October 6, 1904] 



NA TURE 



569 



indirate the difficulties which beset local bodies in their 

 endeavours to perform what is really a national task." 



By the recent regulations training is insisted upon as a 

 rondition for registration, but the actual establishment of 

 training colleges has been left, more suo, to private 

 initiative. Under the Act of 1902, the burden of supply- 

 ing the deficiency is thrown, not upon the State, but upon 

 ItK-al authorities. In addition to the difficulty which the 

 smaller bodies would experience in raising funds for new 

 institutions with expensive buildings and equipment, there 

 is the further one of getting proper cooperation between so 

 manv authorities, autonomous and often jealous of each 

 other. The most serious drawback of all lies in the 

 " localisation " of the individual teacher. Certain local 

 authorities may prefer to secure teachers trained elsewhere 

 by the offer of high salaries rather than train them them- 

 selves. As a counter-move, a local authority may bind 

 each teacher it trains to serve for a reasonable number of 

 years exclusively in its own schools, a system of indenture 

 which, however sound financially, is educationally unsound, 

 and which will seriously prejudice free circulation of 

 educational energy, with special detriment to the weaker 

 counties and boroughs. The present problem is how to 

 encourage and impel our local authorities each to bear its 

 fair share in the task of increasing the supply of competent 

 teachers without forcing them all into one groove, and 

 depriving them of all initiative and independence. 



Mr. H. Macan sent a paper which arrived too late for an 

 abstract to be made thereof, and was too lengthy to 

 read in full. In the circumstances justice could not be done 

 to this contribution. Inter alia he pointed out that a central 

 hall costing 30). per place was worthless compared with 

 good teachers. As a large number of teachers at present 

 leave the profession at an early age, he suggested that there 

 should be two classes of teachers, one highly trained, the 

 others less qualified short-service persons sufficiently 

 equipped for the journeyman-work of teaching. (The writer 

 of these notes does not know what " journeyman-work " 

 means as applied to teaching.) 



Mr. Gray, M.P., said it was impossible to escape from 

 the conclusion that the training of teachers should be a 

 national charge. Secondary-school teachers needed better 

 training in the art and craft of their profession, and the 

 barrier between elementary and secondary should be re- 

 moved. Mr. G. F. Danieil considered that the supply of 

 men for secondary schools would be met if the kind of train- 

 ing required was made known, and proper pay, position, 

 and conditions of work and tenure provided. 



The Rev. W. T. A. Barber said that elementary teachers 

 should have some practice in secondary schools during their 

 training. The training college should be in connection 

 with some university. To add a year's training in peda- 

 gogics to the costly years spent in graduating at a university 

 would stop the supply of teachers for secondary schools 

 unless the chances of the profession were improved. Dr. 

 Ernest Cook, chairman of the Bristol Education Committee, 

 complained that the ordinary training college provided 

 secondary education, but very little instruction in the art 

 of teaching. 



Principal Griffiths referred to the position in Wales, where 

 there is to be a congress of representatives of education 

 committees, of the university, of teachers' associations, and 

 of politicians to consider the position in the Principality. 

 At present they needed to import 280 teachers from the 

 neighbouring kingdom of England. He feared the effect of 

 enlarging day training colleges, and wished to remove dis- 

 tinctions between " normal " and ordinary university 

 students. Sir John Gorst said the difficulty of supplying 

 teachers had increased since the 1902 .Act was passed, and 

 pressed for energetic measures to be taken both by Govern- 

 ment and the local authorities. " Supply and demand " 

 would not suffice except for the great public schools. The 

 pupil-teacher system was rather a failure, and the training 

 college system not a success. The burden laid on the young 

 pupil teacher was greater than anyone could bear. The 

 qualifications of teachers should be certified by the uni- 

 versity, which should supply pedagogics, no new expensive 

 buildings being required, and the attempt to distinguish 

 between elementary, secondary, and technical education 

 should be abandoned. Assistance for training should be 

 given from both Ciovernment and local funds. He thought 



NO. 1S23 VOL. 70] 



the value of Ireland as a recruiting ground should receive 

 attention. 



Mr. J. L. Holland pointed out that we needed to know 

 the actual number of teachers required, and stated the 

 average life as a teacher to be, for a man, a little under 

 14.3 years, for a woman about 7 years. This means a fresh 

 teacher per annum for every 2000 to 2500 of the population, 

 and it should be noted that for every boy there are five girls 

 going to be teachers. (The number of pupils in secondary 

 schools in 1900 was -.—boys a fraction over, girls a fraction 

 under, five per thousand of the population.) The scholar- 

 ship ladder is in danger of becoming a treadmill, leading- 

 from the school as a pupil to the same school as a teacher,, 

 through the bad influence of " localisation." Miss Walter 

 said that the short professional life of teachers was due to- 

 low pay, and urged that more money be spent on salaries, in 

 which case less would need to be spent on training. 



M. ^mile Havelaque, Inspector-General of Public Instruc- 

 tion in France, made a particularly interesting speech, in 

 the course of which he dwelt on the advantage that %yould 

 accrue if a larger number of English students for the higher 

 branches of the profession could be induced to take up- 

 residence at French schools and colleges, under a newly 

 instituted scheme. The student would be able to study 

 French educational methods; the teaching of the mother 

 tongue, for instance, has received particular attention in 

 France, while it is surprisingly neglected in England. 



Dr. Mangold observed that in Germany the training of 

 teachers was a national charge, the masters of method' 

 receiving a small addition to their salaries as teachers. He 

 was astonished that it should be desired to remove the 

 differentiation between elementary and secondary— such 

 removal would be impossible in Germany at present. 



Manual Training. 

 Sir Philip Magnus opened the discussion on methods of 

 imparting manual instruction in its broadest sense in the 

 various types of schools. Other speakers included Mr. 

 George Fletcher, Mr. Millett, Mr. Oscar Browning, Mrs.. 

 Marvin, Prof. Armstrong, Miss Cooper, and Miss Taylor. 

 There was agreement as to the value of manual training 

 as a part of general education for all boys and girls, ancl it 

 was also felt by the opener and others that the instruction 

 should have the same aim for the two sexes. On the other 

 hand, the subjects used for this purpose should be different, 

 the manual teaching of girls being associated closely with 

 the domestic arts. 



Reports of Committees. 



Mr. Hugh Richardson presented an interim report of the 

 committee on the courses of practical, experimental, and 

 observational studies most suitable for elementary schools. 

 Useful work is being done, and it is satisfactory to note 

 that a grant has been made for its continuance. 



The report of the committee on the conditions of health 

 essential to the carrying on of the work of instruction in 

 schools emphasised the need of teachers themselves being 

 trained to understand how the laws of health entered into 

 every department of school life. Suggestions w/ere made 

 for the curriculum for such training. The report was 

 followed by a discussion on hungry and exhausted children, 

 led by Sir John Gorst, who boldly advocated that local 

 authorities should be empowered to feed half-starved children 

 and to punish those responsible for their neglect. 



.ifternoon Latiircs. 



On August 19 Mr. A. D. Hall lectured on the need of 

 scientific method in elementary rural instruction, and fin 

 August 22 Prof. Armstrong gave a short address on the- 

 research method applied to experimental teaching. 



The founders of the section should be well satisfied with 

 the position which it has taken in so short a time. The 

 gathering at Cambridge was remarkable for the bringing 

 together of workers in every branch of the diverse paths 

 of education. The debates were thoroughly well sustained, 

 and with better arrangements for continuing the work of 

 committees between the annual meetings, and some improve- 

 ment of machinery for advertising the subjects to be dis- 

 cussed beforehand, there can be no doubt that Section L 

 will exercise a useful national influence. G. F. D. 



