June 8, 191 1] 



NATURE 



477 



They comprise a chapter dealinj^ with the history of 

 the development of public secondary schools for girls, 

 a series of papers describing- the present manner of 

 dealing with the various school subjects, a paper on 

 examinations, and papers on the general aims and 

 ideals in education and suggestions as to possible 

 reforms. The subject of discipline is deliberately 

 omitted. 



It will be understood from the foregoing that the 

 amount of material presented affords abundant oppor- 

 tunities for comment and criticism, but the present 

 notice must be restricted to one or two topics. 



In the first place, it is noteworthy that in this 

 presentation of views we find distinct evidence of an 

 increasing differentiation between the education of 

 girls and the education of boys. This, in a sense, is 

 nothinp- new. Lx)ng ago there was a differentiation, 

 inasmuch as whilst boys were being substantially 

 taught, girls were being scarcely taught at all. But 

 the first onset of the g^irls' high-school movement 

 tended to an equalisation, both in quality and quan- 

 tity, and doubtless there are still a good many people 

 who do not admit that there is good reason for much 

 difference. 



The question involved is really one of great import- 

 ance, both as regards girls and boys. Is a secondary 

 school to be regarded chiefly as preparatory to a 

 university or as a place where formal education is for 

 most people ended? If the destiny of the pupils is 

 assumed to be the universit}', where, up to now, the 

 professional studies of men and women have been un- 

 differentiated, there does not seem to be much reason 

 for difference between girls' schools and boys' schools, 

 and in both cases the teaching will be on purely 

 academic lines. But surely if we think of the vast 

 majority of pupils, we must realise that this assump- 

 tion is wholly unwarranted, and we are thrown back 

 on the inquirv — should not our main object in girls' 

 schools be to frame a curriculum which at the end 

 will equip girls, in the fullest degree possible within 

 a school, for the unprofessional life that follows? 



If this question is answered in the affirmative, it can 

 scarcely be denied that there is room for distinctive 

 features in the curricula of girls' schools. Whatever 

 happens in connection with what is called the feminist 

 movement, it can scarcely be doubted that for a long 

 time to come the vast majority of women will be 

 concerned with the administration of the home, and 

 it would seem natural that this should be in the minds 

 of those who have to consider the curricula. That 

 this is now much more the case than it was twenty 

 years ago is one of the most gratifying inferences to 

 be drawn from the volume before us, and it is to be 

 hoped that, notwithstanding the deep-seated belief 

 which we profess in what are called disciplinary and 

 humanising studies, our headmistresses may have the 

 courage to specialise studies and equip their girls for 

 women's work so far as it can be properly done in 

 school. 



The teaching of science to girls is at present receiv- 

 ing a good deal of attention. The subject is dealt 

 with in the present volume by the able and experi- 

 enced hand of Mrs. Bryant, and incidentally in home 

 NO. 2 1 71, VOL. 86] 



science by Miss Faithfull, and in home arts by Miss 

 Gilliland. 



" The prime condition to be fulfilled in a school 

 scheme of natural science study is," according to Mrs. 

 Bryant, " that it shall lend itself with certainty and 

 ease to develop in the immature but plastic mind of 

 average ability this scientific attitude of alert individual 

 inquiry." For this " the subject-matter should be at 

 each stage as attractive as possible, in the sense of 

 stimulus to inquiry. . . the problems raised by the sub- 

 ject under discussion should not be too difficult for the 

 learner's own powers of intellectual inquiry. ... So 

 far as possible the natural practical interests of the 

 learners should be enlisted as a powerful additional 

 stimulus to scientific motive." 



No one will be likely to find fault with this clear 

 and reasonable doctrine. 



I may perhaps be permitted here to fall into the 

 first person and to state that for a long time past 

 I have been endeavouring to assist in making school 

 science for girls comply a little more fully than has 

 been the case with Mrs. Bryant's third requirement, 

 viz., that it shall appeal to the natural practical in- 

 terest of the learners. In doing this I have been 

 brought into conflict with those who are alarmed for 

 the "purity" of science teaching, and I have been 

 suspected of a desire to introduce a sort of soft and 

 effeminate subject which lacks all the elements of 

 logic and discipline, so dear to the stern educationist. 

 As a matter of fact, my aim has been nothing more 

 or less than to imbue the science teaching in girls' 

 schools with as much illustration from everyday topics, 

 and especially topics of the household, as will give it 

 a living interest and make it a more human, more 

 useful, and more abiding possession. I state it, not 

 as an opinion, but as a fact of experience, that the 

 average science graduate, male or female, coming from 

 an ordinary university course, is extraordinarily 

 ignorant of some of the very si-mplest applications of 

 science in relation to daily life, and that there is a 

 considerable region of facts, both in physics and chem- 

 istry, lying outside the conventional "subject" as 

 understood bv degree artists in universities, which it 

 behoves every reasonable school science-teacher to 

 explore. I am not fond of the term domestic science, 

 which rather curiously has been often used as synony- 

 mous with the arts of the cook and launderer, but 

 that the principles and discipline of elementary physical 

 science can be inculcated with a large accompaniment 

 of topics and examples relating to the household arts 

 I am perfectly satisfied, and I shall not readily be 

 deterred from advocating this at some sacrifice of 

 Alwood's machine and the oxides of nitrogen. 



The question of the teaching of practical household 

 arts in relation to girls' schools is admirably dealt 

 with by Miss Gilliland, but a discussion of this subject 

 and many otliers must be forgone for lack of space. 

 The essay on examinations by Miss Gadesden deserves 

 a special word of praise. We can, in conclusion, 

 warmly congratulate Miss Burstall and Miss Douglas 

 upon having brought to publication a collection of 

 essavs which does great honour to those who are 

 directing the momentous work of educating our future 

 rulers. •'^- Smithki.ls. 



