as it produces clear-headed and well-informed men and women whose lives are built upon realities which conform to the eternal structure of society. It is all to the good that the child should be in the forefront of the modern world thought it is much more to the point that the child when advanced to mature years of personal initiative and responsibility should maintain the ideals and training of the" days at school." The teachers' responsibility is great, but the ultimate obligation of the student is even greater.

EUROPE AND ASIA.

ANOTHER chapter has recently been written in the

story of the conflict between Europe and Asia, and our thoughts turn naturally to some of the previous events in that long history. We think of the Siege of Troy by Greeks in the dim past, the story of which is commemorated in the poems of Homer, a story believed to be purely mythical till the spade revealed the existence of that ancient city. Long after that came the struggle between the Greek cities of the mainland and the Great Kings," a struggle which led to the invasions of peninsular Hellas by Darius and Xerxes. The invasions were defeated as we all know, but it was not till Hellas was forcibly united under Philip and Alexander of Macedon that Europe reversed the tide of battle, and Greek civilization was spread over the "Near East." Alexander's empire was divided at his death, and after a century the various fragments were absorbed one after the other into the Roman world.

"

The Roman republic, and the empire into which it gradually changed, had always hostile relations with their eastern neighbours, and in the seventh century Arabia rose with its new religion of Mohammedanism, conquering and to conquer. Among their conquests and conversions was the home of the Turks, and in the eleventh century these people arose to overthrow the Arabian domination and to subdue a large part of Asia Minor. It was with these, the Seljuk Turks, as well as with Saladin of Egypt, that the European Crusaders had to deal. When the Crusades had ended in complete failure, the Seljuk dominion had fallen to pieces, and another Turkish race, the Ottomans, began to take their place in the fourteenth century. These pursued their conquests westwards into Europe and the Balkan peninsula fell under their power, the city of Constantinople being their last conquest in 1453. Their rule was strong for two centuries after this and it was not till they were driven from the walls of Vienna by Sobieski of Poland, in 1683, that their power began to decline.

With the rise of Russia in the eighteenth century, they had another enemy who, with Austria-Hungary sometimes to help, maintained a generally successful career against Turkey; we need not dwell on the details of that conflict. When, early in the nineteenth century, modern Greece won her freedom amid the jealousies of the European States, she began a movement northwards and eastwards which, mingled with Balkan wars in the nineties, led to further conquests and finally encouraged her to attempt a recovery of parts of Asia Minor.

But now a new Turkey has arisen, the Kemalites, which, inspired by nationalist aspirations, has not only driven the Greeks from Asia but requires the cession of eastern Thrace. What will the new Turkey do? Will she respect the neutrality of the Straits" and of Constantinople?

or

will she maintain her connexion with Russia and follow her Soviet government there in her policy? Much depends on her decision.

A RESOLUTION deprecating the employment of women who have received three months' training only as teachers of young children has been forwarded by the executive of the Association of Head Mistresses to the London County Council Education Committee.

THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.

N important conference upon this subject, arranged University Women Teachers and the Association of Science Teachers, was held at University College on Saturday, November 25. At the morning meeting the chair was taken by Miss W. Smith, President of the Association of University Women Teachers, and the more general aspects of science teaching in schools and the relationship to the work done later at the Universities was discussed, while the training of the teacher for the science work in schools received due attention.

Sir William Tilden in the opening paper showed that science teaching was essential in the training of every future citizen, and that the gaining of knowledge in one direction made progress in another possible. Although he held that biological science was not so generally helpful in other directions as physics and chemistry could be, he considered there should be time for some training in all branches, and for the study of something of the history of science, if broad schemes were used instead of highly specialized courses. He gave some interesting details of the teaching of his school days and the wide field covered. Both Sir William Bayliss and Prof. Partington supported the plea for wider range and broader outlook, while Miss R. F. Shove dated the narrower schemes from the time of the introduction of heuristic methods.

Miss Thomas emphasized the necessity of training the future science teacher, and pointed out that much time must be given to preparing apparatus and rehearsing experiments, especially now opportunities of manipulative work at the University are more restricted by the size of the classes. She considered the tendency to specialize early at the University was detrimental to the science teaching, particularly where Honours Degrees could be obtained without a previous Pass Course, and without work in physics or chemistry. She found the temptation to specialize was increased by the incidence of the Burnham Scales.

Miss Talbot's paper showed how the Training College helps the student in the preparation of work for the Lower and Middle School, where the subject matter has naturally not come under discussion at the University, and in the difficult task of managing class and experiment simultaneously. She asked for co-operation of schools and training colleges so that students might not only prepare apparatus, but observe the teaching over the whole of the schemes used.

At the afternoon meeting, Mr. A. G. Tansley read a paper upon the teaching of biology, and pointed out that a knowledge of biology. beyond that taught as nature study is necessary for the understanding of human life. On the whole he considered botany provided a more satisfactory course than biology as usually taught.

The paper given by Miss Lees on schemes for physics teaching, and that by Mr. Latter on the teaching of nature study and the transition to biology, were of great interest and value to teachers in schools. Both Miss Lees and Miss Drummond, who spoke on "post-matriculation" work during the morning, considered the advanced courses led to undue pressure, and that the work demanded was too specialized.

FOR MUSIC LOVERS.-Those who are interested in the study of music would do well to read the little periodical, The Chesterian, of which eight numbers are issued annually by Messrs. J. & W. Chester, Ltd. (subscription 5s.). The articles are written by well-known British and Continental musicians, and form valuable reviews of modern tendencies in music. The issue for September contains among other brief items, an account of the work of Francis Poulenc, an article on Early Chromaticism in the Light of Modern Music, and another on Rome, the latter being one of a series on the musical cities of Italy.

MUSIC FOR THE AVERAGE BOY.

(Second Article.)

BY F. H. SHERA, M.A., Mus.M., F.R.C.O., Director of Music, Malvern College.

N a former issue of this Journal (August, 1921), the Iwriter

and other secondary schools so far as collective teaching was concerned. Under such a condition it was, of course, impossible to survey the whole field, and an endeavour will now be made to supply the deficiency.

The average parent is no prey to theories about instrumental teaching; but he cherishes certain expectations, and it behoves the music teacher to keep one eye on these. At the end of every term the parent expects some result capable of being turned to account for social purposes; at the end of the pupil's schooldays, he hopes (too often, alas! in vain) to find that a certain degree of ability in sight reading has been attained-enough to enable the pupil carry on for himself or herself, if only to the length of reading a simple accompaniment to a song or instrumental solo.

to

No conscientious teacher will demur to these expectations; but most will find it difficult to combine the periodical result" of the dimensions expected, not only with the gradual acquisition of the sight-reading faculty, but also with a real understanding and appreciation of music regarded not merely as instrumental performance, but as something very much bigger and wider, in the short time usually at disposal.

It is safe to assert that 90 per cent of the boys who learn an instrument after the age of fourteen do so because they love it; for the other claims of school life (especially under the boarding house system) are so insistent and so timeabsorbing that only real individual interests can find a place.

To what extent this love can be turned to good account and made productive depends on the teachers; and it makes a very considerable difference whether musicteaching begins in the nursery, at the preparatory school or at the public school. At the moment, the chances are best if it begins in the nursery.

It is not unlikely that the most efficient and enthusiastic teachers of beginners in any subject are to be found teaching the very young: modern educational theory seems for the most part to be directed at the head of the young child; and few teachers nowadays merely drift into this kind of work.

In the preparatory school the chances are less good. Capable and sometimes brilliant teachers are of course to be found there; but their head masters, for competitive reasons doubtless, seem to regard future success in scholarship and entrance examinations, together with promising athleticism, as of infinitely more importance than the cultivation of the musical faculty. It should surely be possible to combine scholarship, athletics, or both, with a recognition of the fact that neither singly nor in combination do they cover the whole field of education, and to give the musical faculty a fair chance. As it is, many boys drop music as soon as an examination comes into view; and although some head masters would welcome the consideration of musical ability (were it possible to devise the means of estimating it) in entrance examinations, nothing has yet been accomplished in this direction.

These facts, combined with financial ones, and sometimes with ignorance, tend to make the standard of music teaching in such schools very low. In most of them, technical efficiency of the mechanical kind which gives the parent something to show in the holidays, seems to be the height of ambition.

At the public school, given teachers of reasonable ability and enthusiasm, a boy has a good chance of achieving fair proficiency as an instrumentalist if music is the first

"

"

of his out-of-school interests. The standard of instrumental teaching in public schools is improving. The old type of teacher, with the Songs without Words and The Merry Peasant as the staple of his répertoire, is becoming gradually, if slowly, extinct; and music-teaching generally is settling on to more scientific and artistic lines than before. Why do some 80 per cent of aspiring musicians demand lessons on the piano rather than on any other instrument? Partly, perhaps, because the piano is self-sufficing; assuredly not because it is the easiest instrument—though it is the most obvious one. Yet, in a given time, results pleasurable to the listener as well as to the performer are more easily obtained from almost any instrument other than the piano. But these results must be heard in orchestral or chamber music; and therein, no doubt, lies the answer. Neither boy nor parent has sufficient width of vision to grasp this fact, nor, in the present unaccountable decline of ensemble playing, to realise the thrilling pleasure of such music-making. These considerations should be impressed upon both boy and parent as often as possible. At one highly-favoured school no pupil is allowed to study the piano unless a real bent for it is shown. This is an ideal scheme.

For lesson-times, a plan which has much to commend it is gradually coming into use the rotary time-table. Lessons are given in ordinary school-hours, but no lesson comes at the same time in two consecutive weeks. To the music teacher the system is a boon and a blessing; his work is done during the most favourable part of the day. Some boys appreciate the facility; others most certainly do not-sometimes, it is to be feared, owing to difficulties with unsympathetic form masters. It needs, indeed, a form master with a very broad educational horizon to welcome the arrangement. The keener he is about his teaching, the more reluctant he is to have it missed. Absence through illness is one thing; absence for an optional subject" is another. He may have to bear it, but he will certainly not grin.

"

When the budding pianist arrives in the music-room, what sort of a piano may he expect to find there? The standard of school pianos is deplorable, for the simple reason that financial authorities cling to the illusion that expenditure upon them ranks as capital expenditure. Initially, of course, it does so; subsequently it cannot do so if good teaching is to have good results. The "expectation of life" of a good piano (and no other is worth buying) is, when it is in constant use, ten to twelve years. Assuming an establishment of twelve pianos, one should be replaced every year out of revenue; and, after teachers' salaries, this should be the first charge on the music account.

In planning a syllabus of instruction, we have to remember that we are trying to produce an all-round musician; and that the old routine of scales, studies, and solos must be supplemented or replaced by other matters, even at the risk of losing some degree of mechanical efficiency. We may leave on one side the very elements, for which such writers as Mrs. Spencer Curwen, Mr. Matthay, and others provide all that is necessary (its form must of course be adapted to the mental standard of the individual pupil), and lay down some principles in the choice of solos. The following are of capital importance:

1. The niusic should be well within the pupil's technical powers. All music should be carefully graded; and for this purpose the Associated Board's lists, for example, provide an admirable framework.

2. Pieces should err on the side of brevity rather than of length, to obviate monotony and consequent staleness. 3. The music should appeal to the imagination rather than to the intellect. This means that Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms will mostly come late rather than early in the school career, but it does not mean that the study of musical design should be neglected.

The observance of these principles will probably entail

the use of a good deal of material by the RomanticsChopin, Schumann, Schubert, and especially Grieg and Macdowell; but, before the giant-classics are tackled in any quantity, there is much to be done with Englishmen such as Bridge, Ireland, Speaight, Hurlstone, and Dyson, to mention no others; with Scarlatti and old English composers such as Purcell and Arne; and with Debussy, Sibelius, Palmgren, and the early Scriabin.

Solos, however, should not occupy more than half of the available time, and sight-reading should be studied systematically, at the lesson and during practice. For the lesson, several sets of well-graded books are on the market. For private practice, a sight-reading library should be available. This may be maintained out of a small terminal subscription, music abandoned by former pupils, and (sometimes) publishers' specimen copies, for which it provides one means of publicity. In all cases the grade should be marked on each piece.

It may be doubted whether the generous amount of scale-playing demanded by most public examinations justifies the expenditure of time which it necessitates. Studies, even if they "teach not their own use," are better, though they can often be concocted from the solo in hand, and so made to serve a double purpose. There is no doubt, however, that the theory of scale-formation is vital for the understanding of the ordinary tonalities and, per contra, for that of modes and of the new scale-forms evolved from time to time by the composers of to-day.

Hand in hand with the theory of scale-formation goes When scales, the principal elementary transposition. chords of a key, easy progressions, and cadences have been mastered (all this is dealt with in Mrs. Curwen's books), the sight-reading books may form the next steps. If it is possible to proceed to the transposition of simple accompaniments, so much the better; but the first use of transposition is as an aid to sight-reading, for it should make the staple material of every key equally familiar.

Harmony at the keyboard, and improvization, may be attempted if time is plentiful, or as an occasional change from routine-work.

Groundwork should be frequently revised at the piano; and aural training, the very foundation of all intelligent music-teaching, should form a part of every pupil's course. It is most economically carried out in classes-the smaller, the better. It should train the ear to recognize differences of pitch, duration, rhythm, form, and so on, focusing the results in dictation tests as far as possible. How this may be done in a comparatively short time, the writer has tried to show in a small book soon to be published.

'Musical Appreciation " may be held to cover the appeal to both intellect and imagination. Provided that the means of approach to the imagination are made readily and frequently available (e.g. by gramophone or pianola recitals, concerts, &c.), the aural training class should confine itself so far as may be to the intellectual side of things, or, when time is short, it will probably fall between two stools.

If instrumental practice can be supervised, the school is indeed happy; but for most of us this is a counsel of perfection, though its importance cannot be too strongly emphasized. Occasional (internal) examinations in music are useful if treated rather as tests of progress than as tests of achievement pure and simple; but, like other examinations, they are usually more valuable to the teacher than to the pupil.

Pupils are only too apt to regard lessons, practices, and classes as the whole musical duty of man (or, at any rate, of boy or girl); and we cannot remind them too often that, if their training is to be really fruitful, they must hear, and hear intelligently, as much good music as possible. Every opportunity, both in term-time and out of it, should be seized; and wise teachers will see to it that opportunities are frequent and well advertised.

The result of any system of training is determined by the response evoked. The method which has been outlined is

an attempt to adapt the ideas of the best teachers of to-day to the circumstances in which the writer and others of his kind work. It aims at producing musicians first and performers second; at training ears to hear as well as hands to interpret; at forming a channel for the stream of selfexpression; and, finally, at cultivating such a standard of taste that the self may become increasingly worthy to be expressed.

PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS.

MR. J. F. ROXBURGH, the recently appointed head master to the new public school to be opened at Stowe House, Buckingham, next summer, has been sixth form master at Lancing College since 1911. A native of Scotland, Mr. Roxburgh was educated at Charterhouse, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a First Class in the Classical Tripos, 1910. He continued his education at the University of Paris, and obtained the degree of L. ès L. (avec mention). During the war he served with the Royal Engineers in France, and he was mentioned in dispatches for his good work during the last advance. It is understood that Mr. Roxburgh is to have a free hand in the appointment of his staff, and that he is preparing an entirely new scheme for the granting of scholarships.

*

OLD BOYS and friends of Tonbridge School will deeply regret to hear of the sudden death of Mr. C. Lowry, head master of the school for fifteen years. Mr. Lowry succeeded the late Dr. Tancock in 1907, and resigned owing to ill health in July last. He was an Old Boy of Eton, and obtained Second Classes in Lit. Hum. and Jurisprudence from Corpus Christi, Oxford. Before taking up the appointment at Tonbridge he had served as an assistant master at Wellington College and Eton, and as head master of Sedbergh from 1900 to 1907.

*

THE appointment of Dr. F. H. Spencer as chief inspector in the Education Office Department has been confirmed by the London County Council. Dr. Spencer was trained as a teacher at Borough Road, and gained five years' experience as an elementary teacher at Burrage Grove Council School, Woolwich. Later he became a lecturer at the City of London College, and had charge of the Day Commercial Department. He has also acted as Chief Examiner for the L.C.C. Junior County Scholarships, and for some years he has been on the staff of the Inspectorate of the Board of Education. Three years ago he was promoted Divisional Inspector. He is a D.Sc. of London University, and has collaborated largely with Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb in the preparation of statistics and studies on economic and social questions. A man of wide experience and distinction, Dr. Spencer is well qualified to succeed Dr. Kimmins.

PHILIP HENRY Sturge, who died recently at Winscombe, Somerset, did fine educational work in India from 1890 to 1918. Born in Bristol in 1860 and educated at Quaker schools at Sidcot and York, he was a master at the latter for a time before going to Cambridge. Exhibitioner, prizeman, and scholar of King's, he was bracketed first in the History Tripos in 1886. After a time of coaching and lecturing and an illness following an accident in the cricket field, which rendered him partially deaf for the rest of his life, he went to India as private secretary to the Home Secretary of Hyderabad. In 1890 he became vice-principal of the Nizam College, and in 1911 succeeded Mr. E. A. Seaton as principal. Mr. Seaton, who now supervises Indian students at Oxford, writes that he was an ideal man for the work. He threw himself heart and soul into the life of the college, brought the work in history and English to a very high standard, and, himself a good, all-round athlete, (Continued on page 20.)

The

promoted physical education and sportsmanship. college prospered in every way. He won the respect and affection of students, colleagues, and officials, who recognized in him a man of high character, initiative, and ability, just, honourable, loyal, and sympathetic. Elected a Fellow of Madras University, he examined in history and political science, and inspected schools. In 1918 he retired with a pension and settled down in Somerset, devoting himself to gardening and literary pursuits. Philip Sturge had many friends. Dignity, self-control, patience, wide interests and sympathies, a keen sense of humour, incisive and witty speech, all characterized and expressed a personality full of charm.

ELEMENTARY school teachers throughout the country have sustained a great loss in the death of Miss Isobel Cleghorn, one of the best known schoolmistresses in Great Britain. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Union of Teachers for almost twenty-five years, and was the first woman president of the Union, being elected to that office at the Aberystwyth Conference some ten years ago. Miss Cleghorn was trained at Stockwell Training College, and gained experience at Scarborough and Thetford. In 1879 she was appointed head mistress of Healey Bank School, Sheffield, a post which she held with conspicuous success for nearly forty years. Throughout her career Miss Cleghorn was a firm upholder of the highest ideals of the teaching profession.

*

MR. JOHN COTTAM MOSS, whose death was recently reported, was for a long time a master at Harrow, where he had a very successful house, now amalgamated with The Grove, under his successor, Mr. C. G. Pope. Mr. Moss passed through a distinguished academic career at St. John's College, Cambridge, being Porson scholar in 1870, Craven scholar in 1880, and Browne medallist in 1879, 1880, and 1881. In 1882 he was third classic, and was elected a Fellow of St. John's in the following year. ONLOOKER.

LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES.

The West Riding Committee adopts a somewhat elaborate method of selecting the best material for Minor Scholarships. junior scholarships, and a perusal of the report on the examination is not particularly reassuring. For children under twelve years of age the process appears to be a formidable one. Of 8,111 pupils who were presented for a written examination, 6,630 were rejected; of the remainder, 473 were awarded scholarships and 1,008 invited to a further oral examination. The oral test was carried out at 64 centres; at 46 of these one of the Committee's examiners was present in addition to the Head of the Secondary School and the Head of an Elementary School from another locality. The labour involved in the oral examination of so many candidates may be gathered from the statement of the report that

The Cost

of Education.

The costing tables" based on the expenditure of Local Education Authorities, issued by the Board of Education are of particular interest at this time. What, for instance, would the citizen of London have to say if he had to pay fees amounting to 275. a week for the elementary education of his three children ? This is what it costs under present conditions, the net expenditure being in 1921-2 371s. 1od. per child. In the counties, excluding London, it was 217s. 2d.; county boroughs, 231s. 3d. ; boroughs and urban districts, 212s. Id., and 266s. Id. respectively. It is perhaps not surprising that the question is frequently raised whether the cost of elementary education is not greater than the community can support. The citizen, although he is not required to pay fees, must either directly or indirectly find the money to meet the bill. Among counties, the highest total net expenditure per child was in Montgomery, where it reached £12 16s., as compared with £7 11s. Id. in the Isle of Ely, and £8 Is. 8d. in Norfolk. Among county boroughs, Bradford and Halifax head the list with £16 2s. and £15 6s. 3d. respectively, while Gateshead-on-Tyne and Dudley are lowest, the expenditure being £7 19s. 9d. and £7 19s. 5d.

The details of the expenditure per child show considerable variations, and it may be sufficient to give the figures for London compared with the average for other in England and Wales:

Details.

Teachers' Salaries Loan charges Special services Administration

Other expenditure

areas

Excluding London, Montgomeryshire heads the list among counties with £9 12s. 4d. for salaries of teachers, the Isle of Ely and Derbyshire on the other hand recording £5 12s. 4d. and £5 14s. 7d. for this service. The county boroughs of Dudley and Sheffield, however, have the distinction of being lower, the figures for these areas being £5 38. 3d. and £5 10s. IId.

London.

In his Annual Report to the London County Council for 1921, Sir Robert Blair reviews at some length the Day Continuation Schools opened in January, 1921. It was arranged that normally one afternoon and one evening each week should be set aside for instructional purposes. The choice of particular periods of attendance was always made to suit the convenience of the employers. Very little difficulty was experienced with large employers of labour, the principal objectors being small employers and shopkeepers with one or two young employees whose services could, with difficulty, be dispensed with. The number of young persons enrolled compared with the number liable varied in different terms from 83 to 96 per cent, and must be regarded as highly satisfactory. Sir Robert Blair states, however, that the weekly returns of attendance show that in some districts the low attendance was due partly to the position and to the unattractive character of the buildings in use, but the chief causes were scarcity of employment and the unfair advantage in the labour market enjoyed by young persons residing outside London, who were not obliged to attend any Day Continuation School. Prosecutions for non-attendance were not resorted to until every persuasive means had been exhausted, and after prosecution was commenced, a fine was not pressed for if definite promise of attendance was given. From the initiation of the work to the end of 1921, 386 summonses were issued in respect of 264 young persons.