A PLEA FOR SMALLER SCHOOLS [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.) SIR,—For all of us interested in the real education of our children there is a growing dread lest these big institutions to which we are almost compelled to send them, whether they be day or boarding schools, should increasingly tend to mass production, to a standardized type of boy or girl with the, consequent lass of individuality, both in character and study.
I have for some time been watching at close quarters a tiny experiment in the opposite direction, and am quite startled by the,results I can already observe. They may be of interest to some of your readers.
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A young UniA;ersity graduate, herself an enthusiastic educationist on the most modern lines, has gathered round her a few girls to educate in her country home. They vary considerably in age, some are 'boarders and some are day pupils. They all associate freely together work, play and meals, as members of one big family, and quickly adapt themselves to the give and take of family life.
While every girl has her own programme of work to, get through in a term she enjoys full liberty to investigate every subject, and thus begins to taste the romance of independent research.
This,method, familiar to all interested in modern education, produces a zest for learning entirely ini.lciiown_when I was a schoolboy. It also encourages_ the pupils to discover and develop in themselves a .iuriety of abilities they neyer eyen dreamed they possessed. The brain, the hands, the eyes, the rhythmic sense, all -find new uses and add to the value and interest of life.
The effect on character has been equally remarkable. Girls described as " difficult " at home are cheerful and contented in their new surroundings. Punishments are unnecessary for there are no unoccupied times and no incli- nation to develop un-social habits; congenial occupations fill up the day with a pleasant bustle. The conclusions I am inclined to draw from this experiment support the suggestion of one of your correspondents that our schools should be broken up into smaller groups of mixed agea,.and that the advantages of home life should enter into w the hole mganization, educational, social and physical.
This is still only an ideal. Some day I believe it will material- ize on sensible lines to the great advantage of a future
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