A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 712, 11 January 1910, Page 6

A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE.

SHOUtD THE TEACHEB EXAMINE? ■ \ .. PEOFESSOE 'HUNTER'S VIEWS. . "It-may be perfectly-true that.the . term 'examination' has, ill tliis-conn- ; try, become synonymous with 'education.' . But in seeking some way of escape from a. condition of things , which, experts' agree, is inimical to the best interests-, of true : eduoa-- . tion, it must be remembered that',. fundamentally, the examination < .purports.'to be: a .test of-efficiency. If it be true that ; modern systems . ; '. and ideals in education havecreated conditions . which tend ; to maks the ■' examination test' a burden to edu- ' cationists, then - it must be obvious .that some radical change 1 in the methods of examination is required, some method whereby,' on the one hand, the work of the .instructor , " is fairly assessed, and, on the other hand, the interests of the pupil . properly, safeguarded. In this, connection,'it matf be observed that the wisdom of* allowing instroctors-' to examine'their own pupils is at . least arguable."—The I}ojcinion, January 5, 1310;

"It is . abundaniiy apparent : that nowhere is it more necessary to define one's terms than 'in a discussion ,of: tho. question of examinations," writes Professor T. A. Hunter,, of the*. Chair of Philosophy and' Psychology at. Victoria College, 'commenting on the. above; "Your leader of January 5 and .a good deal of newspaper correspondence of late have clearly shown' that opponents of the system have not, ■fen careful enough in stating their posi-. tion.' Being in actual 1 contact' with the disadvantages, they have, perhaps,., assessed too lightly the difficulties of those 'who, bred. in.the. system itself,,. Have, not been brought face': to . face with its evilsl The Function of Examination, "Wben_ educationists .agree that the examination system is they must not .be considered! to.- hold: that examining or, testing is valueless and' pernicious, and has, no place'. in the training.,.of students. 'No one, except-he,be entirelyignorant of. tho educational ; problem, is foolish enough, to take up. such, a-posi-tion,. although'"many : of. those :who areopposing present 'methods Have,- been' credited .-with so. doing.' Examination, properly understood, : isa ■ means.. to an end. It enables a teacher to find out, more about Hjs .pupils, and .'thus places, him'in a better position to meet , their educational needs. r . Examining must always,, therefore, bo . tho ' handmaid of, , teaching, and once the, two are j separated the former becomes *•, wholly pernicious.Examining'is, so to speak, 'the .-destructive weapon of' the; teacher ; it enables him' to ' find' out the weaknesses in the assimilative' power ;! of : . his pupils, and in. .the powers of presentation. that he himself.- possesses. Bat away from these natural;' surroundings , it. ' has ~no value ■ whatever..- Its, troo value, therefore,' is similar to that ; whi6h' the cast of- the lead hiw- -for the navigator. It • tells ; him whether he, may.ormay.not proceed .with safety on'a:wrtain. course. But tbe'easts of the lead have ,ao .value for those ignorant. of: the; approximate position of the. ship,. .the ' draughtof . the', vessel,and' a ; hundredother ■ particulars.' '■■ •: To place examination in; thevhands of those, who have .no kQovrcdgo of- the- 'pupils is analogous-to', asking; the ' narigatortoeeek .out his .way by casts of the lead alone.

When a Cursa. - "The ' evil against ■,which .we inveigh then when wo speak of. the.cuise of.the examination 6j;stein'i'is ■ that which : arises when' the, pupils'' training 'is judged.. by mere; examination.!j; results—particularly when ,the;examinatiqn: is merely a written one—evaluated exclusively by those who ,have; had; no'' part or lot in the' education of the pupils This, lien, is tho examination burden,; and, although " there havo; been feeble attempts to froe us from'it, elg., in- the' primary and secondary schools, they! have "met with' but partial, 'success. That examination is: the . final test is the idea on which, our whole uniyersiJty system 1 '- festsMhe: New Zealand .Unfviksityi indeed,-glories in being such ah archaic,and 'monstrous creature as i a purely It is true, howeyeriv that, ;;here ;; again, ' the conception has not been' logically : developed; -for. in , our medical ond-mining degrees and in our science .'subjects, r.th'q teachers do have some influence, greater or; less, in !deciding ■ the.issrie. : Bat this is' considered by-the champions of .our present system.to' he a/ weakness rather .than the. beginning of;.; virtue. It is this .method alone that- is ; used in deciding most, of the scholarships, in. the it is the .'principle that underlies the granting or certificates, musicaidipllbmas,'. ate:, .etc. It ;may„ thus, fairly; .be said that this.'.is, the* system' that New• Zealand has accepted' as .'the final ■coui't of - appeal -in regard to the training of ; those who are to hold professional positions. 1 " '•

A Test of Efficiency? "Now,-a system that has existed for so ■ many,, years, must at .least have som.o pretentions.' 'Whait'are'they? 'In your, leader,. before• . referred,; to, , three ';argu-ments-seem-to lie'hidden in'the apology that 'is mads, for the system, and- as these'are widely, accepted'.'as,'valid,'let us examine them: '.'. i.. . ■■ .

. " (1): That ■■ the/examination purports to be a.- test'of. efficiency.- .This- statement, I believe, ;i?'true, but-if ever, there were ;a wolf in; lamb's-olotbing, this-is it; •If it be 'true that v the examination I " system cloesreally' test efficiency, how comes it ' that '''.these .-who '.feel most -quickly' and . keenly..: the. evils' ; of., inefficienoy-rbusiness ; not', accept this , suppbsed; ; criterion?. Why is-.it - that the . most. a(l----.'vaiiced.-education'dl institutions'have dis-' carded it ? How-is, it that - these institu-: • tio.ns;that have.'discarded'it,are; p'rovid&ig teachers for those institutions,.:that/iretain ,iti so ;tbat, the process '.of-'liberation is rapidly .extending? , Why .has it ; been partly discardedin' : the . primary and schools ?, If- the examination 1 , be a test of-efficiency, 1 why have we taken some few. short 'steps backward during, the past few. years?. . If it be not a;.test' of efficiency,.-why . have: we not moved more rapidly forward to: a freer position ? .The main check lias come from the university, -which, by;ifa:,methods, has.lar-: gely hindered' educational: advance. Nowadays, ;, no. one. honestly.: believes that', the written ; examination; conducted 'by' those who; know not .the students, is a test of .efficiency. Those who' .support 1 tho. sys- ' tern- do so because, for - various reasons, :they fancy there is.for us no alternative. ;0 glorious isolation! we. are such a peculiar people tiiat wo require'a uniquo test of efficiency! - ' )■■■

Assessing Teaching Efficiency. ' "(2) The second argument used in ! your leader was that examination assesses the work of the instructor. You would be hard put to .it to find oven a'secondrate • educationist' who Iwould: agree with, ■you on''this point. To assess a teacher's efficiency by: outside- examination is to' blame many a good /man because he'has failed to make gold out of; baser., metal,' and to'' praise many ,an inferior . eapse.- he has' not succeeded in making baser.'; metal- out of ; gold..'lf education were'merely;'filling-a jug,Vas- Lange puts it,. there would bo some truth' in' the statement, and it is precisely because the .examination system tends - to reduce edu-' cation: to mere cram that it is so per-' nicious., But let us apply , the argument ; we are considering in', a; special' case,' and test, by the method three men: who'have done honour to New Zealand University, and '.who must either ' be damned by this method, or damn the method! I refer to Professors Sale and Ifaclaurin and the late ' Professor Jeffrey'.Parker. Look through. the honours list" of NewZealand University and you will find that during Professor Sale's long tenure of Office only 'six (6): students obtained first--class.- honours with a classical subject (latin and a : modern • language) and no student obtained first-class - honours in classics alone. This same ridiculous testwould credit - Professor Parker with two first-class students, and. Professor Maclaurin with one. Aftersuch' an illustration is .it neoessary to say more'? Even the man in the street would not estimate . those men by ■ such a foolish criterion. ■ Those who . have- enjoyed the privilege ,of sitting 1 under any of these men know that the principal'bonofits accruing, to students'could not-/be assessed, by, an examination.' What the good teacher does, for his students is' to give them a training and point of view that mil' enable thefn ! to carry on- their own education; But; this .cry ; that .examuia:' tion tests .the teacher's efficiency is known to be humbug, and ; the real argument that' lies behind it/ is'' that' the, teacher. pannot .be'trusted to examine fairly. It

is;, one .of the . great claims of .the English examination that it is impartial; it may be impartial and yet'be 'most unfair. . _/ Ground for Mistrust of Some Teachers. "Personally, I believe' there is some ground for.'this mistrust of some members of this" teaching profession. But surely the policy caflea for is one that will eliminate the undesirable element, and not one that perpetuates wrong ideals and vicious methods. • To continue our present system because some teachers cannot .be trusted -is as if . a community committed all its citizens to gaol because' there were some dishonest persons'about. 'If' the teacher cannot be trusted,'he should-be dismissed, and. I believe it.is,.largely want;.of backbone and a false sympathy for the inefficient man on the part of, governing bodies that enable' the present'evils in this respect to continue. This weakness in the teaching seems to arise chiefly from three t causes:

. ,"(a) The inducements offered are,,.not sufficient to bring into the profession an adequate; supply of good material. By. inducements ft do not refer primarily to monetary rewards, although these must be sufficient to enable the teacher to live in comfort, to -buy books necessary for. his equipment, _ etc-.. But by far the more important considerations for; the academic man are the conditions under which he. works.He must have freedom to develop along.; hew. lines that he. considers' desirable; • proper methods; of> 'election and promotion; opportunity at intervals for visiting the centres of 'learning, and ado* quate provision for old age. There is no aoubt that in all these particulars we have been too' neglectful in the past. ' "(b) .The training of teachers has-been seriously defective. ' This matter has already been before- the public, and no more need' be .• said except to . point 'out that, as the qualifications of a teacher may be wholly determined by written examinations in subjects that he-has .to teach, they. , t are . almost valueless. •••'" '(c) The: examination system has been one of the strongest factors in keeping down' the efficiency ; and status of the teacher. So long as- the teacher's horizon is limited' by. the annual examination,; 6o .'.longshall ,we ihave r .a' generation' of small-minded pupils growing up.'ai pro-' portion,of whom, as teachers, will: carry 'on.-..this Baneful tradition. : I conceive that no. other'reform will do ©o much to elevate: the status of - the teaching profession; as .p.lacing, ( responsibility'On its -'individual v-members; 'Nothing will more readily ,; separate ,the wheat from , the chaff.. • • ;■ •

. From the Students'. Viewpoint.; . third'argument used .in your article'.; was, : that examination properly safeguards the interests of the students. 'Some .yeaw -ago • a referendum of ..this question, to the student-body of the university would'have resulted in its being affirmed almost unanimously. Ignorant of other methods; students' thought their own' system.';the, best.' But' saner '-yiews have since • prevailed. - '.The students.. of the. university colleges, are beginning to take_ an; interest in .educational problems,' particularly as they affect . 'themselves, and are.not prepared "to. accept tradition unless,, it'ean 'substantiate itsickime'.'at the' bar ; of .'reason, v- .]*.

"Thorois, moreover, no dearth of .exam pies to show that the very opposite oi your ; , ; true: that under this examination system', the strident has very.' serious'calls' made on his nervous energy,' and is"often the' victim of'.chance. ' Con-' fiider the, following, points:—. • "(a) Under'the old• system ,in the,primschools did the'best pupils pass and the;:inferior ows fail? Did teachers find (A'at '■ the': inspectors',. results reflected' in 'any, adequate; way', the .work and foaming of. the pupils during tho year? Assuredly' 'not , ' " '• ' '■'•

",■■■ (b) Does anyone now beliove. thjt' the system" .of - scholarships -merely by, competitive examination, conducted'by those totally.;ignorant'; of the 'candidates,' ■adequately' protects' tho interests of- the pupils, or is-in; any way.; a :fair system',that 'the difference of.'one'imark in., a total - of.' hundreds should-rive' - on® candid date a; scholarship and deprive another .of 'it; 'that ' the:exaihiners • have "so refined ■ their methods'. that they, can! fairly, discrilllinato between . candidates of nearly equSl merit ? ' Assuredly not. '" . ' "(c) And;- in the university, ;is, anyone ; prepared'.to say'.'that a method' that, sums •up.. four ' years /.work ■ .of a. student. in : a. few. bonis,' that ' inadequately:;, tests. \ his'' knowledge ih'.a^'mere /scrap of; tho. work, and .-that i tafccs'. -no account of all his work' oind' : traiiriilg : . during ' hia ,', (Allege 1 course,"'"conservesr the' ;'interests of the students?. <Surely; not.','-'The-' students, clearly- ,s«> ! -that : 'to. have' local examinations ' conducted by a" ' board -o! their' teacher's, ' or; by I their' teachers in conjnnc'.tion'with an assessor, is to'have a : more' equitable aid a more efficient system, and, if one may 1 judge by its. official organs, practically tho whole student-body is, for'. reformation. , !'"The ..'present . .method ' encourages .wrong,ideals in '.teacher., nid , student;, ■places a premium ■■ on cram and. mediocrity;. and Tenders advimoe ; almost im-' possible. .' Until'our system is changed'in' this particular our educational outlook appears hopeless." , '