502 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—L. 
activities of the Institute to possess a clearing-house for international information, 
but such a department might well prove to be of imperial, and possibly of international, 
significance. At present the authoritative centre in Great Britain for general informa- 
tion on educational matters is the Special Inquiries and Reports Branch of the Board 
of Education, which has performed a unique service to British education for over 
25 years. It might be more economical in course of time for the Board to delegate 
the bulk of its general inquiries to the Institute, which could also perform a like 
service for the Colonial Governments and the more important Local Education 
Authorities. The establishment of ‘ contact-points ’ in the various countries will be 
considered ; forinstance in the case of U.S.A. there are the J'eachers’ College of Columbia 
University and the U.S. Office of Education (Department of the Interior) at Washington; 
in Germany we have the Zentralinstitut fiir Erziehung und Unterricht. 
It is possible, however, that our Institute may be the pioneer of National Institutes 
of Education in the chief countries of the world, which would serve as mutual 
“contact-points’’ for the international exchange of educational information. The 
organisation and co-ordination of this work might well be carried out by the Bureau 
International d’ Education at Geneva, which, it is to be hoped, will eventually become 
a department allied to the League of Nations, in a capacity somewhat analogous to 
that of the Bureau International du Travail. 
Discussion. (Major A. G. Courcn, D.S.0., M.C.,M.P. ; Dr. J. C. MaxwELh 
GARNETT, C.B.E.; Sir Percy Nunn; Sir Micnarn, E. Sapuer, 
K.C.8.1, C.B.; Dr. M. P. West.) 
Sir MicnaE. FE. Sapuer, K.C.S.1., C.B. 
Students of education living in all parts of the British Commonwealth would 
value access to a British institute at which they could attend informative dis- 
cussions and courses of lectures about the administrative arrangements, progress 
and problems of education in all parts of the British Empire and adjoining lands. 
The institute should be central. London is indicated as most suited for the pur- 
pose, because the institute would also be frequented by students of education from 
all European countries, from the United States, South America and the Far Kast. 
At present there is no European counterpart of the admirable and very influential 
work which is being done by Teachers’ College, Columbia University, in the 
City of New York. The importance of education in contemporary politics and 
social movements is growing. An institute dealing not less systematically with 
the educational problems of the world (especially as they affect British policy) than 
the Institute for International Relations deals with other categories of public questions 
would render public service. Educational aspirations are part of the ferment of 
change in all countries. The working of the ferment should be watched by students 
of public affairs. But at present, so far as Great Britain is concerned, our study of 
the subject is too intermittent and occasional, lacking continuity of observation and 
record. There are so many common elements in the educational movement which 
is now sweeping over the world that administrators and teachers in every country can 
get guidance by informing themselves about the experience of other lands. 
A few concrete examples of the subjects about which the institute would be a 
valuable source of sifted information are :— 
(1) the progressive movement in secondary education which aims at securing 
liberal education for all ; 
(2) the university problems which have arisen in the west and in the east through 
the rapid growth in numbers of students and the need for promoting social 
consolidation through appropriate courses of study not so specialised as to 
produce an unemployed academic proletariat ; 
(3) the fuller articulation of the work of primary schools in rural districts to the 
needs of the community, e.g. the working of the Jeanes teachers in the southern 
States of the American Union and in Tropical Africa. 
On all these points British experience can make a contribution which has not yet 
been effectively realised at home or overseas. 
The institute, starting from modest beginnings, would not be a costly undertaking. 
