Practical Education Handwork in Secondary Schools

Abstract

Handwork and Examinations in Secondary Schools. - Tile first words that escape a secondary teacher when Handwork is mentioned are, ";But what of examinations and bursarships?"; It is significant that the principle of ";learning by doing"; is less often actually attacked nowadays than previously, and that the attitude has changed to that of seeking excuses for evasion. It is easier to work on well-established lines than to invent new ones; it is also a dangerous experiment to interfere with an already establishedteaching method that has for its climax the passing of a specific examination. The secondary teacher often regards the handwork portion of the curriculum as so much 'waste"; time, or, at least, ineffective time so far as examination work is concerned. And it is granted that the inflated claims and pious hopes of some handwork enthusiasts have already done much harm to the cause.