Bell's Latest Books MODERN LANGUAGES Deutsch A SCHOOL-CERTIFICATE COURSE By J. D. Ellis Williams, M.A. SENIOR GERMAN MASTER, BRADFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL. "A sensible, thorough, and extensive course of German study. The clearness of the explanations leaves nothing to be desired." SCOTTISH EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL. Price 3s. 6d. A First Latin Poetry Book By John Elwyn James, M.A. H.M. CANTON SECONDARY SCHOOL, CARDIFF. A careful selection of the best Latin poetry from Lucretius to Boethius. The editor has added an introduction, full vocabulary, notes, &c. Price 2s. Livy Book II CHAPTERS XXVII-XLVII Edited by M. Kean, M.A. The latest addition to " Bell's Illustrated Classics" contains the chapters set for the School Certificate and Matriculation Examinations, 1928, of the Joint Matriculation Board. It contains introduction, notes, and full vocabulary. Illustrated. Price 2s. ENGLISH The Queen's Treasures Book of Verse Edited by J. Compton, M.A. DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, BARKING. 66 Judicious and felicitous balancing of old with new, scrupulous rejection of the second-rate a model of its class." MANCHESTER GUARDIAN. Price 25. 4d. A First Book of Edited by W. Macpherson, M.A. This new volume in the well-known Novelist Readers contains selections from the works of Lytton and Ainsworth. Illustrated. Price 2s. 6d. Modern Languages, Classics, or English Catalogues post free on request. YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET, KINGSWAY, LONDON, W.C. 2 and it will contain poetry and prose, reproductions in colour of water-colour drawings, pen and ink drawings, etchings, and woodcuts. Copies may be obtained from the Editor, City Chambers, Leeds. " An important sub-committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Stanley Leathes, chairman of the Civil Service Commissioners, to define the aims of modern language teaching" and to discuss in particular the first three years of the school course in modern languages, was appointed at the council meeting at Leeds of the Modern Languages Association. Mr. Pegrum will act as convener. " The following catalogues and price lists have been received during May: "Catalogue of Books recommended for School and College Prizes and School Libraries," from Foyle's Educational, Ltd., 121 Charing Cross Road, W.C. 2; Murby's Scientific List of Books published since January, 1926," from T. Murby & Co., I Fleet Lane, E.C. 4; Nisbet's Spring List, 1927," from Nisbet & Co., Ltd., 22 Berners Street, W. 1; Illustrated List of Announcements of Forthcoming Books," from Methuen & Co., Ltd., 36 Essex Street, W.C. 2; Reference List of Educational and General Books," from George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., Parker Street, Kingsway, W.C. 2. A revised edition of the MEMORANDUM ON THE TEACHING of ENGLISH, issued by the Incorporated Association of Assistant Masters in Secondary Schools, will be published by the Cambridge University Press in July. The revision includes very considerable modifications of the original issue, and the Revised Memorandum is an up-to-date summary of the methods of teaching used in our secondary schools. An important section deals with the reading and appreciation of English literature, and another treats précis exhaustively. School examinations are discussed and a new method of teaching composition through story writing by the pupils has been added. The bibliography has been enlarged to double its former size. Pre-Digestion BY E. BENSON, M.A. It is so T is not very easy to reply destructively to the criticism too often pre-digests the material which the pupils proceed to learn in order to be able to reproduce it on examination answer papers. Whatever the causes, there is a danger that pupils are not trained themselves to think. much easier and more effective, when a certain standard must be attained by a fixed date, to provide the learners with the appearances of having thought instead of leading them to do their thinking at their own pace. The danger is, of course, that very valuable parts of real education are omitted; the shadow provides brilliant series of successes and certificates, while the substance proves to be wanting in later life. " Preparation for matriculation has rapidly acquired some of the leading characteristics of business and trade. The teacher prepares the material so carefully beforehand that only essentials are put before the pupils: there is no waste. Everything is in shape and order ready to be handed across the counter, so to speak. No time is left for rambling, and nothing like enough for discussions and diversions. All the effort is subordinated to preparing the pupils they are already candidates to the teacher, from the beginning of the school year that ends with the matriculation examination-to make a good show when the examination comes along. It is the old trouble of producing the appearances of learning, when all the time the aim should be the making of men. To have an efficiently working mind, endowed with desirable sentiments, is far more important for a boy of fifteen or sixteen than to possess a certificate testifying to his standard of information about a specified number of subjects. In the case of the literary subjects the official attitude is reflected in the choice of texts set for study. Although it is acknowledged, at least, in theory, that an essential aim in education is to help each rising generation to cultivate a critical, truth-seeking frame of mind, yet, where the opportunity easily offers itself, as it does in the works of Sainte-Beuve, for instance, the examiners and syllabusmakers pass over the ideal material and prefer texts of mainly historical interest. Boileau's Art Poétique is indeed allowed, but how rarely does the name of the greatest of all literary critics appear in lists of set-books! To grasp Sainte-Beuve's method and to study his application of it, is to receive a training in a sympathetic search for truth, founded on patiently acquired knowledge. It may be easier to test the study of "Le Cid" than some of the "Causeries," but work spent on the latter, without neglecting the former, might well prove more profitable to the cultivation of the student's mind, for knowledge would then be in its right place, subservient to the growing and developing powers of the mind. Voltaire and Diderot also would make profitable reading. This leads to a further matter. Our adolescent pupils are constantly studying subjects that involve at least a background of knowledge affecting theories of art and taste, psychology, and philosophy. It is apparently accepted by those in high authority, that these advanced course pupils are sufficiently mature to cope with at least the elements of these things: otherwise such work would not be encouraged. In practice, however, this background is very lightly touched upon, or almost entirely omitted. Advanced course students in history, for instance, need acquaintance with the utilitarian philosophy. In French a knowledge of the psychology of the imagination, of day-dreaming, and even of hysteria, throws valuable light on the romantic authors of the first half of the nineteenth century. Students (Continued on page 426) LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE (UNIVERSITY OF LONDON) HOUGHTON STREET, ALDWYCH, LONDON, W.C. 2 Chairman of the Court of Governors: Rt. Hon. Sir ARTHUR STEEL-MAITLAND, Bart., M.P. Director of the School: Sir WILLIAM H. BEVERIDGE, K.C.B., M.A., B.C.L., LL.D. Secretary: Mrs. J. MAIR, M.A. The School of Economics is a recognized School of the University of London in the Faculties of Economics (including Commerce), of Laws, and of Arts (in the subjects mentioned below). Students are registered as Internal Students of the University, and may proceed to the degree of B.Sc. (Econ.), B.Com., LL.B., and the B.A. (with Honours in Geography, History, Anthropology, or Sociology, or the Pass degree in Geography), to the Academic Diplomas in Journalism, Geography, Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology and Social Administration; and to higher degrees, such as M.A., M.Sc. (Econ.), LL.M., Ph.D., LL.D., D.Lit., and D.Sc. (Econ.). Students may specialize in particular subjects without being matriculated students and without pursuing a definite degree course. There are special facilities for research students. The branches of teaching include Economic History, Law, Politics and Public Administration, International Affairs, Social Science and Administration, Logic, Philosophy, Psychology, Geography, Ethnology, Sociology, Commerce and Industry, Banking and Currency, Accounting and Business Methods, Statistics and Transport. The Library, including the British Library of Political Science, the Cobden Library of International Commerce and Peace, the Fry Library of International Law and the Schuster Library of Comparative Legislation, is one of the largest in London, and contains many unique items. It is open to all approved readers without fee. Lectures and classes are given both in the day and in the evening, and degrees may be taken equally by day or evening students. The composition fee for a degree in Economics or Commerce, is 78 guineas spread over three or four years; for a day course in Law, the annual fee is 26 guineas and in Arts about £35. A general composition fee of 26 guineas enables students who do not intend to read for a degree to attend lectures at the School for one year. For evening students considerable reductions in fees are made. The fees include privileges of Students' Common Rooms and Athletic Societies. There is a large Athletic Ground at New Malden. Entrance Scholarships and Bursaries are awarded annually by examination (about April) under the London Intercollegiate Scholarships Board. (For particulars of entrance scholarships application should be made to Mr. S. C. RANNER, M.A., Secretary to the Scholarships Board, The Medical School, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, S.E. 5.) All particulars, and a prospectus, can be obtained free from the Secretary. Intending students for the session 1927-28 are requested to register, if possible, early in the Summer Term. of English and French alike need to have ideas as to what constitutes a work of art and the significance of changing fashions of taste. This is a need that is by no means generally fulfilled. It is not every teacher of French literature who has studied with due care psychology; or every history teacher the history and nature of the successive schools of philosophy. And how few teachers of any subject have seriously studied the history of scientific method and the growth of human knowledge and progress? If a work set for study by a sixth form is to be turned to a really high educative purpose, these deeper things alone can satisfy the demands of the wide-awake pupils. They are not interested in contexts, but they are wanting to know why "Macbeth" is called a work of art, whereas the chairs they sit on are not so labelled. It is very important indeed that they acquire a right discrimination between, say, the rose-glow world into which we can escape for a time with benefit from the hard world of everyday reality, and, on the other hand, the rose-glow world in which the intense romanticist likes to pass his days, shirking as he does the world of hard facts which it is the duty of each one of us to face with courage, determination, and understanding. Pre-digestion appears to be an evil in our present system. In the case of advanced work an allied defect would appear to be the attempting to deal with subjects that require a closer attention to the background than is usually given. The provision of non-examinational periods of investigation into such subjects as architecture, psychology, and philosophy, is one satisfying way. Another is to enlarge the scope of the principal subjects so that these foundations can be included in the course of study. In education it is the intangibles that count most in the end. The factors that can be measured-and the elements of knowledge most certainly can-inevitably tend to oust the others. The greater the need, therefore, to keep a vigorous and watchful, restraining hand on the syllabuses and examinations. Topics and Events GERMAN SCHOOLBOYS IN ENGLAND.-Some twenty or SO German schoolboys from the Cathedral School at Lubeck, near Hamburg, a modern secondary school, noted for its experimental educational work and for the mystery plays performed by its scholars, have last month made a tour of the North of England in return for a similar visit to Germany undertaken last year by a party of boys from the Castleford Secondary School. The boys, who are about eighteen years of age, arrived on May 5, and have visited Castleford, Newcastle, York, Leeds, Bradford, and Sheffield. At the various towns visited the youthful travellers gave German plays, folk-songs, and dances. "THE DUKE OF DevonshirE PRIZE" COMPETITION, 1927.— "The Work of the Right Hon. Cecil Rhodes in preparing the way for the Federation of a United South Africa has been selected as the subject of the essay for this year's Competition for The Duke of Devonshire Prize," of twenty guineas, open to the boys of leading public schools. Established in memory of Spencer Compton, eighth Duke of Devonshire, first President of the British Empire League, the prize is awarded annually by the League for the best essay on an Imperial subject. DUKE OF YORK'S CAMP.-Four hundred public school and industrial school boys have received from H.R.H. The Duke of York an invitation to attend his camp which will commence on Saturday, July 30, at New Romney, Kent. So successful was the method adopted last year of appointing as section leaders boys who had attended previous camps, that an extension will be made this year. Captain J. G. Paterson, of the Industrial Welfare Society, has again been appointed Camp Chief. ST. PETER'S SCHOOL, YORK: ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIP.To Commemorate the thirteen hundredth anniversary of the School, the Headmaster is offering two additional Entrance (Continued on page 432) PERIODIC HISTORIES Beautifully Illustrated in Colour and in Black and White. By VIOLET BURRY, B.A., Hons. (Lond.). 1s. 9d. By VIOLET BURRY, B.A., Hons. (Lond.). 2s. In Book I is unfolded the story of the beginning of the world as told by the people of (a) the “ Warm South Lands" (b) the " Cold North Lands." In Book II the ancient civilizations which grew up round the Mediterranean Sea and in the lands to the east of it are briefly and simply described. Chambers's STEPPING-STONES TO LITERATURE Edited by a Former Inspector of Schools. Charmingly Illustrated in Colour and in Black and White. Book IV. TREASURES NEW AND OLD. 2s. 6d. NOTE.-A valuable series of Questions and Exercises intended to develop the pupils' powers of expression, has been appended to each volume of this series. Chambers's PRACTICAL CONCENTRIC ARITHMETICS Book VIII Without Answers. Limp Cloth, 1s. 9d.; Cloth Boards, 2s. With Answers. Limp Cloth, 2s.: Cloth Boards, 2s. 3d. Designed to help pupils entering the various fields of trade and industry, and planned so as to enable them to work almost entirely by themselves. Chambers's ELEMENTARY BOOK-KEEPING For Day and Evening Classes. 1s. 6d. By D. MACARA, B.Com., Commercial Master, Aberdeen Intermediate Schools. CATALOGUES ON APPLICATION W. & R. CHAMBERS, Ltd., London & Edinburgh THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH The series of books by Mr. R. B. MORGAN, M.A., M.Litt., Education Officer to the Their popularity is firmly established, but there must still be many who do not Teachers who wish to make their acquaintance are invited to write to the publishers, The Groundwork of English. This is a complete English Course on modern lines for Preparatory Schools and Junior Forms in Secondary Schools, in two parts (1s. 6d. each), each intended to provide material for a year's work. It is interesting and inspiring, and popular with pupil and teacher alike. A Junior English Grammar. Each year sees an increased demand for "the most sensible grammar for younger pupils yet published," as one appreciative user describes it. Others: "I have never met with a book which made grammar so simple and palatable, and yet at the same time laid the foundations for a study of other languages so successfully." The entertaining character of the sentences and verses is a great asset." The most appetizing school grammar I know." A Senior English Grammar. 2s. In writing this book, the authors (R. B. Morgan, M.A., M.Litt., and H. A. Treble, M.A.) have made it their prime object to present in a brief and interesting form the laws upon which our present-day Standard English is based in so doing they have not neglected to trace the connexion between modern words and expressions and the earlier English forms from which they have been derived while resemblances to French and Latin idioms, and notable divergences therefrom, have been deliberately emphasized. 3s. 6d. A Higher Course of English Practice. This book has been written to supply the coping stone, so to speak, to the English Course detailed by Mr. Morgan. It aims at providing those who have reached the standard of the Final School Leaving Examination and University Matriculation with the materials requisite for a knowledge of the history of our native tongue, the acquirement of correct expression, and an appreciation of the somewhat elusive components of good style. Every chapter has been based on a long experience of pupils' difficulties and frailties. 3s. 6d. By judicious abridgment the editors have endeavoured to make a collection of interesting and instructive reading material from books not usually accessible (owing to the restrictions of copyright) to the great reading public in our schools. Each volume is illustrated and contains an introduction, glossary, and a number of questions on the text. TALES OF DISCOVERY AND TRAVEL A series of extracts, describing incidents of travel and discovery during the past century, given in the authors' own words. Illustrated. SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 1s. 9d. JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street, LONDON, W. 1 |