THE UNIVERSITY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1023, 12 January 1911, Page 6

THE UNIVERSITY.

QUESTIONS or REFORM. THE PROFESSORATE ,AND EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS. 11. Continuing the series of opinions expressed by competent authorities on specific. questions, of .university reform, opinions collated by the' University" Reform Association and "handed to us for publication, we print to-day the views of Professor J. T, Wilson, M.8., Cli.M., F.R.S., Chnllis Professor of Anatomy, and chairman of tho Professorial Board of the University of Sydney. Tho questions submitted for opinion were-.— "(a) Ought wo to endeavour to substitute for the .purely external system of examination some form of test'in- 1 which the opinion -of • the * teachers is taken into account? (b) ' What general powers' should bo Riven to tho professors in tho organisation of the "university and colleges?" Examinations A Secondary Consideration. In reply to question (a), Professor Wilson says:— "My answer to this question is an unhesitating , affirmative. Unfortunately, the University of London, founded . in order to meet quite peculiar conditions, has been responsible for a/ widespread misconception of tho, aims and functions of a modern university. It'set up an ideal of uniformity of attainments among widely separated groups of students, to bo secured by centralised examinations. It was, no doubt, intended to harmonise and guide and control, and for long it actually did' contfol the 1 . teaching of various university and other" colleges in Great Britain. On this side of .its activities it .has now been largely superseded by tho rise and. growth of the modern provincial. universities in England and Wales.. . "I have never mot any professor who had had the experience of teaching under the conditions imposed by ,tho University of London—!tnd I have met more than one such—who did not, utterly repudiate, the value', of the princible embodied in that system.. The idea' of a special virtue attaching to a. purely external 'impartial' .examination is, ono which no' one' really and personally familiarised .with tho essential limitations of examining work would for a moment entertain*. Tho whole tr?nd of present opinion, as I .understand it, upon this question is in tho. direction of assigning to examinations a distinctly secondary place, .and towards- the substitution, as far .as practicable, of theintimate and expert, judgment of . the ~ teaching .staff upon the;wholo :nuality of the work of the students ill a department. Even'in the .University of , London itself—the most conspicuous example of' the external examining .system—recent advances havo all been, in the direction of its development as a teaching (institution in which the. examining .function becomes a mere means, and not tho primary means, to tho educational end. •

Ernahcfpato the. Teacher. •' ,of teaching;' so far- from being - an end' to lib aimed at*, is not even in itself The capabil-ities-of rioiteacher can bo eSnloited to their full - value unless hp is'tvt liberty t.i develop his tcaching along individual lines. - Even if. tho lines ,of his'.teaching should bo inferior to others, his students will gain far more by his personal - first-hand-treatment. of 'his- subject than from his. forced 'adherence to. a .-'syllabus.;,with wh'ich.'he, is iipt .'in .sympathy.: ' Paradoxical as 'it' may seem, the contrary view seems to be to over-rate the'importance of the .contribution, of the teacher to the pupil's 'intellectual development.

' "It is to 1 the original- choice in the appointment of a professor that one must trust for the guarantee of his competence and-, soundness, and riot to -any subcompulsion , as 'regards his attitude towards his subject, ifit be suggested that suelv a.;,guarantee is slender and unreliable', I eah only,.re; ply that X, know of no other.,of even :coual value. ' The effect.-upon a student, of iy' professor -obviously directing his main energies in the way of cramming him with': the instruction necessary ' ,t'o enable .him successfully' an examination by . somo other.-authority,.'-.is directly hostile to the influenco which an untrammelled interest, in the subject itself normally exercises up9n. the pupil.

The "Crammer and the. Crammed." ■ ."The." most effective .agency. .in both' moral and' intellectual ['enlightenment'., operates', by contagion from master to . disciple! ' Such':a; .contagion" is*, mos'c .effectually opposed,/if not prevented altogether, by the relation 'between the ; two being degraded to that of .crammer-arid crammed. This principlo holds equally in mv view, in referenco .to secondary, school teaching Hp to' 'matriculation standards. For that reason I cordially "agree with the recommendation ■of President, Starr Jordan that wherever possible leaving certificates • of - headmasters' 'of secondary schools be accepted in lieu, of an external' "matriculation examination. This, however, rnay not everywhere, nor always, be' practicable. And, inasmuch as,'sehoolteacliingis not addressed to minds which have .aimed, at the degrte of maturity of. university students, tho evils of. limitation by initiative and of individual vMues are not likely to be so. fatal to iritelleotnal,.."di;yel6pment as. in .the case of university-teaching. Jt is not' enough to be able to -point, as the University.", of New- Zealand can - undoubtedly point, to. instance's of 'individual students" who have developed, high , intellectual qualities ..and capacities for original investigation by a high order under tlio . existing system. Fortunately," the impetus 'to individual development is often too • strong; for any system' to stifle; nor is the.: light of a great teacher's personality to bo blotted, out; even if he works under: unfavourable conditions." But X repeat that no teacher -not-even the greatest—can be exploited to his" full value if- he lias habitually to function as' a mere coach; while leis forciblo personalities capable of. original teaching , of real value are liable ■ to be wholly .eclipsed' under 'such a 'system:"

The. Professoriate and the Community. '"I may say, with regard'to question B, that I-.concur' in the opinion's expressed jjy President-Starr Jordan,, regarding , the activo participation of the professoriate on matters'of academic organisation. ' The ultimate and paramount-end of university life and work is the development and well'being of the community as a whole. The more immediate object' of university effort-is the development and well-being of the student. -It is.my firm conviction —biassed, it may. be,; by. twenty-iive. years of university teaching—that the university teacher is bv : far the most competent interpreter of'the needs which arise, in connection'with the second of these objects; and that liis judgment as regards the first is of hardly less value. Merely as a matter of, university administration the view of the inner working of the university statutes and regulations which the professor, and ho alone, can, ordinarily arrive at, is absolutely indispensfible to reasonably efficient university government. The tendenev to exclude' the 'professors from a considerable share in tlxo government bfi the university or college is probably lai'gely due to a reaction' against older systems which left,.' practical)}everything in the hands of the professoriate. . •

"Heterogeneity of Interests." "Homogeneity of constitution by a uni-, versity governing body is, in'my view, a thins'to be avoided, whatever be Jho element'ill question. An analysis of tho constitutions of. the governing bodies of everv recently-founded university ot' tho United Kingdom will reveal the fact that tho one constant characteristic of these bodies, whatever tlioir nctunl (and very varying) composition may,be,-is the heterogeneity of the interests represented. The national government) the body of graduates, municipal corporations,' the student body itself, and other official, semi-ollicial, and quite unofficial interests will bo found (o be represented in various permutations and combinations. But, quite, invariably, there will bo found to be a tolerably' effective- representation of the teaching staffs in the persons of representative professors. And further inquiry will also establish the. fact that ranch university administrative detail is not dealt witii by the supreme governing body at all directly, but is delegated to a professorial board, a senatiis' academicus, or to individual faculties. "Ini my judgment the. professorial representation in the Senato of the New Zealand University is wholly inadequate.

mora especially in view of the fact that tko entiro l-eynlatioii of the curricula of study and examination is in the hands of tliis body. The discussion of the question of uniformity in study and examination belongs'elsewhere. But should the individual colleges obtain that degree of academic freedom which they should certainly secure, then the councils of these colleges, should contain, as an indispensable element in their- composition, a delegation of the professorial body. > Appointment of Professors. "I further concur ill President Starr Jordan's recommendation in so far as it contemplates the committal to the professorial. body or its . representatives of much of the actual academic administration of control. But I am not disposed to agree with the suggestion that these powers should be specifically entrusted to a chairman of the professorial board as a permanent functionary after the pattern of an American university president. Without being at all blind to the advantaffos of such a, typo of organisation, I think that, on the whole, the more democratic type of a deliberative board, Wit,h a chairman of merely executive function, is preferable, and more in line with our civil institutions generally. And I specifically demur to the proposal to vest in one siick functionary the responsibility for tho claims of the professors. In my. opinion, this important duty and responsibility, together with all matters of high finance, and the final decision upon, matters of : cardinal university or college policy should be reserved for the supreme .governing l bodies, and, indeed, should constitute practically their sole active functions.. In addition, however, they should possess the right of review ill appeal for the decisions of tho professorial hoard, and the power of veto on practically all. proposals for alteration of statutes, regulations, and procedure.

"Whilst thus reserving for tho supreme governing. body the duty and the responsibility of the choipo of all higher, teachers of the .university or college,' I think that, it would-be wise to give the professorial board the opportunity and the right of reporting, upon the quali.fioations of all candidates for such appointments."