tiads to a system of loading the memory with matters but imperfectly understood; and the simplest freehand drawing and exercises of the most elemontary character with the rulor are all that can rcasomibly be expected from childion of such tander years. 2. That children preparing for btandard 11., of the average age of nine years, are still lx> young properly to assimilate such torms in those already mentioned, or "Chord," Segment," "Quadrant," "Ehnnlus," "Rhomboid," even if any good purpose wore to be served by such information, which has not been shown j aid thtt freehand drawidg of a ralher more advauced chara'tar than (bat of Stanc'a r d I. is btill all that, can be expected of such children. 3. That to Standard 111. the simp'eit geometrical definitions may properly be introduced such as " Straight Line," " Circle," " Diameter," " Badius," " Eight Angle," " Fquilateral Triangle, " "Square," "Rhombus," "Rectangle," "Hhomboid," with constructions of the samp (except 8 and 10) so as to fainiliaiise pupils with the use of instmmenU. But that, eve J lit this stage, freetand drawing ought to occupy by far the most prominent place, bcth because it is loss technical in its character, and because in the verj great majority of ca?es, freehand will be the form of drawing practised in after life. For one Ibat will in manhood or womanhood derive pleasure or profit from ability to draw with instruments, twenty will derive such profit or pleasure from ability to transfer the hnrran form or the forms of buildings and landscapes to paper without instruments. 4. That when a pupil hsn reached the Etage of preparation for Standard IV., it is fair to expect that increasing intelligence will enable him to grapple more successfully with geometrical terms and definitions. But this is one thing, and the formidable an ay of "problems,* of practical construction," required from Standard IV., together w)th definitions, scale drawing, and freehand diawing, over and above the requirements of the syllabus, ia quite another. [* Note : Nomioally there are 30 problems for Slandard IV., but No. 10 contains no ' fewer than five ; while No. 25— to con- \ struct any regplar polygon on a given line —obviously includes an indefinite number.] 5. Thnl the drawing for the Standirds as laid down in regulation 20, and exemplified in the seveial part 3of Blair's Colonial Drawing Book, is out of all proportion la the other requirements of the syl'abus; and that bears no I evidence that the ttatement of the design and aims of the syllabus doscribed in regulation 16 (fee footnote) ha3been kept in view in siting forth the requirements in drawing. 6. That no good reason ba3 been shown why diawing should be a '•pass" subject any more than many others ®f n technical character which may be expected to bo of interest or use to our future men and women ; e.g. bookkeeping and mechanics for boyß, snd domestic economy and cooking for girls. 7. That in no ether colony nor in the mother country, is drawing n " pass " subject, and that its inclusion as a "piss" subject gives it an impoi lance not warranted by its educational value either now or in afterlife. 8. Tbut, seeing many children ace born without any natural aptitude for drawing, therefore freehand ought not to be a "piss" subject. 9, That, seeing mathematical diawinjj is, strictly speakj ing, a branch of technical educatron.it nlso ought to he excluded from the list of " pass " subjects. 10. That the proper place for drawing is among the "class" suljoets, and that, (as in the cases of geography, history, and elementary science) t3achers ought to be allowed to make a suitable selection depending on their own (a;te and training, as well as upon the requirements of particular districts aud particvlar pupils. Footkote:— (Extract from Regulation 16) ■' It [the syllabus] is designed to regulate the instruction and examination of children in primary schools, most of whom are children, and the eldest of them in the stage of early youth. When terms aie also used in defining parts of an examination for teachers, it is hot expected tbat the children will be able to attain such a mastary of these subject as it is necesfary for their teachers to have. The profitable instruotion of children and youths is naturally limited by their intelligence— childish intelligence or youthful intelligence, as the case may bo— and any taachingthat does net keep within the limits thus prescribed by nature is wotse than useless, and any examination that 4oes net respect these limil3 is unreasonable." The Syllabus.