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New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 650, 14 December 1951, Page 7

Sir,-It seems to me that there were two indisputable points which were insufficiently dealt with by the teacher. One is that a good education (in the usually accepted meaning of the words) confers upon the child a _ confidence and. dignity for which it is difficult to find a substitute, and such an education cannot be acquired save by study. and fairly long hours of learning, The other point is that a child needs the security which a regular routine, moderate discipline and the leadership of a ‘good teacher give, and the habits they learn therefrom of self-control, concentration, good manners, become natural. Every child loves to be encouraged, drawn out, made to feel he can do things, and if in this receptive state he is taught his lessons, the knowledge is not dully acquired and readily lost. So much school play, as described in the article, while it fulfils these yearnings, does not satisfy the desire to learn nor provide a goal to work for so that in many cases (and I see it in my own children) a vague restlessness, lack of incentive and interest, and "I know where I'm going" attitude supervene after the primers and remain on through childhood. I could liken too early attempts at self-expression to the frustration a young baby feels when he has struggled to free his hands from the comfortable restriction of the shawl and then doesn’t know what do to with them. Having experienced the difficulties encountered .by Mrs. Wynne, I would ask teachers to give a little more guidance to the children’s attempts at self-ex-pression. It does let them feel they are improving, and that the teacher is

really interested.

P.

B.

(Tawa Flat).