SEPTEMBER 11th, 1906. 



THE NEW EDUCATION. 



One of the most interesting subjects 

 discussed at the Royal Society for some 

 time past was that of "The New Educa- 

 tion," on which Mr. .1. A. Johnson, 

 M.A., Principal of the Training College, 

 read a paper at the meeting on September 

 11. There was a fairly large attend- 

 a.uoe, among thos^e present being tlis 

 Excellency the Governor {who pre- 

 sided), and Lady Edeline iStrickland, 

 accompanied by Mr. Geo. Browne, I.S.O., 

 Private Secretarv : the Minister of Edu- 

 cation (Hon. W. B. Propsting, M.L.C.), 

 Bishop Delanv, Messrs. R. M. Johnston, 

 I.S.O., G. E.'Moore, M.H.A. 



Mr. J. A. Johnson, M.A., who was re- 

 ceived with applause, said 



In addressing the Royal Society of Tas- 

 mania on education I am well aware 

 that, while the subject muet be of vast 

 interest to all the members, many of the 

 technicalities of the art and science of 

 teaching which I shall touch upon will 

 appeal only to those actively engaged in 

 the work of teaching. Still, any aspect 

 of this subject mu.st find a response ni 

 the minds of all those who have the well- 

 being of the State at heart; and, there- 

 fore, I feel no hesitation in addressing 

 you on the subject in which I am myself 

 inotst intens'ely interested, and to which 

 all of you must have given much timd 

 and earnest thought. 



The first thing to be said about the 

 term "new education " is that the view^s 

 current in the present day in regard to 

 education are not new, but old— old as 

 Plato: new in the sense, perhaps, that 

 the world's thought about the meaning 

 and scone of education is being cast in 

 the mould of these later daj-i3, and shaped 

 again to new i.->sues and fairer ideals. 

 The history of education is the record 

 of a series of failures; the next genera- 

 tion will quietly brush aside the dust 

 raised by the complacent reformers of to- 

 day. But need we be discouraged when 

 we view tire email results of past effort as 

 they appear, magnified by the powerful 

 lenses of time and space? No; let ns 

 rejoice, rather, that our little systems 

 have their day, and then cease to be — for 

 the words of the poet about one good 

 custom corrupting the world are especi- 

 ally true when applied to the work of the 

 educator. Constant iteration will take 

 the soul out of the newest methods, and 

 the time will come when it must be neces- 

 eavv to replace them by newer and better. 



When we look back on the progress of 



education during the last fifty years, we 

 Imve much cause for congratulation and 

 encouragement. The time is slowly pass- 

 ing away when the reproach can be 

 brought against us, ae a race, that whilst 

 skilled men are required to train our 

 horses it is a matter of no consequence 

 to inquire into the C(ualifications of the 

 person appointed to educate our children. 

 States are beginning to recognise that 

 the teacher who works on mind is a» 

 responsible a perBon in the Common- 

 wealth as the physician who minietern 

 to the body;- and that no unlicensed prac- 

 titioner should be allowed in the one 

 sphere any more than quacks in the 

 other. Departments are now less de- 

 partmental, and more educational ; teach- 

 ers ai'e no longer pedagogical machines, 

 but are becoming more and more mem- 

 bens of a learned profession, with the 

 power of initiation and adaptability. The 

 atmosphere of the school is tending 

 gradually to conformity with that of -a 

 Avell-ordered heme. The ascent of the 

 ladder of knowledge is as difficult as of 

 old ; but there is a change in the method 

 of reaching the top. In the past, the 

 pupil was urged on from below — with the 

 aid of a birch rod; now the master 

 beckons him upwards, and the prospect 

 towards which his eyes are directed is so 

 serene and beatific that he feels it glori- 

 ous to ascend. The teacher is viewed, not 

 as a stern taskmaster, but as an elder 

 brother, who is helping materially to 

 create the best conditions for the realisa- 

 tion of the possibilities of life. 



Contrast these ideals of primary educa- 

 tion with those that have held sway with- 

 in the memory of the present generation. 

 In Britain, fifty years ago, a commission 

 was appointed to inciuire into the state 

 of primary education, then in the hands, 

 mostl.\, of private teachers. The report 

 disclosed a most discreditable state of 

 things to all concerned. The teachers 

 were not onlj' untrained, but also un- 

 educated : the ranks of the profession — if 

 profession it could be called — were re- 

 cruited from all the failures in other 

 paths of life, cripples and con.sumptive-3 

 not being excluded. Many teachers, weak 

 with the decrepitude of age, dragged out 

 a miserable and hopeless existence, racked 

 by the noise of pupils who learned 

 nothing, to whom they were able to im- 

 part nothing. To such teachers was the 

 education of nearly a third of the chil- 

 dren of England entrusted. In 1861, a 

 new era was introdiiced by the revised 

 code of Robeit Lowe, afterwards Lord 

 Sherbrooke. "Payment by results'' be- 



