“EDUCATION TODAY”

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28270, 7 May 1957, Page 17

“EDUCATION TODAY”

Lecture On Planning For Future

“The large numbers of teachers and members of the public who have attended the series of addresses on ‘education today’ is proof that they have been welcomed and that there is a growing awareness of the need for such an evaluation to appreciate what we have that is good and, at the same time, to look ahead to future needs and possible developments.” said Mrs M. E. Barnard, chairman of the committee which organised the lectures for the North Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute.

“The time seems ripe for an examination and appraisal of the system,” she said. “One of the most . important ideas emerging is that education is not something sharply cut off at different levels, to be begun anew at each stage, but rather something carefully planned to serve the child by integration at all levels,” Mrs Barnard said. “There has also been a realisation of the part played by the family and society.” Several speakers had given the historical background and at the same time boldly put forward the issues involved in planning for the future. The future would be covered on Wednesday evening by Mr G. W. Parkyn, Director of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, in a paper “Wither Education?” Mr Parkyn was educated at Christchurch primary schools and at the Pleasant Point District High School before appointments as a post-primary teacher and as lecturer in education at the University of Otago. Many of those attending the lectures, which have had attendances between 400 and 700, had asked for some permanent record, Mrs Barnard said. The North Canterbury branch of the Educational Institute would consider such a publication.