89

E.—l2.

M. S. NEWMAN,

quite something worth doing, and unless we have that attitude encouraged at school I am afraid they will not get it afterwards. Whatever our school life does, it gives our pupils a tendency in certain directions, and if the tendency be not in the direction of any work of that kind we cannot make it up to the girls afterwards. If you think for a moment of the school life of a girl you will realize how little she hears about the textures of material, about food and mixtures, and about the implements in common use in the home. There are occasional references to these, but no systematic reference. 1 hold that housewifery of any description can only be learned by doing. It cannot be learned by any other means. No teacher standing up and wisely talking to the girls can help them much in this direction, and so it must be a taught subject. Then, again, the home is utterly divorced from the school at present. I hold that a child who really belongs to both should work in the closest connection with both, and I can see no way in which a child can work in this close connection except in this way. There are three fundamental principles of education as we know it to-day—namely, the conditions of health, social efficiency—that is the first consideration and almost includes the other—and intellectual efficiency. These three things must be considered. I think our syllabus allows scope for a good deal of training in these three departments, but I cannot help feeling that the teacher's work in this direction is almost wholly measured by the examination that finishes th•; school course. The teachers say they cannot take account of these other things because they have not the time. The teacher feels that the examination at the close of the school has nothing to do with the health of the pupils; has nothing to do with the social efficiency of the pupils; takes nothing into consideration but the mental ability of the pupils. Now, if the children's mental ability is made the sole criterion of success in school, then the teachers must give that direction to their work whatever syllabus they have. lam not going to condemn examinations per se; they* have their right place, but I am showing their influence on the education of girls in our school. The only special work girls have is sewing, and that part of the syllabus is arranged with less reference to the educational ideals of the present day than any other part. The girls do some work in cooking and laundry, but it is dissociated with school life. They have to go away for it, and they have a different teacher, and it is set apart in their minds. The girls are very interested in cooking. The reason girls like cooking and sewing is that they have a chance for once to do something. That is the side of education that is neglected. I think that everywhere but in New Zealand an attempt has been made to give this training in schools. While it is so necessary- in the primary schools I think it should be taken up also in the secondary schools. The secondary schools are in more danger of becoming places where girls are given a store of information and crammed than in the primary- schools, and therefore it is more important that this side of the girl's education should be attended to. In thinking how this subject could be dealt with I started with the kindergartens. In the kindergarten the connection with the home is very strong. The children are taught to do little home duties, and if that attitude of sympathy with the home could' be kept up through the schools it would mean a great deal of difference in the efficiency of the girls. In the lower classes, such as Standards I, 11, and 111, sewing is taught; still, there is not sufficient connection with the home life. I think that is a flaw in our system altogether. Kindergarten children attend to the cleanliness and orderliness of the room. They lay the table for lunch and they clear it up afterwards. They talk about the farmer and the autumn, and then they visit the mill, and in this way things are related to each other in the right way. They care for the dolls and the dolls' house and the dolls' bed, and they are actually allowed to do a little cooking. Then when the children leave the kindergarten they go into quite a different atmosphere. All these things are disconnected, and form no part in the school life. I think whatever work is undertaken in this respect should be undertaken by the class teacher. It should not be considered something quite outside the other lessons. There would be a room needed. That certainly would be a great help to children, because they would work better when they went back to their desks if they had a little more freedom when dealing with these special subjects. lam not an advocate for women being in very public positions, but I must say after what has been done in the past it seems almost as if women were needed to assist in organizing the schools, seeing that the girls', education has been so absolutely neglected in this respect. I have not said much about the sewing syllabus. Sewing should be done in connection with this domestic work : it should not be taught as a sort of manual work. I may say that in many places the work is done in the school by the class teacher, and of course in many places, such as London, it is done in a separate class under separate teachers, but in many schools in America and even in England I saw very good work done in this direction. I hope something will be done to put girls in our schools on a better footing in this matter. 4. Mr. Pirani.] You did not say at what age you would take the children in the kindergarten ? —Under five years —three and four years of age. 5. And you would keep them how- long?— Until they are five, to go into the primary school. 6. Do you know of any obstacle now in the way of an Education Board establishing kindergarten schools in connection with their other schools? —We have one in connection with the normal schools at the four centres. 7. Are you aware whether there is any kindergarten here subsidized by the Government?— Yes. 8. Then, considering the Government subsidizes free kindergartens outside the primary schools, can you see any obstacle in the way of the Government subsidizing them in connection with the Government schools ?—I think it would be a very simple matter to adjust the latter so that it could be done, and I think it would be a great advantage to both. 9. Mr. Kirk.] You are aware that there are schools privately conducted for girls alone? —Yes. 10. Have you had any opportunity of judging the result of the finished education at such schools with the result of the finished education at the mixed public schools?— Only by general experience; I have not compared the girls individually.