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After expressing his pleasure at seeing an old college friend, Mr. Henderson, President of the Association, in the chair, Mr. Harcourt •i: welcome you not in my own name only, but also in the name the Qovemment, and so far as I may do so, in the name of the •vince, to these buildings, devoted as they are to the Educational work of the Province. I welcome you becau^u ^ .epresentative men and women there is reposed in you a most important trust. Your work, and I would it were the life work of a greater percentage of your number than it is, is a work of momentous importance, that of educating the youth of our land, of guiding them, of forming their habits, moulding their dispositions and the shaping and building of character generally. There could not be more important work assigned to any body of men or women than the work you are called upon to do. It has been my good fortune to be pleasantly associate i for many years past with teachers of all grades. I assure you that I will always be anxious in any way in my power to render you sub- stantial aid. If I could be instrumental, even in a slight derjree, in raising the status of the profession, in increasing your influence and usefulness, I would be gratified, since I know that in so doing I would be rendering valuable and lasting service to the State. During the last year or two especially I have had frequent opportunities of meeting officially, in these buildings, our teachers of all classes, our inspectors, and members of School Boards as well. All of tliese are represented at this meeting and are closely bound together by mutuality of interest and aim. It has farther been my good fortune for some time past ooc*- sionftlly to meet many of oar teachers and trustees in different parts of the Province at public gatherings. On all sides I find, you will be glad to know, that there is manifest an earnest desire to strengthen our educational defences, to hold fast the good we have, and to gain ground in fields old or new wherever and whenever possible. Speaking generally, I am greatly pleased with our large army of teachers. I am constantly making this statement else- where, surely I may be allowed to repeat it here. If our teachers be well equipped and earnest, appreciative alike of their privileges and responsibilities, may we not i . ery hopeful of the future ? Given a bright enthusiastic, tactful, ^ U-trained teacher, and the work of the school must be satisfactory. It could not be otherwise. The work is unsatisfactory in those few instances alone where through want of training, tact, or enthusiasm the teacher is ill- equipped and not adapted to his work. Because of these considera- tions I am very anxious, Mr. Chairman, to keep most prominently and constantly in view the extreme desirability of increas- ing the efficiency and strengthening the training of our thousands of teachera The great, important, and ever ptoaent problem is how to accomplish this object. With this aim in view wh&t changes if any are needed in our various curricula of studies ? Are we at the present moment unduly accentuating the importance of some studies to the neglect of others ? If after most careful and thoughtful deliberation, changes are considered necessary, should they not be introduced gradually, and the result attained by easy transitions? How can we most effectually encourage our young teachers to improve their equip- ment, to continue their studies, professional and non-professional, and thus to make themselves more and more useful and influential in their respective committees ? It is often observed that "The nation which does not grow, decays." The same truth applies to individuab, and with peculiar force it applies to teachera. The true and earnest teacher should grow in knowledge, tact, power and influence day by day, and to this end he must never cease to be a close and observant student. Given such a teacher, and I repeat, all obstacles are overcome. Our position educationally in this Province is noticeably strong and enviable largely because the great majority of our teachers are unfailingly true to this high ideal. Normal Schooijs. II It is beosose I hold these views, because I think, in common with yon all, thftt the foundation of successful educational work depends very largely upon the teacher himself, that I am very anxious tc see early provision made for a fourth Normal School to be located somewhere in the northern part of the Province. Fur this same reason it is that I desire to see the courses of instruction at our Normal Schools and county model schools broadened, and the term of Sa of them considerably extended. Tou can render me great ass i s t a n ce by constantly directing public attention to our educational needs in these directions. Our existing provision for training teachers is much better — noticeably so in the case of the profes- sional training we nrovide for secondary teachers— than that in many older countries, and yet in the directions indicated there is room for great improvement It is pleasing to know that the number of our teachers holding first-class certificates has doubled since 1883. and that the number holding second-class certificates has increased sixteen per cent, in the interval. The number holding the lowest grade is about one-half of the total number. It is also interest- ing to know that about twenty graduates and specialists are engaged in the important work of the continuation classes. The further fact tht ; of the 573 high school teachers who were teaching in 1900, no fewer than 439 of them were specialists is very significant The number last year was somewhat larger. All this indicates the high professional standing of our :.eacher8. England is behind other countries in the matter of trained teach- ers, and her educational reformers clamour loudly and persistently for improvement For example, Mr. Yoxall, M.P.. himself formerly a teacher, and a recognized champion of the teaching profession in and out of Par- liament, complained only recently of their need of duly trained teachers, and alluded to what he called " the 77,000 puerile and uncertified teachers with which the schools are set to make shift even to-day." Only 44 per cent of the teachers in England and Wales are duly certified; 66 per cent being partially or wholly unquali^ed. Dr. McNamara, also a member of the House of Com- mons i an old teacher, is reported as saying " roughly through- out the rural areas (of England) only one-third of the teachers are properly qualified ad- 'ts. The other two-thirds were either juvenile pupil teachers or unqualified young people, with little or no claim to the genuine title of teacher. There was only one certificated teacher to every ninety villafi^ children in the country." According to the official reports, there are 28,486 juvenile appren- tices to the art of teaching, called pupd teachers, in England. The City of Philadelphia has the honor of having fotmded the first State Normal School for the education of teachers in the United States. This school was founded in 1818. There are now 167 Normal Schools in the United States, besides almost an equal number of private schools for training teachers. In Pennsylvania alone, there are thirteen Normal Schc ^s, and in these the course of study was recently increased from two to three years. Massachusetts, with a population of 2,500,000. has ten excellent Normal Schoola We should, to meet our wants, have, the earliest possible moment, at least another Normal School. A special feature in her educational system of which France may well be proud, is her Normal Schools. The teachers in Germany have no superiors the world over. View the question as you will, all must admit that the matter of training our teachers is of the greatest importance. In this connection, Mr. Chairman, I desire to read two letters addressed to me by the able and experienced principals of our Normal Schools at Ottawa and Toronto. Before the Christmas holidMys I asked them to visit some of the important educational institutions in the United States, and in these letters some inter- esting comparisons are drawn, and. I am glad to say, not to our discredit February Ist, 1902. Dear Mr. Harcourt.— Now that the work of the present ses- sion of the Normal School is moving along in the usual quiet, 8tea'oe : i 1 verv excellent equipment of these schools. Every «*v rovided for doing first-class work. No expense seems t< in fitting them for achieving success. z ^eral the scriolarship of those who were being trained Si >w . ^ their academic work was, to say the least, not the eq !ti of ^tme with whom I am dealing. In this respect, I feel thar my tour !n<;peetioa did me much good in enabling me to a compa- u between the literary and scientific preparation m of i«ir teachetT. .ad thos'^ elsewhere. Studenta of even more ma- ture years tk«n th" ^ in Ontario Normal Schools were often found grappling, as a ««, in no very successful way, with problems which ar> usual! disposed of either in the higher classe '^ our Public Schools < • in the junior forms of our High School.-- To know thai the scholarnhip of tcMheru *bewhere is, in many respeeti. not equal to that of oun, has the tendency to make one better aatiafied with the present plan of academic preparation of oar Htudents. 8. In the Practice Lchools, the boys and girls are taught to express themselves very well, although the content of the subject was, in general, much below what in expected from a similar grade of pupils here. While it must be admitted that our 8chl8 are not so perfectly equipped as those visited, I am sure it will be a source of grati> fication ♦" you and to - U friends of education in Ontario to V "»ow that in ali taat goes U ^ the foundation of a solid educati a in self-control, in Individ ity, in ability to put forth independent effort, our ^choolfl are at least the equal of those in such old centres of pop'i lotion as I'hiladolphia, New York, Providence and All > and cui ur.or to them in scholarship. I have the honor to be, su, your obedient servant, ' (Signed) W. ScoTT. The teaching profession is gaining in rank and dignity. I ask you to remember that Harvard University has placed her Depa-t- ment of Education on a par with other university work. The head of this department ranks as a full professor, enjoying the same dignity and influence. This surely is a triumph for pro- fessional education. Educational Problems. You will, when in session, be called upon to take part in the discussion of problems everywhere attracting attention. Each age and time has its own peculiar reiigious, educational and political problems, and different countries may seek to solve tbem in different waya Ever chaniqring conditions, altered environment, the steam engine, the telegraph, the telephone, the trolley, startling electrical discoveries and attendant upon them new industries revolution- izing trade and commerce, the daily paper, cheap books and maga- zines within the reach of everyone, the crowding of people into town? and cities,* .11 .these give rise to new conditions and create • Two Englishmen out of three live in towns ; one-tenth of the population of the United States lives in Now York, Chicago and Philadelphia. new problems. There ie ttnivenal educational un;e«t— there always will be nnrest, and it is due to the plain fact that the problems of educition have multiplied, and that most of them are absolutely new. That we have our own problems, that some of them are difiicuU of solution need not discourage us, since c "v pi-^ressive com- munity finds itself in exactly the same position, fhere is not, there cannot bo, and it is not desirable that there should be, finality ia educational matters. Finality, it is to be feared, would mean not progress, but stagnatioD. Unrest in such cases simply means a desire and a yearning fo • still further and higher achievement. The system or the course of study, the regulation or the text-book, suitable at any one time, may be locking and inadequate a few years thereafter. The last decade has been noticeably one of school reforms, and problems connected with secondary education have in a marked degree held the attention of the best minds in the most progressive communities. For example, a conterence at Berlin .n 1890 led to a revision of the curricula in the schools of Prussia. The report of tl e committ'"- of ten in the U- ♦ed States, issued in 1894, led to ^ortant :^ .ults. The work oi a Parliamentary C!ommittee on II Secondary Education in England in 1896 marks an epoch. The report of a committee appointed by the French Chamber of Deputies in 1899 deserves notice in the same connection. In s word, the most advanced nations the world over havo been attempting as best they could to solve the educational problems which new conditions have imposed. A distinguished authority in educational matters in England, a member of the House of Commons as well, to whom I referred a moment age, recently said : " The horizcn is thfof with coming questions. Education in this country is still, as « whole, chaotic and disorganized. A truly national, complete and rational system has yet to be evolved. The qu stion of higher primary edncation, its infringement on technical and secondary education, the relation between these and the University education, th ) bettering of school attendance, the lengthening of the child's sch( J life, amendments of curricula, the creation of an efficient inspect jrate of schools, th'. improvement of training colleges for teachers, etc., etc., are some of the questions which crowd upon the horizon." In addition to unrest and agitation there is not inf"^ue)tiy bitter controversy ; ^ well. 8 For instance, Sir John Oorst, Vice-President of Committee of Council on education in England, in a speech delivered in Parlia- ment attacking the London School Board, recently said: "The education which you are spreading among the people is cheap, shoddy education. No other proof of this is required than the success of Aimcera, Tit-hit$ and third-rate novels. Are we to keep up in this House the farce that School Boards are elected for edu- cational purposes ? Everybody knows that educational purposes are the very last ideas in the minds of the members of the School Boards. And none know better than the members themselves." Let me give another illustration of how the experts and critics differ. An inspector of schools in London, England— a learned man, of course— in his last report, says that " the cry of too many subjects is destitute of foundation." Another inspector of London schoob, also a learned man, assures his readers that " the rapid multiplication of subjects within recent years must also be regarded, as in some measure, a cause of much want of thoroughness." I CoKFLioT OF Opinions. Moreover, those who have become prominent as heads of colleges, learned men, educational experts so to speak, in advocating school reforms, such is human nature, hold directly antagonistic opinions. Dr. Harris, for example, the Commissioner of Education in the United States, who has rendered signal service to the cause of education, holds views on various educational subjects directly opposed to those so ably and earnestly advocated by Dr. Stanley Hall. Similarly, Professor Munsterburg, of Harvard, combats vigor- ously the educational dogmas of Prof. Sully, of England, and also of Prof. De Garmo, of Cornell. In this way almost every educa- tional question is a matter of dispute. Great men, recognised as educational authorities, differ widely in their views concerning even essential principles. In ♦he meantime, while these controversies are going on, and sometimes they result in more heat than light, we are all glad to know that the schools and colleges the world over, are doing excellent work, gaining ground continually, always aiming at greater achievements, reaching and influencing for good to a greater degree, than ever before, all classes of people. It would nevei do to stand still and wait until the experts and 9 eri^' .: '.ad come to an agreement Earnestness, unrest and anxiety, are, I repeat, the very oppo8ite»of degeneracy. Transition, change, evolution, progress and not finality, such is the all pervading law of the universe, and it is to be expected to obtain in educational matters as in everything else. Systems and policies must give way to relentlessly changing conditions. The interest manifested everywhere in educational work is most encouraging. Men of wealth are contributing large sums of money in support of schools, colleges and librariea In the United States alone last year, no less than seventy millions of dollars were given by private individuals — all honor to them — for educational objects. On the occasion of the last commencement day at Harvard, the President read out a list of donations given during the year to the University of over a million and a half dollars, and the very same day at Yale the President of the College announced the completion of their two million dollar fund. I I Sir W. C. Macdonald and the Latk Mr. Masset. In this Province we must not forget the thoughtful generosity of Sir William C. Macdonald,of Montreal, whose princely ^ts to McOill University have made his name dear to University students and graduates the world over. His recent gift to this Province of $125,000 to be devoted to Domestic Science, Nature Study, etc., calls for an expression of gratitude on the part of this Association. In like manner and for a similar reason we will hold in loving memory the name of the late Mr. Massey whose timely and hand- some gift of a library building, costing forty thousand dollars, for the purposes of the Agricultural College at Guelph, we should, as an Association of teachers, formally and gratefully acknowledge. The example these gifts afibrd, will lead, let us hope, ere long to other like benefactions. These gifts in a special sense result in lasting good. Sir William C. Macdonald and Mr. Massey recognized that our methods of agriculture are not as scientific as they should be, and that only through our schools and colleges can the desired "jm be reached. Agricultural schools and colleges can be made to contri- bute very largely to our powers of production both in quantity and quality. To bring about increased production a knowledge of the natural sciences, the chemistry of soils and plants, a knowledge of AfiimA,! physiologry, of horticulture and viticulture is a powerful 10 aid. Inienuve farming, as it is called, will certainly augment the value of our farm products. For no man, is a technical and liberal education more necessary, than for the farmer. The German people fully appreciate this fact There are 10,000 pupils in the schools of agriculture in Prussia. LiBBARisa A word hurriedly, Mr. Chairman, as to some phases of education in which you will have noticed that I have taken a special interest, and as to which I know I have your kind and hearty co-operation. How true is it, after all, that our boys and girls very often learn more by their own observation and reading than the school- master can do for them. Therefore I am interested in the library movement How much would be gained if the home and the school would work in concert With good and cheap books and periodicals so easily within our reach the life of the average citizen with proper surroundings could be made a continuation of school life. The story of a life may turn on the inspiring influence of a single book. One of President Lincoln's biographers, in speaking of him, says: "EQs great career hinged upon the fact that his mother had six books. In that circumstance he differed from the other boys of the region. Is it too much to say that but for that ray of light his great soul would have been strangled in the birth?" You all know what we have sought to accomplish through our system of Travelling Libraries. These are intended for our new districts, in which, as yet, there are no Public Libraries of any des- cription. The Legislature was unanimous in heartily supporting me in this and similar progressive movements. These libraries are very popular in several of the United States. Thirteen of them have been in circulation, in Northern Ontario during the year. Our short experience, in sending out these libraries, is very satis- factory. You have noticed that in different parts of the United States a system of Travelling Art Galleries has been inaugurated. This last Session, the House gave me an appropriation for Libraries for rural school sections for every part of the Province. I hope to have regulations framed, within a week or two, so that advantage may be taken of t e grant immediately after the s' amer vacation. We will follow the principle which governs our ontire system, viz., that of aiding and supplementing local effort We will commence by offering a small grant to any section which will supplement it by a sum twice as large, the amount to be spent in 1 =J 11 books to be selected from a catalojfue prepared by the Department ; the library, of course, to be kept in the school building itself. The system of Public Libraries, and we have over four hundred of them which are aided by the Province, in same of its details, can, I think, be improved. My department is gathering information on the subject Home Economics and Manual Training. I am anxious to encourage the teaching of nature study, domestic science and manual training. The highest authorities are agreed as to its great value. What I seek to accomplish involves no dis- turbance whatever of our existing curriculum. The new studies are a help rather than a hindrance to the old. There need be neither displacement nor antagonism. If our methods have been too bookish, the addition of the new studies will furnish effective relief. We are so apt to forget an important fact whicb shoiild not be lost sight of for a single moment, and which is not peculiar to any one country, viz., that the great majority of our children leave school at a very early age. We therefore, Sir, should, in the short time they are under our control, give them instruction, first of all, on lines and in directions which will be of direct, practical use to them, when they leave school. Let me illustrate, Mr. Chairman, exactly what I mean. We had last year — In the Ist reader, 177,614 scholars 2nd " 88,836 3rd " 94,069 4th " 84,507 5th " 17,468 A well-known educational authority has well said, " The great majority of scholars leave school at the age of thirteen or fourteen. What is to be the nature of their work ? Chiefly the production of material things. Heace, since so much of their life will deal with material objects, the training of hand and eye in connection with them is one of the first elements of training which these children, who are to be workers, should receive." Well may we, therefore, seek to familiarize our boys, when at school, with the use of tools, and make it possible for our girls to learn plain sewing, cooking and other things connected with the 12 ai of housekeeping. To prolong the period of school life then is a great and pressing' roblem. The number of holars in the two lower forms of the High School is twice as large as that in the two higher. The numV - in the fourth or highest form is not one-fi^th as large as that of the first or lowest form. In England and Wales the position of thinga is more disappoint- ing still, since only 35 per cent of the attendance at elementary schools is over ten years of age. In view of these facts, then, is it not very evident that the work taken up in our Public Schools should have special reference to the needs of the masses of the people, whose life-struggle begins at such an early age ? Our High Schools, I am glad to say, provide secondary educa- tion for all classes in the community. Because of this .act they are firmly establuhed in the sympathy and confidence of cur people generally. lit a recent ye»-', for example, 6,481 students left our High Schools : of theoe, 499 entered the learned profes- sions, 1,050 became farmers, 1,436 became teachers, 1,491 entered commercial life, and 2,005 engaged in other unclassified callings. I mention our Public and High Schools It' conjunction. We cannot separate them, so closely are their inter interwoven. A great authority has wisely said, " it is only wh.,. these (Public and High Schools) are in close organic connection under the same loial management, and pervaded with the same atmosphere, that the child of the working classes is likely to be benefited by them." With a close touch between them, you may extend the school life three or four years to his incalculable benefit. In Scotland the constant aim hah always been to extend school life. In that country 29 per cent, of the scholars in the secondary schools are over fifteen , ws, a much better showing than in England. Need we wonder, i-ien, at the success in all walks of life of the Scotchman ? I have so frequently discussed at public gatherings the question of technical education that I need now only remark that we are making very satisfactory progress indeed in laying the foundations. Technical Education. T desire to announce that with a view to give teachers some elementary instruction in certain departments of technical educa- tion, a summer school, under the direction of the Department, will be held at the Normal School, Toronto, beginning Wednesday, July 18 2nd. The courses of study will embrace Manual Training, Domestic Science, Nature Study, Orawing and Music. Lectures will be given by specialists in the different subjects. No fees will be required; and students or teachers desiring to attend should make application to the Deputy Minister or Education. I noticed with pleasure, in a newspaper published in Berlin this week, that the various School Boards of Berlin and Waterloo (Public, Separate and High School) have decided to arrange for the teaching of Manual Training and Domestic Science jointly, and that in a few months a new bailding, to cost $12,000 or $15,000, will be erected to be devoted solely to this work. Progress. ' That we have made great advances educationally during recent years is very apparent. And it is equally apparent that there is room for growth and improvement in almost every direction. This applies to evt-y phase of human development The youngest person In this room remembers when the University was first opened to women. No fewer than 277 girls have graduated during the past seventeen years, pursuing the same studies as the boys, and capturing their full share of honors and distinctions. One hundred and thirty-seven girls are now proceeding regularly to a degree, and there are sixty-two occasional students as well. This -'act indicates progress, the value of V7hich is almost beyond estimation. Not a few of our giri graduates are occupying important positions in the schools and colleges of the United States. It is becoming a common occurrence for our young men to win promotion and preferment as lecturers and professors in leading universities across the line. In other respects rapid progress has been made in the expansion of University work. As we know, the Government a year ago assumed charge of the important departments of Chemistry. Mineralogy and Geology, and the salaries of the professors and the maiDt«nance of these departments are now met out of Pro- vincial funds. These studies bear so directly on the development of the mineral and other natural resources of the Pro- ince, the extent and value of which are only beginning to be appreciated, that from the standpoint of trade and commerce alone the gener- ous encouragement of them becomes a pressing necessity. Every 14 friend of edneation in the Frovinoe will oommend this forward step. The School of Praetical Science, never m pronperotu or u popular as now, its many graduates unfailingly securing important positions, has so outgrown its accommodations that it became necessary to erect for the use of its students another large building. Canada stands in n^ed of highly trained mechanics, surveyors, engineers, chemists, assayists and metallurgist& Our High Schools are becoming more valuable year by year, and our people afc generously supporting them. And all this progress enures to the benefit of the whole community, for let it be remembered that educational forced, as is so often said, pull from the top ; they do not push from the bottom. SUOOESTIOKS FOR THE FUTITBK. A word of the future, Mr. Chairman, and I will close. I hope to see at an early date a Chair of Forestry astablishad in the Univer- sity. We have set apart several extensive parks, and vast forest reservea We should also have systematic teaching in forestry. In a com^iercial sense alone such a department means a vast addi- tion to our natural wealth, as well as conserv nj; the wealth we have. We m st not delay taking tho forward step. Forestry is one of the v-..jing professions. The State of New York has established a College of Forestry in connection with Cornell The entire Senior class had lucrative positions offered them some time pre- vious to graduation. A large tract of forest land has been set aside, where the manner of harvesting the old crop and starting the new crop is being demonstrated. Yale, similarly, owns a large tract (for demonstration) in Pike County. Pennsylvania owns 324,000 acres of forest lands. COMIHRCIAL SxUDIEa It may not be generally known that a Commercial Department, in which our Boards of Trade are taking a special interest, and which is cure to grow in importance, has been provided for at the University. I have said that upwards of two hundred girls are now attending the University. Not a few of them will find lucrative and useful employment as teachers of Domestic Science. Some of the branches of this depaitment of study are physics, 15 ohemutry and biology, m they are applicable to the art of house' keeping. Waold it not be well for the University authorities to make speeisl provision for girls who desire to take this course of study and qualify themselves for teachers 7 i I 1 CONSOLXDATIOir OF RUBAL SOHOOLa In "[.his way th) best possible provision could be made for the scientific side of their equipment May I not suggest that you can very usefully confer and deliberate concerning the matter of the consolidation of Country Schools? Ck>n9olidation had its small beginnin^r in Masoiachusetts. It has passed the experimental stage and to-day it is well and satisfactorily established in all the New England States and in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. I hope that before the year expires the experiment will be tried in more than one locality in our Province. The necessary legislation to make it workable was provided for this last session. Like all real reforms the movement in this direction must grow. During tha year my Department has sent to School Boards reports and bulletins giving information bearing on this very important movement. The annual meetings of this Association have in past years proved extremely useful in the way of criticism and suggestion alike. I know that this meeting will likewise lead to good results. The question of the evils incident to examinations is always sug- gestive of discussion. The extreme view is that the examiner is a parasite on the educational system, and like all parasites i jures that from which he draws his sustenance. We must not allow the work of education to be dominated by examinations. The more reasonable view seems to be that exami- nations form as essential a pait of true education as investigation itbalf. Examinations within rational limits serve an excellent purpose, and to some extent they are, in the opinion of everyone absolutely indispensable. " Whoever thinks in an examination is lost," said an eminent Cambridge tutor. His friend aptly replied, " Perfectly true, but in this imperfectly constituted world, what is to take the place of examinations ? " When we next revise the regulat":n8, would it net bo well to have only one examination for Junior Leaving instead of two ? 16 The existing division wm due, m yoti know, to the aetion of the Senate of the University respecting matriculation. The Senate has recently reverted to the former plan of having only one exam- ination for matriculation. If we decide to have no departmental examinations affecting High School work until pupils complete form three in the High School, it will be a great relief to both teachers and students. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I wish publicly to express my full appreciation of the uniform kindness, sympathy and courtesy extended to me by the teachers, trustees and inspectors of the Province in all my official relations. %^