TEACHING COMMERCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1025, 16 July 1930, Page 11

TEACHING COMMERCE

TRAINING WANTED NEED OF COLLEGE COURSE ‘ Whilo the Auckland Training College is not at present equipped lor giving any special training in commercial subjects, it would be possible to give students who wish to follow up this type of work opportunities for practice under the direction of the college staff.” Thus said a letter from the principal, Mr. D. M. Rae, received by the Education Board at a meeting this morning in reply to a request for information made by the board recently. At present, second-year students are allowed to take special classes in either infant, primary or secondary teaching. If the board desired provision made for trainees who wished to teach commercial subjects in district high schools, it would be possible to give a limited number, about four, of tho latter group teaching practice at the Technical College. When appointing them as probationary assistants, tho board might secure the co-opera-tion of the department and the Technical College Board to give these students a year on the staff of a technical college where they could complete their training before taking over their work in a district high school. “I believe that in this way good work could b© done, but would point out that it is widely held today that actual business experience is indispensable as part of the training of the teacher of commercial subjects,” continued tho letter. “In order to give opportunity for this business training in addition to important training college experience in pedagogy, the board would have to face a training course of at least five years. Trainees would be drawn from the technical colleges where they have been student-teach-ers with special aptitude for and training in commercial work ” Mr. Rae then recommended that the board should press for a comprehens*v© . department for post-primary training at the training college and, as a temporary measure, have the needs of the district high schools met by training third-year students in cooperation with the Technical College.