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Writing is well taught to the pupils of the Fourth and junior Reports on classes. But many teachers consider they have fulfilled the require- the State of ments of the programme if they have taught the pupils of these classes Education. to imitate the head-lines of the copy-book prescribed for these classes, and their further progress in this branch can only be acquired by Mr. A. Purser. writing exercises, &c. Unfortunately the pupils of Fifth and Sixth Proficiency. classes in the schools in charge of such teachers do not write their exercises carefully, and we often find them dirty, as well as badly written.

"I am happy to be able to report a marked improvement in Spelling in the schools in this district.

The Programme in Arithmetic is divided into three heads: -(1) Tables and Notation, and Numeration. In general the pupils, especially those of the lower classes, know their tables well, and we rarely find the children of these classes having recourse to artificial means, such as counting on the fingers, &c., when working their sums. Notation and Numeration are also fairly well known. The second head in Arithmetic is Mental Arithmetic and Addition of Money. Mental Arithmetic is taught in most schools with moderate success. "The third requirement in Arithmetic is the special rules prescribed for each class. The answering on this portion of the programme is in general most satisfactory. The questions set are neatly and accurately worked out.

"Needlework.-Plain Sewing, Knitting, and Cutting-out are taught to most of the girls attending school here, as we have in nearly all the schools a female teacher or a workmistress paid by the Board. The making of Clones lace is a local industry in Monaghan.

"

Music is taught in all schools in which the teachers hold certificates of competency to teach the subject. Hullah's method has in nearly every school been superseded by the Tonic Sol-fa. The teaching of Music has received a great impetus by the adoption of the New Programme, and has in many places added greatly to the attractiveness of the school. In places where the children would not come to school before 10.30 or 11 o'clock a.m., I find there is a full attendance at 9.30 a.m., so anxious are the children to be present at the Music lesson.

"Drawing up to the present has not been taught in many schools in this district. Even in schools where the teachers hold certificates. of competency they in many instances refuse to teach it.

"Book-keeping is taught in only twelve schools, but I found in every instance the sets neatly written out and the entries well understood by the pupils.

Algebra, and Geometry, and Mensuration are taught in very few schools, but the answering of the pupils in every instance showed a thorough mastery of the course prescribed by the programme, and eareful teaching on the part of their instructors.

"A short course of Experimental Science was taught to the boys of the Fifth and Sixth classes in the Model school. French, first and second years' course, was taught with great credit and success to senior class pupils in the Monaghan Convent and Model schools."

Mr. M'ELWAINE:

"The Reading and Spelling programme for Infants receives due attention except in a few schools. When Action Songs and Drill are selected as the exercises for Infants, they are, as a rule, well taught,

Reports on the State of National

but Drill cannot be properly carried on without the aid of a musical instrument. Ball Frame is frequently chosen, but is seldom effecEducation. tively taught.

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"I do not know a better instrument for cultivating the intelligence Mr. A. Purser. of pupils than Object Lessons, and they are capable of being used Proficiency for all standards, from the lowest to the highest. It is perhaps the best test of teaching skill there is, for to be able to give a good Object Lesson implies the possession of a variety of good qualities. The general character of the Reading in the schools of this district is of a good mechanical kind. It is rare to meet with bad Reading, but it is also rare to meet with what one would call good Reading. Ease, accuracy, and attention to punctuation are all met with, but the style is monotonous, without intelligence or expression, and grouping or phrasing is not well done. The present educational scheme enables one to set up a higher standard than the old one did, and I have been pleased to see the efforts put forth by many teachers to change the character of the Reading in their schools, and to find a very satisfactory improvement in this respect within the past few months. It is a hard task, but when they have overcome the initial difficulties, and have established a good style of Reading in their schools, they will have no more trouble in maintaining a high standard than they had in producing the mediocre article of the past.

"Explanation in general receives fair attention in this district. I seldom find it good, and I seldom find it bad.

"

One important part of education which has received little attention in time past will, I hope, receive in the future the attention which its importance merits-I mean the training of pupils to follow the context of what they read, to understand the argument or the infor mation conveyed, and to be able to reproduce it when called on, not by rote, as a memory exercise, but transmuted by the alchemy of the mind.

"The repetition of Poetry may be described as fair. The prescribed number of poetical pieces is committed to memory by the pupils, but one rarely or never hears a tasteful and sympathetic recitation of a poem.

"When pupils are too poor to purchase Historical and Geographical Readers a supply might be kept in school to be given out at the beginning of a lesson and taken up at the end.

"

The standard of Writing in the district is not high. It may be described as fair. I do not often meet with really good Writing, and I seldom meet with bad. It is a subject in which pupils receive very little teaching.

"I cannot speak highly of Letter-writing. It is inferior in most schools. Grammatical errors and misspelled words are of frequent occurrence. The every-day language of the pupils bristles with solecisms of speech, making it more difficult to teach them to write correct English. Oral Composition should form the basis of written, and the New Programme very properly draws attention to this by requiring pupils to give their answers in complete sentences. They should be trained to speak correctly, and inaccuracies of speech should invariably be corrected by the teacher.

"I do not consider that this very useful subject has got sufficient attention, and when Letters are written they are frequently not examined, or examined in a slovenly manner. In such cases no improvement need be looked for.

1900.] anal of National Education in Ireland. Sny

Composition exercises might go hand in hand with lessons in the Reports on Readers literary, historical, or geographical.

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Arithmetic of junior classes is not satisfactory. If pupils were Education. judged by accuracy of work only there would be few failures, but tables have been systematically neglected. Answers were arrived at Mr. A. Purser. by mechanical aids, generally by counting one at a time, less Proficiency. frequently by finger-counting. When a bad foundation is thus laid, Arithmetic of senior classes is usually tainted with the same defects. From a comparison of the work done this year with last year's examination rolls, Arithmetic of senior classes seems to have retrograded to some extent.. I attribute this to the change in the programme.

"

"Oral Spelling of First and Second classes is, as a rule, satisfactory, but Writing from Dictation in the higher classes is too often poor. When this subject is badly taught, the reason is to be found in one or both of the following insufficient practice or slovenly correction.

Grammar is the subject taught in our schools with least satisfactory results. I frequently find the proficiency in it very poor.

"The proficiency in Geography does not rise above mediocrity. The fact that it does not appear in the New Programme as an examination subject has probably not been without influence.

"I believe there was a time when the use of the globe was known in Irish schools, but that was in the pre-Results period.

'Now that the old order is yielding place to the new, it is to be hoped that these globes will be again produced, dusted, and used, and that where there is none, one will be bought. Every school should also have a compass, in the use and understanding of which the pupils should, as far as possible, be trained.

"

Of other subjects, Singing and Drawing are taught in the large majority of schools. Next to these, Algebra and Book-keeping are most frequently taught.

"The Tonic Sol-fa system is steadily displacing Staff Notation. It is more easily taught, and seems to suit National schools better. The subject is carefully taught, but the selection of school songs leaves much to be desired.

Drawing in the past has not been a success in National schools, and I shall be interested in seeing the result of the lines of teaching laid down in the New Programme. We have hitherto paid too much attention to lines and too little to form. For practical use the latter is of much greater importance.

"I understand that the New Programme is more practical in its character, which will be an undoubted gain."

Mr. PEDLOW:

“I examine, in Belfast, children of Irish, English, and Scotch parentage, and what has given me some thought is the feeling which English children display in their reading of simple passages from books on the Board's list. They try to read as they speak. Our Scotch friends are somewhat deficient in this respect. I cannot say that they are better, possibly they are worse, than ourselves. Until recently distinct enunciation, with attention to the period or full stop, was all the teacher aimed at.

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'There is now no mere mechanical pass, and the teacher's model acts as a stimulus to the child. The monotonous pronunciation of words has to some extent ceased. Extension of knowledge, combined with expression, is aimed at.

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the State of National Education.

Mr. A. Purser.

"A taste for Reading is cultivated through the medium of school libraries, and their extension should be encouraged. Belfast makes use of the City Free Library, but, as a rule, only religious publications occupy the school-book presses.

"There is a tendency to return to the old system of Writing from Proficiency. imitating the teacher. Its advantages are class instruction and uniformity. All in the same standard write the same copy at the same time. It is much the same as Drawing from suspended charts, and beyond doubt there is valuable hand-and-eye training in the process. Head-lines on blackboard are only used for junior classes, especially the First. For senior classes head-line copies are preferred. In some schools short stories are read for the children to reproduce in transcription books. This is a most useful exercise, which cultivates the memory and forms an introduction to Composition. The exercises in Fifth and Sixth classes are more carefully marked than before, and the carelessness of home-work is diminishing. The letters still contain too many grammatical mistakes, which are constantly repeated, and too many misspelled words.

"Spelling. The method of teaching Spelling has been changed to meet the requirements of programme. In the different standards Word-building is now taught, and the children are practised in making short sentences of their own containing words selected for them.

"This is useful also for Composition. In Dictation the misspelled words are not always re-written correctly by the children, and sometimes they are not corrected at all. Such exercises are worse than useless. I find Transcription too much given in senior classes. Whilst in junior classes it is most useful, in senior classes its value diminishes.

"Arithmetic.-An hour, and frequently an hour and a-half, were devoted daily to the teaching of this subject, and test cards, containing examples of all rules, seemed to be the favourite method of securing passes.

"Practical and Commercial Arithmetic did not figure in the programme. I have endeavoured to attach importance to Mental Calculations, and to a thorough knowledge of the Addition and Subtraction Tables.

"The advent of the New Programme in Grammar appeased the minds of interested instructors more than any other reform. Three half-hours were devoted weekly to this subject, but distaste through want of progress became chronic.

"The goal to be reached seemed devoid of educational advancement. "That it would make the pupils speak correctly was not even dreamt of.

The standard required was beyond the years of the children. We have now before us another system, and one applicable to daily life. The most important element of it is the correction of grammatical

errors.

They

"Text-books and home tasks in Geography are given up. were objectionable to teacher and scholar alike, owing to the inactivity of mind which they encouraged. Readers have now been introduced, but dissatisfaction prevails owing to what is considered the unsuitability of these Readers for Irish schools. The teaching of this subject is at present time in a very unsettled state. I have not yet seen in the course of my inspection a ground plan of a school-room according to scale. In many schools there is no globe, and lessons on the

National

globe are very few, whilst the map is in daily use. Measurement of Reports on distance on either map or globe, the rules for determining time, the the State of causes of variations in temperature, even how to fix the cardinal Education. points, have practically been unattempted.

"In all city schools, and some of the rural schools, Music is taught, Mr. A. Purser. and almost entirely according to the Tonic Sol-fa method. Previously Proficiency. I complained of harshness of voice and shouting. The constant use of the modulator tended to correctness of pitch rather than sweetness of expression. In some schools I have latterly noticed improvement in Singing.

In Drawing one feature is the discontinuance of grooved slates, another the partial disuse of the rubber. Pupils generally like the rubber. They manifest much greater delight in erasing than in drawing a line.

Again, although I see Blackboard Drawing, I never see the object itself placed before the children; their curiosity is not aroused to ask questions. The lesson proceeds just as one in transcription. Within the last few weeks I was surprised to find remarkably good original designs in freehand. A talent not before brought to light in National schools here has caused astonishment. Teachers considered original designs in freehand difficult. They will find them much more interesting than mere copying.

"In the Infant schools and Infant departments Kindergarten occupations have been systematically taught. Building, Paper-folding, Weaving, and Stick-laying are dexterously done by the little ones. They scarcely ever have a simple talk with the teacher; yet this, if well directed, would be one of the best means of developing their inquiring nature. In some schools there is not sufficient life or enthusiasm, without which the gifts flag in interest. In the ordinary National schools Manual Instruction has as yet received little time or thought.

"I have not yet seen any Object Lessons given in senior schools, nor have the courses to be adopted in Elementary Science been definitely fixed.

I cannot express a very favourable opinion of the Object Lessons given in Infant schools. Many of them are more suitable for senior classes. They are lessons at which the teachers deliver little lectures, whilst the children endeavour to attend or to keep quiet. These lectures are interspersed with questions as if taken from a catechism, and the children respond, either individually or simultaneously, by repeating answers committed to memory. I do not say that all Object Lessons partake of this character. There are exceptions. The subjects selected have no sequence, no relation to one another, and they do not form a proper introduction to science or the study of nature. The surroundings of the children are not sufficiently taken into account. The lessons do not begin by making the children observe, find out, and tell all they can about the objects. They are a means of imparting knowledge, but not of training the mind.

"A good start has been made to establish Physical Drill. Immediately after the issue of the Revised Programme, private classes were established in the city, and many principals and assistants attended them. Instruction was also extensively given in schools by experts. As a result, the programme has already been pretty well mastered. There are, as I previously stated, no school games, nor is any inclination evinced to establish them.

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