SCHOOL IDEALS AND METHODS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2774, 18 May 1916, Page 4

SCHOOL IDEALS AND METHODS

Speaking in the House of Representatives 011 Tuesday afternoon, tho Minister of Education (the Hon. J. A. Hanan) expressed a desire to make some radical Changes in our education system, more' especially in regard to technical and agricultural instruction. The war lias emphasised tho _ need for educational reform. Eminent educationists in Britain hold J;hat when the war is over the reorganisation of the British school system should be undertaken. Tho present crisis has taught tho Empire some useful_ lessons in connection with tho training of the young, and the valuable experience gained ought not to bo wasted. Similar ideas have been, expressed in New Zealand. The opinion is widely hold that there is something fundamentally wrong with our educational methods. They must bo reconsidered and remodelled. But the present is not an opportune time for extensive alterations. Compared with the winning of the war all other matters are of secondary importance. The Minister realises that the radical reforms which he has in mind cannot be carried out just now, but we can plan and prepare. Our system of education is good up /to a certain point, but it is lacking in thoroughness and efficiency. It is not in sufficiently close touch with tho daily life of the nation.- It is deficient in power to fit childen for the performance of their duties as" breadwinners and as citizens. It is easier to point out the weak spots than to discover the renjicdies for them. Why is it that the youth of to-day have a dislike for industrial work? Why do they prefer light and genteel employment to industrial work in town or country? These, and other similar, questions, are more easily asked than answered, but thero can be no doubt that tho prevailing ideals and methods of education arc in a large measure responsible for the unwillingness of so many young pc9plo to do tho sort of work upon which the development of the resources of the Dominion so largely depends. More fcimo and attention will certainly have to be devoted to technical instruction. The writer of an article wh'ich recently appeared in The Times Educational Supplement, contends that the English educational system, "which is from tho teaching point of view very good up to tho age o! 11, must adopt

new methods of teaching between the years of 11 ancl 15, and must 'in these years givo the child a real preparation for life. And the educational principle of the aftercare of school children—that is to say v the provision, in some form or aiiother, of suitable technical training as well as suitable watchfulness over physical conditions—must be brought into play." These theories and suggestions seem sound enough, but experience shows that it is very difficult/to translate general principles into a workable scheme of educational reform.