GENERAL SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS 317 
In 1928 a British Association Committee of Zoologists published a report 
on ‘ Animal Biology in the School Curriculum.’ In this report the com- 
mittee regarded the principle that biological teaching should have some 
place in the education of all children as generally admitted, and after 
emphasising the unity of this teaching in that it must take in the whole 
range of life, plant and animal kingdom alike, they dealt mainly with the 
amount and scope of studies to be recommended. ‘They made suggestions 
for the actual building up of a scheme of work, and presented in outline 
a syllabus of biology for pupils from 11 to 16 years of age. 
In 1929 the British Association Committee on Educational Training for 
Overseas Life again urged that a broader view should be taken of the 
function of school science as a preparation for life and service. ‘They viewed 
with satisfaction the movement to introduce biological studies into the 
curriculum. Such studies dealing with the living environment of the child, 
they claimed, would introduce naturally and purposefully most of the 
biological work possible in many schools as well as much of the physical 
science necessary. 
“In Rural Studies, schools would possess an educational instrument of 
wide adaptability, affording intellectual material of the highest kind. . .. 
The contact with life which rural studies bring gives purpose and reality to 
school work generally ; they create interest and provide a rational basis for 
all branches of scientific inquiry. . . . These studies provide opportunities 
for a simple approach to the physiological processes of life, and, when 
correlated with the teaching of geography and history, constitute a basis 
of instruction of far-reaching importance.’ 
The report draws attention to the chief causes of the slowness of the 
schools to extend their biological work, a course so strongly urged by 
educationists and so clearly in accord with the needs of the time. 
In 1929 the British Association Committee on Science in School Certifi- 
cate Examinations showed, in their report, that a detailed analysis of 
examination statistics proved that ‘ General Science occupies a low place in 
comparison (with specialist subjects) and biological subjects other than 
botany are deplorably neglected.’ This report includes some valuable and 
suggestive syllabuses both for General Science and for Biology. 
In' 1929 a report on the condition of science teaching in Oxfordshire, 
compiled by a committee of the Oxfordshire Branch of the Assistant Masters’ 
Association, emphasised the need for the inclusion of biology in the science 
work of the schools. 
In 1929 the Friends’ Guild of Teachers published a report based on 
answers to a questionnaire sent to the Friends’ schools, to a number of 
other well-known schools, and to a number of specialist teachers. In 
answer to the questions, ‘ What Life Sciences ought to be included in the 
_ curriculum for pupils aged 12 to 18, and on what grounds can their inclusion 
be adequately justified,’ the following expression of view summarises the 
general opinion : 
_ “There is but one ‘‘ Life Science ’’—Biology, of which Nature-study, 
Hygiene, Botany, Physiology, Zoology are specialist sub-divisions. Too 
generally at present the instruction of Life Science in schools provides little 
more than some knowledge of Nature Study, Hygiene and Botany, and a 
very strong case can be made out for instruction in the general principles 
of Biology even as early as the first stage—tr1o to 12 years of age.’ 
~In February 1932, a committee of the Economic Advisory Council, 
presided over by the late Viscount Chelmsford, reported on the ‘ Education 
_ and Supply of Biologists.’ The report, besides making recommendations 
on the education of specialists for work at home and overseas, urges the 
