Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education

occurred to myself and to those of my colleagues, whom I had the advantage of consulting this year on various questions of practical interest; especially on the progress which appears to be made by the students in the knowledge of their professional duties, and the ability to discharge those duties in a satisfactory manner.

1. It is evident from the papers on school-keeping, which I have examined carefully for many successive years, that in most institutions more hours are allotted weekly to this subject, and greater pains taken to inculcate clear principles and systematic methods of instruction, than was formerly the case in any, excepting the Home and Colonial training school. It will not be necessary to compare the marks given to the students; but it may be observed that they nearly correspond with proficiency attained in religious knowledge and in those other subjects which require good sense, right principles, and general intelligence. The following remarks suggested themselves to me last year, and have been corroborated by the results of the last examination. On the one hand, the answers to those questions which refer to the details of elementary instruction have lately been far more accurate and practical than formerly. The students have evidently been accustomed to notice and to describe the methods of instruction adopted in the practising schools. On the other hand, these answers have convinced me that there is an amount of indecision and vacillation in the application of elementary principles by the teachers of a large proportion of these institutions which is likely, unless a remedy be found, to produce very detrimental effects. There will always be a very considerable divergency of opinion between the managers of different institutions; and, although I am well aware of the great difficulties which that diversity occasions, especially in questions connected with the erection and arrangement of school buildings, I am ready to admit that the iconvenience is more than counterbalanced by the free development of op on, and the increased energy of independent action. But that diversity which is necessary, and may be advantageous in different institutions, ought not to exist in them severally. Each training school ought to be conducted on a well-considered principle, and each subject of instruction ought to be taught upon an uniform and intelligible system. The time of the students is wasted, and their minds are thoroughly perplexed, when they have to choose between conflicting opinions, and to learn a variety of methods. The papers which I have examined, and the observations made by my colleagues and myself in many of the practising schools, prove that sufficient attention has not yet been given to this very practical and important point. It may be advisable this year to obtain a syllabus of the lessons given upon the details as well as the principles of school-keeping from all the training schools. The information thus elicited will be most advantageous to the managers of all similar institutions, and will be especially useful to those schoolmistresses who are intrusted with the education of pupil-teachers.

2. It appears doubtful whether the proportion of time passed by students in the practising schools, generally speaking, is sufficient to give them a thorough knowledge of their professional duties. Many students are so ignorant at the time of their admission that all their time is occupied with learning the rudiments in which they are expected to instruct the children placed under their charge; but I fear that the inducement which acts most powerfully upon the minds both of teachers and students is the anxiety to obtain a high certificate at the annual examination. When the students remain only one year under instruction it is scarcely possible to combine the two objects of mental cultivation and practical training. But even where they remain two full years it requires a strong sense of duty and great firmness in the managers to insist upon a fair apportionment of time to these distinct objects; nor indeed is it always easy to see what course can be pursued most advantageously to the institution and to the students, whose future prospects ought to be taken into consideration. This difficulty might have been foreseen; it is a natural result from a system of examination which

of necessity deals chiefly with intellectual attainments; but no pains should be spared to counteract a tendency which is undoubtedly much to be deplored. I am inclined to think that the exact time which, in the course of the year before the examination, has been passed by each student in the practising schools might be entered in the forms which they fill up at Christmas. A minimum time might be fixed, with the general consent of the training schools; and whatever the time might be, it should be taken into consideration, together with the Inspector's report upon the personal fitness of the candidate for the office of a schoolmistress. This is a point upon which it will be advantageous to collect the opinions of the committees of management in this year's tour of inspection.

3. In my next report I hope to present an account of the systems of instruction and school organization. At present it may be sufficient to state generally, that while the Pestalozzian system is effectively carried into execution by the Home and Colonial Society, and the simultaneous or collective methods, as organized by Mr. Stowe at Glasgow, are adopted at Cheltenham, the other institutions are conducted upon mixed principles, based for the most part upon the National or monitorial system, not, however, without modifications of less or greater importance in every instance.

Queen's scholars.-The managers in all cases report very favourably upon the qualifications and character of these young persons. They ought to give unqualified satisfaction. They must of necessity be superior in point of attainments to the generality of students at the time of their admission, most of whom, as I have frequently had occasion to remark, are unable to spell correctly, to work the elementary rules of arithmetic, or to answer the simplest questions on subjects of general information. They have moreover the advantage of a practical acquaintance with all details of school management, which should at once make them useful in the practising school, and give them facility in the composition of notes of lessons and school reports. I acknowledge that I am not satisfied with the results. The papers produced by large proportion of the Queen's scholars at the two last examinations, 1851 and 1852, were not by any means such as might have been reasonably expected. In many instances they showed little improvement; in some they fell considerably below the standard of attainment which they had reached before their entrance. Some have failed in getting certificates; several have been placed in the third class. This is a fact that calls for inquiry; to whatever cause it may be attributable, that cause should be ascertained. It is my impression that the fault is principally in the students themselves; they may be elated with the distinction, and apt to imagine that they may dispense with further efforts. But it is a point to which it is right to direct the attention of the managers, and it may be advisable to lay before them the comparative results of the examination passed by each Queen's scholar at the beginning and at the end of each year.

Annual examinations.—It would be a great advantage to some of the training schools if the examination could take place twice instead of once in the year. The supply of pupil-teachers is much affected by the inconvenience of delay. The course of studies is interrupted by too frequent admissions; and if there were two examinations, most institutions would admit students only at those times. At present many students return from their schools to attend the Christmas examination; this is a serious expense to them, and very inconvenient to all parties. The increasing number of candidates will soon make such an arrangement almost necessary, in order to secure a speedy and accurate revision of their papers. It would also be advantageous to combine the inspection of the training, and especially of the practising schools, with that part of the examination which refers to the personal qualifications of the candidates.

To the Right Honorable

I have the honor to be, &c.

The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education,

F. C. Cook,

APPENDIX A,

RESULTS OF EXAMINATIONS.

Results of Examinations of several Female Training Schools examined in 1851.

WHITELANDS (NATIONAL SOCIETY'S) TRAINING SCHOOL-45 CANDIDATES.