E. —5.

deficient are submitted to a further test by the school medical officer, and children found to be deficient are sent at once to the special school. Other children found to be retarded are drafted into one or other of the junior schools in the district in which they reside, and are there taught in small classes where they receive individual attention and where instruction is mainly practical. At the age of 11 they pass into the senior school where they receive similar treatment. In the special school the children receive special training in the three Rs until they are about 12 years of age. Much of the instruction is individual, the pupils being taught by means of special reading and number methods, special apparatus, use of the typewriter and printing sets, and handwork methods. From 12 to 16 more time is devoted to handicraft lessons with a vocational bias. The following is an outline of the four-years course in handicrafts for boys : — First year : Use of scrap metal and wood—" Old sewing-machines and mangles have been converted into useful fretwork and sanding machines, as well as lathe and lathetables." Second year : Mechanical toy-making. Third year : Lighter cardboard work leading to book-binding ; boot-repairing work on the last and the sewing-machine ; use of three-ply wood. Fourth year : Heavier woodwork and metalwork ; wood-turning. Boys who have left school are encouraged to return on a Thursday afternoon from 3.30 to carry on their handicraft. THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS. (a) Control of Training Colleges. I have made extensive inquiries regarding the training of teachers and find that almost without exception primary teachers are trained in institutions controlled by the Department of Education, local education authorities, or private bodies, while secondary teachers receive their academic and professional training at the Universities. In Sydney the training college has no administrative connection with the University, although its Principal is Professor of Education in Sydney University. The Department of Public Instruction controls the college and selects and trains the entrants to the primary service. In Melbourne the training college is controlled by the Education Department. Its Principal is also Professor of Education in Melbourne University. Students who intend to become secondary teachers are trained by the University for the Diploma of Education which is an essential qualification for this branch of the Education Service. In England the training of elementary teachers, including specialist teachers in domestic arts, physical education, &c., is now undertaken in training colleges controlled by local education authorities or private bodies. The University training departments are for the training of graduates who are preparing for service mainly in secondary schools, State or private. These students spend three years at the University, reading for a degree, and a fourth year in professional training as prospective teachers. In Scotland the professional training of all teachers is the responsibility of the National Committee for the Training of Teachers. The Principals (called " Directors of Studies ") of the training centres for both men and women at Edinburgh, and St. Andrews and Dundee are also Professors of Education ; at Glasgow and Aberdeen they are not. The management of these four training centres is delegated to provincial committees composed of representatives of the education authorities, Universities, Church, and teachers within the district served by the respective centres. The three women's training colleges have committees of management on which are representatives of the National and the provincial committees and the college concerned. In Denmark there are twenty colleges for the training of teachers ; of these, eight belong to the State and twelve are privately owned. None has any connection with the University of Copenhagen. All train teachers for the public and private elementary and middle schools, the final examination for certification being conducted by the Government. In Ontario elementary teachers are trained in normal schools controlled by the Education Department, and secondary teachers by the College of Education. In British Columbia the Education Department has established two normal schools for the training of elementary teachers and the University of British Columbia at Vancouver trains sixty graduates annually for service in high schools and junior high schools. In California elementary teachers are trained in State teachers' colleges, and secondary teachers at the Universities. (b) Pre-training College Experience. In England and Scotland the great majority of training-college entrants have had no previous experience in teaching, as uncertificated teachers, pupil teachers, or student teachers. It is generally held that such experience is not helpful in the student's subsequent career as a teacher. Of the students admitted to the training colleges of England and Wales in 1933, 76-6 per cent, had had no previous recognized teaching experience, and of the 1,139 admitted to the Scottish training colleges in 1934, only 124 had preliminary training of any kind. In New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland, candidate teachers enter the teachers' training colleges from secondary schools, but in the other States they begin as junior teachers and serve on the stafE of a school for one or more years before admission to the college.

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