784 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L. 



recognise that it must always remain the most potent element in the problem ; hut 

 I see no irreverence in suggesting that it may be greatly and beneficially supple- 

 mented in the school. 1 say, again, tliat it is impossible to estimate the evils that 

 accrue from mismanaged homes, and I have lived long enough to Itnow liow 

 greatly efficiency in all practical arts may be furthered by well-directed intelli- 

 gence. I feel fully justified, therefore, in entertaining high expectations of the 

 benefits to be derived from linking the education of girls much more definitely 

 and thoroughly to what will normally be the chief business of their lives. 



I 



School Inclining for Home Duties of Women. 

 Ihj Professoi' H. E. Armstronc;, F.R.H. 



8. The Training of the Teacher of Domestic Science, 

 By Miss Mary E. Marsden. 



In the early days of domestic science teaching almost the only qualification de- 

 manded of the teacher was the power of skilful manipulation. Much more is 

 expected of the domestic science teacher of to-day than of her predecessor. Not only 

 must she be proficient in the arts she practises, but she must be able to give reasons 

 based on scientific knowledge for the processes she employs. She must understand 

 something of child-nature and the laws of mental development, so that she may 

 make the work progressive and encourage thought and initiative in her pupils, 

 rather than unthinking imitation. 



These increased demands on the present teacher of domestic science can be 

 met, in the first place, by training as teachers only those who have had a good 

 previous education. Students who have had a good secondary education are 

 those best fitted for the work. The education given at a public high school in 

 which careful training in the general principles of elementary science is included 

 is an excellent basis for the special training in domestic science. 



It is further desirable that, as a test of general knowledge, students should 

 have passed some examination such as that of the London University Matricula- 

 tion, or the Senior Local Examination of the Oxford or Cambridge Universities. 



The ideal preparation for a Domestic Science Course would be a science degree 

 followed by the special training in domestic science. Until, however, the salaries 

 have reached a much higher rate for teachers as well as for organisers of domestic 

 science, this will not be practicable. The salaries of those engaged in the arduous 

 and responsible work of the training of domestic science teachers are very low in 

 comparison to the salaries paid to those who simply teach children. 



So far as I have been able to learn, the London University, at the Goldsmiths' 

 Training College, is the only authority that has offered for the teaching of 

 domestic science an initial salary proportionate to the work. If our training 

 schools are to be efficiently .staffed, educational authorities must ofler consider- 

 ably higher salaries than those given at the present time. The teacher of 

 domestic science cannot aflford to do her work mainly from philanthropic motives. 



In the meantime, however, it rests with the training schools to require a 

 higher standard in their entrance examinations. From the fact that some training 

 schools require no educational test, or an extremely low one, some people, including 

 many headmistresses, have been led to believe that the girl who.se attainments 

 at school have been below the average can take up domestic science". This is 

 an entirely wrong idea ; such a girl is inevitably a failure as a teacher. There is 

 one development of domestic science teaching which especially demands that the 

 teacher shall have a good secondary education. I refer to dome.stic science teach- 

 ing in the higher type of secondary schools (that is, those in which the pupils are 

 not mainly drawn from elementary .schools). If domestic science is to rank with 

 other subjects in the curricula of such schools, the teacher must take equal 

 educational and social rank with her colleagues. She can only be a capable 



