ON THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 23 i 



The returns of the Education Department given above refer to the 

 whole of England and Wales, and are for the school years ending with 

 August 31. The statistics of the London School Board are brought up to 

 the year ending with Lady Day, 1895. They also illustrate the great 

 advance that has been made in the teaching of Elementary Science as a 

 class subject, and they give the number of children as well as the number 

 of departments. 



The total number of departments for ' older scholars ' under the London 

 School Board at the last-named date was 820, so that in just over one- 

 fourth of the whole the teaching of Elementary Science has been 

 introduced into the curriculum. 



The number of schools under the London School Board that are now 

 working in accordance with the syllabus of Elementary Physics and 

 Chemistry given in the day and evening schools Codes is steadily increasing, 

 and the work as it becomes better understood by the teachers is naturally 

 being better taught. About thirty schools under the Board will be 

 engaged in this work after the summer vacation, all of which are supplied 

 with the necessary apparatus. The old system of peripatetic experimental 

 lectures by a demonstrator has been practically superseded in the divisions 

 of Tower Hamlets and Hackney. The scholars are not now dependent on 

 a brief inspection of apparatus once a fortnight or three weeks, but can 

 use it at any opportunity given by the master of the class. 



The enormous size of the classes — often 120 — is, however, a serious 

 obstacle to the success of a scheme designed to cultivate the reasoning 

 faculties rather than the acquirement of knowledge of scientific facts and 

 theories ; in this sense it cannot be said that the scheme has yet had a 

 fair trial. Very much depends on the individual ability and enthusiasm 

 of the teacher, much more so than under the old system ; so that in most 

 cases the work is not satisfactorily carried on if the teacher himself has 

 not been through the whole course practically before he begins to teach 

 it ; in fact, the Science and Art system has left its mark so deeply engraved 

 on many teachers' minds that it takes some time to instil more modern 

 notions into them. 



The alteration in the system of inspection, though beneficial in all 

 subjects of school curriculum, will have an especially useful effect in the 

 teaching of science. Under the new conditions the work must be done 

 more thoroughly, and the subjects of the syllabus evenly distributed over 

 the year, thus preventing the rush and cram of revision in the period im- 

 mediately preceding the annual examination. 



The training of teachers being, as above stated, the all-important 

 factor in securing the success of this scheme, more facilities are required 

 for bringing together the older teachers to form normal practical classes. 

 In considering the establishment of such classes it must be remembered 

 that teachers, already out of their training course, give their time volun- 



