TEACHING PROFESSION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 196, 14 May 1920, Page 9

TEACHING PROFESSION

; CONFERENCE IN SESSION ADDRESS BY MR. MASSEY The conference of teachers and school tospectors which is sitting in Wellington to discuss amendments to the grading scheme for teachers was addressed yesterday morning by the Prime Minister (Mr. Massey). The Minister of Education (Mr. C. J. Parr) presided. Mr. Massey was received with applause, .; He said that he was very pleased to see such a gathering of educationists assembled, and he hoped and believed that their meeting would bo productive of a great deal of good. With reBpcct to the appointment of Mr. Parr as Minister! of 'Education,' ho said that as Prime Minister lie had to do w'ith the selection of Ministers, and it had been his endeavour in tilling positions in the Ministry to select the gentlemen best fitted to fill the positions for tho time being vacant, without regard to any ■ other considerations. He had observed Mr. Parr's work for a great many years, and he knew-that as member and chairman of the Auckland Education ■ Board Mr. Parr had done a lot of very "bod work. He was sure that Mr. Parr !would not 1 make a failure of his task as Minister of Education. The Department of Education was a most important, -if not the most important one, in'connection with tho government of the country. ' There was no business of government more important than the education of the rising generation. No man could make a success without being properly equipped for tho battle of life with a proper education, whether' ho bo farmer, 'tradesman, or business man. The nation whoso people were educated Would always take a front rank among the people of tho world. He was sure that ; the rising generation of this country was in good hands, both in regard to the teachers who had charge of them in tho 'schools, and also in respect to those gentlemen who gave of their services volunI tarilv as members of education boards. 1 The foundations of the New Zealand edu-. cation system, in which he firmly believed, were well laid by Sir Charles -Bowen. when he put through Parliament ,his Education Act forty-three years ago. ; The fact that the system was adopted 'showed that the people in control in .this country even in those early days set ! a great deal of store by the education :of the young. So long as this system remained it would be a monument to his memory. But good as our educa-. tion system might be, tho children ot New Zealand were worthy of it. He had had an opportunity recently of seeing thousands of our children assembled, and the, displays on the Auckland .Do- , main, and in Parliament • Grounds in Wellington had been among the finest he tad ever seen in his life. Members of the Prince's' retinue, tho Prince himself, and tho visiting journalists, had expressed to him their admiration for the children of this country. He had no doubt that the future of the country would -be 6afe in the hands of the boys and girls of to-day, when'they grew up to ', take the place of the present genera ■lion. , He had noted with satisfaction soma remarks made to the conference the previous day by Dr. Newton on the teaching of history. He did not mean to ; infer that history was a subject entirely neglected in the schools of to-day. One particularly useful agency in the teach- . ing of history was the School Journal, ft most excellent publication. -But he did not think we were doing sufficient in the way of teaching British history in tho .'Gchools.; We were apt to forget the 6plendid record bf'tfce British Empire, the greatest record -in peaca and war that had ever been achieved by any racoon the earth, and there never had been a race which had the future potentialities that the British Empire had to-day. In Ms recent fairly expensive ' travolo abroad ho had been surprised to meet New Zealanders everywhere he went. - It appeared that there was not a country in the civilised world in "which, one could not find New Zealandens. It was a very fine, thing from one point of view to. have our young men going out to foreign lands in search of fortune, and' to know that they could hold their own with the people of any other part of the world; but he hoped that if would not be necessary for our young men to leavo the country in search of better opportunities than were available to them here. To this end we should endeavour to do more in the development of our cwn resources. It had sometimes been 6aid that the Government and Parliament of New Zealand had nor. done enough for education in this country. He admitted that' the reproach was deserved as applying to the war years, but at that time the Government had other more urgent—not necessarily more important—business on hand in,the. carrying on of New Zealand's share in the war. Now we had got back to times of peace, although we had still some, troubles remaining over from the war. He would remind the conference that at the lirst session of Parliament after the end of the war, when the financial position was known, nn Education Act had been passed by which the payments in respect of teach- ; ers'" salaries had been increased by £330,000 a year. A bonus had been given to teachers .along with.other servants of the State recently, and the: total cost of this bonus had been a little more than £100.000; 'The teachers' superannuation payment was now £43,000 per vear, and the contributions of the. State to the fund had already exceeded.! million. He did not wish to contend that too much money was being spent on education, for money spent on education was well spent. There might be a little financial .'difficulty '.before the present period was passed, but the Government and Parliament would do their full duty in regard to the requirements of education. Ho thought that the money would bo found, and if so ho would bo well pleased. His last word was a wish for • success of the conference. A vote of thanks to the Prime Ministor for his words of cheer w;as carried with acclamation on the motion of the Director of Education (Dr. Anderson). Resolutions Carried. Tho conference was continued throughout the whole day and during the.evening, The matters discussed were highly technical in character, interesting only to tho profession, and in a less degree to members of education boards. Following wero the resolutions agreed to: "That this meeting affirms its confidence in the principle of the Dominion grading scheme." "That the basis of grading .be under the headings of efficiency, comprising skill in teaching, personality, and discipline, organisation,, and management, academic attainments, and length'of service." "That the aim of the conference should bo to evolve such' a scheruo as will give every teacher the whole Dominion as a field 6f promotion." "That in tho opinion of this meeting in so far as the grading echemo can -bo successful, the present scheme is on right lines, but is capable of improve- . ment in certain directions."