WINTER SCHOOL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2273, 19 August 1908, Page 1

WINTER SCHOOL.

SESSION OPENED. WELCOME TO TEACHERS. The Winter School of' Instruction for touchers under tho jurisdiction ol the Hawke's Ray Education Hoard was opened on Monday, a. largo number teachers from Napier, Hastings, and othor parts of the education district being mi attendance . Punctually at nine o’clock the secretary ol tho Win ter School Committee (Mr. H. Hill) called upon tho Mayor (Mr .W. D. iLysuar) to formally open the school. Tho Mayor, in a brief speech, welcomed the teachers to Gisborne, and said ho was confident tho session of tho School would do a great deal of good to education. Tho teachers woro to deal with important subjects, and it was essential that they should thoroughly urderstahd those subjects so as to efficiently teach tho children. He was pleased Gisborne had been chosen as tho town for touchers to liavo their school, and ho hoped those in attendance would have a .pleasant visit.

Mr. C. A. do Lautour, as Chairman of the High School Board of Governors, also welcomed the teachers to tho district, and hoped the school would prove a commemorative ovent. Theaehers had a great responsibility lin adding to the strength, character, and wealth of tho country, and had the training in morality and character of their scholars in their hands. Ho urged tho teachers to set up a high ideal of education and he hoped their studies would result in great good. (Applause.) Mr. W. Morgan, on behalf of the Education Hoard, a,lso welcomed the teachers to the district. They were under a deep debt to Messrs Clark and Grant, of Wanganui, for coming to’ Gisborne to give instruction. The programme of lectures was a. long one, but (arrangements had been made to have evening lectures) which would ho open to the public, delivered in Holy Trinity School-room, and he had no doubt that they would be well attended. Mr. Hill then introduced Messrs. Clark and Grant to tho teachers, and expressed the hope that keen interest would be taken in the lectures.

Mr .J. Wauchox) (President of the Teachers Institute) thanked Mr. Hill for his assistance in having the school held at Gisborne.

A vote of thanks to the Mayor and Mr. C. A. do Lautour brought the ceremony to a close, and tho lectures wero then commenced. The day lectures are to he open to teachers only, hut the evening lectures are open.to the publig. Mr. Clark then delivered a lecture for ono hour on liaiul-work. He said that un considering the branch of handwork lie should select for the present course ,liis choice would be influenced by two particular principles—tile practical and the aesthetic. From .a purely aesthetic point of view the choice would probably

fall upon brush drawing, hut now-a-days there was a cry for utility which teachers could not wholly ignore, and for this courso lie selecteel cardboard modelling as his subject, as being tho most educational and at tho sirno time the most practical. Treated merely as a subject simply, tho 'principal features in its favor lay in its suitability for teaching accuracy, observation, and mechanical manipulation of tools. As a method of teaching, he said, it assumed a greater value, which alone justifies its (inclusion in the school curriculum. He then proceeded to explain the equilateral triangle, and how young people could bo taught form, size, measurement, and observation from its shape. Tho next lecture was given by Mr. Grant on “Nature Study,” and in liis opening remarks tho lecturer explained how to pro-historic man Nature study was a necessity, in order to obtain food, and how ho found that by paying closer attention to the ways of Nature he could obtain that supply more easily. The senses would tend to become specialised, and the faculties would be developed. It was true that in modern times tho outward conditions of Jifo had greatly altered, but tho necessity for Nature study existed to-day just as it did years' ago. There seemed every reason to believe that the writer js correct who affirms that the dog was the first domestic animal captured when young out of idle curiosity and the desire for amusement, it must have been a proud day for the savago man when ho first yoked tho ox to till his fields. In those days each breadwinner must have felt tile weight of responsibility placed upon him, when the ontire care of food from the momont, aye, before it was placed in his hands, till .it was placed upon the table, lay in his individual hands, a responsibility fated to disappear for ever with tho advent of laborsaving machinery. A strong incentive, to developing the power of observation would seem to have disappeared—tho power of observation in its widest sense, not that of the man who at '.i glance can tell all the articles in a show window, not the observation of iShorlock Holmes, but tho observation that sees, thinks, and draws conclusions. It was this that was aimed at in the now syllabus of education, and although it meant harder work for the teachers, the result would bo worthy of the effort. The lecturer proceeded to show how children might be taught to study nature by a system of school gardening y.uid by dealing with garden and orchard pests. An experimental lecture on some subject will be given by Mr. Grant to-day. In the afternoon Mr. E. N. .Sidebottom lectured on voice production. He explained the action of the lungs in correct breathing and the use' of the glottis in producing notes. The lecture was most interesting and instructive.

THE SESSION CONTINUED. TESTER DAY’S LECTURES. The Winter School continued its session at the District High School yesterday. In the morning Mr. Clark proceeded with his instruction in handwork, showing how sketches and drawings may he made on stout paper and cardboard, and then the figures cut out and folded into interesting and perhaps useful little articles, such as book-markers and boxes, which might he afterwards used for storing school requisites. At the same time the lecturer said the technical names of the figures might he given, and many of their geometrical properties learned. -Mr. Grant fallowed with a. lecture on nature study, and dealt with the school garden, showing how it should he laid out, and divided up into plots suitable for the pupils. The teacher, as a rule, had little choice of a site, so he had to adapt himself to exist-

ing circumstances. The garden was a laboratory, and should be used lor experiment and observation. .Kailtiro should be the stepping stone lo success.

Inspector Smith opened tho afternoon's work )V>th a lecture on school singing, and " said that generally lie liul been very dissatisfied with the singing ho hail heard in the schools In tho Hawke’s Bay district. The fault was not that tho subject did not receive attention, but the method of teaching was bad. Many schools began with the modulator, wliichslioiild only be used for the higher classes. Teachers should also master the tonic sol fa system, which was very simple and very efficient. The younger and older pupils should not lie grouped in llie singing classes, but should be separated. The younger pupils should have short daily .lessons, partly for teaching singing and partly lor relaxation, and the older scholars two hours .•per week, and should bo taught voice culture. Inspector Smith explained his lecture by exorcises on charts.

Inspector Hill then delivered bis second lecture on n tire study, and demonstrated how tho, minds of children could bo trained to observe the workings of nature, to inquire into the enuso and effect of natural phenomena by watching the simple tilings of everyday life. “Teach the children to garner facts,” said Inspector Hill. “Let the children's minds he minds of observation, and let them learn to know that there are many objects worthy of study in the field! the bush, and tile garden, as well as (in the schoolroom.” Tho session will lie contained today, and during the afternoon the teachers will visit the Gisborne Shcopfarmers’ Freezing 'Works at lvaiti. EVENING LECTURE.

There was only a moderate attendance at Holy Trinity Schoolroom last evening, when Ur. .DoLisle, District Health Officer, delivered a lecture on “Sight and Hearing in the Home and tile School.” Dr. Williams presided, and, in introducing the lecturer, stated that the subject of tho lecture was of vital interest, not only to pa rents, but to the State as a "whole. From his own knowledge and observation, ho was aware that children wero often punished for not being able to nee and bear as well as they should. They were blamed lor inattention, when Nature alone was responsible for defects in sight and hearing. Dr. DeLisle, who was warmly greeted, commenced his lecture by remarking that no organs of the body received more injury in childhood by wellmeaning persons in authority than the eyo and tho car. It was greatly to bo regretted that there was so much ignorance oven among people of fair education on liliysiological subjects. The doctor then went on to explain the human eye, pointing out the causes of defects. Parents could test the eyesight of their children in various ways. A simple form was to take a book and hold it at arm’s length from tho child, at tho time placing a hand over one eve. By this test one could soon ascertain whether tile sight was normal or whether dofocts existed. When once suspicion was aroused as to a child’s eyesight, it should at once he taken along to a qualified optician and. glasses obtained. For many years the wearing of glasses subjected people to ridicule, hut they were i.ow accepted as a common practice, and glasses could give normal sight to those whoso eyes would bo strained beyond all hope of repair if relief were not- afforded in timo. Artisans of 40 years of age wero often affected by failing sight- just at tho time when their experience made them invaluable workmen.

With regard to the ear, tlio lecturer considered it a much superior organism than tlio eye. It was a splendid piece of mechanism. The doctor then at length described the different parts of the ear, and explained how injury could be done to such a delicate organ by ignorance. For instance, children’s ears were often irreparably injured by mothers and nurses vainly endeavoring to dig out the wax in the ear with rough towels. Wax was put in the ear toj prevent the ingress of insects. This wax had ■a most bitter taste, and insects did not care to explore further when once they got a taste of it. People who left their ears alone would not have an excess of wax. “I have not cleaned my ears for 40 years,” continued tlio doctor, amid tlio laughter of his ■auditors; “at least, 'the inside of them,” lie added. The ignorance of the mechanism of the human ear was deplorable. A woman onco came to the lecturer at Guy’s Hospital, London, and stated that a spider had got into her child’s ear, and that she could not get it out. Tlio child cortainly looked very ill. “Are you certain that the spider never came out ?” the doctor asked her. “Quite certain,” the mother replied, “as I ran a red-hot knitting-needle into one ear and watched to see if the spider came out of the other one.” If a child got a pea or other obstruction into the ear the best way to remove it was to syringe from below. No instrument of any kind should bo poked into the car. Sometimes wax blocked the passage to the drum, and this caused sounds in.the head to be magnified to such an extent that the child could not hear external sounds. A good form to test a child's hearing was to make it turn ils back to you and ask it to repeat words afer you, speaking in varying tones. There was little sympathy for deafness. A lad suffering from blindness was alluded to as a “poor blind hoy,” hut a man with defective hearing was called a “deaf old fool.” The doctor concluded a most instructive lecture by hoping that tlie instruction he had imparted that evening would belli to lighten the burdens of their own children or those of others who might bo entrusted to them, who might bo handicapped by defective sight or hearing. Dr. DeLisle gave great credit to Mr. Hill for the time and trouble he had gone to in preparing tlio photographs for the lantern slides, which helped materially to illustrate tlio /internal mechanism of the organs under notice. Votes of thanks to the lecturer, chairman, and Mr. Hill were carried by acclamation, yf jtc.