17

E.—2.

alarmed to find that the annual grading of teachers occupies, all districts taken together, not less than 158 days, irrespective of the time spent on interim gradings. In my opinion this expendidure of time is quite unnecessary, and demands either the simplification of the grading system or the substitution of a biennial or even a triennial grading for the present annual grading. I spent some five or six weeks in assisting in reorganizing the European schools in Fiji and Samoa. These are manned by New Zealand teachers, and I am pleased to be able to report that the best traditions of the New Zealand service are being worthily maintained. It is very gratifying to know that the work our teachers are doing in Fiji is earning the highest encomiums from both the administrative authorities and the people of Fiji. While in the islands I was privileged to go outside the recognized scope of my duties and to see something of the education of the Natives. This has been for many years in the hands of various missionary societies, and the work has been carried on with unflagging energy. It was soon clear to me, however, that much of the effort was misguided as far as education was concerned, and that the services of a skilled and trained educationist were urgently needed. This is a work that New Zealand could well undertake in co-operation with the various Administrations and missionary societies. During the latter part of the year it wa& my duty, in company with the Assistant Director, to inspect the four training colleges. I was much impressed by the zeal of the staff and the earnestness of the students. All the colleges were overcrowded, and the classes were in most cases too large to enable the lecturers to come closely enough into touch with individual students. An examination of the records indicates that the training-college course involves a greater amount of physical and mental strain than some of the students are fit for. PoSsibly some enter much too vigorously into the social life of the place and unfit themselves for study. At the same time there appeared clearly to me a tendency for the colleges to endeavour to cover too much ground, and that at too high a level. What should be the proper functions of a training college may readily be debated, but the essential function is surely to see that the students have a good knowledge of the primary subjects of instruction and of the principles of teaching those subjects. lam quite convinced that the colleges do provide an invaluable inspiration to their students, but I would suggest that much good would result if more attention were given to the actual problems the students will have to face in the positions they afterwards occupy. In some instances there appeared to me too great a similarity between the lectures delivered in the training college and those that might be given in a University college. Overlapping of this kind would not appear to be the proper function of a teachers' training college. The annual reports of the Inspectors will well repay careful study. The reports reveal not only an intimate knowledge of the actual work of the schools, but ability to grapple with the difficulties of teaching and to supply constructive criticism. lam glad to note that the higher functions of the Inspector are receiving wider recognition, though, judged by their reports, some of the staff are still inclined to follow the well-trodden paths. Education is not mainly the acquisition of information about the "rule of three " or the Elburz Mountains, or even the manufacture of superphosphates ; it is a process by which the capacities of a child are fully developed so that he will be able to play his part in this world's affairs to the extent of his natural gifts. It is a process that should aim to develop the child physically and spiritually as well as mentally. In the past the Inspector concerned himself with little more than the amount of information the pupil was able to reproduce ; to-day it is the Inspector's function to ascertain whether the pupil's knowledge is usable, whether in acquiring it the pupil has unconsciously developed in character. Has the teacher succeeded in touching the real life of the child, in broadening and deepening his interests 1 Is the child the more refined, and has he a deeper spirituality as the result of his contact with the teacher ? If not, the teacher has failed, even though he may have numberless scholarship-winners to his credit. Nor does this doctrine imply contempt for scholarship. On the other hand, the teacher who reaches the inner life of the child will be implanting an imperishable love for study and a desire to emulate the achievements of thinkers of the past. It is only educational veneer that merits contempt, and there is still too much of this in the world's schools. Along what lines, then, could our schools improve ? Undoubtedly, along those lines that lead to the development of character. Systems of partial self-government which provide that all pupils in turn shall have some responsibility in the life of the school; the study of literature that touches the heart of the child and reveals beauties and delights satisfying to the soul; music and pictures that awaken the purest emotions ; sport that stimulates pride of achievement, gives physical exhilaration, and draws the imagination away from the cesspits of life ; handwork that will revive the almost-lost pride in craftsmanship ; methods of teaching that will encourage self-achievement and so selfrealization —by these and such paths may the teacher lead the child to realize what he is and what he is capable of. To my way of thinking it is the function of the Inspector to point the way and to inspire the teacher, so that the schools may become what they undoubtedly should be—the trainingground for citizens of the highest type. We are still far from realizing the ideal faintly shadowed above, for in our schools the study of English literature is hampered by a slavish adherence to the technicalities of grammar, our arithmetic is in too many cases divorced from the practical and the actual affairs of life, our cultural subjects are treated by some as " frills," and our handwork is often devoid of aim. What are the remedies ? The most important appears to me to be the bringing of Inspectors and teachers together in consultation. To this end I continue to recommend the inspectorial staff to organize reading and discussion circles with the teachers, so that the seed of the " new education " ma v* lie sown and its growth fostered. Dr. Adams, who visited New Zealand during the year, commented on our He was right. Our schools are undoubtedly efficient in the narrower and more mechanical sense, but they need more of the new spirit, more of real life. It is significant that, with the exception of the method described in Lord and McClune's book, " Democracy in the Schoolroom," New Zealand has

B—E. 2.