THE UNIVERSITY

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 192, 10 May 1940, Page 10

THE UNIVERSITY

Relation To Secondary Schools TEACHER’S CRITICISM Complaint Of Lack Of Co-operation The University; if it wished to continue as a major influence in secondary education, should attempt to make itself acquainted with the present philosophy and piactice.ot secondary schools, with the. -ligh standard of academic attainment and technical skill among postprimary school teachers and with the stagnating influence of restrictions even now imposed by an authority not charged with the care of the schools. It might also realize that a maximum of 10 per cent, of secondary pupils who later, went to a university did not constitute the schools’ sole responsibility oi limits of endeavour. These statements were made by the president of the Secondary Schools’ Association, Mr. E. N. Hogben, who is also principal of the Dannevirke . High School, at the annual meeting of the association in Wellington yesterday. Mr Hogben said that the opinions expressed were his own and were in no way an official formulation of the association’s views. The function of secondary school was to give to all pupils such intellectual, social, and, if need be, vocational training ns would lit them for a full and useful citizenship. Certainly the schools must do their best to equip properly those who ■ were fitted and who intended to proceed to university. But one should preserve a sense of proportion and remember that during or at the end of 1938, 13,805 pupils of all State and private post-primary schools left school, and in 1939, 1307 new students were shown as having matriculated at university colleges. That was approximately 9.5 per cent. (Taking that as an average year, it cduld be ssiid that only 10 per cent, of postprimary pupils eventually proceeded to university.

Non-Universify Students.

For such pupils their career at university would provide intellectua. training and would develop social consciousness and that spaciousness ot mind so desirable in this extraoidinaiy age. That the university will do for its students, but what of all those postprimary pupils (that 90 per cent.) who never proceeded to university, whose formal education was to cease after two, three or four years at a secondary school? Surely it was the school's duly to train those pupils so that when they left they would have, in addition to a mere storehouse of konwlcdgc, such alertness of intellectual perception, such sense of social values and such kceness of vision as would enable them to take their places as effective units in the increasing complexity of modern life. How could Hie schools visualize that as their task, much less perform it, when the university entrance examination, like the shadow of a starless night, was tlirow.n over the world?. The university, consciously or unconsciously, dwelt on one aspect of the school’s activities and seemed to have lost sight of the fact that the schools did not exist solely to sort out and train possible university students. Since the last periodical outburst against the constricting influence of matriculation, various authorities, botli official and self-appointed, had said frequent!v that the schools themselves must shake off those shackles. Most of tiie schools had made attempts and had valiantly persisted in them. The position was such, however, that the sole escape lay in the provision of vocational courses of study. The schools had thus been forced to jump from the frying-pan of narrow academics into a fire of early specialization. That was an escape to be deplored when there was among modern educationists a growing desire to protest against the present tendency to over specialization and to insist that mere technical proficiency in a restricted field of study was rendered less valuable, perhaps even actively dangerous, unless the application of such knowledge was directed and guided by a social conscience which could only be created by more careful attention to the cultural activities and social responsibilities of mankind. External Restrictions. To work out. their own salvation the schools needed to be reasonably free from any external restrictions framed without a full appreciation of their philosophy and practice. He said he was reluctantly forced to the conclusion that such full appreciation was not. possessed by the university. The philosophy and practice of schools had changed tremendously in the last two decades and it appears that (ho university was growing increasingly out of touch with them. That, was shown by its conduct of the university entrance examination as it stood at present, and still more by its whole attitude-to the question of accrediting.

With regard to the present exam innlion, Hu- co-operation between the’university and the secondary schools would seem lo have been reduced to ti minimum. There were moderators for university entrance papers, but they were not from I lie schools’ ranks. Of 14 members of the senate’s entrance board, live represented State and private secondary schools. So far so good. The schools could at. least make their voices heard. But the entrance hoard was not tin all-powerful body. Policy was framed and implemented by the senate itself on which the schools had no direct represenlartion. Al; infrequent intervals, also, the senate referred to the schools’ association points dealing with Hie examination, but that procedure did not appear to bear any more fruit' than the schools’ recommendations to the senate. Examiners’ Reports. The cumulative effect of the reports of the examiners for Hie entrance examination was merely to weaken conlidence in the ability of most examiners to assess the performance of the immature mind of the adolescent. One was tempted to assume that some examiners thought that the standard of Hie examination could be raised by such comment, as they offered The schools were just as concerned as the university to see that students did not matriculate till they were adequately prepared for university work. But over a long period of years what opportunity of consultative co-operation had been offered to the secondary schools that they might assist in Hie achieve-

ment of that common aim? He said he was optimistic enough to believe that had the secondary schools been given the opportunity for' full co-operation they should not only have achieved a higher standard, but in the setting and the marking of the papers they would have avoided most of those unfortunate occurrences which from time to time had shaken their confidence. The Academic Board approved of the principle of accrediting, provided adequate safeguards cenld lie devised. In its report to Hie senate the board putforward a scheme, almost entirely unacceptable to the schools, and expressed the opinion that Hint scheme would provide the necessary safeguards. As a comment Hie senate tacked on an amendment that the scheme was not to lie brought into operation till all Hie conditions laid down had been tullil-led. All that rather had the appearance of a smoke screen to cover the lack of force behind.

To consider another aspect of the proposed scheme, liaison officers were to be appointed: specialists of senior rank and university teachers wore to be in the schools. In between whiles the schools would no doubt find time to give some a I lent ion to that other 90 percent, to whom they owed something. That, of course., was not co-operation, but. was domination of the secondary school on tt scale that made their present dilliculties fade info insignificance.