to 



NATURE 



[NOVKMBEK 4, 1897 



to the good work now carried on in some of the London 

 polytechnic institutions, which do not, as a fact, give 

 any undue prominence in their teaching to the require- 

 ments of the Science and Art Department's examinations. 

 Every one, however, will agree with him, that in the 

 organisation of education some machinery must be found, 

 whereby those, in whom the control of education is vested, 

 are brought into contact " with those who are actively 

 •engaged in improving the methods of teaching, i.e. in 

 educational research." 



Of the papers dealing more particularly with technical 

 education in relation to trade subjects, that of Mr. Sidney 

 Wells, on the qualification of teachers, will be read with 

 most mterest. He recommends the attachment to trade 

 classes, of student-teachers who would be required to 

 follow a course of instruction covering two or three 

 years. The students would be selected from the mem- 

 bers of separate trades, and would be remunerated by 

 scholarships for the loss incurred during the period of 

 their training. The means of providing a suitable train- 

 ing for trade teachers is a serious question that must be 

 faced before long. In many of our trade classes, as now 

 conducted, there is a lamentable waste of energy and 

 money owing to the want of previous education of those 

 who faute de viieux are appointed as instructors. A 

 paper on " Theory and practice in trade teaching " 

 •deals with the same question from another point of view, 

 showing the difficulties inherent in the teaching of trade 

 subjects, as regards both the instruction to be given in 

 the principles of science applicable to a particular trade, 

 and the use of tools and machinery in workshop prac- 

 tice. In the discussion that followed the reading of 

 these papers, and of others bearing incidentally upon the 

 same subject, no serious attempt was made to grapple 

 with the real difficulties of the problem. As might have 

 been expected, there was considerable divergence of 

 opinion as to whether technical instruction should be 

 limited to the section of the trade in which the student is 

 actually engaged, or should extend beyond it — a question 

 which is unavoidably complicated by trades-union con- 

 siderations. Mr. Steward, of the Central School of 

 Arts and Crafts, in reference to the gold and silver trades, 

 expressed his opposition to the system prevailing at the 

 Vittoria Street School, Birmingham, where lads are en- 

 couraged to practise in the school other branches of the 

 trade than the one at which they daily work. On the 

 other hand. Prof S. P. Thompson quoted with approval 

 a passage from a report of the Technical Education 

 Board to the effect, that at the Crafts School every effort 

 was made "to give students a broader view and practice 

 of the craft in which they are engaged"; and he ex- 

 emplified his meaning by suggesting that silver chasers 

 inight be required to learn some other branch of the 

 trade, such as engraving or enamelling. No fault can be 

 found with many of the general principles enunciated in 

 connection with trade teaching. That "all Technical 

 Education Boards should negotiate with trade organ- 

 isations with a view to co-operation " ; that " technical 

 •education means a different thing in every trade or group 

 of trades " ; and that " all teachers of technical classes 

 should be practical craftsmen," are propositions generally 

 admitted. But, as regards teachers, we have already 

 seen that the qualification of practical craftsmanship is 

 not alone sufficient, and the difficulty arises in finding, 

 united in the same person, the combination of qualities 

 inow needed. 



No educational congress could be held in England 

 without frequent reference to the subject of examinations. 

 Questions of organisation and control, the influence ex- 

 aminations exercise, or might be made to exercise, on 

 teaching, were very fully discussed. Prof. Wertheimer, 

 speaking as a teacher, said : " There are not a few of us 

 ■who would be prepared to make the establishment of a 

 •new examination a misdemeanour, unless the examination 



NO. 1462, VOL. 57] 



took the place of one or more already in existence." A 

 few good suggestions were made in the course of the 

 discussion for the better coordination of examining 

 bodies, but progress in this direction can scarcely be 

 looked for until the passing of a satisfactory bill for 

 organising secondary education. 



Mr. Quintin Hogg read an interesting paper on the 

 new polytechnics of London, and Dr. Garnett re- 

 ferred in detail to the efforts made by the London 

 County Council to place the instruction given in those 

 schools on sound educational lines. The appointment of 

 an educational principal to each school, the insistence on 

 practical teaching in the laboratory or workshop, the 

 encouragement of special advanced studies suitable to 

 each locality, and the establishment of an efficient system 

 of inspection, are evidence of the thought and care 

 bestowed upon the direction of these institutions. They 

 are still, however, in an experimental stage of existence ; 

 but in the provision they afford for secondary technical 

 instruction, particularly of that kind adapted to evening 

 students, they serve to indicate the great progress that 

 has been made during the last five years. 



Among the descriptive papers contributed by foreign 

 delegates, that of Herr von Deifenbach, on the system of 

 instruction in Wiirtemburg, would claim first consideration, 

 if space permitted us to enter upon this group of subjects. 

 None of these communications, however, add much to 

 the information already furnished in the reports of 

 various Commissions, and in the articles on foreign 

 schools that have appeared from time to time in these 

 pages, and in those of other journals. 



The question of commercial education was fully dis- 

 cussed by several speakers, including M. Siegfried, 

 Mr. Hewins, Mr. Sidney Webb, and Mr. Organ. The 

 cry for commercial education, when carefully defined, 

 seldom means more than a demand for the systematic 

 teaching of modern subjects in our secondary schools. 

 A course of French and German intelligently taught, 

 lessons in scientific method illustrated by laboratory 

 work in chemistry and physics, instruction in prac- 

 tical mathematics with graphic exercises, and lectures 

 on history with explanations of the growth and routes 

 of trade would satisfy most of the requirements of 

 those who attach value to commercial education ; and 

 schools giving such a training will probably be found in 

 every large town, when our secondary education is fairly 

 organised. In connection with this subject, attention 

 may be called to a report on commercial education in 

 Europe recently issued from the Bureau at Washington. 

 Dr. James, the writer of the report, tells us : "There is 

 no institution in Great Britain, which fairly deserves the 

 name of a commercial high school. . . . England is now 

 beginning to wake up to the necessity of this sort of 

 education. Boards of trade, teachers' conventions, edu- 

 cational societies, have all begun to agitate for its intro- 

 duction." And, later on, he says : " Instead of taking 

 hold of the subject at the right end, and organising a 

 great institution in London, which might serve as a 

 model for such schools elsewhere, the English began 

 their work in this field, as in many similar instances, by 

 establishing examinations." We feel the force of this 

 criticism ; but it is a question, to be carefully considered, 

 whether high schools of commerce, similar to our science 

 colleges, are really needed in this country, for the training 

 of youths between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one 

 in the details of office work. In their papers dealing 

 with this question, Mr. Webb and Mr. Hewins have 

 contributed to the better apprehension of the difficulties 

 of the subject. As pointed out by one of these writers, 

 the highest commercial instruction must be specialised 

 to prove useful and attractive, and it should appeal to 

 those engaged in the particular branch of commerce to 

 which it refers. 



We cannot close this short notice of the subjects con- 



