OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13889, 15 October 1918, Page 3

OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

(By F. A. d« la Mar«.)

THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

VI. "And we all praise famous men, Ancients of the college; For they taught us common sense, Tried to teach us common sense, Truth and God's own common sense, Which is more than knowledge.'' —Kipling. As we pass from the primary to the Secondary schools there are one or two reflections which must he made. I have conlined what has so far been said within certain limits. There are, I have attempted to show, very grave reforms urgently needed. The matters arc, in the main, common ground among oducationalists of every shade of thought, and it is only needed to rouse public opinion. The politicians are marking time; they a*vait the order "Forward!" There are, however, certain problems which are matters of controversy, and these I propose to mention at a later stage. They are problems which arise in connection with the whole system. The Bishop of Auckland has raised one of them ftid, if I am not mistaken, the moral of his reflections is religious instruction. The Bishop's attitude is not new; it is, in fact widespread. Even, perhaps especially, among the more irreligious of us there is a sneaking idea that the Bishop is right. If he cannot be faced in full view of all the facts, he cannot be faced at all. Again, the influence oT picture sho vs oil education presents a considerable ground for difference of opinion. We must try to discuss the facts and deal honestly with them. There are such questions as the advisability of "frje places" in secondary schools. Let us, however, have done first with the more immediate and uncontroversial needs of the system as it stands.

Now if we look at our secondary schools I think we shall find that they are historically descended from the English public schools. At the beginning they sought to impart the old classical education with its foundations in Latin and Greek. "The Humanities" were worshipped, the natural sciences were kept to the outer courts of the temple. They had another characteristic —they were exclusive. Of later years, a scientitlc education has taken its place beside the literary. Now, most secondary schools have compromised with the world, and more 6r less shamefacedly have introduced a "modern" side. In extreme Instances, driven on by Miai6ters of Education and Fate, they have compromised with the devil and become definitely vocational. In one respect the old classical schools gave us a generous heritage. Inseparable from them was the idea of solid buildings and broad playing fields. So it came that, however narrow the j ideas of the Boards of Governors, their ideas did rise above the barn which was very often considered good enough for the children of the primary school. I do not wish to go deeply into the' old classical controversy, but it is to be remembered that education throughout its course aims at develop-1 ing the mind and character and it, opening up the resources of art and literature. The acquisition of scientific knowledge beyond certain limits is greatly restricted without acquaintance with one or two languages other than one's own, and at least one . modern language ought to be part of • the equipment of every man of commerce. It must not be forgotten also: that Latin has a unique place in European literature on account of it* relation to the Romance" Languages. Tts Influence upon our own language and literature is so great that it may be said with truth that a knowledge of Latin is essential to a full appreciation of the spirit and genius of English. It gives the seeing eye a glimpse behind the scenes. In a similar way it is almost impossible to gain more than a superlicial intellectual conception of the romantic atmosphere into which Wordsworth and Coleridge led the world of English letters unless we pass through the close corridors of Racine and Corneille. We shall certainly not realise the genius of Shakespeare unless we know and appreciate the severe clasßicism which, by the law of its very being, regarded as a barbarian the greatest »oet and dramatist of all time. In the same way the language which gives access to that magnificent system of law on which the great European systems, including curiously the Scotch, are founded, is part of the equipment ..f one who would know the distinctive genius of English law. It is only by comparison of one system with another that jurisprudence finds the ground for its generalisations and English and Roman Law stand in greatest glory side by side. When we enter the poi-tals of life through the arches of Virgil and Cicero we see it in a new and different light, we find truth and beauty with just the transformation of two thoussand years. We see the ages drift past with their gain and their loss. Then we may perhaps win to the hilltops and find a broader basis of ethics, of politics, and of religion. If the Classics are not to be despised in education it does not follow that the natural sciences are to be neglected. An understanding of the natural objects we see about us is the urgent demand of every inquiring nynd »s well as a practical necessity of modern life. But the object of education ; s not the mere acquisition of knowledge, it is the inculcation of a method and the creation of a point of view. Observation comes first, accurate, unbiassed. From the facts observed come general laws which correlate and in their turn throw light upon the facts. Here education seeks the ends by hard logic and elimination of error. These methods will in turn be applied to every branch of life, to ethics, to politics and to religion. Now, what is the point of this long disquisition? It is this: When we come to the wider education of the secondary school it is not foolishness to teach a dead language or a live one, and it is for wisdom and understanding and not as preparation for some narrow sphere of work that natural science has its place. Is there, then, a justification for ;he vocational training and this so-called "modern side".' There is, at any rate, a threefold excuse. The first is tint half a loaf is better than no bread, and, if boys and girls can be brought in f o the broader atmosphere of a go el school, but by inclination or inability to carry through a full course they are condemned to share only in part, it is perhaps wise that thai pari should not be denied. The second excuse I would urge is also a real one. Parents have to he weaned to give their support to secondary work. Sometimes they worship false gods because they think those gods pay. So in an agricultural district the parent demands agriculture; in a pastoral district he is preoccupied with sheep and cattle; in a mining district he loves to think that his son is learning the lessons of the pit. II is natural that uc should value most the knowledge with which he is himself familiar. Thm he is misguided by peopleiwho should know belter, and even Ministers of

Education tell him he is right. What can one expect? The third excuse has some redeeming wisdom. In a few cases the vocational subject lends itself readily 10 genuine educational treatment and can be taught with a* broad scientific basis. The wise head master will, it seems to me, hold all vocational instruction in suspicion and help parents to see that the true gods are made to be worshipped* in spirit and in truth. I have not progressed as far as I had hoped in this article, but the space Is not wasted if the reader has caught a glimpse of what should be, in my opinion, the ideal of a secondary school. It will help him to understand the criticism I propose to make of our system as it is.