PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1185, 16 December 1913, Page 4

PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY.

METHODS OF EDUCATION

A CONTRAST

The advantages of a practical education was mentioned in the Chief Inspector’s report at the last meeting of the Wanganui Education Board, when he commented upon the results of the rural class pupils’ work, and compared it with the present fever for examinations. The extract was as follows :—“ Within the last few days I have seen a number of our Rural Class pupils at work, one section in sheep-shearing and wool-classing in the Feildiug District, and another in a factory in the Northern District. The testimony of the different practical men interested, regarding the work done by the boys, happens to be exactly the same effect, and that is that the boys could bold their own with the regular hands, and with practice could excel them. Indeed, the manager of the Dairy Factory expressed his willingness to employ the boys at what might be considered men’s wages, and the sheep-owner expressed his willingness to band the shearing of his flock over to them on conditions not dissimilar. The inference is perfectly clear; the work that the boys are doing at the schools qualifies them to undertake, with every prospect of immediate success, practical work on the farm or in the dairy factoiy. In the meantime young people are flocking to the different public examinations by the hundred, many of them in the vague expectation that the passing of the examination will supply them with a magic key that will unlock the gates leading to promotion and success. One must recognise the necessity of examinations for young people who wish to enter upon certain walks of life, but one must also recognise the fact that a large number ot candidates, even if they pass their examinations, are doomed io ultimate disappointment, for the simple reason that the supply is greatly in excess of the demand. It should be sufficient proof to point to the fact that no public service examination has been open to girls this year. There is a monstrous idea prevalent amongst parents, fostered, I am sorry to say, by some teachers, that examination work is superior to practical work, not merely in kind, but, worse still, that it indicates the superior mental status of the pupils. If it were ouly possible for such people to see the practical work done by our Rural Class boys, where every separate operation requires perception, judgment, skill aud adaptation of means to ends, something might be done to destroy this lamentable illusion.”