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Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1921, Page 2

SomK observations oil new methods in j education ar t , contained in the annual ! report of the Inspector-General of Schools presented to Parliament, j Under tb,. newer methods of instruction, lie stated, the pupil may have a smaller Ixidy of memorised information, but what he has he holds and can use. Th,. present-day pupil does not equal the pupil of the past ill repeating a long list of const features of a country, but he knows more real geography. He cannot, as a rule give one a list

of dntes ami historical events, but history is of more vital interest to him. He does not know as many absurd rules in arithmetic, hut lie has an infinitely greater love for reading aiul much m-oater facility for English composition. and if the new education can secure the interest and whole-hearted co-operation of (lie pupil, the old trou-

blesome problem of maintaining discip- J line will disappear for the pepil will govern himself, while tho mental and moral effect of his entering int 0 the acquirement of knowledge with wholehearted earnestness cannot be overestimated, and must play an important part in the development of character. A note of warning should, however, be sounded here. During the period of transition between the old and the new. the educationist runs the risk of losing 'bis sense of relative values. Tin l importance of wluit may he called the fundamentals should never lie lost sight of and no scheme or method or education can be considered as luiving served its purpose unless it enables the pupil readily to acquire a knowledge of and skill in the simple tools of his prn.fl. The knowledge built up by painful effort during the past centuries will a closed book t« Hi,, pupil if lie cannot read and read, moreover, with facility and understanding. The field of mathematics is a barren waste if lie knows not th e multiplication table, and bis letters a laughing stock if he cannot spell. But the new education does not disregard the importance of the fundamentals and the only difference between the old and tho new in this respect is the manner in which the pupil attains a mastery of the tools. It has been impossible here t odo more than indicate the significance of this difference. To tlie educationist it is everything. Trained in the infants’ department, through, say. the Alontessori method, and in the higher class through some other form of self-education, the secondary pupil, the pupil teacher, and the university student will not as is now so frequently the case, show themselves unable to prosecute their studies on their own initiative. Their training will have aimed at making them self-reliant and ! resourceful, able tottat,k t , the best from their hours of leisure as well as from their hours of work.