When Soldiers Ask Why
quietly that few realise what it involves. It could achieve a revolution — so complete a change in the average soldiet’s mind and outlook that he would never again be the same man; it may fade out when the war ends and leave hardly a memory behind. It is of course unlikely to do either of these things, but the second is a bigger risk than the first. Army education can succeed only if the soldiers want it and the army really gives it. Or to put the case another way, it will be education if it answers the questions the men in the army are now asking themselves and one another. To some of their questions no one knows the answer, and no one therefore should pretend to know it; but it is not always the case that the blind lead the blind into a ditch. The blind who know that they are blind walk warily; feel their way; ask questions; some--times indeed discover and keep to the path. It is in fact the chief hope of army education-in those fields in which it is not mere in-struction-that it will be education on both sides. The teachers will learn as much as the taught; as of course good teachers always do. We must also believe that New Zealand soldiers are not less reasonable than the soldiers of the United Kingdom, who have now had a considerable experience of the question and answer method, with great advantage to all ranks. Discipline has not been weakened in the British army by discussion of current affairs, but strengthened. Officers and men have gained a clearer understanding of the issues of the war, the mistakes that preceded it and the risks that lie ahead, and having gained this in a common school they have been drawn closer together in a common danger. We must of course not be sentimental and expect changes of heart, sudden surges of brotherhood, a great new light in which they will all see the way to the promised land. It will be sufficient if every soldier sees more clearly where he is now, why he is a soldier, what he is fighting, and especially what he is fighting for. Education is starting so
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 187, 22 January 1943, Page 3
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378When Soldiers Ask Why New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 187, 22 January 1943, Page 3
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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