ON THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 385 



It is doubtful whether this will prove acceptable, as it involves a wider 

 range of study than any of those going before, in which the same subject 

 is carried onward from year to year. In so far, however, as the title is 

 concerned, the institution of this Course marks an advance in views and 

 is a valuable recognition of the principle that in teaching science in ele- 

 mentary schools it is important to base the instruction on common objects 

 generally. 



Last year the N'ational Association for the Promotion of Technical 

 Education endeavoured to obtain some modifications of the alternate 

 courses of elementary science in Schedule II., and your Committee also 

 drew especial attention to certain points of which they disapproved. No 

 alteration, however, has been made. They can only express the hope that 

 this important schedule will be carefully revised for the code of next 

 year ; and it seems highly desirable that the revision should be carried out 

 with the assistance of some of the teachers who have given special atten- 

 tion to methods of teaching science. 



It is stated at pp. 28, 29 of the Code that ' it is intended that the 

 instruction in elementary science shall be given mainly by experiment and 

 illustration. If these subjects are taught by definition and verbal de- 

 scription, instead of making the children exercise their own powers of 

 observation, they will be worthless as means of education.' It is here 

 clearly implied that the object of instruction in elementary science is to 

 lead the children to exercise their powers of ohservation ; but it is much to 

 be feared that the methods generally adopted in teaching the subject do 

 not satisfy this requirement, and it is highlj important that ampler in- 

 structions should be placed before teachers. ValnabJe and instructive as 

 are class lessons, whether ' conversational object lessons ' or lessons freely 

 illustrated by experiment, experience shows that their effect is but too 

 often ephemeral ; and, above all, it is to be feared that they do little towards 

 developing the power of independent observation, as in such lessons 

 children do not learn to do things themselves, but gain their information 

 from the teacher. 



The Committee desire most strongly to urge that the time has now 

 come when every eflort should be made to introduce experimental lessons, 

 especially measurement lessons, into schools ; in other words, that the 

 children should be set to do simple experimental exercises themselves not 

 merely to attend lessons, listening to and taking notes of what is said'. It 

 is now clearly recognised that even in the case of students of a far higher 

 grade than those in the elementary schools practical instruction should 

 always accompany lectures and demonstrations, and this must be all the 

 more necessary in the case of young children. In the higher standards 

 not only the observing faculties, but also the reasoning faculties, should 

 be brought fully into play in the practical lessons. It may be added that 

 in the course of the measurement lessons, even in the lower standards 

 opportunity would be given to the children to compare the English with 

 the metric system, and thus the knowledge of this latter, which is now 

 required of the higher standards, would be easily acquired. 



If attention be once directed in the Code to the necessity for instruc- 

 tion of the kind suggested being given, there can be no doubt that suit- 

 able sets of practical exercises will soon be devised and carried into 

 practice. The non-recognition of their importance is at present the chief 

 bar to the introduction of such practical exercises. 



Science demonstrators have recently been appointed by the School 



1891. c c 



