The sun., 1908-05-13

they will bs taken under the charge Of
reception committees. Among those who
have accepted an invitation 10 serve on
the principal Of these committees are
the Archbishop Of CANTERBURY and other
bishops; the United States Ambassador
the Vice-Chancellor Of Oxford University
and the Headmaster OF Eton; Mr.. A. G..
BALPoUR and other members Of Parlia-
ment many other officials and most Of
the members Of the Mosely Educational
Commission Of 1903 IL is evident, there
fore, that the visiting American teachers
will find no lack Of competent guidance
In their investigations.
Whether however, our public school
teachers have much TO learn from their
British counterparts Is a matter Of doubt.
Many English experts, including a mani
testify well informed writer in the Lon
don Times, are themselves sceptical on
this point. For example coeducation is
az yet in lis infancy in Great Britain;
especially in secondary schools il there AZ
yet no extensive application Of the CO.
educational system. Then, again, our
public school buildings and plants are
as Il rule superior 10 any that the British
ratepayer is disposed to provide IL is
likewise acknowledged that on the other
side Of the Atlantic manual training
viewed as an essential ingredient in both
primary and secondary education, is not
yet fully recognized, either in theory or
in practice Such training begins, in
deed, in British infant schools with their
kindergarten methods and occupations,
but il il not systematically carried further
in schools for older pupils.
In technical instruction, on the other
hand, more advance has been made,
there being many technical institutions
we'll equipped in respect Of buildings
and plants. The Manchester Institute of
Technology for instance, may from this
point Of view be compared with the
similar establishments in Brooklyn, Phila-
delphia and Chicago, and even with the
Massachusetts, Institute Of Technology,
best known as the Boston Tech The
admitted weakness of the British tech
ncal institutions is not in accommoda-
tons and appliances for technical in
struction, nor in the competence Of the
instructors, but in the defective general
qualifications Of those who come from
the secondary schools. Another thing
that is likely to surprise the visiting
American teachers is this, that in English
secondary schools little or no attention
is paid to the teaching Of the mother
tongue and its literature.
The public schools Of the United States
differ from the national or board schools
of England in respect Of the arrange
ments made for an easy and natural
transition from primary 10 secondary
schools. In the United States public
education is in theory, and to a consid-
cradle extent in practice, a continuous
whole from the infant school to the uni
versity. Hitherto this has not been
the case in England Among the pupils
in national or board schools compara-
lively few have thus far contemplated
in a university. Yet, il
the increasing popular demand that the
higher education be made accessible to
the children Of the artisan classes il not
to be rejected, it is imperative that facli-
ties shall be provided for transition be-
tween elementary and secondary schools.
Concerning this subject the visiting
American teachers will be able to offer
English instructors some valuable sug-
gestions. On the whole we are of opin-
on that the English hosts will gain more
from the visit than their American guests.
Il is more blessed, however, TO give than
10 receive.