years ago there was a considerable change in the Canadian schools and
universities. "The railroad magnate, the corporation manager, the
promoter, the multiform director, and all the rest of the group known
as captains of industry, began to besiege the universities clamouring
for practical training for their sons." Mr Leacock tells of a "great
and famous Canadian public school," which he attended, at which
practical banking was taught so resolutely that they had wire gratings
and little wickets, books labelled with the utmost correctness, and
all manner of real-looking things. It all came to an end, and now it
appears that in Canada they are beginning to find that the great thing
is to give a schoolboy a mind that will do anything; when the time
comes "you will train your banker in a bank." It may be that everybody
has not recognised this, and that the railroad magnates and the rest
of them are not yet fully convinced; but Mr Leacock declares that the
most successful schools of commerce will not now attempt to teach the
mechanism of business, because "the solid, orthodox studies of the
university programme, taken in suitable, selective groups, offer the
most practical training in regard to intellectual equipment, that the
world has yet devised."
To the same purport is the evidence given by Mr H.A. Roberts,
Secretary of the Cambridge Appointments Board (see _Minutes of
Evidence taken before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, 22nd
November 1912-13th December 1912_, pp. 66-73). The whole of this
testimony deserves careful study. For some few years past the heads
of the great business firms, in this country and abroad, have been
applying in ever increasing numbers to Cambridge (and to Oxford also,
though in this case statistics do not appear to be available) for men
to take charge of departments and agencies; to become, in fact,
"captains of industry." In the year before the war (1913-14) about 135
men were transferred from Cambridge University to commercial posts
through the agency of the Board[1]. One might naturally suppose that
the majority of these were science men; on the contrary, owing no
doubt to the greater number of other posts open to them, they were
fewer than might have been expected. Graduates from every Tripos are
found in the 135 in numbers roughly proportional to the numbers in the
various Tripos lists. Shortly before the war an advertisement of an
important managership of some works--in South America, if I remember
rightly--ended with the intimation that, other things being equal,
preference would be given to a man who had taken a good degree in
Classical Honours.
That most of such men are successful in their occupations might be
deemed to be proved by the steady increase in the number of
applications made for their services. There is, however, more definite
evidence available. A member of one of the largest business firms in
the country testified to the same Royal Commission that of the 46
Cambridge men who had been taken into his employment during the
previous seven years 43 had done excellently well, two had left before
their probationary period was ended to take up other work; and one
only had proved unsatisfactory. This evidence could easily be
supplemented did space permit. It is clear, then, that in many
callings what is wanted--to begin with, at any rate--is not so much
technical knowledge as trained intelligence.
Another reason for thus choosing university men is not difficult to
discover. When Mr W.L. Hichens (Chairman of Cammell, Laird and Co.)
addressed the Incorporated Association of Headmasters in January last
he declared that in choosing university graduates for business he
looked out for the man who might have got a First in Greats or
history, if he had worked--a man who had other interests as well, who
was President of the Common Room, who had been pleasant in the Common
Room, or on the river, or rowed in his college "Eight," or had done
something else which showed that he could get on with his fellow-men.
In business getting on means getting on with men.
The experience of Mr Hichens is so valuable that I cannot do better
than quote further. "A big industrial organisation such as my firm,
has, or should have three main sub-divisions--the manufacturing
branch, the commercial branch, and the research or laboratory
branch.... I will not deal with the rank and file, but with the better
educated apprentices, who expect to rise to positions of
responsibility. On the workshop side, we prefer that the lads should
come to us between sixteen and seventeen, and, if possible (after
serving an apprenticeship in the shops and drawing office), that they
should then go to a university and take an engineering course.
"On the commercial side also we prefer to get the boys between sixteen
and seventeen. We have recently, however, reserved a limited number of
vacancies for university men. The research department also is, in the
main, recruited from university men. But there is this difference,
that, whereas the research men should have received a scientific
training at the university we require no specialised education in the
case of university men joining the commercial side. Specialised
education at school is of no practical value. There is ample time
after a boy has started business to acquire all the technical
knowledge that his brain is capable of assimilating. What we want when
we take a boy is to assure ourselves that he has ability and moral
strength of character, and I submit that the true function of
education is to teach him how to learn and how to live--not how to
make a living. We are interested naturally to know that a boy has an
aptitude for languages or mathematics, but it is immaterial to us
whether he has acquired his aptitude, say for learning languages,
through learning Latin and Greek or French and German. The educational
value is paramount, the vocational negligible. If, therefore, modern
languages are taught because they will be useful in later life, while
Latin and Greek are omitted because they have no practical use,
although their educational value may be greater, you will be
bartering away the boy's rightful heritage of knowledge for a mess of
pottage."
There are doubtless many different opinions as to the best way of
training boys to become engineers, and in giving the results of his
experience Mr Hichens does not claim that he is voicing the unanimous
and well-considered judgments of the whole profession. His statement
that "specialised education at school is of no practical value to us"
would certainly be challenged by those schools which possess a strong,
well-organised engineering side for their elder boys. But there would
be substantial unanimity--begotten of long and often bitter
experience--in favour of his plea that a sound general education up to
the age of sixteen or seventeen at any rate, is an indispensable
condition of satisfactory vocational training. "I venture to think,"
says Mr Hichens, "that the tendency of modern education is often in
the wrong direction--that too little attention is given to the
foundations which lie buried out of sight, below the ground, and too
much to a showy superstructure. We pay too much heed to the parents
who want an immediate return in kind on their money, and forget that
education consists in tilling the ground and sowing the seed--forget,
too, that the seed must grow of itself."
It would appear from what has already been said that though the
necessity for vocational training exists in most, if not in all cases,
the time in a boy's life at which such training ought to begin is far
from being the same for all callings. Even where there is general
agreement as to the normal age, exceptional circumstances or
exceptional ability may justify the postponement of vocational
instruction to a much later period than would usually be desirable.
Thus the fact that two of the most distinguished members of the
medical profession graduated as Senior Wrangler and Senior Classic
respectively, will not justify the average medical student in waiting
until he is twenty-three before commencing his professional training.
If it be true that in some quarters "specialised education" has been
demanded for young boys, it is equally true that many youths pass
through school and enter the university without any clear idea of
whither they are tending. This uncertainty may be due to a belief that
"something is sure to turn up," to the magnitude of their allowances
and the ease of their circumstances, occasionally, perhaps, to
excessive timidity or underestimation of their powers; but, from
whatever cause it springs, such an attitude of mind is deplorable in
itself, and fraught with grave moral dangers. It ought to be possible
in the case of a boy of sixteen or seventeen to say with some approach
to certainty, for what employments he is quite unsuitable, and to
indicate the general direction, at least, in which he should seek his
life-work. The _onus_ of choice is too often laid upon the boy
himself; and the form in which the question is put--What would you
_like_ to be?--makes him the judge not only of his own desires and
abilities, but also of the conditions of callings with which he can,
at best, be but imperfectly acquainted. There is here fine scope for
the co-operation of parents and teachers not only with each other but
with the various professional and business organisations. It is
generally supposed to be the duty of a head master to observe and
study the boys committed to his care. It is equally important that he
should extend that study and observation to their parents--as an act
of justice to the boys, if for no other reason. But there are other
reasons. There is knowledge to be gotten from every parent--or at
least from every father--about his profession or business--knowledge
which, as a rule, he is quite willing to impart. If, in addition, a
head master avails himself of the opportunities of getting into touch
with men of affairs, leaders of commerce, professional men of all
kinds, his advice to parents as to suitable careers for their sons
becomes enormously more valuable. At the very least he may save them
from some of the more flagrant forms of error; for instance, he may
convince them that there are other and more valuable indications of
fitness for engineering than the ability to take a bicycle to pieces,
and a desire "to see the wheels go round"; and that a boy who is "good
at sums" will not, of necessity, make a good accountant. In short, he
may prevent them from mistaking a hobby for a vocation.
[Footnote 1: In this connection it may be noted that 43 per cent. of
the members of Trinity College--where the normal number of
undergraduates in residence is over 600--on leaving the university
devote themselves to business.]
III
It ought to be clearly stated that in writing of schools I have had in
mind those which are usually known as public schools; for in the
general preparation for practical life the public school boy enjoys
many advantages which do not fall to the lot of his less-favoured
brother in the elementary school. Not only does his education continue
for some years longer, but it is conducted along broader lines, and
gives him a greater variety of knowledge and a wider outlook. He
comes, too, as a rule, from those classes of the community in which
there are long standing traditions of discipline, culture, and what
may be called the spirit of _noblesse oblige_. These traditions do
not, of themselves, keep him from folly, idleness, or even vice; but
they do help him to endure hardship, to submit to authority, to
cultivate the corporate spirit, to maintain certain standards of
schoolboy honour, and, as he himself would say, "to play the game."
Though in the class-room it may be that appeals are largely made to
individualism and selfishness, yet on the playing fields he learns
something of the value of co-operation and the virtue of
unselfishness. From the very first he begins to develop a sense of
civic and collective responsibility, and, in his later years at
school, he finds that as a prefect or monitor he has a direct share in
the government of the community of which he is a member, and a direct
responsibility for its welfare. Nor does this sense of corporate life
die out when he leaves, for then the Old Boys' Association claims him,
and adds a new interest to the past, while maintaining the old
inspiration for the future.
With the elementary school boy it is not so. To him, as to his
parents, the primal curse is painfully real: work is the sole and not
always effectual means of warding off starvation. He realises that as
soon as the law permits he is to be "turned into money" and must
needs become a wage-earner. As a contributor to the family exchequer
he claims a voice in his own government, and resists all the attempts
of parents, masters, or the State itself to encroach upon his liberty.
He begins work with both mind and body immature and ill-trained. There
has been little to teach him _esprit de corps_; he has never felt the
sobering influence of responsibility; the only discipline he has
experienced is that of the class-room, for the O.T.C. and organised
games are to him unknown; and when he leaves there is very rarely any
Association of Old Boys to keep him in touch with his fellows or the
school. Here and there voluntary organisations such as the Boy Scouts
have done something--though little--to improve his lot; but, in the
main, the evils are untouched. To find the remedy for them is not the
least of the many great problems of the future.
The improvement of any one branch of industry ultimately means the
improvement of those engaged therein. Scientific agriculture, for
example, is hardly possible until we have scientific agriculturists.
In like manner real success in practical life depends on the temper
and character of the practitioner even more than upon his technical
equipment. There are, however, three great obstacles to the progress
of the nation as a whole, obstacles which can only be removed very
gradually, and by the continuous action of many moral forces. We are
far too little concerned with intellectual interests. "No nation, I
imagine," says Mr Temple, "has ever gone so far as England in its
neglect of and contempt for the intellect. If goodness of character
means the capacity to serve our nation as useful citizens, it is
unobtainable by any one who is content to let his mind slumber." Then
again we suffer from the low ideal which leads us to worship success.
From his earliest years a boy learns from his surroundings, if not by
actual precept, to strive not so much to be something as somebody. The
love of power rather than fame may be the "last infirmity of noble
minds," but it is probably the first infirmity of many ignoble ones.
Herein lies the justification of the criticism of a friendly alien.
"You pride yourselves on your incorruptibility, and quite rightly; for
in England there is probably less actual bribery by means of money
than in any other country. _But you can all be bribed by power_."
Lastly (to quote Mr Hichens yet once more), "Strong pressure is being
brought to bear to commercialise our education, to make it a paying
proposition, to make it subservient to the God of Wealth and thus
convert us into a money-making mob. Ruskin has said that 'no nation
can last that has made a mob of itself.' Above all a nation cannot
last as a money-making mob. It cannot with impunity--it cannot with
existence--go on despising literature, despising science, despising
art, despising nature, despising compassion, and concentrating its
soul on pence."
XI
TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
By FRANK ROSCOE
Secretary of the Teachers Registration Council
The title of this chapter is prophetic rather than descriptive for
although teachers often claim for their work a professional status and
find their claim recognised by the common use of the phrase "teaching
profession" yet it must be admitted that teachers do not form a true
professional body. They include in their ranks instructors of all
types, from the university professor to the private teacher or
"professor" of music. Their terms of engagement and rate of
remuneration exhibit every possible variety. Their fitness to
undertake the work of teaching is not tested specifically, save in the
case of certain classes of teachers in public elementary schools, nor
is there any general agreement as to the proper nature and scope of
such a test, could one be devised. Usually, it is true, the
prospective employer demands evidence that the intending teacher has
some knowledge of the subject he is to teach. He may seek to satisfy
himself that the applicant has other desirable qualities, personal and
physical, which will fit him to take an active and useful part in
school work. These inquiries, however, will have little or no
reference to his skill in teaching, apart from what is called
discipline or form management.
The characteristics of a true profession are not easily defined, but
it may be assumed that they include the existence of a body of
scientific principles as the foundation of the work and the exercise
of some measure of control by the profession itself in regard to the
qualifications of those who seek to enter its ranks. Taken together,
these two characteristics may be said to mark off a true profession
from a business or trade. The skilled craftsman or artisan may belong
to a union which seeks to control the entrance to its ranks, but the
difference between the member of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
and the member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is that the
former belongs to a body chiefly concerned with the application of
certain methods while the latter belongs to one which is concerned
with those methods, not only in their application but also in their
origin and development. It is recognised that there is a body of
scientific knowledge underlying the practice of engineering, and the
various professional institutions of engineers seek to extend this
knowledge, while claiming also the right to ascertain the
qualifications of those who desire to become members of their
profession. The same is true in different ways with regard to the
professions of law and medicine. It is to be noted also that within
these professions the admitted member is on a footing of equality with
all his colleagues save only so far as his professional skill and
eminence entitle him to special consideration.
It will be seen at once that there are great difficulties to be
overcome before teaching can be truly described as a profession. The
diversity of the work is so great that it may be held that teaching is
not one calling but a blend of many. It is difficult to find any
common link between the university professor, the head master of a
great public school, an instructor in physical training, and a
kindergarten teacher. It is not easy to bring together the head master
of a preparatory school, working in complete independence, and the
head master of a public elementary school, dealing with pupils of
about the same age as those in the preparatory school, but controlled
and directed by an elected public authority under the general
supervision of the Board of Education. Yet despite these apparent
divergences of aim all teachers may be regarded as pursuing the same
end. They are engaged in bringing to bear upon their pupils certain
formal and purposeful influences with the object of enabling them to
play their part in the business of life. Such formal influences are
seconded by countless informal ones. School and university alone do
not make the complete man and it is an important part of the teacher's
task to second his direct and purposeful teaching by the influence of
his own personality and conduct, and by securing that the form or
school is in harmony with the general aim of his work.
Skill in imparting instruction is by no means the whole of the
equipment required by a teacher. It is indeed possible to give "a good
lesson" or a series of "good lessons" and yet to fail in the real work
of teaching. In some branches far too much stress has been laid on
the more purely technical and mechanical attributes of good teaching
as distinct from the finer and more permanent qualities such as
intellectual stimulus, the awakening of a spirit of inquiry, and the
development of a true corporate sense. By way of excuse it may be said
that teaching has tended to become a form of drill chiefly in those
schools where the classes have been too large to permit of anything
better than rigid discipline and a constant attention to the learning
of facts. Teachers in such circumstances are gravely handicapped in
all the more enduring and important parts of their work. Very large
schools and classes of an unwieldy size tend to turn the teacher into
a mere drill sergeant.
While full provision should always be made for the exercise of the
teacher's individuality there must be sought some unifying principle
in all forms of teaching work. Unless it is agreed that the imparting
of instruction demands special skill as distinct from knowledge of the
subject-matter we shall be driven to accept the view that the teacher,
as such, deserves no more consideration than any casual worker. No
claim to rank as a profession can be maintained on behalf of teachers
if it is held that their work may be undertaken with no more
preparation than is involved in the study of the subject or subjects
they purpose to teach. A true profession implies a "mystery" or at
least an art or craft and some knowledge of this would seem to be
essential for teachers if they are to have professional status.
The difficulty in this connection is that the principles of teaching
have not yet been worked out satisfactorily. Our knowledge of the
operations of the mind develops very slowly and those who carry out
investigations in this field of research are few in number. Their
conclusions are not necessarily related to teaching practice but cover
a wider field. The study of applied psychology with special reference
to the work of the teacher needs to be encouraged since it will serve
to enlarge that body of scientific principle which should form the
basis of teaching work. It is by no means necessary, or even
desirable, that teachers should be expected to spend their time in
psychological research. Their business is to teach and this requires
that they should devote themselves to applying in practice the truths
ascertained and verified by the psychologists. For this purpose it
will be necessary that they should know something of the method by
which these truths are sought and proved. It is also an advantage for
teachers to learn something of the history of education, not as a
series of biographies of so-called Great Educators but rather with the
object of learning what has been suggested and attempted in former
times. Such a knowledge furnishes the teacher with the necessary power
to deal with new proposals and with the many "systems" and "methods"
which are continually arising. Instead of becoming an eager advocate
of every novelty or adopting an attitude of indiscriminate scepticism
he will be in some measure able to estimate the true merit of new
proposals, and his knowledge of mental operations will serve as an
aid in judging whether they have any germ of sound principle. The
alternative plan of leaving the teacher to learn his craft solely by
practice often has the result of confining him too closely to narrow
and stereotyped methods, based either on the imperfect recollection of
his own schooldays, or on the method of some other teacher. Imitation
is cramping and serves to destroy the qualities of initiative and
adaptability which are indispensable to success in teaching.
It will be noted that no extravagant demand is put forward on behalf
of what is called training in teaching. The methods of training
hitherto practised have been based too frequently on the assumption
that it is possible to fashion a teacher from the outside, as it were,
by causing him to attend lectures on psychology and teaching method
and to hear a course of demonstration lessons. This plan may fail
completely since it is possible to write excellent examination answers
on the subjects named and even to give a prepared lesson reasonably
well without being fitted to undertake the charge of a form. It should
be recognised that the practice of teaching can be acquired only in
the class-room under conditions which are normal and therefore
entirely different from those existing in the practising school of a
training college. When this truth is fully apprehended we may expect
to find that the young teacher is required to spend his first year in
a school where the head master and one or more members of the regular
staff are qualified to guide his early efforts and to establish the
necessary link between his knowledge of theory and his requirements
in practice.