212 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



consultation with the teachers into whose hands successful candidates 

 passed confirmed the poor impression I had formed of the quality and 

 nature of the teaching. 



Twenty-four years ago, we said in a report of this Section that ' the 

 child's time should be about equally divided between practical manipu- 

 lative work and the ordinary lessons in reading, writing and reckoning.' 

 In such practical work is included science, handwork and drawing. 



We have not taken science seriously in elementary education ; we must 

 regard it as of the same fundamental importance as the three R's : the 

 first subject of instruction should be the study of our immediate environ- 

 ment. It is a serious reflection upon our system that our school output 

 is incapable of thinking about its commonest experiences. 



Once we believe that natural knowledge should hold a foremost place 

 in the curriculum for both boys and girls the difiiculties of reform are not 

 great. The teachers are competent, or can be made so, and the cost of 

 the simple equipment necessary is less than for other practical subjects. 



I could not speak so confidently if I had not conducted large-scale 

 experiments in both England and Ireland. That both these experiments 

 were subject to serious interruptions does not in the least affect their 

 value. What has been done, can be done, and I am sure will be done 

 again. I take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the fine 

 work done by thousands of teachers who have proved beyond cavil that 

 purposeful science teaching is both possible and effective in elementary 

 schools, large and small. 



' Nature Study.' — The case for handwork has been won with incal- 

 culable advantage to the people ; the cause of science, with its even 

 greater possibilities for the creation of alert minds and power of initiative, 

 has yet to be fought. Some confusion exists as to the use of the terms 

 ' Nature Study ' and ' Science.' It is important that they should be 

 properly defined for school purposes, and the distinction between them, 

 if it exists, should be made quite clear. ' Nature Study ' is an excellent 

 term in that it expresses both the subject and the method, and, used as 

 in America, would cover all elementary science up to the standard of the 

 school certificate. In this country it is generally used to cover junior 

 biological studies, but too often connotes aimless and incompetent 

 teaching devoid of all experimental illustration. Natural knowledge, 

 whether it relates to dead or living matter, is science, and I plead 

 for courage to use the word wherever instruction is purposeful and 

 methodical. 



Methods of Instruction. 



Aims of Science Teaching. — In educational discussion we hear vastly 

 more about methods of instruction than we do about its purpose. We 

 find a subject, ' Methods of Teaching,' presided over by a professor of 

 Methodology ; there is no professor of aims and purpose. A method is 

 merely a means of reaching an end already definitely enunciated ; any 

 method that achieves its purpose successfully is a good one. Take care 

 of your purpose and the methods will take care of themselves. We need, 



