Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

The Experiment in Rural Secondary Education at Welshpool County School for Boys. London Welsh Dept., Board of Education, 1920. Reference has been made in these columns to a scheme for the collection of rural lore through the medium of elementary and secondary schools and the colleges in Wales. The purport of that scheme was to give opportunities to Welsh schools to become cultural centres of the community, forming storehouses of local traditions and local folk lore and gathering around them all that was best and noblest in the life of the community. The pamphlet now before us is an account of an attempt made at Welshpool to break through the rigidity of the secondary system in Wales by introducing some essential aspects of the country side, and, by modifying the usual science subjects to present a type of training with a rural bias which will be of real interest to the pupils. The conditions for such an experiment are perhaps easier in rural than in urban areas. Hitherto we have in Wales been so weighted by the fear of professional and other qualify- ing examinations that until lately even country schools have failed to touch in any real degree the many sided culture of the county side. In rural areas this has been a marked defect. But rural lore, if properly treated, is of the utmost importance in the life of the younger generations. For the country has its own traditions, its own folk songs and tales, its own cus- toms handed down from generation to generation. And these are ultimately the life springs of our nation. It is gratify- ing to note that the reconstruction of the curriculum which this experiment involved did not apparently interfere with the examinational successes of those pupils who chose pro- fessional careers. As was to be expected, the course "tended to make the pupils more alert and to give them a more directly trained intelligence with a wider outlook." Gratifying also is the fact that the pupils now stay longer in school than formerly. The practical work, the personal interest and its applications have opened out new opportunities for the boys, particularly those who, having no special aptitude for the academic learning of the past, find in such work an absorb- ing interest We welcome this experiment and more especially the fact of its undoubted success. It marks a distinct stage in the growth of rural education. For two lines of development are badly needed in our rural schools to-day. The first, that of reviving the old arts and crafts of the country side, the second, and perhaps more material, that of developing an efficient educative system of agricultural training. Voca- tional training in agriculture must be functional, it cannot be bookish. For that reason it will always be fascinating there is something in the touch of Mother Earth that makes for joy and health and life It would be interesting now to develop the experiment more particularly in respect of the Humanities, and thus to make the school in the real sense of the term a cultural centre. S. H. W. The Story Book of Science by J. H. Fabre. London Hodder & Stoughton. Pp. 299. 7s. 6d. This is a series of essays, written in simple language, upon the more common facts of everyday life. Some of the chapters, especially those on the ants, spiders, butterflies, where this incomparable observer is more particularly at home, are exceptionally interesting. They are written with the quaint charm and simple accuracy of which Fabre was so perfect a master. The book, which is intended for younger readers, is an excellent example of Fabre's unassuming, yet strictly scientific method. It should be widely read. S. H. W. Life's Adventure," London The Swarthmore Press, Ltd., 72, Oxford Street, London. Pp. 214. Is. net. The Adult School Lesson Handbook for 1920 is on a level with its predecessors. It covers a wide range, and week by week throughout the year it gives guidance in the study of Search for Truth, for Beauty and for Goodness." The last ten lessons are concerned with the general subject of Dare we try Christianity ? REVIEWS The Case for Nationalisation." by A. Emil Davies. London George Allen & Unwin pp. 310. Cloth 4s. 6d. net; paper 2s. 6d. net. Mr. Emil Davies is well known as the financial expert of the New Statesman and a leading advocate for many years of the nationalisation of railways and other public services, and any contribution of his to the controversy over nationalisation merits careful consideration. The present volume covers an extensive field, and is an effective piece of propaganda. Mr. Davies deals with a great variety of subjects and scarcely a point in the controversy has escaped his notice. He strongly indicts private enterprise for its disregard of the national advantage, outlines methods of nationalisation and the pro- posals of the Labour Party, replies to various objections to nationalisation, including that of bureaucracy, and surveys the community-owned undertakings of different nations. The volume teems with facts and quotations, garnered mostly from hostile sources, but these are not always very relevant nor do they add very greatly to the force of the argument. The book will, no doubt, seem absolutely convincing to the ardent nationaliser, and will provide him with material for hundreds of propagandist lectures. It is doubtful, however, whether the case for nationalisation as put forward by Mr. Davies will be strong enough to bring deep conviction to the ordinary reader who has no strong views, either for or against nationalisation. Nevertheless, the volume should not be missed by any person who desires an authoritative statement by a member of the band of intellectuals upon whom the responsibility of moulding Labour policy rests. E. L. C. Citizenship," by F. R. Worts. London Hodder & Stoughton. Pp. 278. 4s. 6d. net. An admirable piece of work. Mr. Worts, a secondary school teacher, divides his subject into four parts-Central Govern- ment, Local Government, Citizenship and its Privileges, Citizenship and its Duties. Just as Citizenship should find a place in the curriculum of every school in the land, so ought this book to find its way to the bookshelf of every teacher who believes with Aristotle" that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth." G. D. Social Problems and the East by Frank Lenwood. London United Council for Missionary Education. Pp.208. 2s. 6d. net. This book is a very timely one. Written by one whose earnest faith and unselfish life are the truest credentials for the truth and sincerity of his views, it is an attempt to state the new problems facing us in the East. The war has wrought many changes, none greater or of more sinister portent than that of the introduction of coloured labour and fighters intc France. Already Chinese labour is being offered to English manufacturers, black troops are being used to overawe white men and women. The cinema shows its shockers to the young native of the East, and the returning fighters, having seen the white man under war conditions with his dignity laid aside," will tell their tales of Christian brutality. How, then, is the old world to meet the social problem of the East, pressing enough before, but now doubly so ? Mr. Lenwood would answer by recasting society on the principles of Christianity. And yet Christians have been divided into two classes, white men and missionaries It is, however, to the creation of a missionary fellowship amongst those living the normal life of a foreign land, to the realisation that there can be no limitations to specially devoted classes," in short to the creation of a Church as it may be," that Mr. Len- wood pins his faith. These involve great ideals, more so, perhaps, because they involve, too, the long trail of effort and of struggle. In that, perhaps, lies their efficacy. As H. G. Wells wrote "The real God of the Christians is Christ, not God Almighty, a poor mocked and wounded God nailed on a cross of matter. Some day He will triumph this God Who struggles. He must become ruler of the world." This God who struggles," she repeated, I have never thought of Him like that before." S. H. W.