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There is a general feeling in Great Britain that the national aim must be to give the greatest possible amount of education—cultural and practical—to every child capable of profiting by it in the long run, not only for the sake of economic progress, and, indeed, of the very existence of industry in fiercely competitive markets, but more particularly in order to give or to restore to the worker that self-respect and self-reliance which comes from the consciousness of skill in a craft or process the scientific principles underlying which are also to some extent apprehended. The attempt to restore the dignity of labour to the high place it held in popular esteem in the Middle Ages in Europe, and to give it again its lost social prestige, is being made on all sides, and recent speeches of the President of the Board of Education have put forward this point of view with no uncertain voice. The technical-school teachers, of whom there are some three thousand in full-time employment are now included for salary and superannuation purposes in the terms of the Burnham award, the range of the salary scale probably being somewhat more generous to the teachers than is the scale in operation in New Zealand, having regard to the relative costs of living. The matter of training of teachers of handicraft and technology is proving, however, to be a very difficult one, and, with the exception of one institution in London which is definitely engaged in the training of teachers of handicraft and trade subjects, no general solution of the difficulty has yet been found. So far as I could gather, the teachers are recruited from much the same sources and in very similar ways to those which are found suitable in New Zealand, and most of them, bringing knowledge and enthusiasm to their work, rapidly improve in the technique of instruction and become admirable teachers in every way. IV. —MANUAL TRAINING. (Extracts from the annual report of W. S. Austin, Inspector of Schools.) Manual training in woodwork, metal-work, and cookery is provided for such pupils in the two higher-standard classes of primary schools, the secondary classes of district high schools, and the various forms of junior high schools as may be within convenient reach of buildings which have been fitted up for the purpose and known as manual-training centres. At the end of the year 1926 there were 117 such centres, in which there were in all 116 rooms for woodwork, six for metal-work, and 117 for cookery. Two of the centres are double, each containing two separate sets of rooms; eight are sufficiently large for the accommodation of either double classes or classes much above the normal size, in which cases assistant instructors are employed ; five are attached to junior high schools ; and eleven serve for both manual-training and day technical schools or technical high schools. At two small centres (Owaka and Methven) provision is made for cookery, but not for woodwork. With a few outstanding exceptions, the manual-training centres are suitable in construction and arrangement. Some of the older ones, but particularly the woodwork sections of these, are buildings which have been more or less appropriately adapted for the purpose ; but in the planning of modern structures consideration has been given to the fact that manual-training woodwork is not mere carpentry, and in consequence the woodwork-rooms of these later buildings in arrangement and finish more nearly approximate the class-room than the carpenter's shed. On the whole, the equipment of the woodwork and metal-work rooms throughout the Dominion is satisfactory, and greater attention is now being given to the replacement of worn-out furniture, fittings, and tools, for which purpose the incidental allowances provided annually by the Department appear to be amply sufficient. There have been some instances where the new tools supplied are of inferior quality, but false economy of this kind is not general. Certain defects in the equipment of the rooms in which cookery is taught are discussed in the report of the Inspector of Domestic Instruction. During the year there were in operation 914 recognized classes for woodwork, with 19,625 pupils in attendance ; 41 classes, with 479 pupils, for metal-work ; and 950 classes, with 19,143 pupils, for cookery : making in all 1,905 classes, with 39,247 pupils. In some of the larger centres laundry-work takes the place of cookery for a short period each year. Instruction in dressmaking, as well as in cookery, is provided at the certres that can be attended by classes from post-primary schools, including those from the secondary departments of district high schools, and there is a growing demand from certain high schools for instruction in woodwork. Wherever possible, provision is made at the centres for classes from private schools. The staff of full-time manual-training teachers for classes taken at the centres numbered 118, comprising 60 for woodwork or metal-work and 58 for cookery. In addition, 16 men teachers and 14 women teachers on the staffs of technical day schools and technical high schools were engaged for a part of each week in taking manual-training classes at centres attached to those schools ; on the other hand, a few day technical classes were taken by manual instructors. At one isolated centre the woodwork classes were successfully conducted by the headmaster of the school, and the cookery classes by a part-time teacher secured locally; and at three other centres similarly situated local part-time teachers for one or both subjects were employed. In the cities and most of the larger towns the centres are fully occupied throughout the week ; but in localities where the population is so widely scattered as to render the cost of the transport of pupils to a large extent prohibitive the centres, less fully used, are served by itinerant instructors. For the training of specialist teachers for service in manual schools it has not been possible in this country to make the most satisfactory arrangements. On the domestic side the position is partly met by the training provided at the Otago University, where students may secure either an appropriate degree or a diploma ; but these students do not, as a rule, get the same definite training in teaching as is provided for ordinary students who attend the teachers' training colleges. The men teachers have not any facilities of this kind. Many of the older woodwork instructors are of that number brought out from England at various times in the course of the earlier stages of the development of manual training in this country, and were already experienced teachers as well as skilful tradesmen. With two or three exceptions, all the others have come over directly from the trade, generally at some financial disadvantage to themselves, and the success which has marked their service in the new phere of activity is for the most part due to a general adapt ability established in the course of their

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