HAND AND HEAD.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20104, 6 December 1930, Page 8

HAND AND HEAD.

TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOLS. | RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. i i | ASPECTS OF AN INTERESTING PROBLEM. (SI'F.CJAM.Y WRITTEN TOR THE riIKSS.) [My T>n. 1). ]£. Hanskx, M.A., 2SI.Sc., Director Clirisl church Technical College. 1 The sccon(lsiry schools of \ew Zealand were originally modelled on those of.' Kngland so far as curricula were concerned, and (heir development was probably more conservative than that lof their type in the Old Land. The result was that, when frco secondary education was provided early in this century, the existing secondary schools were incapable of providing education suitable /or all those who sought it. Very few of (he schools liad workshop courses for practical work, drawing and art work were regarded as of minor importance, and even the sciences received Jess al tent inn llian wc now regard as their due. .Mathematics and languages, especial! v foreign, were treated as tin: subjects of greatest educational value. In view of the fact that boys intending to be tradesmen, farmers, and dorks, and girls keen on oflice work and domestic arts enrolled at onco for free secondary education, the establishment of new types of schools or the remodelling of the courses oi' the existing schools became an immediate necessity. The former alternative was the one generally adopted to cope with the situation, partly because the authorities controlling the secondary schools refused to admit that -there was any measure of cultural and educational value in handwork, drawing and applied sciences. Pre-vocational Courses. The new type of school, u definitely pre-vocational type, the Technical High School, was immediately popular, and last year 27 pur cent,, of the secondary school pupils of New Zealand were being educated in them. A change has also come over many of the secondary and most, of them are now providing at least one pre-vocational course. It is now widely accepted that a secondary course without handwork in some form is educationally incomplete, and that there is educational value in sciences and in mathematics as applied to trades and industries as well as in the so-called pure sciences and pure mathematics. The Technical High School, on (he other hand, recognises that the study of languages and literature, especially our own, is tho most important that boys and girls of secondary school ago can engage in, but in general links closely with this work the study of elementary art, preferably in design and colour as applied to every day practical work in (he home. A Broad Toiuidation. It is not always easy to keep before parents, and more particularly before pupils, the fact that they are at the stage where their education must bo on a broad basis. Some pupils when enrolling have in rnind only one subject, and that usually a practical one, out, of the eight or nine subjects of which each course is composed. This attitude of mind is reflected in their studies, even though that subject may occupy no more than one-sixth or oneeighth of the week's class activities. However, boys in a trades' course soon recognise the value of mathematics, drawing am] science in preparation for their chosen career. At tho same time, some of the best English scholars in our local school have been found in the trades' classes. Girls are taught the minimum of mat hematics, as this subject has a limited appeal to them, and any girl who has passed Standard 6 has a sufficient knowledge of the arithmetical

problems that are likely to bo met with by any housewife or business woman. Jt is a.n interesting fart that the application of! arithmetic, as in bookkeeping, makes the subject more intelligible to both boys and girls than are the ordinary examples as taken out of ail arithmetic text book. Ono is sometimes tempted to wonder whether some parents (not a. lar-'e proportion), for lack of a position for their children, enrol them for the time being in a post-primary school, with the una vowed object of taking them away as soon as an opening is secured for them in employment of a suitable nature. Such chidren, especially if they aro expecting to leave, arc of little use in a secondary school, and parents would bo well advised to enrol them at onco in the evening classes of a Technical College. Average Length of Stay. The average length of slay of pupils in Technical High Schools is two years as compared with two years eight months in the ordinary High Schools, and probably the margin between the two is tending to diminish. A stay of a minimum of one year in a Technical High School is distinctly worth while, since there is not a serious break in the continuity of the work when the pupil transfers to the evening school, as most town pupils do. However the range of subjects that can be studied by any one pupil in the evening classes is necessarily restricted by the number of evening hours available, so that the day course is recommended for as long & period as possible. The choice of a course in the Technical High School (six different courses are offered in Christchurch) usually follows the desire of the pupil. Perhaps it is wise on the whole that this should be so, for when there is ft conflict of opinion as between parent and child, the latter is usually found to be the better judge. Opportunities for transfer between courses are offered freely, so that preliminary mistakes in choico of courses can always be remedied. The Technical High Schools aro doing in this and in many other respects the same work as the junior high schools, but with pupils at a later stago in their career, when their ideas as to careers have become rather more definite. The corresponding typo of school in ICngland, known there as the junior technical school, is growing very definitely in favour with parents and with the educational authorities. The Future. It is notable that the Parliamentary Kecess Committee, in its report on Education, eulogised freely the work of the Technical High Schools from many important. aspects, but in its recommendations left them in a "very doubtful position oven as to their future existence. Probably this was not intended by the Committee, as certain recommendations suggest that in the minds of the ; Committee they would make a suitable type of .secondary school for the Dominion. Kven the strongest advocate of these schools would not wish "to see them adopted as the universal typo of secondary school, as there is much to be gained by retaining a considerable number of schools of the present academic, type. The gradutcs of the Xew Zealand University secure very considerable recognition abroad, and to u large extent the standard of work in the University is dependent, on that of the secondary schools. For University purposes, therefore, schools of the academic type with a high standard of attainment in University subjects, are of the utmost importance. On the other hand the Technical High Schools are interested particularly in the puplis whoso future career is not dependent on a course in tlic University. L.C.C. SCHOOL OF RETAIL DISTRIBUTION. A textile laboratory was opened recently at the London County Council's School of TJotail Distribution in Horseferry road, Westminster, which lias recently been given the status of a | technical institute, owing to the expansion of its activities. Tho institute is the first of its kind devoted entirely to retail distribution to bet set up in England, and the laboratory, which lias been established to givo instruction to boys and girls who seek a career in these trades, is also the iirst of its kind. Useful teaching about textile manufacture has been given in tho past, but tho laboratory will provide facilities for scien tifie training. Its equipment is of a comprehensive kind, and includes a cloth tester, a thread-strength tester, n twist tester, a cloth quadrant to te,st the count or fineness of yarn, and looms for demonstration purposes. It is believed that through such a laboratory knowledge which in many instances salesmen and buyers acquire only by long experience can be provided both more quickly and more accurately. There has been close collaboration between the trade and the education authorities, and the school is now governed with the help of a consultative committee on which all retail interests are represented. Tho number ol' students is about 3.50.