722 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L. 
mathematics, &c., while he desires a knowledge of struts, bonds, beams, lasts, pipes, 
and all the other trade paraphernalia? It must be admitted that we cannot expect 
this of him if he comes to the Evening School with ten years’ shop experience and 
ten years’ blank after his schooldays. There are nevertheless a few, even of 
this type, who come at the age of twenty-five entirely ignorant, but with an 
appetite for knowledge sharpened by a rude awakening to their incompetency. 
These of course do well, but the great majority of older students barely attain 
mediocrity. The adult student in evening technical schools is gradually dis- 
appearing, and though his elimination is slow, yet we shall best study the interests 
of our pupils if we take special care of our younger members, and whether they 
get their preliminary training in science in the school itself or in some preparatory 
school, one condition of admission to any trade class ought to be the possession of 
at least a modicum of pure science. 
The question of the best type of man to teach in evening technical classes is a 
very difficult one, but we are helped to a solution if clear ideas are held about the 
curriculum. If we assume the existence of the preliminary course of pure science, 
&e., the choice of a teacher for this will not be a source of much anxiety. When 
we come to trade subjects we are on very debatable ground. The usual evening 
teacher works all day in the factory, and comes one or two evenings to take charge 
of a trade class in the technical school. While appreciating the splendid work 
that has been done by these men, it cannot be an ideal system which only brings 
a teacher into contact with his teaching when his mind and body are carrying the 
burden of a hard day’s work in the factory or workshop. The chief fault of the 
system, however, is that the teacher has no opportunity of correlating his work 
with that of other teachers, and he and his class become an isolated community. 
The average teacher of this type is, as a rule, lacking in general scientific training, 
and usually his knowledge of trade methods and processes is in inverse ratio to his 
knowledge of scientific matters, He has never been taught to teach, and fre- 
quently has the haziest notions as to the capacity of his students. In fact, the 
‘odd evening’ artizan teacher is not a satisfactory solution of the difficulty. 
The alternative is, of course, to employ the science teacher who has probably 
spent the day in another school. In this case we get rid of one difficulty, but 
meet another perhaps more serious. The teaching of trade subjects requires trade 
knowledge, and there are hundreds of records of classes wrecked for lack of this 
vital necessity in the teaching, Experience shows that the best results are 
obtained by a blending of these two methods. A science teacher with a compe- 
tent artizan demonstrator will ensure both the correct development of the subject 
taught and the welding of the scientific principles with the workshop application 
of them. 
Of course, where day classes are held, and it is possible to employ teachers for 
full time, the difficulty largely cures itself, but the question of ‘ Up-to-date-ness’ 
needs very careful watching. A man who occupies his whole time in the teaching 
of the principles of any trade must, by his separation from workshop conditions 
and developments, inevitably become out of date and behind the times; and it is 
here that the good will of local manufacturers can be utilised to great advantage, 
When the teacher is known to, appreciated by, and keeps in touch with local 
factory owners, and is encouraged to visit factories and manufacturing works, he 
keeps abreast of the trade in its growth, and best satisfies the demand in our 
schools for that desideratum, a technical teacher, 
In working the scheme consisting of a trade teacher plus a science teacher, the 
position of the two men in relation to the class must be decided, partiy by the 
qualifications of the men themselves and partly by the administrative possibilities, 
In the Leicester Municipal Technical School a plan is adopted which has worked 
so far with excellent results. One member of the staff devotes his time to what 
may be termed technological science. He works in close conjunction with the 
several trade teachers. With slight modifications to suit the different trades, the 
same course of introductory science is suitable for many classes, and the detach- 
ment of such a teacher for this purpose enables him at the same time to study the 
trade questions to an extent sufficient for him to bring his teaching more or less 
