156 REPORTS ON THE STATE oF scrENCcE.—1917. 
The branches of science which may be included in a general course for 
schools are indicated below. These can be organised according to the ages 
of the boys. The methods of teaching which they imply will be especially 
valuable for young boys of the Preparatory School age. In his early years 
the small boy can wander through these fields of knowledge. He can learn 
to handle tools in an engineering shop; he can work with motors and other 
machines; he can open his eyes in the romance of physics, chemistry, and 
biology; and he can practise weighing and measuring in his class-room. The 
older boys, from fourteen to seventeen, will go over the same ground, but 
on a higher plane, and will in the later stages acquire a working knowledge 
of applied science. A 
The following are the subjects :—(1) Workshops ; (2) ‘ Romance of Science,’ 
including Astronomy ; (3) Experiments on the Use of Machines; (4) Biology ; 
(5) Chemistry ; (6) Physical Measurements, and, at a later stage, (7) Applied 
and Pure Science. 
1. Workshop Practice.—Belief in the value of a continuous workshop train- 
ing must be the excuse for the space here given to the organisation of shops. 
In the first place, the shops must be on a scale which will employ a class of 
twenty-five boys effectively. They must form a small manufactory, and have 
an engineering machine shop, a carpenter’s or patternmaker’s shop, a smithy 
and foundry of some size. These conditions are essential for true work. 
Smaller shops tend to be of an amateur character, and only a few boys can 
get the best out of them. Workshops to be effective must be on a large scale. 
It is seriously necessary that such shops should be established, not for Public 
Schools only, but for Secondary and Elementary Schools, nor should expense 
stand in the way. Such shops could be made self-supporting. Schools should 
be able to turn out good craftsmen as leaders or workers in the industrial 
life of the country, and the training can be given in schools better than in 
works. In works, unfortunately, much of what is good is spoilt by the spirit 
which competition and the conflict of capital and labour engender. Boys 
sent out from the schools can not only be made good craftsmen, but they can 
also be inspired with ambition to rise to high standards of skill, and to have 
a deep insight into the significance of their work. Enthusiasts believe that 
vocational teaching is capable of giving the highest training for life. 
There are two methods of working shops. Under one system boys make 
things for themselves, and may follow some hobby. This is the individualistic 
principle, and is the only one possible in small shops. The other system 
is to organise the shops on manufacturing or co-operative lines. The war 
has given the opportunity of doing this more effectively than before, and the 
possibility for true education of this kind of working has been discovered. 
Co-operative work involves repetition work, and there are many excellences 
in this repetition. In shops of fair size a variety of work can be contracted 
for, and this work will fill several types of machines, such as the lathe, 
drilling, planing, milling, slotting, grinding machines. A contract of the 
kind now being given for munition work provides work both rough and fine, 
so that all boys can be occupied; and no boy need be kept too long at the 
same class of work. This work gives opportunities for boys who do not dis- 
tinguish themselves in other parts of the school; and they can therefore take a 
higher place among their fellows, as well as gaim self-respect and reliance. 
The following are some influences of workshop training :— 
(a) One chief characteristic is the attitude of mind which is fostered 
by the shops. This is all towards attention and creativeness. Workshops 
are places where things are made, and the objective is to make something. 
A boy goes there to do, and not to learn. His attention is fixed on his work. 
Determination to do the work in front of him and to acquire skill and 
practice is the chief aim. This spirit towards work is transferred to the 
class-room and changes the boy’s view-point there. The influence is infectious, 
and keeps alive the spirit of creativeness. 
() Another effect of the workshops is to develop craftsmanship. A boy 
acquires the virtues of a first-class workman. He becomes deft with his tools, 
