February 4, 191 5] 



NATURE 



631 



local authority to make the change in view of the 

 many local interests involved. 



With the leaving age at fourteen years, local 

 authorities and teachers, after making a careful selec- 

 tion of the boys and girls who should go forward to a 

 secondary school at the age of twelve, could turn 

 their attention to the children left in the elementary 

 schools, who as a body may be expected to receive 

 very little general education beyond that obtained in 

 the elementarv" schools. For these children it would 

 be possible to organise special two-year courses which 

 should prove extremely valuable in preparing them for 

 the work they will undertake on leaving school. 



Preparation in the Elementary Schools. 



A large proportion of the boys from our elementary 

 schools enter some trade or some branch of industry, 

 and for these the courses of study between the age 

 of twelve and fourteen years of age, while remaining 

 on broad general lines, should be somewhat industrial 

 in character. There is at the present time a strong 

 demand for industrial or vocational education in which 

 practical methods and manual training are involved, 

 but it must not be forgotten that the purpose of 

 elementary education is not to prepare for a particular 

 trade, but rather to develop all the child's faculties so 

 that he may be prepared to enter any walk of life. 

 The all-round general education of the child must be 

 the first consideration, and in the suggested courses 

 of study no attempt should be made to teach any 

 specific trade. The courses would be entirely prepara- 

 tor}' and general-trades work, and would involve 

 teaching the theory and principles which underlie 

 British trades generally. " Learning by doing " would 

 take the place of "book learning." An attempt would 

 be made to put the whole boy to school, to train the 

 entire faculties of the bo}-, intellectually, morally, and 

 physically, and so fit him for life. The work which is 

 now generally done in artisan evening schools would 

 be covered by even.- boy in an urban elementarv* 

 school, where the work would be done under vastly 

 better conditions, as the teaching would be given to 

 boys who are fresh and vigorous instead of to tired 

 boys who have already done a day's work. 



The workshops of the country require boys with 

 self-effort, self-reliance, initiative, and thought, and 

 it should be the object of these courses to pro- 

 vide just that training which would develop these 

 habits. The general adoption of this development in 

 elementary education would create in the near future 

 a supply of intelligent boys, who would rapidly become 

 in the workshops intelligent and skilled workers, 

 ready and able to adapt themselves to the changing 

 working conditions of the trade and of the times ; and 

 we should hear no more of the employers' complaint 

 that the present product of the elementary- schools is 

 not the type of youth they require in their shops. 



In the proposed courses, roughly one-third of the 

 school time of the boy during the age of twelve to 

 fourteen should be devoted to the study of English 

 subjects, one-third to mathematics and technical draw- 

 ing, and the other third to actual experiments and 

 practical work in the laboratory or workshop. The 

 scheme of instruction would be arranged with the 

 intention of securing an all-round development of the 

 bov's faculties in a thoroughly practical manner, in 

 order that bv the time the boy is ready to commence 

 work he mav possess not only a general grip of the 

 principles which underlie trades in general, but such 

 intelligence, reasoning power, and adaptability as are 

 calculated to secure for him the approval and good will 

 of his employer. 



This preparatory practical training before the boys 

 enter the workshop or factory is the first step in the 



NO. 2362, VOL. 94] 



production of a capable industrial army. I reiterate 

 that at this stage the practical training must be 

 general ; there must be no attempt to teach any 

 specific trade, but every effort must be made by 

 curriculum and by method to develop all the faculties 

 of the boy. 



Education of Boys in the Workshops and Factories. 



We now come to the second age period and deal 

 with the problem of the boys from fourteen to 

 eighteen years of age. The boys have now left the 

 school. '1 hey are in the workshops, and specific trade 

 instruction must begin. Opportunities must be pro- 

 vided for the boy to lay the foundation of a livelihood 

 which in the main will persist through life. At the 

 same time it must not be forgotten that the boy is 

 something beyond a potential wage-earner or producer. 

 He is a future citizen, and in the scheme of education 

 for such youths time and opportunity must be provided 

 not only to enable him to understand the occupation 

 which he has entered and from which he is to obtain 

 his livelihood, but also to enable him to understand his 

 duties as a citizen. There should be provided oppor- 

 tunities for mental, physical, and moral training which 

 shall fit him for manhood and for his place in the 

 nation. 



The Teaching of Trades. 



The modern workshops are highly organised and 

 specialised with a view to enable employers to reduce 

 the cost of production and to compete successfully for 

 orders ; consequently it is practically impossible to-day 

 for an English boy to learn the whole of a trade in 

 a workshop. It is in this connection that the tech- 

 nical schools of the country working in close co- 

 operation with the workshops should fulfil their real 

 function. When the boy enters the workshop his 

 education is far from complete, even if he has had 

 the general practical training outlined above. Con- 

 tinued education applicable to his chosen trade must 

 be given, and the problem that confronts us is how 

 best to ensure that the boy shall have this technical 

 education in spite of the fact that the industrial con- 

 ditions are vastly different from what they were. 



In the old days the employer was the sole educator 

 of his apprentice or young worker. Under present 

 conditions it is impossible for the employer to give the 

 young worker all the instruction he requires. The 

 schoolmaster, therefore, has been called in to under- 

 take part of the work. Under this divided responsi- 

 bility, the work of the teacher is to give the young 

 worker a thorough grasp of theoretical principles and to 

 provide him with such knowledge and training as will 

 enable him to adapt himself to changed conditions, to 

 attack new problems, and to show initiative and skill 

 in his work. The duty of the employer, on the other 

 hand, is to give that advice and assistance to the 

 teacher as will ensure that the work of the school 

 shall not be merely academic but essentially practical, 

 and to supplement the instruction by doing all that is 

 possible to give the young worker ample opportunities 

 for getting an all-round experience of his trade. 



At the present time the young worker is ex- 

 pected to get the necessary technical education by 

 attending the school for three or more evenings a 

 week after he has done a full day's work in the work- 

 shop or in the factory. It is quite unnecessary* to 

 point out the drawbacks and disadvantages . of this 

 system. Excellent work has been done in the evening 

 schools by youths of grit and character, who have 

 attended them, and a number of employers have done 

 a good deal by means of suitable inducements to 

 encourage their young workers to take full advantage 

 of the opportunities for gaining increased knowledge 

 and experience — but voluntarv attendance at evening 



