No. 26.

EVENING CONTINUATION SCHOOLS IN LONDON.

T

By the REV. STEWART D. HEADLAM.

HE work of the Evening Continuation Schools under the London School Board has been growing steadily since it began in 1882, and now has a strong hold on a large portion of the London population. Moreover, special interest has been aroused in it by the controversies which took place prior to the late School Board election, and by the statement made by Mr. Justice Wills (when giving his judgment as to the legality of one portion of the work) that the whole of the work so far as it dealt with pupils over the age of 16 or 17 was illegal.

I am glad, therefore, to have an opportunity of making clear what this work is, more especially as it will doubtless be continued and extended pending the decision of the House of Lords. I am glad also to think that my statement will come before those who are specially interested in secondary schools, for I have little doubt but that I shall be able to convince them that, however impossible and undesirable it may be to attempt to draw a hard and fast line between primary and secondary education, in our evening schools at any rate, there is nothing of which they need be jealous, but rather that the work demands their sympathy and support.

During the eighteen years we have been at work. the number of schools has grown from 83 to 368, and of pupils admitted from 9,064 to 124,200; the greatest increase being in the year when the fees were abolished, the numbers growing from 57,586 to 109,121.

These figures are an indication of how many there are in London of those who, working during the day, are willing to give part of their evening leisure to some kind of study: and I also state, without any fear of contradiction, though I have no official figures at hand, that the numbers attending the various technical institutions supported or subsidised by the County Council, as well as the little private and religious societies and clubs, etc., which they help, so far from diminishing, have increased while we have been increasing. The timid County Councillors, afraid of "overNo. 26, VOL. 3.]

SIXPENCE.

lapping," had not realised how vast a population there was still untouched. The real fact is that, when every trade and industry of men or women has its technical school with advanced and research work, there will still be an ample demand for the more general humanising and domestic work of our evening schools; much more is there need for them now while the Technical Board is still in its infancy.

A few figures will show what subjects last year attracted the young Londoner for a few hours away from his hard-earned leisure, for we are dealing with those whose main business is breadwinning, and many of whom have to work for an inordinate time at that business: Shorthand, 33,000; Arithmetic, 31,000; Book-keeping, 23,000; Commercial Correspondence, 2,800; Writing, 12,000; Composition, 18,000; Geography, 14,000; History, 5,000; French, 19,000; German, 1,400; First Aid, 14,000; Home Nursing, 3,000; Woodwork, 14,000; Needlework, 16,000; Vocal Music, 13,000; Gymnastics, 17,000; Swimming and Life-saving, 12,000; Drill, 13,000; English Literature, 3,000; Cookery, 6,000; Laundry Work, 1,300; Drawing, 10,000; Science, about

10,000.

The choice of subjects is left largely to the pupil, though the wise teacher is becoming more and more a power to guide the pupil in this matter. The enormous run on Shorthand is a curious phenomenon. Do what we will, we cannot quench the desire for attempting it. But then all quasi-commercial subjects are popular. It is not only on account of its commercial value that so many attempt to learn French. I have in my mind one class in a school in the very poorest part of St. Luke's, where some twenty-four rough girls come steadily to French for the simple love of the thing and the teacher. By-and-bye, more than the present 180 commercial students will want Spanish and Portuguese. Much was made by the enemy at the late election of the fact that we taught Russian-we do to twelve pupils: it is the work of a volunteer teacher. But the people of London who want a good opening for their sons would do well to demand more classes in this languagebesides, what a delight to read Tolstoy at first hand rather than in a bad translation of a French version.

The Ambulance and Home Nursing classes, to

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which may be added a few classes on the simple Laws of Health, which I hope will increase in numbers, are among our most valuable pieces of work. They are taught by doctors and trained nurses, and followed by a searching examination, for which certificates are given. I could give from my own knowledge many instances of the practical good resulting from them. These lessons appeal to the roughest as well as to the refined, and I hope they will be widely extended.

The Woodwork classes are also extremely popular with the lads and young men. How good the work is anyone can see who attends our Annual Exhibition.

Our Needlework, which, according to the somewhat pedantic phraseology of the Board of Education, is divided into needlework as applied to "garments," needlework as applied to dresses, and needlework as applied to "headgear," is also of the greatest use to the young-and marriedwomen. Hundreds of them are taught to make their own underclothing, frocks and hats. I am sorry for any Government (whatever may be the final legal decision) which does not allow this work to continue.

We are gradually forming choirs in every school. Several this Christmas have been singing carols in connection with the Referee Children's Dinner fund. We also have a few special Music classes, by means of which our own day-school teachers are enabled to add the old notation to their Tonic Solfa acquirements.

The Gymnastic centres, of which there are 84, have all been started during the last three years; they are places for serious work, invaluable to young men and young women who have to lead sedentary lives.

Our English Literature classes have also only recently been added; they were mainly intended to introduce real classics to the readers of the London Journal, Tit Bits, &c. The lecturer was to tell the story of the play or the novel, and to induce the pupils to buy a cheap edition; in this way they were in many cases successful. The roughest boys and girls in Deptford were enthralled by the story of Oliver Twist, and a couple of hundred young men and women from the shops and business houses in Hackney have listened regularly week by week to lectures on Shakespeare; Bethnal Green boys will tell you the story of Hamlet, and give you their opinion on the meaning of it; Whitechapel girls will stand out and act to you with splendid intonation and real power a series of short scenes from "Twelfth Night." For two years now some twenty schools have sent selected companies to act, first the Trial Scene from "The Merchant of Venice," then the Play Scene from " Hamlet," and Mr. Ben Greet, who judged them, has expressed himself delighted with the result. This good work must continue. Mr. Poel, of the Elizabethan Stage Society, has just joined our ranks, giving us the benefit of his unique knowledge of the English drama. Here there is a fine opening for any of your readers, secondary-school teachers who, in

addition to a full literary knowledge, possess the power of expressing themselves and holding the attention of pupils not yet in love with the English Classics. Our most successful teacher of this subject came from the "secondary" ranks.

In addition to the schools the curriculum of which I have indicated above, there are sixteen schools specialised as commercial schools, where persons (male or female) engaged in the City can get trained at night in subjects which will be valuable to them, and eventually to the nation-commercially. Most of these pupils prepare for the examinations of the Chamber of Commerce or the Society of Arts, and the subjects taken are mainly those required by the examiners. Before Christmas there were 8,000 pupils on the roll of these schools. There are also nine special schools for Science and Art, with a roll of 6,000, working chiefly at subjects which are examined by South Kensington, but engaged earning their living during the day, many of them being our own teachers.

Besides these, there are nine little schools for the deaf, with a roll of 280. I am confident that we can continue this work better than any other body could.

Now in giving these facts and figures I suffer from no illusions; we are dealing with people whose main work is bread-winning. We have therefore inevitably to put up with an irregularity of attendance which, to an ordinary day-school teacher of any grade, would be heartbreaking. That irregularity can be lessened by various expedients, but it will never be got rid of till the State demands from the employers so many hours a week for the mental, technical and physical training of its young citizens up to the age of 21.

What kind of pupils come to your schools? I am sometimes asked. The answer is, all kinds of London bread-winners. There is a delightful story going about of an officer in the Engineers who could only learn what he wanted from us; of an English lady who married a German, who came to us to learn how to talk to her husband; of an old man with an invention who came to us in order to secure his patent. And, frankly, we ask no questions as to the social position of our pupils; we feel that if here and there well-to-do ratepayers like to come to us-well, their rates are heavy, and they are very wise to use their own schools for their own education. But roughly our schools, both day and evening, classify themselves by neighbourhood. In well-to-do suburban neighbourhoods you get one sort, in rough poor neighbourhoods you get another sort; both alike are welcome.

I go to a school in the neighbourhood of Deptford; I casually meet the excellent manager, who spends his spare time in hunting up the rough fellows at the waterside. I go in and find a hall full of splendid athletic young men at work in the gymnasium; I see a lot of slouching lads sitting round. The responsible teacher, a real live man, the secret of all success in evening work, says, "These chaps you see on the bars were a year ago like those sitting round." I go into a class-room and

find some forty rough lads listening to a history lesson, evidently interested, though most of them are in their shirt-sleeves. I go into another room, and find a dozen at work drawing. I suppose Mr. Justice Wills and the City Corporation would. object; anyhow, it is humanising. I go into the fourth room, and meet the doctor about to begin an ambulance class. "No keener class anywhere," he says. And that is the curriculum of that school: the majority of the pupils over 17, and therefore "illegally" taught, unless they pay two guineas a year! It would be a pity-it would not be to the nation's advantage-to close that school.

A twenty minutes' walk takes you to one of our very best Science and Art and Commercial Schools -all spick-and-span students, though many of them only earning small wages. Another responsible teacher full of energy; many subjects being studied Physiology, Hygiene, Chemistry, Building Construction, Magnetism, Mathematics, Typewriting, Advanced Shorthand, and what not, with a splendid lesson in French on the Gouin system, and a course of lectures on Literature on "off" evenings. And these are two extreme types of some 380 schools.

There is one evening-school institution to which I must refer, the "social evening," to which in most schools the pupils are invited once a month. These social evenings, and the preparation for them, led to the absurd statement that our evening schools are mainly places for dancing. If they were, and if every London lad and lass could be compelled to learn to dance, there would be no great harm done. But the fact is that once a month we give the teacher the use of the school hall, and a dance, sometimes with a few songs interspersed, takes place. I am certain that these "socials" have a civilising effect on the pupils and the neighbourhood, and are a valuable adjunct to the ordinary school life.

Now surely there can be nothing more ridiculous than the statement that in all this we are trenching on the province of the secondary schools; that we are doing the work of the Technical Board; that we are suffering from "megalomania," and want to make ourselves into a London University! It is quite true that by the Act of 1890 we are distinctly told that the condition applicable to day schools, that "the education given must be in the principal part elementary," does not apply to evening schools; but the mere fact that 99 per cent. at least of our pupils are working during the day, and they can only get in our evening schools a couple of hours any evening on generally not more than three evenings a week, makes it absurd to talk of there being any jealousy between the secondary schools and us; and equally absurd, I think, that any "Body" which the Government may create to manage secondary schools should have also to manage schools so different from them

as ours are.

It is also true that the law allows us to give technical instruction, but the limitations of our buildings prevent us for the most part from doing

So.

The great trades and industries must look to the Technical Board for that advanced training and research which is so necessary, but which is only in a small degree at present forthcoming; our province is at once humbler and nobler. The domestic arts are ours-the languages, the literature, the science, which is the basis of technical skill, the manual training, the physical development, above all the humanising and the helping of those who belong to no skilled trade at all-these are ours. Ours, too, are the commercial schools, with which we were the first in the field. It is a work of vital national importance, which no other public body had attempted to touch.

And as for megalomania, no one who knows how little has been done compared with what remains to be done can suffer from that.

Going about as I have done during the last twelve years all over London, visiting schools, has certainly impressed upon me the value of our work, and made me feel how disastrous it would be to do anything to thwart it, but it has also made me feel, perhaps more than others have felt, how many there are untouched by any of us. We really cannot afford to be jealous of each other, or to keep trying to find legal means for hindering each other's work.

The

To the saving of time there are limits. time spent in school-work daily must not exceed certain limits, hard to fix, but not to be transgressed under serious penalties.

It is possible to give too much teaching, and boys would sometimes be better for doing preparation themselves in school instead of having it done for them by the master.

It is possible to spend so much time over the correction of home-work that the loss exceeds the gain.

There can, I think, be little doubt that, especially with young boys, we err in the length of the school day by excess rather than by defect. Our knowledge on this point is still unsatisfactory, but it is safe to say that when a boy of 16 has had five or five-and-a-half hours in school another two

hours' work at home is the limit of what he should do. Younger boys should do much less, and under 10 or even II probably none at all. Longer hours mean slackness over work, or for the more conscientious boys over-pressure.

In some subjects, the early stages of language teaching, for instance, all the time available can with advantage be spent in actual teaching and oral work in class; but in others, mathematics, perhaps natural science, it is possible to teach too much and not to leave boys alone sufficiently. Whether further practice at home is advantageous, then, depends on the time allotted in school and the quantity of work desired.

Written home-work must, of course, generally be examined, or careless and slovenly habits are encouraged. If a master takes work home and gives it back to a boy afterwards, much of the effect of correction is lost. It should be looked at on the spot as part of the lesson. Unless this can be done quickly, and without leaving boys sitting idle (a mistake sometimes made), there is much

waste.

These considerations show how difficult it is to lay down general rules. Home-work must be set, as far as possible, to help the lessons; its nature will depend on the nature of these. In mathematics it is easy to choose suitable work, according to the age and capacity of the class. It may be some straightforward work set for practice merely, a few general questions to keep up back work, or some questions to be thought over and attempted which will make the next lesson interesting and fruitful. The construction of solids out of cardboard, the plotting of graphs, the graphical solution of equations or of geometrical and mechanical problems are especially good for the purpose. All such work needs patience, care and leisure, and is best done without help. It has the further advantage that it can be very easily examined.

In the days when the memorising of facts, whether of grammar, history or science, formed the great part of education, naturally there was much repetition work that could be done at home, and time in school was mostly spent in hearing it. In the reaction from this perhaps we have gone too far in the other direction, and there is too much teaching and explanation, and the responsibility of mastering a subject is taken too much off boys' own shoulders. Such work as it legitimately occurs and it forms an element in all subjectsmay properly be set for home preparation, provided it is adequately tested.

Of language teaching I speak with hesitation ; but one evil I have met with, the setting of translation to be prepared, of which a boy can say, with some colour of truth, that he "cannot make it out." He is sometimes told (as evidence of effort) to make a list of words if he cannot make sense, a wholly wasteful and mischievous process. He should feel that, if he has not made sense, he has done nothing. No work should be set which cannot be tolerably well done. In the early stages of language teaching the work proper to be done at home is the revision and mastering of work already

done in school, but so much depends on the style of teaching that it is impossible to lay down general rules.

HOME-WORK SHOULD TEACH BOYS TO WORK ALONE.

It is, of course, most important that boys should learn to work for themselves, first without constraint and gradually without guidance. Excessive teaching-the teaching of too much detail-impairs a boy's self-reliance. It tends to relieve him from the drudgery necessary to any real progress, and to make him disinclined to face such drudgery. A class may be taught a piece of verse, or grammar, or Euclid by constant repetition and questioning in class, but it is even more important that boys should develop the habit of mastering it for themselves. The better boys, too, need opportunity not only for this routine work, but for inquiry. The much-vaunted heuristic method is sometimes supposed to be a discovery affecting science alone, but it has, in truth, a bearing on mathematics certainly, probably on literary and linguistic subjects also. Opportunities for such work occur, and will be seized by a skilful teacher. As boys grow older it is this view of home-work, as giving occasion for self-help, which becomes the more important.

THINGS TO BE AVOIDED IN SETTING HOME-WORK.

So far of home-work in general and as it affects one master. If, as under the form system, boys are chiefly under the care of one man, there is no excuse for excess or defect of work. If, however, boys have work to do for several masters there will be trouble unless care is taken. This seems essentially the headmaster's work. He must arrange a suitable time-table, and will need to inquire from time to time to make sure that there is no abuse. A special difficulty comes from work that is set only once or twice a week. Boys will, if they can, put work off to the last moment, and it not infrequently happens that over-pressure complained of arises simply from the fact that several odd lessons are left to be done on one night.

In a day school certain other difficulties arise. There is, to begin with, the waste of time and the fatigue due to travelling, perhaps increased by irregular meals. This, in some cases, makes any home-work at all a very serious burden. We cannot make general arrangements to suit everybody, but allowance must be made for such exceptional cases.

Then there are the varying home conditions and the wishes of parents to be considered. These, again, cannot alter our general procedure, but have to be borne in mind in dealing with particular boys. Finally, the master must be on the alert to set home-work which reduces the risks of copying to a minimum.

SOME GENERAL RULES.

In general the following truths should be observed:

It is better to set too little than too much.

No work should be set which cannot be well done by the bulk of the class. Home-work should be such as can be easily and quickly examined.

Written home-work should, as far as possible, be looked over in school with the boy at hand, but care must be taken that the class does not sit idle while this is being done.

With young boys and middle-school classes the work set should be very definite in amount, such as all can do, and should be pretty rigorously exacted from everybody. This means that the abler boys will have an easy time. But there is little harm in this, for they are just the boys most likely to make a good use of leisure and to suffer most intellectually and physically from the want of it.

As boys grow older greater variety should be introduced in home-work. There must not only be routine work for the average boy, but opportunity must be given for the abler boy to do more, both in quality and quantity.

Impositions are to be avoided as far as possible. In general such tasks are an eloquent testimony to the inefficiency of the master. Either he sets work unwisely or examines in such a way as to give a shirker a chance of escape, or he has not the influence with his boys which he ought to have. This check on impositions is even more important in a day school than in a boarding school. A boy living at home has other claims than those of school which should not be interfered with more than is necessary.

C.-MODERN SCHOOLS.

(1)1 The OBERREALSCHULE, with a nine years' course (leaving age about 19).

(2) The REALSCHULE, with a six years' course (leaving age about 16).

I. The Gymnasium is the only school that leads to all departments of a German University; pupils proceeding from the Realgymnasium can enter the University as students only of Mathematics, Natural Science and Modern Languages; whilst there is a further restriction to Mathematics and Natural Science for pupils from the Oberrealschule. In respect of all other privileges, such as qualification for one year's military service, entrance to technical schools, the Civil Service, &c., the schools may be arranged in the following ascending order.

Second Grade School (with a six years' course), the Oberrealschule, the Realgymnasium, the Gymnasium; and it is to be noted that the privileges attaching to one class of school include all the privileges of the preceding type.

It is not surprising then that the classical schools have far more pupils than all the other schools put together. Many a father chooses the Gymnasium, not because it is educationally best adapted for his son, but because it shuts out no career from him.

The great monopoly possessed by the Gymnasium has been a serious obstacle to the development of first-grade modern schools. Whereas in the winter half-year, 1895-6, the number of pupils in the highest class of the 273 Gymnasien was 4,508, it is significant that the number of pupils in the highest class of the 86 Realgymnasien was only 864, and the number of pupils in the highest class of the 24 Oberrealschulen only 163. [See "Special Reports," vol. iii., p. 127.]

First and foremost, then, the King's Edict declares the equality of the three kinds of firstgrade school in respect of general mental culture.

The practical applications of this principle are not laid down precisely or consistently. Certain it is that the rights of the Gynasium will suffer no curtailment; it is equally certain that while it is intended to extend the privileges of the two other types of schools, there will be no full emancipation from the disabilities under which they work. The Edict recognises that certain professional courses of study impose preliminary acquirements outside the scope of the one or other facilitate the supplementing, when necessary, of type of school; and the intention seems to be to the leaving certificate of the modern schools by certificates in subjects outside their curriculum. Á pupil of the Oberrealschule, for instance, desirous of entering the Faculty of Law, will possibly be expected to satisfy a test in such a knowledge of Latin and Greek as is absolutely essential for his professional course. No objection could be taken to so reasonable a requirement, but the principle of equality would seem to demand also from the Gymnasium supplementary certificates for those higher courses of study for which the curriculum

1 The Oberrealschule came into existence in 1882.