THREE SCHOOLMASTERS
A Headmaster Reflects. By Guy Kendall. (Hodge. 7s. 6d.) A Schoolmaster's Testament. By J. H. Badley. (Blackwell. 7s. 6d..)
That Dreadful School. By A. S. Neill. (Jenkins. 5s.)
MOST schoolmasters at some time or another lean back and marvel that so many of their pupils have come to so little harm : the young human being often overcomes the difficulties put in
his way by the hypocrisies, stupidities, prejudices, evasions and misguided good intentions of his schoolmasters and parents.
If two or three people like him and are honest with him, that is enough : a few .misunderstandings and bursts of ill-temper do not matter. But how successful any of us are as school- masters we can never really tell ; only an outsider, years afterwards, can recognise our handiwork and say whether it was good or ball ; and even if it was good, it does not follow that our theories and methods would be any use if they were applied by someone else. Mr. Kendall might have been less successful if he had tried to follow Mr. Neill's methods, and similarly Mr. Badley has his own distinctive personality and theories. All three have been schoolmasters for many years, successful according to their own standards ; and they recognise the responsibilities of the schoolmasters in an age in which many other educational influences—newspapers, advertise- ments, cinemas, and often broadcasting—have abandoned any claim to moral, aesthetic or intellectual leadership. All three have dealt mainly with children of the upper middle class, and their new books describe their methods and theories and some- thing of the history of their schools.
Mr. Kendall's work has been in some ways the most diffi- cult : as Headmaster of University College School, Hampstead, he has had to face the hardships and restrictions of a normal secondary school. A man in such a position must always be influenced in his judgement by a sense of loyalty to his founda- tion, his parents and old boys, and his governors. He is not in the happy position of the " experimental " schoolmaster who is risking only his own career and the well-being of his pupils. He must put up a facade of urbanity and conformity ; he must not say what he thinks about his governors ; he must not criticise the general culture of his staff; he-must not make religious or moral teaching dangerously actual. Mr. Kendall
has learned his lesson so well that at times his book reminds us of these "-straight talks for 'boys " that go " straight past anything difficult." Like Mr. Badley, he gives a short summary
of modern educational schemes, and his book is valuable because it conveniently summarises the general outlook of an average intelligent headmaster of our day. His opinions have naturally been more liberal than his policy : he speaks against corporal punishment, for example, and the O.T.C., but not too noisily, and it appears that he did not abolish them in his own school. In general he handles controversial issues warily, and he does not record any illuminating experiences. On two points, however, he speaks out-: he says that the Government ought ta_ make it far easier- for- the unsuitable man to get out
of schoolmastering into some other employment, and he utters a mild warning against the fundamentalist. "'Crusader Club " with its linked theology and narrow middle-class outlook.
Mr. Neill, on the other hand, is emphatic and dogmatic, and it is clear that he has acted in accordance with his decided opinions: his new book is mainly a " case-book," and many of the cases deserve to be considered, especially by readers who do not share his belief that the normal child is naturally good and that problems of. masturbation and infantile jealousy are at the root of many childish difficulties. If parents and teachers care to read this book and think about their own reactions to it, they may learn much about their own half-conscious aims and jealousies, even though they reject most of Mr. Neill's argu- ments and are not impressed by his account of the after-careers of his pupils. Honest schoolmastering is exhausting work : the constant giving of sympathy and understanding, the maintenance of constant interest and humanity, is as tiring to the good school-
master as it is to the parent of a large family. All three of these authors agree that a system of formal dignity, strong
punishments, set lessons and examinations makes matters easier for the teacher ; and it seems that the amount of freedom and responsibility that can usefully be given to the child varies inversely with the size of the school.
At Bedales, Mr. Badley has had a longer experience as Head- master than Mr. Neill at Summerhill or Mr. Kendall at U.C.S. ; his book is an orderly account of the lessons he has learned in his forty years of teaching. It is one of the best of his books, and it is plainly the product of a vigilant, generous and sensitive mind. Like Mr. Neill and Mr. Kendall, he is convinced that education means more than the inculcation of facts and formulae; like them he dislikes the present form of leaving examination., and he repeats the very practical suggestion that every candidate should be given a certificate, stating what subjects he has taken and with what degree of success. Mr. Badley has one great merit as a schoolmaster : he is himself an educated man, and not only will his book help teachers to do more than they do at present, but it may also persuade recalcitrant governors and parents that more is worth doing. MICHAEL ROBERTS.
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