I. Head kindly furnished me by Mr. Bradford, will be found in Ap- APPENDIX C. pendix 1, annexed to this Report. This self-imposed task, it is but right to mention, was in the most praiseworthy manner Inspectors' undertaken by him in addition to the usual duties of his Reports on office, which in his very large district involved no ordinary of Teachers. amount of trouble and labour. Examination The course he pursued seems to have been most judicious Mr. Butler. in every respect; and certainly the Teachers who were fortunate enough to attend the meetings with regularity, answered with greater readiness and accuracy than I have met with in persons who have not had the same advantages. I may in corroboration point out that in the written exercises of five Second Class Masters belonging to this district, who had been able to avail themselves of this opportunity for instruction, only 12 per cent. of the answers were found unsatisfactory, while for the 19 examined in all the districts, the number of unsatisfactory answers amounts to 30 per cent. To the careful consideration of such of the Inspectors as may be induced to follow Mr. Bradford's example, I would earnestly recommend these few points :-That, unless they can make time to superintend and take part in these meetings themselves, little good will be effected in them;-that examinations are for many reasons to be preferred to lectures; -that the subjects to be taken up at each meeting should be previously appointed and prepared;-that these subjects should be those specified in the programme, giving the first place in point of importance to the branches essential to every Teacher, and a familiarity with which is absolutely necessary for the efficient management of an elementary school;-that special care be paid to allot to the various branches according to their relative importance, a due share of attention, and not to devote too much time to those in which from previous habits of thought and study one would feel the deepest interest, but which to ninety-nine out of a hundred of our elementary Teachers would prove quite profitless. School-management.-Before concluding, I think it necessary to refer to the subject of School-keeping or Schoolmanagement, which has, unavoidably perhaps, been hitherto almost wholly overlooked in our examinations. The fact is, there is no text-book on the art and science of education which can be placed in the hands of our Teachers, and the peculiar features of the National Schools render it very difficult to provide a work on this subject sufficiently full to embrace all its essential principles and details, and at the same time free from well-grounded objections. The only books at present within the reach of the Teachers are Dr. Sullivan's "Outline of the Methods of Teaching in the Male Model I. Head APPENDIX C. Schools," and the Rev. Mr. Dawes' " Suggestive Hints.” Both of these works treat rather of the manner in which instruction on a subject should be conveyed to a Class, than of the general principles of School-management, the arrangement of the School-rooms and furniture, the classification of the children, the cultivation of their faculties and feelings, Mr. Butler. the extent and character of the instruction to be imparted to them, &c. It has thus happened, that on this all-important branch of the Schoolmaster's duties-a well-grounded knowledge of the end he is to propose to himself and of the means he must employ to attain it-the examination has of necessity been very meagre, and limited to a few questions on the rules and regulations of the Commissioners, the manner of keeping the School-Accounts, and the more prominent and obvious points connected with the mode of teaching some of the branches. And even in this narrow compass the results have not been in any degree satisfactory. It would be most desirable to have this want supplied, and all the Teachers provided with a proper Hand-book on the principles and practice of education. To the absence of a work of this kind many of the most glaring defects observed in the Schools are no doubt to be traced. In order to present to the Teachers some idea of the matters usually treated in works and lectures on the science of education, I insert in Appendix 2, extracts from the Syllabus of Lessons on Education given to the students in training at the Home and Colonial School Society, a list of "Conversational Readings" on the art of teaching and governing in a School, delivered to the students in the Normal School of the British and Foreign School Society, together with a set of "Questions to Test a School," as contained in the manual of this Society; I have added some selections from the examination papers on this head, which have been used in England during the last few years. I have the honour to be, your obdient Servant, The Secretaries, Education Office. APPENDIX 1. ACCOUNT OF THE TEACHERS' MEETINGS HELD IN MULLINGAR. In May, 1848, after the examination of the Male Teachers, I collected those who live in the neighbourhood of the town, and proposed that they should form themselves into three classes, each of which would attend every third Saturday at the Mullingar Male school, and prepare for the examinations of future years. Most of them agreed, and we commenced reading the course laid down in the programme APPENDdix C. for First, Second, and Third Class. I. Head Examination of Teachers. After a time it was found expedient to alter the days of at- Inspectors' tendance for each class. During the last two years the order Reports on has been thus:-The First Class come on the first Saturday of the month, the Second Class on the second Saturday, the Third Class (the Probationers and the two paid Monitors who live Mr. Butler. in the town) on the third Saturday; on the fourth Saturday the Second Class attend, and the First Class on the fifth Saturday. The Third Class prepare a certain number of pages in every book appointed for their class in the programme. I question them on those pages, requiring the meaning of the passages, and in their own words, not those of the book, that it may not be a mere exercise of memory. The same course is pursued with Second and First Class, except that the fourth and fifth Saturdays are given exclusively to Geometry, Algebra, the Lessons on Reasoning, and Chemistry. Occasionally I find an opportunity of suggesting improvements in the method of teaching or conducting their schools, and of cautioning them against such neglects or errors as I have seen during my late visits of inspection. At times advanced books of my own are introduced, for the purpose of illustration or explanation, but the questions asked are invariably drawn from the works mentioned in the programme. As the parts of the Epitome of Geographical Knowledge selected for Second and First Class have so many unconnected particulars, and as the history in the Fifth Lesson Book is arranged in a manner most inconvenient for study, I have drawn up a set of questions on the principal points in both these subjects, on which alone I question, that the Teachers may obtain just general views. But in all the other subjects, every page of the course prescribed is gone through. Jackson's Book-Keeping is used in addition to that published by the Board, as being so very useful in giving a general knowledge of the subject in a short time. I have been much struck with the superior answering, at the yearly examinations of the older Teachers, who have learned from Jackson. As far as I have seen, the younger men are greatly inferior to them. I think it would be well that Dawes' " Hints" and the first and second books of the "Epitome" were added to the course, for First and Second Class. The former of these works is full of information most useful to our Teachers; the latter would give them a greater interest in studying the Fifth Book and the Geography Generalized. In general we assemble at half-past one o'clock, and leave off APPENDIX C. at half-past four. Since the commencement, two have regu I. Head larly attended on First Class Saturdays, seven on Second Class, and ten on Third Class days. Besides thesc, three have occa sionally been present, but they live at so great distances that they cannot often come. The nineteen regular attendants study very carefully at Mr. Butler. home. They say that they have an interest in reading the subjects, which they could not otherwise feel; that if they had no person to refer to for a solution of difficulties-no one to question them at periods of short intervals-they would either neglect their studies or pursue them in an unprofitable, desultory manner. There is a great difference in the progress of the Teachers who attend these Saturday examinations, and of those who live in distant parts of the district. The former are rising fast in their classification every year. In particular there is one who, in 1848, knew little beyond reading and arithmetic, but at the examination of this year his answering was so good that he was placed in Second Class. Many of our Schoolmasters become disheartened after a time, when they find it impossible, by their own unassisted study, to rise into First or Second Class, where alone their salary is sufficient to keep their families from want. If a means can be found of qualifying them for deserving such a promotion, it is evident that a great obstacle to the success of our schools will be removed. We have so little time, after travelling, inspecting schools, answering letters, and writing reports, that nothing but a great anxiety to raise the condition of the Teachers, and increase the efficiency of their schools, can induce an Inspector to carry on such a course of examinations every Saturday in the year. But the advantage to the National system is so great as well to reward him for the trouble. Mullingar, September, 1851. APPENDIX 2. JOHN BRADFord. EXTRACTS FROM SYLLABUS OF LESSONS ON EDUCATION, GIVEN I. THE PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION AS SET FORTH BY PESTALOZZI, The true aim of education as it respects knowledge-intel- Appendix C. lectual and moral character-Social relations-Moral and re- I. Head ligious duties-Principles on which based-The proper work Inspectors' of the Teacher deduced-Results. Reports on Examination of Teachers. 2. The Influence of a Good Education.-The little that has been done by education as hitherto pursued-Causes of thisInfluence of a good education on thought, feeling, sentiment, Mr. Butler. opinion, &c.,-Different senses in which the child may be said to be father of the man-Influence of education established from examples-Necessity of faith in this principle on the part of the Teacher-Incidental and systematic education, difference between-The Teacher to form a good intellectual and moral atmosphere round the child-Means of effecting this. 3. Education, Organic.-Organs and organized bodies considered to illustrate this-Difference between growth from within carried on by organic action or development, and increase from without effected by accretion-Application-Difference between ordinary elementary education and elementary education on the system of Pestalozzi-Deductions as liberty, activity, and power-The application, especially as to liberty, in the school-room and play-ground. 4. On Education being an entire Work.-Pestalozzi's motto, "Education has to work on the head, the hand, and the heart” --Dugald Stewart on the same point-Pestalozzi introduced the principle into popular education-The perfection to be aimed at in education, moral-Mistakes that have been made as to Pestalozzi's practice-Pestalozzi's estimate of the relative importance of the different elements of a child's nature, and method of dealing with each. 5. Education should aim at the Gradual and Progressive Development of the Faculties.-Examples of graduated and progressive instruction as-Proceeding from realities to signs, first natural, then artificial-From particular facts to general truths-From what is simple to what is complex-From the exercise of observation to the exercise of conception-From the conception of material things to abstract ideas, &c.-The first step to find something analogous in the experience of the child to the subject presented, thus proceeding from the known to the unknown-The child to be firm on one step before proceeding to the next-The extent to which graduation should be carried-Extremes to be avoided-The gradations not to be too minute to prevent healthy exercise. 6. Education should be Harmonious.-The cultivation of all the faculties, not singly and apart, but simultaneously. 7. The Character or Spirit of Education.-" Not to teach religion alone but all things religiously"-Illustration drawn from the circulation of the blood in the body-Exemplification |