MODERN EDUCATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19648, 6 September 1926, Page 11

MODERN EDUCATION

METHODS IN NEW ZEALAND 1 SOUND GROUND WORK NEEDED CULTIVATING PERSONALITY “New Zealand is spending annually a larue' sum on education/ ’ said Mr. J. W. Shaw, lecturer at the Auckland Training College, in a speech to the Karangahape lioad Business Promotion Society. “It is one of the largest calls on the revenue of the country, but its running is left chiefly to experts and the public does not take much interest in it.’’ Mr. Shaw pointed out the work the schools of New Zealand we're doing—work that assuredly commended itseif to the notice of parents. In New Zealand, he said, there was a very high ideal of education and a vary line type of teacher. The ideal or aim in education was one of paramount importance. It was very difficult to determine the aim of an education system. Ge'nnany wanted to turn out a certain type of patriot, a man who would believe his country eonld do no wrong. That type was developed through the schools, but the country built on that system went smashing to ruin during the years of the great war. Japan, waking up from the sleep of centuries, found herself far behind in the race of civilisation and immediately set out to develop a type of man that would pick up the leeway. In America the educational authorities were faced with the problem of moulding a people. The population came from all corners of the earth and an effort was being made to solidify it. Their history wns idealised; if was conveved to the children that America was the chosen nation of the earth, and an attempt was made to get them to think of themselves as Americans. All these were limited ideals, and as such were easy to accomplish. Children were plastic in mind and character, and if we set ourselve's out to accomplish a single end in education there is nothing that will stop us from doing it. “What. Do We Want of Our Chijdren?” In New Zealand the question was:

Who was going tO do the manual la-! bour if all were educated? This gave l rise to tho question: What did New’ Zealand want of its children? Au aim to be set must not be too narrow,; for when it was achieved the country' would be no better off. The more'. vague the aim, the more difficult it became and the finer type of citizen was! evolved. “The New Zealand type is becom-. ing pretty definite,’’ continued Mr. Shaw. “Our children speak the most : perfect English in the Empire. Nomatter what may be said on the contrary, we are the only British country without an accent. Physically, they; are a fine type, strong, sturdy and well-! set. This New Zealand type has not: been formed by any education system; and we should not try to develop it by; such. Our aim should be to fit a child' for his job on broad general principles. I We do not want to group them into; sections; specialisation kills any edu-: cation system. We want to give our! children a general groundwork for the; structure of their lives.’’ The higher the individual standard.' the higher the political life of the country became. If the standard of children was raised the whole nation benefitted. There should be' no vocational aim, but an effort to fit the child for every phase of its after life. A Broad-based Education At present the educational system of the Dominion was general and not spe'cial. The teachers were trying to give a broad-based education throughout the country and so bring about a high standard of intellectual and political life. Jingoism had to be avoided at all costs. Children should not be taught that England had never erred, had never made mistakes. They should be shown how the spirit of England had risen to the supreme heights of justice and liberty. They should be taught to be proud of their country and loyal to it without the country being over-exalted. “Then, if we can teach patriotism in our schools, we can teach the higher ideal of international amity,’’ con tinued the speaker. u We can show our children that the fault is not always on the other side. We can get the atmosphere that says war is foolish and peace and brotherhood the only worthy ideals. We know what war is—a good many of us are still suffering from its results—but children should not he taught that the only men worth remembering in history are those who won battles. By all means teach them the glories and failures of our own past, but teach them also that international peace is worth securing. This may be just an ideal, but it is a good one, and it seems to me perfcctlv feasible. “I say again that I do not stand for any narrow vocational system of education,” Mr. Shaw said. “The. economic basis is a bad one on which to work. * An education system is not to fit a man for his job, but to save him from it. It should open up to him a world of wider culture. Teaching is not merely a question of standing up in front of a blackboard; it is trying to ope'n up the doorway of the mimb

to take :he children as individuals in full confidence and sympathy and combat any evil influences of hereditarv

!or environment that may have been 1 inflicted upon them. Development of Chara-cter ■ “The teachers work with a kind of , missionary spirit. It must be recog- ; nised that ihe child’s first right is not , the country, but itself. He should have a kingdom in his own mind and j the teacher should open this for him, I saving him from the tyranny of ledger, i office and shop. “There is all the wonderful world i outside for him and the teachers are i trying to give him the key. He can | then open the door to the great world • of beauty in art and literature that : gives communion with all the great ' minds of the world. He must be given :an equipment for earning his living, ; but this is only a primary matter. By ; far the most important is the develop- ' ment of his character and personality. “The teachers are' doing a work that Jis supremely worth while. Theirs is a • noble and great ideal and they are cooperating with the home in making the ! child. Perhaps it is almost a good * thing that there are no ‘plums’ in the profession, and so it cannot be exploitcd for money-making. This keeps . it for those who enter into the spirit of the work and try to improve the ‘ children whom they teach. But it is certainly the duty of the parents to let the teachers know that they appreciate their work. It is an cncour- ’ agement to them in their work, which : is a greater one than many imagine.” i After the exhilaration of the dance, i - I [