The Daily News. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1901. EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 217, 21 September 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1901. EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN.

The British Council of Education has' just issued rerViepd instructions applicable to the' new code. These will doubtleps be reid with interest in New Zealand by everyone interested in the, education of children. The object of the course of instruction, ir is stated, is to convey informat'on to the minds of the children, and still more to stimulate them to acquire knowledge for themselves. To this end all lessons should be directed, and not merely the " object" lessons which are sometimes supposed to be the only effective method of attaining it. In the first years of their school life the children acquire gradually some facility in reading and writing, but this facility should not be treated as the sole end and object of the lesson*. From tbe very first children should be trained to read for tbe srke of information or entertainment. They should be encouraged to express their ideas in simple and intelligible language, at first perhaps orally, and afterwards in wri'ing. In this way they will gain power of re:. 1ing easily and apprehending tbe meaning of wbat they toem), and of writing legibly and spelling correctly all such words as they aire likely to use. These are the objects of elementary instruction rather than elocutionary reading and the transcription or writing from dictation a succession of words imperfect'y understood. Penmanship, spelling, and method cf teaching ere no longer treated as separate subjects, not because they are unimportant, but because proficiency in them may be ascertained by a belter method. A plain, legible, and not too orna*e style of handwriting should be carefully practiced. Spelling is a matter of habit and care, and correct spelling will be expected throughout the work, and not merely in dictation exercises. Composition, which is of more educationfl value tban dictation, should be encouraged, so far as circumstances permit, even in the lower classes. In framing sentences of their own, children learn to spell correctly the words which they commonly use. Scholars in the higher clauses should be taught the principles of the metric system, i.e.,' the systems of coinage and of weights and measures, in which the increase of value or of quantities proceeds by multiples of ten, and their diminution by multiples of one-tenth. Not a few children have suffered permanent injury to their eyes owing to the minute character of the needlework, which for this reason is largely neglected. Tbe code now, in a tone of practical good sense, requires:—lt is essential that children should be taught needlework without counting threads (a habit which is most pernicious to the evesight) and that their knowledge of it should be attained simply by training the hand to work with the eye. Materials and stitches should not be so fine as to strain the children's eyesight, and the practice of needlework of too fine a character will be considered a defect in the instruction. Children of weak eyesight must no 1; be given any exercise which will be injurious to their eyes, and in serious cases they should ba excused altogether. Coloured cottons are recommended throughout. Tbe objncfc of giving two colours is to test the childrens knowledge of " joinings this must be attended to in all cases. Great attention should be paid to carefulhess in teaching " joinings " and "fastenings" on and off, and to general neatness of finish. In cut ing out, more credit should be given to correct proportion and useful intelligent

[work than to elaborate or trimmed paper models. This applies more particularly to the euttiug out that may be shown as part of the work of the year, Oil the whole, more will be left to the initiative of the ttacber than hitherto, Tbe scheme is admirable in aim arid conception, but the Auckland Herald expresses the opinion that it is not quite clear whether the hard and fast; system of " training which the teachers , have undergone quite fits them for such distinctly original and interesting work as tbat iudicatid in the forejoin • , excerpts."