83

E.—s

is satisfactory. In almost all the infant departments some form of handwork—usually paperfolding or paper-cutting —is taken up, and work of a cognate kind is taken by pupils in the lower standard olasses. But it is only in the Gore, East Gore, Invercargill, and suburban schools that the course has been so organized and developed as to lead from paper cutting and folding in the junior classes through plasticine and cardboard modelling to woodwork in the upper classes. The value of the training in woodwork that the pupils receive under Mr. Brownlie is undoubted, and evidence is furnished as to its educational work by the interest it stimulates, the inventiveness it engenders, as well as by the dexterity it cultivates. In the case of the girls in the upper classes in the schools mentioned above, cookery takes the place of woodwork for boys. Under tire capable direction of Mrs. Turner, these girls study, in the school kitchen as an experimental laboratory the laws of health so far as these relate to the preparation of food, and acquire an expertness in the art of cookery and in at least some of the details of home management that cannot fail to make for tire stability and happiness of family life. As in respect of woodwork, we greatly desire to see an extension of the opportunities now within reach of pupils for acquiring a knowledge of this indispensable branch of domestic science. Twenty-two classes in elementary agriculture were in operation during the year, and in most of these fairly satisfactory work was accomplished. Both teachers and pupils evince an interest in the school gardens, and in some localities they receive the hearty sympathy and support of the parents. The instruction given in these classes will not make a pupil a farmer—it is not intended to do so ; but if it succeeds —as undoubtedly it does succeed—in developing in him a love for the beautiful, and an intelligent interest in his environment; if it gives a practical direction to naturestudy, and furnishes an elementary knowledge of agricultural processes by means of practical illustrations; if it cultivates a taste for rural occupations, and a bias towards country life, then the inclusion of elementary agriculture in our school curriculum is amply justified. Extract from the Report of the Director of Technical Instruction. There are 172 schools in the Education District of Southland, and in 160 of them handwork in one form or other has now a place in the curriculum of the school. This is good. An expert writes, ''It is universally recognised that to arouse interest one must promote activity: that 'to do is to know.' If in teaching a child one can make him actually do something himself, can guide him to create something really his own, then one has found a means surer than any other of arousing dormant and holding vagrant faculties, has opened a clear path to whatever capabilities a child 1 may have, has established at least one point of contact between the trained individuality of the teacher and the, as yet, nebulous individuality of the growing child. In the old-fashioned curriculums, what opportunity for this important business of creativeness was offered? As a rule, but one avenue was presented —the avenue of literary creation, admittedly- the most difficult of all arts. With manual training, however, the child is not compelled to lie to you and to himself by pretending to a literary power he cannot possess. One simply employs the natural instinct of the child to use his hands, one merely seizes upon that passion of most children to make something, one but leads into regulated channels the brimming enthusiasm of healthy ynuth for the bending and shaping of inanimate things." So says the Auckland Director of Technical Education, and with these sentiments lam in hearty accord. Just what channels are the best into which to direct this ''brimming enthusiasm" has been the problem difficult of solution. Manual training when coordinated with literary or ordinary standard subjects is undoubtedly of the greatest value in the development of the reasoning and reflective powers, and if the school life could be lengthened every one of the many handwork subjects could be profitably employed by the teacher. The school life, if the child is to keep pace with the throng, being limited however in the meantime, demands that in the selection of the subjects for the training of the hand and eye only those that bear directly and at once on the ordinary standard pass work shall find a place on the syllabus. Consequently, with the passing of time and the growth of experience, a gradual elimination of the less useful branches has taken place, until at the present time paper-folding and plasticine modelling in the lower classes, and brush drawing and cardboard modelling in the middle and upper classes, are the subjects most generally taught. The reason of this is that paper-folding and cardboard modelling when rightly applied is an easy and perfect introduction to geometrical forms, to arithmetic, and to elementary physical measurements; while plasticine modelling and brush drawing is in the same way a splendid aid to freehand drawing in outline, to the drawing of objects in the mass, to the development of the imagination, and to the proper perception of form and colour. Nature-study, manual training, and literary research go hand in hand. The life of the pupil, directed into paths where the hidden beauties of nature are revealed, and where the why and the wherefore of things is made plain, under the wise and skilful guidance of the teacher, expands, grows, and becomes fruitful in the production of the perfect man. Such a consummation is worth striving for; such a consummation is being striven for now, and in the ordinary evolution of things we are entering into the more perfect light. In the town and suburban schools, and in the Gore District High and East Gore Schools, woodwork and cookery for the boy 7 s and girls respectively were taught as formerly. Of the work done in these classes i can only speak in terms of satisfaction. Both instructors are earnest and enthusiastic in the performance of their duties, and the benefit derived by the pupils under their instruction is undoubtedly in direct proportion to the zeal of the teachers. An exhibit of work performed by the first-year pupils in the woodwork class was forwarded to the Christchurch*lnternational Exhibition, and in competition with the other centres of the Dominion was awarded a first class order of merit. This after only a few months' instruction was creditable alike to the instructor and to the pupils.