103

H.—2

of cases it was done with an amount of readiness and intelligence that was quite gratifying. The pupils were generally self-reliant and earnest, and showed considerable improvement in the stylo of their written papers. Instead of referring more particularly to the various subjects taught in the schools, I shall now make some remarks regarding their general management. I have to state that good order and discipline prevail in most of the schools I have visited. This is satisfactory, as effective teaching without them would be an impossibility. The introduction of drill and proper class-movements has had a beneficial effect on the demeanour and ready attention of the pupils, and has rendered good government a matter of less difficulty. I saw in one school the plan adopted of making the dux of each class responsible for its good order and proper movements. It seemed to work admirably. It gave the pupils themselves an interest iv preserving good order, and afforded a certain amount of relief to the master, and economized time as well. I would recommend its adoption in schools where the teacher has charge of several classes. It is to be regretted that there should exist one exception to the usual orderliness that prevails in the schools. Pupils who are badly governed suffer incalculable loss. In some instances the furniture is so arranged, the appliances so few, and the accommodation so limited, that good order is not easily secured; but in a school where little was wanting in these respects I have seen much confusion allowed to prevail—for some time after the pupils entered the school, especially. The simultaneous talk of about a hundred children, the stamping of feet, and the rattling of slates, were almost unbearable. Suffice it to state that in tbis school it was impossible to prevent copying, and the results were poor indeed. Classification, with very few exceptions, has been made with increased judgment and discrimination, and to this fact is due, in a great measure, improvement in the results. A few instances were found in which there was a tendency to advance the pupils too rapidly, and some in which the classes were kept too long at the same work. The results, of course, were much more favourable in the latter than in the former, though not fairly merited. Considerable difficulty seems to be experienced by some teachers in keeping all their classes busily aud usefully employed, aud employed at the right thing at the right time. There does not seem to be a suitable connection between the different parts of the work. A class should be prepared with a transcription, dictation, or some other exercise which could be conveniently examined w rhen the class appears for direct instruction; and a class, having received instruction on some subject, should, by means of written exercises, be required to put in practice the knowledge received. In some such way as this, every class could be fully and profitably occupied during school hours, the tendency to idleness and wrong-doing would be checked, a suitable connection between the different parts of school work secured, and a considerable saying of time effected. I have noticed, too, during surprise visits, that a teacher failed to manage effectively even one class numbering from fifteen to twenty pupils. Instead of taking up such a position in relation to it as would enable him to command with his eye and insure the attention of all his pupils, he so stationed himself that he could see only a few of them at a time, and was not aware that the others were gazing about quite heedless of his instructions. In questioning the class, too, he was satisfied to receive answers from two or three pupils only, while the others remained disregarded aud unconcerned. Such a profitless way of managing a class, whether the result of ignorance or indifference, shows the teacher to be ill-suited to the important position he holds. Every individual pupil should be made to do his full share of the work, and induced to take an interest in all that is being done, and the dullest and most inattentively disposed should be called upon most frequently. I have, in several instances, experieuced great difficulty iv obtaining from pupils answers to the simplest questions. I could only account for this by inferring that the instruction they had been in the practice of receiving had been defective in amount or method, or both. Pupils are not likely to answer readily on examination days who are not trained to do so on ordinary occasions, and whose intelligence has not been carefully educated by judicious questioning on the various subjects which they study. Timidity in pupils is often assigned as a reason for their backwardness ; but, if they are so timid that they cannot be induced to speak, I am pretty sure that it is the result of a defect in the teacher's manner of dealing with them. A frigid look, a sarcastic remark, a harsh tone, are quite sufficient to seal the mouths of most children and prevent them from expressing themselves. The teacher who can enter into sympathy with his scholars, who can come down to their level, who is ready to make the most of the answers given him, and who has patience and skill if the answers are not exactly what he would like to educate to the right ones, will inspire such confidence in, and will induce such co-operation on the part of, his pupils that they will have little hesitation in readily responding to the calls he may make on their intelligence. In conclusion, it is satisfactory to be able to express the convictiou that considerable improvement has been made in the general tone and work of the schools visited by me during the past year. Almost all the teachers have anxiously endeavoured to bring their schools into a state of efficiency, and to satisfy the requirement of the Board's regulations. With the exception of a few schools, in which the management and methods of teaching were defective, their efforts have been rewarded with success. I have, &c, William Taylor, The Secretary, Otago Education Board. Inspector of Schools.

SOUTHLAND. Sib, — Invercargill, 19th February, 1879. I have the honor to forward my general report for the year ending 31st December, 1878. I was appointed to my position in the end of July, but did not begin my duties till the 2nd of September. The year being then far advanced, instead of beginning at once to examine the schools, I determined to