EDUCATION PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 158, 23 March 1918, Page 9

EDUCATION PROBLEMS

WELFARE OF MEN PROTESTS AGAINST THE " PRESENT SYSTEM . /-• • ' WEAKNESSES ATTACKED. —; — ■<' ' t A publio meeting, called by tho New .'Zealand Educational Institute for tho ■ purpose' of discussing tho education and welfare of the children attending the yublic schools of the Dominion, was held 111 Godbor's rooms, Cuba Street, last evening. There was n very largo attendance of members of the teaching profession and of tho public, and tho meeting was. presided over by Mr. A. M'Kenzie, president of tho Wellington branch of the Jfow Zealand Educational Institute., In opening tho proceedings, Mr. M'Kensio said that a short timo ago teachers were in agreement that, they would not' call upon tho Government for further expenditure upon educational matters, but it was now held that if they were to do'justice to tho children and equip them for tho stern fight that them in the years after the war it was necessary that reform should be nmdo at once. They must have a public opinion in faTour of reform. Mr. Foster, who was called upon to speak, brought forward the following resolution: "That in view of tho strenuous year of national reconstruction and reorganisation that must assuredly follow the ' declaration of peace, this public meeting strongly urges Cabinet to at once overhaul the school 6ystem, particularly with reference to' size of classes, schools »nd playgrounds, examinations, and the ■status of the teachers, in order that it may bo proporly equipped and fully ready to discharge 'efficiently its important .part in tho development of the nation."

Speaking to the motion, Mr. Fos.ter said that he would endeavour .to ■explain what was behind the. mind of 'the executive of tho New Zealand lustiitute in this campaign. It was really the. highest spirit of citizenship that was compelling them to move in this direction. .The education of the nation should be placed fairly before the public, 60 that the people's-support should, 'be given to. the i various demands that the teachers think should be made in order; that the State -system . should be !' truly efficient. Teachers were not com- '. ing before the public with the object ■of attacking any! particular part of educational/work, but with the. idea of, showing, certain weak spots in ' tho system, and tracing them to their origin. Nor. were they animated by any carpiDg critical spirit. .' They were out to see , ; ! whether the educational machine, needed 'overhauling, and if so where and in ,-what way was this overhauling to be done.

In the resolution that he had brought •forward, continued Mr. Foster, he had tasked; for, reform in. four things. They '.were urgent and most important No one could say that the system lacked critics. They wero many, and in all elates of 'society, and when a system assailed from all points of view and iy all clause' there must be some reason Sor The general inclination oi'iaie publio when considering what iwas wrong with' education was to lay ■'the blame on the shouldere of the teachers, but he hoped to show that while they might be apparently to blame, yet they were really Helpless, and could not help that failure, which went far below the surface of things. To understand that failure parents'and the public had to understand, which' they did not yet, the great changes that had been made in schools and school methods during the past twenty years. > The five principal* parti of the educational system were, the children, the schools and their surroundings,, tho syllabus,'the teaching profession, and the .controlling authorities, and by the latter - was meant hot only tho Education Debarment but tho main educational chain •—the committee, the board, tho Minister Ut Education, and the . Cabinet of New Zealand, whioh should in the last re- > source express the mind of the people of New Zealand. To his mind, all tho : critics, from the 'Minister downwards, made this mistake.. They found the education machine inefficient, and in lookling for the origin of the failure, Hhey examined superficially, and had Ithrown the blame on the popular target, {the. teaching profession of New Zealand. The children were immune from criticism. The fanlt was not there. In the .speaker's opinion they compared very ''favourably with those of other countries, j and deserved the best at our hands. He ('did not find fault with tho curriculum in (the schools. The present ono was the work of one of the ablest educationalists jthat this country had had, in the person iof Mr. George Hogben. It embodied the'spirit of modern education, and it (provided safeguards for teachers, and ■gave them a freedom of choice which they

had not under the old system. If the

children were crammed and overworked ' -it was the fault of the teachers who did jnot interpret that curriculum rightly. Mr. Foster proceed to suggest some

remedies for the weaknesses in the sys-

; tern, weaknesses that led to inefficiency, i One of the first and foremost of these was. smaller classes, and for this they had support not only from, the teachers • but from the public. What was aimed

at in modem methods was getting into mental- and spiritual touch with the child, and the study of psychology was a very important matter. Only by Buch Mnothods could the teacher understand '■the jproblems (.f the child's mind, and get it to talk, to express its views and to imbuo it with, ideals and cleanliness of life and thought, and givo it ideas upon civic and matters. It was impossible to get that intensive teaching (as compared with the extensive teaching of tho old system; under the present conditions of largo classes. Classes of forty, and preferably thirty, were quite large l enough. Until the evils arising from largo classes' wero realised all criticism of tho educational system was merely talk. In regard to playgrounds and modern schools, Mr. Foster was of tho opinion that the Department was. trying to. remedy matter, but they should at onco get a grant and set about a definite policy of 'reconstructing old. buildings. 'JL'liere wero five old. buildings in Wellington alone that ought to be scrapped',' and there were four or five others that had been good schools and had served their purpose but should be replaced iii five yoars at least. The state of 6ome of the schools was a disgrace to a democratic country. What was needed was tho appointment of qualified school architects, two at least, one for the North Island and one for the South, _ who would plan and supervise the building of modern buildings. School architecture was a particular branch of that profession, and in America and England they specialised in' this part of their work. Mr. I'oster discussed tho weakness af the examination system, and thought that the headmasters should be allowed j to conduct examinations themselves, in > the interests of tho children, up to the sixth standard instead of only up to the . fifth. They wero asking that the status I of teachers should be improved primarily for tho benefit of the children, a fact that should bo patent to all. To secure efficiency a happy and contented body of teachers was needed, and that the country did not possess at the present time. The two reforms that were essen-. tial and must come wero the abolition of payment on tho basis of average attendance and the reduction of the size of classes. At tho present time the state of tilings was iniquitous. In regard to the former it was the teacher - who should be paid and not position. One of the greatest eufiereijs in this connection was the • baek-blocks teacher. Yet anothor urgent reform was the better payment of lower grade leach'ere. If the Department was not prepared to pay these lower grade teachers more than they are' getting at present then the education system _was doomed. The success of democracy, in this country depended upon its education. Of what happens to a democracy without education we had 'an example in Europe to-day. The purpose of education was to train the mind to think' and reason intelligently, and' if we failed in New Zealand, thoij the failure lay at our own door.

Mr. Hopkirk, while he enumerated some of the improvements that had been made in the education system within recent years, still had' many faults to find with it, some of . them being points which Mr. Foster had brought forward, and which he also stressed and enlarged upon. Ho considered that the inspectorial stafF should be increased, and that the teachers had done wonderful work considering the conditions and drawbacks under which , they laboured: i Our' soldiers had won for themselves a great name for. courage, for discipline, for obedience, for sobriety, for excellence of conduct, and he thought that the hand of the teacher was to bo discerned in these results. The reforms they were .advocating were not only for the benefit of the teacher, , but also for the benefit of the child, for the good of the one was irretrievably bound up in that of other.

Hin'dniarsh, M.P., strongly irged-teachers to fight for reforms. In lis mind there was rio questioning the 'act that the Government . had been iweating the women teachers of the country.A large number of women .went into the profession, and women for somo reason or another were always ready to accept lower wages. Ho strongly' advisee! the teaching profession to organise ami appoint lecturers to go throughout the Dominion and rouse the people to the evils 'of the system. Without working for, improvements would not be realised, for t.ha.Government was not' interested in educational matters, and' did not care about them. . ! Miss Sinclair also spoke, and a lively di c cussion followed. In replying to some of the views expressed Mr. Poster'said he was of the opinion that if the teachers were asked which would they prefer, reduced classes or increased salaries, they wonld on the whole declare for the former. It was not 'fair to aslc the lower grade teacher to teach under the present conditions. They .were bein? sweated, nothing less, j Mr. Foster's resolution was earned | unanimously.