Sm,—In considering the problem of widening the interests of the
woman in the suburbs overmuch emphasis is perhaps
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
being placed upon the function of such institutions as the
B.B.C., cinemas, &e. To keep her interest in . . . all that gives life eternal values " by their methods is surely in the case of the ill-educated (I do not mean -uneducated) mind, to incur the danger of a pseudo-culture that is' as pernicious an evil as the arid culture of some of our over- educated specialists. The point of such activity by these institutions would be, presuinably, not to disseminate arbitrary ideas upon politics and the arts but to sustain an already formed interest and to stimulate a possible one. But the mind in which the capacity for thought and criticism is undeveloped will tend, even if interest be awakened, to accept rather than evolve values, and the movement will, through no fault of its own, become propagandist, and taste and thought regulated as by a dictator. The result is only too likely to be that wider interests by inculcated values will become " fashionable," and I leave to the imagination the very real horror and danger of a competitive and super- ficial, culture among minds more naturally at home in less cultural interests. For I fear that at present. laments on the poor facilities afforded by the suburbs will find few genuine supporters in those areas. It is only when a keen intelligence finds itself thwarted by envirorunent that its complaints will reach the higli heavens unstimulated by such outside encouragement as finds expression in The Spectator. Thus I would echo Mr. Gower's plea for firmer foundations upon which to build the superstructure.
It is to the schools that we must look to train the intelligence not "merely in the post-examination years but throughout the entire school career. The problem repeats itself among the wealthier members of society for whom cultural facilities are more easily available. Hampered by a repressive exami- nation system, too many schools rush the child in its post- examination years into acquiring, as accomplishments, what should be regarded as interests, with the result that the critical faculties remain undeveloped, and, in later years, imprecise political notions and slovenly-written, popular biographies become the intellectual food of many of the more expensively educated. It is only by a constant and consistent training of the intelligence to find its own interests and the judicious fostering when found that a capacity for evaluation can develop naturally in after-school days. The later yeari of school life are too late. In both grades of 'society the
responsibility rests largely with the junior schools. It is for those primarily concerned with education to speak on
the " progressive " movement but those interested in what is a vital problem of our civilisation must undoubtedly turn to it for a solution. By the minimising .of the departmental-
isation of knowledge in junior schools and a closer collaboration between junior and senior schools a fundamentally intelligent attitude toward knowledge is early generated, and can maintain itself, the mind widening its interests while being trained
in the senior school to cope intelligently with the factual knowledge required by examination boards, and, in after- school life, with the routine work necessary for learning the majority of professions. Knowledge is regarded as a unity and cultural interests thus become from the outset part of the whole activity of living and not merely the prerogatives of the intellectuals, social accomplishments, or stop-gaps between rounds of housework. It is then that the B.B.C., &e., can fulfil their true function, not of ingrafting, but of sustaining interests when the facilities afforded by school life are removed, and of awakening others in the mind already
The White House, Roehampton, S.W. LI.
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