TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 477 



for the profitable pursuit of advanced studies in one direction or another. Directly 

 a pupil arrives at that point at which he may demonstrate his adaptability for 

 special lines of training he should have the opportunity of availing himself of the 

 best instruction he can get in that particular direction. This can be best earned 

 out by providing centres at •which the special training may be carried on under 

 better conditions than is possible in separate schools. In every town of even 

 moderate size there should be a special school to which might be drafted those 

 pupils of either sex who demonstrate in their early career an adaptability for 

 advanced training. _ For every special subject there should be special teachers of 

 approved qualifications, training, and skill; one teacher might take a group of 

 subjects. There should be scholarships or exhibitions enabSng naturally gifted 

 pupils to pursue their studies longer than would be possible without such helps, 

 and the course of instruction should in each case be directed in view of a con- 

 sideration of the position in life which the pupil is hereafter likely to fill. Branches 

 of science more immediately bearing upon the industries of the district should be 

 brought prominently forward, so as to provide for the training of young people who 

 may hereafter be intelligent artisans, foremen, and managers. There need be no 

 fear of educating young people beyond what is suitable for their station in life. 

 The clever pupil should not be taken away from the elementary school at too early 

 an age, so as to afford discouragement to his teacher there, and, on the other hand, 

 he should be well grounded in all the essential subjects, so that he may pursue with 

 the greatest benefit the special course. The expense of the scheme proposed 

 would be less than might at first be imagined. Grants for special subjects, as 

 already provided for in the new code, and the grants in aid of science and art 

 teaching administered by the South Kensington authorities, should be available ; 

 they woidd produce more satisfactory results than those which are at present too 

 commonly obtained. There should be also evening classes for the further advance- 

 ment of students after they have entered upon their business career. 



3. Some Account of the System of Instruction in Elementary Science intro- 

 duced by the Liverpool School Board into their Schools. By Edwaed M. 

 Hance, LL.B., Clerk to the Liverpool School Board. 



Almost as soon as the Liverpool School Board had any schools of their own to 

 manage, they were painfully struck with what appeared to them the mechanical, 

 monotonous, and utterly uninteresting character of the instruction then generally 

 imparted in elementary schools. They felt that the incessant and almost entirely 

 unrelieved grind at reading, writing, and arithmetic, in which the attainment of 

 mechanical accuracy appeared to be the ultimate aim, did very little, if anything, 

 to develop the intelligence of the children, and was calculated to defeat its own 

 object by generating in a great majority of cases a distaste for intellectual attain- 

 ments. They were impressed therefore with the necessity of providing a some- 

 what more varied curriculum, and especially with the importance of introducing 

 some subject calculated to awaken the observing faculties of the children. In the 

 choice of subjects they were by no means free, for though in theory they may 

 perhaps be at liberty to introduce subjects not specified in the New Code of the 

 Education Department, they are practically almost unable to do so, since teachers 

 under a system of payment by results are naturally anxious to devote their main 

 energies to subjects that will ' pay ' in the Government examination. At this point 

 the board obtained the valuable advice of Professor Huxley, (Jolonel Donnelly, and 

 one or two other gentlemen of eminence in the world of science. The result was, 

 at their suggestion the board selected 'Mechanics' for boys, and 'Domestic 

 Economy ' for girls, as the subjects most suitable for their purpose, the definition 

 of these subjects given in the New Code being of such a nature as to allow of the 

 instruction being considerably expanded, in the one case in the direction of 

 elementary physics, and in the other in that of elementary chemistry, physics, and 

 physiology. In reference to the system of instruction, it was decided to absolutely 

 abandon the use of textbooks, and to rely entirely upon oral instruction, illustrated 



