i 7 8 



NA TURE 



Dec. 25. 18S4 



clashed with the day of the demonstrator's lesson in 

 domestic economy. The teaching has evidently been 

 carried home, for an irate landlord visited one school to 

 " know what they meant by teaching children that his 

 houses were not fit to live in ! " the said houses being 

 built "back to back," a practice the evils of which are 

 pi rinted out in one of our domestic economy lessons. The 

 large number of papers, essays, mechanical drawings, 

 models of apparatus, &c, exhibited by the Birmingham 

 School Board at the Health Exhibition will give some 

 idea of the results of the work and of the eager manner in 

 which it has been taken up by the children. So far from 

 the science-lessons having interfered (by taking up time 

 which would otherwise have been spent on the three RV 

 with the ordinary school work, the unanimous testimony 

 of the teachers is that the increased intelligence of the 

 children enables them to do their Standard work more 

 easily. The idea has been very prevalent that by in- 

 cc ssant mechanical practice excellence in the " three R's " 

 can be secured ; but the fact is that unless the intelligence 

 be cultivated, no subject can be properly learnt. True 

 education is culture of the mind, and mechanical acquire- 

 ments have nothing in common with culture. 



Applying to the matter the practical test of the Govern- 

 ment examinations by Her Majesty's inspector, the 

 results come out in a very satisfactory way. 



1882 3114 92-6 



1883 2 ... 3150 Sg-6 



Another pleasing fact is the much larger number of 

 children now found in the upper Standards. In [879 

 (the year before the introduction of science-teaching) the 

 percentage of children examined in Standards IV. to 

 VII. was only 19/5 : it is now 337. 



The following extracts from the published reports of 

 the Birmingham School Board prove that, in the estim 1- 

 tion of those best able to judge, the teaching of science 

 lias proved a success. 



1880. — "An important addition to the work of the 

 Hi ir I schools has been the introduction of experimental 

 lessons in elementary science. A science demonstrator 

 has been appointed, and has now commenced work." 



188 1. — " In June [88 1 the Board decided to appoint an 

 assistant science demonstrator. The lessons in ele- 

 mentary science had proved so successful and attractive, 

 that it was felt to be unfair that such advantages should 

 be denied to some schools while they were afforded to 

 others." 



" These science-lessons are fully answering our expecta- 

 tions ; the children are very attentive and much interested 

 in the work ; and, in addition to the useful knowledge they 

 gain, their general intelligence is being developed." 



i >82. — "The success of the science-teaching has been 

 strongly marked, both by the papers worked by the can- 

 didates for the science scholarships, and by the greater 

 development of intelligence shown in regard to other 

 subjects." 



"As the teaching of science in Board schools has now 

 become exceedingly popular, and many of the children 

 line made considerable progress, six scholarships of 

 10/. each have been founded in connection with the 

 Science and Arl Department " 



" Upwards of one thousand boys are now receiving 

 admirable lessons in elementary science in the Board 



den tnstratoi appointed June 1880. 

 - Mundella Code introduced, by which Literature (in which 1435 pa-se, 

 were made in preceding yea 1 I from list of specific subjects The 



d require nents of th . ' Y drop in the 



I entage of passes for this year 



schools, and the result of this teaching is little less than 

 marvellous." 



18S3. — "The teaching of elementary science in the 

 Board schools has developed considerably during the 

 year, the scholars taking great interest in it, and the 

 results shown by the examinations being such as to prove 

 that the knowledge imparted has been largely retained." 



" Two great steps in advance have been made by the 

 present Board. One is the establishment of science 

 classes. The remarkable success which has attended 

 these classes has been frequently alluded to, and is 

 generally known." 



Scienc Scholarships. — Twelve science scholarships of 

 10/. per annum have now been established in connection 

 with the Science and Art Department. The boys who 

 obtain these scholarships, together with an equal number 

 selected as showing special aptitude for science, spend 

 each Friday afternoon at the science laboratory in the 

 study of analytical chemistry. All those hitherto ex- 

 amined have passed (and a large number in the first 

 cla al the May examinations of the Department. 



There are also two valuable science scholarships by 

 which boys may pass from the Board schools to King 

 Edward's Grammar School, and thence to the Mason 

 Science College, their parents meanwhile receiving allow- 

 ances of 15/. and 25/. per annum for their support. These 

 scholarships are very keenly competed for, the usual 

 number of boys examined being over 200. The examiner, 

 Prof. Poynting, M.A., of Mason College, reports as 

 follows : — 



1882. — " Hardly any of the questions in my paper could 

 have been answered without independent thought on the 

 part of the candidates, and I had but very few answers 

 showing a want of such thought. The boys showed that 

 they had seen and understood the experiments which they 

 described, that they had been taught to reason for them- 

 selves upon them, and that they were not merely using 

 forms of words which they had learnt, without attaching 

 physical ideas to them." 



1883. — "The paper worked by the boy who stands 

 highest on the list was an excellent one, and showed con- 

 siderable power. The next five boys also deserve special 

 mention as having done very good wor'c. I think the 

 general style of work sent in was very satisfai lory. The 

 average was not so high as last year, as the third stage of 

 the subject was far more difficult, and the paper set was 

 also much harder, but I think that quite as much ability 

 was shown on the part of the candidates, and that the 

 evidence of careful teaching was quite as strong." 



Mr. Richard Tangye — the head of the great firm of 

 Tangye and Co. — has taken a warm personal interest in 

 the work, and his aid and countenance have been most 

 valuable. He testifies strongly to the great improvement 

 of his young "hands" since the introduction of the 

 School Board system in Birmingham. 



Summing up the matter, the results which we hope to 

 obtain from this science-teaching, and which indeed have 

 already manifested themselves, are : — 



(1) The general quickening of the intellectual life of the 

 school. 



(2) The imparting of scientific knowledge and method 

 to children which will be usaful to them in after life, and 

 which will cause many of them to continue their science- 

 studies in evening classes.' 



(3) The discovery of children of exceptional ability, 

 and their support by means of scholarships. 



(4) The instruction of the school-teachers in scientific 

 principles, which they may apply to the general work of 

 the school. 



Evening Work in Science.— the. work done among the 

 teachers by means of evening science classes in connec- 



' 1 1 ,rl ii, ,:. lingham and Midland Institute speaks of the 



influx I youths into the evening science classes— " the result doubtl 



c " hing now carried on in the Board schools." 



