THE GERMAN ATTITUDE

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 948, 15 October 1910, Page 11

THE GERMAN ATTITUDE

TOWABDS EDUCATION. If respect for education is the measure of a nation's progress tlien . Germany must rauk very high, for. on every side there is undoubted evidence that the modern German, the. average parent, appreciates the importance of education-, to a degree nnknown except among the cultured; few. The German teacher of all ranks is really a most delightful person to meet, for he loves his work and loves to talk of it; he does not in the least mind talking , "shop,", and never has the slightest fear, that he may bore. his listener. He has . definite aims towards which he strenuously works, he thinks ■for; himself, and in spite of all that has been said of .German "officialism" he appears to have much freedom and in-, dependence. Men and women who have been teaching for twenty and thirty years are still enthusiastic in tljer cause of education, are still desirous of improving methods, of getting new ideas from other people,, and from .other countries. No country produces, so . much pedagogical literature as Germany, and'no country so definitely puts the training character "as the first object of education. The enthusiasm of the. teacher is shared by the parent, and generally by the ratepayfrs even if he is not a parent. - The education rate in' Germany ,is . very, high, but the fees in the -secondary, schools of all grades are very low; at the Heidelberg Gymnasium the. .fees aTe just. over *J& per annum, and as schoolmasters are on the average paid better : in - Germany.', than' in England it is clear that rates must indeed be high .to enable a. first-class education to be gjven at this low figure. ■ Much greater .effort is .made in Germany to keep 1 the . boys; at school beyond the' legal -age, and though compulsory continuation schools are only to be found in Baden,, a great movement is' now on foot to enable boys to go .to trade schools when .they leave the Yolksschulen so' that they may not join the army of 1 errand boys ■ and unskilled labourers. Here parents and employers co-operate, the former by their willingness; to forego the few shillings the boy of fourteen. might earn, and the-latter, incases where they employ errand boys by their willingness to allow then; to ; attend classes for their . further educ-ation during business hours. The; Germans would -seem to have learnt that only through education can a,nation in modern dajrs become truly great, and so they are willing -to- pay. heavily for, a .thoroughly good education. Faibhc opinion.' is all on. the side of education, and this is a far more powerful ally than, any 'number..'of 'Education Acts.

German is the central point of all the elementary teaching in th'e' German schools 7 of villi grades, and nowhere is it more, thoroughly and more lovingly taught than in the. Volksschulen. The power of expression is most-, carefully cultivated from the moment' the child enters school'" at six till ho leaves it .at fourteen. _ The children in the elementary schools in Germany speak just, as,well,as those in the secondary schools. Excellent reading-; books are in use j throughout 'Germany, and these are: used 'most; intelligently; they contain much poetry: which tho chil; dren recite.,. Far more time is. given in; the-.'secondary,. schools : to. .'mqdern,, lan'guages, the •. teaching ; of .which. ..is -in, the hands of.German, teachers who; however,, oonduct. their .lessons almost entirely. in.< the foreign tongue., They. belioye.jn* the direct :method, . but .they are by no. means' slavish . in. the adherences to it. Com-' paxatively. little time is given ,to actual formal grammar;'t'he'pupils are made to, speak, the teacher converses in tho;foreign language, deals with the history and geography of tho country'in question, and ■so • far :as 'is. possible J introduces ■> a really.'foreign atmosphere into tho language lesson. ' . ; ■ ; ■ A very, real patriotism l underlies all the teaching, and:in season the boy and girl tare taught that, each .must"., servo the • Fatherland. : And l it is by, no> means a "merely jingoistic': patriotism - • that is taught.:. It. is.true,the boy is taughtto regard , military,,.servica. as. a; duty- laid .upon him by ,God. and the: Emperor (the 'non-German sometimes wonders whether too much stress', is.-'riot- laid ■ upon the •latter to'the exclusion of the former),. but at, the same time he-is: taught that all good work is valuable to the State, and that all must sacrifice their personal' inclinations when .they clash..with , the interests, of the 'State;; >. -iAgain,'r;the. ( girr_iis; taught very definitely 1 that; a good .wife and. mother, is "serving the', State. V- The teaching in civics and cthics.'is .very clear, .very, obvious, very:; elementary, and often it is narrow, provincial and a trifle complacent/ But it is" earnest.'and'honest, and .it probably appeals 1 to the girls and bovsin tho elementary schools in a way 1 that mere vague and'-philosophic teaching would- not. 'To the Germans. tho elementary school is -the ; training ground.. of the nation, and demands the very.; best .teachers that the;, country can produce.—.: "Mornins ' Post." ... : - ,v,: