Snt,—If the Headmistress of Burnham Infants School is right in
attri- buting the mutual distrust between parent and teacher ultimately to the effects of having 4o as the size of the normal elementary class, what is to be done about it? We do not know the optimum size of class for a teach- ing subject (such as one of the three Rs), the size big enough to give
variety and contrast of personalities, and small enough to allow the teacher to keep up with individual mistakes and prevent muddle in the children's minds. The preliminary research needed to find an approximate value for this fundamental figure has (as far as I know) never been done, al- though it would not be beyond the power of a Local Authority, in col- laboration with a University, to get enough evidence in a year or two to be quite helpful. If it were found, for example, that the standard of improvement in arithmetic fell off more as classes went further above 20, this figure, or an average for main subjects, could be used as a basis for plans for buildings, training colleges, expenditure, and the teaching of disciplinary methods.
When no figure is known, the class number fixed is simply the biggest that can be made to give an appearance of order somehow, and the edu- cation built on such a foundation is largely makeshift, however fine the buildings, however keen the teachers, however optimistic the official speeches. The worst damage is not the failure to learn specific subjects; it is the feeling of muddle in children's minds, the feeling that this muddle is in the nature of things, the loss of personal relationship between the present generation and the generation to come.
H. W. HECKSTALL-SMITH.
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