MOTES ON EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 547, 30 June 1909, Page 4

MOTES ON EDUCATION.

(By Sochates.) PSYCKOLOCY AND TEACHING. "No American, or Continental university of repute is without its psychological laboratory;" said Professor Hunter, of Victoria College, in the course of ■an interesting iddress delivered, recently. to tlio Wellington Toaohore': Institute, on "Some Aspects' of Experimental Psychology and Education.". Emphasis Wrongly. Placed. ' ' "In ( connection with tho . training :of teachers in tho past, it: his always seemed rather absurd to me," . observed tho speaker, ! ."that white groat emphasis lias boon placed upon Latin, English, chemistry, history, and so on, what the teacher is principally concerned to know must bo picked up in a dcsiiltory way, either by his ,own observation or by remarks in psycho; logical or pedagogical works—good or bad— that-chance to fall into his, hands. What would we think, if in the training of a chemist he should learn a , good deal of many things such as' geology, ' Latin,. Greek, i Hebrew, '■•and astronomy—if a high standard were.exacted in l.then bo allowedto mix prescriptions, t and' £fom his own ob-' sorvation and errdrs, to induco tho laws of chemistry?, Provided' that the population did not give out under such- drastic -methods,'and, provided, further,' that your chemist were an 'exceptionally 'brilliant man, he might, in the • course' of some'.' years, drop on ocrrtaiu . principles. But, you say, -, the mere suggestion'.is ridiculous! . Yet that is precisely the method that has been' in vogue In the training of teachers,'. It'- is. trio that' the dire, effects are not so. easily noticed in the educational. as in tho physical" sphere, but in the timo of, stress that is coming, ' the-English peoplo will feci, if they< are not; already feeling, tho'. necessary, consequences of tho neglect of'scientific .methods in education. That England is becoming 'awako to this is manifest, by the fact thai' she is. allowing as.many'; of hor young tiachers as possible to come in contact with the methods of.America and the Continent. Criminal Ignoranco. : ' . ' J, "I have no' wish to place an extra burden on your already over-weighted , shoulders," continued Professor Hunter. "TheV intellectual, moral, and physical upbringing of the children are already 1 in your hands,' . and when a paternal' Government, ordains;. that you- detect' the child's ailments, prescribe his diet,\arid give him a basis in.religious beliof,. then. you -will ■ be iuloco .parentis indeed. • Bnt while I do not- wish: to increase your bmdens,':l do Bay -that to. place-ono in cha-rgo of children .Without : any knowledge obtained at first; hand of the facts and; laws-of-mind is) little : ahort of. orimirial.;.; There, is a great deal of unnecessary . show, in our syllabuses that could quite well ' give way, to .what- is a. crying necessity, and- thp - voico of the teaching profession will ,yet f bo heard in this ■' respect. / What I hayo ■ said..'' applies,, of courec, to novices in -the art of teaching, and hero let me say that happily tho pupil-teacher system' that vested on this abominable- neglect-.of all scientific procedure. now bids fair to be swept away. ■ I say; my remarks apply to no vices . only, be-' causo enthusiastic teachers soon become psychologists indeed, must' do so if they are. to bo successful. They begin to look at'mental life as their domain and :to trace ; development therein.. Many, -of courso, do not,''and ,bythe limitations ■ imposed by • their natures and training;',, never . will. ; Eyen ' ,those . who do must, ill this as in every other walk of life, bo benefited, by a systematic in methods of ; mental" introspection' and- observation. Such is -ncccssary, if tho grossest blunders 'in their ,carly careers aro to 'bo avoided, aud the best results • obtained iu their maturer,years of.-service.;, -. ;->v. Psychological;-Principles, r■; >; ' .'' WKatever may. bo tho ultimate Judgment on tho value of psychology as a science, and as. a .propaodentic to ; the ' theory , and ; art .' of .education ''whatever its, future', it', is' un-' doubted that scientific psychology has shown the importance, of tho following principles in education, and' has'vthrbwh; light-' on their proper employment:— .iV' .'v,;,,.' ; 'ii) '1 ho' onormou a im portauco of interest as a' determinant. of attention, and tho' conditions of attention; - ' !i . ■ ! ;Y. -••(«) Tlib L nocos&ity of concentrating atteatiori, .the .avoidance 6f its dissipation;and t-hei conditions of. theso: ; . / '"(ill) Tho i»wer ana value of a suggestion j - \ '■(iv) Tlie ahsoluto necossity of the continuing and grading of work, if, the ; best rpsults aro. lo bo obtained; ' ;- ';- ' ."(v). : . 'amazfcg' iiidiyidiial ' differdnceis that •m«'st,rM- : 'far'; as; possible, 'bo provided for; •; ' ;' v"''--;." . ;V' -' - ': - • "(vi), The complete overthrow of tho old viow, that man was a rational machine, and the importance; now placed on' tho' feeling and active aspects' of. the developing character.' ; .ii-'" ' I; r'

Arithmetic: A .''Horrible Example." > « /'Let; us. apply-.some, .of -these'general canons by'way of a .test of certain, poih|®:in,our own . system. I Take, as- the i. 'horrible ■ example,' . the arithmetic of our/ primary' .schools.' Every teacher ,is - aware that ,there is a falling oil in tho ability of our , pupils | to deal' with simple,, mpchanical ,wort in arithmetic. Nearly every inspectorialport -touches: on"-this pliaso of ' our, i school work, • But as far as I am,- aware no ono has' Suggested ; the. cause, of .this retro'gres-; sion.!, 1 While .no doubt., many: conditions con-; tribute ,to this' . result—the ..dispersal of-., energy and attention over a,-multitude of sub- ; jeets, ' tho .overloading, of . the syllabus—still the main- cause is the utteiv disregard of. the basic psychological principle i that -certain mental qualities dovelop' later;than others—, yetw<?. hnd problems introduced at: the infant stage and.tho endeavour made-l to', im-,' part ithe philosophy of numbers to the; im-, maturemiud. With a very small percentage —the John Stuart Mills; of -New. this may succeedjibut-with the ,vast," majority' of our- younger' children;' in tho primary schools 1 , it. simply means that the 'children, unable :to..successfuUy.-deal'with problemsthat are beyond their powers—for which tho brain ' cells are not yet fully ; "take arithmetic as a subject too ; difficult 'for them. Thus.' interest ceases'.'and the- children,'haye .deliberately suggested 'to them their own impotence. Nothing could bo less, ! scientific; -nothing could' be'more, cruel. 1 , "It wjll be said'bv the unthinking that by dealing with problems _ you':', bring in the.con-' crete, and 'hence increase attention. . But , mark,.- the attention is to tho'concrete and not to the "abstract..numberr '"A...b0y.; buys ten marbles; wins;four, finds- two,'-has three, given to .him: how many has he? To the very young tnis is not .a probjem in ,arithmetic.."lt is, the buying, winning,' finding, getting—the: concrete, the marbles—that interest ' him,, 1 and', the cold -j,abstract:'.'- how - many? comcs but to blast hisldream of good fortune and to perplex, hiin. \\ ith -young children yoii cau : control, .attention' if - you remember that it i-s held by: the: desire; to . succeed and by the pleasure I'of having' 1 sue-;. co^ded t -and as with the young .Horse no task must :be put to them, that is at all up to tho limits of suggest pow'er-::to them, not impotence, otherwise- there follows an f instinctive distrust, of! their' , own ability that" is the surest .prelude' of■ failure.. Babe Philosophers. ; "All. of you can supply many' different cases, in different subjects, ..in methods of teaching and of inspection.. Why, in tho bad; old days, that are slowly— passing away, : ail inspector's qualifications -was Ins ability to. striko fear into tho hearts of teachers and scholars, and, to reduce the more sensitive of. them, to tearsl To.re-' juveuhte our arithmetic, we . nlust remember:' ; ■: " '(i) That the bodie3 of babes do not carry tho heads of philosophers; " '(ii) . That, with a percentage of our pupils, wo mustnotexpect them to have theso higher processes developed at all; Hence tlioy will never do problems,, and to drive them at it is simply' to take the-edge , off their keenness for more, congenial niul suitable subjects.' . :. . : "i- ,' : Continuity Disregarded. "It is perfectly fair to say thafctho principle of continuity has been absolutely disregarded iii tho System' of education .'that wo possess, This discontinuity is : seen - .in

its most glaring form in; tho want of coordination between our primary, and' university systems. Instead :of ,'tlio primary laying of tho foundation of a good secondary education, whether- technical or scholastic, _ and theso two ' aspects working to a culmination, iu tho university with lit- i orary - and ■ scientific -sides)' what do wo find? Ijafli system is working 011 a totally different ,> ii" . °f tho pupil proceeding gradually from . ono stago; .to another, lie now sullers two radical transitions, or translations.'to .'other. worlds, in which tho motjiods, aimy, and ecopo aro altogether different. Iheso translations 1 thus demand a great, waste of time, while tho pupil adapts nimselrto his now environment: Then, as a Kind of secondary outgrowth, we have our' technical schools. Nothing couldbe- worse, i vc liikl tho same discontinuity in our syllabi. /' -Most ,of thom are so overloaded that it is practically iriipossible, for there to bo any well continued course in. any BUbiect. the primary, instead of sending out -trained pupils, with a definite.body of knowledgo and point., of view, is sending out continuously ♦tTti" have touched so many subjects that they have not-mastered tho' elements and henco aro always out of touch with their environment. Our Overloaded Syllabus—Three Causes. , .•'T hreo «»»«» help to bolster up this overloading of our Syllabuses: V -.'{l) That of show—pretension is emlied+ll it our very nature. Biology shows us that the gay colouring of male birds is due to sexual selection—tho female being caught bv tho splendour of tho colours. But if rationality ■ moans •'anything;.-it, should at least take ,us as far as . knowing that 'fine feathers do not make, fino birds.', Yet that-has not bem rpmembored in tho framing of our syllabuses, lears' ago,' a- very difficult course mto ono; of our ; higher syllabuses, with the. understanding that no. questions would be set thereon; But, think of-tho'ap-plause from tho nations: beyond, and tho ignorance of tho nation within !' • .!■ (n) Now. methods have boon- thought to ■require -now:; subjects." No subject is to 'bo allowed to liavo two methods of. presentation as if ono should argue.; that, no person should have -two suits, of clothes.' ; ■; • V X 1 1?- clamour for that oliisivo spirit general culture,-which .has been thought'! to vest on a .'smattering' of -all subjects, in-stead-of, the full knowledgo 1 of 1 one ; aspcct' of our : many-sided life.-, Any ■ soil that has n«r n ktW' fflay ' boar ' a sllow y. but not a substantia crop. If culture means anything, it implies cultivation, ■ which,' in sh™ 1 ' i .for, where tho • P " dnvcil . the best fruits Tho Wastor and tho Builder Too. eas^ destructive 'no doubt, ' S 1 our system _it: does- not. appear a Ett ar » re ' e -constructive.* ii boif ntfcl'f'.Wß profited, by tho experience of: others, and did not try to lead tho world, mU °i i s,m li ter t cheaper, and bottom method could easily bo devised: olio that would aim at sending out; pupils' qualified m»£ UrS ?? 1 h,gher intheirdevelop nient. if, lor example, tho three It's' and' drawing' were made-tiio basis of our primary all y- other subjects ■" introduced (Were/included either as branches -of thesoi' eg, History and geography as reading lessons, or, as recreations, : nature study, sinking, -.physical-;-.'exercises', etc., to break tho more serious work -when' Accessary to mainthe .time- the : pupil had reached, tho,. average age of 13 ho would then Know enough' of ; the fundamental elements to begin'either.'aitechnical ot a high' school TOurso,v Tho- technical should lead r9-tno_.trodo3j.Jiho entrant being required to givo part of; his ; time - to; study and part to practical, work under competent' direction: who.cannot alford-to-do with-; out; tho assistant their sons j-give would' that x this, assistance \was not procured .at jtho .oxpeiiso -of- futures.', ' Tho', technical., schools .would .necessarily be. of the: naturo suited to the requirements l of each locality. with girls, it' would lead ;to the, domestic ,side, ,properly : taught in' . op .j;! toj latlio-; library,, and aesthetid -. high;,, schools.- ;;This of .tne; sexes in;any but,-their primary- /schoollnSn would permit, of these differences in methods, suojects, and jioriods lliat, physiology calls for, but w)ioso calls our-present system; persistently' ignores , to-the;great detriment' of our womanhood, vlf then the university could ibe induced or compolled to give up tho ,fetish of examinations and allow it-a students' .to aim at training rather than degrees, wo might consider.that wo had the basis-of a rational system of In .this connection, too, it seems to me that unless a State has largo resources that it ;wishes l to dissipate,; free education vbeybnd: the primary .stage serves' lio' good; purpose'. On 6 Ois - faced; t with- tho ififth .psychological ■ -principles laid dowuj via.;, that of individual diftoiences and to send on pupils who .aro unfitted for, scholastic' Tfbrlcj is; wanton waste "of. bbtli money . and'material- on the part of tho. State. .On tho . other • hand.' thfc ability in'any' country' is scarce enough,for the author* rities to seo' that none of, it goes undeveloped, and henco ; liberal scholarships based not on; oompetitivd' exaniination, 'but on;manifested : evidence i of: , capacity for 1 higher training, should be provided : . both'; for tho technical and scholastic branches. There is a cry for Research in this Dominion, but that implies 'an .-individual:point<«f view-that, is not' to bo got by"grinding.students- through all educational machine or; by setting them in a ' universal -mould:;: Something, -'.no' doubt, is' ,beiiig ; donb along; these - lines,; but '! it ; is" at best v but ! thehalf-hearted : application .'.of .; a; fundamental principle. .; ;-. j:v -•.- "I note," said Professor' Hunter, ,"that' a few days ago tho Minister for Education announced, that.-the,' training colleges might, act; as Cdistributing f : agencies. ; for '..certain', school apparatus;lf they, succeed, : :in .distributing,' men and.women who have'actually by means/ of,experiment tested i- certain'- methods' of teaching, who have' beopme imbued- with : the seientifio spirit, ', - and 'will make their , own school a distributing agency;of individuality, and ability, the will be distributed ill good; timo./ 'What hiis been lost' sight of" ■is .tho 'personality ;of r the . andi this; is' largely iho result of, training.; :. :

Our Crying Needs. - ; >. ■ "Summing . up, I should '.say the crying needs'of our system are: — '\ • (i) Scientific knowledge of . t-ho development of, the child'; .;.v. '■>■ 1 (ii) • Co-ordination of the parts of our iSystem!-.;;.''. 1 ' /! : -V " ' (iiil The concentration of attention in a small number of fundamental, subjects'; ' (iv) Tho [union of, the teaching and examining functions.' " . f/' v [Notoi—For . reasons of; space,': Professor. Hunter's .address had to ho considerably 'abnd^^ii',...!Thoi',.ab6\;e:.are.'.pnly; selected'.extracts pieced together of : a.most elaborate 'dis<'. sertation on the subject.]