SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 353, 19 March 1856, Page 4

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION

We have received a pamphlet on the subject of Education, lately published- by the Rev \rthur Baker, the clergyman of tot. Paul's church, Wellington. Its subject is to prove that the Denominational System is the one best suited to the wants and circumstances of the province to which the .author belongs. We took it up with the intention of drawing from it, Cor the benefit of our readers, a clear statement of tho arguments which are in favor of such a system for a community like our own. We must candidly 'confess that' the pamphlet does not help us much in doing this. There are evident symptoms of its haying been written with the haste which, Mr. Baker tells us, was necessary. We venture to remind .the author that a cause maybe injured by iis advocate writing in too much haste ; and that he is bound to prove that it was necessary for him to write at ali before his apoloyy for necessary haste wiil ba accepted. What" we miss in Mr Baker's pamphlet is, not only a clearness of airangement and argument, but a fulfilment of tin j promise of the title page, that he was about to shew the especial fit r.ess of the Denominational System to the wants of a new settlement. About o :j - of the twelve pages of the pamphlet has reference to the particular circumstances in which we are placed; the rest contain some of the statements usually made with respect to disadvantages of other systems, and the advantages of the one favored by the author.

We have felt obliged to express our I disappointment at the contents of the pamphlet before us, in order to account for our passing quickly over the main portions ot'^it. Those statements, however, which bear on the question of education as it meets us in New Zealand we will quote at length. Mr. Baker begins by saying that, " the question divides itself into two distinct subjects of consideration : 1., one, relative to the nature of the funds for the establishment and maintenance of common schools ; 11., the other, as to the management of schools so established." Under the first head he mentions three plans which have been suggested for raising the necessary funds: 1., the compulsory rate; 11., grants in aid from the Provincial Revenue ; and 111., the purely voiunt&ry system. We expected to find a discussion here raised as to which was the most desirable plan of the three for obtaining funds for educational purposes. This subject, which is one of considerable difficulty under the circumstances of a new settlement, Mr. Baker does not enter into. He only points out his objections both to rates and grants if any other system except the Denominational be adopted. On the third head he remarks : — " I am inclined to ;i»rse with those who have v(;n!iueci an opinion that, at this early stage of a newly settled colony, all the iivjilsihlc funds wprr better atitninisieveii, even for educational purposes, by-appropriniion tv public works, such its means ami facilities for colonial inter-com-munication, than directly, by the establishment and support of schools." If this mean anything at. all. it would ap. pear that the author prefers the purely voluntary system. He seems, however, to feel that the indirect assistance he speaks of, —viz., "by appropriation of available funds to public works, such as means cind facilities for colonial inter-communication," —is rather a doubtful matter ; for he goes on, without further notice of it, "to the second head of consideration, that relative to the management of common schools, conditional to their receiving grants in aid." '• Four systems," he says, ""have been suggested for the purpose and partially dig-

cussed: I, the Irish; 2, the BritishC", Foreign.; 3, the' Secular; and -4 „ Denoiiiinational." I. The Irish system I been abandoned at Wellington, and it tainly is not likely to find any favor amo 061'* ourselves. 11. The British and 'Poreit^ s}^stem allows the free use of the Bible a^'' class hook, but prohibits other relio-'if a formularies and all distinctive teachh "* Mr. Baker believes " this system to f^ impossible in fact," that "the" Church O f England and other communions, as such would never rest satisfied with any syste ' which restricted religious teaching in schools," and that•■" tlie tendency of this particular sytem is to "indifferentisin >aml • ifi ielily." 111. We come next to \h e Secular system- Mr. Baker writes : —

" The purely Secular (or exclusion of rel'io;,-,^ system, though apparently impartial, 'seems t' (l :>ivn satisfaction ;o very few. The truth is j t ilois not answer, the pnrp.tse of educiiti',,,, ncoovriiiijr •(» almost any one's idea. The >>ie,-,[ nt'fi' hi v newly established colony is re'iai, m education. It is al! very well'V'o s;iy tlmt relic.j. ous education can he 14i^en by die clergy €>f Uie several denominations nut of school hour's: hut in point ofliici 1 here ;re n-'clergy ' perhaps of any denomination in certain districts; certainly not oi ail ; so thai the school may be tl)p only so nice of religion i;i a district. If secular >ctn.>ols uouhi he established all over the Province, they wouUl do very little towards civilizmg the p I'niUtion, unless a commensurate extension oi' religions ministrations were established; and schools on the Denominational system, at least to a certain extent supply that need. In the lack of .clevsrv. they become the evangelists of the country. The schoolmasters hecoine the ministry of a district. The school is- the best substitute for pastoral visitations and the pulpit. . i{ I repeat, the argument that children can be taught religion at home, or by ministers of religion elsewhere, always appears to nit: to betray a singular ignorance of the ready need to be supplied. Il is chiefly hecmise there is so little re.liirioii at home, and such a total lack of religious niiuistratiojis almost, universally in the country districts, that religious schools I ought to befes'ablishod, if.inly as a method of police, to counteract the influence , of-.vicious ! parents and elders, and, if possible, to carry through the children into families some parti;ll religious restraint." ;..,'.-

Mr. Baker also considers that the Secular system would be rejected by the. Church of England and others, ami " would introduce a fresh element of discord and rivalry into the state." Mr. Baker, lastly, enters more particularly into the merits of the Denominational System. He seems to suppose that the term is not generally understood. We havo never heard any other explanation given to the term than that it is the system in which the funds available for educational purposes are "-ranted to all denominations without, regard to denominational differences. The author gives various reasons for supporting this system. He says, " some portion or other of the community would be excluded by the adoption of any other system that I know of; in this, every citizen would have his fair and just proportion of the public funds for educational purposes." Again, "such a system would lead to a.wholesome rivalry of sects with a view to educational pre-eminence, and thus great practical benefit would redound to the State in the improvement of the common schools.' :. Again, " Introduce the Denominational system, and the ministers of religion would become agitators in the cause of education. Mr. Baker also mentions sundry objections usually made against this system, and gives his reasons for thinking them of no value. The objection that especially applies here he speaks of thus : — " An objection lias cunouslv been made to the Denominational syst.-m, that it multiplies inferior schools. It appears to me one strong

.....r.mieitl i" iis favour;* The only practicable ' ", of elucatinq a newly settled dtstrict is Zuttiplying tle schol)ls- °™ ohJect is t() fl.u-aie the people ; our complaint, at present, fh-it'we can get no schools of any sort. Surely, • svst-Mii which would tend to multiply how- "' "'ver iiiferii)!- schools, is a vast improvement in il -it. respect. I should rather urge, as a serious hiection to the establishment of large central schools, under any system, ili.it they • would discourage and swallow ...» the little private .lenomiiwiioual schools clistrilmied through the country districts, and atthesam.* tiure, owinjj t their distance from the lnunesi»f a scattered „(,pulau.>.t, would fail in ibe contemplated purpose." . In one portion of the pamphlet the author alludes to the difficulties of providing schoolmasters, and securing the attendance of children. He does not give any suggestion on the first of these difficulties; on the second, he suggests that, on the Denominational System, the ministeis of religion would be forward to " beat up children ai.d remonstrate with neglectful parents." He also u-ives an extract from a newspaper latter, in which an English Clergyman su^ests an Educational test for all trades anTl'professions in order to enforce education. Such are the principal contents of Mr. Baker's pamphlet. Oar objection to such statements as are made in it, is, that the authors of them overshoot their mark. In their eagerness to point out the excellence of their own plan, they forget the possibility of a fault in it, as well as the merits of other schemes. They thus drive into opposition many moderate men who would be otherwise inclined to favour them, and make thorough partiznns of others who have plans of their own.

Our own bias has been towards the Denomi.national bystem, carried out in a liberal manner; but we do not so far put our faith to this system that we cannot see its evils, as well as good points in other systems. We have preferred the Denominational system, not because we thought it free from imperfection and difficulty, but because we supposed that it had fewer imperfections and fewer difficulties than others. In the discustioa of this subject we would well consider both sides of the question. For instance, we know that that which Mr. Baker mentions as an argument against Secular schools and in favour of Denominational schools, would be to many minds the strongest argument the other way. He says " The schoolmasters in the Denominational System become the ministry of a district." The general question thus is raised, —is it the duty of the State to provide for the religious teaching of the people ? and if so, is the establishment of petty schools the most effective method of doing this? Again, is it true that "in the Denominational System, every citizen would have his fair and just proportion of the public funds for educational purposes." At any rate, the assertion must be very much modified, for no system would be more exclusive than the Denominational, if it were not liberally carried out. Again, are we to suppose that a system is perfect which, according to Mr. Baker, gains its chief support from the ' rivalries of sects' and " the agitation of Christian Ministers. ' There ought to be higher motives than such rivalries, and the desire of Christian Ministers to gather proselytes around them, which should urge men to the promotion of sound education. Again, we

*",'lnstead of one large aud good State school iv each district, you have probably at least nix small and indifferen tones. In 1840, in the districts of Sydney and Paramatta, with a population of not more than from fifty to sixty thousand, there were 200 schools, many of them not numbering more than 10 or 12 pupils." ' —(Report of Commissioners in this Province.) Surely a number of these little schools is the only practicable remedy for our present need! Of what possible use would ' one large and good Stiitß school' be, in such districts h. g., as Kanplikci or \. turiirapa. with settlers' stations four or iive miles apart ? lli« iciua of 'concentrating the young in -ufficient numbers in such school, particularly iv Che country,' (Ibid) is joost impracticable."

cannot at all agree with Mr. Baker that " the only practicable way of educating a newly made district is multiplying little schools." We are forced reluctantly to allow that tor the outlying disti"icts in a colony, there is nothing to be done generally, but to give them "any sort of school." Most cf these must be contented with a very elementary education, and that too, from the difficulty of finding suitable persons, given by very moderate teachers placed under little or no control; unless indeed they will liberally help themselves, as one district at least in this colony has done already to its great credit and benefit. But for the towns (sneh as Lyttelton, in which particular case nearly one fourth of the whole population of our settlement is within i-each of the schools), it is surely not desirable to encourage the multiplication of lit tie schools. We can not have good schools everywhere ; let us have them in some places, where the people from the country, as well a> the people in the toivns, may obtain an education for their children something better than the teaching of a dame's school. Every possible convenience should be given for receiving, in the town schools, at a moderate cost, boarders' from - a distance, who may attend either the upper or lower school. We think that no government grants should be pgiven to the town schools where this is not 'done. If such means be provided, and country schools " of any sort " be assisted as far as possible, all will have been done which can probably be done for the present. We very much deprecate the idea of frittering away all the funds in multiplying little The superior schools must be a general benefit. The little schools will be in many instances almost useless.*

And if we do use the Denominational System in our higher class 'of schools let us use it with no sparing liberality. We should not be oontent with Mr. Baker's requirement, that —

" Where only one school in connection with any religions body were established in a neighbourhood, it might fairly be uncle a condition of a public grant in aid," that children attendiiii>' the school, at the option, of their parents, be exempted from the necessity of special religious teaching."

In the particular circumstances of a new colony, the door must be opened very wide ; in fact the Secular system must be liberally mixed with the Denominational.

We do not quite agree with Mr. Baker in what he says as to the apathy of parents. In the towns, at any rate, there is a deep anxiety amongst the people generally to obtain a good education for their children. Many of those persons who make use of the common schools, feel the want of education themselves, and are willing to make many sacrifices to give to their children what they feel is wanting in themselves. Still, there is need of a stimulus, and we believe that far better than educational tests, is the simple remedy of libraries and literary institutions. A person may often do more for education by supporting such societies, and helping to keep them at their right work, than by fighting hard for his beloved system, or .making himself very active in school commit.tees. The library, and the news room, and the lecture, despised as they are by some, are one great means by'which parents learn the advantages of exerting themselyeo for thnr children's education, and by which also their children themselves can alone carry on the work which has been begun at school. The general tone of such writers as Mr.

Baker leads -us to make the following remarks in conclusion. There are few who do not allow that the subject of education is one of the most important matters which we have to deal with. Perhaps it is a pity that more persons do not allow that it is one of the most difficult. Perhaps it would be better if we were not quite so sure that our scheme was exactly the right one ; and, if we set to work, not to force our pet plan on the community, but to seek to find out the good points in our neighbours' plans, and to make use of them in bringing about the ends which we must believe all are aiming at. We think that the first question to be discussed is, what are the needs and circumstances of a new colony ? what are the wants and requirements of the people ? We were told in England that English society was about to be transplanted to the other side of the world, and to a great degree it was so transplanted. But we must not forget, while we cling |to the [old country prejudices, that the same plant wants different treatment in a different climate. We must not forget, that we are living m a very altered state of things from that iv which we used to live. Our religious system is changed. The classes for whom we have to provide schools, are much more mixed up together than the corresponding classes were at home. While people are fighting for their systems those most concerned are perhaps saying—"We do not want your systems, support good schools." Our belief is that it is the wisest plan to reverse the usual order of things. Not to get our system cut and dried, and then force circumstances into it; but rather to enquire fully into the circumstances and wants of our population, and then to come dispassionately to the enquiry, how°caivthese circumstances and wants be best provided for by the means we have at hand ?