EDUCATION IN NELSON.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 219, 1 September 1875, Page 2

EDUCATION IN NELSON.

To the Editor ov the • Evening Mail ' Sir — I take a great interest in education, and have been studying the Nelson school system for some time pas', but I am sorry to find it is somewhat be'ow the Eng ish standard, not in the ordinary subjects, but in, general knowledge of things of everyday life/ I remember once visiting an infant school in Lungliolm, Scotland, where the o'dest child present was not nine, end >e& any one of them could tell me all about the process of vegetation from the deposit of the see 1 in the earth up to its swelling, takinsr root, sprouting, Krowtpg, budding, blossoming, and producing seed like that from which it sprung, in fact they knew something of the things they saw every day, whether of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. How many of the children in our Nelson infant schoo s can do this? Very lew, if any, I am afraid, ether of the infant or the mor« advanced si bools. The following anecdote is illustrative of the Nelson infant schools. A teacher once asked « child if she went to a school, to which she answered in the affirmative. He Hgain inquire i what she did there. She replied, " I sit on a form and a»y 'A'" Children not three years old are required to sit on a form, and to ait still too, and to le<»rn to say A B C, and spell ab, eb, ib, he, but th*y learn to do it by rote, just ae a parrot learns to say " Pretty Polly, and with as little benefit. Now, if instead of confining them in the vitiated atmosphere of the schoolroom to leirn nothing but the dry uainterestiug ab, eb, be, they had one object lesson a day, how much better it would be for them; they would take more interest in the work, and there would be fewer truants. At present they take no interest in their studies, and therefore derive very little benefit from them, whereas stories and explanations would electrify them with delight and proportionately strengthen their intellect, for it is an acknowledged fact that children, as we I bs adults, more especially children, learn quicker, and with greater chance of retaining what | they learn, by teaching them orally, for you will talk more into a child in an hour than you will drive into him by books in a week, and more real knowledge can be imparted to children bv a good talker in an hour than i they would gather from ten hours rrading. The remarks I have made respecting the infant schools are also applicable to the more advanced; and the kind of knowlclpe which appears to me to be the most useful, and which is apparently the most neglected is experimental science, and a knowledge of the science of the common things of life. What I should like to sec would he an attempt to introduce in our elementary schocs more of science, and a knowledge of scientific facts bearing on the everyday things of life which arc seen aud handled by the acholirs. I would have t»em taught the elementary outlines of Chemistry, Botany, Geoloiry, Natural History, ami woul i have'them taught the beauties of nature. I would have them tausbt to occupy their hours of leisure in trying to understand them, to find ; "Tongues in trees, books in the running streams, Sermons in stones, and good in everything." Now with respect to this part of the instruction of the young which is of a scientific nature, I would s*y that in do way c*n the teachers in our higher class of eUmentary j schoo's give 3uch a character of usefulness to their instruction as by qualifying themselves to teach in these subjects, introducing easy and simple experiment illustrating the things happening before their eyes every day, and which convey conviction the moment they are seen and explained; It U a great mistake to suppose that boys up to eleven, twelve, and thirteen canuot understand ele- I mentary knowledge of this kini when brought before them by experiment; it has been well observed "Precepts and rules are repulsive to a child, but happy illustration winneth him." " In vain s,halt thou preuch of industry and prudence, till he learn of the bee and the ant." 11 Dimly will he think of Im soul till the a-.:< rn and the chrysalis have taught him " " He will fear God in thunder, and worship his loveliness in flowers." "And parables shall charm his heart." To apeak of even teaching r.nything of science as a part of the education of our Government school children, or of the teacher bavirg such a knowledge of these subjects a3 to be able to bring it to bear up m his teaching is, I am perfectly aware, by many looked upon hs visionnry, by some as usele>s, and by others as mischievous. Now, m»ny of these are carried away \y theic prejudices against nich int-truction, without knowing or considering seriously what U meant by it No one denies the importance of a knowiedpe of even elementary science wliea applied to the arts of life, and how much the progress of civilisation and of the great interests of mankind have been advanced by it, which makes it the ivore atrar ge that it should have so small a part in the education of our young The cry that it is teaching too much, that it is teaching them chemistry, geology, &c, is very high sounding, but it is not teaching them these br inches of ccience; it ia merely making them acquainted with fa-rts of a" scientific kind which thev are perfectly able to understand — facts which open their minds and bear upon their occupations in life — facts | most useful and interesting to them, and | which, even independently of their usefulness, give a greater interest to education than can I be given in any other way. But I have noticed in Nelson, since the controversy on the subject of teaching Lvin and algebra in one ot the Government schools, that there appears to te a great fear of teaching too much, but it has been so all over tho world even since Shakspeare'n time, although I think few would adopt the words he puts into Jack Cade's mouth :— "Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting & grammar school, an 1 whereas our forefathers had no other to ks than the score and the tally, thou hast cawed printing to be used. It will be provtd to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually tnlk of a noun and a verb and such abominable words as no Christian ears can endure to hear/' There is one other branch of education which seems to be utterly ignored in the Nc'son schools, and that is drawing. It is a, subject which all teachers in England, and more especially fn Germany, must be, and are, proficient in, and which is taught in all their Government schools. Of its usefulness there cau be no doubt. Children are taught to draw straight lines instead of crooked onea, to judge of measures of length and breadth with accuracy; the eye and the hand can execute with tolerable accuracy wlnt the mind designs, aud accuracy of minu loads to accuracy of thought;— all this, even in a small way, in most oseful. and useful to a greater degree thin anyone ignorant of the difficulty of teaching writing eupposo. I believe a child will learn loth to draw and to write sooner and with more ease than he will learn writing alone The value of the education of the lower class, or in fact of any clius, cannot be sa'd to depend solely on the amount of knowledge given at school, but rather ou the tendency

which such knowledge h<*s to make them alive to the humanities of life, to fit them for their industrial occupations, to raise them in the scale of thinking beings, and to make them feel wh^t they, owe to themselves and to;; those around them; to open out to them these sources of fireside amusement and in-: strurtion which thia^age-bf cheap literature'" has brought within tbe reach of all. : The end of aU educntion ought to be to prepare the ri<ing generation for those duties aud situations in life they are called upon to fl'l, whether they hs "hewers of wood odrawrs of water;" of tho«e who belong to the lower, middle, or upper classes in life, to nmtce them in their respective station* good citizens and good Christians, and I think it will be found that, according as a teacher ittefs this in view, making lii* instruction bear fn the ordinary duties of life, or losing sight ol it ( i am speaking of a teacher competent to his work), he will succeed or the contrary.— Youre, & c ., NON eCHOLiE BED VITiE DxSCJStU?. August 31, 1875.