NOTES ON EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 81, 30 December 1907, Page 5

NOTES ON EDUCATION

I KT SOCJIATES. : THE TRUANT. HOW TO DEAL' WITH HIM. , No . system for dealing with . the ■ truant problem can• be 'successfully carried' out which, does.; not... recognise... the... fact ...tlint truancy is a question.of'degree, all rl that.it play 'be the' r'esidt of n variety of causes, ihe trentment of.the .oril lies 'in:the psychological'apprehension of particular cases, and there can,'He'no question of approaching tho matter from this standpoint so long as there •VP. .bnt two subdivisions in the'cbssification of .the.school .child,,one .for .the. good,, and one. for the bad. That is the position-in Npw Zealand at tliq ,present time. It. is not satisfactory,.for this- reason: there are degrees of, truancy,, ranging from occasional lapses to. incorrigibility.. These cases are ..dealt with either by the primary schools or the industrial schools.' There is no ha,lf-way house lying between the former, which cannot- adequately .treat the. question l , of truancy,' aiid. the latter.' whoso principal function is the reclamation of the- vicious. The consequence is that, there 'are'in the primary; schools'a unmber of children whose presenco is ■ not only an inconvenience to the regular routine of. school work, but a' source of; danger to others who may be easily led; and m-the industrial schools a' certain percentage whose salvation--most emphatically, does not- lie in the associations which a term in those institutions implies. 'What is required is the establishment of triiant schools, presided over by men,'the first essential of' whose-quali-fications shall be a thprougji knowledge of human nature. The headmaster of a truantschool must bo an analyst, whose primary duty is. to. ascertain the contribnting. causes of-each truancy case which comes under his jurisdiction, and . remove thern. Hiß work principally be • concerned with the education of his pupils to a proper appreciation of the psychological valnc of discipline—not the rod. and strap variety, but: that discipline which is interpreted to mean solf-con-trol, the voluntary acceptance of constituted authority,- concentration, and - those- morai qualities;which are necessary for-the development of responsible inanhood." Tho truant mnst; be brought to, see that.'while.ho will not be permitted to continue his former habits, he, will not. bp treated like a .caged animal. ■ The moment--tho truant discovers that his,.work,has become congenial to him, his.-reform may be'.said to have begun. To tact and sympathy is essential. , The timehohoiired method of dealing with tho-truant —spread-eagling .him oyer a desk aiid administering a . spectacular, thrashing, which might. serve as a date-in tho-lives of the offender and his. awe-strjekoh contemporaries y-is_ positively barren of .moral effect, and-it-is high time the fact,was universally, recognised. The position of -'the truant tciicher must, therefore,'.'be one of high responsibility. The trnnnt school is: a vital necessity to every - large, city, where good citizenship is-at a .preniiuni: and: the aggregation of vice'has'to be contended with. 7

TEACHERS A ND. EX A MNERS.

LORD ROSEBERY'S .OPINION, i I<orß Rosebery is perhapsthe most striking awl,. 'picturesqiio personality'. in British politics. It is true tbat'.'in V-poHtical seqso he has been - a- failure—rhe stands' nlono; but in tho : capacity, [or "'attracting public attention _ he is unrivalled.. His hold upon the British jinbhc is the epvy of many a more successful politician, for immediately Lord Rosebery delivers a speech he'bocemes the man of the. .hour. In his capacity- as Chancellor of.. the; "Omversity of London, Lord Rosebery'"recently. presided at the opening ceremony of the new premises of. the Day Training College of the London County Council. The College Buildings, which are handsome and commodious', are situated in Southampton Row. The equipments are on tjnr nurafc npr_to:date lines, and the, instruction and' training provided ' will thoroughly qualify students for any branch of .the teaching: .'profession;,.. The: estimated'' cost' :: of the new buildings is approximated.-at £45.200. In bis' opening'remarks', Lord R-osebery referred to t.he great demand for teachers. ■■ ' THE GREAT DEMAND - FOR' TEACHERS. To him who had not' been' able to learn ninch .- there - was -appalling in a .college i composed .'entirely of teachers, or .of those.who aspired to teach. He'didnot, deny the..need ..fpr, them .all. But..when, they thbufjlit- of a college composed entirely of :"achvea," without, any -passives," it made otto feel that'the':atmosphere'of this institution: might -ho,too..rarefied-and too acute for the breathing of common-mortals. And ■yet," after'all,| nothing could be more, needed .than such a college..- as this. He was, not going into the-statistics '.with which, he .bad been, furnished with-, regard to the number of training; colleges and the requirement .tor them. - Rut lie would ask them tptake this simple Tact, this almost appalling -fact; that we .bay' at this-moment' in this country an educational conscription, a compulsion' of education-in all classes, from' the highest to the lowest,, and .• therefore we required the same training that staff colleges:gave to-the officers of an Army for the teachers of. so vast n. host.. In London - he was ainawsd- to', see that no less than-1450 new teachers were required annually—that vast number,- for this great .city alone. • What an. amnzipg change that, represented to.those who, like himself, remembered the old dame's school, where the old woman, with very imperfect, knowledge, communicated; it- very imperfectly to. those who were not particularly anxious to receive it: Do not, sneer at'these old dame schools. They, afer all, taught the people who-made the Empire, and in those days they had not biieri 'so. far behind' the times. But increasing competition of other, nations had caused the demand for an.education equipment infinitely higher than was contemplated when he was born. And .hence the dema'ud' for teachers, and hence the demand for framing-colleges for training teachers. -He' heard that the head of this hew-collpge was to bp Professor Adams. (Cheers. 1 ! '' He wanted to ask, Pro-fessor-'"Adams'one question at the start of his career. / • ' ' .'A .COLLEGE 'OF - EXAMINERS. This'was a c.olloge of .'teachers."' Was it'in any sonse'a college of examiners? ,• ("Noes, : f from the students:) Then' where wore they to find' ' a college' "of examiners? After -all, a,nd this was tbo point he ' wished• 'to '. -"emphasise,"' the -training ok examiners was becoming' as important as the' training of ■ teachers. (Hear, hear.) Of course, all .teachers roust learn to some extent' the. art iof examination; 'and to: that extent he_ f «ip|K»sed"'ti»is'- college wonld he; acollege, of .-examiners;: But wo must go further than that... i This country ati this .moment, this-nation at.this moment, might'be. divided, according- to'their point, of apprehension, into rarions classes,-'but is . was rapidly becoming, For'the' purpose, of divided into twoT-resamiriere- and 1 examinees. The amount of examination .that, was. undergone by... a patient nation "at this -time l certainly was never; contemplated, but, it. 'few years ago. They. saw.officers!- in; the Army almost.or quite grpy-h'eaded 'in'all thevagonies of .preparing for.'examination. He beliored that that,salutary, process! was extended to the Navy vand to ;J.n his day, when they : left Oxford or Cambridge,' or!their University, they said.good-byo' to-examina-tions for over—except! thbs.e searching' political inquiries ; which were addressed to candidates on the', platforms, or to public men through;'..the 'mean? .'.of .. .the penny! post. (Laughter.) But now all that, was changed. And he did jvonturo. to' urgo on Principal Adams, and-.oh 'those' whom , it. concerned, thit the time, had come, or, if-it had not, it would soon come, whon they would liavo to train .tbojr examiners as ; they , trained their 'teachers.-'. Because,. after ,all,! examination jrns as much a fino art ,as teaching. The question of education iir examination - would sooii have: i;o"'be a'.subject of investigation arid treatment by the London !C-ounty Council if; it continued to'retain the control of Metropolitan education'.' ! : THE PROBLEM, OF THE HOOLIGAN. "He took.it, for granted that:they would turn , out froni .this ' institution men and women trained' m all' tHe arte' and lapggageß

and science nliioh pertained to education. Was that all? From Hip Hoard schools tlioy turned out hoys and girls who parried oIT tlip laurels of the'UnivcrMtii's and institutions l:o which tliev went. Hut, they were also responsible for, (lip "larrikins'' and tin: hooligans, Tlipy wcrr responsible in tlipir schools of - London for the gangs who used to haunt Regent's Par!; ami fight to the verge, and ultimately beyond the verge, of murder itself. And.here lie came to the point that lie wanted to urgo; . When they have (aught the . teacher al! that science and art ami learning could teach him, they still left him an imperfect product of such' a college as (•his. If lie or she could not impart the moral qualitics-which were at the root of the manhood and womanhood of the nation they fell short of the ideal teacher. (Cheers.l He iva.s quite aware—lie supposed it war. not possible in any lesson of the time-table to inculcate the moral qualities of manhood and womanhood—charity,' kindliness, that outward and inward courtesy (hat. sprang from kindliness and from charity; All these could Ik taught by the teacher, not in lesson, but by example, and by.influence.. (Cheers.) He ventured to say .to Principal Adams, and he. was sure no' one. was more aware of it than the Principal himself, that if they could not. turn out teachers calculated to impart and strengthen the moral qualities that lay at the root of a nation's greatness, their collego would have failed. (Cheers.) THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. Another word as t.o a question which to their disgrace was'becoming a political question—the religious quostion. He asked "them' not to suppose that he was going to touch on it. in its political' or its legislative aspects. Public speakers often had to dance among burning • coals, but 110 public speaker that had reached his age ever elaborately ■ shovelled out'a heap of burning coal in order to dance on it. (Laughter.) Ho did not know —it did not matter to him; to-day how that religious question would be dealt with, whether* in the way of former Acts or by forcing it by a secular system under the ca.re of the. Churches, whom it more infinitely concerned. That was not his point-. His point;was this, that if they sent out sceptical tcacbers —though tbey might not have the opportunities, and probably would- not have tlio' opportunities, to give a word of religious instruction within their school hours—if they sent, nut sceptical teachers tbey were doing the schools' tboy sent them to, not a benefit, but aiv' injury. - (Cheers.) • Scepticism might be a useful asset in Inter periods of life. On that it was not his province to pronounce an opinion, to-day. But of this lie .was convinced; that scepticism, applied to the tender voars of childhood, boyhood, and girlhood) was a' corrosive acid, eating deep at all the foundations of character which tliev wished to strengthen and support. Ho could'not--toll,-tliny could not tell, now or in what direction the children would develop whohi they might be called upon to train. But this at loast they could do. They could foster in them the seeds of faith and earnestness, of'.honesty of principle,'and. legitimate ambition.- (Cheers.)