UNIVERSITY REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1652, 20 January 1913, Page 8

UNIVERSITY REFORM.

A REPLY'-:TO THECHANCELLOR. '

(Contributed by,: Professor D. f K. Picken.) ; of ;,the Chancellor's address to the University* .Senate, made' iavailablo on Saturday /evening, shows' that *i£ 'was mainly an attack*, upoa- Athoi:c:Ui>W«rsitjr ; reform movemont,' directed '/at the' Work of" the recent Conference (which had in ;its composition - oiily ",a fraction" of men closely, identified -with the ,University reform campaign). Tho Chancellor's Statement is '. jo '■ misleading: that '11-proposeI 1 -propose to analyse ;it . briefly," for' ■the information of the "considerable-sec-tion -fit"the- 'general public .which' l is 'now interested in' Wliat wo regard ris' an.importiint. public)question. ,"• A condensed re-' port of the l conference - proceedings apEeared"iff"tlJfe '.press on Tuesday,' Novemer:26. V: ; ; '■ " , (i) The accusation:' Relative to. the representative., character,; of,, the,, conference.,i3 'quite- Apart.' from -the' question _/of the'/, special echook^r\t;^ich..jv;as ( /entirely, thei.. Senate's affair-it.iinay easily.-be demonstrated that .'the represehtatioji; oft faculties, was as fair as anything j short, of inclusion' isouid iwell-'-be.' --'■■--;' '• —- ..

(ii)Avith-i^gard/j'tojjitsJi>roce<lure',^the , conference - wisely ]-adopted -. recognised ■ methfcdirof facilitating; its : own business, " and..restricting:the''supply of "red her- ; " rings'*.-for , the dialectical'use of those' who wish as a'University , ' : (iii) If.is-.stA'te'd "thiit ! "tHd* -alternative suggested"ih existing • statutes (for B.A. and-B.Sc. degrees) were trivial,' and the statement is' supported ; by reference.. • (1) To the recommendation "that tho ' B.Sc. degree bo abolished: (The.accom- : 'panying'jeer.'at this "peculiar method of : '; a Vcourse for the degree '.'s.ugr • gests .that the. Chancellor :might'benefit' ' ; ,)y;'the' .edncah'6nv4hat ■ a desgiSed.' pro- • , fessor' could giVe him' in -.the'sighificance . of the zero-quantity!) , :■- ' (2) To •' the i; conditions, governing -/.tho Uhoice of fflibjepts'rfpf i'a degree,' course;- ' - The first of' these /can - hat'dly : bo re,garded as trivial, unless, 1 for example, the questionof whetheroriiot SirEpWrt Stout ' ■; .is a,member of the Umversitjf : 'S4ttate'*ba' ' / nl£o/regarded as a trivial', I' for jonc, would,be .the,last !to* maintain.. ih quas- ' tion, lhc- : Chanccllor ignores the following important .facts:— -. (a) Tho typo of condition which '. ho '/singles out for, comment isfthe 6ole j type. • 'represented; in tho, existing statutes. Tho' ; implication of the . address is .that , this .' remains the sole type .in tho-,' conference proposals, ;Whertas in the latter case'such conditions are-altogether the dominating condition that a candidate's . course of study must have been approved by the Professorial 'Board of-his college; , this is tho crux of tho new proposals, but ' it remains , (as a probably' sound concession to 'conservative'bpinion) ; that "a ' courso . shall not be approved unless' •■■■it satisfy" conditions of the kind ? dis- J , cussed by tho Chancellor. ; It is important . ■'■ tlwt .the point at N issuo' should W perfectly/ ■ "clear: the student to bo left ! free to. his own course of study under exceedingly . general: restrictions laid down by the ■ Senate, Or';is he)'to obtain approval of liis proposed course from i the expert' university body of.the district (which shall, . however, according to the conference pro- • iiosals, see that general restrictions of the . type in question are observed .as ia first Tequirement) ?i . . (bV The conference-proposals suggest tho -further' radical alteration- jthat ■ higher work ■ ("repeat" standard), if, undertaken .'for the B.A.- degree in any subject, .shall • occupy a 'ininimum of two .years' study— ' whereas the present- statutes ; present ' the . ariorniily. of 'a miiumum of two years .' the /best' students (viz.j those who have • ■heen enabled, by distinction at entrance, ■ to tako'.,the,.first' section 'of. work m one; year),- and a' 'minimum 1 of .i one year .for ..the 'average . ,(c) Again the-conference proposals sug- , "gest the option of "repeating" in two sub-' . jects for' the B.A. degree—a most im- ■: portant reform 'which! has been before the • Senate for some years,: but has not' yet found its way into the statutes. If theso suggested alterations .appear trivial to 'tho Chancellor, it would bo . interesting to know what ha, would consider momentous. Possibly it is - disappointing lo l opponents of reform :to' ; find. ''important reforms clothed in tho famil,iar language of ihe University Calendar, and > to find tho, way .smoothly paved for the" transition.; ' y. ; ' - (iv) .With regard toithe .M.Sb.>.degree,, . it is implicit in the 'conferenco.'rproposalsv : (if nowhere defimtfllyi'st'awd].','that when, a candidate's coii'rse is -by the' Professorial Board he will f.d informed as to whether M.A. ■ as a higher degree: -along-, that '' line. Criticism as to whether this will mean 'a lowering of 'the .science requirements" may safely be left for the issue to confute. (v) The Chancellor is particularly-un--fortunate in his illustration-'of;;tho thesis. '•'r'that "all the talk'aboul professors 'being; better ablo to deal;'yith -Subject.q-tUey. do not toach'than menibers of tho Senato • has been proved to bet solid; basis of fact." ■The ,-attainment of Ihoroutthlv satisfactory?' fo.lution of 'ths ■ particularly obstinate mathematics difficulty .was altogether duo to. the action of a large committee comnosed:'of alir/hp available teachers of irelatcd" subjects.-, ,y, fvi) Discussing the question of examinations, tho Chaucellor indulges ordinary quibbliiig about tho uso of term, whilo tho context shows that ho_ is in the fullest possession of the facts which the term was"designed to meet: the ''responsible University teachers", are .those ■who are Tesponsiblo for the University teaching in the various subjects.' no then proceeds to draw an equally extraordinary analogy between tho direct test of ! knowledge acquired at tho University and the final test whiclv it must sustain.m tho future career of the student.. The former is, of course, merely n-part of thO'"University work itself—and we maintain that it ought to bo in as close ii relation as possible to the rest of thaKwork, in order to mako tho work as intensivo as possible, and so provide ,the' best-possible training for the future career. -It is true that "the examinations are for the purposo of as- : certaining-whether students.have acquired knowledge," but this is precisely what a University examination system cannot be relied upon to do unless the teaching and examining aro in, the.closest possiblo relationship—providoil that tho teachers aro original workers in their subjects, as they certainly ought to' be. It is also true that somo students "may desire fo.'compete in the India Civil Service examinations; <?r in other public examinations"; but the fact that practical exigency /till maintains these Uses of what Professor J. J. Findlay describe [in "Tho School," Home Univ. Library! as "tho primitivo machino" of the' "British examination system"—a "clumsy failure" of which the continuance is, he says, deplored by educational au- . surely -no reason why we siould let it continue to blight our Uni-

versity woric in Now Zealand.. Professor Findlay puts the caso agaiust external examinations very succinctly when ho states that "as a test of attainment it is incompetent," and—moro fundamental indictment—that it cripples the initiative of the teacher." !

Tho comparison with Oxford and Cambridge haS been dealt with several times, and I gladly mako omission to discuss it now a means of cutting down a statement which is already much longer than I would like.

(vii) As to tho dissociation of professors With the entrance examinations "without necessarily requiring from .them tho labour of reading candidates; answers in large numbers—a proposal which went .before tho Sonato at its last mettting, and was then treated with lofty contempt—there has been obstinate refusal to consider the question on its merits. The point is that there are two distinct inducements to take up the work of examining for matriculation and for entrance scholarships: one as a duty to the University,' the other ,as a means of increasing oner's income. The proposal is that those professors who would :bo influenced by. the • former consideration, but wish to avoid the mechanical work of marking all the papers, should bo encouraged by giving them the pppo'rtunity of: examining in co-operation with an assistant (of lower status), who would get the chief pecuniary remuneration. The proposed system is ono which works well in other Universities. - .

L But'it is, further alleged that our suggestion in this connection is,contradictory to our proposals for degree examinations; with regard to which it is only necessary to say that, so long as tho present system exists in both cases, we want, to see that as good, examiners as possiblo are obtained; and, further, there ■ aro obvious reasons for giving the' professors . every facility to know something of their students' work, before entrance upon tho university course. But, on-the'other hand, we strongly favour tho remission of _ a special entrance test in tho case of pupils with 'leaving certificates from 1 Teoognised Schools- (involving no public examination); this, would leave the final school test I mainly. ..in the hands of "the secondary school teachers," and satisfy the Chancellor's desire on our part. It is very generally recognised that the glorificntaoii of itho' matriculation examination into a goal; of schoolwork is,having a most pernicious effect ■ lipon secondary education in New Zealand (as in other British communities). . ' ■ (viii). With regard to the categorical assertion that "tho. New' Zealand University/must cease to exist" if the proposed reforms are adopted, there for very wide differences of . opinion/ 1 ' There are. necessarily prcat difficulties in effective organisation- of a: federal -university, but the-Uniyefsity Reform Association upholds that; these can bo. satisfactorily, solved without disunion, and that it is well worth while to reach such a solution., It is littlo use deploring "expenso v '.. . . incurred,' and. time '. . . wasted, in discussing ; so-called reform," and wondering "if the Senate will ever bo' able to-grapple.with/the teal questions in the Higher education'that need (our) 'attention"; for'thov so-called reform, questions must bo'faoed'if there is ever to bo a,University' Senate in New Zealand able to grapple with real questions in the higher education. - . !