ox THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 363 



scholars the natural methods of instruction adopted in the best infants' 

 schools, by which the children are trained to use their powers of observa- 

 tion and reasoning. With reference to the matters in which your Com- 

 mittee are more immediately concerned, it states : ' It sliould be borne in 

 mind that object-lessons cannot be dispensed with if habits of observation 

 are to be duly fostered, and they should be treated as a means for mental 

 exercise, and not merely as opportunities for imparting miscellaneous 

 information. Objects should always be present and in sufficient numbers, 

 and the chief aim should be to call into activity observation and the con- 

 struction of clear mental pictures, so that the intelligence of the pupils 

 may be exercised and developed. Geography, where it is a class subject, 

 should be treated in a similar way, and should be taught by visible illus- 

 trations and by actual modelling in sand and clay, for the production of 

 miniature rivers, mountains, &c.' 



Reference has been made in previous reports to the important work 

 being done by the science demonstrators under the London School Board 

 in introducing practical lessons into the schools — lessons in the course of 

 which the children are not merely orally instructed, but are led to carry 

 out themselves a series of simple measurements and to make experiments 

 with the object of solving easy little problems, being thus taught both to 

 be accurate and to be self-reliant. The vacancy in the staff caused by 

 the appointment of Mr. Gordon, who has been so eminently successful in 

 this work, as one of the Inspectors under the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment has been filled by the appointment of Mr. Heller, an Associate of 

 the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of 

 Technical Education. He will carry on the instruction under the scheme 

 given in the Appendix, which is no ideal scheme, but an outline of the 

 work actually done in a considerable number of London schools during 

 the past three years. No other School Board appears as yet to have 

 attempted to give systematic practical instruction on such lines with the 

 object of training children to gain their knowledge by their own efforts, 

 thereby training them to help themselves and to think logically ; but the 

 work of the London Board has been carried on with such satisfactory 

 results, and the method adopted is of such promise, that it is to be hoped 

 that the example of this Board will be generally followed. The immediate 

 difficulty that will be met with in this direction, however, arises from the 

 lack of suitable teachers, and it cannot be too strongly urged that no time 

 should be lost in organising classes for teachers and placing them under 

 competent instructors. As County Councils have in some places already 

 shown willingness to assist in this direction, it is to be hoped that progress 

 will not be prevented by want of funds, and that School Boards and 

 County Councils will effectively co-operate in this great work, the national 

 importance of which must ere long be recognised. 



Practical lessons similar in character to those which have been given 

 in some of the boys' schools are about to be added to those now given in 

 some of the girls' schools under the London Board. The results of this 

 experiment will be awaited with the greatest interest, although there can 

 scarcely be a doubt as to their proving to be equally satisfactory. When 

 the character of the household work done by women is taken into account, 

 it is obvious that training can be imparted at school in the course of such 

 experimental lessons as are to be given to the girls which will be of direct 

 practical value, and the most effective preparation possible for much of 

 women's work. If girls can be taught to weigh and measure accurately, 



