SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2105, 20 March 1920, Page 4

SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE.

NEEDED REFORMS A$D EXPANSIONS. < a ADDRESS BY ; MR. 11. A. PARKINSON. An address was given by Mr 11. A. Parkinson, secretary of the N.Z. Educational Institute, to delegates attending the Women’s Christian Temperance Union Convention,'at Wellington recently, on the subject of “The Schools of the Future.’’ Mr Parkinson prefaced hi.- remarks by insisting that the,..future of the nation ..depended upon the (•are and attention p.aid f<> (lie citizens of the future —upon the children. The children could not be held responsible for the future welfare unless they were given preparation fur (heir responsibility, and unless thev had been trained to appreciate their duties and privileges, politically, socially, and industrially. They must he led to understand (ha! life must be free and harmonious, both as regarded themselves and others. It was, he said, a danger,ous thing to prophesy ,as to the future-of education, hukfecently the educational world had been as mm*!* enlarged in scope by the inclusion of new ideas as had the geographical world by the discoveries of Columbus, and the old idea of education was giving place to the new, that the school Was an institution where (he young folk might live as citizens of childhood, that they might ia!cr live as citizens of the world m later years. PLEASANT SITROLNDIXOS. School surroundings should be pleasant and cleanly, and all looked forward to the day when the cramped and dingv schoolroom would he a thing of the past. When school surroundings were made as pleasant as they should be the pupils would develop a sense of. cleanliness and beauty which would be collected in their later lives. More ample playing grounds were essential, lor the school games had a most beneficial (died upon the character of the child,' as well as upon his physical well-being. WORK. Ho considered I bat I heir would not be any very marked variations in the work set mil in the primary school syllabi, for nolhing.was taught which should mil he taught, and notiiing could lx* left out \\ it limit groat loss to the children, but there might be differences in the methods employed in teaching those subjects. One very great advance would undoubtedly be made in the matter of reducing tip' classes, which alone would make for the proper development of the powers of originality and self-determination in the children. Without doubt this was one of the most pressing questions before educationalists. CONTINUED EDUCATION FOR ALL. He assumed that there would be extended education for a!! the nation’s young folk —whether or no they were fortunate- enough P> secure a free place or a proficiency certilicate. As it now was, the clever ones that could lake care of themselves, were cared lor, and who needed a helping hand in the way of better education were thrown upon the lender mercies of the world to iakc their chance. The altitude towards the haclcward ones had changed already in other countries, and if New Zealand was not to fall into the ruck she, too, would have to change her attitude to the question. Senior education would be twofold in its purpose —to lit the student to live his life and to live a life to the benefit of his fellows; and thus the secondary school of the future would make provision for the teaching'of arts and wails, sciences, agriculture, and the like, while literature would bo the mainstay of the mental aspect of the teaching. Literature, properly taught, afforded a stimulus to the pupil to appreciate the good in life. _ Children should be taught history, not only of their nation, but that of other nations, in order that they might have a proper appreciation of what: the nation had attained, and Hie geography of the world that lhe\ might have a knowledge of the peoples who composed the world. RECREATION. Recreation, he said, would not mean mere athletic recreation, for in the future the social club, the musical club, and the debating dub would each have their place in the senior school, ihc system should be co-cducalive, that is, the sexes should not lie separated, in orderthat the children might start life as they would live it, and learn lo associate with their fellow-citizens, and to live on an equal standing in the commonwealth.