9

E.—lc.

Extension Lectures. —In conjunction with the winter school a series of evening lectures was delivered in the College hall. The lectures were open to all teachers, to students, and to the general public, as well as to the visiting teachers. The subjects and lecturers were, — The Greek Ideal of Education ... ... Professor Eankine Brown, M.A. The Study of English Literature ... T. R. Fleming, Esq., M.A. The Maori ... ... ... A. Hamilton, Esq. Insect-life in New Zealand "... ... G. V. Hudson, Esq. The Study of Natural Phenomena ... Eev. D. C. Bates, M.A. School Hygiene ... ... ... Dr. Mason. I wish to thank very heartily the lecturers for their ready response to my request for assistance in this matter. A hall well filled with an interested and appreciative audience of students and teachers was, I think, some small compensation for their generous services. Our thanks are also due to Mr. W. C. Davies who, at considerable personal inconvenience, undertook the lanternwork in connection with Mr. Hudson's lecture. I would recommend that this also, if possible, be made a permanent feature of our College work. The small fee of 2s. 6d. charged for the outside public resulted in the raising of a sum of £10, to which the Board generously added a subsidy of the same amount. The total of £20 thus raised formed the nucleus of a fund for the better furnishing of the students' common-rooms. Needless to say, the result was greatly appreciated by the students. Needs of the College in Building and Equipment. —The alterations and additions contemplated in the original plan of the Training College have now almost all been carried out, and from a year's work with a full College I am able to judge how nearly they meet the requirements in point of accommodation and equipment. The lecture-rooms give just enough accommodation and no more. The smaller one, which provides tables and chairs for only thirty, is occasionally uncomfortably full. The ladies' common-room requires additional lockers. One laboratory is not sufficient to provide for both students and scholars, and a second laboratory, to be specially adapted to the needs of the physiology and nature-study classes, is urgently needed. Provision should also be made for a Kindergarten Department. It is well to have this latter steadily in view; for if we have not yet arrived at the stage when we can embody the kindergarten in our State system (I mean as a department below the Infant Department) we have surely come to the point where such a department might be established in our Training College with a view to assist in the training of kindergarten teachers for the semi-private institutions already in existence. It is necessary, too, that the students, one and all, should have opportunity for observing and studying children at this an earlier period of their development. A beginning has been made with the equipment of the library and of the gymnasium, and I trust that by the end of the current year both these indispensable institutions will be in good going-order. I would again urge the need of additional ground, and in this connection repeat what I said in my report last year : " The need of xnore spacious grounds is an urgent one, from the point of view alike of the educational work of the institution and of the recreation of the students and scholars; and if, as seems likely, the present is to be the permanent home of the Training College, no time should be lost in securing an adjacent section or sections, if such are obtainable. If the College is to serve adequately the needs of rural schools, a much larger area than is available at present should be at the disposal of the instructor in elementary agriculture." University Work of Students. —The conditions of entrance to the Training College require that all students shall undertake some University classes. Such work is considered part of their training—not something added to it, but an integral part of it. Considered from the point of view of University work students may be arranged in two groups—(l) those who are aiming at a degree, and (2) those who are not. A glance at Table 4 shows that twenty-one students have been pursuing a definite degree course, while thirty-four others have succeeded in keeping one } r ear's terms. Doubtless some of these will next year go a step further. Of the remaining twenty-five, the majority have passed in one or more subjects, some having aimed at keeping terms and having failed, others having aimed simply at passing in perhaps one subject each year. I have not so far urged unduly the matter of keeping terms, and in future, so far at least as probably one-third of the students are concerned, I shall recommend a reduction in the number of classes to be taken. Some students cannot profitably take more than one subject; others may take two ; but in any case I feel sure that it will conduce to a much better all-round training that those who are not anxious to obtain a degree should undertake only what they can manage with ease and comfort. As is to be expected, the strain is greatest upon those who are definitely launched upon the degree course, and particularly upon the honours students, who of necessity have to devote much time to researchwork. Hitherto I have aimed at letting all students have, as nearly as possible, a clear half-day to themselves. Those reading for degrees have always had more than this, so that in the matter of time for study our student* are comparatively well off. I am forced to the conclusion that where undue strain is felt it is due, not to the amount of work attempted, but to the shortness of the University session, with the inevitable crowding of fhe work, and to the pressure of outside examinations. The University College attempts to teach in less than six months what mi<rht well be spread over eight or even nine, and when is added to this the fact that for the best part of two months—October and November—the student is in the throes of examinations, there is little wonder that even the strongest sometimes feel the strain. Course of Practical Training. —Naturally the paramount interest of the student at the Training College is his teaching, and the methods, practice in drawing up plans and schemes of work, teaching special lessons, and taking part in preparation he has to make for this in his practical classes. Instruction in methods, discussion of continuous teaching—all these receive systematic and full treatment throughout the course of training. The general plan of practice followed

2—E. lc.