On the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the condition of the principal public schools : a paper read at the monthly evening meeting of the College of Preceptors, May 11th, 1864 / by W.B. Hodgson.

Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the condition of the principal public schools : a paper read at the monthly evening meeting of the College of Preceptors, May 11th, 1864 / by W.B. Hodgson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    1 3rd. It is sadly striking that too com- monly the school instruction of the rich seems to be expected to begin at the very age at which that of the poor is expected to end, or at even a later age. Com- plaints have long been rife of the diffi- culty of retaining poor children at school beyond the age of 10, 11, or, at furthest, 12. Yet it seems that 12, and even 13, is the age virtually, often assigned for the commencement of the actual teaching of the children of the rich. The very years in which for the former all must be done, are by the latter passed with nothing done. Universities, condemned to mere school work, throw the blame on the schools, especially the public schools. These schools pass on the charge to the preparatory schools; and by these again it is shifted to the parents, who, having been themselves brought up in the old school and college course, tread blindly in the routine of custom. The vicious circle is thus complete, and each party, if even it desires a change, waits for the so efficient as before. As to reading, writing, and arithmetic, that has been in no way affected ; but in regard to history, geography, and general infor- mation, the demand for that description of know- ledge has been diminished. He was, therefore, afraid that less general information would be given in the schools than before the new Code was esta- blished. (limes, 8th June, 1864.) Mr. M. Arnold observed that the new method of examina- tion did not afford Inspectors the same means of drawing out the children, and of ascertaining really what they could do, that was afforded under the old system; and when he (Mr. Walter) lately had an opportunity of seeing a school inspection, it struck him forcibly that that was the case. If it were not a breach of confidence, he might add that the Inspector was very much of the same opinion, and observed to him, that under the new system of examination it was impossible to get at the intelligence of the clvldren. to ask them ques- tions which would draw out their minds and prove what they really understood, so well as under the old system of inspection. The children were re- quired to read a certain number of lines, to do a sum, and write a copy; but as to putting any question which would test their general knowledge and understanding, nothing of the kind was at- tempted ; and when he (Mr. Walter) suggested that such a course of examination might as well be attempted, the answer was that there was no time for it, and that it would be impossible to get through the work if that svstem were pursued. Mr. Walter, M.P. for Berkshire. (Times, 1st July, 1S64.) others to set it on foot. The institution, by the great public schools, of a standard of preliminary qualification, and a rigo- rous adherence to it, may abate this cry- ing evil; but its removal can be effected only by a thorough remodelling of the course of private instruction. So long as children are left in ignorance of those studies most congenial to their age, and forced to acquire what is unsuitable to their mental condition, so long must the work of early teaching be irksome in its operation and barren in its result. 4th. These disclosures of the real re- sults of public school teaching lead me to view with some surprise a recent jeremiad by a gentleman of high educational name, on the incompetency and untrustworthi- ness of private schools, with slight, if any, exception. If there are any private schools the results of whose teaching are as de- plorably unsatisfactory as those now pro- ved to attend public school teaching, it is indeed time that they should be im- proved off the face of the earth; and probably this consummation would long ago have been attained, had the public schools, the great educational exemplars of the nation, not neglected their duty, and wasted their mighty power. The better and, I believe, the larger class of private school teachers will assuredly welcome as an auxiliary, not dread as an opposing force, any improvements in the great public schools. Their hands would thus be strengthened, and their aspira- tions raised. Though their labours may be more obscure than those of public school masters, they are not less zealous; to them also are the names of Arnold, Kennedy, and Temple treasured watch- words, rich in encouragement and guid- ance. But even if names like these were less exceptional than they are, they would but strengthen the case against a system which, in spite of these, has been so sig- nally found wanting. 5th. It must not be forgotten, that the results, whether for good or for evil, of