234 REPORT — 1895. 



posed by the regulations of the Code in making visits for the purposes of 

 education to such places as Kew Gardens, the South Kensington Museum, 

 &c., although the Science and Art Department have recognised the educa- 

 tional value of such attendances ; and stated that Mr. Acland had favour- 

 ably received a deputation on the subject, and promised increased facilities. 

 This promise has been fulfilled ; and the Code of this year provides that 

 the time spent during school-hours in visiting museums, art galleries, and 

 other institutions of educational value may count towards the time re- 

 quired for an attendance at school. Her Majesty's Inspectors are more- 

 over instructed to encourage these visits wherever such institutions exist. 

 It is stipulated that the teacher in charge should not have, as a rule, 

 more than fifteen scholars with him, and that no visits should be paid 

 unless some person competent to give information of a kind interesting to 

 young children is present. All these regulations appear wise and proper, 

 so that the real object of visits to these institutions may be attained ; and 

 the limitation of them to twenty in the course of the school year is not 

 unreasonable, as, with all the other matters that demand attention, more 

 time cei-tainly could not well be spared. 



The only other alteration of importance in the Code that concerns your 

 Committee is the new stipulation that object lessons must be given in all 

 schools to the children in Standards I., II., and III., and an excellent circu- 

 lar to Her Majesty's Inspectors has recently been issued, pointing out the 

 true aim and nature of object teaching. It commences by drawing attention 

 to the two kinds of instruction which are often confused : (1) observation 

 of the object itself, and (2) giving information about the object. It dwells 

 upon the impoi'tance of the distinction, adding, ' Object teaching leads the 

 scholar to acquire knowledge by observation and experiment ; and no 

 instruction is properly so called unless an object is presented to the 

 learner, so that the addition to his knowledge may be made through the 

 senses.' It enforces the selection of subjects which can appeal to the 

 hands and eyes of the scholars, stating that ' however well the lesson may 

 be illustrated by diagrams, pictures, models, or lantern slides, if the chil- 

 dren have no opportunity of handling or watching the actual object 

 which is being dealt with, the teacher will be giving an information lesson 

 rather than an object lesson.' . . . ' It is Elementary Science only in so far 

 as it aids the child to observe some of the facts of nature upon which 

 natural science is founded ; but as it deals with such topics without formal 

 arrangement, it differs widely from the systematic study of a particular 

 science.' The circular contains many suggestions on the choice of objects ; 

 the avoidance of what is purely technical ; the making of drawings or 

 models both by teacher and children ; the relation of the parts of the 

 object to the whole ; and the leading the children to describe accurately 

 what they have seen. Several complete schemes are given for guidance in 

 the appendix to the circular. 



The Parliamentary Committee which has been considering the question 

 of decimal weights and measures, under the chairmanship of one of your 

 Committee, Sir Henry E. E,oscoe, has just reported in favour of the per- 

 missive use of the metric system for all purposes for the next two yeai's, 

 after which that system should become obligatory. It recommends that 

 it should be taught in all public schools as a necessary and integral part 

 of Arithmetic. The Elementary School Code has, for some years past, 

 contained a note to the effect that 'the scholars in Standards V., VI., and 

 VII. should know the principles of the metric system,' but it has not 



