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facts of the life in which the boy or girl finds himself or herself and with the aims and objects of the most probable calling that he or she will follow in the future. The purely utilitarian viewis not the true view, whatever immediate advantages it may present. A broader view than that of the bread-and-butter school will provide a better general education, and at the same time will probably give a man all the bread and butter he needs or deserves (although not perhaps all he wants or asks for)—at least, it will do so in any decently organized system of society. 1 need not dwell on the benefits to be derived, in New Zealand in particular, by a boy who takes a vocational course bearing on agriculture, or by a girl whose course has for its special feature a knowledge of home science; nor need I point out that with the conditions I have laid down a pupil may receive just as good a general education, fitting him for winking out the ideals of life, as in any of the older and more orthodox courses. The vocational course, moreover, by its very nature, satisfies one of the conditions that I have already indicated as forming the common features of modern naturalism and modern idealism, and so as determining education —namely, that it is in accord with the tendencies of modern ideals of social relations. We want to reconsider, in fact, all our courses and syllabuses in view of the new ideals that we have adopted of life. Professor Adams, in his British Association address, has pointed out recently that education, so far as it is a science at all, is a science based for its proved conclusions mainly on statistics. For instance, the old British syllabuses and the individual pass system had a certain value, because in course of time the syllabuses were so modified that it was found that the average child well instructed could pass through one standard a year. This overlooked the fact that the average child is merely an abstraction; in reality, there is no such thing as an average child; there is only the boy Jones and the girl Smith, and their personality must always be taken into account by the wise teacher. Still, a standard is useful as a rough criterion to judge of the progress made by the boy Jones or the girl Smith. But the old syllabuses and the old pass system formed a method of judging the quantity rather than the quality of the work done. The statistics may be quite right as indicating the quantity of work most children of a certain age or class can do; we want statistics of another and more subtle nature to show us what kind of work most children of- a certain age or class can do. The collection of such statistics would be a useful task to give the more advanced students —say, the graduate students—in our training colleges. We should then have more solid ground on which to rest our reforms than we can claim to have at present, and with greater certainty could hope to bring our teaching into close accord with the natural powers of the children. There is one more aspect of the modern movement in education, consonant with those 1 have already mentioned, to which 1 would call your attention for a moment. It is that the school should be viewed as a part of the society in which we live. We should make much more of our schools if in each locality the school was regarded as an essential feature of human life in the neighbourhood —as much as the farm, or the shop, or the bank, or the horne —children, parents, teachers all working together for the common good. For this reason I consider a local education authority with substantial powers and responsibilities to be an essential factor in a successful school system, ol which primary, secondary, and technical schools, libraries, museums, social and athletic clubs, parents' meetings, farmers' societies, and so forth, should all be recognized as constituent parts supplementing one another. The school system should be part of the municipal system; the school an essential element of the life of the township, whether in the city or in the country, more important perhaps in the latter. Personally, I believe such a system would be more stable for the material bond of local financial responsibility, a fact which is fully recognized in every part of the civilized world except Australasia. Whether you agree with the last sentiment or not, would not our country teachers find a grand mission, a glorious broadening of their work and interests, in the endeavour to make the school a centre of light and brightness which should illumine the drudgery and pettiness of everyday life in the backblocks? Some are, no doubt, doing some work of this kind already; may their tribe increase I I will end as I began by saying that changes in the methods of education are an inevitable consequence of changes in the ideals of human life, and to make with safety changes in our methods of education we must endeavour to understand the changes that have taken place in recent times in our ideals of life. Gentlemen, I cannot sit down without referring to the news that has just reached us from the Antarctic. It is our duty and our privilege to endeavour in our humble way to extend the bounds of human knowledge, and in some degree to raise the ideals of human life; it is therefore with mixed feelings of sadness and triumph that 1 mention the sad fate of those brave men who have shown us as heroes how to live, how as heroes to fight and to conquer, and how as heroes to endure hardship and to die; who have extended so widely the bounds of human knowledge, and have so immeasurably raised the ideals of our common manhood at the cost of the sacrifice of their own lives. I suggest that some member of the Conference should propose a motion expressing our appreciation of the noble work performed by these men, and our deep sympathy with those who are the immediate sufferers by their loss. Mr. Mulgan moved, Mr. Hill seconded, That this Conference, recognizing the great services which Captain Scott and his brave companions have rendered the British nation and the cause of science, deeply regrets the sad misfortune which has overtaken them, and extends its heartfelt sympathy to the relatives of the deceased. —The motion was carried in silence. Provisional Agenda Paper. 1. Regulations for the Organization. Inspection, and Examination of Public Schools, and Syllabus of Instruction.