EDUCATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3571, 4 October 1916, Page 7

EDUCATION.

THE SCHOOL AND NATIONAL LIFE.

(Extract of Paper read by; Mr T. S. Foster, M.A., at Mid.-Canterbury Teachers' Institute on Saturday, September 30).

It is generally admitted that tho chief object of education should bo tho attainmont of civic and social efficiency. Thii involves tho making of good dii zent in tho highest cense of that term, and* that the aim of all good citizens should bo tho promotion of tho national welfare.

Our social problems aro spiritual and ethical, as well as economic. Education can assist in the attainment of both of/ those objects. ■ This is fortunately generally recognised' by teachers who roaliso that the child is tho very centre of tho social problem "

By tho extreme advocates of vocational training (in its narrow ' sense) tho educational aspects of tho work are to a largo extent overlooked. All education should be liberal, in tho sense of fitting the pupils to adapt themselves to the conditions of life in which they find thejnselvos. Specialisation is, of courso, necessary, but •it ought to bo placed on tho broadest possiblo ba.se. For tho development-of tho youth as werker, citizen, and man, tho following qualifications are vitally necessary: (a) Health and strength; (b) Practical skill and intelligence; (c) Manly and hardy character.

An outline was given of the Imperial .Labour law enactod in Germany in 1897, and of its operation*in the"-city of Munich. This law puts on the employer tho duty of providing that an apprentice shall learn his trade from him, but shall also regularly attend continuation classes as part of the day's work-in ordinary, working hours. But th«3e .classes are established; not morely to train' efficient wage earners, but there is the ideal aim that tho whole mass of the people should be raised to a better le^el.

'Pho importance of tho will in . the training of character was emphasised, also the' need for # tho development of a spirit of true patriotism and to instruction in the duties and rights of citizenship, since tho social conscience is not a congenital endowment. The pupils' games, and tho corporate life of the school were potent factors in the formation of character, and supplied a suitable field for co-operative effort. It is thon that a child learns by.-ex-perience, what it is to live in a world among his: equals, under a regulated sv«tom of laws and customs. . .

Tho lecturer gave an outline of a course of-'lectures delivered in the University of London by Baron' Kikuchi, formerly Minister -of Education , in Japan. These- lectures dealt with the influence of the Japanese elementary schools in •impressing on tlie pupils a standard, of moral conduct and of their duties as future citizens and patriots.

From a. national point- of view attention devoted to the aesthetic side of education was x good investment.—a fact highly ■appreciated by the ancient Greeks.' ; '*

I Tho British conception of discipline was oontmsted with tho Gorman. Tho mochanic.il obedienco of tlio. latter did not harmonise with the British conception of freedom and individuality. If it were cvor in doubt, the war has made tho truth evident that a notion possessed oi' knowledge and high devotion —though still in its political nonape—is the gravest danger to its noijilibours. Above -all, we should avoid, Hke tho plamie. any conception of educiition likely to pj'odxice the same mind in us as we now see in the .German Empire. , .

A good test of a man's education was the lvw^iner in which he ypent his leifiuro »lime. So vruiny peoolo. «!' .the present day 1 five no. internal rtisoni'ces which mal<i; them -'independent of external e.xf.iteineiit. Hence i:h<; import-niiL-f of e!i<.'Oiirac;infT trood reading, of developing i:aste« and e.Ticouraging lu>bbios. '* Sociaj lil'o ha« undergtme, :t.i)d is iindergoin.^;, a. thorouyli .and radical clkih^o. to wliich educiition lisis to bo :w Car a,-; possible adapted.

The locuurer briefly i-eviewcxl the hi«tory of eclue-ttion in. Canterbury, .showing how in the rast mx:es.s;iry changes in education had followed changes in the socia.l ■environment.: Sucli were not mere accidents—they were necessities of tho larger social evolution. *