Acland (1913)

Background notes

The complete report (except for Appendix A, the Summaries of evidence and the Index) is shown in this single web page. You can scroll through it or use the following links to go to the various chapters.

Preliminary pages (page i)
Prefaratory note, contents, membership, analysis

Introduction (1)

Chapter I (3)
Systematic work with the hands

Chapter II (13)
The teaching of handwork

Chapter III (36)
The rural secondary school

Chapter IV (42)
The teaching of domestic subjects

Chapter V (53)
Handwork subjects and exams

Chapter VI (56)
The training of handwork teachers

Index to Appendices (66)

Appendix A (67)
Syllabus of work in handwork subjects (image-only pdf file)

Appendix B (132)
Constructional handwork - historical sketch

Summaries of Evidence (141)
(image-only pdf file)

Index (389)
(image-only pdf file)

The text of the 1913 Acland Report was prepared by Derek Gillard and uploaded on 24 September 2012.


The Acland Report (1913)
Report of the Consultative Committee on the Practical Work in Secondary Schools

London: HM Stationery Office


[title page]

BOARD OF EDUCATION


REPORT

OF THE

CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

ON

PRACTICAL WORK IN SECONDARY
SCHOOLS

Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE

To be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from
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PRINTED BY
EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE LTD., EAST HARDING STREET, E.C.,
PRINTER'S TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

1913

[Cd. 6849.]    Price, 1s. 9d.


[page iii]

PREFATORY NOTE

In publishing this valuable record of the labours of their Consultative Committee, the Board are confident that it will be welcome both to those who are already convinced that Manual Instruction should be more widely recognised as an essential element in a Secondary School course, and to those who are still undecided on this point but are interested in the question how to devise curricula which shall be suited to modern conditions. The demands on Secondary Schools are so multifarious that suggestions for finding place for a new subject, or for giving increased attention to one which has hitherto filled a minor place, are generally met with the objection that there is too little time for the subjects already required, and that none of these can be dropped or pushed into the background. The Report shews that the Committee are aware of this difficulty, and though they do not offer any detailed suggestions for drawing up schemes of work and time-tables in which their aim would be realised, and indeed recognise that the subject is not yet ripe for any final recommendations on their part, yet they are confident that none of the difficulties which have been suggested will be found insuperable.

While convinced that the time has come when "every Secondary School should provide for the teaching of some branches of Educational Handwork and should make them an integral part of its curriculum", they wisely insist that progress must depend on the creation of an opinion in favour of making Secondary Education less bookish than it has been, and on a determination to abandon the attitude of depreciation too frequently adopted towards these branches of work. They further lay stress on the importance of preserving full freedom for the schools to make experiments in the direction which the Report indicates.

For this purpose School Authorities will find much valuable aid and material not only in the Report, but in the appendices of evidence and in the interesting collection of schemes of work and syllabuses which are included in the Volume; and those Authorities who work under the Board's Regulations may count upon a sympathetic consideration of any experimental courses which they may submit for approval.

9th June, 1913.


[page iv]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE
Names of the Consultative Committeevii
Analysis of the Committee's Reportviii
Introduction to the Committee's Report1

The Committee's Report:
Chapter I Systematic work with the Hands a necessary part of a Secondary Education3
Chapter II The Teaching of the various Forms of Handwork and the Correlation of these with other Branches of School Work13
Chapter III The Rural Secondary School36
Chapter IV Special Questions relating to the Teaching of Domestic Subjects42
Chapter V Handwork Subjects and Examinations53
Chapter VI The Training of intending Teachers of Educational Handwork56
Concluding Remarks65

List of Appendices
66

Appendix A Syllabuses of Work in various Handwork Subjects:
1. Domestic Subjects:
(i) Bradford Girls' Grammar School67
(ii) Clapham High School for Girls74
2. Wood-work and Metal-work:
(i) Syllabus of Wood-work for Country or Small Isolated Schools (supplied by Mr. John Berry)84
(ii) Central Secondary School, Birmingham86
(iii) Sexeys School, Bruton, Somerset89
3. Lighter Branches of Handwork, including Light Wood-work:
(i) Outline of a Syllabus of Work in Paper and Cardboard Models for Preparatory and Secondary Schools (supplied by Mr. R. C. Chevalier)92
(ii) Coventry, John Gulson Elementary Council School94
(iii) Leicester, St. Peter's Elementary School, Upper Conduit Street100
(iv) Suggested Syllabus of Light Wood-work for Secondary Schools (supplied by Mr. A. Ogden, Manchester Grammar School)103
4. Rural Secondary Schools:
(i) Rural Secondary School, Knaresborough, Yorkshire104
Analysis of Time Table117
(ii) Sexeys Rural Secondary School, Blackford, Cheddar118
Analysis of Time Table131

Appendix B Historical Sketch of the development of Constructional Handwork as an Educational Subject
132


[page v]

SUMMARIES OF EVIDENCE:

A. OFFICIALS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND OF LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES

(i) Officials of the Board of Education

Mr. S. Carrodus, Inspector of Handicraft144
Dr. S. F. Dufton, H.M. Inspector of Secondary Schools149
Mr. W. C. Fletcher, Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools152
Mr. E. M. Kenney-Herbert, late H.M. Inspector of Elementary Schools157
Mr. Ll. S. Lloyd. H.M. Inspector of Secondary Schools170
Mrs. Withiel, H.M. Inspector of Secondary Schools174

(ii) Officials of Local Education Authorities

Miss C. R. Gordon, Organiser of Domestic Economy Classes under the London County Council177
Mr. J. H. Hallam, Chief Assistant to the Inspector in Charge of Higher Education in the West Riding of Yorkshire180
Miss Wilena Hitching, Organising Inspector of Home Management under the Derby Education Authority187
Mr. J. H. Judd, Superintendent of Handicraft in Manchester197
Mr. J. Vaughan. Superintendent of Drawing and Manual Instruction under the Glasgow School Board201

B. PERSONS ENGAGED IN TEACHING

(i) Men

Mr. J. H. Badley. Headmaster of Bedales School, Petersfield212
Mr. F. Bastow, Headmaster of the Municipal Secondary School and Pupil-Teacher Centre, Accrington218
Mr. John Berry, Instructor of Handwork, etc. under the Leeds Education Committee221
Mr. J. W. Bunn, Headmaster of the Islington, Cloudesley Elder Boys' Special School for Mentally Defective Children (under the London County Council)225
Professor J. J. Findlay, Professor of Education in the University of Manchester229
Mr. G. W. Hefford , late Headmaster of the Rural Secondary School, Knaresborough (now H.M. Inspector of Schools)233
Mr. Shadrach Hicks, Principal of the London County Council Shoreditch Technical Institute238
Mr. T. W. Ireland, Headmaster of the Secondary School, Mexborough242
Mr. L. M. Jones. Headmaster of the Central Secondary School, Birmingham244
Mr. W. A. Knight, Headmaster of Sexey's School, Bruton248
Dr. J. D. McClure, Headmaster of Mill Hill School254
Dr. T. Percy Nunn, Vice-Principal of the London University Day Training College257
Mr. Charles Oxley, Superintendent of the Desford Industrial School, Leicester263
Dr. W. H. D. Rouse, Headmaster of Perse Grammar School, Cambridge271
Mr. F. W. Sanderson, Headmaster of Oundle School274


[page vi]

Mr. E. H. Smith, Headmaster of Sexey's School, Blackford, Wedmore, Somerset280
Professor Arthur Smithells, Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Leeds285
Mr. F. G. Snowball, Assistant Master at the King Edward VII School, Lytham291
The Reverend T. C. Walton, Headmaster of the Grammar School, Kirkham294
Dr. Albert Wilmore, Headmaster of the Secondary Day School, Colne297

(ii) Women

Miss S. A. Burstall, Headmistress of the Manchester High School300
Miss J. F. Dove, late Headmistress of the Wycombe Abbey School, Bucks305
Miss L. M. Faithfull, Principal of the Ladies' College, Cheltenham307
Miss Ida Freund, Staff Lecturer in Natural Sciences at Newnham College, Cambridge312
Miss Margaret A. Gilliland, Headmistress of the Haberdashers' Aske's Girls' School, Acton316
Miss E. S. Lees, Senior Science Mistress at the Clapham High School321
Miss G. McCroben, Headmistress of the Girls' High School, Wakefield324
Miss M. E. Marsden, Head of the Department of Domestic Economy at the Battersea Polytechnic327
Miss Hilda D. Oakeley, Warden of King's College for Women329
Miss E. A. Ogden, Headmistress of the Akroyd Place Infants' School, Halifax336
Miss Stephen Priestman, formerly Teacher of Science at Leeds Girls' High School341
Miss Marjory Stephenson, Science Mistress at the School of Domestic Science, Gloucester345
Miss Margaret Swanson of the Glasgow School of Art349
Mrs. Woodhouse, Headmistress of Clapham High School353

C. MEDICAL WITNESSES

Dr. Alfred A. Mumford, M.D., M.R.C.S., Medical Officer to the Manchester Grammar School356
Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, M.D., F.R.S., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge365

D. GENERAL

Lieut.-General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, K.C.B., etc.367
Mrs. Barton371
Mr. John Cooke, late Honorary Secretary to the Board of Examinations for Educational Handwork and Member of the Executive of the Educational Handwork Association (now Inspector of Handicraft under the Board of Education)374
Miss Margaret McMillan380
Miss Maud R. Taylor383

Alphabetical Index to the Witnesses
388
Index389


[page vii]

NAMES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE


THE RIGHT HON. A. H. DYKE ACLAND (Chairman).
MR. C. W. BOWERMAN, M.P.
THE REV. JAMES CHAPMAN.
DR. R. S. CLAY.
MISS ISABEL CLEGHORN.
MR. CHRISTOPHER COOKSON.
MISS M. A. DOUGLAS.
MISS F. HERMIA DURHAM.
MR. JAMES EASTERBROOK.
REV. T. C. FITZPATRICK.
MR. FRANK W. GOLDSTONE, M.P.
MR. J. L. PATON.
DR. H. A. POWELL.
PRINCIPAL SIR HARRY R. REICHEL.
MISS HANNAH ROBERTSON.
PROFESSOR M. E. SADLER, C.B.
MR. GEORGE SHARPLES.
MR. R. H. TAWNEY.
MISS MARGARET J. TUKE.
MR. CHRISTOPHER TURNOR.
MR. F. F. URQUHART.

F. A. B. NEWMAN (Secretary).




[page viii]

PRACTICAL WORK IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

ANALYSIS OF THE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE'S REPORT

PAGE
INTRODUCTION1

CHAPTER I. SYSTEMATIC WORK WITH THE HANDS A NECESSARY PART OF A SECONDARY EDUCATION.
(i) The sense in which the Committee interpret the Reference and the word "Handwork"
The reference falls into two divisions, the general question of the development in Secondary Schools of "education by means of practical work (or things)", and the particular questions of the places to be allotted in the work of the Secondary School to hand-craft for boys and house-craft for girls3
"Education by means of practical work (or things)" understood to mean - education by means of subjects in which bodily activity is included, and in which the pupil learns by doing3
The Committee propose to confine themselves almost entirely to the particular questions submitted to them, and to deal mainly with the various branches of constructional Handwork with such media as clay, wood and metal, with the Domestic Arts, and with Gardening and kindred outdoor work3
The term "Handwork" or "Educational Handwork" will be understood to cover all these subjects4

(ii) Wide Application of the Principle "Learn by doing"
The importance of this principle as exemplified in e.g. the cultivation of the dramatic instinct of young children and in open-air Nature Study alluded to4

(iii) The need of developing Educational Handwork as part of a liberal Education
Handwork is at present an undeveloped subject in Secondary Schools, but there are signs of awakening interest in it5

The importance of Handwork for the purposes of the Secondary School:
(a) as developing mind and character
5
(b) as preparatory to advanced technical instruction5
It is on (a) i.e. on its value as a part of a liberal education that the Committee wish to lay especial emphasis5
The value of Handwork may be considered from two points of view, in relation first to the normal child, and, secondly, to the child who could not be so described5


[page ix]

CHAPTER I continued

PAGE
(iv) Importance of Handwork as a Branch of Education for the normal Child
The claim that Handwork should form part of the education of the normal child may be justified on many grounds6
Education should aim at a natural development of the faculties, and the line of natural development in the child as in the race is from concrete to abstract, from action to reflection upon action6
Handwork plays a large part in modern Infants' Schools. It is, however, too often suddenly discontinued, or resumed only after a considerable interval6
Although it has an important function to fulfil in training deftness of hand, its effect on the moral and mental development of the pupil is more important6
It has further value as providing for a rational use of leisure; as bringing the work of the school into relation with work outside the class-room; as providing in various ways a training in corporate effort; and also as forming a relief from the strain of purely intellectual study7
It has also a social value as to tending to correct the depreciatory attitude towards work with the hands which has generally obtained in the past8

(v) Importance of Handwork for particular Types of Children
On the over-quick and excitable child it has been found to exert a valuable steadying influence8
It has also been found to exert a beneficial effect on children whose mental growth has been retarded from various causes. Instance quoted from Manchester Grammar School of a class for so-called backward boys with a curriculum including Handwork as a prominent element8
The more general institution of such classes recommended10

(vi) Crucial Instances of the beneficial Effect produced by Handwork on the General Work of a School
Such are supplied by-
(a) The Swedish Primary Schools
10
(b) Chetham's Hospital, Manchester10

(vii) The Point to which Handwork should be taken by all Children, irrespective of their future Callings
The age up to which Handwork should be taken by all pupils will be ruled by the same considerations that apply to other subjects. Those pupils who have no reason for specialising in Handwork will conclude their course at about the age of 16; but it is important that facilities should be provided, where possible, for pupils specialising in other subjects to keep in touch with any forms of Handwork in which they have shown proficiency11

(viii) The Difficulty of the Time-Table
The experience of witnesses showed that a reasonable amount of time devoted to Handwork did not lead to any lowering of attainment in other branches of school work, but the reverse11
Handwork again has direct hearings on certain school subjects11


[page x]

CHAPTER I continued

PAGE
For older children, Time-Table difficulties largely resolve themselves into those caused by the requirements of external examinations, which will be considered subsequently. But the Committee would emphasise here the importance of recognising Handwork in the Secondary School Certificate for pupils of the age of 16, the institution of which was recommended in the Committee's recent report on Examinations in Secondary Schools12
The Committee would deprecate the undue encroachment of Handwork on other branches of study, especially literary study12

CHAPTER II. THE TEACHING OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF HANDWORK AND THE CORRELATION OF THESE WITH OTHER BRANCHES OF SCHOOL WORK
(i) General Remarks as to Method
Not proposed to offer detailed recommendations as to the teaching of the various subjects13
Recourse must be had to Elementary rather than to Secondary Schools for an estimate of the possibilities of Handwork for children up to 14 years of age13
Handwork may be described as Educational or Vocational in character, according to whether it is mainly designed to foster the general powers of the pupil, or to train him to produce objects of technical excellence. These aims are, however, by no means mutually exclusive. The Committee will be concerned mainly with the educational aspects of Handwork13
The forms of Handwork generally approved are - Modelling with plastic media, such as clay; Modelling with paper and cardboard; Wood-work, of a light and of an advanced kind; Metal-work; Gardening; Domestic Subjects, including Needlework, Cookery, Laundry, Housewifery14
No need to differentiate between the subjects taken by boys and girls up to about 10 years of age. Table is given embodying a suggestion for a preliminary course, following much the same lines for both sexes up to the age of about 10, and then branching off to suit the respective requirements of boys and girls14
As to general principle of method, individuality and initiative should be encouraged , and each pupil should be allowed to work at his own pace within reasonable limits15
The teaching of principles should be based, so far as possible, on practical operations16
The teacher will use his judgment in estimating the degree of accuracy of which each pupil is capable at any point in his course16
Importance of connecting the Art and the Handwork teaching16
Handwork, especially during the earlier period, should be regarded rather as a method of instruction than as a distinct branch of work16
As to equipment, most elementary Handwork can be done in the ordinary school classrooms, but special rooms are necessary for more advanced work16


[page xi]

CHAPTER II continued

PAGE
(ii) The Various Handwork Subjects
(a) Paper and Cardboard Modelling -
    Paper-folding
13
    Modelling in Paper and Cardboard19
(b) Plastic Modelling20
(c) Wood-work -
    (i) Light Wood-work
21
    (ii) Advanced Wood-work22
(d) Metal-Work -
    (1) Light Metal-work -
        (a) Light Brass-work and small model-making
23
        (b) Sheet Metal-work24
        (c) Bent Iron-work24
    (2) Heavy Iron-work24
(e) Gardening and Cultural Experiment in the open air25
(f) Needlework26
(g) Cookery29
(h) Laundry30
(i) Housewifery, including House-cleaning31

(iii) Correlation of Handwork with other School Subjects
Necessity of connecting Handwork with the general work of the school. The connection established should arise naturally, and will in many cases be of an incidental rather than a systematic character31
Almost all the work of the school can be profitably connected with drawing. Geometrical Drawing lies at the basis of most forms of constructional Handwork, and the linking up of Handwork with the artistic side of Drawing is of great importance32
    (a) Arithmetic and Geometry33
    (b) Physics, Chemistry, Botany33
    (c) Geography34
    (d) History and Literature34
    (e) Other sides of School Activity. Recreation34
The above recommendations are not meant to be of a hard and fast kind, and it is hoped that the Board of Education will allow full latitude in any regulations they may make35

CHAPTER III. THE RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOL
Problems connected with these schools tend to be neglected36
The great majority of pupils in these schools will enter agricultural or commercial life36
The question to be considered is that of providing in such schools an education suitable to all pupils up to about 16 years of age, whatever their future callings may be36
For this purpose, the environment of the school should be utilised to the full, and a rural basis should be given to the work generally, which does not mean that the Secondary School should be turned into a Farm school36
Importance of drawing into the Secondary School a larger proportion of those who will in the future be concerned with the land36
The question of providing a suitable curriculum cannot be solved by the introduction of a definitely agricultural side so far as concerns the earlier school years37


[page xii]

CHAPTER III continued

PAGE
Natural Science in particular should be made more practical in character. This does not imply that technical instruction in Agriculture should be given37
Instances where practical work of the kind recommended has been developed38
Necessary that the staff should include a Science master with the necessary interest in rural things38
Practically everything that has been said as to the work of boys applies equally to that of girls38
Necessity of preserving a just balance between the more purely intellectual and the more "practical" side of school work. Dangers of an exaggerated emphasis on "practical" work39
Importance of literary studies40
Necessary conditions for success are that the teacher should be interested in the kind of work; that the sympathy of the farming class should be secured; and that the work of these schools should be freed from the rigid control of external examinations40
Recommended that the Board of Education should convene a conference of Head Teachers of Rural Secondary Schools41

CHAPTER IV. SPECIAL QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE TEACHING OF DOMESTIC SUBJECTS
(i) The Place of Domestic Subjects in the Time-Table
Secondary Schools differ us regards the length of time during which their pupils attend them42
In the Secondary School with a four years' course ending at about 16 or 17 it is advisable that Domestic Subjects, beginning with Needlework, should be taken throughout up to the age of 1642
The time that should be devoted to Needlework in the Upper Classes must vary according to the amount that can be done at home42
Where the leaving age is as high as 18 or 19 a reasonable standard in Domestic Subjects should be reached by the age of 16, since, under the conditions that at present govern examinations, most girls who go to the University or Training College cannot find time for them after this age42

(ii) Co-operation between School and Home
Importance of securing this whether the school hours are long or short43
The system of short school hours and free Saturdays obtaining in a considerable number of High Schools is based on the principle of leaving time for the home to play its part and for the learner to acquire the power of working by herself43
When the school hours are short, there must be a division of responsibility between the home, the school, and the learner herself44
One afternoon of two hours per week during two years of school life should in most cases be devoted to the Domestic Arts (other than Needlework). Exemption from this, however, might be granted on the understanding that work to the same effect should be undertaken at home44


[page xiii]

CHAPTER IV continued

PAGE
The school examination in Domestic Arts should be obligatory on all44
Encouragement of work in these arts should be given by various means suggested44
The system of learning at home and being tested for proficiency at school already exists for Needlework at some schools44
From 13 or 14 to 15 or 16 would probably be the best period for the operation of this plan44

(iii) Correlation of certain Branches of Domestic Subjects with Science
Importance of developing educationally the connection that exists between Science and certain of the Domestic Arts45
The controversy that has arisen as to the method of correlating these two branches of work appears to arise (a) from discontent with the traditional unscientific habit of mind in household matters; (b) from discontent with the educational effectiveness of Science teaching in girls' schools, which sometimes issues in the proposal to teach Science for the most part as applied to the problems of cooking, cleaning, etc.45
Such a thorough-going reform not advocated by majority of witnesses46
Examples quoted from the evidence of witnesses in which the claim is made that in Science teaching the learner's interest in familiar domestic things should be fully utilised46
Other witnesses, while considering that Housecraft teaching should be associated with the underlying Sciences, were of opinion that a course of training in Pure Science should precede the teaching of Cookery, and that the two sides should never be combined in a single course. An example of this view quoted49
An example quoted of the view that attention should be concentrated on practical Housecraft on the one side and Pure Science on the other50
The distinction between the two chief points of view on Housecraft teaching illustrated by an extract from the evidence50
Although the argument is by no means closed, the Committee conclude from the experience so far available that it is necessary to connect practical training in the crafts with scientific study of the underlying principles. The teaching of the Domestic Arts should be preceded by at least two years' teaching in Pure Science51
Not yet sufficient evidence for the formation of a judgment as to how far the teaching of Physics and Chemistry may be modified so as to form the basis of a scientific study of Housecraft52
It appears, however, that much illustration from household processes may be introduced into the Physics teaching and that, e.g., changes undergone by individual substances may be investigated in connection with Cookery teaching52
Need of co-operation between the Science Mistress and the Domestic Subjects Mistress52


[page xiv]

PAGE
CHAPTER V. HANDWORK SUBJECTS AND EXAMINATIONS
The various external examinations at present taken by pupils in Secondary Schools give little or no recognition to proficiency in Handwork subjects, which are accordingly not taken by pupils who have to pass these examinations53
This is the case especially with Domestic Subjects53
The general question as to how the present system of examinations can be reorganised so as to take account of various sides of a pupil's life and work which have hitherto been neglected has been considered by the Committee in their Report on Examinations in Secondary Schools, published in 1911. It was there recommended that a Secondary School Certificate should be instituted for pupils leaving school at 16 and a Higher Certificate for those leaving at 18 or 1953
Quotation of an extract from the Report above mentioned recommending as regards tests of proficiency in such subjects as Handicraft, Drawing and Needlework, that the examination should include inspection of the classes during instruction and of the pupil's work during the previous year. Essential that credit should be given for work done in Handwork in both examinations54
No reason to suppose that this would result in any general lowering of attainment in the traditional school subjects54
The existence of pupils who have no aptitude for purely literary or scientific subjects a further argument for including in examinations some test of manual proficiency55

CHAPTER VI. THE TRAINING OF INTENDING TEACHERS OF EDUCATIONAL HANDWORK
(i) The present Position
Handwork subjects are hardly recognised as necessary constituents of a Secondary School education, closely connected with which is the fact that Universities have done little or nothing in the past for the teachers of these subjects56
Any improved system of education and training for intending teachers of Handwork must be such as to give them an efficient training in these crafts and provide them as far as possible with a status on the same level with the regular teaching staff of a Secondary School56
The salary offered and the chances of promotion are as a rule not such as to make it worth while for an able man or woman to specialise in these subjects56
The teacher of Handwork must be recognised as a regular member of the school staff and must therefore combine a good general education with specialist knowledge of his subject57
Not desirable that the work should be relegated to artisan teachers or, where this can possibly be avoided, to peripatetic teachers57

(ii) Brief consideration of the main means at present available for the training of (a) Men, (b) Women Teachers in the various Handwork Subjects
(a) For men teachers the existing facilities may be divided into three main classes: (i) Training Colleges for Elementary School Teachers, (ii) Classes in Handwork for those who are already teachers, and (iii) Pupil Teacherships in Handicraft58


[page xv]

CHAPTER VI continued

PAGE
The qualifications of these teachers are chiefly tested by the City and Guilds of London Institute and the Board of Examinations for Educational Handwork, whose certificates in Wood-work and Metal-work are recognised by the Board of Education. The Board of Examinations for Educational Handwork also holds examinations in the lighter forms of Handwork, but certificates in this subject are not recognised by the Board of Education59
As long as the summer courses and similar courses remain the only means by which existing teachers can gain some knowledge of Handwork they deserve every assistance from the Board of Education and Local Education Authorities. At the same time there are reasons which prevent these classes from being regarded as a satisfactory means of training59
No means available by which men teachers preparing for Secondary School work can receive a complete training in School Handicrafts60
Attention called to the fact that there exists no University or College Diploma for the whole of that side of Handwork60
At Birmingham University, however, practical acquaintance with Educational Handwork is a necessary part of its Education Course60

(b) Two classes of women teachers of Educational Handwork: (i) Teachers of Light Handwork, (ii) Teachers of the Domestic Arts
60
Better provision made for the training of women teachers in Light Handwork than is the case with the men teachers60
Specialist teacher in that subject not necessary60
As regards Domestic Science Training Schools, importance of establishing a uniform standard of general education for admission60
Attention called to the Courses in Home Science and Economics at King's College for Women in the University of London, and mention made of other existing or prospective University Courses in Domestic Science61

(iii) The need of increased University facilities for the Education and Training of intending Teachers of Handwork Subjects
Essentially important that teachers of these subjects should have the same facilities for preparation at the Universities as other teachers. The ideal training would be for teachers to take a degree course followed by a diploma course62
For the intending teacher of Constructional Handwork, certain existing degree courses could be so adapted by the introduction of alternative subjects as to enable him to choose the most suitable subjects, e.g. a course including Physics, Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering suggested62
He should then proceed to take a diploma in the teaching and technique of his subject. It may be presumed that he would probably have acquired some considerable dexterity in the practical work before proceeding to the University62
Existing laboratories and workshops could probably be utilised for the practical training in the crafts. In some instances the existence of a Technical Institute in connection with the University would meet the case63


[page xvi]

CHAPTER VI continued

PAGE
For the rest the diploma course should follow mainly the lines of those already existing in the Theory and Practice of Teaching63
Important to establish a close connection between Art and Handwork, and it is hoped that Universities will make provision for the requirements of those who desire to teach Handwork with especial reference to its artistic bearings63
Suggested that the course for the teacher of Nature Study, Gardening, and kindred subjects should include Botany, Chemistry, and, if possible, Horticulture63
For the diploma course in the teaching and the technique of the Domestic Arts, a degree course in Science would form the best basis. It may be presumed that intending teachers would, before proceeding to the Universities, have already acquired some skill in the subject. Such a course would enable the teaching of Science and the Domestic Arts to be closely connected63
The suggested courses would secure for the teachers of Handwork their due position in their profession63
Recommended that until better provision can be made for the maintenance of intending teachers, the diploma course should count towards the degree64
Any lowering of the standard of intellectual attainment demanded by University degrees deprecated, and no reason to suppose this would arise64
Although the above recommendations represent what would be ideally desirable, it is hoped that the time is not far distant when all teachers in Secondary Schools will have graduated in the ordinary way, and then obtained their teaching diploma in a post-graduate course64
University authorities and experts in those branches of work urged to give serious consideration to the questions raised64

CONCLUDING REMARKS
65





[page 1]

BOARD OF EDUCATION
CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PRACTICAL WORK IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Introduction

The following question was referred to us by the Board of Education in June 1909:

"The Committee are desired to consider to what degree education by means of practical work (or things) should be encouraged and developed in Secondary Schools and in particular to consider the following questions:
(A) To what extent is it desirable that the education of boys in Secondary Schools should include instruction in hand-craft, either in the ordinary school course, or in certain classes, as local circumstances and requirements may indicate, and what lines should such instruction follow?
(B)(i) Is it desirable that Courses of Domestic Economy or Housecraft should form part of the education of girls in Secondary Schools during the whole or the main part of school life? or
(ii) Could this form of education be more usefully concentrated upon the year or two years immediately before leaving school? or
(iii) Should it be deferred till after the close of the Secondary School Course, at any rate where the leaving age is under 17?"
Extract from the Board's covering letter dealing with the above Reference:
"It is to be understood that this Reference relates only to schools falling within the category of Secondary Schools as defined by Articles 1 and 2 of the Board's Regulations for Secondary Schools."
The delay that has occurred in submitting to the Board of Education our report on this question has been occasioned by the necessity for expediting our recently published report on the question of Examinations in Secondary Schools, which was referred to us at the same time as that on which we are now reporting.

The sense in which we interpret our present reference, and the limits within which we shall confine ourselves in considering it, will be explained in the first chapter, where we consider generally the importance, and indeed necessity, of including some systematic work with the hands in education of a Secondary grade. In the next chapter we consider briefly the main principles to be observed in the teaching of the various subjects


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involving such work. In chapter III we deal with the difficult and important question of the development of such work in the rural Secondary School. Chapter IV is devoted to some special questions relating to the teaching of the Domestic Arts to girls. In chapter V we consider Manual and Domestic Arts in relation to Examinations, with reference to the reforms which we have recommended in our report on Examinations above referred to. In chapter VI a matter is dealt with which lies at the root of the whole question that we are considering, viz. the provision of an efficient education and training for intending teachers of our subjects.

We have, in the course of our enquiry, examined 52 witnesses, some of whom have in addition to their verbal evidence supplied us with written information and suggestions on special points. We wish to take this opportunity of thanking our witnesses for their valuable evidence, which has placed at our disposal a wide variety of educational experience. We wish also to record our obligations to those Headmasters and Headmistresses and others who have supplied us with syllabuses of work in the various subjects. Our acknowledgments are also due to the following who have sent us memoranda on certain questions, of which we have freely availed ourselves in the preparation of this report:

Sir William Mather; Sir John Tweedy; Mr. A. D. Hall, of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden; Mr. R. C. Chevalier and Mr. A. Ogden, of the Manchester Grammar School; and Mr. Stewart Taylor, Headmaster of the John Gulson Council School, Coventry.




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REPORT ON PRACTICAL WORK IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Chapter I

SYSTEMATIC WORK WITH THE HANDS A NECESSARY PART OF A SECONDARY EDUCATION

(i) THE SENSE IN WHICH THE COMMITTEE INTERPRET THE REFERENCE AND THE WORD "HANDWORK"

The above reference falls into two divisions, viz. the general question of the development in Secondary Schools of "education by means of practical work ( or things)", and the particular questions of the places to be allotted in the work of the Secondary School to Hand-craft for boys and Housecraft for girls, and of the lines that instruction in these subjects should follow.

The term "education by means of practical work (or things)" we understand to mean - education by means of subjects in which bodily activity is, to a greater or less extent, involved, and in which the pupil learns by "doing". To consider, however, all the ways in which bodily activity may be so directed as to subserve mental development in the case of children of Secondary School age, and to estimate the extent to which the various school subjects can be taught by means of methods involving such activity would obviously be far beyond the scope of one report, even if, in the present state of knowledge on these matters, a final estimate could be reached. We shall, accordingly, in considering our reference, confine ourselves almost entirely to the particular questions submitted to us, and consider how those branches of educational work that involve the co-operation of hand and brain can best be developed in Secondary Schools.

The forms which work with the hands may take for school purposes are many and diverse. Among them would be classed various kinds of constructional work with such media as clay, wood, and metal, and with these constructive arts may be ranked the allied graphic arts, such as Drawing and Painting, Gardening and other outdoor work, Housecraft in its various branches for girls, and also, since they involve work with the hands, such widely different subjects as Instrumental Music and certain kinds of Physical Exercises, would all have to be included in a full treatment of the question. To give adequate consideration to all of these branches of work would again, we think, be too large a task. We propose, accordingly, to make a convenient if arbitrary selection, and


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to deal mainly with constructional Handcraft and the Domestic Arts, both in themselves and in their relation to other school subjects. Drawing will only be considered in so far as it relates to the subjects that we shall especially consider. Gardening, again, and other outdoor work will only be touched upon in broad outline, as illustrating certain general principles and as on some sides, an important branch of work for rural Secondary Schools.

We do not feel called upon by the terms of our reference to consider in any great detail how far the teaching of the ordinary school subjects may be rendered more "practical" in character. Nevertheless, some consideration of how far the teaching of certain school subjects, especially Natural Science, may be made more real to the learner, be more adapted to his probable future needs, and be brought into closer connection with the environment of the school, will arise naturally from the subject matter of our inquiry.

The question of the nomenclature to be adopted is not an easy one to settle satisfactorily, since there is no one word in general use to cover all the subjects with which we shall deal. The term "Handwork" or "Hand-craft" has generally been limited in its application to the various kinds of kindergarten work for young children, and to Wood-work, Metal-work, and kindred subjects for older boys. We propose, however, for the sake of convenience, to use throughout this report the term "Handwork" or "Educational Handwork" in a wider meaning as including, besides the subjects just mentioned, Gardening and the various Domestic Subjects for girls. These last we shall take to include Needlework, Cookery, Laundry and Housewifery. In applying the term "Handwork" thus widely, we are not forgetful of the fact that the amount and the importance of the strictly manual work involved in these subjects varies widely, and that it may, in some cases, take a very secondary place.

(ii) WIDE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE "LEARN BY DOING"

Although we shall confine ourselves to the above mentioned subjects, we may in passing emphasise the fact that "learning by doing" is a principle that may be applied in many other directions than that of Educational Handwork, since expression through physical action is natural to most children. To take one or two examples of this: the dramatic instinct of younger children may be utilised and directed by training them to dramatise stories and to act them in a simple way. This method has received much attention of late, and has been alluded to by several of our witnesses. The striking effects that can be produced on children's general powers by its judicious application cannot be doubted. But, since it would


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seem that its successful working must depend very largely on the natural gifts of the teacher, and that teachers with the requisite capacity and enthusiasm cannot be created to order, we are not prepared to go further than to recommend that encouragement should be given to this method where it appears to be practicable. The importance again of developing the powers of observation that children possess through such work as open-air Nature Study where possible, and by training them to describe accurately what they observe in terms of drawing no less than of speech, cannot be too highly estimated.

(iii) THE NEED OF DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL HANDWORK AS PART OF LIBERAL EDUCATION

The consideration of Handwork for school purposes, even within the limits laid down above, presents some peculiar difficulties. Besides purely educational problems, there are others involved that have industrial and social bearings. Moreover, there is, in this country at any rate, no long educational experience behind many of the subjects in question, except so far as concerns kindergarten work for the youngest children. Little attention has hitherto been paid them in many Secondary Schools; to a large extent methods have not been tested, values have not been gauged. Even as regards Elementary Schools, where more in this direction is being done, the idea that Educational Handwork may be regarded as a method permeating the work of the school is, in some parts of the country, only slowly winning acceptance. Nevertheless, there are at the present time hopeful signs of awakening interest, and fruitful experimentation is proceeding in certain directions.

We wish at the outset to record our conviction of the great importance of Handwork for the purposes of Secondary education. The evidence of our witnesses, based as it is on actual experience, leaves no room for doubt as to the necessity and the practicability of giving such work a more definite place in Secondary education than it has hitherto occupied, and of associating it as far as possible with the rest of the work of the school. The evidence has caused the Committee to form a very high estimate of what a school training in Handwork can do to develop mind and character. It must, again, he held to be one of the functions of the Secondary School, not indeed to give Technical instruction, but to provide those of its pupils whose future callings may involve manual work with the hands or the utilisation and control of such work with a foundation on which technical instruction may subsequently be built. This, however, is not the most important consideration from the point of view of the Secondary School; it is rather upon the value of some systematic work with the hands as a necessary constituent of a liberal education, that we wish to lay emphasis. We propose to consider this from two points of view: first, in


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relation to those who may, by a rough-and-ready classification, be described as normal children; secondly, in relation to children who could not be so described.

(iv) IMPORTANCE OF HANDWORK AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION FOR THE NORMAL CHILD

We do not think that much argument is needed to justify the inclusion of some educational work with the hands in the training of the ordinary child. It would be generally allowed that education should aim at a natural development of the faculties. From the historical point of view, the line of natural development in the case of the child as of the race, is from the concrete to the abstract, from action to reflection upon action. Science has, for the most part, developed out of the experience gained by men in the course of their practical operations, and in response to needs arising from them. It must accordingly be an unnatural method of education to confine a child's school work to the mental processes that centre round books, and to neglect to foster those activities of mind, hand and eye that are demanded when dealing with concrete things. This proceeding would not, indeed, be defended nowadays, at any rate so far as concerns the earliest years of school education. It is generally recognised that manual operations and bodily activity should be predominant in the training of the youngest children, and the methods of modern infants' schools are practical applications of this idea. But it too frequently happens that such work is suddenly discontinued and that the child is confined at quite an early stage to purely intellectual work. This abrupt transition cannot be sound, for growth, both of body and mind, is a gradual process, Or, if Handwork is subsequently resumed, the interval that elapses is often considerable, and this cannot but be detrimental to the normal development of the child. The restlessness often shown by children after leaving the Kindergarten is probably largely due to this break with the methods by which their minds have hitherto been trained.

The idea that education should be concerned with the harmonious development of the body no less than with the development of the mind is a common-place, and, in the importance now attached to physical training, is receiving increased recognition. Handwork has a definite task to fulfil in this respect. The principle that the hand should receive systematic training for the performance of its functions is not yet widely recognised in practice, however little anyone would dispute it in theory.

To train deftness of hand, although an important, is by no means the sole or even the chief aim of Handwork from the educational point of view; there is, as we have already remarked, a considerable difference in the extent to which


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purely manual skill is demanded by the various branches of work with which we shall deal. The experience of those engaged in schools where such work forms a recognised part of the curriculum is decisive on the point that it can be so taught us to foster certain qualities of mind no less than of hand or eye which cannot be cultivated to the same extent, if at all, by the traditional school subjects.* The spirit of initiative and resourcefulness evoked by dealing with concrete things is not confined in its effects to the particular work in question. It is pre-eminently true of Handwork that it gives the opportunity for each individual pupil to deal with and conquer an outside force or forces over which he can only gain the mastery by the deliberate effort to gain mastery over himself. The definitely active attitude which he must take up if he is to do the work at all has been found in practice to react favourably on all sides of his work. Work of this kind has to be done by the pupil himself; it forces him to observe and to think; if he makes a blunder it acts, so to speak, as an automatic schoolmaster, the pupil seeing for himself that what he is doing is wrong. Such a training is obviously favourable to the growth of common sense, readiness and adaptability.

It will be generally allowed that school-life should be expected to foster in the pupil tastes that would bear fruit in the rational use of leisure in after-life. The child who had learned to use his hands at school might, or might not, continue Handwork when his school education had come to an end. But it cannot be doubted that in many cases a latent capacity would be developed by school Handwork of which the exercise would stand him in good stead in after-life.

Apart from its function as an instrument of individual mental development, it has a definite value as a means of bringing the work of the school into close relation with the needs of daily life outside the class-room, and thus giving school work that touch of reality which is so important for arousing the pupil's interest. Its importance as a means of training in corporate effort and social spirit either through the varied occupations of school camps, or the co-operative construction of apparatus and articles of various kinds for use either in the school or in the playground, need be no more than alluded to.

There is also this point to be considered. It would be easy to exaggerate the danger of over-pressure in Secondary Schools, but such danger undoubtedly exists, and it cannot be doubted that Handwork has proved of value as a relief from the strain of purely intellectual study.

*On the psychological side there appears to be much need for research as to the degree to which the brain is affected by the systematic training of the hand. The evidence given by Dr. W. H. R. Rivers bears on this point. (See p. 365.)


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The recognition claimed for Handwork as a necessary part of a Secondary School education has not only the justification of the subject's intrinsic importance. Wide social bearings are also involved. It was, in fact, rather to a consideration of its social value than to any educational theory that the comparatively recent introduction of Educational Handwork into the Secondary School curriculum was in the first instance due. Experience had shown that a too exclusively bookish curriculum not only did not fit the schoolboy for skilled occupations requiring manual dexterity, but sometimes led him to despise such occupations, and to look down upon all manual work as something necessarily inferior to any form of "brain work". If this point of view is founded on the idea that no "brain work" is involved in Handwork it rests upon a radical misconception. The recognition that we are claiming for such work will, it is to be hoped, be a step towards the removal of this misconception, and of the social prejudice to which it gives rise.

(v) IMPORTANCE OF HANDWORK FOR PARTICULAR TYPES OF CHILDREN

Besides its value as an instrument of education for the normal child, Handwork has a further and special value as a means of training for certain types of boy and girl. On the over-quick and excitable kind of child it has been found to exert a valuable steadying influence. In working with his hands such a child must go slowly and surely, and can see for himself in the clearest manner the results of hasty and careless work.

But it has still greater value for children of a character more commonly met with. The child who is naturally slow at abstract mental processes, who cannot gain from literary and scientific subjects a benefit at all commensurate with the efforts expended on him, is familiar to every teacher. This quality of mind varies greatly in degree; in its least marked form it is seen in a certain slowness of mind and of speech which is said to occur more frequently among country than among town children. In more marked cases, the child's mental growth may have been retarded in early years by illness or other causes. The benefit exerted by Handwork on such children, and more especially on mentally defective children, is well known. Further, some interesting evidence shows that the instruction given in some Industrial Schools of which work with the hands forms so important a part has exercised a very salutary influence on the children, many of whom come from unsatisfactory surroundings.

The type of backward child with whom we are here concerned is quite distinct from the mentally deficient type. We are thinking of the child who is left behind in the ordinary


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class work, is looked upon as a dunce, and acquiescing, loses self-confidence, with the inevitable depressing result on his character generally. The experience of our witnesses on this point shows that Handwork develops a side of him that would not be developed by other methods. When he is set to work with his hands, he realises that he has some task to perform of which he can understand the aim. The object once made, he feels the satisfaction of a piece of work achieved, and the self-confidence thus gained has been found to react favourably on his whole work and character. It is regrettable that, in the past, there has been no opportunity of developing the powers of such children by means of Educational Handwork; their "backwardness" must be held to be largely due to the fact that a proper curriculum has not been provided for them. It does not follow, however, as is sometimes thought, that because a child is dull in other subjects he might therefore be expected to be good at Handwork. On the contrary, our witnesses were decisively of opinion that as a rule the child who showed most intelligence in his other school studies showed most in Handwork also. This indeed would naturally be expected, for intellect counts in Handwork as in everything else. On the general question, Dr, Mumford, in the course of some striking evidence as to what was done in this direction at the Manchester Grammar School, stated that "He was convinced that a large amount of the backwardness was due, not to innate physiological defects, but to illness in very early life interfering with brain or body development, or causing much absence from school. ... In Manchester Grammar School such boys were diverted into a special class at about 14 or 15, and were given a special curriculum of which Manual work of all kinds was a prominent characteristic. This was organised to enable them to regain confidence in themselves, for they had previously been stranded in lower forms with boys much younger than themselves. ... Everything possible was done to avoid the idea that the boys in it were inferior to the others. ... The scheme of work had not yet been finally planned out. It was being tried experimentally with a view to learning what was best. ... They would continue their studies in Language, particularly English History and Literature, and Mathematics. The time given to Handwork, excluding Art and Science, was about 3½ hours* a week, that is to say, about twice as much as was devoted to this subject in the ordinary Forms. It was desirable that with these boys the Manual work should be carried beyond its present limits and become occupational in character. The great value of Manual work for such boys lay not in the fact that they had

*We think it possible that more time might advantageously he devoted to Handwork in the case of pupils of this kind.


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special aptitude in cutting wood with great accuracy and care, but they were able to see what was the result they were setting out to achieve."

We attach great weight to these considerations, and are of opinion that the institution of such classes in Secondary Schools, wherever practicable, is much to be desired.

(vi) CRUCIAL INSTANCES TO SHOW THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF HANDWORK ON THE GENERAL WORK OF A SCHOOL

Two crucial instances may be given showing the beneficial effect of the introduction of Handwork upon the ordinary subjects of the school curriculum. The first is supplied by the Swedish Primary Schools, the second by Chetham's Hospital School, Manchester.

The Sloyd system of Handwork was in its origin an economic, not an educational enterprise. It was with the object of reviving the old cottage industries of his country, which were decaying under the influence of factory competition on the one hand and the purely bookish curriculum of the primary schools on the other, that in 1872 a young engineer, Herr Otto Salomon, established workshops in connection with the schools on the Nääs Estate of his uncle Herr August Abrahamson, a wealthy and philanthropic merchant of Gothenburg. The Government Inspector was at first inclined to veto the scheme on the ground that the proper subjects of school education were certain to suffer. He ultimately agreed, however, to allow it to be tried as an experiment for one year, on the understanding that, if the result justified his apprehensions, it should be abandoned. At the end of the year it was found that far from suffering injury the ordinary school work was distinctly better done than before. The Inspector accordingly withdrew his objection and Herr Salomon, having thus unexpectedly discovered in Handwork an educational force, devoted the rest of his life to its development on educational lines. The system thus elaborated is well known under the name of Sloyd Wood-work. The State first tolerated it and subsequently encouraged it by a direct grant. Its adoption in the Swedish Primary Schools has always been optional. The number of schools taking it has grown steadily year by year and now amounts to about 75 per cent of the whole.

Chetham's Hospital is an old Endowment, and the school is conducted on Elementary lines. Mr. (now Sir) William Mather, in a visit to the United States, had been greatly struck by the Manual Training carried on in the Public Schools, and on his return offered to establish and equip for Chetham's Hospital a workshop with tools for wood and iron work, and with all accessories for drawing, etc. The scheme encountered considerable opposition from some of the school staff who feared the difficulty of satisfying the requirements of the Board of Education,


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if the time at their disposal were curtailed. During the first year, therefore, it was only put into partial operation. One half of the boys were put to Handwork for three hours a week taken from the ordinary school hours, the other half pursuing the old curriculum as before. At the end of the year it was found that the former had not only not fallen behind the rest in the book subjects, though they had spent three hours a week less upon them, but in some subjects, particularly Mathematics and more especially Geometry, they did markedly better. So decisive and convincing was the result that opposition at once disappeared. From that time Handwork has formed a regular part of the school curriculum for every boy and is recognised by the school staff in general as a valuable ally.

(vii) THE POINT TO WHICH HANDWORK SHOULD BE TAKEN BY ALL CHILDREN, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR FUTURE CALLINGS

The age to which Handwork should be taken by scholars in Secondary Schools will be ruled by the same considerations that apply to other subjects in the general curriculum before specialisation begins. At about the age of 16 some scholars will specialise in Handwork among other subjects. This will be the case especially with those boys who are to become expert manual workers later on. Some girls will probably also specialise in certain branches of Domestic work or other Handwork. Those scholars who have no reason for specialising in any branch of Handwork would, as a rule, conclude their general course in this subject by about the age of 16. Beyond that age facilities should, where possible, be provided so that pupils specialising in other subjects may at their own option keep in touch with any branch of Handwork for which they have shown special aptitude.

(viii) THE DIFFICULTY OF THE TIME TABLE

To the claim that the education of every child should include training in the use of his hands up to about the age indicated and that Handwork should accordingly be recognised as a subject on the same plane with those hitherto traditional, it may be objected that such recognition would result in the adding of one item more to already overburdened Time Tables. We think, however, that objections on this score can to a large extent be met. In the first place, we may remark that many of our witnesses, when questioned on this point, gave it as their experience that a reasonable amount of time devoted to Handwork subjects did not lead to any lowering of attainment in other branches of school work, but rather the reverse. Again, as will be seen later, Handwork has very direct bearings on several school


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subjects, especially on Science, Mathematics, and Geography in their earlier stages. As far as the work of older children is concerned, the Time Table difficulties resolve themselves largely into those caused by the requirements of external examinations. We shall consider these in a subsequent chapter, but we wish to emphasise one consideration here. If the work done by the pupil in the various subjects we are considering is not recognised in the Secondary School Certificate for pupils of the age of 16 (the institution of which was recommended by the Consultative Committee in their recent report upon Examinations in Secondary Schools) these cannot fail to be neglected in favour of subjects for which credit would be allowed in that Certificate. To include Handwork subjects in the examination scheme, as recommended in that report, we hold to be absolutely essential for their proper development.

We would, however, deprecate the undue encroachment of Handwork on other essential branches of study. To that large part of school work that must necessarily be devoted to written and spoken language, to training the learner to express himself clearly and correctly in his own and other tongues, to fostering in him some appreciation of Literature and to equipping him with the power of making the best use of books that may be placed in his hands, Handwork has nothing direct to contribute. We are strongly of opinion that without the inspiring and formative power of Literature, more especially of that of the learner's own country, there can he no education worthy of the name.

But, as has already been remarked, the stimulating effect that Handwork exercises on the ordinary pupil has been found in practice to extend to the whole of his school work, and its bearings even on the subjects just mentioned are found to be none the less effectual because indirect. It is on its claim as constituting a necessary part of a liberal education, both for its own sake and as an educational method in connection with other sides of school work, that its title to occupy a definite place in Secondary School education must ultimately be based.



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Chapter II

THE TEACHING OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF HANDWORK AND THE CORRELATION OF THESE WITH OTHER BRANCHES OF SCHOOL WORK

(i) GENERAL REMARKS AS TO METHOD

We shall consider in this chapter those forms of Handwork that have been most generally approved for school work, and their appropriateness to the various ages of the pupils. We shall further suggest certain broad principles of method that are applicable to Handwork generally and to its special branches. In so doing, we shall not enter into detailed recommendations, which would be beyond the scope of a report of this nature, and would indeed be undesirable in itself. If a teacher is to do his best work, his individual bias must be allowed much freedom. We shall, therefore, confine ourselves to stating in broad outline the results of the experience of those best qualified to speak.

In this connection we wish to emphasise the fact that it is the Elementary Schools which have done the pioneer work in this direction, and that it is to them that recourse must be had if the possibilities of Handwork for children up to the age of 14 are to be adequately estimated. An increasing number of Public Elementary Schools and certain other schools for children of primary school age have well developed schemes of Handwork that extend throughout the whole school course. This is the case mainly with the well-equipped and well-staffed schools in urban districts, but there are not wanting signs that the difficulties in the way of introducing Handwork and Domestic Subjects into the village school are, in certain localities, being successfully met.*

Handwork can be taught with two aims, one or other of which will be the more prominent according to circumstances. The teaching may be chiefly directed to fostering certain qualities of mind and hand in the pupil, in which case the work may be called "Educational" in character, or it may be designed to train him to produce objects of technical excellence, which would be the primary aim of what may be called "Vocational" Handwork. These aims are obviously not mutually exclusive; they ought rather to imply one another. In "Educational" Handwork, inaccurate and slipshod handling of material should not be permitted to interfere with the proper execution of an object as designed; while "Vocational" training in Handwork should make progressive demands on the intelligence of the

*It appears that the subjects we are considering might derive advantage if supplementary courses on similar lines to those which exist in Scotland were established in England.


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learner, and not degenerate into mechanical routine. Nevertheless, in the case of boys' subjects especially, there will be a certain difference of method according to the immediate end in view, and this will partly depend upon the age of the learner. In the case of older pupils who may study the various branches of Handwork for vocational purposes, greater attention will necessarily be paid to exercises adapted to the acquirement of skill of hand than would be desirable in the case of younger children, where the object of such instruction should be rather to develop their general capacity.

It is with the educational bearings of Handwork subjects as above defined that we shall be mainly concerned. The demands of industrial education must indeed be considered; but definite vocational training is the function of the Technical Institute and similar centres of higher education, and not of the Secondary School.

The forms of Handwork which have generally been approved in this and other countries are as follows: Modelling with plastic media, such as clay; Modelling with paper and cardboard; Wood-work, of a light and of an advanced kind; Metal-work; Gardening; Domestic Subjects, including Needlework, Cookery, Laundry, Housewifery.* This list of subjects is not, however, meant to be exhaustive.

Hitherto there has been in practice a demarcation of some of these subjects according to sex: e.g. Needlework, Cookery, and other Domestic Subjects have in general been assigned to girls; Wood-work, Metal-work, etc. to boys. Some differentiation of this kind is of course inevitable and necessary after a certain age, but there is no reason why it should obtain in the earlier school years. A composite course of Handwork might well be planned - and is in some schools already in operation - which would be equally appropriate to boys and to girls up to about the age of 10. A suggestion for such a preliminary course suitable for both sexes up to about the age of 10, and branching off to suit their respective requirements in their later years, is embodied in the following table. This table must not be understood as an attempt to prescribe a course of work for all types of schools alike, or as suggesting that all the subjects should be taken concurrently in any one school. The requirements of a school will vary with the circumstances of the locality and the age and character of the pupils. In particular the different needs of rural schools and urban schools must be distinguished. In view, however, of the interchange of population between town and country which is constantly going on, it would probably be undesirable that the difference of work between these two types of school should be very wide. To the special difficulties under which rural schools labour in this connection, we shall refer in a subsequent chapter.

*We do not consider it within the scope of our reference to give any detailed consideration to Drawing except in its bearings on Handwork.


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The table is given as an indication, in the light of the experience at present available, of the line of development suitable for all classes of schools. Physical strength, control of hand, and control of eye will be the main factors in determining the order of succession.

Average Class Ages
(Approximate)
Up to 8 yearsKindergarten work.
8 to 10 yearsPaper cutting and folding; Paper and Cardboard Modelling; Plastic Modelling with clay or plasticine; Brushwork; Crayon-drawing, etc; introductory Needlework.
10 to 12 yearsThe same, further developed and applied where possible; Light Wood-work for boys especially; elementary Needlework for girls especially. (At some point during these years the work for boys and girls might bifurcate according to their separate needs.)

Boys
12 to 14 yearsAdvanced Wood-work; Plastic Modelling; Gardening, etc.
14 and overMetal-work, Wood-carving, or manufacture of scientific apparatus; advanced Plastic Modelling, Gardening, etc.

Girls
12 to 14 and overNeedlework; Cookery; Laundry work; Housewifery; Gardening.

It is assumed that Drawing, both free and geometrical, and Painting, are taught, and that they are correlated with those of the above-mentioned subjects to which they are applicable. A similar assumption is made in the case of practical and experimental Science.

The following general principles should govern the teaching of Handwork in any form. In the first place, the encouragement of independence and initiative is of fundamental importance. In order to foster these qualities, the taste of each pupil and the pace at which he naturally works should be taken into account. The plan, too often adopted, of keeping a class together at the same stage, and even at the same piece of work, is educationally unsound. Not only does it leave no room for individual choice, but it ignores the observed fact that the pace at which the best work is done varies with the individual, and varies widely. Within reasonable limits each pupil should be allowed to work at his own pace and encouraged to select his own work. Classes should, therefore,


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be sufficiently small to admit of individual instruction, and the range of work should be fairly wide. The objects selected should include those which are most familiar to the learner, and those which appeal to him through their beauty or utility, since in this way his interest will be best enlisted.

Constructive practice and instruction in theory should go hand in hand; as the pupil's age increases, more importance will naturally attach to the latter. The teaching of principles should be based as far as possible on practical operations, the pupil being encouraged to deduce his own conclusions and to test them practically. He will learn most from his own experiments and from the correction of his own mistakes.

Careful work should indeed be insisted on throughout, but the teacher will show his judgment in estimating the degree of accuracy of which a pupil is capable at any point in his school course. From young children, whose training in Handwork will, as has been already remarked, be mainly designed to foster their general powers, it would be unreasonable to expect such accurate work as would be required from those older pupils who might continue Handwork for vocational purposes.* In vocational work special regard must be had to the acquirement of technical efficiency, with the aim of producing a technically satisfactory object. But this motive should not be absent in the earlier stages. Younger children should be expected to make their work sufficiently accurate to be suitable to its purpose; if they do not realise this suitability a powerful stimulus to interest is lost.

It is especially desirable that those in charge of the Art teaching should be consulted in the arrangement of courses in constructional Handwork. These two branches of training should be closely connected. Their separation often leads to the neglect of the artistic side of Handwork while depriving the Art teaching in the school of many opportunities of practical application. Appreciation of beauty of line and of colour may be cultivated in schools to a point not yet generally reached. The more general cultivation of this sensitive pleasure in colour and design has not only an economic value, but is still more desirable from the point of view of general training.

In general, Handwork during the earlier period should be regarded rather as a method of instruction applicable to several of the ordinary school subjects than as a distinct branch of work. The further consideration of the value of Handwork in correlation with other branches of instruction is reserved for another section of this chapter.

We may here add a few words as to the equipment necessary for the teaching of the various subjects. It should be remembered that much elementary Handwork can be done in the

*The general consensus of opinion goes to show that vocational Handwork for those whom it concerns may be suitably begun at about 16, as has been already remarked.


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ordinary school class-rooms, and in so far as Handwork methods can be adapted to the teaching of Mathematics, Geography, or other school subjects, there is an obvious advantage in such an arrangement. Such subjects as Cardboard-modelling, Clay-modelling, and Light Wood-work can easily be taken in this way if adjustable tops of the usual pattern are applied to fit on the ordinary desks.

For advanced Wood-work, however, and for Metal-work, and for the various Domestic Subjects for girls (with the exception of Needlework) special rooms are necessary, allowing ample space for the performance of practical processes and for the free movement required. These rooms should form part of the school buildings.

In a girls' school the Domestic Subjects room should be fitted up with all the necessary equipment. Since the cleanly and hygienic treatment of foodstuffs is an essential part of kitchen training, the cleaning and care of the cookery class-room must be of a high standard. The makeshift use, therefore, of a kitchen for laboratory or other class-room purposes is to be deprecated. Sufficient equipment should be provided for these subjects to enable each member of the class to work independently. Combined work in these subjects does not afford sufficient opportunity for the acquirement of manipulative skill and for the exercise of individual judgment. Where Housewifery can be taken, a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom should be provided. They should also, if possible, be actually occupied, as this makes their maintenance a far more valuable training. Rooms such as these, however, cannot obviously form part of the school buildings in all cases, and must often be sought elsewhere.

For boys' schools, where Metal-work is only taken to a limited extent, there is no reason why a lathe should not be put in at one end of the Wood-work room. A room specially fitted up would, however, be necessary if this subject were taken by any considerable number.

(ii) THE VARIOUS HANDWORK SUBJECTS

The suitability of any kind of Handwork can be estimated by the degree to which it satisfies the following conditions:

(a) It should be such that a syllabus of work could be constructed logical, coherent, and with a well-defined aim.
(b) The work should involve the free use and delicate adjustment of all the hand and wrist muscles.
(c) It should not only be educative as pure Handwork, but it should have direct culture value as well.
(d) It should interest the child and satisfy his creative instinct.
(e) It should give considerable scope for originality.

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The relative importance of conditions (b) and (c) depends upon the age of the child. It is probably correct to say that during the first few years of life (b) is all-important and (c) negligible - that as the child grows the importance of (c) steadily increases - and that during the Secondary School stage (c) is at least as important as (b).

(a) Paper and Cardboard Modelling

Paper-folding and Cardboard-modelling are species of manual work for which no special tools are required and for this reason they are often considered to be suitable forms of Handwork for children who are beyond the kindergarten stage but not ready for Wood-work. To a certain extent this view is correct. For the younger children in a Secondary School some kinds of advanced Paper-folding and simple Modelling may be taken with advantage, but the adoption of such work as part of a general course of Handwork for older children is not to be lightly advocated.

If the cases for Paper-folding and Modelling in cardboard be examined in view of the conditions stated above, their claims will be found to be very unequal. They will be discussed separately.

Paper-folding. As pure manual work Paper-folding must be admitted to satisfy easily the second condition. The degree to which Paper-folding satisfies the remaining conditions depends upon the kind of work considered, the manner in which it is taught, and the age of the class.

The subject extends over such a wide range that it is possible to make some use of it at almost any period of the school life. On the other hand, it is not easy to see how it can be used continuously with good effect at any particular period of the Secondary School life.

Assuming, as stated above, that, for the Secondary School, condition (c) is at least as important as condition (b), the amount of work that can be usefully included in a course of Paper-folding is small. To be educative in the wide sense of condition (c) the work must be related to some other subject, and the choice seems to lie between Art and Mathematics. As Art it cannot easily be made to rise above the level of the kindergarten, whilst to correlate the work with Mathematics, and at the same time make Handwork play an important part in the lessons, is not so simple as it appears at first sight. Paper-folding, to be of value in connection with Mathematics, needs for the most part to be taken at the proper times with the work it illustrates. It involves very little actual Handwork - except in the case of Practical Geometry - and can only be regarded as ancillary to Mathematics. If very much is attempted the work is likely to trespass upon the Mathematics, and produce duplication, or it may easily become trivial and too disconnected to leave any impression.


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Knowledge of the properties of the more simple geometrical figures, of areas, and of simple vulgar fractions can be greatly aided by Paper-folding. Its use here is quite natural and supplies very welcome relief, though too much time should not be spent upon it. As a Handwork subject it would be rational, perhaps - and many teachers would prefer - to begin at once with Paper-modelling.

Modelling in Paper and Cardboard. The distinctive feature of Modelling in paper and cardboard is the training it affords in realising the geometrical properties of space of three dimensions. This is a side of Mathematics which has never received proper attention in Secondary Schools. Mensuration and Euclid Book XI, or its equivalent, are not sufficient for the purpose. Even when they are included in the curriculum - which is not often the case - the former is generally a matter of formulæ, and the latter comes too late. There is a distinct need for three-dimensional geometrical experience. Wood-work, to some extent, supplies this, but it seldom goes far enough. It is perhaps most easily obtained through Modelling.

From the point of view of pure Handwork Modelling is even better than simple Folding, having much more variety so that its claim to be considered a suitable form of Handwork may seem to be established. In practice, however, it is doubtful how far it is likely to be found satisfactory for Secondary School purposes when continued for a long period. One difficulty is that the subject moves rather fast. To give scope for originality the work must be sufficiently elementary to allow the child to discover the method of working unaided - or nearly so - by his teacher, whilst to sustain his interest the work must steadily progress in difficulty and have considerable variety. To arrange a scheme of work on these lines sufficient for, say, many more than 12 periods of one hour is difficult. A properly progressive scheme will very soon pass beyond the capacity of a junior class, and it will probably be found in practice that one of two things will happen. Either the class will "mark time" by working repeatedly the same theme with minor variations, or the work will be done by the teacher instead of the child. The conditions (c), (d), and (e) will be violated, and the work will become dull and mechanically imitative. The section on Cardboard-modelling in the "Report on Manual Instruction in Public Elementary Schools, 1910" confirms this view (see page 31).

As a basis of Modelling, Paper-folding ceases to be entirely satisfactory as soon as models are attempted which have angles other than right angles or their halves. Mathematical instruments soon become necessary, whilst for Cardboard-modelling set-squares are essential from the beginning. The use of instruments makes the work a very valuable aid to Geometrical Drawing, exactly the kind of work that is already done in


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Mathematics in connection with, and as an introduction to, theoretical Geometry. To avoid overlapping, it is therefore necessary to arrange the Modelling which is taken as Handwork in close connection with the teaching of Geometry, otherwise its educational value as three-dimensional Geometry will soon be exhausted. Probably ten or twelve periods of one hour will be found to be the extent of the time that can profitably be expended upon it at any given stage.

It has been assumed so far that, as suggested in the introductory paragraph, the subject should be studied at the bottom of the school before Wood-work, and in some measure leading up to Wood-work. It may be worth considering the possibility of using it as a substitute for Wood-work higher up the school, in cases where Wood-work cannot be taken. This is, of course, possible, but similar difficulties will be encountered. The work will be more advanced, instruments will be necessary from the first, and mathematical difficulties will be greater if the subject is to be made interesting.

Modelling in paper and cardboard is so closely associated with all branches and stages of Mathematics that its full value can only be realised by regarding it as Mathematics and using it when the occasion serves to give concrete expression to ideas which otherwise remain obscure.

(b) Plastic Modelling

The media generally adopted for Plastic Modelling in schools are potters' clay and various artificial compounds such as plasticine. Plasticine is a medium frequently used by younger children in Elementary Schools, but for older children there is little doubt that clay is a more suitable medium.* Modelling wax is probably more suited to the Art School than to the Secondary School.

*Clay is a natural medium, easily procurable and cheap, and for Art purposes forms a really better medium than plasticine. The principles underlying the use of clay and plasticine are different in many respects. To take as an instance the modelling of a leaf. When plasticine is used a part is flattened out to form a leaf, pinched up or depressed as the case may be, and placed in position. If clay were used the leaf would have to be built up solidly. If it were thinned out and left unsupported it would crack and chip away on drying. Plasticine does not dry, and while in some respects that is advantageous, in others it militates against good modelling. As it remains plastic, no great amount of refining and delicate finish may be imported to its surface, nor can it be safely stored for the same reason. In Elementary Schools it is the custom to use plasticine for the lower classes where the numbers are large, and where the Modelling has to be executed in the class-room and on the desks; but in the upper classes, where the numbers are fewer, and so may be taken into a Modelling room, to use clay.

For demonstration purposes, plasticine is very useful. It is always handy, and can be bent and twisted, and put up without support. In working out a design, e.g. in planning out an ornamental ironwork stand or sign, or gate, it lends itself effectively and readily to experiment.


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In modelling from an object, the child must apply the closest attention to every variation of curve if he is to produce a result satisfactory even to himself. Hence there is a spontaneous concentration of thought and effort upon the project in hand which is produced more naturally perhaps in Modelling than in any other manual occupation. Natural objects, e.g. flowers and shells, provide abundant material for study. A clear understanding and appreciation of form is an indispensable condition of progress in manual arts, and this understanding is secured when the pupil takes the plastic mass and shapes the form with his hands. Besides its intrinsic value, Modelling from nature has great importance in connection with Drawing and Painting, to which it is, indeed, the natural precursor. The structural economy of flowers and foliage is best appreciated by the student who has previously modelled them. The work lends itself either to individual or co-operative treatment.

In its application to the industrial arts Modelling is a subject for vocational treatment in certain Secondary Schools. It presents wide scope for the cultivation of taste in simple design, as, for example, in the or frieze or pottery form. Tile-making, either by way of modelling in very low relief or of constructing from a mould on which the characters have previously been graven with a fine tool, provides very interesting work for older pupils and offers scope for the application of a high degree of skill in design. Tiles cannot of course be burnt without a kiln and suitable materials for glazing. On the more definitely artistic side, reproductions of classical models may well be undertaken.

(c) Wood-Work

(i) Light Wood-work. Wood-work with light tools and semi-prepared wood is a suitable subject for boys and also for girls, between the ages of 8 and 11. The fact that it can be done in the ordinary school classroom is a great point in its favour. While the work has a high educational value, its possibilities almost necessarily tend to be exhausted after a comparatively short time.

Light wood-work may be treated as what is commonly called "Strip-work" or in a way which leads more directly to heavy Wood-work. The objects made should be of a simple nature, and considering the age of the children, had best take the form of toys. Ideas for the construction of these should be derived from the school lessons and games, from home needs, and from the work of the district. Many teachers will prefer to start with a certain amount of class teaching, on the ground that a knowledge of tools and their correct use can best be gained by making a number of small models as a practice in manipulating tools accurately. These models might take the form of squares, triangles, a windmill, a finger-post, and so on. When the child has got over the first stages he can be allowed more


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latitude as to what he makes. At a more advanced stage it would be well occasionally to get the class to concentrate upon some prearranged scheme of co-operative effort. For example, a farmyard might be suggested for treatment. The models would be apportioned by the teacher, who by this time would know what the individuals in the class could do; each member would begin his work by making a sketch of his part and submitting it for criticism, and finally make his model to a scale of (say) 1 inch to the foot. Sheet cork may often usefully be employed on such models. Co-operative work has been found to make a strong appeal to the child, and may be taken to great lengths. The scheme of work should be left largely in the hands of the teacher, for he will be able to interpret his own schemes best. Work of this kind can be associated with the lessons of the school in obvious ways, e.g. with the History and Geography lessons.

It is desirable that the work should be taken by the ordinary class teacher, and that there should not be more than 20 children to one teacher.

*(ii) Advanced Wood-work. Wood-work involving the use of the ordinary carpenters' tools is the work that is most generally taken by older boys when any Handwork is provided for them at all. It is not desirable that Wood-work of this kind should be begun by a class much below the average age of 12, for boys below that age have hardly the strength to manipulate the tools required.

As regards time, one weekly period of two hours to be spent on actual bench work may be considered the minimum that should be devoted to the subject. If more time is available, it may conveniently be divided into two periods of at least 1½ hours duration.

The subject lends itself to both individual and co-operative effort. The interest of the pupil should be stimulated by the selection of objects for construction that appeal to him personally. In co-operative work, the objects made might take the form of laboratory apparatus, gymnastic fittings, and equipment in connection with school games and athletic sports.

The character of the work will differ considerably according as curved lines are admitted or excluded. In the latter case, the plans will involve Geometrical Drawing only; in the former, free Drawing will be introduced. A certain admixture of the curvilinear element seems almost essential if the teaching of Wood-work is to be correlated with that of Art. This may take the form of curves affecting the shape of the article, or even of superimposed ornamentation, or carving. In every case the

*Although it is found that accidents seldom arise, due precaution should be taken against them, especially in advanced Wood-work, Metal-work and Cookery. Simple first-aid appliances should always be at hand in rooms where the work is going on.


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bench work should be based on accurate drawings made in plan and elevation by the boys themselves.

The object of this, as of other branches of educational Handwork, being rather to serve as part of a course of liberal training than to develop a high degree of technical skill, the work should be so graduated as to make progressive demands upon the pupils' intelligence. In those schools in which provision can he made for Metal-work it would be desirable that the pupil should, after a two years' course at Wood-work, be transferred to work involving the use of metals; but where no provision could be made for Metal-work, the pupil should continue Wood-work, especially on the artistic side. Carving, however, should only be attempted after a fairly good standard of constructional skill has been attained.

(d) Metal-work

Of this there are several varieties:

(1) Light Metal-work

(a) Light Brass-work and small Model-making. Nearly all boys are interested in model steam engines, dynamos, apparatus for wireless telegraphy, and similar objects, and by the age of 14 or 15 are quite able to construct such things for themselves, if they are provided with the necessary tools and materials. To carry out this work effectively, a special room is necessary in which there should be one or two lathes and possibly a small drilling machine. Lathe tools, drills, taps, etc. would be supplied for general use. A brass finisher's lathe is preferable to a heavy engineer's, as it does not require so much strength to work. Each boy should be provided with a bench, a parallel vice, a set of files, and a metal saw. The object to be constructed should be first drawn accurately to scale on paper, the patterns for the casting should be made in the Wood-work room, not necessarily by the same boys, and throughout accuracy should be insisted upon. Many electrical and optical instruments can be quite well constructed by boys of this age, for instance, plug switches, resistances, galvanometers, Wheatstone bridge, and, indeed, most of the simple electrical apparatus, lens holders, optical bench, and so on.

For many reasons brass is a much better metal for boys to work in than iron. It requires much less strength to cut, file or turn, and can therefore be more rapidly and also more accurately worked by boys. A larger variety of small objects can be made of brass and of similar metals than of heavy iron, and these are also in general more immediately useful and more interesting. The space necessary for each boy is smaller, 3 feet or 4 feet length of bench space being ample. The initial cost of the tools will be about the same as for iron, but they will last longer with the softer metal. The material


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itself will probably cost about the same, since the higher price of brass is balanced by the smaller quantity used.

The educational value of constructing as much as possible of the apparatus which a boy is to use for physical measurements is generally admitted. The designing and construction by the pupil of apparatus in this way and his subsequent utilisation of it for the attainment of exact scientific results tend to foster the exercise of resource and adaptability which is largely sacrificed when elaborate and costly apparatus is supplied.

(b) Sheet Metal-work. This may be looked upon as a continuation of Paper-folding and Cardboard-modelling in which geometrical forms are constructed out of thin sheet metal; it requires, however, a much higher degree of accuracy. The essential tools are - rule, dividers, hammer, cutting snips, file, pliers, soldering iron and a lamp to heat it. If provision can be made for heating the soldering irons, the work can be carried out in the ordinary class-rooms.

(c) Bent Iron-work. Thin strip iron, say three-sixteenths of an inch wide and about one-thirty-second of an inch thick, is bent into scrolls and other patterns, and with these such articles as photo frames, brackets, etc. are constructed. The work must necessarily be closely connected with freehand Drawing and, Design. The only really essential tools are pliers and cutting snips. Its educational value is probably much lower than that of the other forms mentioned, and interest in it is soon exhausted.

The scope of both Wood-work and of Light Metal-work can, of course, be greatly extended by combining work in the two materials. Further valuable extension is also possible if other materials are introduced, such as ebonite, glass, etc.*

(2) Heavy Iron-work. This includes, for example, such, processes as forging, casting, chipping, filing, and turning. These make much greater demands on physical strength. For this reason, and also on account of the time involved in some of the operations, this kind of Metal-work will in most cases only be possible or desirable as a means of definite vocational training for boys of over 16 years of age,† and its use will be further restricted by the heavy cost of the necessary accommodation and equipment.

Heavy Iron-work is the form that obtains for three of the four years in the American Manual Training High School course. There is a tendency for such work to encroach unduly on the time-table.

*The two latter forms, (b) and (c), can be taken by boys at an earlier age than (a).

†No doubt in certain schools, and in especially favourable circumstances, the subject may be taken by boys below the age given.


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(c) Gardening and Cultural Experiment in the Open Air

Educational work in connection with the growth of plants may be said to have two sides. The main object of the work may be either to illustrate by means of practical experiment various principles involved in the growth of plants; or to cultivate plants successfully with a view to results - and this is "Gardening" in the common acceptation of the term.

The branch of work first mentioned, which may be called "Cultural experiment in the open air", forms a most valuable adjunct to the teaching of those aspects of Natural Science that should be prominent in rural schools, The emphasis should be on the inculcation of a scientific attitude of mind towards plant life rather than on the cultivation of proficiency in manual operations. With this object in view, the garden plots should form a sort of open-air laboratory for Nature Study. The learner would thus be enabled to study and to carry out experiments on such subjects as the composition of the air and the soil, the mode of growth of a plant, and the relation of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash to the growth of plants. As one of our witnesses expressed it: "The course of Nature Study was intended, so far as the first two years were concerned, to be educational rather than informational, and to lead the pupils to form correct ideas of the life processes of plants. The principles learnt in the laboratory were applied by the boys to the cultivation of their own little garden plots, every boy in the school sharing a plot with another. They kept accounts in diaries of the life history of all things in their gardens, noting down each development as it occurred, and if the plants did not behave properly they dug them up to find the reason. In addition, the boys carried out simple experimental work, such as, for example, using the same seed with different manures, or potatoes of different sizes or in different states, or setting the same seed in land cultivated in different ways ... The course did not at present include anything definitely technical; and the witness did not think it desirable that it should do so. The Gardening was, in fact, not more than a legitimate part of the Nature Study, bearing the same relation to that subject as laboratory work did to Science. The witness would not consider it advisable even with the oldest boy to go beyond inculcating the love of growing things, showing him the proper way to grow them, and letting him find out, as far as possible experimentally, that when a thing grew it took something out of the soil. It was practically impossible to teach Agriculture to a boy of 14 or 15 years of age. The idea was to get him into the right habit of mind, to give him the love of the work of cultivation, the joy of seeing something grow, without trying to give him technical ability."

With regard to Gardening, as commonly understood, we have some hesitation in recommending it as a compulsory subject in


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Secondary Schools with fixed hours on the time-table, All children are not interested in Gardening, and moreover, holidays often intervene when work is most necessary. On the other hand, an increasing number of Elementary Schools, especially in rural districts, provide instruction in Gardening, and this makes it very desirable that there should be facilities in the Secondary School for continuing the work of the Elementary School in this subject. Further, especially in urban or semi-urban districts, Gardening may have a vocational value for pupils who intend to take up horticultural work professionally after leaving school. The best way, in our opinion, of affording an opportunity for Gardening work in Secondary Schools would be by means of organised school clubs, with optional membership for voluntary work out of school hours. The work of each member of the club should, however, be carefully directed by some supervisor, and all the elementary operations must be thoroughly mastered before the pupils are allowed to follow their own bent. The work could be carried out either individually or collectively.

A certain amount of theoretical work is indispensable to the practical work, and the winter months would be the best time for this side of the subject.

The close connection which exists between Gardening and Science makes it advisable that the instruction should be given by the Science master. Such an arrangement would not, of course, prevent the employment of a working gardener as assistant, where necessary. Encouragement should be given to teachers to attend courses in Gardening, such as vacation courses.

(f) Needlework

In educative value, Needlecraft is not inferior to any of the other crafts. It demands and affords opportunity for the training of accuracy of hand and eye, a lively æsthetic attention, and vigilance in devising means to ends. But in order that these educational effects on character may be attained, it is necessary (i) to aim at, and in due measure to secure, efficiency from the beginning, and (ii) to grade the course of instruction according to the child's growing powers, avoiding fatigue, especially of the eye, overstrain, and tedium. Many little girls, no doubt, have grown up to hate Needlework because, not being gifted that way, they have always been allowed to do it badly, and so have found no satisfaction in their work, neither beauty to enjoy nor utility that will endure. Buttons come off, button-holes fray, and seams with thread inadequately fastened rip out at the ends. Many little girls, too, more carefully trained, have been so wearied with fine white stitchery, e.g. a whole pocket handkerchief well hemmed, at five years old, or bored by the sewing day after day of a long white seam, or worried by the premature planning of a difficult garment, that, by 12 years of age, all zest for such exercises


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has disappeared and the subject appears to them much more annoying, if not more difficult than it really is. The hand and eye are still under incomplete control at 11 or 12 years of age, and it is important at this nascent period that they should be trained without being strained.*

This loss of zest is the more to be regretted as it is probably true that most young children are interested in the use of the needle and eager to create objects, for use or decoration, by the comparatively easy means of cutting out pieces of material with scissors and sewing them together in new combinations, e.g. bags, mats, cushion covers, patchwork, and simple dolls' clothes. It is obvious that interest and efficiency are both much increased by the introduction of decoration from the beginning. Fine white stitchery is not for these young beginners, but large coloured stitches, in orderly array, can be used with good artistic effect; thus the demand for æsthetic efficiency is kept up and the colour sense trained by the child's own choice of colours. Excellent work, as it appears to us, has been done in the development of this idea that throughout all Needlework teaching, but especially in the early stage, from 6 to 11 or 12 years of age, the decorative quality of good stitchery should be emphasised by the bold and telling method of using coloured thread, and later on by the refinements of white stitches, the beauty of which consists in their regularity, firmness, and delicacy. The latter accomplishment perfects itself naturally as the manual and visual powers grow.

For the purpose of this report it is the case of children from 12 years of age upwards that has more especially to be considered. The Secondary School course proper begins at that age, and there is considerable variety of standard in the elementary or preparatory education which precedes it. Girls coming from an Elementary School will all have had definite education in Needlework, and most girls coming from preparatory schools, or from home education, will have had some, though in this respect there is great variety. The entrance examinations, even when they make some claim for Needlework, do not go far in their demands. We do not recommend that they should. We do, however, suggest that the girls' Secondary School should formulate a demand on the parents that girls entering the school at 12 should have been through an elementary course of either school instruction or home instruction in ordinary stitchery and simple applications of it. A

*In this connection Sir John Tweedy writes: "I think it should be a maxim that no child under the age of 11 or 12 years should do any prolonged exercises that require an accurate adjustment between hand and eye. The adjustment of control (of vision) is a gradually developing one from early infancy up to, say, 25 years of age; and it can, of course, be greatly helped by proper training, and marred by unwise forcing. At that age (5 years) if needle and thread be used at all it should be only in large stitches on coarse canvas."


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note in the prospectus with an exposition of principles and suggestions as to syllabus and methods might be very useful. This would greatly interest the efficient household mother of the middle classes, whose potentiality of effectiveness in raising the standard of girls' education in these respects cannot easily be over-estimated.

No hard-and-fast lines as to the order of the various operations and their applications need be laid down. The principles, however, stand out clearly: (1) Careful gradation in difficulty; (2) the use of coloured thread for all first exercises; (3) the combination of usefulness and beauty throughout in the objects made; (4) practice in measurement and cutting-out from the beginning; (5) the development of the idea of a garment with places of strain to be strengthened, and the consequent application of strips and stitchery as in binding, taping, and gussets, etc. The dressing of dolls furnishes opportunity not to be neglected, and in due course the difference between human clothes and dolls' clothes excites interest.

We are, however, clearly of opinion that, as matters now stand, the Secondary School course must be in itself complete, including a revision more or less rapid of all that has been already done by the girls. This revision need not be taken as a revision simply. The stitches and their applications will in this stage be practised, and for the most part as fine white thread stitches, in the construction of typical garments. The ignorant girl will have more to learn and will progress more slowly unless she is more gifted. Thus the class may have to fall into two divisions, and at the end some will be less advanced than others.

Every garment made should be cut out by the maker. Girls should also be taught how to measure each other, to make patterns, to fit themselves or others either by drafting or folding, and also how to adapt patterns. The course should be carefully graded as regards order of difficulty in the garments, the more useful types, however, having precedence where time is short. The making of under-garments and frocks for the little children at home is a suitable and attractive task. For herself, every girl should be encouraged to make a blouse and a skirt. Much importance attaches to instruction as to (1) good fit and good finish at all points, and (2) perfect adaptation of the garment to its purpose, and suitability in material chosen; for instance, a walking skirt short, light and swinging free, a cycling skirt with well-stitched hem and no loosely-sewn binding, each with a reasonable provision of pockets. The sewing machine should be used in the later stages of the course. Decorative stitchery and embroidery should be included where time allows.

Time should be found for instruction in the mending and renovation of garments in the widest sense. This should include practice not only in darning and the various methods of


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patching, but also in the rehabilitation or adaptation to new uses of half-worn garments. Real difficulties should be dealt with such as occur frequently in the home with the garments of the children. The homes of the girls would no doubt be willing to contribute material for these lessons, in which the repair of household linen, etc. should not be ignored. Education in this subject should, throughout, direct the interest of the girls to their home needs.

The amount of work done in the Secondary School, perhaps more especially in schools preparing girls for the University, will not in itself be enough to secure adequate efficiency; but if it lays sound foundations of skill and stimulates interest in all the problems of the home, the girl will go on educating herself effectively during her after-life. Throughout the school course also there should be Needlework practice at home. The necessary course of systematic instruction, with some practice supplied by the school, will probably be followed by the further practice on the part of the useful girl at home.

(g) Cookery

Of the Domestic Subjects other than Needlework, it appears to us that Cookery ranks first, both in practical importance and in educational value. This view is upheld by the evidence of various witnesses. Where facilities for the teaching of the Domestic Arts are limited, time and effort should be concentrated on this subject. The duration of the lesson should be sufficient to cover all the processes of preparation, cooking and dishing up in the right sequence and at the right time. It will be found that the lessons must be of at least 2 hours' duration, while a longer time, viz. 3 hours, is preferable for more advanced work.

At least three terms should be given to Cookery, and if these are consecutive, opportunity will be afforded for dealing with foodstuffs in season at different times of the year. It is desirable that classes for practical Cookery, Laundry, etc. should be small and should not exceed a maximum of 18. The course should include instruction and practice in managing stoves, cleaning room and apparatus, preparing and cooking meals of various kinds and different costs, store-room and larder work, household accounts and catering.

Instruction should commence with the preparation of typical dishes illustrative of the various principles and processes of cookery. The planning and cooking of complete simple meals will follow. The choice and purchase of materials, calculation of cost, method of catering for various numbers, etc., as well as processes of preparation and cooking, should all form part of the instruction, as well as the care and the cleansing of the utensils. Pupils must be taught to plan and prepare inexpensive meals


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of various kinds at a given cost per head, taking their turn in purchasing the materials.

But it would not be desirable that the whole of the time spent on Cookery should be devoted to teaching the pupils to prepare in the readiest manner a given number of dishes and meals. It is necessary, from the educational point of view, that there should be a place for well-considered experiment in the course. It would be often desirable, for example, that food should be cooked in a variety of ways, both right and wrong, so that the girls may themselves see and appreciate the effects of wrong methods, and not merely rely upon the statement of the teacher. The deliberate spoiling of small portions of food on particular occasions may afford a valuable illustration of the working of cause and effect. Although the immediate aim of all practical lessons in Cookery and other Domestic Arts is the production of a satisfactory result with a reasonable outlay of labour, time, and cost, a sense of cause and effect must be inculcated if results are to be reproduced with confidence and the fullest practical efficiency is to be attained. Empirical knowledge must be supplemented by such an understanding of the scientific processes involved in Cookery as can be acquired by girls of the age we are considering. The important question of the relation that should obtain between the teaching of Cookery and other Domestic Arts and the teaching of Science is discussed in another chapter. We there recommend that these two branches of work should, so far as possible, be connected with one another.

(h) Laundry

The course in Laundry-work and cleaning should cover all the processes required for, and the principles involved in, the cleaning and care of articles of wearing apparel and household linen. Thus the course should include such subjects as the steeping, washing, rinsing, preparing, and ironing of cotton and linen articles; the particular methods required in dealing with delicate and coloured goods; the method of dealing with flannel and other woollen articles to avoid shrinking, hardening, and discolouration; the treatment of silk garments; the method of dealing with table linen; the ironing of large surfaces and of small articles of finery. Attention should be given to the use of starch and the various methods of preparing it, cold water starch and boiled starch, and the different purposes for which it is used; the removal of stains of various kinds, and the various methods of "setting" colours; various soap mixtures, the use of soda and of blue [a substance once used in washing]. There should be also included the cleaning of articles by other methods than washing; the use of ammonia and of petrol, with special reference to precautions to be used; the cleaning of fur. It will be found that much of


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the work done may form the subject-matter for lessons in the Science laboratory. The testing of water, of soaps, and inquiry into effects produced on various materials by boiling or steeping, slow or quick drying, the testing of various methods of removing stains, and the effect on the material stained; these and various other processes in ordinary use in Laundry-work and general cleaning are matters within the range of a school Science laboratory. To complete within the scope of one lesson the work begun, it will be found that at least two to three hours will be necessary.

(i) Housewifery, including House-cleaning

In some of its simpler forms Housewifery will provide valuable material for an educational course in small schools. Many processes involved in cleaning supply interesting illustrations for the Science course. An intelligent understanding of and interest in these matters is a valuable groundwork for the future housewife. Where accommodation and time are limited and a separate course in this subject impossible, it will be found that a considerable element of Housecraft teaching may be introduced into the Cookery and Laundry courses. The instruction in household account-keeping, compilation of budgets of expenses, cost of furnishing, and of household upkeep, which is an essential part of Housewifery training, may find a place in the Arithmetic lesson.

As an ordinary rule, Housewifery teaching in school resolves itself into household account-keeping and practical Housecraft teaching, the latter including instruction and practice in the various cleaning processes necessary in the household, the care of linen, furniture, and other articles of household use, needle repairs and adaptations, and so on.

Household management, routine and organisation cannot be satisfactorily attempted unless special accommodation is provided and the conditions of a household set up. One solution has been devised by a town school, viz. that of taking a country cottage, to which batches of girls are sent for a term at a time. Under the supervision of a resident teacher, they manage and carry out all the work of the household, living in the house. A course such as this would be undoubtedly of great value, provided the normal school curriculum is not unduly disturbed thereby. It is, however, at present possible only in exceptional cases.

(iii) CORRELATION OF HANDWORK WITH OTHER SCHOOL SUBJECTS

That constructional work with the hands cannot attain its full value as a means of education if it is not brought into relation with the other branches of school work, is, a fact upon


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which the experience of teachers leaves no room for doubt. Our witnesses were generally agreed that the various school studies, when correlated with Handwork, gain in interest by the appeal made to the constructive faculties of children; and, conversely, that Handwork finds a powerful motive when the objects to be constructed arise naturally from the pupils' other activities. A scheme of Handwork divorced from the rest of the school work might amount to little more than a series of mechanical exercises.

Constructional Handwork, strictly speaking, is only one of the means by which the ordinary school subjects can be rendered more practical in character. Some branches of work may be so treated as to foster accuracy and power of observation in dealing with concrete things, but the processes involved may not be those of constructional Handwork. For instance, the practical applications of Arithmetic in the way of Mensuration, and of Geography in the way of Surveying, involve no constructional work with the exception of Drawing, which is a method of almost universal applicability. Some of the apparatus, however, that is required for these and other purposes may well be made by the pupils.

In correlating Handwork with such subjects as Geography and History the time that must be devoted to gaining a knowledge of these subjects in other ways should on no account be encroached upon. We suggest rather that ideas should be derived from the general work of the school in History, Geography and other subjects and from the various activities of the pupil for the construction of objects in the time devoted to Handwork.

While, as will be seen later, there is plenty of scope for correlating the traditional school subjects with constructional Handwork, care must be taken to avoid either an unnatural or forced correlation or a waste of time in over-illustrating things which are easily understood. In many cases this correlation will have to be of an incidental rather than of a systematic character. Handwork has its own rules and methods, and the orderly sequence of processes should not be unduly disturbed in order to construct objects for various extraneous purposes. Again, mere repetition should be avoided; the principle of continuous advance from the less to the more complex lies at the basis of any reasonable Handwork scheme.

In considering the extent to which the ordinary school subjects can be connected with Handwork, it should be premised that almost the whole work of the school can be profitably correlated with geometrical or free Drawing. Geometrical Drawing lies at the basis of most forms of constructional Handwork. Further, as has been pointed out previously, the linking up of Handwork with the artistic side of Drawing is of the greatest importance. In order that this may be possible, instruc-


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tion in the principles of Designing should form part of the Art course, and abundant opportunities will present themselves for cultivating taste and initiative in this way. The History and Literature lessons will afford scope for Drawing from memory and imagination. On the outdoor side, in the surveying of playgrounds, gardens and fields, Drawing merges into the making of maps, charts and other illustrations of Geography.*

(a) Arithmetic and Geometry

In the case of younger children, it is universally agreed that Arithmetic teaching must consist largely of actual operations performed by the child with actual objects, and this principle is exemplified in the teaching of Number in Infant Schools. In the case of older children also the development of Arithmetic teaching in recent years has been largely in the direction of bringing the subject into closer connection with the needs of daily life, and of introducing practical exercises to be performed by the pupil instead of confining him to the working of sums from the text-book, Many such exercises, e.g. Mensuration, Drawing to scale, and the graphic treatment of statistics, are closely allied to constructional Handwork. The value of constructional Handwork arises especially when the properties of line, area and volume are being dealt with. The comparison of areas by means of Paper-cutting and folding, the use of the same medium to give the children a clear notion of fractional values, is a case in point that need not be enlarged upon. In Geometry models of the figures to be dealt with should be constructed in paper or cardboard, wood, or other material by the pupil on the basis of diagrams drawn by him, and their properties should be ascertained by actual observation.

(b) Physics, Chemistry, Botany

The manipulative exercises involved generally in Science work supply a training in neatness and precision of execution which are indispensable to the production of the best results in various branches of Manual Work. Conversely, a boy who enters the Science laboratory possessed of a good knowledge of tools and processes, and equipped with the self-reliance which comes from successful tool using, begins his study of Science with great advantage.

The close relations that can easily be established between, for example, Drawing and Botany do not need extended illustration, and the Nature Study of the younger children is further capable of profitable correlation with Modelling in clay and plasticine.

*It need hardly be said that it would be very undesirable if the Drawing were looked upon solely as an ancillary subject. It must be taught as well for its own sake as for the sake of other things.


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Again, many opportunities are offered for the construction of simple scientific apparatus, although it would be very undesirable to use the Handwork lessons solely for the purpose of making such apparatus. Instruments which the pupils have made for themselves are used with much greater interest and intelligence than those bought for them ready made, and the knowledge gained in making them is found to promote ability to use them. The thermometer and barometer, for example, acquire special interest if constructed by the pupil himself, and his knowledge of them becomes fuller in every respect.

(c) Geography

Practical outdoor work is valuable in many ways for the full study of this subject; surveying and taking weather observation, for example. In many schools excursions are arranged for the study of the neighbourhood, when the pupils observe the relation between the scenery and the nature of the hills in a district, and make such experiments as finding the boiling point on the top of a hill, and reading the barometer at different levels. On the side of constructional Handwork the younger children illustrate their work by Modelling in clay, plasticine, or paper, and the older children model geographical regions, either in contour or otherwise. One witness described how a piece of ground had been made into a geography garden, showing such things as mountains, river basins, and railway lines.

(d) History and Literature

These subjects also furnish opportunities for constructional Handwork to a less degree. Models illustrative, for example, of some building with historical or literary associations might well be constructed by individual pupils or by a group. One witness stated that a class that seemed at first uninterested in History had shown great interest in building a model of a monastery, and had afterwards written good essays on monasticism.

(e) Other Sides of School Activity. Recreation

The opportunities for constructive Handwork are not exhausted by an enumeration of the set subjects with which it can be correlated. The making of apparatus required for various school activities and entertainments or for any other purpose pro bono publico [in the public good] will supply abundant stimulus to the subject, and may afford opportunities for fostering a spirit of co-operation and mutual help. There will be found in our evidence instances where such things us a cricket pavilion have been made, and the opinion was expressed that the boys had to be much more workmanlike in dealing with the several parts of a building than when each was making his own small model.


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There is the further and obvious consideration that work with their hands appeals to most boys and girls as a recreation, and should therefore be encouraged from this point of view out of school hours. An excellent example of the way in which the natural interest that it arouses may be developed and turned into practical channels is afforded by the Scout movement. The work done for the various proficiency badges given to the Scout as the result of tests covering a wide range of manual work is in a high degree calculated to foster self-help and resourcefulness. In school camps also, and in preparation for them, there are many opportunities for practical Handwork of a varied kind, because in these the children must do all manner of things for themselves which they would probably not do elsewhere, and which they will be the better for doing.

Much open-air work is also done in connection with the Officers' Training Corps in Secondary Schools, where cadets are trained for Certificate A. Candidates are expected to be able to read and draw rough maps of the country, to judge distances, and know all that is necessary for the handling of a troop or section in the field.

We may perhaps refer here to a striking illustration of the benefit produced by such open-air work on the bodies and minds of poor town children which was afforded by the evidence of Miss Margaret McMillan. This evidence was given as a result of her experience in organising a school camp that was largely an open-air clinic for children excluded from Elementary Schools for medical reasons.


In concluding this chapter, we wish to make it quite clear that the above recommendations are suggestive only and such as to admit of the fullest freedom of experiment. They are, indeed, based on what we believe to be the best educational experience available, but, in the present undeveloped state of Handwork in Secondary Schools, no recommendations can claim to be final. We hope that in any regulations that the Board of Education may make complete latitude will be allowed.



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Chapter III

THE RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOL

While some considerable attention is being devoted at present to the development of the rural Elementary School, the condition of the rural Secondary School tends to be overlooked. There are throughout England a number of small Secondary Schools situated in purely rural districts, containing from about 50 to 120 pupils. In some districts the majority of the boys are farmers' sons, most of whom will eventually take up farming. In other and far more numerous districts, only about 30 per cent of the pupils are in this position, and the remaining 70 per cent will, with a few exceptions, enter commercial life. It should be noted that the number of pupils who proceed to Universities is, as a rule, very small: probably less than 5 per cent of all leaving the school annually. We shall be concerned in this chapter with the small rural school drawing its pupils mainly from the agricultural classes. In such schools, the normal pupils are those who will enter upon agricultural or commercial life.

The argument that the agricultural element in most rural Secondary Schools is not sufficient to support the schools has no weight against the demand, which has abundant educational sanction, that the environment of the rural school should be utilised to the full for educational purposes. This does not mean that the Secondary School should be turned into a Farm School. The question rather is, how best there can be provided in rural schools an education suitable to all pupils irrespective of their future callings up to the age of about 16, when specialisation must begin. We consider that, regard being had to the surroundings of the pupils and the circumstances of most of these schools, a specific turn in the direction of rural things should be given to the education provided by them, and that this can be done without in any way sacrificing the interests of those pupils who intend to take up urban occupations.

Without disregarding the needs of other classes of pupils, we consider it to be one of the essential functions of the rural Secondary School to provide a preliminary education suitable to those whose future work will be connected with the land. However largely the draining away to the town of the best elements in the life of the country may be due to deep-seated economic causes which lie beyond the sphere of education, it may reasonably be demanded that the work of the rural school should at any rate not further this tendency. The importance of providing a sound Secondary education for those whose future life-work may be connected with the land, need not be enlarged upon. It is very necessary that a far larger number should be brought under the influence


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of an education of this type, and that the school should thus be enabled to play a larger part in the much needed development of English agriculture. It should be regarded as one of the functions of the rural Secondary School to equip the future cultivator of the land with a scientific attitude of mind towards his future work, and to implant in him a desire to increase his knowledge by subsequent study. Although different conditions make analogies drawn from foreign countries largely inapplicable, we may perhaps mention the Danish High Schools as an example of the important part the Secondary School can play in raising the general standard of rural education. In Sweden, again, the High Schools, which have been in existence for fifty years, have aimed at providing special facilities for the agricultural classes.

It is too often thought by those who are alive to the difficulties of the present situation and to the need of modifying the work done in the average rural school, that the problem can be solved by cutting out certain existing subjects, and substituting in their place an agricultural "side" for the benefit of certain boys. But this method, if attempted during the earlier years of school life, can only lead to unsatisfactory results. It is necessary that what may be called a "land basis" should be given to the general work of the school, that a rural atmosphere should be created in it. The teaching of English, Science, Mathematics, Handwork, and Geography should, so far as possible, take the surroundings of the school as a basis, and practical work and manual methods of instruction should be emphasised in their proper place throughout the work.

The teaching of Natural Science, in particular, is in many cases in urgent need of reform. The subject should be taught from the practical rather than the abstract, point of view to a far greater extent than is the case at present. Emphasis should be laid on Biology and on the Chemistry of living things. The phenomena of country life should be an important branch of study; Physics and Chemistry as applying to weather, soil, and the growth of plants should be included in the Science work. The teaching of Gardening or rather of what we have called "Cultural experiment in the open air" in connection with the Science work should have, in certain cases, a definite place in the time table. In making these recommendations we do not suggest that the Secondary School should endeavour to offer such technical instruction as is normally available at the Agricultural College, but that it should aim rather at laying a foundation on which the more specialised work of the College could subsequently be built.

In Geography, again, full advantage should be taken of the opportunities that a rural school offers for actual observation and practical work in the open air. This subject, properly studied, can be effectively connected with Practical Science.


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As regards Handwork and Domestic Subjects, there will be no great difference between the urban and the rural school in the methods to be followed and the results to be achieved. The objects made by the boys in, e.g., wood and metal should include those appropriate to the country, and the work should, so far as possible, be related to Gardening and other activities of the pupils.

The extent to which practical work of the kind recommended above can be developed will naturally vary in different schools. There is abundant room for experiment, and, always provided that the literary side of the school-work is reasonably safeguarded, no obstacles should be placed in the way of its development. During the past few years several rural grammar schools have been developing in the direction we have indicated.* In one school Nature Study develops on lines which are alike practical and theoretical, and, with Biology and the Chemistry of living things, really forms the Science curriculum of the school. Another small grammar school situated far from any town, with pupils chiefly of the agricultural class, has, in addition to giving a land basis to its three years' Science course, now arranged a fourth year course definitely agricultural in character. The object of this is to add a final year of Practical Work for those pupils who have been through the three years' course. It has the very desirable effect of keeping the pupils at the school another year.

It is encouraging to note that the number of teachers who are capable of giving such instruction is increasing, and that Science masters are tending to take up the agricultural side in their training. Most Science masters who have studied Biology could acquire sufficient agricultural knowledge by attending summer courses such as are being arranged at Cirencester and other Agricultural Colleges, and the presence on the staff of a Science master trained in Botany or Biology and possessing the necessary interest in rural things must be regarded as an indispensable requirement of a rural Secondary School. For Gardening and cultural experiment in the open air in connection with the Science teaching, it is, as we have remarked in a previous chapter, important and indeed essential that the work should be taken by the Science master, preferably with the minimum of assistance from a working gardener.

Practically everything that has been said as to the work of the boys applies also to that of the girls. The Science course suggested is equally suitable to boys and girls for the first two years, since the general principles experimentally determined find their application both in land work and in the Domestic, Arts.†

*Examples of Time Tables actually in use will be found in Appendix A.

†Syllabuses showing the way in which this has been done will be found in Appendix A.


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The vital question of preserving a just balance between the more purely intellectual and the more "practical" branches of school work is one that must call for careful consideration. It must be solved afresh for each school, since each school has its own problems, its own needs, On the dangers that may attend an ill-considered and exaggerated emphasis on "practical" work, we may quote the following pregnant warning from the evidence of Mr. E. H. Smith of Sexey's School, Blackford:

"In spite of the great value of practical work, the witness was of opinion that it would be most undesirable to sacrifice any of the more difficult and trying subjects of the curriculum in order to gain a great reputation for this type of work. He did not admit of 'royal roads' to knowledge in any subject nor encourage special selection, even in Mathematics, by filtering out just those portions that would be useful, for example, in measuring a piece of land or calculating the amount of material necessary to make a hen-coop.

He was convinced that practical work in the early stages must not occupy the premier position. The pupils were ever ready and anxious to do anything with their hands; but reading and solid study seemed to their minds to occupy a second place, and each batch of new pupils was similar in this respect. This was perfectly natural, because quite apart from the fascination of all kinds of practical work for the boys themselves, the influence of their home life accentuated these ideas, the parents openly expressing their approval of anything that involved Handwork, and rarely failing to take a deep interest in progress in this direction, whilst reading and finding out things by means of books was little thought of.

The net result of the witness' experience was that too much practical work tended to suppress the desire and inclination for the reading and pursuit of knowledge through the more difficult lines of study, which were so essential in facing the problems of ordinary and of rural life. A large proportion of the farmers rarely read even up-to-date information about their own special work; their business had been learnt by hard practice in actual contact with the soil and by word of mouth, with very little book knowledge; they could not read, mark, learn, and apply this kind of information, and they did not like it. This attitude of mind in their children it was the aim of the school to eradicate. To emphasise unduly the importance of practical work at the expense of the harder grind at ordinary school work would be wrong, and would never lead to a better state of agricultural education in this country.

The practical work actually attempted must have a direct tendency towards practical application in the home, the workshop, and the farm; but it must be secondary to, supplement,


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and give relief to the more difficult lines of study adopted in the class-room. It must, however, not be forgotten that practical work gave many opportunities to certain pupils to excel in this direction, whereas in many branches of school work they might appear to fail."

In all we have said, we wish to guard ourselves carefully from appearing to minimise the importance of the more purely intellectual studies, and especially of literary studies. We have no doubt, however, that this essential side of education would benefit by the introduction within reasonable limits of the methods we are considering. Experience shows that an added interest pervades all branches of the school work when due provision is made for the manual and practical side, and that this stimulates the pupils to put forth their best powers in all they do.

If a course of education including the above elements is to be successful, certain essential conditions must be fulfilled. First and foremost, the teachers themselves must be in sympathy with the suggested methods of work. Vital as the fulfilment of this condition is to teaching of any kind, it is especially so here, where work cannot be guided by the rules and safeguards evolved from long educational experience. To force work that must from the nature of the case be largely experimental in character on unwilling or unqualified teachers would be to court immediate disaster. Again, if a school is designed to provide among other things a suitable preliminary education for future workers on the land, the distrust with which Secondary Schools have been regarded, not altogether unreasonably, by the farming class must be overcome and their sympathy and co-operation enlisted. The attitude adopted by the headmaster would be all-important in this respect.

As a further condition of success, work of this kind needs to be freed from the rigid control of external examinations, which on this as on other sides of school work preclude experiment, and, with experiment, development. It is probably true that few of those who intend to cultivate the land enter for these examinations. None the less, the obstacles to the development of the rural school that they present are perhaps even greater than those arising from smallness of numbers and of staff. They operate unfavourably in ignoring certain kinds of work that should be prominent in these schools, e.g. Educational Handwork, and in directing others which they do recognise, e.g. Natural Science, into channels unsuitable for rural schools. We have no doubt, for example, that the kind of Science work indicated above would be eminently desirable from an educational point of view, but it does not at present conform to the requirements of these examinations. However, our present examination system is not, we hope, a permanent institution, and we have considered its defects and suggested remedies elsewhere.


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In conclusion, we consider that the education afforded by the small rural school cannot be considered sound and comprehensive until provision is made for the introduction of manual methods of work, and for the teaching of Natural Science from the practical point of view. The staff must include teachers qualified accordingly. We suggest that, as a first step towards attaining this end, the Board of Education should convene a conference of head teachers of rural Secondary Schools, which might prove of great value in clearing away the many misunderstandings and misapprehensions that at present exist.





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Chapter IV

SPECIAL QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE TEACHING OF DOMESTIC SUBJECTS

(i) THE PLACE OF DOMESTIC SUBJECTS IN THE TIME TABLE

The term Secondary School in the present day connotes schools of very different types and grades, including those in which the leaving age is 16 and those in which the leaving age is extended to 18 or 19. This higher age is greatly to the advantage of the Secondary School as compared with the Elementary School. Better results may be expected by placing training in such subjects as Cookery, Laundry and Housewifery after 13 years of age rather than before.

In the Secondary School with a four years' course ending at about 16 or 17, it is advisable that Domestic Subjects, beginning with Needlework, should be taken throughout up to the age of 16. If the girls do not get this as part of their education before leaving school the great majority will, in all probability, never get it at all. In such a school it is impossible for all the Domestic training to be concentrated in one period at the end or at some other definite period in the school course. It would be advisable that in the lower forms of these schools, girls of ages ranging from about 11 to about 13 should spend on Needlework about one-half the school time devoted to Handwork, the remainder being given to other forms of Handwork. Thus about 1½ hours a week would be devoted to Needlework, and it would be extremely desirable that at any rate one hour a week in home work should be spent on this subject.

In the higher forms, again, Needlework cannot be altogether dropped, because it would not be possible to get most girls up to an adequate standard in this subject by the age of 14. But it would be possible for the older pupils to curtail the time spent at Needlework if it can he assumed that they had already gained such a mastery of the processes of the craft as would enable them to carry out at home the instruction given in the weekly lesson. In schools where the compulsory hours are long, a lesson of at least one hour a week must be considered necessary in order that instruction may be given in such matters as cutting out and measuring, and that the work done at home may be directed and criticised. In making this recommendation, we recognise that the extent to which systematic Needlework can be done at home varies greatly, and that it is impossible to lay down any definite rule.

With regard to schools where the leaving age is about 18 or 19 a wide variation is found to exist in the place and stage allotted to Domestic Subjects. In some schools the curriculum is bifurcated in order to provide a course including Domestic


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Subjects for those girls who are unlikely to profit by a course of work that is mainly literary or scientific, while those girls who are likely to continue their education at a University or to enter some professional career pursue a more purely scholastic course. In other schools these subjects are either taken during the last year or two or allotted to a separate post-school course. Whichever of these plans may be adopted most girls who at present go either to the Training College or the University miss the Domestic Subjects course altogether, and this is a matter for great regret. Until the time comes when there is a Certificate for Secondary Schools of the kind recommended in the Committee's Report upon Examinations in Secondary Schools, that shall take account of these subjects, the best efforts of the schools to secure a complete general education are bound to be frustrated.

In the present circumstances we consider that arrangements should be made by which all girls can reach a reasonable standard in these subjects by the age of 16, whether their schools be those with a late or an early leaving age. The same conditions with regard to time allotted and to sequence of subjects should apply equally to both. Only on such conditions can the girls in Secondary Schools of all types reach that indispensable minimum of attainment in Domestic Subjects with which their education should provide them.

(ii) CO-OPERATION BETWEEN SCHOOL AND HOME

When the home works with the school for the education of the child, not only is the tie between school and home strengthened but also that between parent and child. It is well that the mother should play her natural part, so far as possible, in the training of her girls in the arts of the home, and it is good for the girl that she should learn these arts, to some extent at any rate, by practice in them as her mother's help in the service of the family. For instance, the spirit of service can well be inculcated in the child at home.

As a matter of fact inquiry shows that in some districts at least and among certain sections of society - not the poorest and not the most well-to-do - many girls do learn from their mothers and do practise the home arts at home. The standard no doubt is not always high, and the lazy girl finds it easier to shirk obligations at home than at school. There is room for improvements in home training, and this may be helped by the co-operation of the school with the home. From the school point of view, however, the fact to be noted is that many homes can be counted on as contributing educational assistance in these subjects.

The school exists to supplement - not to supersede - home education. The institution of short school hours and free Saturdays, which obtains in a considerable number of High


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Schools, is based on the principle or leaving sufficient time (i) for the home to play its part, and (ii) for the learner to work for herself and to acquire in time by practice the independent spirit of the self-educating student. This system requires that the home should be a suitable place for the preparation of lessons, and that the learners should already be independent enough to make a beginning in the requisite self-reliance. But sometimes one and sometimes the other of these conditions are not realised; this leads in many of these schools, to the provision of afternoon classes for the preparation of home lessons which are attended by a minority of the girls by arrangement with the parents.

Whether the school hours be long or short, there is an equal need that the home should co-operate with the school work in every possible way. When the compulsory school hours are long, the main provision for Homecraft is made as a matter of course during those hours. For the school with short hours the part played by the home should be correspondingly larger. Out of these short hours - four hours at most per day, including time for early lunch, Physical Training, and Singing - it is clearly not possible to devote two hours a week for two years to the Domestic Arts, other than Needlework, and at the same time to maintain the level now reached of scholastic attainments. The desirability of maintaining that level, and at the same time of not overworking the girls, we take for granted. The solution of this difficult problem must be looked for in a division of responsibility between the home, the school, and the learner herself, analogous to the arrangement for the preparation of home lessons described above.

In such cases, provision might be made in one afternoon per week of two hours for each girl during two years of her school life, and these afternoon classes should be included in the school fees. Exemptions from attendance might be allowed at the request of the parent, and, in general, on the understanding that efficient instruction in these subjects is given at home, and that the girl takes part in the school examinations as they come round. In some cases, encouragement by certificates or rewards on some such system as that of the girl-scouts might be useful in bringing about the full acceptance of this arrangement by all concerned. An exhibition of the girls' work once a year, to which all are expected to contribute, is a better means of stimulus, and best of all, perhaps, is a universal contribution of needlework gifts for charitable distribution. The motive of social service is probably the strongest motive as well as the best, and the co-operation of the girl's own will is the clue to effective co-operation in the home.

The system of learning at home and being tested for proficiency at school does already exist for Needlework in some schools. The terminal examinations include Needlework


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graded from class to class so as to cover the subject, and the marks assigned are added to the totals on which depend positions in class and the award of the school prize. This system is obviously capable of considerable extension. If combined with a limited amount of school teaching designed to illustrate the principles of Needlecraft and of the allied art of garment-drafting, it might do much to develop in the home educational forces, which are now allowed to rust, and to train the girl to educate herself.

It is not desirable to lay down a hard-and-fast rule as to the age or school stage at which this course should be taken. The limits will vary with the circumstances, though not perhaps very much. The course should not begin so early as to miss a considerable portion of girls because they come too late. Neither should it begin so late as to miss in its second year many of those who leave too early. It is better also that it should, if possible, not overlap the year in which the usual public examination takes place, unless indeed the subject is, as it well might be, included in the examination. From 13 or 14 to 15 or 16 would probably be best in most cases, judging by the evidence we have before us.

The provision of a school course to cover the whole subject for two years only could not, however, be considered as at all adequate, standing by itself. It is assumed that during the whole school period both the school and the home are doing their part, at least so far as the Needlework is concerned. When the home is responsible for the work the school should, of course, see that progress is being made and should offer stimulus and encouragement, as in some of the ways that have been suggested.

(iii) CORRELATION OF CERTAIN BRANCHES OF DOMESTIC SUBJECTS WITH SCIENCE

Respecting the connection naturally existing between Science and certain of the Domestic Arts, and the desirability of developing educationally the sense of its existence, all our witnesses were agreed. The controversy that has arisen is concerned with the method of correlating these two branches of work. As to origin, this controversy appears to spring from two separate sources of dissatisfaction.

(a) The first is discontent with the unscientific, and, indeed, anti-logical habit of mind in household matters, especially cooking, that has come down to us traditionally. The cook of to-day has her rules of procedure; if the process turns out badly she has probably no idea that scientific knowledge on her part could discover the disturbing cause, and so enable her to remove it. So if the meat is sodden and the bread does not rise, no failure will induce her to inquire into the cause, though reasons may be readily enough alleged as fancy suggests.


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(b) The second, much less profound and widely spread, is a certain discontent with the educational effectiveness of Science teaching as Pure Science in some Girls' Schools. The evidence of Professor Smithells may be quoted in this connection: "As regards his work at the University, the witness said that the students training as teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools came to his laboratory for their instruction in Science. For a long time, hampered by precedent, the work there continued on the old lines, that is say, it was not specialised at all for the teaching of children. When he went about inspecting schools he became more and more convinced that this formal Science was very futile. Chemistry and Physics, as ordinarily presented to school girls, were not acceptable; they did not appeal to any logical faculty, nor to any feminine interest. On that ground Botany and Nature Study had always been more popular than other Science subjects. The witness considered that the importance of Nature Study had been somewhat exaggerated by its advocates, and for some years past he had been trying to discover whether something could not be done to make Physics and Chemistry appeal to girls more than they did. These subjects were much more fundamental than Nature Study. Natural History was a very good beginning in Science for everyone, and was especially valuable for young children; but Physics was absolutely fundamental for scientific discipline, and Chemistry nearly as much. The difficulty lay in bringing them into connection with daily life. The attempt to do this was hampered by the extremely strong traditions in regard to the teaching of Science, and it was regarded almost as a degradation to teach it as something that might be useful."

This discontent sometimes issues in the proposal to teach Science for the most part as applied to the problems of cooking, cleaning, and similar crafts. One of our witnesses says: "The Science work right through should have a domestic basis." Another, that it "should be made to have a practical bearing on home life from the commencement", and, again, that it "should have a much more practical basis than at present, from quite early in the school".

The majority of our witnesses even on this side of the controversy did not, however, advocate any such thoroughgoing reform. The witness last quoted, indeed, is not quite so drastic in her detailed exposition, which for its admirable clearness we quote in full:

"A course of Cookery in which the scientific principles underlying each method of Cookery were taught experimentally before the actual cooking of the dish was attempted had many times been suggested, but was (in witness's opinion) impracticable for the following reasons:

The chemical changes involved in, say, the boiling of a leg of mutton or the making of a custard were

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complicated and obscure, and belonged to a realm of Organic Chemistry in which the knowledge even of experts was very indefinite; the elucidation of such changes to a class with little or no knowledge of Organic Chemistry was therefore a matter of great difficulty.

But whereas processes simple, from the point of view of the cook, were often complicated from the point of view of the chemist, the converse was frequently also true, e.g. the chemical changes taking place in sugar boiling (as applied to the making of elaborate confectionery) could be investigated by a class with comparative ease.

But though strict correlation between Cookery and Science was impracticable, it was quite possible to give a course of elementary Science in which the usual simple experiments in elementary Physics and Chemistry might be amplified, but not replaced, by experiments bearing directly on practical household work, in which, for example, a lesson on solution might be illustrated by laboratory experiments on the removal of grease, or the economic cooking of vegetables.

The scientific principles underlying Laundry-work being for the most part simpler than those connected with Cookery, a correlated course of Science and Laundry and cleaning would present fewer difficulties."

We may next quote a witness formerly engaged in teaching at the Leeds High School, Mrs. Stephen Priestman:

"The Physics and Chemistry were applied to household matters, that is to say, the teaching of the Science was illustrated by means of household topics rather than things the children had never heard of. The witness in her teaching of Science took whatever Cookery or other household work was done in the school. A few examples of the subjects dealt with were as follows: The course opened with elementary Physics, commencing with the metric system, at the same time as the girls were taking the metric system in their Arithmetic. Later came Heat, in connection with which a practical demonstration on hot-water appliances was given by means of a visit to a house in process of construction, in which the various parts were examined. Chemistry started with air, which brought in respiration, and so introduced Physiology, including First Aid. Then followed water, metals, and the effects of acids. Next came the study of flames, illustrated by gas-cooking stoves. A study of chalk, marble, limestone and washing soda was followed by fats and oils, which in turn brought in frying - the first occasion for the use of the kitchen laboratory. Emulsions led to the digestion of fats and washing of greasy vessels, in connection with which (fats) the class made and used soap. Then came sugar


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and starch, followed by eggs and meat, and a consideration of the difference between proteids [proteins] and carbohydrates from a dietetic point of view.

There was no doubt at all that the girls acquired both scientific method and knowledge by means of such a course. They took interest in the work, asking numerous questions, and learnt in such a way, that they could not forget. Under the old methods they did forget, even when they performed experiments themselves, and the work did them very little good. At the same time a course on the new lines taught a great deal that would help a girl to start practical cooking, and that the girls did apply their knowledge to practical work was shown by the number of puzzling questions they brought from home. But it was not at any part of the course the aim to turn out tasteful dishes, and the chief idea was not to prevent the spoiling of the material used. For instance, meat would be taken and treated in three different ways, so that the results of the different methods might be observed, and the dietetic value of each method being carefully noted."

The principle underlying this scheme and others like it is a claim for reform in Science teaching which would utilise to the utmost the learner's interest in familiar domestic things. The same witness makes also the counter-claim that the Cookery should be taught as Science, at any rate in the smaller Secondary Schools.

Another very interesting experiment in reform was described by Miss McCroben, of Wakefield, who told us that:

"The teaching of Domestic Economy and Housecraft in Wakefield School was all done through the Science. The girls began at about the age of 12 with a general Science course, in which the experiments were all related as far as possible to life. For example, in the elementary measuring course, they found the volume of vessels used in the kitchen; in connection with density they weighed equal volumes of milk and cream, and so get an idea as to how to ascertain the purity of milk; heat was illustrated by means of a series of tubes, showing the circulation of water in a house; and questions of ventilation and clothing were introduced. So throughout the course all the experiments were made to bear as far as possible on every-day life, and especially on domestic life. In the third year the teaching was illustrated from Cookery; thus the girls learnt the effect of heat on different substances, e.g. meat cooked in different ways, starch, yeast, the baking of bread being performed as an experiment. An attempt had been made to illustrate the first and second years' work from Cookery, but this had been found to involve teaching a great deal of Cookery to illustrate a small scientific point, while the girls had been apt to regard the work as a game."


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Other witnesses, also of the new school as regards the emphasis that should be laid on the association of Housecraft teaching with the knowledge of the underlying Sciences, were nevertheless of opinion that a course of training in pure elementary Science should precede the teaching of Cookery, and that the two should not be combined in a single course, but should be treated as distinct subjects with separate teachers.

An example of this view may be quoted:

"By the time the girls started Cookery they had already had two years of Pure Science teaching. Subsequently the teaching of Cookery and Science were closely correlated. For the effective teaching of Cookery a groundwork of Science was very important; and the relation of these two branches of work was also found to increase the pupils' interest in Science.

It was not possible to arrange that each lesson in Science dealt with exactly the same problem as arose in the Cookery lesson of the same week. But all the way through there were constant points of contact. For example, the analysis of the yolk of egg, the properties of albumen, flour, starch, sugar, etc. all came naturally into both the Science and the Cookery course. It was not possible to teach exact formulæ, but much useful information about the underlying scientific principles of Cookery could be given. It was very helpful to have a Chemistry bench set up in the Cookery room, quite apart from the food tables, so that the teaching could be illustrated on the spot by experiments wherever desirable. But it was neither safe nor suitable to teach Cookery in the Science laboratory.

Although correlated, Science and Cookery should always be treated as two distinct subjects, and no attempt should be made to combine them in a single course. Again, while it was essential that the teacher of Cookery should have a good knowledge of Science, it was not advisable that the same person should teach both subjects, because in that case one or the other was certain to be subordinated. The training courses already in existence would no doubt in time provide an adequate supply of the right kind of teachers, though it was difficult at present to get the better girls to take up the teaching of Domestic Subjects. The witness did not think that the plan of adding a year's training in Cookery to the end of a full Science course could ever be successful."

It is also maintained by the teachers of crafts and the teachers of Science as such that, for the best educational result, each of these ends should be pursued for its own sake, so that by concentration on each in its place practical skill and theoretical intelligence may be adequately developed, care, however, being taken to bring out all the powers of attention, observation, and reflection in the Practical Work, and likewise


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to apply the Science to the actual problems and familiar questions of practical life. The following important opinion expresses in brief the opinion of the majority of Science teachers in girls' schools:

"Pure Science was a subject that all girls should take, on account of the peculiar intellectual training it afforded. True Science had for its chief characteristics order, sequence, and continuity. The chief aim of the teacher was to use Science as a means of inculcating good habits of thought, clear and precise ideas, and right reasoning. Incidentally many useful facts were acquired, and interest was aroused in matters of every-day life, both inside and outside the home. The facts chosen for illustration should be as homely and familiar as possible; but they must fit in with the line of thought pursued ... Domestic Science, in its strict sense, i.e. as corresponding to Agricultural Science or Engineering Science, was not at all suitable for a Secondary School, because it presupposed a knowledge of Science beyond what could have been attained at that stage of education.

As to the new type of work called 'Domestic Science,' by which it was endeavoured to teach Science through the various processes of every-day life, it was difficult to see of what value it could be to substitute such instruction for really useful Housecraft together with pure Science. Judging from the various syllabuses in existence, this 'Domestic Science' seemed to be of little use from the point of view either of the craft or of science. As a craft there was too little of the art about its treatment for the pupils to acquire much skill in Cookery or other domestic work, while, on the other hand, the Science was sacrificed to the necessity of bringing in an enormous number of facts in a limited amount of time far beyond the capacity of girls to absorb. Thus, without in any way adding to the teaching of the craft, the value of the Science training was lost altogether.

As to the correlation of Science and Housecraft, it was no doubt possible in this way to add to the value of the craft teaching. At the same time, it was important to remember that Housecraft might be taught very well as an art, and nothing more, and that skill could be attained without an understanding of the scientific principles on which the craft was based. If it was desired, however, to make the work more intellectual, the scientific explanations should be given as the need for them arose, or lessons bearing on the Cookery might be given by the Science teacher as desired by the Cookery mistress."

Side by side with this verdict from the Science side we cannot do better than place this testimony from the practical point of view:

"In regard to the teaching of Domestic Subjects there seemed to the witness to be two distinct schools of thought - the old


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and the new - both of which were very actively defended just now. The new point of view might be taken as that which held that all schemes for instruction in Cookery and Laundry work must be built on a scientific basis. The old school of thought believed that schemes should be built on the foundation of typical processes, a dish or an article in common use being chosen which would provide an interesting motive for work, and which would represent others made on the same lines, the principles underlying the practical work being dealt with as they came along easily and naturally, and, if possible, connected with the Science lessons and experiments. The dish or article chosen should be interesting and must be typical, and suited for its place in the syllabus, so that at each point the various processes and underlying principles might be dealt with so far as advisable. In the newer system the starting point was the scientific basis, and the typical dish was used only if it fitted in with the Science syllabus.

The method of making Cookery the main factor and introducing the scientific principles in their natural place did not produce such good chemists, but turned out better practical cooks. At the same time, the Science lessons increased the interest in the Cookery instruction very considerably, and the Cookery lessons made the Science lessons more real to the girls.

A great deal depended, of course, on how the treatment of typical processes was made to lead up to scientific inquiry. There had been a good deal of interesting experiment in the way of correlating Science with Cookery in Secondary Schools in London. No two schools were doing quite the same thing. There was certainly a danger of giving too great prominence to the Science work in this connection. Directly a syllabus strong on the Science side was built up, the Cookery as such had to give precedence to it and was used mainly to illustrate the Science teaching; the Cookery from the practical standpoint suffered. On the other hand, in Cookery lessons unaided by Science students were at once confronted by many difficulties, which could not be dealt with intelligently."

The diversity of opinion that our evidence discloses and the amount of fruitful discussion that has arisen are, to our mind, most hopeful signs for the future teaching of both Science and the Domestic Arts in our Secondary Schools. The argument certainly is not closed, but so far as it has gone at present we may sum up as follows:

Cookery may undoubtedly be regarded as a purely empirical craft, and if taught as such may afford a practical training in observation and accuracy. But purely empirical methods cannot be regarded as satisfactory or final either from the standpoint of the craft itself, or from that of its possibilities as a means of education. The empirical point of view must be supplemented by the scientific if the learner is to acquire a satis-


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factory understanding of the processes involved in Cookery and the other Domestic Arts, and if these are to serve as a training in reasoning as well as in manual dexterity. This end can, we think, only be attained if practical training in the kitchen is connected with scientific training in the laboratory. We agree with the majority of our witnesses in thinking that the teaching of Cookery, Laundry and Housewifery should be preceded by a course of at least two years' teaching in Pure Science.*

The nature of the Science work that can most profitably be done by girls of Secondary School age has been much discussed of late. We are in sympathy with much of the criticism that is directed against methods frequently adopted, where the work is too academic in character, too remote from the interests of the girls, and taught without reference to the Domestic Subjects. We do not consider it yet possible to pronounce definitely as to how far the teaching of elementary Physics and Chemistry may be modified so as to form the basis for the scientific study of Cookery and other Domestic Arts. Though fruitful experiments are proceeding in a certain number of schools, the experience at present obtained is hardly sufficient to enable a final judgment to be formed on this matter.

It appears, however, that many illustrations from processes familiar in the household may be profitably introduced into the Physics teaching. As far as concerns the teaching of Cookery, although it appears that the scientific implications of some processes in Cookery† cannot be investigated except by students possessing a considerable knowledge of Chemistry, this is not the case with others. The changes undergone by various individual substances may well be studied by pupils of Secondary School age, and examples of what is being done in this respect have been quoted from the evidence of our witnesses.

We think, in effect, that our evidence warrants us in holding the opinion that a great deal more than is at present customary might be attempted in the way of illustrating the Science from Domestic Arts, to the great benefit of both. The selection and arrangement of this work might be the special province of the Domestic Subjects mistress in consultation with the Science mistress. There is not, in our view, any reason against the employment of one teacher qualified in both subjects to take both, especially in the smaller schools. In any case, it is most important that the teachers of these two branches of work should co-operate with real interest in and knowledge of each other's work. We look forward, indeed, to the day when the teachers on these two sides will have had a considerable part of their training in common.

*This presupposes that girls will not leave school before the age of 17.

†e.g. in the cooking of meat and vegetables.


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Chapter V

HANDWORK SUBJECTS AND EXAMINATIONS

One of the main difficulties at present in the way of Handwork subjects attaining their proper place in the Secondary School is the fact that the various external examinations taken by Secondary School pupils give little or no recognition to proficiency in these branches of work.* However widespread - and increasingly widespread - may be the conviction on the part of Head Teachers that these subjects are a necessary constituent of a complete education, they are pushed aside simply because of their uselessness for examination purposes. They are, accordingly, not available for both the abler pupils who have to pass the various examinations as a condition of entry to Universities and other places of higher education, and for various types of pupil who would especially benefit by them.

The cramping effect exercised by these examinations is seen especially in the case of Domestic Subjects for girls, and has been commented on by several of our witnesses. Our recommendation as to the necessity of recognising a minimum standard of attainment in these subjects to be reached by all girls of 16, even in a school with a late leaving age, was made, not on the ground that it is in itself desirable that the education of a girl on this important side should cease at that age, but because the preparation for Matriculation and other examinations leads, in the majority of cases, to Domestic Subjects being dropped altogether after a certain period.

These considerations lead to the larger question, viz. as to how our present system of examinations (or rather absence of system) can be so reorganised as to take account of various sides of a pupil's life and work which they have hitherto neglected. This question has been fully considered by the Consultative Committee in their Report on Examinations in Secondary Schools published in 1911.

It was there recommended that Certificates should be instituted, viz. a Secondary School Certificate for pupils leaving school at 16 years of age, and a Higher Certificate for those leaving at 18 or 19, and that, in the awarding of these Certificates, credit should be given for good work done prior to the examination, especially for work which cannot be justly estimated by examination methods. It was proposed that the first of these Certificates should be granted as the result of an examination which would be a suitable test of the general attainments of an average pupil of 16 years of age,

*There is one important exception to this. The Northern Universities Joint Board have recently issued regulations for a "Housecraft" certificate.


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and have as its note, breadth rather than specialisation. As regards methods of testing proficiency in this examination, the Report says: "In the case of such subjects as handicraft, drawing and needlework, the examination should include, or might even mainly consist of, inspection of the classes during instruction and of the pupil's work during the previous year. The interview-examiner who was responsible for any such special subject in a school would visit it at some time to be arranged with the authorities of the school, inspect the pupil's work, and conduct such practical examination as was considered necessary, finally making such report or list of marks as the examining authority required" (p. 115). The latter examination would be of a less uniform type than the earlier one, and would be based upon a course of more specialised, but not narrowly specialised, instruction. No detailed recommendations were made as to the subjects that should be included in this examination, for obvious reasons; we may, however, here record our conviction as to the necessity for credit being given in this examination for work done in the various Handwork subjects by those pupils who may continue them after the earlier examination has been taken.

We consider it essential to the existence of Handwork as a living study in Secondary Schools that it should be recognised in any examination scheme that may be devised, because if it is not, the pressure of circumstances will inevitably lead to its being ousted from the curriculum, however well disposed teachers and pupils may be towards it. As we have remarked in a previous chapter, we see no reason to think that the recognition of Handwork as an integral part of the Secondary School curriculum would result in any general lowering of the standard of attainment reached in the traditional school subjects. On the contrary, there is reason to believe that the favourable effect of a certain amount of Handwork on the ordinary pupil would show itself even in his examination work on other school subjects. For example, Mr. Badley of Bedales School told us with reference to his school that "Far from the pupils being handicapped in scholarship examinations by the large amount of time given to Handwork, it was believed they gained enormously, because this class of work increased their general intelligence, so that in the last two years they were more able to make up for the time apparently lost to intellectual study lower down the school." Mr. Vaughan gave it as his opinion that " It had been proved, moreover, by recent experience that pupils who spent even a good deal of time at Handwork could hold their own with the other pupils in the matter of examinations, in spite of the fact that those examinations took no account of Manual Instruction. It was the general opinion that the boys giving four or five hours a week to Drawing and Manual Instruction, although they had


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to take the same examinations in English, Mathematics, etc. as the other boys, nevertheless did just as well."

Moreover, there will always be in any school a certain number of pupils who have no aptitude for purely literary or scientific subjects, and we have said that, in our opinion, the education of such pupils should develop more largely on Manual or "Workshop" lines. The existence of pupils of this type - who are by no means likely to turn out least well in after life - is one of the strongest arguments for so widening the scope of examinations as to include within them some test of manual proficiency.




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Chapter VI

THE TRAINING OF INTENDING TEACHERS OF EDUCATIONAL HANDWORK

(i) THE PRESENT POSITION

The provision of an education suitable to intending teachers of the constructional Handicrafts and the Domestic Arts in Secondary Schools is surrounded by many difficulties. There is a tendency to regard teachers of these subjects as inferior to the ordinary staff of the school. Among the reasons that may be assigned for this, two stand out prominently. The subjects themselves have hardly yet been recognised as necessary constituents of a Secondary School education. Closely connected with this, is the fact that the Universities have done little or nothing for teachers of these subjects in the past, although there are now signs that they are changing their attitude in this matter.

The means that are at present available for providing an adequate supply of suitably trained teachers of the various branches of Handwork we shall consider below. Any further development must do two things: it must give the teachers we are considering an efficient training in the theory and practice of their subjects, and must be such as to provide them as far as possible with a status on the same level as the regular teaching staff of a Secondary School.

We fully recognise that perhaps the greatest cause that has operated and continues to operate to the detriment of educational Handwork is the fact that prospects in the way of salary and chances of promotion to high posts in the teaching profession for teachers of educational Handwork are not, as a rule, such as to make it worth while for an able man or woman to specialise in the subject. Inadequacy of salary, indeed, is the greatest obstacle to the development of English Secondary education on all its sides, and is not confined to these teachers. We are not, however, concerned with this vital question here, except in so far as it springs, in the case of Handwork teachers, from the inferior regard in which their subjects tend to be held.

It would be generally agreed that if Handwork subjects are to take their proper place in education their teacher must be a


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regular member of the school staff, whose work should be recognised by his colleagues as an integral part of the curriculum on the same level as their own. He must, therefore, combine a good general education with special knowledge of his subject. Without the former he will rightly fail to secure the necessary respect for himself and the work he teaches; without the latter he cannot carry it to the point at which it becomes an effective informing element in the school curriculum. As far as concerns constructional Handwork, a capable teacher of other subjects may doubtless often qualify himself to do effective work by making use of existing facilities for training, but if the subject is to receive full justice it is essential that there should be, at any rate on the staff of a large Secondary School, a specialist teacher of school Handicrafts, who should be responsible under the headmaster for the whole organisation of his subject, and could advise his (in this respect) less qualified colleagues who might do their share.

It is accordingly not desirable that this work should be relegated to artisan teachers as has been to a great extent the case in the past. There is general agreement among those qualified to speak that - with doubtless many exceptions - such teachers do not combine with their technical skill a sufficiently broad idea of the educational possibilities of their subject, and that they have almost necessarily a different point of view from that of the teacher. It appears also that it is, as a rule, harder for an artisan to acquire skill in teaching than it is for a trained teacher to secure a sufficient knowledge of the craft to teach it up to a certain point with reasonable success. Again, the employment of peripatetic teachers is not the most desirable plan, since it is very difficult in such circumstances to arrange for the correlation of Handwork with other branches of school work, which is necessary to its full development. We recognise however that, at present, there are cases where the employment of peripatetic teachers can hardly be avoided.

Since, as we have remarked above, it is of the first importance that Handwork subjects and their teachers should be regarded as being on the same plane as other subjects and other teachers in Secondary Schools, we think that the question we are considering largely resolves itself into the question of how best the Universities can provide increased facilities for the study of the subjects and adequate recognition for those who have successfully completed a course of study in them. Before considering the very difficult problems to which this question gives rise, we propose to review briefly the means that are at present available for the education and training of teachers of Educational Handwork.


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(ii) BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF THE MAIN MEANS AT PRESENT AVAILABLE FOR THE TRAINING OF (a) MEN (b) WOMEN TEACHERS IN THE VARIOUS HANDWORK SUBJECTS*

(a) The existing facilities for the †Training of men teachers fall into three main classes, viz. those provided by (i) ‡Training Colleges for Elementary School Teachers, (ii) Classes in Handwork designed for those who are already teachers, and (iii) Pupil Teacherships in Handicraft which have recently been organised by certain Local Authorities.

(i) Manual Instruction for men forms part of the ordinary course of study prescribed by the Board of Education's Regulations for the Training of Teachers for Elementary Schools. In recent editions of the Regulations, the Board call attention to the importance of regarding Handwork more as a method of instruction applied to other subjects than as a separate branch of work; they do not, however, suggest that more time should be devoted to it than is the case at present.

It should be noted that Handwork is not one of the subjects in which the proficiency of the student is required to be tested by the College authorities and the Board's Inspectors.

*This summary does not profess to be detailed or exhaustive. We do not think, however, that we have omitted anything of importance.

†We may here refer to a very helpful report on Handwork in Elementary Schools by an Office Committee of the Board of Education which was published in 1909. This gives a fuller consideration than it is necessary to give here to the means available for the training of men teachers in Handwork with special reference to Elementary Schools. As to the position of Handwork in Elementary School Training Colleges, the Committee recommended that the Board should call the attention of Training College authorities to the need of systematic instruction in the principles of Educational Handwork and their application to the teaching of the ordinary school subjects, and that the teaching should be of far wider scope than the course of Wood-work then taken in the men's colleges.

They also made the following recommendations which appear to us to be valuable:

(i) That greater stress should be laid on Handwork in the syllabus of the Certificate Examination and the Preliminary Examination for the Certificate, and that more questions involving a knowledge of practical methods of teaching should be included;

(ii) That a third year's course might be allowed for men who intend to specialise in Manual Work. if any suitable provision were made for training them in the more advanced work;

(iii) That a separate Manual Training College should be established, which could be attended by students who have passed through one of the ordinary Training Colleges. Such a College might be open for special courses to ordinary teachers, as well as to those who are taking a third year for the purpose.

‡These Colleges are mentioned here because a certain number of teachers who have been trained in Elementary School Training Colleges proceed subsequently to Secondary School teaching. There are so few men students at present in the Secondary School Training Colleges - which are mainly attached to Universities - that these Colleges may, unfortunately, be left out of account for present purposes.


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(ii) Classes in Handwork for those who are already teachers are organised by County Councils and by Associations, such as the Educational Handwork Association and the National Association of Manual Training Teachers. They are held in the summer holidays and at other times, and are designed to cover the whole field of Educational Handwork. The normal length of the summer course is four weeks, and the usual fee is three guineas [£3.15], which covers tuition in two subjects. There are also courses for teachers provided by certain Local Education Authorities at other times.

(iii) With reference to the Pupil Teacherships in Handicraft, we may refer to the recently issued "Report of a Conference on the Teaching of Handicraft in London Elementary Schools", and also to the evidence given before us by Mr. Shadrach Hicks, Principal of the Shoreditch Technical Institute, where the Pupil Teachers are trained. It appears that these Pupil Teacherships are chiefly designed to provide a supply of suitably trained teachers for Manual Instruction centres attached to Elementary Schools, and that in January 1911 only two had obtained posts in Secondary Schools.

The work of testing the qualifications of teachers is performed chiefly by the City and Guilds of London Institute and the Board of Examinations for Educational Handwork. The certificates granted by these bodies in Wood-work and Metal-work are recognised by the Board of Education as entitling the holders to teach Wood-work and Metal-work in Elementary Schools. The Board of Examinations for Educational Handwork, unlike the City and Guilds of London Institute, also holds examinations on the lighter forms of Handwork which indeed form the greater part of its work, but the certificates thus granted are not recognised by the Board of Education. The examinations of both these bodies are restricted to candidates who have attended approved classes; the Institute waives this, however, in the case of candidates not less than 23 years of age who fulfil certain conditions.*

A consideration of these circumstances raises several important points. As to the summer courses and other courses for teachers above referred to, it should be noted that they offer the only means by which those who are already teachers in both Elementary and Secondary Schools can gain some knowledge of certain branches of Educational Handwork. As long as they remain in this position they deserve as much assistance as possible from the Board of Education and from Local Education Authorities. It is a high tribute both to the quality of the

*For further details, and for information as to the qualifications required in the way of teaching experience from candidates for certificates, we may refer to the published regulations and syllabus of the Board of Examinations for Educational Handwork and the programme of the City and Guilds of London Institute (Department of Technology).


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instruction given and to the enthusiasm of the teachers themselves, that these classes should be as well attended as they are by teachers of all grades in their own time, and very largely at their own expense.

In spite of this and of the fact that the knowledge and experience possessed by actual teachers enables them to profit even by short courses, we do not think that classes which must be largely discontinuous in character, and must occupy the hard earned holidays or scanty leisure time of working teachers, can possibly be regarded as a satisfactory means of training.

As to the other means of training available, these have been mainly designed to meet the requirements of Elementary Schools. Even on this side, however, the work is somewhat unorganised in character, and the examinations are held by bodies unrelated to one another. We are here mainly concerned to remark that there appears to be no means available by which men teachers preparing for Secondary School work can receive a complete training in School Handicrafts. The fact that there is at present no University or College diploma to be obtained for the whole of that side of Handwork is one to which we would call especial attention.

It is interesting to note that the University or Birmingham makes some practical acquaintance with Educational Handwork a necessary part of its Education Course which forms one of the alternative subjects in a degree course.

(b) Two classes of women teachers of Educational Handwork have to be considered, following a natural division of the subject, (i) Teachers of various forms of light Handwork for younger children, and (ii) Teachers of the various Domestic Arts.

(i) The means available for the training of teachers of the former class are more adequate than is the case on the men's side. Besides the provision made for these subjects in the Elementary School Training Colleges a certain number of institutions for Secondary School training at present offer courses for Kindergarten teachers, preparatory to the Higher and Lower Certificates of the National Froebel Union.* There are also available for those who are already teachers the voluntary courses mentioned above.

We may remark here that a specialist teacher appears to be hardly necessary for this kind of work. It might perhaps be the special province of the Art mistress, but teachers who are primarily teachers of other subjects might well assist.

(ii) The general means available for the training of teachers in the far more important province of the Domestic Arts are, at present, provided by the Domestic Science Training Schools, recognised by the Board of Education, which offer two and

*These Certificates are recognised by the Board of Education as qualifying women teachers for Handwork in Infants' Departments of Elementary Schools, but not in Departments for older children.


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three year courses. It is unfortunate that each College is free to prescribe its own conditions of entry, as this means that there is no standard of general education demanded from intending teachers of these subjects. It is obviously very important that such a standard should be established, for its absence cannot but have an unfavourable effect on the quality of the students with which these institutions are supplied.

With regard to the position of these subjects at Universities, interesting experiments are at present in progress with the aim of giving them a place in University work. Courses in Home Science and Economics have lately been instituted at King's College for Women in the University of London.* These may be regarded as an attempt towards solving the difficult problem which any systematic scheme of Domestic Science training must face, viz. that of providing a course of study that shall be comparable as an intellectual training to courses for degrees in Arts and Science. A one year's course has been arranged for those who are already graduates or who have been trained in one of the Domestic Science Training Colleges above referred to, and a three years' course for other students. These courses are not at present recognised as forming or counting towards a degree course. A College diploma is, however, granted to graduates after the completion or the one-year course, and a certificate to those students who have completed the three years' course. A certificate is also awarded to the trained Domestic Science teachers who have completed the one-year course designed for them. In these courses more emphasis is laid on Science work in connection with Domestic Subjects than on purely practical work. The provision made for the latter within the three-year course is held, however, to be sufficient for the needs of intending teachers of Domestic Subjects, so far as can be at present judged. The Science graduate who takes the one-year course does not, generally speaking, do so with the idea of teaching the Domestic Arts proper, but rather with the idea of qualifying herself to teach Science with more reference to its applications in this direction.

The courses are also designed to train those students who may be capable of it to undertake later on research work in the various scientific and economic problems involved.

It should also be mentioned that Sheffield University has just instituted a two years' course in the University and the Sheffield Domestic Training School for a University diploma in Domestic Science.

The University of Leeds also offers courses in Science to students of the Yorkshire Domestic Training School, and a further joint scheme for a three years' course of a more advanced nature is now under consideration. Such a scheme will have the requirements of Secondary Schools specially in view.

*See Miss Hilda Oakeley's evidence (page 329).


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(iii) THE POSITION THAT SHOULD BE ACCORDED TO HANDWORK SUBJECTS IN THE UNIVERSITIES

It appears from the last section that while one or two Universities are moving in the direction of a recognition of the Domestic Arts, hardly anything has been done towards recognising training in Constructional Handwork. Yet, if our main contentions be accepted, it is of essential importance that the future teachers of both these subjects should have the same facilities for preparation at the University for their future profession as are at present open to teachers of Literature or Science.

What precisely these facilities should be is no easy matter to determine. Ideally the diploma course for teachers of all kinds should succeed the course for the degree, and it is specially important that teachers of Handwork should have first received a good general education, not only in order that they themselves may take their proper place on the staff of a school on an equality with teachers of other subjects, but also because the subjects they teach do not, if divorced from their scientific or artistic aspects, offer in themselves the same possibilities of self-education as are afforded by Literature, History, or Science. It is therefore most desirable that the future teacher of Handwork subjects should, before receiving his special training, take a degree in the ordinary way.

For the intending teacher of Constructional Handwork we have little doubt that certain existing degree courses could, without losing their distinctive character, be so adapted by the introduction of alternative subjects that the future teacher of this work could select those most suitable to his needs, as the future chemist or engineer already does. A course including Physics, Mathematics, and Mechanical Engineering would provide the intending teacher of Constructional Handwork with a good foundation for the special work which he will have to perform, and will enable him to carry it on in close co-operation with the teaching of Physics and Mathematics. In small schools he might assist in or even be responsible for the teaching of the Physics and the Mathematics, combining with the latter the teaching of Paper-folding, Cardboard-modelling, and, in connection with Wood-work, of Drawing.

After completing his degree course he should be required to take a diploma in the teaching and the technique of his subject. As regards practical training in the crafts, it may be remarked that a man who intended to teach this branch of Handwork would presumably possess a natural aptitude for the kind of work involved, and, if he had attended a Secondary School where Handwork formed a recognised part of the curriculum, would have acquired some considerable dexterity in it before proceeding to the University. The provision of the plant and apparatus necessary for training in the technique of the subject


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would not be very expensive, and no doubt existing laboratories and workshops could be utilised to some extent. In some instances the existence of a Technical Institute in connection with the University would meet the case. For the rest, the course would follow in the main the lines laid down for the courses in the theory and practice of teaching which exist in most Universities. These comprise the study of the history, theory and practice of Education, and candidates have special opportunities of studying the practical methods applicable to the particular subject they desire to teach. There seems no reason why Constructional Handwork, and also, to anticipate a little, the Domestic Arts, should not take their proper place among the other subjects in the teachers' diploma course side by side with Literature, History, or Science.

It should not be forgotten, however, that this branch of Handwork has a close connection with Art. It is very important that there should be in Secondary Schools teachers with some knowledge of Art who could provide for the effective co-ordination of these two sides of what is essentially one form of activity. We hope that, in any courses that Universities may devise, provision may be made for the requirements of those who desire to teach Handwork with especial reference to its artistic applications.

The teacher of Nature Study, Gardening, and kindred subjects would in the same way take for his degree such subjects as Botany, Chemistry, Geology, and, if possible, Horticulture. He would then take a teaching diploma with special reference to his particular subjects. A teacher so qualified would be responsible for the teaching of Botany, and for the outdoor work in connection with Nature Study. He might also very suitably teach Geology, and that portion of Geography which deals with contours, climate and soil.

Similarly we consider that a degree course in Science would form the best basis for special training in the teaching and the technique of the Domestic Arts. Here also, as in the case of Constructional Handwork, it may be presumed that girls from a good Secondary School who intend to teach these subjects would have acquired some practical skill in them before taking their University course. We have, in a previous chapter, stated our view of the importance of bringing these arts into connection with Science. The problem of establishing this connection, the problem, in fact, of rendering instruction in the Domestic Arts as educative in character as possible, must very largely depend for its solution on whether the teacher of these arts has a sound knowledge of Science. If it should be found desirable, as it well might be in the smaller schools, to place the teaching of Science and of the Domestic Arts in the same hands, teachers who had taken this course would be suitably qualified.

Courses of the kind indicated would equip the future teacher of Handwork as completely as any teacher of other subjects is


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now equipped, and he would secure for himself that position in the profession which is due to all teachers who have received a good general education, but which can never be reasonably accorded to those who have not. Teachers so qualified need not be at any disadvantage as regards either salary and chances of promotion to higher posts. They would be graduates and could compete on equal terms.

We recognise, indeed, that what we recommend is at present only an ideal, and that very few of the intending teachers will be able to afford so considerable an addition of time to their University course. On the other hand, the diploma course can hardly be carried on concurrently with that for the degree, particularly as it will require a careful training in the actual handling of materials. Accordingly, till better provision can be made for the maintenance of intending teachers, we see no alternative but to recommend that the diploma course itself should be allowed to count towards the degree. This is already possible, e.g. at the University of Oxford, where the diploma in Education is accepted as the equivalent of one of the three groups of the Final Pass School. But if this is done, care should be taken that the necessary elements of a liberal education find their place in other parts of the degree course.

It is above all things desirable that the teachers of Handwork should be those who, by gifts, experience and training, can hold their own on the staff of the school to which they belong, and the more important the place that they are to take on the staff, the more essential this becomes. Their work must secure the appreciation and sympathy of their colleagues who teach Literature or Science, but it is not less important that they should themselves be in a position to appreciate the value of their colleagues' work and to co-ordinate their own with it. We should therefore deprecate any lowering of the standard of intellectual attainment demanded by University degrees in order to make it easier for these intending teachers to graduate, and we do not think that the recommendations we have made would involve any such lowering. Such a step would not in the long run be for the advantage of the Universities or of the candidates or of the branch of the teaching profession to which they are to belong. We hope that the time is not far distant when all teachers in Secondary Schools, whatever their subject, will have graduated in the ordinary way and then proceeded to take the teaching diploma as a post-graduate course, but we recognise that at present it is impossible to insist on this.

We would urge upon University authorities and experts in the two branches of work with which we have been dealing the importance of giving serious consideration to the questions raised in this chapter, the solution of which we consider essential to the progress of the Manual and the Domestic Arts. The provision of increased University facilities for this branch of education must be considered the first and most necessary


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step towards placing it on a level with those that have hitherto been traditional in Secondary Schools.


We may, in concluding this report, recall its main contention. We consider that our Secondary education has been too exclusively concerned with the cultivation of the mind by means of books and the instruction of the teacher. To this essential aim there must be added, as a condition of balance and completeness, that of fostering those qualities of mind and that skill of hand which are evoked by systematic work of the kind described in this report. We think that the time has now come when every Secondary School should provide for the teaching of some branches of Educational Handwork, should make them an integral part of its curriculum, and give them a position on the same level with other subjects studied. The value of such work, both as an element of a general education for all pupils and as a preparatory training for the special needs of some, has been amply demonstrated by the wide and representative body of evidence which we have had before us.

We have endeavoured to show, as clearly as possible, the practical difficulties that at present hinder the legitimate development of Handwork subjects. Among these two are of chief importance: first, the lack of recognition and of adequate means of education and training for their teachers; secondly, the restricting influence at present exercised on school work by external examinations. We consider that the information we have received during our consideration of this report supplies further evidence as to the need for altering our existing system of examinations in Secondary Schools on which we have already reported to the Board. These difficulties, and the means that we have suggested for overcoming them, we would commend to the earnest consideration of all those who are engaged or interested in Secondary and Higher education. But, above all, the attitude of depreciation too frequently adopted towards these branches of work must be revised in the light of fuller knowledge. It rests, as we have seen, partly on uncriticised tradition, partly on misunderstanding of their nature and possibilities. We are confident that, when the importance of this side of education has been more widely realised, the practical difficulties in the way of its progress will disappear.

ARTHUR H. D. ACLAND,
Chairman.

F. A. B. NEWMAN,
Secretary.


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APPENDICES

PAGE
A. SYLLABUSES OF WORK IN VARIOUS HANDWORK SUBJECTS

1. Domestic Subjects:
(i) Bradford Girls' Grammar School67
(ii) Clapham High School for Girls74

2. Wood-work and Metal-work:
(i) Syllabus of Wood-work for Country or Small Isolated Schools (supplied by Mr. John Berry)84
(ii) Central Secondary School, Birmingham86
(iii) Sexey's School, Bruton, Somerset89

3. Lighter Branches of Handwork, including Light Woodwork:
(i) Outline of a Syllabus of Work in Paper and Cardboard Models for Preparatory and Secondary Schools (supplied by Mr. R. C. Chevalier)92
(ii) Coventry, John Gulson Elementary Council School94
(iii) Leicester, St. Peter's Elementary School, Upper Conduit Street100
(iv) Suggested Syllabus of Light Wood-work for Secondary Schools (supplied by Mr. A. Ogden, Manchester Grammar School)103

4. Rural Secondary Schools:
(i) Rural Secondary School, Knaresborough104
Analysis of Time Table117
(ii) Sexey's Rural Secondary School, Blackford, Cheddar118
Analysis of Time Table131

B. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTRUCTIONAL HANDWORK AS AN EDUCATIONAL SUBJECT
132





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Appendix A (image-only pdf file)
Syllabus of work in handwork subjects


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APPENDIX B

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTRUCTIONAL HANDWORK AS AN EDUCATIONAL SUBJECT[*]

The inclusion of Constructive Handwork in an educational curriculum is a comparatively modern idea Of the three nations of antiquity in whose life contemporary western civilisation has its roots, the Jews alone appear to have found a place for Handwork in their scheme of education. Among their literary class at the beginning of the Christian era, as amongst the Prussian nobility of the present day, it was a common practice for youths, while undergoing their regular studies, to learn some definite trade; but the object was rather utilitarian than educational, to provide against a possible reverse of fortune rather than to secure wider cultural training. To the Greek, on the other hand, constructional Handwork was associated with the idea of servile labour, or with the narrow routine of the uneducated craftsman. As such, it would have seemed irreconcilable with that harmonious cultivation of the bodily and mental powers which was his ideal of education. On the other hand, both in Athens and Sparta (which represent the two complementary types of Greek education) fundamental importance was attached to eurhythmics, which involved a training of the body, including the arms and hands as well as the feet, in obedience to the laws of rhythm. One object of eurhythmics was to secure through physical self-control that mental self-possession and development which is one aim of constructional Handwork in the school curriculum.

Roman education, in its later developments, derived its methods in large measure from the Greek tradition, though the influence of the latter was impaired by being transplanted into a different social order. An important part of Roman education for boys of the well-to-do classes lay in physical discipline, which, so far as it went, achieved the purpose of self-control aimed at in educational Handwork.

From the fall of the Roman Empire till the close of the Middle Ages, educational influence ran in two separate channels. The smaller of these (though intellectually not the less important) was bookish education, which was almost entirely in the hands of the clergy and designed for those who intended to take Holy Orders, or who desired to follow the profession of law. In this branch of mediæval education Latin was the basis of the curriculum. The second great branch of mediæval training, though not organised in schools, was even more intimately connected with the needs and habits of social life. Its main form was apprenticeship, whether artistic or industrial, the two being often closely united. On the spiritual side it derived its power from membership in a great spiritual community and from observance of its practices. On the side of apprenticeship, it was virtually limited to boys; but girls also came under the influence of this educational tradition in its social and spiritual aspects.

For the children of the aristocracy and of families connected with the aristocracy, no more elaborate form of social training was in vogue. This included much training of the body and of manual aptitude in those arts and exercises which were practised in the daily life, in the duties and in the amusements of the nobility and courtly families. At the time of the Italian Renaissance, this type of knightly or courtly education became highly developed and elaborate.

The Renaissance, viewed as a revival of learning (but not in its wider aspect as a renewal of the mental energy of Europe), brought with it great improvements in the bookish form of education, and led to improvement not

[*This Appendix contains the grossly offensive phrase 'inferior races'. I am uncomfortable about reproducing this on the web, but hope readers will regard it - as I do - as an example of the appalling attitudes which prevailed at the time this report was produced.]


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only in methods of linguistic teaching, but in the choice of literature used in the curriculum. It also led, in some favoured cases, to a more humanistic turn in courtly education, and to the higher education of some women.

In Protestant Europe, the influence of the Reformation led to a diffusion of the elements of literary education among the masses of the people, not with any professional purpose, but in order that the younger generation might be given direct access to the Bible. Thus the Reformation, where its influence was strongest, diffused throughout the people a type of elementary education which had hitherto been in the main confined to those boys who were destined for Holy Orders or for the legal profession. Side by side with this literary education, the practice of apprenticeship persisted. The two types of education were not co-ordinated, and the people's school of the Reformation became in Protestant Europe an elementary literary school in which the moral discipline was based on scriptural instruction and theological principles. In Catholic Europe the older form of educational tradition persisted, though, under the influence of the counter-Reformation, popular schools in which the elements of a literary training were imparted steadily increased in number.

It may be said, therefore, that the organisation of primary education for the people on a literary basis had its origin in those countries in which the Reformation prevailed. Its spirit was in great measure individualistic. At the same time, it was closely associated with theological discipline, and was designed as one part of a social discipline which rested upon a definite creed. But this purely literary tradition was progressively undermined by the speculations of a series of thinkers and philanthropists, and shaken to its foundations by the social upheaval that accompanied the French Revolution. In our own day its overthrow has been completed by the irresistible advance of the industrial movement.

Of these thinkers the first, and not the least remarkable, was the Moravian Bishop John Amos Komensky (1592-1670), better known as Comenius, a man of the most ardent and encyclopædic intellect. To him the ultimate aim was "eternal happiness with God", for which knowledge of the Divine nature was essential, to be attained mainly through the study of the Universe He had created. This study was the business of education. A true education, therefore, should provide the groundwork of every branch of knowledge. Such a programme could only be realised by an entirely new method of instruction. The barbarous traditional discipline which made school a torture chamber and learning hateful must be banished, and the intellectual curiosity natural to every child stimulated and guided. Though there is nothing to show that Comenius ever grasped the idea of applying Handwork to the school curriculum, nevertheless in laying down the principle that instruction should be through things and not through words, he unconsciously went halfway towards it, and in any case prepared men's minds for fundamental changes. His labours, however, bore little fruit in his own day. The Thirty Years' War overwhelmed in ruin and exile the Moravian Brethren, the peaceful community which might otherwise have furnished a sheltering environment for the practical development of his ideas. The writings of John Locke (1632-1704) are of importance in this connection in two ways. On the one hand his scheme for the education of a gentleman (1693) embraced the learning of at least one trade (preferably Carpentry), of two or three, if possible. His object, however, was not educational development so much as physical training and recreation. On the other, he lent his powerful advocacy (1697) on social grounds to the movement for the establishment of industrial schools for the children of the poor, which marked the close of the 17th century.

It is very different when we come to Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), the herald of the French Revolution. "Emile", the pupil of his educational treatise, also learns a trade, but he does so not for the sake of exercise or recreation (these were otherwise abundantly provided for), but partly with the object of securing economic independence, and still more of enabling him to understand and sympathise with the artisan and to realise the true dignity of manual labour. The profound influence


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which these views of the Genevan reformer exercised is seen in the conception of civic education expressed in the Registration Law which was adopted in the year 3 (1792) by the French Revolutionary Government. "Young people may not be enrolled on the civic register unless they shew that they can read and write and practice [sic] a mechanical occupation."

Rousseau was an educationist because he was a social reformer. In revolt against the injustice and artificiality of the society of his day, he aimed at giving the young an education which would lead them to burst the fetters and so transform society. His ideal has been happily termed a "Robinson Crusoe kind of education". The child was to go straight to nature, ignoring the traditional experience of the community and the books in which it was enshrined. The test of his training, as reflected in "Sandford and Merton", the work of Rousseau's British disciple Day, was the pupil's ability to shift for himself if shipwrecked on a desert island. Such a plan obviously assumes throughout the basal principle of constructive Handwork "Learn by Doing".

The first attempt to give practical effect to Rousseau's ideas was made by the German Basedow, who in 1774 established at Dessan an institution with the grandiloquent title of Philanthropinum, intended probably to indicate that kindness rather than severity was to be the disciplinary motive. The Philanthropinum is important as the first school to embody a branch of constructive Handwork in its curriculum on definitely educational grounds. It had a brief but brilliant existence and exercised considerable influence on German educational thought.

The Philanthropinum was, however, a Secondary School for the well-to-do. The application of Rousseau's ideas to the primary school was reserved for another Swiss reformer, Pestalozzi (1746-1826). He began in 1775 with an industrial village school for the poor, based on farm life and its operations, including spinning, weaving, etc. Writing and Arithmetic were carried on concurrently but independently. This school failed for lack of financial support. His effective educational activity, however, dates from 1799, when he started a school for the training of teachers at Burgdorff, continued some years later on French soil at Yverdun. Through all these experiments manual work played a prominent part.

Pestalozzi's genius was essentially practical, and his work did much to convince philanthropists and politicians that the new conception of education was no mere dream of the revolutionary doctrinaire.

The series of great educationists closes in the person of the German idealist philosopher Fröbel (1782-1852), who formulated a philosophic basis for the whole range of education, though he had only time to work it out in practice for the lowest stage of all, that of the Infant School or, as he called it, the Kindergarten. With him self-development is the aim and self-activity the method of education. The child's first natural activities are manual. Education must therefore begin with the hands. Rousseau had recognised Handwork on social and economic grounds. Pestalozzi as a means of acquiring knowledge. But to Fröbel it was the instrument of self-development, knowledge and dexterity being, so to speak, mere by-products in the manufacture of the self. Thus in Fröbel we reach the climax. "On distinctively educational grounds Fröbel gave to all manual and industrial training and to all forms of constructive work the place which they are coming to occupy in modern schooling." It is significant that the United States, the country in which manual training has up to the present time won the widest acceptance in all stages of education, is in a special degree the home of the Kindergarten

Scandinavia. For the first national development of Manual Training on strictly educational lines we must go to the Scandinavian countries, among which for this purpose must be included Finland, a Swedish colony and still largely Swedish in social life and language, though under Russian government. The movement began and reached its most complete form in Finland. It originated with a Finnish Lutheran pastor, Uno Cygnæus, who after ministerial work in the Russian colony of Alaska


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(1839-1846), returned to take up a pastorate in St. Petersburg. Residence in a primitive community naturally turns the attention of a thoughtful man to popular education, and Cygnæus returned to Europe with a mind preoccupied with this problem. During the 12 years of his residence in St. Petersburg it continued to engage his thoughts, and he now became acquainted with the writings of Pestalozzi and Fröbel, of whose ideas he soon showed himself an ardent disciple. He gradually thought out a scheme of popular education, which chance was to give him the opportunity to translate into fact. In 1856 Alexander II, who had just ascended the Russian throne, visited his Grand Duchy of Finland full of ideas of social reform. In particular he directed the Senate to prepare a scheme of national elementary education. The Senate invited public discussion, and Cygnæus' proposals showed such mastery of the subject that in 1858 he was appointed to carry out the educational reorganisation. He began by making a tour, memorable to the annals of education, through Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, and on his return formulated a definite scheme. An essential part of this scheme was the extension of Fröbel's great principle "Learn by Doing" from the Kindergarten into the Primary School. This was embodied in the Primary Education Law of 1866, which was carried into effect under his own supervision. Under this law the Elementary School period was to cover six years, two in the lower, four in the higher school. Manual Training might be given in the lower school, but was compulsory throughout the higher school. It consisted of Wood-work of the type generally known as Sloyd for the boys and Needlework for the girls, the time given to the subject being from four to six hours a week. The influence of this movement soon made itself felt in Sweden, and led to the establishment by Otto Salomon in 1872 of the famous Sloyd Training School for Teachers at Nääs in Gothenburg, which has so profoundly affected educational thought in this country and in the United States. Unlike the Finnish system, this was, till the death of its founder, a private enterprise. Sloyd was at first barely tolerated by the Swedish Ministry of Education, was subsequently recognised and encouraged by a small grant, and still remains an optional subject of the curriculum. It is now, however, taken by some three-fourths of the Swedish Primary Schools.

It appears at first sight singular that, though Cygnæus derived his inspiration from Fröbel, he made no attempt to provide suitable work for the lower classes of the Elementary School which follow immediately on the Kindergarten. This is, no doubt, to be explained by the local circumstances. In a country of lakes and forests like Finland (or Sweden), where the rural population is thinly scattered, every farmhouse has to depend on its own work for most of the ordinary household utensils and ornaments, and wood is the universal material. Thus working in wood was an essential part of farm life, and this cottage industry (Slöjd, to use its Swedish name), a mixture of Carpentry and Carving, furnished ready to hand the obvious instrument of the new educational method. But Wood-work in any serious form makes demands on physical strength which render it impracticable for the lower classes in Elementary Schools. Again, the introduction into the school of a definite industry with traditions, methods, and rules of its own made correlation with the ordinary subjects of the curriculum exceedingly difficult. Sloyd has thus existed rather as a separate subject in a compartment by itself than as a method of instruction permeating and vitalising the whole curriculum. On the other hand the cottage industry it represents has always contained a strong artistic element, and in this respect Sloyd has had a cultural effect which has been lacking in the more purely mechanical forms of Wood-work adopted by schools in industrial countries. For the same reason no doubt the educational aim has been from the first the predominant one in Sloyd, and in the hands of its Swedish protagonist, Otto Salomon, it has been the instrument of a powerful educational propaganda. The fact that though based on a peasant industry it has made its way into a few of the Secondary Schools for Girls points in the same direction. Such is the Sloyd system in its strength and weakness. In the rural districts of


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Finland and Sweden it still remains the sole form of School Handwork. In the cities, where life approximates more to ordinary industrial conditions, there has been a tendency to develop the lighter forms of Handwork for junior classes and to supplement Wood-work by Metal-work at the top of the school.

England. Towards the end of the 17th century the growth of industrial competition led to the development of child labour, and philanthropic effort began to take the form of training children for work. In 1675 Firmin established his Spinning School in Little Britain, a combination of a factory and a school. Children were admitted at three years old, from the age of three to four were taught reading and from the age of four onwards spinning, etc. Firmin showed the way. The Charity Schools followed with the same object, the production of apprentices, but with less insistence on manual work. They grew until the middle of the third decade of the 18th century and then declined. In 1723 an Act was passed for the formation of Unions of parishes to which we owe our Workhouses. The Workhouse, originally an industrial school for children, was virtually the Firmin School adopted and administered by an ad hoc public authority. The Industrial School movement failed mainly owing to ignorant methods of teaching. It seems to have been assumed that to give practical instruction nothing more was required than the practical skill of the ordinary craftsman. Its failure threw back the cause of Educational Handwork for a century. Handwork in schools came to be looked on as a badge of pauperism and a device for preventing the poor boy from rising out of his own class; and for the greater part of the last century [i.e. the 19th] Reading and Writing were regarded as the be-all and the end-all of popular education. But the older tradition did not entirely die out. It dragged on a kind of subterranean existence in a few Industrial Schools and Reformatories, till near the last quarter of the century, when the decay of apprenticeship training and the growth of laboratory work in connection with Science classes began once more to force to the front the idea of manual work as a legitimate part of school training.

The subject of School Handwork was broached at the Social Science Congress in Nottingham in 1883, when Sylvanus Thompson and other men of science strongly urged its introduction. Two years later Dr. Gladstone, with the co-operation of the Headmaster of the Beethoven Street Elementary School, who had been struck by the way in which his boys were crowding into clerkships and avoiding manual occupations, succeeded in getting a school workshop built, and the work was carried on with such success that in 1887 the London School Board appointed a special committee to consider the whole question. The report of this committee was conceived in the broadest spirit. It recommended that in order to make school training a better preparation for the work of life:

(1) The Kindergarten method should be extended right up throughout the Primary Schools;
(2) Manual Instruction should be correlated with Elementary Science and Drawing; and
(3) Should be given by qualified teachers;
(4) The necessary time should be found by reducing the number of hours assigned to book subjects.
The importance of this report can hardly be exaggerated. It was the first reasoned pronouncement made by any local authority in favour of Educational Handwork, and it proceeded from the authority which represented by far the largest, wealthiest, and most influential community in the United Kingdom. The development of the work was greatly encouraged at the outset by the assistance of the City and Guilds of London Institute, which had already in operation a system of Manual Training for apprentices in various industries.

Meanwhile a similar development had been proceeding independently under the Birmingham School Board, and it was not long before the vigorous action and representations of these two important bodies affected


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the policy of the central authority. In 1889 the Technical Instruction Act authorised local authorities to supply or aid Manual Instruction except in Elementary Schools. In the following year the Board of Education included it amongst the subjects which might be taught in Elementary Schools; and a few years later it was made obligatory upon students in Training Colleges who were not working for a University degree. Furthermore, for some years past the Board of Education, in approving plans of buildings for recognised Secondary Schools, has required that they should contain provision for a manual work-room.

Both in London and Birmingham the movement seems to have originated in the vocational idea, and the work was at first limited to the higher classes and took the form of carpentry. As it grew, however, the idea of educational development made itself more and more felt. Year by year a stream of English teachers had been making their way to the Sloyd Seminarium at Nääs in the south of Sweden, and coming under the personal influence of its Director, Otto Salomon. Few went through this experience without having their educational outlook profoundly modified, and many returned ardent propagandists. The Sloyd Association and the Educational Handwork Union (subsequently amalgamated under the title of the Educational Handwork Association) and the Scottish Sloyd Association preached the new educational doctrine chiefly north of the Humber. For a time there was considerable rivalry, even hostility, between the advocates of the English and the Swedish ideas respectively, but they have gradually drawn closer to each other. The Nääs student has learnt that it is educationally unsound to transplant a foreign system in all its details, and the English Manual Trainer has largely assimilated the educational principles which are the secret of the strength of Sloyd. This process has been powerfully aided by the influence of the Kindergarten. There has in consequence been a steady tendency to fill up the gap between the manual occupations of the Kindergarten and the Wood-work of the sixth and seventh standards with lighter forms of Hand-work, and also for the Wood-work itself to take a more educational form. Thus, in 1893, a system of Hand and Eye Training was established in London, Birmingham, and elsewhere for the lower standards (Paper-folding and Cutting, Cardboard-modelling, etc.). The scope of the subject has also been further extended by the introduction of Metal-work in Higher Grade and Continuation Schools for those who had completed the Wood-work course. At the same time class-teaching has more and more given way to individual teaching, and the practice of exercises to the making of complete articles.

America. Manual Training in the United States derives its strength from two independent. motives, the educational motive working up from the Kindergarten through the Elementary School, and the vocational motive working down through the Secondary School from the Technical College. The forms of work and methods of instruction in the Elementary Schools do not differ materially from those which prevail in this country. The light work carried on in the four lower grades (between the ages of 6 and 10) is a development of Kindergarten work and is succeeded by Wood-work, which in the main is either Swedish Sloyd or based on the same general principles. In the Secondary School sphere, however, the Manual Training High School is a distinctive and characteristic American product. In 1876 there was a display at the Philadelphia Exhibition of Russian Trade School work. This made a deep impression on Doctor Woodward, the Headmaster of a Secondary School, who conceived the idea of utilising work of this kind for the curriculum of the American High School. It soon became clear that the school he had organised on these lines at St. Louis met a real want, and the number of Manual Training High Schools has ever since been steadily increasing. The American High School covers the four years from 14 to 18. The Manual Work is technological in character, and embraces in the first year carpentry, and in the remaining three years heavy Metal-work, usually in the order: second year, forging; third and fourth year, mechanical drawing and machine fitting; though the type and


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order are occasionally varied. The amount of time devoted to the manual side varies considerably. In some schools it occupies one-fifth of the time-table; in one or two the proportion rises as high as one-half. One-third seems the most common proportion and that which the best American educational opinion is disposed to regard as the maximum permissible, but, owing to the absorbing nature of the work and the pressure of industrial interests from outside, there is a constant tendency for it to rise.

The Manual Training High School is essentially a city school, and usually for boys alone. In the few cases where girls are also admitted, their manual work takes the form of Millinery, Cookery, and Domestic Economy. The aim is partly educational and partly vocational, though the vocational element tends to predominate. A school of this kind enables the lad who is going into commercial or industrial life to prolong his schooling until 18, and at the same time turns out a regular supply of educated lads qualified for industrial posts for which reason it is much favoured by the great industrial firms. It is undoubtedly the form of American High School which has most life and vigour, and seems likely in course of time to extinguish, so far at least as schools maintained by public authorities are concerned, the more literary type of High School. The same development is beginning to make itself felt in the private schools in which the sons of the well-to-do are prepared for the older Universities. At the same time the Manual Training High School has a literary side on which great stress is laid. In this, English studies play the chief part. German and, in many cases, Latin also enter into the curriculum, but rather as a mental gymnastic.

America has also another type of Manual Training School not found elsewhere, of which the original is the remarkable Institute for coloured people at Hampton in Virginia, officered mainly by white teachers. There is a hardly less famous daughter institution further south at Tuskegee, founded and conducted on the same lines and with a coloured staff by Booker Washington, an old graduate of Hampton. These are rather industrial communities with a strong educational side than regular schools. Their object is to train and equip the coloured population for the varied occupations of rural life as farmers, masons, harness-makers, wheelwrights, etc. Hampton Institute was established immediately after the close of the great Civil War by the Federal General Armstrong, a man who in spirituality, breadth of view, and power of understanding inferior races and commanding their devotion offers a singularly close parallel to our own General Gordon. Placed in charge, during the last phase of the war, of thousands of run-away slaves who had taken refuge within the Northern lines, he found himself face to face with the problem how these were to be fitted for the new existence as free citizens that lay before them. To this work he devoted the remainder of his life, raising by his own personal efforts the necessary funds, and gradually building up the great Institute which embodies his ideas and still breathes his spirit. The fundamental principle of the Institution is the union of religious life and industrial training. Book studies come in only in dependence on and illustration of the industrial work. From the first the student receives wages for his labour, and out of them pays for his schooling. The feeling that he is paying his way acts as a powerful moral tonic, and supplies a back-bone of self-respect and independence. The success of the system has been extraordinary. It is hardly too much to say that it has largely solved the problem of training inferior races for the privileges and responsibilities of ordered life in a free political community. This moral effect of industrial training rightly organised is fully borne out by the experience of Reformatory Schools in our own country.

The Manual Training High School has direct connection, not only with the industries, but also with the great Technical Colleges and with the Applied Science Faculties in which the American Universities are peculiarly rich. Thus the University plays an important part in the promotion of Manual Education. Its Engineering Graduate has necessarily been


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through a programme of work which would qualify him to conduct the Manual Training Class of the High School. Nor is the more strictly educational Handwork of the Elementary School neglected; though here it is naturally the Faculty of Education that steps in. Thus the Teachers' Training College of Columbia University, New York, has organised courses of light Handwork which form part of a qualifying scheme of study for an initial degree in the Faculty. Such an arrangement is no doubt the exception, but is indicative of a general attitude. It is indeed just where educational investigation is most scientific and profound e.g. in the Education Faculties of Harvard, Columbia, and Chicago, that belief in the value of Handwork as an educational instrument, is most unqualified. The deliberate judgment of William James, the great psychologist may here be quoted. "The most colossal improvement which recent years have seen in Secondary Education lies in the introduction of the Manual Training Schools; not because they will give us a people more handy and practical for domestic life and better skilled in trades, but because they will give us citizens with an entirely different intellectual fibre."

France. During the half century which followed the Revolution of 1830, when France began to recover from the exhaustion of the Napoleonic wars, several experimental attempts were made to utilise the schools for industrial training, but these were local, disconnected, and usually confined to single industries. It was not until the great reconstruction effected by the Education Law of 1882 that Manual Training became part of the national system.

This law established the Infants' School with its manual occupations and universal Primary Schools with manual work as an essential part of the curriculum. These were supplemented by the growth under municipal management of Higher Primary Schools, which, at first unsystematised and sporadic, were organised by the further Education Laws of 1886 and 1893, and now form an important part of the French School system. They are intended for the most promising of the children from the Primary Schools who are looking forward to industrial employment. Beginning as a mere extension of the general Primary curriculum, they have moved more and more in the trade direction. The school period is four years. During the first year all the pupils pursue the same general course; the three remaining years are devoted to specialised courses in Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture respectively, between which the pupil has to make his choice. Manual work fills a considerable part of the time-table. This Higher Primary School is essentially a native French development. It has some analogy with the American Manual Training High School on one side and the English Higher Grade School and Higher Standard School on the other. It differs from the former in being definitely primary, from the latter in the greater length and thoroughness of its programme and in its closer relation to particular industries. The Act of 1889, which controls Technical instruction in English schools, limits it to "instruction in the principles of Science and Art applicable to industries", but expressly declares that it "shall not include teaching the practice of any trade or industry or employment". Manual work is thus viewed in France mainly from the vocational standpoint, and does not enter into the curriculum of the Secondary Schools.

Germany and Austria. Towards the close of the 18th century a movement in the direction of technical education began in North Germany and Bohemia and schools of industry were established which provided for Manual Work. But these were too much on trade lines, and the growth of Pestalozzi's ideas soon discredited and ultimately extinguished them. At the same time the impetus given by Pestalozzi to the rural school began to influence the German Governments. This led, during the first half of the 19th century, to the establishment of school gardens for the practical instruction of children, particularly in fruit growing, with the definite object of improving the conditions of rural life. Beginning in 1814 in Schleswig Holstein it, spread to Nassau and Prussia and subsequently to Mecklenburg


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Schwerin, Bavaria, the upper Palatinate, and Saxony. It has attained its fullest development in Austria. At first confined to the Elementary Schools, it has in Prussia and Saxony invaded the Secondary Schools and Training Colleges, and has even got foothold in one or two of the Universities.

But the motive of this governmental policy was purely social and economic. It was not until the last two decades of the century that the growth of Fröbelian ideas began to revive belief in Manual Training as an educational force. School workshops were established, the number of which increased from 164 in 1884 to 650 in 1898, of which over 400 were in Prussia. In 1886 was founded the Association for Educational Handwork for Boys. In 1889 the Leipzic [Leipzig] Training College was founded under Doctor W. Götze, and since 1895 a Theory Course has been conducted at the University of Jena. The subjects taught correspond on the whole with those pursued in English Schools.

Age 8-9. Preliminary courses of light Handwork, Paper-cutting, clay, etc.
10-12. Cardboard-modelling.
12 and onwards. Wood and Metal-work of various kinds and Glass work.
The Handwork Association and its Seminar at Leipzic have had considerable success in do far as they have endeavoured to reach boys out of school. The new Manual occupations tend to fill the place taken in English Schools by organised games, enlisting the interest of the pupil by the scope they offer for physical exercise and dexterity and proving a valuable ally to the teacher. For a long time all attempts to introduce them as regular subjects were frustrated by the emphatic opposition of the Elementary School Teachers. The Annual Conference of the Union of Teachers' Associations held at Cologne at Whitsuntide in 1900 accepted by a very large majority a resolution deprecating in the strongest terms the introduction of manual work for boys into the Elementary Schools. By that curious irony of fate which so often allows a winning cause to appear hopelessly defeated, the same year witnessed the establishment of manual instruction in the curriculum of the 8th year of the Elementary Schools of Münich. This action was taken on the recommendation of Dr. Kerschensteiner, whose writings have also done much to influence public opinion in Germany. His belief in the efficiency of the new development was fully and immediately justified. For whereas the attendance at the eighth year course, being voluntary, had hitherto been inconsiderable, with the introduction of this new subject it at once rose, without impairing that of other institutions receiving boys of a similar age. The past decade has produced the most marked change in the attitude of the Elementary School teacher. Instruction through action is a principle now so universally accepted that the Arbeitschule or the Tatschule is the educational fashion of the day, and has already produced a literature of no inconsiderable extent. It is desirable, however, to add that though the opinions of the teachers have changed, no extensive alterations have as yet been made in the official programmes of instruction.

A similar movement of a more industrial type has also been recently making remarkable progress under Dr. Kerschensteiner in Münich, chiefly in Continuation Schools and in branches of work directly bearing on the actual occupations of the pupils. This appears to owe its marked vitality less to the obvious utility of the work than to the reality and freshness it derives from its close connection with the everyday life of the pupil and the inspiring personality of the teacher.

In Austria a system of State Manual Training Schools (Handwerkerschulen) has also been established with apparently satisfactory results. These schools replace the last two years (12-14) of the Primary School and are intended to give direct preparation for a manual calling. During the first of these years the course consists of Wood-work and Metal-work, and is the same for all; during the second the pupils specialise in one or the other.


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Summaries of Evidence (image-only pdf file)


[pages 389-411]

Index (image-only pdf file)