MORAL INSTRUCTION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2200, 13 July 1914, Page 9

MORAL INSTRUCTION.

Sir, —I wish, with your permission, to leorreftl'a-'slightfmisapprehension which. 'seems,td have j becrn 'CTedted-by a remark' .'of 'Mryji-Yeatsla Synod's \deputa- ; tion .to Me"'Priiaeminister/;.ln tlio : first'.'iilace, vl.' ; wotild 'express;iny; entire \ , i'ereem ; eht';'with';''aH speaker; eilid, • {' espeptj'ipefhaps,;^ ■>>liis.'- statement;: yis;V : 'hp 'moral, -teaeliiug in : -the,schools."" When, fliowever.'he says that.ho has "neverlieardi of t moral 'teaching,* in , any - of -thoir hearers to. iiippose that iio.'echeines 'of work containvany' explicit Tptererice .to moral teachin'g.'r-'This assumption', if it : .could .be:, proved,-.would}throw; disgrace oh .the wholo- profession.; Happily,: it is false. Thero is a large number, of teachers v/ho hrmly believe nvdu'cct moral teach--irig^-by;:,''direct" 1 do .not 'mean --, ali"jStraCt j ethical :;preaching—and_ • who; are ' striving.'to such' into their ..Let;'me , quote from a scheme .of . work-'lised ;in' a. . small- comitry. school m tlie Wellington district for-the year '1913. '.I)ndei' tho heading of -i'Moi® Instruction and Training" appeal's the following.— , , ;/ : ,l'lV:;Adapted; 'stories {'illustrating' : ffie. beauty -'of-'.virtuo' and '.flie midelj cf •vice, ,I'rinciples of tho moral law in their relation, to God. . ■ . Evory opportunity will be,availed of to; inculcate, cood -habits and a sense ;of .; dut£ ; : and>;'to :■ develop the.' consci-, cnce." . In .connection with part/1, tlio material was' drawn from . various sources, including the Bible. ■- I shall probably bo challenged to show - how the schemo was worked, as moral, instruction is not allowed a sep-, arate'place'on/tlio'time-tables.', For the ijenefifc 'of my fellows^who aro ; anxious to ovei'cdmo' the; difficulty,' I shall explaiiu' For the tliird half-hour,on Friday nftcriipons tho subject sot down for : the ■whole school 'was' a 'story! In the timeanalysis this'fo'uiul its place as.history. But this!was! not a 11.,' . The space, thus, liiarked "story" was' : crossed, "Moral Lesson" : ';and : whether the lessori trbiir taiiiejl; facts- or fiction it was always 6electedifor moral content "as occasion und. foresight might demand.'" I liavo not yet found any.inspector who takes exception to' this system; and,' if. objec-. tion were made, I believe , that the teacher'a-position !would: be quite, maintainable. ' .-If such a plan were worked in all •schools there. would be little' neort for Bible-in-schoois, but, /, as. Mr. Yeats points out,; the' moral ...side" of" cflucalion is, on tho whole,' sadly: neglected, and calls, for the immediate intCrrention in some direction. or another of ,those' 1 who are most directly concerned —tho parents.—l am, eto., JAMES & MACKENZIE Wellington, July 11,1914. . i