EDUCATION AT HOME

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 135, 3 March 1919, Page 6

EDUCATION AT HOME

> i:v :,y: SCHOOL BUILDINGS THE INSPECTORATE ELEMENTARY AND CENTRAL SCHOOLS "' ' No. in. (By Fred. Pirani.) Our system of education is administered locally, and, to an extent which can hardly be over-estimated, depends for its sufficiency iipon the degree, of L pride which the ; locality takes'in its ~,'sohools, and upon, the degrcs of im.J,Portanoß' which it..attaches.to its eftt- ' cient ■ maintenance. In education almost everything de- ' pends nnon the personal, element.'. If . the teacher is good,' if he is thorough ~ln .his,work, fond t of-children, -alert, ''understanding,''sympathetic, firm, and • yet Rood-hxinioured, succesß is secured, Every teacher is not a paragon. Some have no gift, others little industry, and,. like ovory- Jone-seryicr* nro'es. eion. the teaching profession shelters men who have .outlived their zest end appetite for work. -Hon. H. A. L. Fisher, M.P. Visits to London Schools, As time was pressing l , I di-didod to visit only; .one; each of the different types of primary schools, the HavcrsNoek Hill School (headmaster, Mr. 11. J. Dare), Haverstock: Central. School (headmaster, Mr. I l '. E. Bairnes); and Bir'.ey House Open-air School (headmaster, Mr, A.' J. Green). A Central School. , ; The Haverstock Centr?,!. School, situate at Chalk Farm, London, is a typi-cal-day-time technical school for pupils of" both sexes" who havo attained the-age of 11 years. This is only a recentlyestablished (somo six years) type of 'school, and tho intention -w*s to commence vocational instruction at the end of the first year ift ths school, but in practice' that has "been found to be impracticable, and,-as far-as the s.chool I visited is - concerned, the • headmaster (Mr. Fred. R. Barnes) had utilised the latitude so wisely allowed a good teacher 'at .Home to postpone' the vocational .instruction for two yeair?, although his personal opinion is that the end of tho :third year is early, enough-to commence .'■

On my'arrival at the school I was welcomed by Mr. Barnes, who expressed. his. delight.at being-able to meet an educationist from overseas, and afforded me. ample opportunity to see the work being carried out and inspect the buildings and facilities provided. . Unfortunately, the high price of. materials and the ecarcity of. skilled labonr_ prevented, a 6cheme for.'building additional classrooms (for which land was available) being carried into effect. The present building was of several stories, and every yaird of space .was, fully utilised. The pupils numbered slightly over 300, and were. selected from-the primary schools in the vicinity from those boys and girls : who.-.are able to stay'at school till over 15 years, of age—partly from the results Of. competitions- •' for junior county scholarships, and partly on their progress and conduct .at ordinary schools. A limited number of junior county exhibitions, tenable from the age of 14 to the age of about 151 years,'are awarded to promising pupils who need .financial' assistance to enable them to stay at school beyond 14 years. The assistant' teachers are ordinarily - trained, certificated teachers, most of whoui hive made a specialty of some subjects, and as the teachers were selected after advertising, an extra JSIO a : year on the scale eajaries Is paid, while the headmaster is properly consulted in the choice, with the result that men with enthusiasm have been secured.. The assistants Comprise men and . women . skilled in practical geography,. practical mathematics, •history, science, woodwork, and art..'

THo reader -will note that higher salaries are paid to these secondary teacher.? than if they were purely teachers in primary schools—quite contrary to tho New Zealand practice. A tour through the-school showed me, that it was very .much, on the lines of'the institution I know best, the Wanganui Technical College, so far : as 'the'equipment and instruction are concerned, although, of tourse,the ages of the pupils were much lower. From what-I could gather,"also, one'drawback we do not suffer froni out here is that at Home schools of this kind'"are' attended '.'by""pupils, of only one class, ,tho'children of the' wealthier folk being conspicuous by their absence— cntpils who have the' advantages derived from wealth arid educated parents, who ''sh'oifld be expected.'to''raise the standard 'sf the;scllcols;, Still, T.must say that the. pupils I saw and the work I inspected gave me tho impression that a very high standard was attained, and that for intelligence, ability, and enthusiasm in their work it would be \ery h.ird to, find anything, one would like •better.,..' I' had ,talks with classes, and the _ pupils showed a knowledge' of the .subjects I asked about and a.readinass to answer questions which was gratifying in ■the extreme. ; ' .

■ After inspecting the school, I had a long _ talk with-Mr. Barnes, and.derived, considerable information from him. He" said that his scheme was to work the .pupils on general line 3 for tho first two yea.r3, and then he obtains reports from .the class teacher, special teachers, etc. iAfter an interview with parents as to .their wants for tho pupils' future employment, they are put in either the technical or the commercial.side. As a rule tho parents,act on- the advise of tho principal, and-Mr. iDare; showed me a jiuraljer of letters which prove the care he N takes in this direction. They were 'from soldier parents at. the front, who ■had been advised of the progress of their .children/ of their fitness for certain occupations', and of what could be expected of them, and they breathed a spirit cf gratitude and thankfulness for .what, wns-being done for their kiddies.

> Mr. Barnes has had seven kms' exipcrienco'.in ehargo'of central schools, and considerable weight must ha attached to fliis opinion that 14 'is the earliest ago »t which .intelligent, pupils should spec-ialise,-and that it is a wise step to separate pupils of- 11 years of ago from i those in the primary schools, and then-secondary education with a view to ascertaining their "bent" at that age. A most ingenious book is used as a record for each pupil, showing the progress made in reading, composition, spelling, grammar, literature, .'Hstory, algebra, dictation, arithmetic, mental arithmetic, geometry, physics, chemistry, nature study, geography, writing, drawing, woodwork, machine-drawing,! practical geoErspliy. general knowledge, punctuality, conduct, . cleanliness, work generally, health, and conduct; and this is signed at regular periods by the teacher and the parent. Opon-air Schools. The County Council has conducted experiments in open-air schools. Birlcy House School has accommodation for an average attendance of 75 boys and girls selected by the council's school medical officer from those children in the neighbourhood attending easily accessible schools who appear likely to. benefit by open-air treatment. It wiw rather disappointing to me that these schools, good as they are, were for delicate children, and, "therefore, not suitable for comparison with schools under the education "boards out here. Still, as an interesting experiment, the schools were well 'wortii a' visit. A staff of head 'teacher and four assistants is allowed to this school, and there are in addition a nurse, cook, cook's assistant, andschqolkeoper. The Shootor's Hill. .School for. an average attendance "of 100, and a similar staff'to Birlev/withan additional assistant and cook's assistant. The schools are beld six days a week, from 9 a.m. to' G p.iil,, except on Saturdays, when the closing hour is 1 p.m. Special attention is'paid lo the physical condition of the children, who are'kept under close observation, and the results carefully recorded. .The teaching methods employed are in several respects different from those -adopted in ordinary elementary schools;..>tliD onen-a.iu .life-rendcring such modifications .both possible and desirable. Each-school is ; under the direct supervision, of a specially chosen body of ileal managers, who interest themselves fc the .progress' of the pupils. and the general arrangements of the institution, ffhe results have been wonderfully good,

the regular meals and open-air treatment having a great effect in improving the health of tho pupils. Tho children seemed to enjoy tho routine of the schools immensely, and the teachers and others left nothing undono to mako the system a success, their-enthusiasm and considera-tion-for the little ones being a treat to witness.

Elementary Schools, Two elementary schools wero suggested to nio «s the most desirable to visit. The first I went to was tho Haverstock Hill School. The headmaster of the first (like the teachers'l met) was kindness itself, and left nothing uiidoiio to show, me the working of the.system. The children—all under eleven years of ago —responded fully to tho enthusiasm of tho teachers, whoso personality was very fine. From what I saw the schools wero very much on tho same lines as our own, but the latitude allowed to tho teachers in, the elasticity of the syllabus, giving great, discretion to the headmasters, was recognised as a prima factor, in whatever success was attained. It-would be wearisome to tho general reader for me to enumerate the course of stud}', but the' examination I made of the work done proved conclusively that, in theseschools at any rate, a.very high standard of performance had been attained. School Buildings, For years past the ideal school in the Wanganui education district has been built on the "central hall" principle, and ono of tho points of my selt-imposed "mission'' was to ascertain whether tho ipsi dixit of tho Central Education Department in New Zealand—that there siiouid. be no "central hall schools" on , the ground that they were insanitary, and that tho obsoloto system of corridors should obtain in tho larger schools— was borne out by expert opinion at Home. A visit to Mr. H: H: Perry, the chief architect for educution buildings was, therefore, arranged for me, and I found my way one afternoon, while convalescing from influenza, to Faraday House, in Charing Cross Eow, and in tho large department of the gentleman in question. I explained my mission, and Sir. Perry showed me 'numbers of the latest plans, and discussed their merits. His greatest difficulty was to get sufficient funds for the work he had in hand, but in regard to central halls he laughed to ( scorn tho attitude of the officials in Now.Zealand. He said that, with all their shortage of funds, the idea of cutting out the school hall was never dreamt of. In overy school built of late years there was a hall on each floor, and ho considered that without it proper con'duct and control of a school was impossible. I-was to return and select copies of plans to bring out, but my doctor chased mo out of London before I could pay another visit to the office. However, J have written for samples and hope to have 1 theni to hand shortly. During my visit to tho Haverstock Central School I asked Mr. Dare his -opinion on this point, and he was emphatic in his support of the hall as an 'important adjunct to a primary school. I asked him to give mo his opinion in writing, as a headmaster of some 30 years' standing should bo worth quoting. Here it' central' halls are good when they are accessible to class rooms and largo enough to accommodate all-the school and then leave ample room; they encourage the corporate life of the school, because on important days public announcemehts can be made to all the school, ceremonies necessary to good control can bo carried out, and the teachers and pupils ] are brought into closer, touch I outside the work of teaching; the headmaster is brought into more active relations with the pupils; it is possible to assemble them for tho opening of the school daily; they are useful for. 'open daj'.'.whcn parents attend and can s»et a good'idea of the relations existing between teachers and pupils; and they are i necessary for physical exercises and drill lin wet weather. If I had to plan a j school," he concludes, "I should havo I classrooms off the hall at each end,- but ! no classrooms alongside the hall, as such lessons as singing, drill, etc., disturb the class if there is nothing but classrooms all round the hall. But on no account would I. dream of building a ..primary' school for over two hundred pupils with-, out a hall as an'integral part of the building." The Inspectorate.

_ The _ inspectorate, -which numbers 117, including inspectors and organisers, is constituted as follows:—

1.- Chief inspector. 2. Four divisional inspectors, paid from ,£6OO to ,£BOO per annum, whose duties are to inspect and report on training colleges, polytechnics, and technical institutes, secondary schools, and all institutions of higher education aided or maintained by the council, and to advise on general questions of co-ordination. Each divisional inspector is an expert in some special subject, and may be called upon to report on the teaching of that subject in any institution of elementary or higher education.

3. Twelve district inspectors, at .£4OO to ,£(£•0 per annum, eight assistant inspectors at ,£250 to .£4OO per.annum, whose duties are to inspect and report on' the ■elementary day schools, and one district and live assistant inspectors for the inspection of evening institutes. Their duties are pretty well the same as in New Zealand. I. Two principal organisers, twelve district organisers, and a number of assistant organisers whose duties include the co-ordination of the work of the care committees, attendance at meetings of tho local associations and of the caro committees, to general assistance and advice, to organise voluntary workers', to visit and encourage others, to visit the homes of necessitous children, and to keep in close itouck with all relief agencies, so as to prevent over-1 lapping.' 5. Various inspectors, superintendents, organisers, etc., of special subjects, such as art, domestic economy, music, physical :exercises, infant schools, trade schools for boys, women's technical classes, needlework, handicraft, etc., at salaries ranging from ,£l5O to ,£'6oo per annum. The inspectors visit the schools at any tini£. that is, whenever they think it advisable to visit the schools.. There are besides a number of inspectors employed by the Government, all specialists, who, make a point of visiting the central schools about ouco in three years. As many as nine go at a time to a school and test the various subjects viva voce or in writing, or both. A Contrast.' - I cannot conclude my brief referenco to the London schools without remarking on the remarkable latitude 'given by the Education Department to the local authorities, the absence of any harassing interference, and the recognition, of the impossibility of assisting education by making the local administrators a target, for flio venom of incompetent officials, or of attempting tasks which aro better carried out by the men in close touch with the schools and the teachers. There is a spirit of comradeship between tho teachers and the local authorities which augurs well for the efficiency of the school work, ■ and induces the putting forth of the best efforts of those upon whom the task of inculcating the highest principles and assisting to develop the talents of the rising generation devolves. Everyone, connected with education seemed to possess whole-heart-ed devotion to the cause they so thoroughly espoused. [In subsequent articles I will refer to the question of compulsory continuation classes—tho ideal of tho Hon.- Mr. I'ishor—and offer some criticism of the administration of the-New Zealand Education Department and its officials and tl'.e system of education here; suggesting, with the diffidence which is so'characteristic of me, how it may be made worthy of flic generations to whom it should be the greatest boon we can confer upon them,]