Spens (1938)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Analysis, Preface, Introduction
Chapter 1 Development of the secondary curriculum
Chapter 2 The present position
Chapter 3 Physical and mental development of 11-16 year olds
Chapter 4 The curriculum of the grammar school
Chapter 5 Scripture
Chapter 6 English, classics, mathematics, general science
Chapter 7 The School Certificate Examination
Chapter 8 Technical schools
Chapter 9 Administrative problems
Chapter 10 Welsh problems
Chapter 11 Conclusions and recommendations
Appendix I List of witnesses
Appendix II Liberal education (Young)
Appendix III Secondary curriculum (Kandel)
Appendix IV Faculty psychology (Burt)
Appendix V Transfer of training (Hamley)
Appendix VI Curricula in the Dominions (Clarke)
Index

London: HM Stationery Office

Chapter 8 Technical high schools and other technical schools
[pages 268 - 290]

1. In our Report on The Education of the Adolescent (1926) the aims and work of junior technical schools did not receive more than brief mention in chapters 1 and 2, and three recommendations (Nos. 13, 14 and 15). These recommendations recognised that both types of junior technical school, viz. the trade school which trains pupils for particular occupations, and the school which trains pupils for the general group of industries connected with engineering in its various branches, 'are doing valuable work within their own province and should be encouraged wherever the needs and requirements of local industries provide an adequate demand'. The terms of this recommendation might have been taken to imply that these schools were only partly in the sphere of education and that their encouragement and development was rather a matter for the industrial than for the educational world.

On the other hand, in the final paragraph of the historical chapter of that Report it was pointed out that at every stage of development there had been a tendency to throw up experiments in post-primary education, and that this fact in itself seemed to indicate the half-conscious striving of a highly industrialised society to evolve a type of school analogous to and yet distinct from the grammar school, and providing an education designed to fit boys and girls to enter the various branches of industry, commerce and agriculture at the age of 15.

The aims and salient features of junior technical schools based on the engineering and building industries

2. Our terms of reference make it necessary to give a more detailed consideration to the aims, objects and work of the junior technical schools, and to determine their actual and potential relation to secondary schools of other types. Since very little is known about these schools, except by the comparatively small number of teachers, administrators and inspectors who are in actual association with them, we have collected a large body of evidence both oral and written bearing on their work, and have visited a number of representative schools so that we might obtain for ourselves a true picture of their work, of the conditions under which that work is carried on, and of their staffing, equipment and corporate life.

We find that both in the industrial and educational spheres there has been considerable ignorance and much misunderstanding as to the aim and scope of these schools and of their undoubted contribution to education, and we are accordingly making recommendations which we hope will bring about a fuller recognition of the efforts which are being made to evolve a type of secondary school providing a liberal education based on a more realistic and scientific curriculum than that of a grammar school. We have come to the conclusion that although these junior technical schools may have as their general aim the provision of a liberal education for those who intend to enter industrial occupations, nevertheless their curriculum, and the method of its treatment, will also develop best the ability of certain types of pupil, whatever occupation they may subsequently adopt.

How these schools have surmounted the danger of premature specialisation of a vocational character

3. Much of the fear of 'vocationalism' and of early 'specialisation' in secondary schools has arisen through misunderstanding and failure to define these terms and to face the facts of all educational development. It is not always realised how much truth there is in the view expressed in a memorandum submitted to us by a distinguished American educational administrator, Dr John L Tildsley, of the New York Board of Education. 'There is no subject', he wrote, 'in the curriculum of any type of vocational school for any age of boy or girl that might not be liberalised while at the same time furnishing the highest degree of vocational effectiveness.' (1) Certainly, in any subject worthy of inclusion in a school curriculum it should be possible to lead the pupil to look beyond the immediate processes in which he is engaged to a wider human and social background. A subject which requires the extreme accuracy of working necessitated by many forms of workshop training can scarcely fail to provide a real moral and intellectual discipline. The dominant position in liberal education held so long by the study of Greek and Latin was largely based on the claim that that study combined a similar insistence on accuracy with an understanding of the place of classical literature in human life and history. Any subject which is so taught as to perform this dual function, demanding a high standard of accomplishment and at the same time awakening in the learner a sense of its wider meaning, serves in a sense the same end, whether in conventional terminology, it is called academic or technical, liberal or vocational. Its effect is the same, 'the unfolding', to quote Dr Tildsley again, 'of all the powers in the man, the making of them usable to the utmost degree in the special phase of production or the special phase of living in which he may chance to engage'.

From what we have seen and heard, we are satisfied that it is the aim and purpose of junior technical schools to liberalise every subject in their curriculum. We find that the teachers do in fact combine a high standard of working with a real regard to the wider aspects of their subjects. Their wide experiences are a great assistance to this end, since a very large proportion of technical teachers have had industrial as well as academic training and the great majority of them are also partly engaged in teaching adult students.

We have found in the schools we visited an atmosphere of vitality, keenness and happiness that was not only refreshing, but afforded a sure index that the curriculum and its methods of treatment so appealed to the pupils that the process of education was developing smoothly and unrestrainedly.

The two main groups of junior technical schools

4. The existing junior technical schools fall into two groups. In the one group are those schools (the trade schools) which are frankly and definitely preparing their pupils for entry into a specific occupation within an industry. They aim at continuing and enlarging the general education of their pupils and also at developing a substantial measure of personal skill in the processes of the occupation for which these pupils are being prepared. As a rule about one half of each educational week is devoted to general education and the other half to the acquirement of the particular craft or skill. It should however be noted that the number of school hours per week is greater than in other types of secondary school and that the general educational content is accordingly more extensive than would appear on a first view. These trade schools recruit pupils at the age of 13+ and as a general rule provide a two-year course. They are almost confined to the London area and till recently they were known as 'trade schools' though the London County Council now describe them as 'junior technical schools'.

In the second group of junior technical schools the outlook and the educational provision are different. Their aim is to provide an educational foundation and background for those pupils whose broad intention is to enter industry on leaving school about the age of 16. The object of these schools is to provide a wide and general education which will enable their pupils to adapt themselves to whatever conditions they may meet and upon which they can build their further education in more specialised directions according to the branch of industry and the form of occupation which they select.

It is desirable at this stage to point out that there is a great difference between the deliberate preparation of a pupil for entry to one specific occupation or trade within an industry and the provision of an educational foundation for entry to an industry or group of industries, within which there are many occupations and trades. The great industry of engineering is an example which may best be taken because of the fact that most of these junior technical schools have drawn up their curriculum with entry into engineering as the broad objective of their pupils. The engineering industry is many-sided. Its main groups are civil, marine, mechanical, electrical, aeronautical, automobile, railway and shipbuilding. Each group has various branches and within each group or branch there are many different occupations, manual, mechanical, scientific, artistic, technical, administrative and commercial. The field is therefore very wide and the junior technical schools based on the engineering industry provide the broad educational foundation suitable for the pupil whose intention is no more definitely expressed than by his saying in effect, 'When I leave school, I think I would like to be an engineer of some sort'.

The curriculum of junior technical schools bearing on the engineering industry

5. It is clear that there is nothing narrow in the educational preparation for entry into so wide a field, and the junior technical schools based upon the engineering industry have neither professed nor attempted to turn out ready-made engineers. They have framed an educational curriculum on a broad scientific and realistic basis. In the first place, they teach the engineering subjects so as to develop a grasp of principles and to cultivate a scientific imagination, and in the second, their curriculum gives a place to English subjects comparable with the place assigned to them in grammar schools. We are strongly of opinion that for certain types of children the education provided by this curriculum and the practical method of approaching the different subjects, eg science, mathematics and engineering drawing, will best develop their ability and in consequence is indeed the most appropriate course for them whatever occupation they may eventually choose.

Nomenclature: technical schools and technical high schools

6. Before proceeding further we must deal briefly with the problem of nomenclature in relation to junior technical schools. In the first place we urge that the word 'junior' should be abandoned. This word was first used to indicate the relation of these schools to those technical institutions and colleges in which they were usually housed and which themselves provide senior and advanced courses for students of post-secondary standard. So long as the word was used in this sense it was comprehensible, and conveyed some meaning to those engaged in the administration of these colleges and institutes; but we regard it now as a matter of primary importance that the nomenclature of schools should be understood not merely by administrators and teachers, but also by parents and employers and all sections of the educational world. The word 'junior' as used in relation to schools at the present time is usually understood as describing a primary school for pupils between the ages of 7+ and 11+. We accordingly recommend that the name technical school he used as a general term to describe all those junior technical schools which recruit at the age of 13+ and provide a course of two or three years duration. This will embrace both the specifically vocational technical school and the technical school providing a two or three-year course in preparation for entry to the engineering and building industries without restriction to any particular occupation within those industries. We further recommend that those junior technical schools which are accorded equality of status with secondary schools of the grammar school type having an age of recruitment of 11+ and providing a five-year course shall be known as technical high schools. Though we recommend these terms for the purpose of official classification, we expect and hope that each individual school will have its own local name, and we think that as far as possible this name should be descriptive of its work. The titles of most of the London technical schools provide good examples of what is in our mind.

Recruitment of pupils at the age of 11+ for the proposed technical high schools; transfer of pupils at the age of 13+

7. We fully realise that in selecting children at the age of 11+ the wishes of the parents, assisted by the advice of the heads of the contributory schools, should always have a predominant weight in determining the choice of school for children of that age. But there should be another age point, namely 13+, in all schools at which transfers should, if desirable, be made from one type of school to another with the object both of eliminating any misfits which may have occurred, and with the purpose of encouraging any special aptitudes which may have developed in children between the ages of 11+ and 13+, and furthermore of allowing a change of choice on the part of the parents. The establishment of a more or less common curriculum for pupils between the ages of 11+ and 13+ in all types of secondary schools would render it comparatively easy to effect mutual transfers at the age of 13. We feel very strongly that the advantage gained by placing a child in the educational environment best suited to his or her aptitudes and interests far outweighs any disadvantage caused by having a second 'break' at this age. Indeed, if an approximately common curriculum were provided for children between the ages of 11+ and 13+ the disadvantage of a possible break at 13 would be almost wholly confined to matters associated with the corporate life of the school. We do not attempt in any way to minimise this disadvantage but we feel strongly that if a child be transferred to a school which makes an immediate appeal to his interests and aptitudes he will necessarily be happier, will do better work and will rapidly develop in his new environment, thus falling automatically into line with the corporate life of the new school.

At the present time and under the existing administration, the technical schools do not admit pupils before the age of 13+. The grammar schools have hitherto secured the majority of the more gifted pupils from primary schools by means of the selective examination at the age of 11+. Secondary schools of other types, more especially selective modern schools, have secured those candidates on the examination list who were just not able to gain admission to grammar schools. Thus up to the present the technical schools have been at a great disadvantage in respect of the quality of the pupils who were admitted to them at the age of 13+. It may also be said at once that the number of pupils transferred from grammar schools to junior technical schools and vice versa at the age of 13+ has hitherto been negligible.

This state of affairs has had a serious social consequence. The natural ambition of the clever child has been turned towards the grammar school and the professional occupations rather than towards technical high schools and industry. This tends inevitably to create a disproportion in the distribution of brain power as between what may be broadly termed the professional and industrial worlds. Furthermore, there is the regrettable and undesirable difference in social esteem. We are concerned to secure and to emphasise the parity of all types of secondary school, but there is no point at which this is sociologically more important than in regard to the relative position of the grammar schools and the proposed technical high schools. We believe that our constructive proposals will, to a great extent, help to remedy these serious defects in our educational system.

technical high schools providing a five-year course for pupils between the ages of 11+ and 16+

8. We are convinced that it is of great importance to establish a new type of higher school of technical character, wholly distinct from the traditional academic grammar (secondary) school, and as a first step to this end we recommend that a number of the existing junior technical schools which at present provide a curriculum based on the engineering industries (and among these we include the building industry), and any others (2) which may develop training of such a character as (a) to provide a good intellectual discipline, altogether apart from its technical value, and (b) to have a technical value in relation not to one particular occupation but to a group of occupations, should be converted into technical high schools in the sense that they should be accorded in every respect equality of status with schools of the grammar school type.

We recommend that the age of recruitment for these schools should be 11+ and that the method of recruitment should be through the general selective examination by which children are recruited for the grammar schools. The selection of children for the technical high schools should be made (from those children who have attained the necessary standard in the examination) in accordance with:

(a) the choice of the parents;

(b) the report of the head of the primary school; and

(c) the result of an interview of the child and its parent or parents, with the head of the technical high school, and a representative of the local education authority.

The curriculum for pupils between the ages of 11+ and 13+ and the curriculum for pupils above the age of 13+ in technical high schools

9. In making these recommendations we consider that the curriculum for pupils between the ages of 11+ and 13+ in these proposed schools should be broadly of the same character as the curriculum in other types of secondary school of equal status. We recognise that from the first there might be a somewhat different method of approach arising out of the different environment but this difference need not and should not be carried so far as to preclude the transfer of any pupil at the age of 13+ to or from an ordinary grammar school or any other type of secondary school. A foreign language would, of course, be included.

For pupils of 13+ and onwards the curriculum should be designed to provide a liberal education with science and its applications as the core and inspiration. The subject matter would be English, history, geography, mathematics, science, engineering drawing, practical crafts in the workshops, physical education and aesthetic subjects together with a continuation of the foreign language for those pupils capable of profiting by it.

It might be thought that this curriculum does not differ greatly, if at all, from that of the science side of the normal grammar school, and we agree that in the matter of subject titles there is close approximation. It is in the methods of approach and treatment that the interpretation of the curriculum in the technical schools differs so materially from that of the grammar schools, and it is difficult to translate this difference into words except through the medium of a detailed teaching syllabus. The technical school has first hand knowledge of the application of science both to the processes of manufacture and to the operation of the devices and plant manufactured, and it is through this knowledge that it makes its approach to science and gives it a different emphasis and a different treatment. It is not hampered by ready-made examination syllabuses and it is competent to seize upon the desire of its pupils to know 'how things work' in order to lead them back to a knowledge of natural phenomena and its laws with a realistic sense of balance and emphasis.

We do not think that this note on the curriculum of the technical school requires any further expansion. We merely urge that its interpretation be continued along the lines already in existence and already well known to those members of the Inspectorate of the Board of Education whose particular duty it has been to report upon the work of the technical schools.

We must, however, draw attention to the provision which we recommend in the curriculum for the continuance of a foreign language right through the school for those pupils who are capable of benefiting by it.

In the past the junior technical schools have been discouraged from their attempts to introduce a foreign language into the curriculum of the 13+ age group, but we are of the opinion that a foreign language - preferably German - should be provided. It should not he a compulsory subject for all pupils, but it should be available for those pupils who have shown that they are capable of profiting by it. In making this recommendation, however, we would emphasise that we are not thinking in terms of examination requirements.

Finally, we offer an example of time allocations of the suggested subjects. The example is not intended to have the force of a recommendation and we realise that the time allocation of subjects will probably vary in the successive years of the course.

In a school week of 27½ teaching hours, an average allocation of subjects in terms of hours per week might be:

We have chosen hours per week instead of 'periods' because of the fact that the subjects and methods do not admit of equal periods and in such work as drawing, workshop and laboratory practice longer periods will be required for each lesson.

The time required for the foreign language would be taken from the pool, and those pupils who do not take the foreign language would be given extra time from the pool for other subjects according to circumstances and needs.

Accommodation for technical high schools; government and administration

10. Several important points emerge from our recommendations, namely, the question of suitable accommodation; staffing and equipment; the fees of pupils at technical high schools; the granting of an appropriate leaving certificate and the general relation of any such leaving certificates to the certificates granted on the result of the School Certificate examination.

On the question of accommodation we have no doubt that, where possible, technical high schools should be housed in the premises of technical colleges and technical institutes. The technical high school would be a department of the college and the head master of the school would be the head of that department.

This arrangement would necessarily vest the ultimate control of the school in the principal of the college. At the present time the majority of technical schools are in fact so controlled and thus no new principle is being introduced. It is evident that the technical equipment of the various departments of the college or institute can best be made available for the pupils of the school through the principal and that he can most effectively secure and maintain the cooperation and interest of the heads of the specialised departments and their staffs in the work and life of the school.

Moreover, the principal is in close contact with local industries and is thus in the best position to direct and regulate the flow of pupils leaving school both into industry and into the senior full-time and part-time courses of the college.

The general atmosphere of the college, which is largely attended by adult students, is a constant stimulant to the pupils of the school, and the fact that its pupils have the privilege of using the laboratory and workshop equipment, much of which has been installed primarily for senior students, is a great advantage. Furthermore, there is much evidence to show that the contact of the pupils of the school with many members of the college staff who are also concerned with teaching adult students has a beneficial effect both on teachers and pupils.

In cases where it is not possible to house the technical high school in a technical college we think that it is most desirable that its buildings should be linked with the buildings of the college in order to facilitate this participation in equipment and staff.

In the technical high school the general conduct, the discipline and the corporate life are necessarily distinct from those of the college, and for all these the head master is responsible. We suggest that a sub-committee of the governors should be appointed to manage the school, that the head master should have direct access to this sub-committee and that the appointment of teachers exclusively engaged in the work of the school should be made after consultation with him. Subject to these provisions we are satisfied that the organisation and administration of a technical college through its principal and heads of departments allow a sufficient measure of autonomy to the head master of the technical high school, whilst securing the vital contact of the school with the equipment and the staff of the college which we regard as of primary importance.

Fees

11. On the question of fees we need only say here that the fee system in technical high schools and in grammar schools in the same area should be the same, since otherwise whichever school has the higher fee system, will be regarded by some parents as being superior in status and they will accordingly seek to enter their children for the school which they regard as having the higher social standing irrespective of other considerations.

Leaving certificates for pupils in technical high schools

12. We strongly recommend the establishment of a new type of leaving certificate for pupils in technical high schools. We have been impressed by the fact that junior technical schools have been hitherto wholly free from any system of external examination, and by the emphatic statements made by witnesses representing these schools that this freedom from examination has been an important and vital factor in the successful development and progress of schools of this type. We would not, therefore, seek to impose upon the technical high schools any system of external examination with the necessarily uniform and rigid syllabuses which would inevitably follow in its wake. We think, however, that in order to give reality to our recommendations for the complete equality of status as between technical high schools and grammar schools, and also in order to bring before parents, employers and the public generally, the fact that these schools are of equal status with the grammar schools, some kind of school leaving certificate having general currency is required if it can be provided without the imposition of a rigid external examination. We are of opinion that such a certificate could be instituted by means of internal examinations based on the school curriculum, and subject to external assessment by assessors appointed or approved by the Board of Education, in order to afford an adequate guarantee for a uniform minimum standard of certification in technical high schools throughout the country. The leaving examination which we recommend would be conducted on lines similar to those in use for the existing examination for National Certificates - a system which the technical colleges know well, and which has produced excellent educational results since its inception some 15 years ago. In this system the examination papers are set for each school individually by the school authorities, the external assessors having power to alter 40 per cent of the draft papers. The scripts are marked by the school staff, and these marked scripts are then forwarded to the assessors, who may lower or raise the marks assigned for any answer. The final allotment of marks is made by combining the marks obtained by the examination, after assessment, with the marks obtained for class work and preparation work at school during the year; giving 70 per cent of the examination marks and 30 per cent of the class marks to determine the final position.

We recommend that some similar system of school leaving certificate should be adopted for technical high schools. These certificates must carry weight, and to that end it is essential that they should be endorsed by the Board of Education. We suggest that only technical high schools approved by the Board of Education should be allowed to award these leaving certificates, and we recommend that before according approval the Board of Education should satisfy itself fully in regard to such matters as the curriculum of the school; the sufficiency and qualifications of the staff; the adequacy of the premises and equipment; the arrangements for the examination; the methods and standards of assessment, and the assessors. We do not propose to go into detail on this point, as we are fully satisfied that such a system can be carried out easily and effectively by the Board of Education in collaboration with the school authorities, and we have sufficient evidence through the successful working of the system of National Diplomas and National Certificates for senior classes in technical colleges to satisfy us that there would be no real difficulty in putting into immediate operation such a scheme as we advocate. The leaving certificates would be endorsed by the Board of Education, and on these there would be clearly set out the attainments of the holders in all the work done in the technical high school.

This recommendation may strike some as being revolutionary: others may feel that it gives too much freedom to the schools: others again may feel that it reposes too much confidence in the teachers.

So far as the first point is concerned, the system we suggest is not as revolutionary as it may seem, for it exists in senior technical courses and, in effect, it has been the system of our universities for generations. But even if it were revolutionary, we should still advocate it as an experiment designed to determine whether we can obtain a method of certification of attainment for pupils on leaving school which shall allow a wider freedom of curricula, and of the educational process generally, than can be obtained through the comparatively rigid and uniform curricula which must necessarily follow a common external examination.

On the question of freedom of the schools and confidence in the teachers we have no fears. We are satisfied that the schools will use any freedom they can get in the best interests of their pupils, and that the teachers will use the confidence reposed in them with a high sense of their obligations to the community.

One further important point we would establish is that this leaving certificate of the technical high schools and the (t school Certificate ' should be regarded as equivalent i.e. equally creditable to their holders, of equal value in their respective fields, and equally acceptable as fulfilling the first condition for matriculation.

The importance of close cooperation between the proposed technical high schools and employers

13. In the course of our inquiry we have considered the evidence of industrialists and of many individual firms, representing most of the basic industries of the country. We find that there is much ignorance and misunderstanding of the aims, scope and work of the technical schools. On the other hand some individual firms are well informed about the work, and spoke in the highest terms of the capability and adaptability of the pupils. We have no doubt that industry as a whole will have an equal appreciation of these schools, when the precise character of the education and training given by them becomes known. In this context we think that education authorities might be well advised to give greater publicity to the aims and character of their technical schools, both to industry and to the general public.

There are two important matters which we think should receive the earnest and immediate consideration of industry. The first relates to the age of entry and the period of completion of apprenticeship or its equivalent in the engineering groups. There appears to be no uniformity of practice. Some firms refuse to accept a boy for apprenticeship after the age of 16: some firms will accept a boy after 16, but demand that his apprenticeship shall not end until five years after the date of his acceptance: some firms will accept him after 16 and will remit a period of apprenticeship equal to the period between the date of his sixteenth birthday and the date of his entering their works, provided that he has been a pupil in a technical school: some firms will remit one year of apprenticeship to a boy who has satisfactorily completed a three-year course at an approved technical school after the age of 13+. It is our view that a wise industrialist will be prepared and even eager to take as apprentices boys who have completed a technical school course at the age of 16+ and should at least grant remission of that period between the sixteenth birthday and the date of actual commencement of apprenticeship, so that in all cases the apprenticeship would be completed on the twenty-first birthday. There could be nothing but advantage to the individual industry, to the boy and to the schools if this plan were universally adopted by those industries which have a five-year basis of apprenticeship or its equivalent. We would urge therefore that this matter should receive the urgent and sympathetic consideration of industry - by which we mean not only the Federation of British Industries, and other organisations of employers, but also the trade unions - and that a definite pronouncement of policy should be made.

The second point relates to the form and character of the qualification which is required by employers as evidence of a good general education. We have had evidence that many engineering firms are not prepared to accept boys for some forms of apprenticeship unless they possess a Matriculation Certificate, or its equivalent.

We are now unhesitatingly recommending the establishment of technical high schools, which shall have complete equality of status with grammar schools. We are also urging that they should not be subjected to any system of external examinations, but that they should examine their pupils under an internal system, duly approved and assessed by the Board of Education, and that they should issue a form of school leaving certificate. We are anxious that the proposed technical high schools should not present their pupils either for the School Certificate examination or similar examinations, and we desire that our scheme of school leaving certificates shall be given every chance to establish itself. To this end, we have urged that these certificates should be regarded as an equal token in all respects to the certificates of the School Certificate examination obtained from the grammar schools. We ask employers to cooperate with us in this and to accept the proposed new school leaving certificates of the technical high schools in the same way as they now accept the certificate of the School Certificate examination.

The historical significance of the curriculum which has been evolved in junior technical schools based on the engineering industry

14. A steady development of educational work has been going on almost unseen in our technical schools and colleges during the past 30 years. Without any traditions and almost without any administrative restrictions they have experimented and progressed. They started with the specific purpose of providing an education to meet the immediate needs of those engaged in industry. Through that they discovered on the one hand the requirements of the industrial world and on the other the limitations in the existing educational background. Gradually, from the provision of the narrowest kind of trade or vocational classes they developed courses dealing with fundamental principles. Naturally the teaching of those principles was coloured - and vitalised - by first hand knowledge of their applications and they boldly rejected the purely academic and did not hesitate to stimulate learning through technical application.

From their experience in teaching adults they proceeded to develop schools for adolescents. As a matter of history, the first schools which so developed were the vocational schools preparing for entry into a particular occupation or trade within an industry. Then came the schools which prepared for entry to a specific industry or group of industries without restriction to any particular occupation. In the development of this type of school they framed an educational curriculum on a broad scientific and realistic basis in which they gave a place to English subjects comparable with that assigned to them in grammar schools. We are confident that our recommendation for the establishment of technical high schools will add a valuable contribution to educational provision.

Junior commercial schools and home training schools

15. We have considered very carefully whether junior commercial schools and home training schools(3) should be developed into additional types of technical high school and should recruit at 11+. We are entirely convinced of the importance of the work done by these schools and of the real educational value in themselves of the special subjects, as these are often taught. We are not satisfied, however, that either form of education affords a full alternative to a grammar school education. In order to reach that conclusion, we should have to hold that a number of children who have sufficient academic ability to profit substantially from a grammar school, and whose parents are willing that they should remain at school till the age of 16, should go to a technical high school based on commercial subjects or homecraft as the case might be. We believe that this will be true in the case of schools based on engineering subjects for the reasons we have given. At least so far as present experience goes, we do not think that a similar statement can be made in regard to schools based on either of the other groups of subjects. It is possible that further experience and further development of the schools in question may lead to a different conclusion. We think, however, that this is improbable and that the true future, in our judgement the important future, of commercial subjects and homecraft lies rather in full-time courses at technical colleges after leaving school, or for certain pupils in junior technical schools recruiting at 13 or 14, and also in greater provision for these subjects both in grammar schools(4) and in modern schools.

Our reasons for holding this view are implicit in what has been said in regard to technical high schools based on engineering. The technical subjects which would be taught in such schools are grouped round and built upon a range of systematised knowledge and theory which on the one hand is within the grasp of pupils of the relevant ages and on the other hand affords an intellectual discipline comparable to that of a grammar school education. In the case of commerce, the study of economics affords corresponding coordination of experience and relation of particular problems to general theories. In our judgement, however, a study of economics, capable of playing this part to any considerable extent, is almost certainly beyond the capacities of pupils under 16. In the case of the home training schools we find that, as with the junior commercial schools, there does not seem to be a suitable corpus of subjects to form a curriculum comparable with that of a grammar school. In general science the chemistry of cooking, for example, is far too difficult and complicated to supply what is required. We think, in consequence, that the necessary basis of general science is best taught in grammar schools and in modern schools, and then specialised and applied in the higher forms of these schools or in home training schools to which girls are transferred on the completion of their ordinary school careers.

Junior commercial schools

16. We have already expressed the opinion that strictly vocational subjects should not be begun before the pupil has secured a good groundwork in all the general subjects. (5) But there appear to be some pupils, perhaps a considerable number, whose interest in acquiring this groundwork can be fully maintained only by the relation of these general subjects to others of more immediate practical value; and experience has shown that the introduction of these other subjects alongside, and in relation to, the general subjects often vitally and advantageously affects the whole education of these pupils.

We have examined the timetables and the curricula of a number of typical junior commercial schools, and we find that only about one third of the total time is devoted to subjects that are directly vocational. This means that the general education is continued up to the age of 15 or 16, although, as would be expected, there is a tendency to stress the commercial side of the general subjects; and it is hardly necessary to say that we welcome this continuation of the general subjects for pupils up to these ages. The success of these schools in commercial subjects is due to the circumstances under which the work is carried on - appropriate equipment, teachers fully qualified in one or other of the commercial subjects (some teachers having had also commercial experience) and the general atmosphere of definite purpose in the work of the commercial schools as a whole. (6)

Home training schools

17. In home training schools, we have a much smaller body of experience from which to draw conclusions. Out of a total of 220 junior technical schools there are only 9 junior housewifery schools giving this training. Such evidence as we have, however, shows that in these schools, also, the general education in a modified form has to be, and is, continued with pupils recruited at the age of 13 or 14. About half the school time is allotted to general subjects, while some of the practical subjects such as art and needlework usually form part of any girl's general education. Therefore, the opinion, formerly held by many parents, that these schools provide a training merely for domestic service is contrary to fact. Whatever in the past may have been the courses of work, the present courses offer a wide range of subjects, including some general science in its application to the many factors which make up the daily routine in a modern house.

A brief consideration of the matters involved in the intelligent management of a household shows how wide these courses may be. Personal health and hygiene, including first aid, cooking, sewing, cleaning, laundry work, ventilation, sanitation, heating, lighting, water supply, the furnishing and decoration of rooms, and the use of various appliances, together require a wide range of knowledge in which simple mathematics, elementary general science and art are obviously essential. Furthermore, a background of history and literature and a considerable vocabulary are essential to enable the pupil to make full use of the many books, magazines and pamphlets published specially in the interests of the home. Outside the home women are intimately concerned with a number of social services, and they are no less concerned than men to give thought to general matters which may affect the country as a whole and their own locality in particular. To be of any value such thought requires an even wider knowledge in the English subjects, and a considerable degree of general education. In these schools, therefore, the vocational trend directly affects a wide range of subjects with a consequent stimulation of the pupil's interest. Moreover, as the course tends to reflect the environment of the pupils they more easily understand the knowledge which underlies what is already familiar.

A home training course thus liberally interpreted creates for the pupil a wide field of opportunity. While it is an excellent training for home duties or domestic service it provides a good foundation to the further and more specialised training required for welfare workers, women supervisors in hotels, boarding houses, large stores and the catering trades. It is also useful as a preliminary training for girls proposing either to become children's nurses or to enter the nursing profession.

The place and significance of quasi-vocational subjects in the curriculum for pupils under the age of 16

18. These facts all emphasise the view that with pupils admitted at the age of 13 or 14 the general education must be continued even though the future career of the pupils is supposed to have been decided. This is not only true as a broad principle, but it is fundamental to the effective teaching of the vocational subjects. On the other hand, the evidence is clear that the whole education of certain pupils is beneficially affected by a limited and carefully considered introduction of such subjects at this age. At the same time we are of opinion that when and wherever this work is begun there should be adequate equipment, suitably qualified teachers, and a sufficient allowance of time, in order that a useful standard of attainment may be reached. We think it highly important, therefore, that where economically possible there should be somewhat greater provision of equipment and qualified teachers than at present exists for the teaching of commercial subjects and domestic science alike in grammar schools and modern schools and also in special schools admitting pupils at a later age than 11+.

Trade schools

19. Trade schools are few in number and almost without exception are established only in London. The pupils prepare definitely for specific trades and both parents and pupils understand that this is the case and that the specific trade for which this preliminary training is being given is the occupation which the pupils propose to adopt. Their future prospects appear to be safeguarded by the number of admissions being regulated according to the probable demands of the individual trade or occupation. We desire, therefore, to reaffirm the view which we expressed in our Report on The Education of the Adolescent (1926) that these schools 'within their own province are doing most valuable work and should be developed as far as is possible in accordance with the needs and requirements of certain local industries'. We are also convinced that admission to these schools should not be obtained at an earlier age than 13+ and we would prefer 14+. We think that in areas where there is a steady demand for the entry of young people to permanent employment in established trades, schools of this type are justified.

We are acutely conscious of the fact that the tendencies of manufacturing processes to quick and radical changes seem to indicate that the educational training in trade schools must be such as to develop versatility. We are satisfied, however, that this need is fully recognised by those in control of the schools.

Transfer of pupils

20. There are two further points to which we wish to draw attention. We have no doubt that certain pupils who have been educated in grammar schools up to the School Certificate standard may do best, for vocational reasons, to transfer about the age of 16 to full-time courses at technical colleges. It is important, however, to recognise that courses for such pupils would have to be carefully designed and well taught. Courses extending over two years should be available and in certain cases (eg courses for prospective nurses) even longer courses may be desirable. We deprecate, however, in general transfer at an earlier age from a grammar school course to a junior commercial school or a home training school; since we believe that, if a pupil is profiting substantially from a grammar school, loss and not gain will ultimately result from narrowing and specialising his or her education at an earlier point to the extent which would be involved. When, however, the pupils are not profiting from a grammar school course, a marked improvement in their general and intellectual development may result by transferring them to just such realistic and vocational courses as are provided in 'junior technical schools' (7), which we have already suggested should in future be described as technical schools.

Junior art departments

21. There remains the question of junior art departments. Much of our evidence as to these was tinged by satisfaction with the present and optimism for the future. Yet there was throughout an insistent note that these departments should be established not simply because facilities exist for them, but only when they are judged to be the best means of securing the future careers of the pupils, in areas with specific local industries in which design plays an important part or in which artistic ability is an important asset. Before, therefore, a local education authority decides to add to its art school a junior art department, it should he satisfied that the necessary variety of teaching power in art subjects can be found only in the art school, and that the future occupations of the pupils are of such a character that specific art teaching cannot be deferred until the age of 15 or 16.

We do not believe that these specialised departments afford the best means of giving a general artistic training to boys and girls. Attendance at a grammar (secondary) school with a sympathetic leaning towards art teaching, followed by full-time attendance at an art school, for which the scholarship schemes of most local authorities provide the means, is a far more suitable alternative for pupils who require a general rather than a specific training in art.

A junior art department, in our judgement, ought to be regarded as a junior department in an art school rather than as a school in itself. These departments are included by the Board of Education in the category of art schools: they are not included in the general list of junior technical schools, among which are to be found all those schools whose special purpose it is to teach a definite trade or occupation. In so far, however, as they correspond to any other kind of school, they correspond most closely to 'trade' schools for those trades for which artistic ability is of primary importance. Only a small amount of time is, as a rule, given to general school subjects (including physical education); rarely more than half the total time in the first year, which may be reduced as the course progresses to as little as a quarter of the total time in the third year. This makes us the more anxious that, even where specific art training is held to be necessary for the children, the local authority should clearly ascertain to what an extent this training may be provided, in the preliminary stage, under conditions in which the children may have the benefit of a wider general education, and of participation in the corporate activities of an ordinary grammar school; especially if such a school is enabled to use the teaching power and the equipment for crafts and artistic processes of a neighbouring art school.

The small size of junior art departments proves in many cases to be a serious disability, since with so limited numbers it is very difficult for a healthy corporate life to be developed. We have heard of one case in which it has been found possible to combine with another school for games and other purposes. This at least is a hopeful practice; for the aloofness from ordinary worldly affairs, which is so often characteristic of those who follow artistic careers, is aggravated if they are debarred during adolescence from mixing freely with their contemporaries in corporate school activities.

Our witnesses expressed the view that the age of 13 was, as a rule, the earliest age at which it was possible to determine whether a boy or girl could with any advantage receive the type of education provided by a junior art department. With this view we fully agree; special aptitudes cannot readily be discerned at an earlier age. We would indeed desire a later age of admission wherever this is practicable; and we think that it might often be, made practicable by agreement with those industries in whose interests the junior art department is established. The head of the art school (who will also be head of this department) is in close contact with the future employers of the pupils. In return for the special advantages which the department may be held to confer, and in amelioration of the disabilities which, apart from their specific art training, the pupils may suffer, employers might well be disposed to agree to a later leaving age, which would render possible a later age of entry. They might also be induced to provide opportunities for the pupils after they leave school to supplement their evening classes in the art school proper by a substantial amount of instruction during the day time until the age of 18.

Junior art departments, which now number about 40 throughout England and Wales, have sprung up in the past 20 years; though some of them are of recent growth, the majority have existed long enough for some general conclusions to be drawn. We would like the line of thought that we have followed to be closely examined. In particular, we would desire that the question of general education should come under examination, as regards both the balance of appropriate subjects and their efficiency, and the number of teaching periods which are given to them in the successive stages of the course. If such an investigation is held by the Board of Education, it will doubtless embrace also such questions as the local circumstances which best justify the establishment of a junior art department, how the disability arising from the size of this department may best be remedied, and what should be the appropriate age of admission.

22. We consider that all the schools which are discussed in Part II of this chapter and such junior technical schools as are not converted into technical high schools, should remain under the Regulations for Further Education.

Footnotes

(1) See Appendix II.

(2) Such for example as a school of navigation designed to prepare boys to go to sea as apprentices with the object of becoming navigating officers.

(3) We prefer this term. The present official description by the Board of Education is junior housewifery schools.

(4) We have in mind primarily sixth form courses, but also a limited provision of courses of instruction after the age of 14.

(5) See Chapter 4, Section 37.

(6) See Report by the Committee of the Faculty of Teachers in Commerce Report on Facilities available for Commercial Education in Day Schools under Local Education Authorities (1938).

(7) See Chapter 9, Part XII, and this Chapter, Section 7.