79G TRANSACTIONS OF SEf'TIOX L. 



that 1 lie latter were to a reasonable extent interested in their work; that they 

 exhibited an increasing intelligence and executive ability from year to year — 

 then, if all these conditions were fulfilled, he was in a position to say that public 

 money was not misspent and that the best was being done for the children. 



Can a greater change in the lifework of a man be imagined than was 

 necessitated by the change in system in the work of an inspector ? The duties 

 inspectors were called upon to exercise under the old system could have been 

 satisfactorily performed by men of far less academic distinction and less liberal 

 remuneration. Many a brilliant man was lost to education by the deadly 

 mechanical monotony of the useless individual examination of huge numbers of 

 children day after day. It is not surprising that inspection work became to some 

 merely a means of livelihood, while the best intellectual energies were devoted to 

 problems outside those of education. What wonder that some never succeeded 

 in grasping the fundamental aims and methods of school work ? But though 

 the tendencies of the results system justify these remarks, it must be said at once 

 that a much larger number of both teachers and inspectors than it was reasonable 

 to expect under the circumstances realised the proper functions of schools and 

 teachers and saw through the iniquities of the system. The point to bear in 

 mind is that the change of system placed suddenly upon the shoulders of the 

 inspectorate duties and responsibilities for which their previous training was by 

 no means tlie best suited. 



The development of School Boards, especially in the great urban centres, did 

 much to create a public opinion and interest in education. These authorities 

 realised that the Government examiner could and did do little to raise the 

 standards of educational ideals and efficiency. The great progress in methods of 

 instruction and the many valuable educational experiments of the last twenty-five 

 years, which compare very favourably with the achievements during the same 

 period in any other country, were due to the enterprise of the great School Boards 

 and the constructive work of their inspectors and organisers, who were in con- 

 stant touch with the work of the schools and on terms of closer intimacy and 

 sympathy with the teachers than the Government inspectors could be. These 

 constructive inspectors of the local authorities realised that no material progress 

 could be made unless much was done to supplement the work of the training 

 colleges. The Government inspector in many cases co-operated enthusiastically 

 with the local inspectors and organisers, to the great advantage of the schools. 



Method of Apjyointment. — Two methods of appointing inspectors have in the 

 past existed : — 



1. Selection by open competitive examination ; 



2. Election by the central educational authority. 



The first method, which is now probably extinct, would appear to be a very 

 uncertain method of securing the right men, but under the results system it was 

 probably as good as any other. It did at least secure men of wider knowledge and 

 culture than the majority of those whose work they were called upon to inspect. 

 But a written competitive examination, ignoring both the previous career and 

 experience of the candidate, as well as his personal qualities (except with regard 

 to physical fitness), cannot be regarded as a satisfactory means of selecting men 

 who will be required to indicate the best methods of instruction and organisation, 

 and to hold up before the teacher the highest possible ideals in the formation of 

 the habits and character of a large fraction of the natiou. 



It is evidently necessary to fall back upon the method of election by a com- 

 petent body of men who may be trusted to exercise honesty and sound judgment in 

 selecting those best fitted for the great responsibilities of the work of inspection. 



There is some difference of opinion as to the necessity of an inspector possessing 

 teaching experience. But how can an inspector, without a varied teaching 

 experience, and that experience of the right kind, presume to criticise the methods 

 of others ? The teacher is unlikely to respect or to act upon the suggestions of 

 an inspector who has oidy a theoretical knowledge of education. The position of 

 such an inspector is lilie that of the student in the practical examination who, 



