WAIPUKURAU'S MODERN TEACHING METHODS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 72, 17 December 1937, Page 30 (Supplement)

WAIPUKURAU'S MODERN TEACHING METHODS

PUPILS ALLOWED TO SHOW INITIATIVE

Many Novelties Remove Irksomeness from Learning Process VARIETY OF CLUBS AS ADJUNCTS TO SCHOOL Much is heard now oi the new education " oi ihe need ior allowing ihe child iree play ior his own inclinations and permitting him to express himseli through wliatever medium suits him best. A parti - cularly progressive programme along these lines has been developed during the past year at ihe Waipukurau District High School in both the primary and secondary departments where, once the restriction oi the proRciency examinations was removed, opportunity was taken to give full scope to all forms oi whai is termed "project work" Fov long headmasters had urged the removal oi the irksome proRciency test, the preparations foi which restricted them too much and allowed little time ior anything ouiside the prescribed curriclum, Sg as soon as these examinations were done away with, the W aipukurau school decided to show its apprecia - Hon by demonstrating whai could be done with the added ireedom.

QUTSTANDING in the sehool's achievements this year have been •establisliment of a monthly newspaper, run by the pupils themselves, inauguration of soeials at which pupils and teachers meet on even grouna, and the inviting of businessmen to the scTool to address the pupils on various branches of activity. The installation of a radio and public-address system is perhaps the latest improvement and eertainly the one about which most has been heard, but the innovations made at the school this year are so numerous chat a visitor who is fortunate enough to be able to wateh the various classts a.t work, is really amazed at tlio departuves which have been made from the generally accepted idea of the sufficiency of the three R's. Hobbies Club at Primary School. A hobbies club has been functioning at the primary school since the beginning of the j/ear. This club at preseut

embraces pupils up to Std. 4, but it is ioped next year to extend it to include jtds. 5 and 6. For an hour eveiy Monday afternoon its members are lett to themselves to mahe and plan in woodwork what they will. With old tools brought from home they construct letter-boxes, icotstoois and all manner of objects, useful and ornamental. Another group specialises in wirework, while others ccnstruct models in Meccano. A stamp eollectors' club is another part of the scheme, and in this the pupils learn Low and what to colieet and liow to mount and care for tlieir stamps. It is planned next year to arr'ange for lectures and displays. A camera club is another project which the school has in inind for next year. Aeroplanes are built by a group which specialises in model building, but tbe value of this work is'not permitted to end with the building of models, for

the pupils are encouraged to study in conjunction with it the science of flying, and instructive information aoont aeroplanes is collected. Early in the year the afternoon programme at the primary school was redesigned to 'allow all classes down to Standard 4 one and a-half hours every afternoon for specialised work. These periods are Lalcen up with special work rn drawing^ history, nature study and geography.. In history, for example, the pupils make models of such things as King Arthur's round table,. the geese whose cackling saved Eome from attaek by night. the sliields of the Crusaders, and historic castles and 'manor houses, the construetion of .which encourages much research into -historical detail. The classes below Standard 4 are allowed an hour daily for this work. Geography Through Advertisements In geography similar methods are

used. Scrapbooks are kept, books are compiled by the children on each different country studied, and newspaper cutitings and even 'advertisements ar® made to yield surprising results. "Advertisements are a great avenue in reading geography. You can get a tremendous amount from them, ' ' a member of the teaching stalf explained to a - reporfcer. - "The children like building up these books and it makes them look for things. ' ' A geographical game is played with illustrated cards, and the children lceep reeords of their lessons in pietures diagrams and charts ratlier than-in note form. b A sketching club at the secondary school liolds field days. Painting and pastel work are also undertaken, and modellihg in clay has produced some striking effeets; The higher forms of girls do macrame work, wood-pulp flowers, hair-pin work, cushion coveis, lampshades, i'ancy work and smocking,

and it is aimed to include beaten-brass work and leather work later on. It is also intended to arrange a class of boys in similar work next year. At the secondary department, whxch is lioused in a separate building away from the main school, outeide speakers give addresses on such subjeets as accountancy, advertising^ horticulture and herd-testmg, these being helpful to pupils and teachers alike, besides mteresting the business community in the school. In addition to bringing '.he business communitv to school, it is part of the plan to return the visits by taking the children on tours of inspection over dairy fach ries, concrete works, tarras, and other places which can provido praclical knowledge and bring the children into touch with the outside world. The secondary school is divided into two "houses" — Tukituki and Eukeors — which compete with each other m weekly sports competitions and inte.rhouse debates. A dramatic club fosters the studying of plays, and a reference library is provided for the use of the pupils. The seliool has its own riflo range, cricket and football grounds, and tennis made t. feature in the summer months. Rapid development and improvement has taken place in the grounds at both schools during the last year or so. At the primary school the plaj'ground in front of the school has been cohcret.ed, and at the high school two new tennis courts have been laid. Lawns have been laid down and shrubs and trees planted, The playing fields were recently discharrowed. Social Evenlngs for Pupils. It was - indeed - a - happy inspiration that was responsible for the starting last June of regular social evenings at which the pupils and teachers of secondary and . primary departments meet fpr an .enjoyabie evening with games and competitions, followed by supper. Musical items are given by the children. At the final social for the year the parents were invited, and it is hoped to get a number of parents to attend some of ■ the regular evenings next year. • The magazine, which comprises eight to ten foolscap pages a month, printed on a duplicator, is a creditable production and commands a ready sale among the pupils at 2d a copy. Written matter is supplemented with slcetches by children even down to the infant . classes — and some of this work show? deiinite talent. The high school teaches four course — academic, commercial, domcstic and farming. The rooms are equipped with modern single tables and chairs, replacing the old idea of a school desk built in one piece. Every room has an open iire-place and franied pietures on the walls. The same progressive ideas are to be seen even in the infant classes, where the children are taught to learn by doing. Advanced forms of "free work" bring out latent talents in the child

Iaiid free-arm drawing and speech training areAegun at an early stage. i Introducticn to Mathematics. Gone is the old day when, to ihe accompaniment of a teachci tapping the bluckboard with a ruler, the class chorussed "One and one are two." Todav the infant class gains its iirst introduetion to mathematics through cards on which are affixed xound buttons in two colours. These the children look at and then ghe the answer by mental arithmetic. They learn to read in various wayu. They take a box of single words or strips of paper, and match these with others on a printed cardj they bri.ig empty soap packets and similar things from home to arrange a grocer's shop, and through this learn to read the names on the packets "I ahvays teach my pupils to speak, to tell a story, before I teaeh them to ' write compositions, " explained one infant raistress, and as she spoko she turned to a pieture in a book and called out a four-year-old child on to the iioo'r. "Tell me a story about that pieture," she said. The child, with no more than a second's glance at the pieture before her^ began: "There is a dog and some sheep on a road with some high trees behind . . . ." and proceeded to tell in good English all the details in the pieture in story form. This method makes the child very observant, and many an adult would miss some of the points which this tiny tot noticed and mentioiied in her description. It would be interesting to many %parents if they could return to school to-day and contrast the way in which their children are being trained to take their part in the community with the methods of instruction which were used in their own sehooldays. It has always^ it seern^ been cnstomary for ' ' grownups" to sigh for their sehooldays oyer again, and. forever remind the young folk that "days at school are the best part of your lives." At all events, there is no doubt that this assertion is to-day far more true than it has ever been • before. The preisent age is doing more for youth than has been done ia any previous generation.