TECHNICAL SCHOOL TEACHERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 86, 4 January 1918, Page 5

TECHNICAL SCHOOL TEACHERS

CONFERENCE OPENED IN WELLINGTON THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS . \ : In his presidential address to tech•Siical sohool teachers assembled in conference at Wellington yesterday, Mr. F. Neve, M.A., LL.B., B.Sc., head of the department of natural science in the Seddon Memorial Technical College, ! 'Auckland, again emphasised the need : for greater efficiency in eVcry department of national lifo. Such efficiency, he urged, could only be attained by making it the central aim of our whole educational system. It had been objected that this would be to encourage materialism and reduce the individual to a mere machine; but we must remember that we were living in a materialistio/'ago and oompetihg in things material with materialistic noighbours.

Tho idealist had said, "Let lis cultivate i justico, liberty, and truth"; but how, the speaker asked, would this bo possible for tlie inefficient? ■ We must be' able to demand justice as well as to • ndminifitor it; we must bp in a position - to assure liberty to ourselves as well as to grant it to others. An ideal ■ without the efficiency neededio translate it into action was nothing but s futile dream. It was on our skill in manipulating tho elements of our .cn- ' vironment that our ability to express our ideals was based., Postulating this, an examination of the ■ world's industrial statistics,for tho last forty years provided material for grave consideration. Not only had tho'volume of British products fallon off as oompared with those of the United States and Germany, but the productiveness of . the human unit had steadily deolined,

till now in many of the staple industries it was found that tho output of the) American operative was double that of the British. •• This state of things prevailed more or less throughout the Empire, and it 1 was a matter of Common knowledge that New Zealand was travelling the Bathe road.

Eduoatlon tho 1 Remedy. It was true that these facts had been-l ''driven home by the exigencies of war, and that, many expected the lessons oi the conflict would regenerate the nation; it was true, moreover, that eyesi that were sealed had ( been opened, but it must bo remembered that tho more opening of the eyes did not create the •power, to take advantage of, the newfound sight. An education that consciously aimed 'at industrial efficiency was the only remedy.. It was on the next generation that we must concen--1 irate, and we must see that they benefited to the full by the mistakes of theii fathers. Li his 1917. address the speaker had shown how } rightly interpreted, the primary course could be made a , broad and stable .foundation for the technical vocational.and secondary cation that should compulsorily follow. He had suggested that 75 per cent. oK those who at present attended the sec-, ondary schools as,well as all who re* ceived no definite education beyond tho primary course, should receive technical or vocational training; and at the same time outlined a simple means of discrimination in seleoting the individuals suitable for each one. He would now endeavour to make a comparison between secondary education on the one hand and technical and vocational education on the other. Secondary edu- < cation was essentially the education ■ for the clergyman, the literary man, and'the man of leisure, for the talker and writer rather than the doer. In a lesser degree it served the lawyer, and to a still lesser extent the student of medicine. As an education for tho industrialist, the agriculturist and oven the commercial man it was nn utter failure. In,addition to the enormous waste of time on latin, there was the further disadvantage that,'as a rule, the training provided in science and aimed at no. Bpecifio end. ' Both science and mathematics were regarded, merely as giving a Bpecies of mental training, and there was ' .little attempt to show their relation to arid importance in connection with tho ■life-work of the student. A knowledgo 'of thes6 subjects was regarded as an end in itself. It was precisely this attitude of-mind that had-caused so many important discoveries of British scientists to be thrown aside and left on the dust-heap, till rediscovered by Germany or the United States and by them put to practical use.

The Technical Side. Technical education encouraged other modes of thought and action. It led the student to understand the intimate relation between science and industry, and in all research aimed at some material advantage. 'As recently published statements ' showed a good deal of misapprehension as to the /scope' and tendency of technical'train ing, a certain amount of detail would not bo out of place. In all classes, whether technical or vocational, English, including composition, literature, history, and civics; science, including , physicß and chemistry; and mathe- ' matics, inoluding. arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, were compulsory. Broadly speaking, such also was tho case in secondary schools. But here we reached : tho parting of the ways. Latin, which- in the secondary school ■ was the very keystone of the 'system, was, by'the technical school discarded altogether, and replaced by subjects germane and leading naturally up to the student's life-work. For instance, in the technical classes provided for intending engineers the compulsory subjects were supplemented by metalwork, woodwork, mechanics, and mechanical drawing. Care, however, was taken not to specialise too soon, and it was not till the beginning of tho third year that the foundation was re- ~ garded as sufficient to permit the student to pass on to what _ might technically be called pure engineering subjects. The point to bo noted, however, was that the supplementary subjects, though in themselves of high educational value, wero chosen nevertheless, because of their intimate relation to the future occupation of the individual. Moreover, mathematics and science wero not treated ns mere. abstract studies, but, wherever possible, in illustrating general principles, theii application to some phase of engineering was indicated. The realisation that these studies were intimately connected with his life-work sharpened tho interest of the student and gave a remarkable impetus to' independent investigation.

' Again, in tho vocational classes provided for boys who intended to follow agricultural pursuits, the compulsory subjects ivero supplemented by woodwork and metalwork, together' with a' study of plant, soil and animal life. Here tlio practical side of science was very prominent. In chemistry and physios, though general principles received the fullest treatment, their application to plant and animal life was specially emphasised. For example, after preparing oxygen and examining its various reactions, the agricultural student would conduct further experiments to show the relation of oxygen to germination, and to the respiration of animals and plants. This would lead naturally to the question of drainape and soil-aeration. 'At the same time the occurrence of oxides in nature<and the work of oxygen in breaking down the roeks and consequent soil formation, would bo matters for observation in the field. Then, after the usual laboratory work dealing with nitrogen, nitrates, and nitric ncid, tha agriculture student would make ex-

periments showing tlio offccb of nitrates on plant growth, illustrating the process of nitrification, and tlio work of tho bactcria that aro responsible for tho nodules on tho roots of leguminous crops. In physics, specific heat would lio considered in relation to soil temperature with special stress 011 nil' and water content, capillary attraction would bo studied in connection with mulches and soil moisture; a consideration of osmosis would extend to absorption and root pressure, while the study of solution would include soil minerals and manures with their relativo solubility in water and root acid. In dealing with lead arsenic, copper and calcium, the composition of the various spraying compounds would ho investigated, their several chemical reactions studied in detail, and their relative efficacy in tho field dscovered li.v a series of experiments checked by suitable controls.

An Educational Heresy. Tho speaker stated that ho had dealt thus fully with the agricultural branch because of the wide currency given to the following remarkabl® statement of A. D. Hall, formerly Director of tho Rothamsted Experimental Station Wo do not wanli to receive into an agricultural collego a boy who has any knowlcdgo of agriculture at all. If by this Mr. Hall meant that- he would prefer to receive for agri-yiltn-ral training boys who had never forked or taken part in ngricultv-.ipera-tions on an ordinary farm 1* fcitudo could well bo understood. .1 t class farmers wore perhaps the:/nost prejudiced in tho country: ,1 Certain methods of tillage and cultivation had been handed down from generation to and to get the ordinary farmer to alter these was a sheer impossibility. Perhaps, therefore, Mr. Hall meant merely' to imply that 110 preferred to receive students before they had had anopportunity to acquire prejudices or those prejudices had had a chance to become ingrained. If, however, he intended to suggest that experimental work such as that cutlined above was detrimental to fuHhor education in agriculture, he would rot receive support from any sound educationist. The speaker had the greatest rospect for Mr. Hall as an agriculturist. . His treatise on tho "Soil" and his work on "Manures" wore used wherever agriculture was practised. But when Mr. Hall stated tliat, in the main, education must bo based on a study of the spoken and written word, he was uttering a heresy subversive of the cardinal principles of modern education. To learn by doing rather than by talk or reading was tho watchword of the day. No one would suggest that the chief aim of agricultural instruction should be to teach a hoy to plough, to use the seed and manure drill, or to handle tho many other important implements used on a farm. These, things he must do in order to carry out his experiments with farm crops and manures. But they were only incidental; tho true educational value lay in checking nnd comparing the results of experiments, on drawing conclusions, and in constants testing such conclusions till all possibility 'cf error was eliminated. Such instances could bo multiplied indefinitely; but enough had been said to show how technical and vocational education were designed to meet tho needs of the ordinary man.

Do It Now. It appeared that, roughly worked out, in New Zealand, the percentages of breadwinners in the different occupations was as follows Professional, 7 per cent.; commercial, 14 per cent.; transport, 8 per cent.; indefinite, 2 per cent.; domestic, 10 per cent.; industrial, 30 per cent.; agriculture, 29 per cent. ! It would appear, therefore, that only 7 por cent.' of the bread-winners of tho Dominion wore engaged in the professions, and it was for these and for men of leisure that the secondary schools were maintained. On the other hand,, over 90 per cent, were occupied iu agriculture, commerce, industry, and otner pursuits for which the technical schools supplied the only adequate training. Drastic measures, along tho linos suggested in his 1917 address, should immediately he taken. The great war had taught us that we must no longer allow things to drift; we must develop our resources and conserve our assets: the human asset was tho most important of all. For the preservation of tho nation it was the duty of the State to see that each individual had full scope to develop to the limit of his powers. The State must ensure that his education followed right lines, so that cm reaching maturity he might perform efficiently the nation's work. Tbia would mean, of course, a great extension of technical and considerable icstriction of secondary education. The dead language would he eliminated and tho dry Dones of science and mathematics clothed in a mantle of usefulness and common-sense. It would cost money and teafchers would be hard to find, but even so, this great and pressing reform should be undertaken now and not left ever till after the war. No man knew when the war would end, and meantime we were allowing our children to grow up imperfectly trained for tho business of life. It was obvious that after the war we should bo compelled to uso all our energies to maintain our position in the industrial world, and it was on tliose who were children now that the brunt of the struggle would fall. We must make sure that they were trained and ready to hear it. Sir Thomas' Mackenzie, New Zealand's High Commissioner, in a recent letter had said: —

If, during this critical and momentous period wo fail to take occasion by tho hand wo may lose golden chances that may never again be offered. No uncertain course ought to be followed and no risk taken. There will 1)0. great competition, and tho Dominion wili require to ho very alert and up-to-date in all her methods, if wo are to hold our place. Signs, however, wore wanting that tho people were waking up to tho truo position. Sinco tho inception of technical education in New Zealand there had been a Bteady increase in the number taking advantage of it, till last year in Auckland there were so many applicants that the limit of accommodation was exceeded, and the director was compelled, reluctantly enough, to refuse admission to many students. Surely wo should afford facilities m excess of the peoplo's demands. In matters of education wo should _ lead rather than lag behind publio opinion. The Seddon Memorial College, in its unfinished condition, was now quite inadequate to satisfy the insistent ■ cry for technical and vocational training. To finish the college was, therefore, a crying need. The tide had set in the right direction; everything should bo done to encourage rath"' 1 than to impede its flow.