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NATURE 



[August 5, 1920 



Schools and their Relation to Technical Institutes 

 and Colleges," by Principal C. L. Eclair- Heath 

 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne); and on "Local Colleges and 

 Adult Education," by Principal L. Small (Bootle). 



The suggestions of Mr. Garnett for the establish- 

 ment of a national system of education in England 

 during the next ten years are embodied in a pamphlet 

 presented to a meeting of the newly formed Federal 

 Council of Lancashire and Cheshire Teachers' Asso- 

 ciations in January last. It is accompanied by an 

 elaborate "flow" diagram showing graphically in 

 colour the various types of scholastic institutions sug- 

 gested, of which as many as sixteen are depicted, 

 ranging from the elementary school upwards to 

 the' university, and dealing with school and univer- 

 sity life up to the twenty-fifth year. It is declared 

 that "it is the main business 'of all education to 

 form in the mind of every person a single wide 

 interest centred in a supreme purpose," and 

 that ""it is the subordinate business of education to 

 train young people so that they shall be able to realise 

 their central purpose in some particular form of 

 service to their fellows. For example, the particular 

 form of service for which technical and commercial, 

 education prepares is that of providing the material 

 wealth without which no community — so different in 

 this respect from an individual — can make much pro- 

 gress towards the fulfilment of high spiritual pur- 

 poses." The pamphlet proceeds to divide those who 

 are to occupy the various positions in industry, com- 

 merce, and other departments of national life into four 

 classes : Leaders in thought and action, about 3 per 

 cent. ; skilled managers and assistants, about 17 per 

 cent. ; skilled wage -earners, about 40 per cent. ; and 

 unskilled labourers and repetition workers, about 

 40 per cent. 



The scheme suggested received the attention of 

 a meeting, held in June last, of the headmasters 

 of secondary schools in Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumber- 

 land, and Westmorland, who expressed strong dis- 

 approval of its proposals, which they thought too 

 mechanical, and of the suggestion that there should 

 be lower and higher secondary schools. They were not 

 persuaded that it was desirable to prevent the indi- 

 vidual growth and development of each school, and 

 that whilst transference and change of grade seemed 

 to be its keynote, the headmasters believed In elas- 

 ticity, growth, and continuous development. 



The purpose of Mr. Coles's paper is to set forth 

 the present unsatisfactory position of technical institu- 

 tions in this country, and to propose remedies therefor 

 in respect alike of the development of higher educa- 

 tion in technical institutions and of the administration 

 thereof, so as to bring them into closer relation with 

 the work of the universities. Mr. Coles advocates the 

 institution of faculties of technology and commerce 

 in connection therewith, and suggests that an in- 

 vestigation should be set up, as in 1882, into the 

 condition of higher technological education in the 

 United Kingdom. 



Mr. Small's paper, accompanied by notes by Prin- 

 cipal J. F. Hudson (Huddersfield), deals with local 

 colleges and adult education. The authors advocate 

 the development of the technical institute into "the 

 local college," an official term appearing for the 

 first time in the revised regulations for continuation, 

 technical, and art courses issued by the Board of 

 Education in February, 19 17, so that it shall include 

 not only the training of workers in commerce and in 

 specific industries, but also their continued education 

 as citizens by the introduction of humanistic studies, 

 and to provide generally for non-vocational subjects of 

 a literary, scientific, and recreative character, together 

 with facilities for the study by adult workers of ques- 

 NO. 2649, VOL. 105] 



tions calculated to promote a better understanding 

 of the character and problems of social life. Already 

 with this end in view the Huddersfield Technical Col- 

 lege has entered into close relations with the York- 

 shire District Council of the Workers' Educational 

 Association. 



Mr. Eclair-Heath in his paper declares that the 

 idea of continuation schools is not new, and instances 

 the excellent example of the Royal Dockyard Schools 

 at Deptford and elsewhere. He says that early voca- 

 tional education is undesirable, and that the schools 

 should be held apart from works. He favours mixed 

 schools and the introduction of religious instruction, 

 and suggests that there should be set up a system of 

 selection whereby only suitable students should be 

 allowed the privilege of continued education up to 

 eighteen years of age. 



Resolutions were adopted welcoming a large 

 development of humane studies in the constituent 

 institutions of the association in connection especialiv 

 with adult education: — "That the association accepts 

 the description of the work of a ' local college ' con- 

 tained in Appendix III. of the Draft Regulations of 

 the Board of Education for continuation, technical, 

 and art courses in England and Wales"; and "That 

 each local college should be the recognised centre for 

 the organisation of educational courses for adults in its 

 area and for the supply of qualified lecturers and class 

 tutors and adequate library and other facilities." It 

 was resolved to refer to the council the question that 

 the Board of Education should be asked to accept as 

 " recognised service " the services of teachers engaged 

 in organisation, supervision, and inspection with the 

 view of qualifying such persons for pension under the 

 recent Superannuation Act, and that the Board should 

 furnish to every teacher of forty-five vears of age and 

 upwards a statement of his position "as to the period 

 of "recognised service " and " qualifving service" at 

 present placed against his name for the purpose of 

 pension. 



T 



The Asiatic Origin of Man.^ 



HE author of the speculative paper referred to 

 below is an evangelist of the gosnel of evolu- 

 tion according to Dr. W. D. Matthew. * The idea of 

 the Asiatic origin of the dominant orders of 

 mammals, in its source as old as Buffon, was in 19 15 

 placed on a firm basis by Matthew in his paper 

 "Climate and Evolution." This idea Dr. Griffith 

 Taylor now takes up and applies to the case of man. 

 Penck's fourfold subdivision of the Ice Age is regarded 

 as applying generally, and the development of the pre- 

 historic races in Asia is presumed* to occur in the 

 successive mild periods as follows : 



Chellian and Acheulian. Pliocene. 



Mousterian. ^ Gunz-Mindel. 



Aurignacian, Solutrea'n, 

 and Magdalenian. Mindel-Riss. 



Azilian and Neolithic. Riss-Wiirm. 



Bronze-using Races. Post-Glacial. 



Mongolians. Late Post-Glacial and 



Historic. 

 The following Ice Age in each case and in post- 

 Glacial times the progressive desiccation of Asia are 

 presumed to have caused migration from the home- 

 land to the peripheral continents. The migrations 

 are thus fairly well timed to enable the respective 

 races to keep their appointments in Europe, with, 

 perhaps, the exception of the Chellians, Acheulians, 

 and Mousterians, who are too early, if we may judge 



1 "Climatic Cycles and Evolution." By Dr. Griffith Taylor. Geo- 

 graphical Review , December, 1919. 



