8o 



NATURE 



[November 28, 1895 



secondary education, we should fully take into account 

 and avail ourselves of the teachings of science. And it is 

 consequently just cause of complaint that only a single 

 representative of science— Sir Henry Roscoe— should 

 have been placed on the Commission. 



Naturk may also well object to the limited construc- 

 tion put by the Commissioners upon the reference sub- 

 mitted to them— that they should have understood it to 

 so confine their enquiries as to lead them to think that it 

 was not their function to include either an examination 

 and description of the instruction now actually given in 

 secondary schools, or a consideration of what subjects it 

 ought to cover, and by what methods it should be given ; 

 and that consequently they should have mainly restricted 

 themselves to what they call the external or administra- 

 tive part of the subject. This, to the ordinary mind, is 

 not unlike leaving out of account the weapons used in 

 modem warfare, as well as all questions of tactics, in 

 considering the organisation of our defensive and 

 offensive forces ; as education must in the future be the 

 arsenal in which our weapons both of defence and offence 

 will be mainly fashioned, the parallel can scarcely be said 

 to be wanting in appositeness. It is all the more remark- 

 able that the Commissioners should have taken so narrow 

 a view, as on the second page of the Report they say that 

 the object they had before them was nothing less than to 

 complete the educational system of England, now con- 

 fessedly defective in that part which lies between the 

 elementary schools and the Universities. 



Among those who have studied the conditions of 

 English education and compared it with the best foreign 

 systems, who are aware of the state of English public 

 feeling on such matters, and who also take into account 

 the altered conditions under which we now live and work, 

 the impression is strong, however, that nothing is more 

 wanted here than a clear declaration of policy which 

 would serve to form public opinion and lead it into the 

 right direction as regards the character of education most 

 suited to the times. Although confessedly a practical 

 people, we continue to allow our children to receive an 

 education bearing little relation to the practical needs of 

 life ; the reason being, probably, that we do not suffi- 

 ciently recognise that we owe our success almost entirely 

 to innate good qualities, and that Englishmen have been 

 helped in a comparatively small degree in what they 

 have done by their school training. 



It should have been easily within the powers of the 

 Commissioners to have properly discussed such questions, 

 and it is surprising that it should have been found 

 difficult "to secure the help of those who, while not 

 directly or professionally connected with secondary 

 schools, had studied educational problems." And besides 

 hearing witnesses belonging to the class of " educational 

 statesmen and thinkers," workers might perhaps have 

 been listened to with even greater advantage — when the 

 theoretical evidence tendered by some is contrasted with 

 that of an accomplished and experienced worker like 

 Miss Beale, for example, there is no difficulty in deciding 

 which is the more valuable. If also the opinions of a 

 few experienced instructors at the universities and else- 

 where, who have to do with large numbers of average 

 students from secondary schools, had been invited, 

 material would have been accumulated of importance in 

 determining our future educational policy, and which 

 probably would have led the Commissioners to open 

 their eyes very widely : information as to the previous 

 places of education of undergraduates at the universities 

 is of little use in comparison with information as to the 

 quality of their attainments. 



Not a single scientific witness was called 1 Yet, if 

 among the memoranda on particular topics invited from 

 persons believed capable of furnishing valuable data or 

 views, memoranda on the place of science in education 

 and the kind of teaching required had been invited, 



NO. I 36 1, VOL. 53] 



there would not only have been no difficulty in securing 

 such, but the documents would have had a high value. 

 The mere fact that technical education was included in 

 the enquiry, and indeed occupiied a very considerable 

 share of attention, is in itself sufficient evidence of the 

 necessity of taking such a subject into consideration. 

 But the Commission was clearly so constituted that it 

 could not appreciate the importance of such action being 

 taken, composed as it was very largely of men who can- 

 not be regarded as belonging to the modern school of 

 educational thought. Consequently, and most unfor- 

 tunately, it has contributed little, if anything, towards 

 the understanding of the difference between true scientific 

 teaching — not merely of science, but of all subjects— 

 and the sham article with which this country has so long 

 been flooded ; the wearying fight to bring this home to 

 all concerned must therefore be continued with un- 

 remitting vigour. And this is the more disappointing, as 

 it is so clear that, had the Commissioners advanced but 

 very little further, they could have helped us in this 

 direction also ; for how otherwise are we to interpret the 

 following admirable conclusion to the summary appended 

 to the second section of the Report, that relating to the 

 present condition of secondary education in England ? — ■ 

 " In every phase of secondary teaching, the first aim 

 should be to educate the mind, and not merely to convey 

 information. It is a fundamental fault, which pervades 

 many parts of the teaching now given in England, that 

 the subject (literar}^, scientific, or technical) is too often 

 taught in such a' manner that it has little or no educa- 

 tional value. The largest of the problems which concern 

 the future of secondary education is how to secure, as 

 far as possible, that in all schools and in every branch 

 of study the pupils shall be not only instructed, but 

 educated. The degree in which this object may be 

 attained will be largely influenced by the action of the 

 authorities who prescribe the qualifications to be required 

 in teachers, the conditions under which their work is to 

 be done, and the means by which their work is to be 

 tested." 



Surely it was the duty of the Commissioners to take 

 the first step towards solving what is admitted by them- 

 selves to be the largest of the problems concerning the 

 future of secondary education — it is not likely that another 

 Commission will be appointed to do this ! 



The Franco-German War first drew the attention of 

 the world to the extraordinary value of exact training and 

 scientific organisation. The lesson was most taken to- 

 heart by the Germans themselves, and by carefully 

 training the officers of their army of industrial workers,, 

 they have since come off victorious in many important 

 engagements with rival manufacturers and traders. An 

 almost deeper lesson has recently been given to the 

 world by the Japanese. Unless we are prepared to 

 entirely disregard such lessons, we must introduce drastic 

 reforms into our whole system of education. Scientific 

 ways of working — scientific habits of thought, must be 

 made national habits. The change would be nothing 

 like so absolute as that made by the Japanese in 

 their system of working, and if such a nation could 

 entirely alter its front, it should not be beyond our power 

 to do what is so clearly essential to our continued 

 existence in comfort, let alone prosperity.^ 



1 I cannot refrain from quoting the following conclusion to a striking, 

 article on the "Far Eastern Question" in to-day's Times (November 27). 

 " Although nothing can excuse the short-sighted folly of our manufacturmg. 

 classes in not providing for scientific research in the various branches of 

 industry, yet it is the duty of a wise Government to take measures to. 

 counteract the folly of classes when it threatens the general interest. In one 

 word, Great Britain stands at this moment in imminent danger of being 

 beaten out of the most lucrative fields of commerce, simply because it does 

 not recognise, while other nations do, the value of scientific organisation 

 in the field, in the workshop, in the laboratory, and in the conduct of 

 national policy." The Daily Telegraph has recently published an interest- 

 ing series of letters—" Lessons in German "—conveying a similar lesson. We 

 have waited long for the daily press to assist us: such evidence that the 

 gravity of the situation is at last attracting .attention is therefore most valuable. 



