The Elementary School of To-day and its Outlook
LOOKING back upon nearly fifty years spent as a teacher in elementary schools, one finds that the educational changes have been colossal. Lest anyone should deem this adjective _too strong, a few facts may be recalled. I have in mind two schools, one in anindustrial town and the other in London, but the last-named school is best for comparison, because the connexion has been continuous and the ease is fairly typical.
results of these examinations, reckoned by points per cent., the going to neookery centre.. - - - - - - _ - _• - - --- annual grant to the school was allotted. The authorities firmly - _In the-mere-strictly scholastic studies, a -revolution has-been Were it possible for'a modern educationist to take a peep at that school as it was in the late 'eighties he would step back appalled. The general conditions and the types of pupil approached those of a slum. The school itself was not too clean ; it was badly lighted. with "fish-tail " burners ; there was no hall for assembly or dismissal. Books were dirty and tattered, apparatus was scanty. Classes were large, ranging from fifty upwards. Once I started the year with ninety-nine toys on the register, though the numbers soon fell off as the older boys left. In many such schools there was a solid minority of surly, resentful louts who were bayonetted into the building by the " School Board Man," but, even then, the total attendance frequently did not rise above eighty per cent. of those on the roll. The sullen type of lad often spent his later years in a truant school, meanwhile he and his brethren were a problem. A teacher who was a weak disciplinarian was occasionally stoned on his homeward journey. Wise men, disobeying impossible rules, acted as Governor Eyre might hive done, risking dismissal for breach of regulations rather than for incompetence.
Examinations kept the scholars in nervous tension, and gave the teacheri intermittent returns of irritability, for 'there were two sets of inspectors, those sent down by the Government and those employed by the School Board. Some of these inspectors were gentlemen, others, not always through their own fault, but because they had to administer a barbarous system, were licensed bullies. At one period, following the principle established by Robert Lowe, every individual scholar was 'examined. After some time groups were selected, each group to be inspected in a particidar subject. Then the groups became interchangeable by mutual consent of inspector and teacher. So the alterations went on ; at first every pupil must be examined if he had made two hundred and fifty atten- dances, then came the privilege of omitting a small percentage of the " obviously dull," a term which caused intense trouble and dissatisfaction. This was followed by a proviso that a scholar need not be examined unless he had been in the school twenty-two weeks. So many were the changes that it needed nimble wits to keep abreast with them. Worst of all, on the believed that intelligence could be assessed and remunerated by extra_ pennies and twopencies, calculated in this mechaniCal way. A loa, Government grant meant a Iasi to the School Board, and the Board avenged itself in some Cases ky stop-Ping 'increases of salary.
Those bad days and those unhealthy rivalries have gook far ever. The inspectors of to-day are gentlemen whOm it =is a pleasure to meet, for they enter the school not to spy andllns d fault, but to confer and advise. The stupid Old " Standaids " have been abolished. Glance at the same school to-day. Instead of the unwilling schoolboy, one finds a keen, alert, happy fellow, who rarely absents himself, and often considers it a deprivation if his parents keep him at home: Dress, geieral bearing, manners,' are, in the 'vast majority of instances, splendid-. Let me add that I am far from claiming the whOlc;of this improvement as a result of education, but the school has been the chief formative influence. Happiness prevails, there is a quiet air of interested occupation, there are no shades of the prison house. Punishment is uncommon, although there isever present the exceptional pupil, the psychological puzzle. To these pupils exceptional treatment is accorded.
The amenities of the school at once impress the visitor. -The very building is cleaner and fitted with better furniture' . Opportunities for cleanliness and tidiness arc afforded by piloPer cloak-moms, lavatories, and tidy boxes. The textbooks are sounder, more numerous, and more interesting. The choicely selected pictures on the walls, the reference library, the Museum, the lists of scholars who have distinguished them- selves academically or in sports, the Roll of Honour, the piano which helps on many occasions very effectively to sweeten school life will not be unnoticed. There is a successful violin class. The teachers are perhaps arranging a school journey to some distant town or village, Or a philanthropic lady comes'in to collect money towards assisted country holidays fol• fit children. The school doctor inspects the pupils periodielilly, and at longer intervals a dentist advises about their teeth.
Every class takes its turn once a week in playing games under the supervision of a teacher, and there are active footb'all and cricket clubs. During the summer months the older bOys visit the local swimming baths regularly. A very popular part of such a school is the handwork-foorn, where, working on the true Shavian principle of " self-direction," boys are allowed to make toys, knick-knacks, engines, or any article they wish to select. A teacher, specially trained, supervises this work. Once a week, too, the lads depart to a manual training centre, and are there taught to use their hands , the girls simikirly accomplished, for, since classes are much smaller, more individual help can be given. Scholarships and " free places" offer the brightest pupils a chance to rise higher. At least one boy has been through the university and is now an assistant professor. No longer is an intelligent scholar made- to lag behind because the dullards cannot achieve his pace. He goes on ahead, seeking help when needed. Interest is kindled and he sees the reward of his efforts. In schools where the Dalton system has been adopted—but of these I have had no personal experience—this method is pursued to a greater extent. Whatever be the lesson, whether history, geography, or science, the mere acquisition of facts is counted of little value, but the bearing of the facts, and their effects on social or industrial development, are greatly emphasized. The human side of history and the geographical principles which have determined the course of national prosperity and freedom are always kept in view. Mechanical instruction is disappeasing, and the scholar is taught to look at the world with wide eyes. An attempt is made to cultivate the imagination by studying literature and pictures, and by encouragement in making original drawings. The cardinal fact has been realized that a healthy scholar likes to be healthily employed, and that an absorbing interest in one's work brings happiness. Expressed otherwise, interest in work has developed intelligence to an .unexpected degree, and it may be predicted that this will continue, with its corollary of a good social spirit and a confidence between the scholar and his teacher.
Is there any loss to set against these undoubtedly vast advances ? It must honestly be confessed that there are some such losses. First, there must be mentioned a -diminished degree of concentration, a tendency to inertia, a habit of always wanting to " see what the other fellow is 'doing." This may be, and I believe is, only one phase of the general slackness which most observers have noted in the country generally during the last decade. Secondly, there is often a lack of definiteness and precision. This is largely due to the attempt made everywhere to teach too many subjects. A lad may write an excellent letter, and his spelling be weak. If it does not matter whether we write " Chanel Tunnel " or "Channel Tunnel," let the fact be made known, for spelling reform does not gain much ground. Is it sufficient to know that we can find the position of Kabul or Aberdeen by looking at an atlas ? Again, the decision of the experts should be clearer. Still again, what is the use of an ability to solve arithmetical conundrums while the solver cannot add up a grocer's bill of eight or ten items correctly ? The common- place story of the monkey and the handful of nuts wedged in the jar is very suggestive. The other day an old pupil said to me, " I never had a lesson in book-keeping in my life, but I have kept my firm's books satisfactorily for twenty-five years, simply because I was taught to be accurate and methodical at school." As for handwriting, it is a lost art, apparently in every kind of school, elementary or secondary, and the
success of its substitute, script, is already being challenged, But these are personal views only, and may be disputed. What of the future ? Far-reaching changes are proposed, and the framework, at least of the present school seems destined to disappear. Long ago the London School Board established Higher Grade Schools, and the County Council, in my view a far more enlightened body, • followed with Central and Secondary Schools. The coming ' reform retains the present infant' schools, but provides schools definitely junior and senior for the older pupils. At the close of 1926, a Consultative Committee of the Board of Education, presided over by Sir W. H. Hadow, issued a report on this question, which they had been carefully examining. The " Hadow Report," as it is popularly termed, though its exact title is The Education of the Adolescent, really carried to a logical conclusion principles which rural teachers; in " the fell clutch of circumstance," had long before been driven to suggest, namely, the grouping of scholars according to age and intelligence. The Iladow Report classifies in the first place by age only, though some latitude seems possible. The infants' school, to use the convenient but curious description, is to contain children up to the age of 7+ ; the junior schools, from that age to eleven ; and the senior, from 11 + to 15+.
It is fairly arguable that there is no physiological break at any of these stages, such as is known to occur at puberty. The `.!' team spirit " is indeed said to be first noticeable about the age of eleven. There may be some hardships_ in the rigidity of the limits. In the borough which has been under consideration, the _ following plan is being Adopted. Three schools within reasonable distance of each other are selected, one being retained for the infant children, the second for the scholars—boys and girls up to eleven—And the third for the " post-primary !' pupils of both sexes up to fifteen. In what manner the " post-primary " school will be linked with the strictly secondary school seems to be a ,problem which for the present is left_ over. Numerous practical objections, chiefly of a minor chL.racter, could be mentioned : the cost of partial refitments, the reluctance of parents to send children greater, distances than those to which they have been accustomed, the possibility of the teacher being ,fixed immovably in one type of school. ,These objections can be met, and the proposed four-year course in the post-primary school, with its generous allowances for practical instruction, for music, the arts and crafts, languages, and vocational equipment is exceedingly attractive. Not the least of the benefits is the retention of the pupil At school for that final year when he can obtain most benefit, and where, incidentally, he will at the outset be relieving the labour market of his presence. " Economy and efficiency" was Lord Rosebery's catchword—the truest economy is to turn out the fullest number of well-equipped workers with the smallest percentage of joyless misfits.
WALTER JOHNSON.
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