The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-25 00:00:00

MR. FAWCETT ON EDUCATION.

On Monday afternoon Mrs. Henry Fawcett, wife of the
Postmaster-General, distributed the prizes gained in the
Oxford and Cambridge local examinations in Salisbury.
Mr. Fawcett, in addressing the large audience, said
that, in his opinion, it was of no use to force more
knowledge upon a pupil than could be properly assi-
milated. If they attempted to cram too much into
the minds of students in too short a time, the result
was just as disastrous to the mind as it was to cram
too lunch food into the body. As far as his own ex-
perience as an examiner and teacher had gone, nothing
had struck him more than that almost every set of
papers he looked over or every essay he had had to read
led him to make the remark, " Too much reading; not
enough thought." He thought it would be unfair to
throw the entire responsibility of this on teachers,
whose better judgment was often controlled by
parents, who wished their children to be taught an
unlimited number of things in a very limited period.
If parents would let their children remain longer at
school and be taught a few subjects more thoroughly,
the result would be generally very much more satis-
factory. There was one idea which, to his mind,
could not be too constantly guarded against—viz.,
that parents and their children were not unfrequently
too apt to value knowledge by the practical use to
which it could be turned in after life. He would be
the last one to underrate the importance of the
practical side of education. No one could tell how
much a person who intended to engage in commercial
pursuits might have his progress promoted by a know-
ledge of modern languages. It was often brought home
to him how much the career of a clerk might be ad-
vanced if he could write shorthand with facility. But,
being thus fully prepared to recognize the importance
of keeping the practical aspects of education steadily
in view, it could not be too constantly borne in mind
that this was only one side, one part of the advan-
tages of education. Perhaps, after all, the chief
object was to train the mind. From his own expe-
rience he could only say that he himself, both at
school and college, had spent a great deal of time in
the study of mathematics, but he must confess that
no one had used mathematics less than he had since
he left college ; yet if he could begin life again he
would not read mathematics one hour less than he
did. It must not be supposed that he was advocating
that everyone should study mathematics. He should
no more think of doing so than he should of advocat-
ing that every one should be taught music or
drawing. As to clerks, he had noticed that
it not unfrequently happened that a youth, because he
had received rather more schooling than his father,
thought he would better his condition by leaving the
trade, business or handicraft to which his father had
been accustomed in order to seek employment as a
clerk. Considering the overcrowded state of the clerk
market at the present time, he thought it was im-
possible to take a more unfortunate step. Sometimes
he was afraid that a young person was prompted to
adopt the course by a very silly feeling that he would
occupy a better social position if he was employed as
a clerk than be would if he earned his living by trade.
If society could fairly be held responsible for such
folly, he was afraid it would have to answer for thou-
sands being encouraged to seek employment where
that employment was most difficult to be obtained.