2S2 



JVA rURE 



[January 23, 1908 



two associcilions, which would be better calculated to lead 

 to an appreciation on the part of individual members in 

 each body of the aims and difficulties of their colleagues 

 in the allied camp. It would be easy to suggest other 

 joint meetings of associations which would be helpful just 

 now. Sections of the British Association unite to discuss 

 problems on their boundaries, and this with better effect 

 than by joint committees. Moreover, the various sections 

 of the British Association belong to one body, and the 

 general public recognises the importance of conclusions 

 carrying its imprimatur. Would not teachers have more 

 public influence if the existing associations were federated? 

 The specialising influence to which we have referred should 

 not be allowed to become a narrowing influence, and to 

 that end teachers should from time to time hear addresses 

 from first-rate men on subjects outside their own branch. 

 The influence of science is probably weakened at the 

 present time by the confinement of all scientific subjects to 

 ,'t technical society or body of experts. Science was prac- 

 tically omitted from the agenda of all the educational 

 conferences this winter, except of the two which we will 

 now describe. 



London County Council Conference. 



The subjects dealt with fall under the four heads 

 nature-stud)', commercial education, manual work, and 

 p<T?dogogic experiments, and we will omit all further 

 reference to the second of these. 



" The Place of Nature-study in the School Curriculum " 

 was the title of the opening paper by Dr. Percv T. Nunn, 

 and it would be difficult to imagine a better introduction 

 than the philosophical exposition given by the vice- 

 principal of the London Day Training College. The basis 

 of Dr. Nunn's arguments was the principle that it is the 

 business of the educator to cultivate groups of interests 

 rather than to teach useful subjects. While I'ecognising 

 that nature-study could well contribute to the aesthetic side 

 of the curriculum, it had clearly to be recognised on the 

 whole as an integral part of the instruction in science. 

 The science curriculum should be so thought out as to 

 secure continuity of development in conformity with the 

 characters which distinguished the successive levels of the 

 ■icientific process. Of these levels or stages, the highest 

 and latest was the stage of system pursued for its own 

 Nake, a stage scarcely reached at school by ordinary pupils. 

 Before this was the utilitarian stage, in which the greater 

 part of elementary science teaching should fall. The 

 ■foundation should be the nature-study stage, in which 

 " science is born of wonder." These stages were not 

 ^i^parable by clear lines of demarcation, and it was a 

 mistake to allow their continuity to be interrupted, as 

 when topics introduced in the nature-study lessons were 

 .afterwards allowed to drop. In the case of rainfall, for 

 instance, the first simple studies should lead through the 

 investigation of dew-point to hygrometry, the measurement 

 of vapour-pressure, and thence to the doctrine of the con- 

 tinuity between liquids and gases. Dr. Nunn stated, in 

 conclusion, that science of the higher type could not be 

 a completely healthy growth unless it sprang out of the 

 foundation of nature-study. The papers which followed, on 

 school excursions, and the use of the school museum, 

 dealt with practical points in the management of these 

 aids to_ teaching. Both authors and subsequent speakers 

 emphasised the importance of observations being made 

 under conditions as little artificial as possible. The 

 superiority of open-air work was generally admitted, but, 

 in addition to difficulties with regard to time and place, 

 some speakers found obstacles in the regulations under 

 which they worked. 



The afternoon discussion was practically confined to the 

 subject of botany teaching in girls' schools, Miss Lulham 

 discussing: the approach to the subject through nature- 

 study. Miss Lilian Clarke describing the botanical labora- 

 tory and school gardens at Dulwich, and Miss von Wyss 

 tackling the difficult problem of teaching large classes in 

 ilomentarv schools. Space does not permit us to enter 

 into detail, so we must content ourselves with stating 

 that each of these papers bristled with practical sugges- 

 tions based on actual experience, and suited to ordinary 

 rondilions of work, where the pupils are many and the 

 time circumscribed. We mav remind our readers that a 



verbatim report of the conference will be issued by the 

 County Council, and advise teachers working with strictly 

 limited funds and a lack of cupboards and other fittings 

 to study the very helpful recommendations made by Miss 

 von Wyss. It is not surprising that, stimulated by her 

 teaching, a natural history club could be started and be 

 continued as an evening class after leaving school in a 

 district which at first sight appeared unpromising. In 

 passing, we may note that Miss Lulham pointed out the 

 virtues of colt's-foot as a plant for all-the-year-round 

 study by beginners, so we may bless as teachers the 

 persistent weed which as gardeners we are disposed to 

 ban. In the discussion the papers met with hearty 

 approval, an inspector of secondary schools pointing out 

 that many important girls' schools had given up botany 

 after trying to teach the subject on wrong lines. There 

 was general agreement that the study of botany became 

 highly interesting and educative if the following conditions 

 were fulfilled : — (i) the living plant must be studied ; 

 (2) the pupils must keep plants under observation for 

 lengthened periods, making notes and diaries illustrated 

 by their own sketches direct from nature ; (3) the pupils 

 must experiment ; (4) the teacher must prepare the lessons 

 very carefully, and then leave as much as possible to be 

 done by the pupils themselves. The moral and aesthetic 

 influences of the study of nature were not forgotten, and 

 it was rightly pointed out that the teacher must not forget 

 that plants are living and beautiful. Is it too much to 

 hope that a love of nature may attract youngsters to 

 healthier interests than those stimulated by the poor silly 

 ti-ash which is so much read? 



Sir John Cockburn presided at the discussion on manual 

 training, and pointed out its importance from the physio- 

 logical standpoint. Motor instruction conformed to natural 

 methods, and the moment these methods were departed 

 from the work of the teacher became a distortion of what 

 it should be. The brain could only be built up properly 

 through the action of the muscles. Dr. Slaughter, late 

 assistant to Dr. Stanley Hall, read a paper on the need 

 of manual training in the lower standards, in which he 

 insisted on the idea of training all classes for citizenship. 

 Scientific investigation showed that the human body was 

 no longer to be regarded as separate from the human 

 mind, and that thought was truncated action. He based 

 his hopes for the future of education on manual training, 

 although present methods were open to serious criticism. 

 Perhaps their greatest fault was that they aimed too 

 much at the acquisition of technique, whereas such train- 

 ing should be in daily use for its adaptive educational 

 value. It should mean more than hand training, should 

 make use of drawing, and should give knowledge about 

 geography, animals, and plants. Mr. J. C. Hudson gave 

 an account of manual work in American elementary 

 schools, some making it merely supplementary, whilst 

 others use it as a means of correlating all subjects. 

 Perhaps the underlying idea may be indicated by the sub- 

 stitution of the terms " expression work " and " associative 

 .Tctivities " for the term " manual training." Mr. P. B. 

 Ballard considered the position of manual work in 

 Standards I. to IV. of the senior departments of English 

 elementary schools. As the result of a recent inquiry, he 

 obtained replies from 120 educational authorities, which 

 showed that only sixteen authorities adopted a systematic 

 course of hand-work. ."Xs regards London, courses in brush- 

 work, clav-modelling, &c., were rare, except in the special 

 schools for the mentally and physically defective, so that 

 in the matter of motor training th" lost sheep was looked 

 after and the ninety and nine forgotten. Mr. Ballard 

 proceeded to advocate the application of hand-work to 

 ordinary school subjects, and gave a series of illustrations 

 of his ideas as applied to arithmetic, geography, and 

 history. He wished to bridge the gap at present existing 

 between the kindergarten occupations of the infants' 

 department and the manual and domestic work of the 

 senior standards. 



During the sittins' devoted to educational experiments 

 in elementarv schools, a paper was read bv Mr. H. J. 

 Hazlitt, in which the author described in detail how he 

 had been conducting classes in open-air geography. Bv 

 making previous provision of home-made survey maps and 

 notes, the class was able to take an enlightened interest 



NO. T995, VOL. 77] 



