BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Tuesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1947 MODERN EDUCATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 8, 19 December 1947, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Tuesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1947 MODERN EDUCATION

Under the heading . “Play Way”, a correspondent takes a tilt at modern education in N.Z. There seems to be something in what he says, at any rate from the point of view of the employer and the University, for there is ample evidence in statements made recently by responsible and qualified critics that the finished product of the modern system has not the same ability to take a place in the outside world as was the case even a few years back. It would be unfair to say all the fault lay with the schools. In the first place, teachers have not the authority they used to have. The unrestrained use of corporal punishment- /would probably land a present day master in Court. And rightly so, up to a point. Some of the old-tim-ers had rather too much faith in Sergeant-Major tactics. Squeers was only the exaggeration of a type that did actually exist. However, our correspondent points with some justice to a tendency to relax discipline both in the schools and the homes. In fairness to teachers in general it might be said that a child that is not properly disciplined at home is practically impossible to handle at school. Moreover, no teacher should be expected to do a parent’s job. There is a belief amongst those closely associated with education and its problems that the pre-sent-day parent has not the enthusiasm about education that marked the home of, say, 25 years ago. Home study is not encouraged. The children themselves have been bitten with the 40-hour week bug and feel they should not be called upon for unpaid overtime. Moreover, it is pointed out that school is only one of a modern child’s interests. In this town alone there are something like 26 youth movements, and it is not illogical to suppose that so much diversion may prove confusing to the developing mind.

Modern education in N.Z. would appear to be based on the Hadow Report, brought down in 1931 following a conference of English, Scottish and Irish educationists, ranging from University Professors down to kindergarten mistresses. That conference had examined education in its widest sense with a view to volving a system that would bring about a generally higher world culture. There is no doubt that the people who took part in it were qualified to hold opinions upon the subjects discussed. Pre-/ sent-day systems here, in Britain, and largely in America, are based on their recommendations.

Nowadays, primary school children progress through their classes in age groups, the aim being that, by the time they reach age 15, they should have had at least two years in a secondary school'' They are encouraged to stay a year longer. The weakness in that system is the wide disparity of intellectual endowment amongst children. Around the ten years mark there may be as much as five years’ difference in mental development. The best ten year olds may be equal to the average at age thirteen, and the worst no better than the average at age seven. Which is a recognised fact amongst those who have much to do with the handling of young children, and a definite weakness in the age-group system of classroom promotion. Most frequent complaints come from employers. The modern junior, we are frequently told, is often not up to the mark. The educationist’s answer to that one is that the object of education is not solely to train youngsters for jobs but to give them a greater capacity for living a full life. The soundness of that pointof view is debatable at the point where it could be contended that being fitted for useful work is probably a prime factor in the' living of a full life. Our correspondent mentions a University Professor’s complaint that youths entering colleges are not equipped to tackle degree courses. It would- seem that, since the University sets the entrance ,iit... ha§ £ the. remedy in its own hands.

However/ the discussion, and the variety, of people who: have taken part in it, does seem to suggest an awakening of general interest.