TEACHING OP^ GEOLOGY IN SCHOOLS 283 



in number ; the applications of Geology are certainly not fewer or less 

 important than those of other sciences. 



Unless some work in Geology is introduced into school curricula, not 

 only will there be a serious restriction in the numbers who will seek to take 

 up Geology as a profession, but many who may later be concerned with 

 the applications of Geology will hardly know of the existence of a science 

 which has close contacts with their work. 



Suggestions regarding Syllabuses. 



It has been suggested to the Committee that some indication of the scope 

 of the syllabuses proposed at the various stages of school work will be useful 

 as a basis for future discussion. In preparing the following notes the 

 Committee have received much generous help from teachers in several 

 areas and in different types of schools, particularly from those who are 

 teaching Geology at the present time. 



The syllabuses given below are in outline only. It must be emphasised 

 that the Committee would favour the greatest elasticity in the treatment 

 of the subject ; in Geology perhaps more than in any other science the 

 neighbourhood of the school should determine the bias given to the teach- 

 ing. Geology taught without proper regard to the phenomena which the 

 pupil can observe and study for himself must become dull and unreal. 

 Thus in a North Wales school slates may be given an amount of attention 

 which would be out of place in Hampshire ; the effects of glaciation would 

 be studied in less detail in the south of England than elsewhere in Britain ; 

 the fossils which a pupil might be expected to recognise would differ to a 

 great extent from one area to another. 



It may be remarked also that the order in which various sections of the 

 syllabuses are arranged below is not intended to suggest the order in which 

 matters should be dealt with by the teacher. The arrangement of the 

 sections may in some cases appear to give a logical scheme of study, but it 

 is suggested that in the teaching of Geology a start should always be made 

 with those phenomena which are most within the common experience of 

 the children : the pebbles or stones they bring to school, handy rock 

 exposures, the stones used in local buildings, the stream in the school 

 grounds, the adjacent cliffs or shores. 



General Elementary Science. 



Much attention has lately been given to the development of courses in 

 General Science both for Senior Elementary Schools and for Secondary 

 Schools. The lack of any general understanding of the meaning of science, 

 of its ideals or of its applications to modern life, has led to attempts to frame 

 courses of instruction wider in scope than those commonly followed in the 

 schools. In most of the schemes of General Science already in use, Physics, 

 Chemistry and Biology are included ; a few authorities have approved 

 more extended syllabuses embodying a little Geology and in some cases 

 a small amount of Astronomy. 



The Committee feel that it is unnecessary in this Report to meet the 

 various arguments put forward against the introduction of General Science 

 into schools ; the possibility that it may reduce the standard of attainment 

 in one or more specialised sciences reached by pupils proposing to enter 

 Universities is surely of less significance than the certainty that such a 

 course will give to the much greater number of pupils whose formal training 



