E.—lβ

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that might be devoted to instruction. Arithmetic is taken generally at 10 o'clock, and before school commences the teacher should write on the blackboard such notes as " Standard V., Ex. 5" ; " Standard IV., Ex. 6 " ; " Standard 111., Ex. 2 " ; to show the desk-work of the various classes. At the time appointed one class will be brought up for blackboard instruction, and the others, without direction, will know what to do. When the class at the blackboard has been instructed and sent to the desks, they also know what to do, and without any loss of time another class can be brought out. Correction in the lower classes may be intrusted to monitors from the higher classes. Immediate correction of the work of other classes should be done by the teacher. The work in Standards IV. to VI. should be done in rough exercise-books (such as were referred to in my last report), and could be corrected at a convenient time. One objectionable mode of correction is used in some schools. The teacher calls out the answers, the pupils mark them right or wrong, and the slates are put away. It is scarcely possible to conceive a more effective means of encouraging carelessness and dishonesty. I have dealt with three subjects, and leave the teachers to exercise their ingenuity on the others. Good organization implies careful preparation of the work by the teacher. He must arrange for some classes to be taught at the blackboard and for others to work in the desks, for new lessons to begin where the previous lesson left off, for oral work, for paper work, for slate-work, for correction, and so on. Moreover, the lessons themselves require preparation. During my inspection visits, however, I saw few signs of it, and teachers would ask such questions as " Where did we leave off ? " " What is the next lesson? " before commencing work. Last year I referred to this, and here shall only quote from a well-known authority, Mr. Fitch : " Before undertaking so simple a matter as hearing a class read we should glance over the passage and determine on what words it will be well to dwell by way of explanation, and what form of illustration should be brought to bear upon it. However simple the subject of a lesson is, it is never so good when unpremeditated as it would be with a little prearrangement and forethought. . . . It is only by such preparation that you can determine how much can fairly be attempted in the prescribed time, what is the order in which the parts should be taken up, how they should cohere, at what points you should recapitulate, and how you can give unity and point to the general impression you desire to leave." One result of a want of preparation is a tendency for the instruction to degenerate into cram. The teacher shakes before his pupils the dead and dry bones of the lessons without vivifying them. Of the pass-subjects probably geography is most crammed. Many of the lessons in the text-books are mere outlines or teaching notes intended to be supplementary to the teacher's instruction at the map, chart, diagram, or blackboard. Too often, however, they are used as the only means of imparting the knowledge. If the question " Where is Rome? "be put, the answer comes, " Italy, Borne, on the Tiber," because the countries and capitals of Europe have been crammed in this order from the columns in the text-books. Again, pupils will state that the Himalayas are north of India, but cannot point them out on a map of the world, or show even in which continent they are. Physical geography, in particular, suffers from this cram. The passages in the text-books or notes in the exercise-books are committed to memory, but are not understood. The result at examination is that questions requiring the exercise of intelligence are omitted or imperfectly answered. As physical geography needs to be assimilated slowly it should be undertaken early in the year, and not left till shortly before the examination. In the class-subjects—history, grammar, and science—l am afraid there is as much cram as teaching. That cram methods are recognised and adopted I had ample evidence from some of the pupil-teachers' notes of lessons. Home-work sometimes engenders great dissatisfaction among parents, and in some cases, I must admit, there is just cause for complaint. I do not intend to discuss the general question whether home-work should or should not be given, but I wish to point out that when it is given teachers sometimes show a lack of discretion in choosing its character and amount. Its character should be determined by the school-work from day to day, and its amount by the average intelligence and capabilities of the different classes, and by the home circumstances of the pupils. A few general rules may be laid down. Lessons should be short and well within the capacity of the pupils. Lessons too long or beyond the pupils serve merely to discourage and check any desire to excel, and if only a few pupils can do the work punishment of the others is unjust. Lessons should be definite in object and quantity. Every lesson should bear directly on the school-work for the time being, and no lesson should be set merely to give the pupils " something to do at home." Composition exercises should be used with great care, for what one pupil will expand into a couple of pages another may dismiss in seven or eight lines. Lessons should admit of easy and thorough correction. Written home-work is often rendered worse than useless by imperfect correction. Sometimes the work is not corrected at all, though in this respect there is less cause for complaint than formerly. Written exercises should be but sparingly used. To those who are acquainted with the home circumstances of many of our pupils this is self-evident. Though the lessons are to some extent preparatory to the next day's work, they should be mainly supplementary to the work taught in the school, and should never break new ground. Neglect of this is responsible for much of the feeling against home-lessons. Take geography, for instance. The teacher will often hear the work that has been learned (?), correct mispronunciations, misunderstandings, and so on, which would not have occurred had the lesson been taught before being assigned for home-work, and he will then assign another and new portion of the work for next day. Now, the work assigned may present great difficulties. Names may be hard to pronounce, positions may be difficult to find, meanings may be obscure to the child, and, as the pupil may be so placed that he cannot obtain efficient help from home, the task is unreasonable. Moreover, a teacher should not throw his burden on parents, who, if they see that the children honestly attempt to do the work, ably second his efforts. Further assistance from parents must be voluntary and cannot be demanded. Now, if the teacher taught the lesson at a map, drew a sketch-map with coloured chalks, wrote difficult names on the blackboard, and used other well-known means of arousing interest and of