228 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



university career, others to professional life, or to good positions in 

 industry or commerce. In the secondary, central, and junior technical 

 schools the break from the primary school is complete. 



Clearly, the most difficult problem in this important scheme of 

 re-organisation is the ordinary senior school, which a large proportion of 

 the children will attend. The stimulus of a new environment is of peculiar 

 value at the age at which the transfer comes. With a new headmaster, 

 a separate entity, a group of children within a narrower range of age, 

 good practical workrooms, and a large number of fresh interests may 

 produce that change of atmosphere which is necessary for complete 

 success. 



Much thought and wisdom will be needed from those in authority in 

 deciding as to the best kind of senior school for each child. An intimate 

 knowledge of the boy or girl, the personal equation, the direction indicated 

 by the child's interest, the possession of any special ability and so on, are 

 necessary for a decision on which so much depends for the future welfare 

 of the scholar. 



In dealing with modern movements in education it is necessary to 

 make a passing reference to the great possibilities offered by the cinema 

 and the wireless. Experiments in various directions, as we shall see, 

 have been, and are still being made to explore methods which may result 

 in one, or, still better, both, playing a useful part in modern schemes of 

 education. The natural objections raised to purely visual or purely 

 auditory instruments in educational procedure may be met within the 

 near future by the speaking film or the synchronisation of the normal 

 educational film with the loud-speaker, thus eliminating the obvious 

 necessity of the film lecturer. 



The comparative failure of the so-called educational film in picture 

 houses is largely due to the attempt to satisfy the student, and at the same 

 time secure the interest of the larger clientele of the picture palace, the 

 popular audience, which is rendered necessary for financial reasons. During 

 the sitting of the Cinema Commission an investigation was made of the 

 popularity of diSerent types of film among the school children frequenting 

 picture palaces. In practically every case the educational film was at 

 the bottom of the list. It did not appear possible to meet the claims of 

 the two classes of patrons, although praiseworthy attempts were made 

 to produce exceptionally good results from the point of view of successful 

 production. For educational purposes it is evident that the element of 

 popular appeal must be subordinate to the instructional objective. 



On the other hand, a valuable research has been carried out, aided by 

 generous subventions by the Carnegie Trust and the National Council of 

 Public Morals, to test the efficacy of the moving picture (film) as compared 

 with the static picture (lantern slide) for teaching purposes. Prof. Spear- 

 man accepted the chairmanship of the committee appointed, and his 

 psychological laboratory at University College, London, was fitted up with 

 cinema appliances for the conduct of the investigation. Groups of 

 children from neighbouring schools were instructed in different subjects 

 by meanfi of the lantern and the film respectively. The result was that 

 there appeared to be an advantage of about 20 per cent, for the moving 

 picture both for immediate and delayed memory tests. 



