EDUCATION: TRAINING OF TEACHERS. [In continuation of E.-1e., 1904.]

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1905 Session I, E-01c

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1905. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: TRAINING OF TEACHERS. [In continuation of E.-1e., 1904.]

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

No. 1. EXTRACT PROM THE TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION. The increased grants to training-colleges voted by Parliament last year have enabled the two existing institutions at Christchurch and Dunedin to reorganize their staffs and to bring their work more into accord with modern ideas. The number of students has also largely increased, the number attending during the present year (1905) being nine men and ninety-six women, a total of 105. The establishment of the two other colleges proposed in the report of the parliamentary Committee, at Auckland and Wellington respectively, has been authorised, so that at the beginning of next year there will be four such colleges—one in connection with each of the four university colleges. The demand for teachers 'n the colony s still so great that for some time to come probably many ex-pupil-teachers will accept appointments without going to the training-colleges at all. Nevertheless, it may be confidently stated that the advantages of a thorough training, such as cannot be obtained in the course of apprenticeship, are so obvious and the allowances and privileges to students so liberal that before long the four institutions will in all likelihood have their full complement of teachers in training. The regulations gazetted during the present year extend still further the grants and other benefits set forth in the circular of February, 1904. Provision is made in connection with each training-college for a normal or practising school, which is to include, besides 'the ordinary classes of a public elementary school, a model " country " school of forty children, and a secondary department; the former will enable teachers to be trained in what is one of the most difficult tasks a teacher has to undertake —the proper management, single-handed, of forty children of various ages from five to fifteen, at various stages of mental development. The secondary department will give an opportunity for training those who intend to take up secondary work either in the high schools or in the upper departments of district high schools. Students will take English and other non-special subjects at the university college, but they will attend lectures in the methods of teaching and in the history and principles of education at the training-college. Every one will be required to take up practical work in at least one branch of science, special attention being directed to nature-study and elementary agriculture. Handwork suitable for schools will also receive due attention ; and concurrently with all this there will be frequent teaching practice in the normal school.

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The salaries offered for the staff of the training-colleges are, it is hoped, high enough to attract persons of good standing and experience. A pupil-teacher in any education district who has satisfactorily completed his term of service may enter at the training-college most convenient for him, the course being two years ; he will receive, in addition to the amount of university-college fees, the sum of £30 a year if he lives at home, and £60 a year if he is compelled to live away from home in order to attend the college. Advantages not quite so great are also offered to other qualified candidates who have not been pupil-teachers. Others, again, may be admitted for shorter or longer periods, although they may have been for some time engaged in the practice of their profession. The total cost of the four colleges when all are full and in working-order will be rom £20,000 to £22,000 ; these figures, however, include the cost of teaching 1,600 to 1,800 children, whose instruction would otherwise have to be provided lor. The grants for the instruction of teachers in the subjects of handwork recognised in " school classes " under the manual and technical instruction regulations were renewed last year, and seem generally to have been wisely used by the Boards. It might, however, be seriously considered whether, now that so many of the teachers have been trained in woodwork and cookery, the time has not arrived for devoting the bulk of the grants to the encouragement of the teaching of elementary agriculture and of nature-study in its relation thereto. Such a step is needed both in the immediate interests of the children in the schools and as leading naturally to technical agricultural education after they have left the elementary schools to engage in farming pursuits. The amount provided during 1904 for the training of teachers was £12,966, made up as follows : Salaries of staffs of training-colleges (two), £3,509 ; allowances to students, £2,188; grants for special instruction in handwork, £1,853; grants for general purposes of training-colleges, £900 ; railway fares of teachers in training and instructors of training-classes established by Boards, £4,516.

No. 2. The Inspector-General of Schools to the Eight Hon. the Minister of Education. I am glad to be able to report that in the important matter of the training of teachers a considerable advance has been made during the past year, principally in the direction of the reorganization and consequent improvement of the two training colleges and normal schools already existing at Christchuich and Dunedin. But it is satisfactory to note that steps are being taken to establish similar institutions also in Auckland and Wellington, so that at the beginning of next year all the four training colleges recommended by the Education Committee of the House of ilepresentatives will be in operation. The buildings at Christchurch are quite sufficient for the purpose now that the number of children has been reduced to the limit recommended in the report of the parliamentary Committee ; suitable provision should, however, be made for the practical teaching of science by converting one or two of the rooms into laboratories. The buildings at Dunedin are altogether too small, and quite unsuitable for the work of a training college ; the principal and his staff are to be commended for their efforts to carry on good work in the cramped space in which they are confined, but it is quite hopeless to expect the best results until the conditions are altered. With some adjustment and small additions the Thorndon School will make a very good training college and normal school for Wellington. The Wellesley Street School is to be used temporarily for a similar purpose in Auckland; but new buildings suitable for the special use of a training college should be erected at no distant date. Elaborate buildings are not necessary; but it is important that the surroundings and appliances with which the students come into contact during the period of training should be in accordance with modern ideas of teaching, and should form models and supply ideals for the future work to be done by these students in the schools. The numbers of students in training, both in Dunedin and Christchurch, have greatly increased during the present year (1905), and there is little doubt that in a few years the full number for whom provision is being made (320) will be in attendance. Owing to the shortage of certificated teachers this result cannot be reached at once, as the Boards will for some time be unable to spare for two years' training those who have been pupil-teachers in their service, but will be obliged to appoint them at once to fill the vacancies that occur in the ordinary course. It is too early yet to judge of the work that is being done under the new conditions; but it may not be out of place to emphasize the need there is for the training of all students in at least one branch of science, which, of course, will be worthless unless it is practical (i.e., experimental and observational) in character. Especially should attention be paid those subjects that form a sound basis for nature-study and rural education generally in the schools; they should not be left

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to chance, but in every training college should be provided for according to a well-considered scheme. The total annual expenditure on the four training colleges, when all are in full operation, will be over £20,000 (this includes provision for the teaching of about 1,800 children). In order to obtain good value for this large sum, the staff and equipment of each college should be the best that can be procured. I feel sufficient confidence in the Education Boards controlling the colleges to say that I believe no consideration will be allowed to interfere with the accomplishment of these aims. As regards the training of teachers already in the schools, the provision for tiieir instruction in manual and technical subjects made in previous years has been continued during the past year, a vote of £1,875 for this purpose having been distributed to the various Boards of Education. If this vote be somewhat increased, as I have recommended, the Boards would be able to make very fair provision for the training of their teachers in rural subjects, a matter to which very rightly attention has recently been directed. Most of the grants have hitherto been used almost entirely for classes in woodwork and cookery, and in other subjects that may be broadly classed under the head of kindergarten handwork. These subjects may now in most districts be left to the support afforded by the capitation alone, the special grants would then be available for the training of country teachers in science. The amount provided for training colleges was divided between the colleges at Christchurch and Dunedin as follows : Salaries and house allowances of staffs—Christchurch £1,930, Dunedin £1,579; fees and allowances to students —Christchurch £1,488, Dunedin £700; for technical instruction—Christchurch £162 3s. 3d., Dunedin 234 3s. 6d. ; for general purposes, £450 each. G. HoGBEN.

No. 3. EEPOETS ON TEAINING COLLEGES IN OPERATION. NORTH CANTERBURY. Extract from Report op Education Board. The principal's report deals with some of the features of the work of the Normal School, to which 32 students (3 males and 29 females) were admitted during the year. Of these, 18 (3 males and 15 females) were of the first year, and 14 (all females) of the second year. As regards the Normal School and its several departments, the year has been productive of much doubt and uncertainty. Early in 1904, after carefully considering the representations made by the InspectorGeneral of Schools in regard to the proposed management and maintenance of training-colleges, the Board expressed the opinion that the Normal School should continue under its control. There were also matters of detail affecting the students to which, by resolution of the Board, the Minister's attention was drawn. In accordance with the recommendations of the parliamentary Committee, and acting on the representations made by the Department, a Committee of Advice was set up. At a special meeting of the Board the recommendations of the Committee of Advice in regard to the proposed reorganization of the Normal School were adopted. The scheme, which was submitted to the Department, aimed at providing accommodation for 800 of the pupils then in attendance, to be distributed among three separate departments (exclusive of provision for students) — viz., a model school, a practising or general training school, and a normal public school (auxiliary training school). In recommending this scheme the Board was to a great extent influenced by the fact that its adoption would provide for most of the pupils in attendance at the school, at the same time fully utilising the large Normal-School buildings. Towards the close of the year the Inspector-General, in conference with the Board's committee, pointed out that the accommodation was insufficient for the successful working of the scheme proposed, about double the space being required, also that the playground was suitable for two schools under practically separate control. The Board on further consideration of the matter, admitted the soundness of these objections and agreed to take steps to reduce the roll-number to 460, including forty secondary-school pupils and a model school of the same number, in accordance with the scheme recommended by the parliamentary Committee. As regards the staff, the Board felt it necessary, in the interests of the students, to propose that the director should have some tutorial assistance, a modification which the Department agreed to allow. At the date of this report, after a trial extending over some three months, the conclusion forced on the Board is that the staff is not numerically strong enough to cope with the ordinary work of the primary school plus the additional duties connected with the Training College. The Board has therefore proposed, as a temporary expedient (the permanent appointment of a third assistant master and an assistant mistress being regarded as really necessary), to appoint two additional assistant mistresses in lieu of a third assistant master, an arrangement which will provide a certificated teacher for each standard as well as the necessary assistance in the infants' department. Report of the Principal of the Training College (Mr. Edwin Watkins, 8.A.). We entered upon the year's work with seventeen new students, of whom three were males and fourteen females. Of these, eleven had passed the Matriculation Examination before entrance. Of the nine students of the previous year who had not been pupil-teachers eight continued in training ; the other withdrew to take up work in one of the Board's schools. Seven ex-pupil-teacher students were also retained for a second year.

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All students took some work at the University. Of those who had to sit for the D certificate or'some part of it, all but two took a course of lectures and practical work in physiology at Canterbury College. Several of those who were further advanced took such a course of lectures at Canterbury College as suited the line of work they were taking towards a degree, and by this ten kept terms at that institution. Nearly all the students also took an elementary course of psychology as bearing on education, and some of the matriculated students took a more extended course with a view to the C examination in that subject, and also attended the University lectures in psychology. Several of these also attended a course in English in the second term. Circumstances, however, militated against a satisfactory working out of the course I had looked forward to for these students. In consequence of the small number of students who wished to work for matriculation I thought it inadvisable to take up that work, and accordingly the matriculation class was dropped for this year. In the University examinations at the end of the year, one student passed the final section of 8.A., three passed the first section, two passed the Canterbury College third year, and three passed the first year. In the examinations for certificates, four passed the first section of the C certificate and one other obtained partial success for it, six obtained full D, eleven obtained partial D, one failed, two had to discontinue work through illness. This year the school was deprived of the valuable services of Mrs. Bullock, head mistress of the infants' department, owing to her illness and subsequent resignation. Miss Grand, first assistant in the infants' department, took the post of acting head mistress for the year, and discharged the duties most efficiently.

OTAGO. EXTEACT FEOM THE BbPOBT OF THE EDUCATION BOAED. During the year the Training College was reorganized in accordance with the Department's memorandum regarding training colleges, and with the recommendations of the parliamentary Education Committee. The Board, aided by a Committee of Advice, is to have the control and management of the Training College in its district. The Committee of Advice which has been appointed consists of Mr. Donald Borrie and Chief Inspector Goyen (representing the Otago Education Board), Mr. Thomas Mac Gibbon (representing the Southland Education Board), and Professor Gilray (representing the Professorial Board of the Otago University). Eegulations for the government of the college were drafted, and on the 24th October these were sent to the Department.* In its last report the Board described the present Normal-School building as unsuitable for the purposes of a training college, and expressed the hope that immediate provision might be made for the erection of a suitable building in Stuart Street. The appointments and equipment of a training college should in every respect be of the best; those of the Normal School are in many respects of the worst, and the building has ever been viewed as merely affording tentative provision for training purposes. The Board would again urge the necessity for providing an up-to-date building as soon as possible. Eepoet of the Pbincipal of the Training College (Me. D. R. White, M.A.) The attendance at the Training-College classes was as follows: Second-year s-tudents, 10 females; first-year students, 2 males, 35 females ; number left during the year, 4 females ; number in attendance at the close of the session, 2 males, 41 females ; total, 43. Thirty students, six second-year and twenty-four first-year students attended University classes. The others had not matriculated; and were therefore unable to take University classes. The following shows the number attending the various classes : Junior English, 14 ; Senior English, 8; Junior Latin, 5; Senior Latin, 1; Junior French, 1 ; Senior French, 2 ; Mental Science, 10 ; Principles and History of Education, 6 ; Physics, 1; Mechanics, 1; Chemistry, 1; Junior Mathematics, 4. The results of the term examinations were in most cases satisfactory. Forty-three students were presented at the Education Department's Examinations in January. The following is the list of passes and failures: —Passed for C certificate, 4; passed for D certificate, 10 ; passed for partial C, 2; passed for partial D, 20 ; failed, 7 ; total, 43. Owing to the fact that the Training College was worked under the old regulations for a few months, and under the new for the rest of the year, the practical course of lessons was not so complete as in former years; and this was most marked in the case of those students who on entering the Training College had not passed the Matriculation Examination. With three divisions or classes of students, each at different stages in the course of their training, it was quite impossible to give Group 111. anything like a satisfactory series of practical lessons in class-management. Under the new scheme of organization, and with a full staff of teachers, I am looking forward to a course of training for the students which, I believe, will prove more efficient than anything we have had in the past.

* A conference was subsequently held between the Board and the Inspector-General of Schools in regard to the proposed regulations, which with slight alterations then agreed to have since been approved by the Minister.

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No. 4. APPENDIX. REGULATIONS RESPECTING TRAINING COLLEGES. 15th Maech and 14th September, 1905. Control and Organization. 1. The Education Board of any district in which any training college is situated, hereinafter called " The Board," shall have the entire control and management of such college, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained. The " university district " shall mean the university district in which the training college is situated, and the " university college " shall mean the university college in such university district. 2. For every training college there shall be a Committee of Advice, consisting of the Chairman or other member of the Board, an Inspector of the Board, a representative of the Professorial Board of the university college, and a representative of the other Education Boards (if any) in the university district, to be chosen, if there be more than one other Board, in such manner as the Minister of Education shall determine. The Board shall, as soon as possible, consider and give due weight to such representations and recommendations as the Committee of Advice may from time to time lay before it. A record shall be kept by the Secretary of the Board of such representations and recommendations, and of the action taken by the Board thereon. 3. Every training college shall have a normal or practising school connected with it. The normal school shall in general consist of three parts, — (a.) A " main school," organized as an ordinary public school with 300 children, more or less, in average attendance ; provided that no pupil-teachers shall be employed on the staff: (b.) A " model school," organized as an ordinary public school under one sole teacher, or as a side school with 35 to 40 children in average attendance: (c.) Secondary classes, worked under the same conditions as to admission and programme of work as the secondary classes of a district high school, but with an average attendance not in general exceeding 40. These classes shall be considered to be pare of the main school referred to in subclause (a) hereof. 4. The organization of the normal school and the salaries of the staff shall he approved by the Minister of Education ; but in no case shall the salaries be less than those payable under " The Education Act Amendment Act, 1904," and regulations thereunder. 5. In addition to the staff of the normal school there shall be a principal of the training college, and such other lecturers or instructors as the Minister may from time to time approve. The principal shall be appointed by the Board, subject to the approval of the Minister. 6. Every training college shall be open at all times to — (1.) Any member of the Board or of the Committee of Advice; (2.) Any Inspector of Schools employed by an Education Board in the university district. (3.) The Inspector-General of Schools or any other Inspector of the Education Department. Entrances to Training Colleges and Allowances to Students. 7. In regard to admission to any training college, no distinction shall be made between applicants residing within the education district in which such training college is situated and applicants residing outside such district. 8. Students may be admitted under Division A or under Division B. Division A (ex-Pupil-teachers). To be admitted under Division A a student must satisfy all of the following conditions, viz.: he must — (a.) Have completed the pupil-teacher course in some education district of the colony to the satisfaction of the Education Board of that district; (b.) Have passed the Matriculation Examination of the University of New Zealand; (c.) Give satisfactory evidence of his ability to teach, as by a certificate to that effect signed by an Inspector of Schools ; (d.) Give satisfactory evidence as to health and character ; (c.) Make a declaration of his intention to become a teacher in a public or a secondary school in the colony, and, if so required, enter by his parent or guardian into a bond to return the amount paid in allowances in case he should fail to complete two years of such teaching. Subclause (b) hereof may, until the 31st December, 1906, be modified, with the approval previously obtained of the Minister of Education. The allowances payable to a student under Division A shall be thirty pounds a year, together with the fees of the university college classes attended by the student with the approval of the principal, with the further addition of thirty pounds a year in the case of any student who is obliged to live away from home to attend a training college.

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Division B. To be admitted under Division B a student must satisfy all of the following conditions, (a), (b), (c), viz.: he must— (a.) (i.) Have passed the first section of his B.A. or B.Sc. degree ; or (ii.) Have gained credit at the University Junior Scholarship Examination; or (iii.) Have kept terms for at least one year at a university college; or (iv.) Have passed the Matriculation Examination of the University of New Zealand : (b.) Comply with such conditions as to probation in teaching as the principal of the training college with the approval of the Board may require : (c.) Satisfy conditions (d) and (c) as for students under Division A. The allowances payable to a student under Division B shall be £10 a year, together with the fees of the university college classes attended by the student with the approval of the principal. Further, in each training college there may be allotted in each year not more than four board-ing-scholarships to students under Division B who are obliged to live away from home to attend a training college. These shall be allotted in order—first, to those qualified under subelause (a) (i.) hereof; secondly, to those qualified under subelause (a) (ii.) hereof; thirdly, to those qualified under subelause (a) (iii.) hereof; and, fourthly, to those qualified under subelause (a) (iv.) hereof; and, if necessary, an examination may be held to determine to which candidates scholarships shall be allotted. Each of these scholarships shall be of the annual value of £30 a year, in addition to the allowances named above. The scholarships shall not be tenable with any other scholarships. 9. None of the allowances or scholarships named in clause 8 hereof shall be payable in the case of any student for a greater period than two years. 10. University college fees will not be paid in respect of any classes at which the student's attendance and progress have not been satisfactory, or if such fees have been paid the amount may be deducted from any allowances due to him. 11. Notwithstanding anything in the above provisions, the Board may admit to the training college, for such period (not exceeding two years) as it may determine, any teacher of a public school or of a secondary school who, on the certificate of an Inspector of Schools or the recommendation of the Board of Governors of such secondary school respectively, may be deemed worthy of further training in professional work. No allowances shall be payable in such cases. 12. In no case shall the number of students admitted in any year under Division B or under clause 11 hereof be so great as thereby to make the total number of all students in attendance at the training college more than eighty. 13. All allowances to students shall, subject to the restrictions named in these regulations, be paid at the end of each quarter. Curriculum. 14. The curriculum of each training college shall provide for a two-years' course of training for each student, and shall be subject to the approval or the Minister of Education. 15. In the arrangement of the curriculum regard shall be had to the opportunities of instruction offered by means of lectures at the university college ; and, while it shall be borne in mind that the chief aim of the course to be taken up by any student is to develop the powers and character that mark a good teacher, the requirements of the Teachers' Certificate Examination, and, if possible, of a university degree, shall, as far as they contribute to this end, receive due weight. 16. The curriculum shall include— (i.) Attendance at the university college at such courses of lectures in English and in such other subject or subjects as the principal shall approve for each student. (ii.) The principles and history of education; methods of teaching. (iii.) Special courses in elementary handwork and in science for public schools (including nature study and elementary agriculture.) (iv.) Courses in physical drill and singing, and in needlework, drawing, and other subjects of manual instruction. (v.) Sufficient and regular practice in teaching at the normal school. 17. Subject to the general control and management of the Board, the principal shall have full control of the staff of the normal school and training college and of the students; he shall also have power to arrange for the several courses of instruction in accordance with the requirements named above, to allot to himself and the other members of the staff such subjects of instruction as he may find convenient ami the Board may approve, to choose text books, and to determine the course of study and training of each student. 18. The Board may at any time, on the receipt of a report from the principal, dismiss a student or direct him to cease attendance at the training college on the ground of incompetency, repeated neglect of duty, or gross misbehavior, and all allowances to such student shall thereupon cease. 19. The principal shall make an annual report to the Board of the work of the training college, and the Board shall forward that report, with such other report as it may desire to make, to the Minister of Education before the 31st January in each year. 20. The Inspector-General of Schools shall inspect each training college from time to time, and shall report annually to the Minister. Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given ; printing (2,200 copies), £1 Bs. 6d.

Authority: John Mackay. Government Printer. Wellington.—l9os.

Price 6d,]