UNITY.IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 173, 16 April 1919, Page 4

UNITY.IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION

ADOTESS BY MISS: COAD.' In.- tho course of air address' given on Monday evening at the annual meeting of the. Wellington Women Teachers' Asso-ciation,''Miss-Coad spoke'of'the unity of tho teaching profession,. This unity,'she' tiaid, meant tnat ill sorts and conuitioiu of men, and women teAchers iromthc kindergarten to. I'm) university should unite in one large organisation. To some people unity-, ot the . profession;.-,meant unity, of .control, nnd that was. not incompatible with such, an -.organisation; in'taot, it rather encouraged it.. .-Unity' did not mean a Head level of uniformity. Teachers were not sheep or tltl'r nips,''and any attempt'in that direction would mean 'failure-/from the ouiset. The: unity that was aimed'at ,was ; one that would, leave plenty of scope 1 for Variety— a unity'in which men and women,. primary,' secondary, technical and university) would all'' follow their., bent/in regard to the necessities of. their individual cases. Notwithstanding, this varieiy, continued Miss Coad, there would si ill be cer.tiiiii fundamentally 'important ijues- : tioiis.'.upon which 'most' touchers. could .agree, and'in these'anat'ters—question's df payment,, -conditions,, '.curriculum, eft., unity would prove to be a soured of strength. .■..•,

Lately it had become somewhat of n habit in-certain directions, to look askauce at (he Women Teachers' Association, and yet these associations had done much good. Through them, women teachers had become articulate, and without them, they felt that their pointoo f view. was. liable to be overlooked;' On such matters as the education of girls, the-conditions' and .pay of women teachers, these'associations had given opportunities for discussion, by women teachers, and they exorcised fin- integrative, rather.-than a <lis-. integrative, effect upon the profession. On the other hand the literature On tho pay and position, of ( women teachers recently issued by certain men teachers' organisations' was calculated to have a harmful effect if taken seriously'..

Jit regard -to primary' mid secondary teachers; said Miss Coad, no doubt they wero well organised \within their ' own compartments, butwliat would, that avail, when the connecting links between, the two were so slight. The secondary education was "changing with tho times,' and-money spoilt : upon, primary education- would be .wasted if "secondary education were going to be' neglected, For 'this reason people 'were 'advocating a new stock-taking over the whole 'field. Suck questions as tho size' of classes,' salary, curriculum,-etc., needed to bo'considered iii' relation to primary school conditions. The size of classes was increasiiig in the secondary schoDls and' uiidei •present condition this was likely to'bring disaster in its' train. In regliKl-'td the curriculum the advantages of i a closer connection' between primary and' secrindary schools were obvious. The subjects common to both were English, geography, arithmetic, and history. In the proficiency examination arithmetic seemed .tobe the'-'deciding .'factor. Good work 'in other subjects brought fow : compensations if arithmetic were weak. The child went, to the secondary school and found''runt 'there English was of-more value than arithmetic in the examinations. It "car; ried tho greatest.- number"'.-of'- ln'a.xiinum marks in senior free place, civil service,and matriculation:' it was the'god of secflnditry education. "' -.'"/- ■ lii-history and geography,' too; the oiirricnliim needed ' overhauling ''with a view to •'more eo-ordination'and to avoid overlapning. ' A great deal of cal geograpliv taught in the primary schools' was beyond the comprehension of the,average pupil,• and could well )». dropped at that stage.' Concerning salaries a sad story could be unfolded. . .In conclusion Miss Coad : urged that unity -was strength,'sectionally .is well as generally, and one of the biggest prob-lems-that educational authorities would be. called' upon to face.would be > tliat of. the unity of-the teaching profession.' .