"LEADING THE LITTLE FEET A LITTLE WAY"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 210, 2 July 1943, Page 12

"LEADING THE LITTLE FEET A LITTLE WAY"

Nineteen Years’ Service For Kindergartens

organising secretary to the Wellington Free Kindergarten Council, Mrs. Edward Dowsett is retiring. But even 19 years go quickly when they are spent in work that is congenial, and work that is growing in scope. Since the first Free Kindergartens were started in New Zealand, they have become more and more recognised as a valuable and necessary work. In an interview, Mrs. Dowsett told The Listener something of her work and the extent to which it has become an inspiration to her and to all those associated with it. "I was lucky in beginning when I did," said Mrs. Dowsett. "Al the really hard pioneering work had already been done. When I took over, the foundations had been well and truly laid, and the Wellington Association had reached the stage when it was ready to extend its activities. My work has taught me one thing very clearly-that one never really loses time by careful organisation in the initial stages of any movement. The parable of the house built on the rock applies well to any educational and social work. My first introduction was at the opening of the play house in the garden of the Taranaki Street Kinder-» garten. It had been given by a schoolChilton House School-and it was &@» good’omen of the sort of unstinted support and generosity that I was to learn is so much part of our organisation. The motto which was chosen for the play house door has always been to my. mind one that has caught the spirit of our work-‘Love, laughing, lead the little feet a little way.’" Public Support "Have you found increased interest and support for kindergarten work over the last 20 years?" we asked. "Yes, certainly. Partly, I suppose, people are more aware of what leading wp 19 years of service as

educationists are saying, and they all stress the importance of the pre-school period. And then the public can see results for themselves if they bother to do so. Parents with children at kindergarten talk to parents whose children don’t go. We certainly are finding more and more parents who want to send their children. Not only are our kindergartens as full as they can be, but there are long waiting lists, and we are constantly having letters beseeching us to open free kindergartens in new centres. We can’t attempt to meet all the needs that are there, but the work is growing all the time. It’s not only a matter of raising money for new centres, it is also training enough kindergarten teachers to carry on and to take over these centres. Our policy has always been in the past to serve the most congested areas first and to take the most needy children first, the children who would have nowhere to play but the streets, or whose parents have to be away during the day, or who, we feel, for various reasons, need the quiet, happy and creative life at one of our centres, Probably, a good deal of interest also was roused at the Centennial Exhibition by our model kindergarten, and now we are getting greater Government recognition." Raising the Money We asked Mrs. Dowsett if her duties included organising the raising of money and how far the kindergartens depended on public support for their existence, "Yes, one of my chief concerns has been to see that the finances of the association are adequately safeguarded. The Government capitation grant meets approximately one-third of our running costs, so we have had to depend on the public for a very substantial sum, Yet .no matter how great were our needs, the public has never failed us. At first, the salaries of the teachers were very low-little. more than pocket money. (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) They have since been increased, but they are still too low. I hope that before long kindergarten teachers will get the recognition that they deserve, not just because of the work that they are doing, but because of the spirit in which they are doing it. Another help that has come to us latterly is that the Education Department now grants a certain number of allowances to students in training. This will make possible the building up of a reserve of kindergarten teachers for extension work." "And didn’t you often find the constant task of raising money very trying?" we asked. "Yes, very often," Mrs. Dowsett admitted, "but when I felt particularly worried, I had a cure that never failed. You know those lines: Come to me, oh ye children! For I hear you at your play, And the troubles that perplexed me Have vanished quite away! "When I have troubles, I visit the children in the kindergarten for a short while and watch them at their work and play. Just to see what the training is doing for them makes me feel that it is a privilege to be working in the movement. And there are so many kindergarten friends working in the background; busy mothers who give voluntary service or help with the club work; fathers who make us toys and paint our buildings, and who come to our rescue in all sorts of practical ways." As we prepared to go, we asked a last question-whether all these long years in the service of the kindergarten had been worth while. "I can only say that I never expect to find any work that is more worth while, nor can I expect to work with people who are all so friendly and cooperative. It is thrilling to be doing a job that you really believe in, especially when you also believe that it is of fundamental importance to the community. What greater asset has any nation than its children, and what greater privilege can anyone have than that of assisting any movement that helps the child to develop his latent possibilities and find true self-expression in his work and his play."