Science in National Education 



country. The position is quite different from what 

 it was five years ago. You find in every district 

 some teachers who are doing work of striking 

 originality and signal value. The interest is shift- 

 ing from questions of organisation to questions of 

 methods of teaching. It is unquestionable that 

 in freshness of treatment combined with thorough- 

 ness there is being done in some English schools 

 at the present time much educational work which 

 is unsurpassed, and probably unrivalled, in the 

 world. 



Thirdly, among artisans there is a keen desire 

 for improvements in the education available for 

 their children. They feel that their children have 

 not so good a chance here as they would have in 

 America, and they see no reason why matters in this 

 country should not be quickly improved. They 

 are of opinion that the classes in the elementary 

 schools are too large ; that the staffs of teachers 

 are not adequate in number ; that the children 

 make very little progress between twelve and four- 

 teen ; and that there is need for good higher grade 

 schools giving a thorough training up to fifteen 

 years of age. 



Fourthly, there is a disposition in all parts of the 

 country to think of national education as a whole, 

 from the elementary school to the University, 

 and to consider, as never before, the connection 

 between the different parts of the system. The 

 giving of responsibility for elementary and higher 

 education to one and the same local authority has 

 strengthened this point of view. The idea of the 



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