2i6 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



by copious constructive suggestion. Therein he stands, almost alone, 

 among the small band of scientific men who, during the past fifty years, 

 have helped us to put purpose and method into our work. Like other 

 great reformers, the full appreciation of his tireless efforts may not be 

 reached even in his long lifetime. 



General Science essential. — There is one implication in my definition 

 of natural method as applied to science teaching : our subject must be 

 General Science. We cannot work in the corners of knowledge fenced 

 in by present-day examinations ; we must be free to trample down half a 

 dozen of these fences in one and the same lesson. 



In this great open field we can start almost anywhere ; it will depend 

 upon the special interests of the teacher, or even of his pupils, and upon 

 the environment of the school. Personally I find ' Air, burning, breathing,' 

 a good starting-point ; it involves physics, chemistry, physiology and 

 hygiene. In a girls' school a two years' course can be centred round the 

 theme ' How the body keeps warm ' ; it provides a sound and adequate 

 basis of fundamental general science. 



Text-books. — Purposeful method in general science should dominate 

 instruction up to sixteen years of age — that is, the teaching should be 

 broad in scope, and fundamental and experimental in character. Subject- 

 matter incapable of inquiry, illustration or verification should be intro- 

 duced only where its utility is outstanding. During the later part of 

 this period I see no objection to text-books, properly used — that is, for 

 reference after instruction and practical work. Science masters are 

 more prone to the disease of book-making than other teachers, and I am 

 not sure whether the mass of text-books available is a blessing or an evil ; 

 their multiplicity and success is a proof that the great majority are misused. 

 Publishers and authors alike are interested in sales to individual pupils. 

 Text-books used otherwise than for reference tend to stereotype instruc- 

 tion and to check investigation and initiative. I am glad to say I know 

 of no one book that provides a natural and rational course of instruction. 



The Influence of External Examinations. 



Examinations and Method. — It is impossible to discuss methods of 

 teaching without reference to the constraints that preparation for examina- 

 tions places upon them. In early reports of this Section we deplored the 

 stultifying efi^ects of external examinations upon the purpose and methods 

 of the teachers' work. After twenty-five years this yoke appears to hang 

 as heavily as ever upon the shoulders of our teachers, who accept patiently 

 the burden as part of a pre-ordained scheme of things. In the years 

 that need the greatest concentration upon those aspects of training that 

 no ordinary examination attempts to test, this evil spirit has obtained 

 a strangle-hold upon the efforts of both teacher and pupil. 



Influence upon Teaching. — I am unconvinced that external examination 

 produces much voluntary stimulus to effort with the ordinary pupil of 

 sixteen years of age. It is a very powerful stimulus to the teacher and 

 urges him to methods which repress initiative and destroy imagination. 

 His reputation is at stake. No matter that the syllabus is extensive and 



