STUDYING THE CHILD

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 148, 18 March 1920, Page 7

STUDYING THE CHILD

: 0 — PSYCHOLOGY IN EDUCATION. " "The Application of Psychology to tho Teaching Profession" was the" subject of an address by Professor T. Hunter to the Women Teachers' Association last night. Ho said that psychology, the study of the normal and abnormal mind, was bound to have an increasing part socially, industrially and medically. Modern scientific conceptions were of very recent growth, and they, were held ont feebly by the majority of people. This was particularly the case with' the sit-ial sciences of which 'psychology was cr,o. . But students had realised that tho old haphazard habits of thought lutd to bo dropped in dealing with these social sciences, which were subject lo law and •to evolution. The psychologists looked > nfron the human organism as being:governed by law..-He realised that urtiiin conditions would produce certain results, that things did not happen -.without cause. This was tho basis, of tho advance that had been made in methods of education. The war had a tiomen- * dous effect upon psychology. The new movements did not seem to have n-athed New Zealand, but in Britain; Euroi.it', and America the psychologists had become established as tho experts who dealt with the problems, of allotting men and women to occupations, and "f iisMgning lines of and effort to tho young. New Zealand's educational authorities had failed to realise the enormous importance' of the new knowledge. • Professor Hunter quoted the Montessori system as an, example.of practical psychology. The theory on whict that sys- • tem had been "built was founded on a study of psychology in the European clinics. Some people thought tint education was merely • the imparting of tho teacher's knowledge to the child, and that it proceeded only in the school. Education, as a matter of fact, pro- ■ ' ceeded right through the life of the child, in school, and ,out of it, and . its factors 'included . everything that entered into that life. Childrenwe're not all tho spjne, and. ; enlightened people no longer . believed that they could be classified according to age, or their knowledge of arithmetic, or any other torinula. Tie New Zealand Senate, which had twice' refused to allot junior scholarships to the" children at tho head of the list, on the score of their being under ago, had not yet realised ■ this elementary fact. The diversity of children was tho reason why no teacher could give real education to a large class, i Class teaching meant mechanical teaching, which did not take count of the . faculties and capabilities of the'individual children, ,'iho psychologist' had not . evolved any means of determining exactly the attributes of every child. But :he ■ had worked out tests and studies that < made it possible for the teacher to deter- • mine broadly the treatment that a child ] required, 'i'ho • reason why thesfe new < methods, of proved and undisputed value, i were not generally adopted was that'they < cost money. Tho emotions had an inti- i •mate relation to mental and physical de- ; j Velopment. What sort of impression had i the Mount Cook and Clyde Quay Schools, i for example, on the emotions? Professor j •'Hunter .presented some of the facts and 1 problems oi psychology. He dealt with | the-psycljology of fatigue and. of morals, < . and pointed to the community's lack of { ' knowledge of the real meanjng of < ■ education. A peoplo that realised that ,i ..the future of the race rested-in the ] •hands of the teacher." would not con- i tinue to neglect tho schools and the edu- i cation system. / Some discussion followed the'address. ; Professor Hunter was accorded a hearty j .vote of thanks by tl(c meeting.' . i ' 1 '' ~ . ■ i