L— EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE 22i 



must have at his disposal the services of a laboratory assistant ; valuable 

 time is often wasted in mere fetching and carrying and by the difficulties 

 arising from a poor equipment. Breakages must occur, and the bill 

 for renewals is often a measure of the efficiency of instruction, but head- 

 masters look askance at these demands and wonder whether the game is 

 worth the candle. 



Where a vocational outlook is possible emphasis should be laid upon 

 the appropriate branches of the full course. For others whose future 

 employment makes little demand for applied science, instruction will 

 be mainly directed to the investigation of conunon occurrences and the 

 problems of healthy living. 



Value of Revision. — The adoption of a non-departmental scheme of 

 general science has one great advantage : it necessitates the repetition and 

 expansion of the same ideas in successive years. Few pupils really grasp 

 a new idea at the first presentation, nor does the immediate and frequent 

 repetition of the same lesson do more than secure a word memory which 

 is not lasting. A new approach to the same idea, after a considerable 

 interval, and by a more mature treatment, is invaluable, and much of the 

 admitted ineffectiveness of school science is probably due to the neglect 

 or ignorance of this fact. 



It is urged as an objection to general science that it is not examinable. 

 Could any stronger argument for its adoption be offered ? There can be 

 no doubt that external examination would affect the teaching of general 

 science even more disastrously than it has affected that of specific subjects. 



Senior Work in Secondary Schools. — If instruction up to sixteen years 

 of age has been broad, thorough and practical, the nature of science 

 studies in the last two years will be determined by the necessities of future 

 occupation or employment. Reading and practical work will go hand- 

 in-hand, the teacher's principal function being to direct and organise 

 both. A real but elementary knowledge of the interdependence of the 

 various branches of science is of greater value to the young student than 

 a specialised book knowledge beyond his years. 



The engineer, the doctor, the agricultural expert, the chemist and the 

 schoolmaster require a much wider knowledge of science than they com- 

 monly possess, and these years should tend to counteract the narrowing 

 influences of university and professional training. 



The false standards of university scholarship examinations have 

 influenced adversely the science in senior forms of secondary schools. 

 The schoolmaster who has been through it knows what his pupils require 

 in order to profit by university courses ; his opinions should carry great 

 weight in determining the nature and standard of these examinations, 

 which should test practically and theoretically a broad and thorough 

 knowledge of general science. 



Science in Girls' Schools. — Domestic duties call for more initiative, 

 executive ability, power of organisation and common sense than do the 

 ordinary vocations followed by boys on leaving school. The woman in 

 the home is confronted daily with problems the solution of which demands 

 trained intelligence and considerable knowledge of science. A training 

 in methods of inquiry in relation to the materials and phenomena of 



