 |  |
| www.dg.dial.pipex.com | 913 readers since 10 Jul 2006 |
| |
| www.dg.dial.pipex.com | 913 readers since 10 Jul 2006 |
Hadow (1923) Notes on the text
|
The Hadow Report (1923)
Differentiation of the curriculum for boys and girls respectively in secondary schools London: HM Stationery Office
Chapter 4 General review of the evidence and conclusions
87. In the course of our inquiry several crucial questions bearing on the Reference have emerged. These questions are as follows: (1) Is there sufficient evidence to suggest the desirability of any differentiation in the curriculum on anatomical and physiological grounds? (1) Is there sufficient evidence to suggest the desirability of any differentiation in the curriculum on anatomical and physiological grounds? 88. The available evidence regarding anatomical and physiological differentiation between the sexes, as set out in Dr Adami's memorandum in Appendix V to this report, seems to indicate that there is a decided difference between boys and girls in rate and periodicity of growth and development. Girls are often more robust than boys before the age of 11 or 12, but after the onset of adolescence, which occurs as a rule shortly after the beginning of the secondary school period from the age of 12 onwards, they are on the whole less strong than boys, being more inclined to suffer from nervous strain and more liable to fatigue. It is noteworthy that with adolescence the amount of haemoglobin in the blood of the girl becomes and remains definitely lower than that in the male, for this indicates a lessened capacity for oxygen interchange and metabolic rehabilitation. It is noteworthy also that in the female the thyroid gland is more easily and more frequently stimulated to activity. This, together with, possibly, the greater drain upon the calcium of the blood, appears to explain the more emotional and high strung nature of the adolescent girl to which so many of our witnesses have drawn attention. It also seems clear from the evidence that girls need even more careful supervision during adolescence than boys, and for a longer period. In general, boys seem to be physically stronger and to have a greater reserve of strength during the years covering secondary education. We think that these facts should always be taken into consideration in arranging the curriculum, more especially in coeducational day schools, and that there should be a well defined difference in the extent of the demands made on boys and girls at school. The medical evidence, which is corroborated in this respect by the testimony of teachers and examiners, points to the fact that girls are, on the whole, more liable to overstrain and worry than the majority of boys, and, though we realise that adequate precautions are taken at present in many girls' schools to guard against the danger, we think, nevertheless, that more attention should be paid to this aspect of girls' education, and that the general timetable, the arrangements for games, and, if possible, the arrangements for external examinations, should be so designed as to reduce such strain to a minimum. We are inclined to think that the predisposition of girls to nervous overstrain, especially at the period of adolescence, is one of the most important factors in the problem of female education, necessitating sympathetic differentiation in the course of instruction. We consider that it is especially important that the whole question of games and sports in girls' schools, more particularly in day schools and coeducational schools, should be further explored with a view to determining whether, in the light of the known physical differences between the sexes and the apparent greater susceptibility of girls to physical and mental fatigue and overstrain, it may not be advisable to introduce further differentiation in the matter of games for pupils of varying ages in different types of girls' schools. (1) We consider that the risk of possible mental and physical overstrain incurred by girl pupils in day schools in playing games under existing conditions is deserving of the most careful attention, as is also the question of the extent to which the competitive element may be safely introduced in girls' schools. (2) Does the relative susceptibility of girls and of boys to physical and mental fatigue bear on the problem of differentiation of the curriculum? 89. Our physiological evidence, and a large part of the evidence from teachers, indicates that girls are, on the whole, more liable to physical and mental fatigue than boys. This may be due, not only to the larger reserve of strength possessed by a boy, but also to his greater power of resisting pressure. It is well known that most boys, especially at the period of adolescence, have a habit of 'healthy idleness', (2) and are thus able to protect themselves from over-pressure, whereas girls are more amenable to authority and more industrious. Thus the girl's greater docility and industry deprive her of some of the protections which the boy enjoys. We think, therefore, that on the whole the traditional arrangement by which the number of hours spent in school and the amount of time actually devoted to many subjects is shorter in girls' schools than in schools for boys is probably based on sound reasons, and that it is inadvisable to assimilate the girls' timetable too much to that for boys. When, under high pressure, boys and girls of similar ages and capabilities are working at the same rate in the matter of accomplishment, girls' efforts tend to flag sooner than those of boys. In view of the apparent greater liability of girls to fatigue, we deprecate long morning sessions for girls extending to, say 4 hours. (3) We consider that a morning session of 3 to 3½ hours, followed by a short afternoon session, would probably be best suited to the needs of girls. It would seem that there is much to be said for the arrangement sometimes adopted of taking the more exacting studies in the morning and devoting the afternoon to subjects which involve less severe intellectual strain. From the educational standpoint we desire to emphasise the great importance of the whole question of the relative susceptibility of boys and girls respectively to mental and physical fatigue, and we recommend that further research should be undertaken with a view to collecting reliable data on the subject. (4) (3) Does the available psychological evidence point to the advisability of differentiation in the curriculum? 90. It will be seen from the summary of psychological evidence in Chapter 3 that most of the systematic inquiries undertaken hitherto with a view to determining the emotional and mental differences between the sexes have been made on persons below or above the secondary school age. It would appear, therefore, that there are at present no very trustworthy data to warrant explicit differentiation in the education of the sexes on psychological grounds. The conclusions that have been arrived at, though interesting and suggestive, must on the whole be regarded as tentative. There seems, however, to be general agreement that girls are more receptive, more imitiative, more amenable to discipline, and more conscientious in their work than boys, who are on the whole more independent, unruly, original and creative. Both girls and boys seem to be interested in the immediate and the concrete, but boys appear to have more natural bent for processes of abstract reasoning. It would seem also that, though there is little difference in intellectual capacity between the sexes, there are noticeable divergencies in emotional response, as indicated by the degree of interest evinced for various studies. On the whole, then, the apparent differences revealed up to the present by psychological inquiry would not seem to justify any serious differentiation in the actual curriculum, though they should be taken into account in determining the methods in which certain subjects, such as mathematics and physics, are presented to girls. We think, too, that girls, wherever possible, should be encouraged, even at the risk of making mistakes, to develop those qualities, such as initiative and originality, which are apparently less natural to them. We do not think that any pupil should be allowed to give up a subject because he or she finds it difficult, but in the light of the available psychological evidence we consider that it should be possible to remove, for a time at all events, the pressure of an uncongenial subject when the teacher considers that no further educational benefit is to be got from it. Special care should then be taken in the presentation and method of study of other subjects with a view to removing the weakness. For example, a pupil's failure in mathematics is probably accompanied by either a lack of accuracy or weakness of reasoning power or both. The first deficiency might be corrected by training in accurate observation in some branch of natural science, by the study of geometrical drawing and its application to design, and by the accurate use of language. (5) The weakness in reasoning power might to some extent be rectified by a careful study of grammar and by special attention to the logical side of literature, of music, and of geographical and historical teaching. In attempting to appraise the psychological evidence which has been submitted to us, we have been struck by the relative absence of systematic inquiry on the intellectual and emotional differences between boys and girls of secondary school age in their bearing on education. We accordingly recommend that systematic research should be undertaken by psychologists and teachers on groups of boys and girls drawn from secondary schools of different types with a view to ascertaining the actual facts. It seems most important that such inquiries should be based on wide inductions and should extend over a term of years. Such researches might reveal important facts regarding divergences of interest and differences in intellectual capacity between the sexes at various ages. (4) Are there any subjects in the existing curriculum for which boys and girls respectively show special aptitude or distaste, and in case there are deep-seated differences in the attitude of the sexes to certain subjects, should secondary education aim at developing strong points or should it be partly devised to improve weak points? 91. Our evidence and, more particularly, the evidence from the examining bodies, shows that at present girls display more aptitude and taste for English subjects and modern languages than for classics, mathematics, and science, with the possible exception of biological science. It is very difficult, however, on the evidence before us, to determine how far such differences are inherent, to what extent they are due to tradition, or how far they are the result of a difference in methods and quality of teaching. It is possible that the greater difficulty experienced by girls in dealing with mathematics may be partly due to their greater susceptibility to physical and mental fatigue and to their greater interest in concrete subjects which have some immediate and obvious bearing on the facts of everyday life. On the other hand, there is no really cogent evidence to prove that any one subject is more distasteful to boys than another. We have been impressed in the course of our inquiry by the empirical and unscientific character of much of the available evidence in regard to supposed differences in the educational achievements of boys and girls respectively. We accordingly recommend that systematic enquiry, based on experiments, should be undertaken, more especially in coeducational day schools, with a view to collecting trustworthy data regarding the educational achievements of groups of selected boys and girls at successive stages of their school life in different types of schools. Pupils who found certain subjects exceptionally difficult might perhaps be dealt with on the lines indicated in the preceding section (Section 90). (5) How far is it advisable to differentiate in the teaching of particular subjects of the curriculum to boys and girls respectively, for example English, mathematics and physics? 92. In the light of our evidence we are of opinion that there probably is always a certain subtle difference in the methods adopted by masters and mistresses respectively in teaching any specific subject, as there appear to be noticeable emotional differences in interest between the sexes which must influence the attitude of men and women teachers and also that of their pupils to any given subject. We are disposed to think that in certain subjects, notably English, mathematics and physics, it would be advisable to introduce a more explicit differentiation in actual methods of teaching. It is generally recognised that under present conditions of teaching girls are better in English and boys in mathematics and physics. We offer the following tentative suggestions in regard to the teaching of these subjects with a view to rendering them more suitable to girls. English
The pupil's understanding of the passages studied can often be best tested by searching questions and by appropriate written exercises designed to secure accuracy and precision. In general, more emphasis should probably be laid, especially in teaching girls, on training in exact expression; mere redundancy should be discouraged and the pupils should be taught to express their thoughts in clear simple language. An appreciable amount of time should always be devoted to private reading at home and to free composition, as is actually done at present in many schools. (6) Mathematics and physics
Mr Benchara Branford, speaking as a mathematician, suggested to us that a large part of school mathematics was equally suited to girls and to boys, though there were also aspects of the subject peculiarly and respectively appropriate to the averages of each sex. Experience had shown conclusively that some of the arts and crafts offered a fitting field in which to stimulate and maintain the interest of girls in mathematics. The conditions governing the development of mathematical capacity in the average girl approximated closely to those governing the development of artistic capacity, and these two educational problems, though as yet very imperfectly explored, had been found to throw light on each other. Teachers of mathematics should keep in touch with teachers of arts and crafts. There were also the fields of vital statistics, life assurance and annuities, the economics of shopping, and even banking itself, which would repay exploration by girls' mathematical teachers who had tastes in those particular directions. We welcome the growing tendency to teach mathematics by more practical methods to pupils up to the age of 16, and we recommend that the teaching of this subject should, up to the stage of the First School Examination, be made as concrete as the conditions of the individual school allow. This might be effected by correlating the mathematical teaching either with the instruction in elementary science or with geometrical design in arts and crafts. The first-named method is at present more practicable in boys' schools because, with some notable exceptions, girls' schools possess less adequate equipment for science teaching, and have also, under present conditions, fewer competent teachers of physics and mechanics. We accordingly recommend that, in order to improve the teaching, both in mathematics and in elementary physical science, more adequate facilities should be provided in girls' schools for the study of physics and mechanics. We also recommend that suitable steps should, as far as possible, be taken to secure in the future a better supply of properly trained women teachers of physics. (6) How far should girls' education be influenced by home duties during school life and afterwards? 93. We do not think it desirable to attempt to divorce a girl's education from her home duties and her home opportunities. On the other hand, there is a real danger now of her energies being exhausted by home duties, and her interests absorbed by social engagements, to the detriment of her mental development. We do not consider that any distinction can be drawn between the qualities that go to make a good parent and those that go to make a good citizen. No matter what the curriculum may be, the aim must be the fullest and best balanced development of mind, body, and spirit. The training in housewifery and cookery, and even in physiology and hygiene, though it may elicit the qualities of intelligence, skill, thoroughness, unselfishness, and so forth, is not so important as the general training. But there will probably be some gain in efficiency, if the girl associates the arts relating to the care of her home with the thoroughness and intelligence required in other subjects. There is a gain, too, in her feeling that her teachers appreciate the dignity of home duties and have full sympathy with her development in this direction. We must, however, remember that we are only on the threshold of the development of women's work and their opportunities. Experience may even mislead us. We think that in no part of school life is an open mind more essential. No preconceived ideas as to the best preparation, even for motherhood, ought to hamper experiment or to dim vision. (7) Is any differentiation of the curriculum advisable in view of differences in the environment and social function of boys and girls? 94. Environment obviously plays a great part in education, and it is difficult to conceive a world where the environment of boys will not be slightly different from that of girls. Even in a boarding school girls perform some duties, e.g. mending, for which there is at present no equivalent in most boys' schools. (7) The home, too, makes considerable demands on many girls in day schools, even in term time. We should be sorry to see these home claims not met within limits, though we feel that an unduly large share of household duties is sometimes allotted to girls to the detriment of their education. There are welcome signs that boys are being encouraged to take some share in the duties of home. Another difference of environment cannot be altogether ignored, as it affects girls both at home and at school. They have not been given, and perhaps under certain circumstances cannot be given, the same freedom as boys to go where they will unaccompanied. The habit of independence, so desirable in itself, is consequently less easily formed by them. In regard to differences in social function, we may assume that all children have to be educated with two ends in view: (i) to earn their own living;while girls have also to be prepared (iii) to be makers of homes.Boys and girls should be educated on similar lines, though not necessarily at the same pace, so far as concerns the first and second aims. As regards the third aim, which is special to girls, we consider that some definite preparation should be given during school time. This is particularly necessary at the present day, because the requisite training tends to be given less and less in the home. The influence of the university, too, has to some extent been harmful, inasmuch as the curriculum of secondary schools has been largely planned to meet the requirements of the comparatively few pupils who desire to proceed to the university, and has ignored the needs of the large proportion of girls who approach life through other avenues. We deprecate the idea that the only manual work open to girls is that connected with the use of the needle. (8) How far may further differentiation between the curriculum for boys and that for girls be advisable in view of differences in the careers which they will probably follow as men and women? 95. The problem is a complex one, and facile generalisations are misleading. The broad difference between boys and girls - that the former will earn the family income and the latter will administer it, bring up children, and look after the house - is relevant as far as the majority are concerned, and we discuss later its bearings on educational policy. On the other hand, education must consider the whole of life, and it must be remembered that, though the majority of women marry, those married at any one time barely outnumber the unmarried and the widowed, (8) most of whom must maintain, or help to maintain, themselves. The age at which marriage takes place and the necessity of carrying on wage earning employment between school and marriage varies from one section of the population to another. The assumption that women give up wage earning employment on marriage needs some qualification. Though true at present of the majority, it is less true of the manual workers than of the business or professional classes, of the north than the south, of a textile district than of a mining or agricultural village. It is perhaps somewhat less true of the middle classes today than it was a generation ago. These and other differences of economic and social condition blur the simplicity of the picture. Nor should it be necessary to suggest that economic considerations - the future employment of boys and girls in industry, commerce, and in the professions - are not the only points which need attention. Men and women alike have their personal interests and their responsibilities as citizens. Both must be given like weight in planning the education of boys and girls. 96. The facts which require attention are, therefore, numerous and are also in a continual process of change. The common tendency of each generation has been to assume that the conventional particular division of work between the sexes was the only one possible, because it was the expression of unalterable differences of capacity. In point of fact, however, the history of the last century shows clearly that the conventional allocations of work between the sexes are still unstable, and that to base educational policy upon them are to build on conditions which may be on the eve of disappearing. In the 18th and early 19th centuries it seemed self-evident that, as far as the well-to-do classes were concerned, there was a sharp line of cleavage between both the occupations and capacities of women and men. The latter were to procure the family income; the former were expected to occupy themselves chiefly with housework and the care of the family. Girls must not be encouraged to desire education, for it would make them discontented and anxious to leave home. Girls must not, like boys, be subjected to an oral examination, for 'modesty is the ornament of the female character'. Girls must not be admitted to the same written examination as boys, for they could not possibly reach anything like the same standard. If the bold step were taken of admitting them to such tests, the results must not be published in order of merit, on account of the more excitable and sensitive constitution of the female. This attitude was probably not due to any anti-feminist feeling, as at the time there was not sufficient competition between men and women to provoke it. Still less was it the case, as Mill pointed out, that the prevailing sentiment as to 'the natural sphere' of women and men was based on physiological or psychological investigations such as those to which we refer elsewhere. The principal reason was that the exclusion of women of the well-to-do classes from most active occupations appeared to be inevitable, because, in fact, in England it was customary, and custom led public opinion to overlook the inference which might have been drawn from the experience of those countries - for example, the British Colonies - and those sections of the population, in which active work on the part of women at some period of their lives was the rule rather than the exception. 'As to the women of middle ranks,' wrote the author of a book on The Industrial and Social Position of Women, published in 1850, 'they have in industry no place whatever; they have not been educated for industrial pursuits; there are no occupations open to them suited to their status; nor is the public mind yet prepared for them undertaking such occupations. In domestic changes and in personal incident alone is she permitted to feel an interest.' (9) 97. The change which has made it customary for a large number of middle-class women to follow professions would have seemed incredible when those words were written, and should be a warning against any premature attempt to draw a sharp line or demarcation between the occupations of the sexes. The public teaching profession, which developed after 1870, is predominantly recruited from women, and could not probably have developed to its present magnitude in any other way. Women clerks have been employed in the Civil Service since 1881, (10) and large numbers of women clerks are also employed by the various local bodies in counties, municipalities, districts and so forth. Since the appointment of the four Women Inspectors under the Home Office in 1893 the higher ranges of the public service have been increasingly opened to women, and at the present time they are eligible for appointment in many departments of state. The professions of medicine and law were opened to women in 1859 and 1919 respectively, (11) and women are to be found on the staffs of nearly all the universities. In the world of business clerical work has long been largely in the hands of women, and the number of responsible positions open to them is steadily growing. The development of various kinds of organised 'social work' has created a considerable number of openings which are largely, if not predominantly, filled by women. (12) Nor is it only in the non-manual working occupations that changes have taken place. Women, indeed, have always been employed in industry. But the line of demarcation between their work and that of men has shifted again and again in the course of the last hundred years. In the cotton industry spinning was formerly carried on by women and weaving by men; with modern machinery spinning is done mainly by men and weaving by women. The general tendency of the subdivision of processes and the progress of machinery has been to create new employments carried on mainly by women, to break up crafts formerly reserved for men, and to transfer ranges of them in part predominantly to women. As examples of the first tendency we may mention the trades concerned with the preparation of food and tobacco; as examples of the second the manufacture of machine-made clothing, boots and shoes, pottery. Both in non-manual and in manual occupations the customary division of work between men and women was temporarily revolutionised by the war (e.g. in engineering), and though it is too soon to attempt any generalisation, it is probable that some, at least, of the effects will continue. In the light of these changes few persons would venture to predict with confidence that even those employments which seem at present most unsuited to women will not be opened to them by a change of technique or alteration of social customs. It is, however, evident from the statistics quoted in footnote 8, that at the present time, if the majority of girls can expect to be married and undertake household duties, by far the larger part of that majority cannot expect to enter into the married state until after the age of twenty-five years. There is thus a period of eight years or more during which the girl who has left school either stays at home, undertaking household duties, or for the time being earns a livelihood outside the home. And undoubtedly, from the professional classes downwards, the modern tendency is for the girl on leaving school to take up some form of occupation outside the home, in the endeavour to maintain herself. Thus the ordinary girl, whether she looks forward to the married state or not, should be given an education which prepares her to earn her livelihood. It is clear, therefore, that if the education we offer to girls is to subserve the needs of the majority, it must be designed both to prepare the pupil for household duties (employing this term in its broadest sense) and for wage earning, provided that girls and boys still have to pass the same examinations. 98. We have shown in Chapter 1 that the governing principle which guided the education of women up to (say) 1860 was to accentuate differences between the sexes, and that the changes since that date have been directed in exactly the opposite direction. The question is how far the latter tendency ought to be modified or reversed. On surveying the changes in the economic position of women there seem to us to be certain general conclusions which may serve at least to narrow the area of discussion. The first conclusion is a negative one. There may be good reasons from other standpoints for further differentiating between the curriculum of boys and that of girls in secondary schools, but it would be unwise to base such differentiation upon the existing differences in the work done by men and women, since experience suggests that the division of work between the sexes has changed frequently in the past, and that the range of employment followed by women is likely on the whole to increase. If this is so, the prudent course would seem to be to keep open as many doors as possible from the school into the world, and to avoid any policy based on the idea that certain occupations, and certain occupations only, can be successfully undertaken by men or by women. 99. Our second conclusion is that any further differentiation that may be thought admissible must not be such as to impede the secondary school in its task of giving a good general education both to girls and to boys. To say this is not to prejudge the question whether the most suitable medium of such an education may not differ in some respects for the two sexes. It means merely that the primary aim ought not to be sacrificed to the desire to provide for what are thought to be the special interests of girls, though use should be made of those special interests in arranging the curriculum. The same point - the importance of ensuring that as many girls as possible should receive a good general education - was emphasised from another angle by witnesses who were in contact with girls and women in business, the universities, and the professions. The director of the educational department of a great industrial concern told us that in the light of business requirements 'the whole question of the suitability of secondary school curricula was best considered from the standpoint of the cultivation of general intelligence; as distinct from the accumulation of information.' 'What we want,' said a prominent banker, 'is a good education, not specialised at all, or, if specialised, then only with an indirect bearing upon a banking career. We learn to distinguish strongly between the various schools from which we are accustomed to receive candidates. From some we are accustomed to get candidates who show good teaching in their brightness and general intelligence; others are, unfortunately, notorious for the very opposite.' 'Many girls,' said the representatives of a great bank, 'could not express themselves clearly ... From the point of view of the bankng services we should prefer that future entrants should remain at school till the age of 18, working at ordinary school subjects.' In the same way the Employment Committee of the London Society for Women's Service expressed the opinion that as large a number of girls as possible should enter for matriculation or its equivalent before leaving school, and that boys and girls who had remained at a secondary school till the age of 18 before starting upon their technical training had a very decided advantage over others when it came to grappling with the problems of life. 100. In the third place, we think that the decision as to further differentiating between the curriculum of boys and that of girls may be to some extent a matter which should be settled from the point of view of local circumstances. The economic conditions and social customs affecting the interests of children and their future occupations vary widely from district to district. A general rule applying to areas so different as London, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Durham can hardly fail to do violence to the facts. What is to be desired is that each area should work out its own solution of the problem in accordance with its own needs and traditions. Of the same nature is the question of vocational bias. We are of opinion, from the evidence submitted, that there are methods of approaching certain subjects which, while leaning towards the industries of particular localities - thus partaking of the nature of vocational bias - are in themselves educationally sound. It is obvious, for example, that scientific subjects such as mathematics and physics will make a stronger appeal in an engineering centre such as Sheffield, and chemistry in such places as Widnes, St Helens, and Stoke-on-Trent. Moreover, in such a study as history the subject gains in educational value when approached from or illustrated by the occupations and industries of the district. It is largely a question of point of view. If the vocational bias is introduced with a view to illuminating the whole of which it forms a part, then it is obviously playing the role of an important educational instrument. We agree, therefore, that it may often happen that a vocational bias may be of great service in assisting the general development of the child, and it follows that, if this view is sound, it may have a considerable bearing on differentiation of the curriculum for boys and girls. 101. In the fourth place, it seems to us important that the determining voice in the matter should rest, as far as possible, with women themselves. The decision must depend largely on the view held as to the kind of education most likely to conduce to the happiness of girls when they leave school, and that in turn on the conception formed of the life and work of women. On such a point it seems reasonable to expect that the judgement of women of experience is likely to be a safer guide than that of men, and every step should be taken to give it full weight. It should, for example, be the rule for women to sit on all examining bodies which hold examinations for girls. It is obvious that these general considerations are not conclusive one way or the other. The majority of the earlier pioneers of women's education appear to have thought that the claim that women should have as good an education as men, and that they should be free to enter occupations solely on their merits, implied that they should have the same education as men. It is not so clear today, however, as it seemed to them that that conclusion necessarily follows. In the first place, the fact that the majority of girls will marry and have the care of a family, if not of such exclusive importance as was generally supposed in the first half of the last century, is yet of very great significance. In the second place, though it be admitted that an increasing number of women will follow the same occupations and have the same civic interests as men, and need, both for that and other reasons, a good general education, it is conceivable that the best medium of such an education will not be the same in each case. Finally, it must be remembered that the character of the problem has changed in the last fifteen or twenty years. The education of girls up to almost the end of last [nineteenth] century developed partly under the influence of a more general movement for the emancipation of women. That movement has now perhaps achieved sufficient success to be no longer so potent a source of inspiration. Not less important, the great extension of secondary education in the last decade has brought into the secondary schools a number of girls from families with a somewhat different outlook, and with interests diverging in several respects from those of the rather select class of girls who received secondary education a generation ago. The problem, therefore, which appears to be more complex than was realised by some of the earlier pioneers of women's education, would appear to be one of using for educational purposes any interests which are peculiar to girls, without narrowing their education in such a way as either to make it more difficult for them to enter occupations for which a good general education is necessary, or to render them less capable of intelligent citizenship in later years. It is possible that it might be partially solved by providing that the curriculum should contain a large number of possible choices, so that it might be easy for girls (and for boys) to follow the appeal of any special interest when it is felt by them. Greater elasticity of the curriculum might conceivably help to solve the question of differentiating the curriculum as between boys and girls. (9) How far are existing differences in the education of boys and girls dependent on tradition? 102. The following differences seem to be clearly dependent on tradition: (i) The actual hours devoted to school work have been less in girls' schools than in schools for boys. This was due to the absence of an afternoon session in the older schools for girls, a practice which still continues in some of these schools. (13) Even in the newer girls' schools, where work is also carried on in the afternoon, the morning session is usually shorter than in boys' schools. This was owing to the tradition that girls should be free to take part in the social life of the home and also possibly to the view which prevailed in the early days of girls' education that they should be accompanied to and from school. (14) (10) How far is it advisable to relieve the congestion of studies, more especially in girls' schools, and to provide a wider range of choice for the pupils? 103. We have shown in Chapter 1 how the classical curriculum has gradually been widened by the introduction of other subjects such as mathematics, science and modern languages. The greater variety of choice thus offered to the pupil has, however, been limited by the fact that the increasing pressure of examinations leaves no time for the study of subjects of aesthetic rather than of historical or scientific value. Leisure has, moreover, been curtailed by the introduction of organised games. Pupils accordingly find themselves oppressed with new demands and yet limited in their freedom of choice. This overcrowding presses even more hardly on girls than on boys. In view of the possibility that many girls will have to earn their own living, the girls' schools must, in existing conditions, prepare the mass of their pupils for the same examinations as boys take and for the same minimum number of subjects in these examinations. But girls add to this various extra subjects regarded as vocational, some of which, such as needlework, may have little educational value, and they are also more apt than boys to spend much time in aesthetic subjects traditional in girls' schools, and in acquiring executive ability in music or drawing. Moreover, girls are more apt to be fatigued out of school with domestic or social duties, and very often live a more sedentary and therefore a less healthy life. Thus the sex more liable to fatigue has the heavier burden placed upon it. So far the method of obviating these difficulties has been to diminish the number of hours spent in school - a method which we approve, but which must necessarily alter the character of the teaching, since the subjects to be taught are more than in boys' schools, and the time to study them less. We feel very strongly that girls should not be debarred from any opportunities of development open to their brothers, and should be free, if they so desire, to study any subject of the ordinary school routine accepted for boys. But we consider it essential that the strain should be lessened. Real relief from the congestion of studies can probably only be secured by a revision of the curricula from the point of view of determining the studies best adapted for boys and girls at each successive stage of their development. Such a remodelling of the curriculum in the light of modern psychology and our social requirements is an ideal at which we may aim. Meanwhile, however, certain suggestions are put forward, some affecting girls only, and some both boys and girls. These are as follows: (i) The idea should be encouraged that girls should take the First School Examination on an average a year later than boys. We fully recognise, however, that this is not desirable in all cases and is unnecessary in some. (11) How far is it desirable to provide more free time and greater facilities for the pursuit of leisure occupations? 104. We consider that this aspect of school life is of exceptional importance. It might epitomise, but in fact does not, the tastes and predilections of individual boys and girls. Investigation shows that almost all the field that should belong to this side of school life has been handed over to subjects newly admitted to the curriculum, or to others already in possession; or, again, to compulsory games in boarding schools and to excessive homework in day schools. There is some reason to think that the allotment of time usually made to these subjects restricts or prevents the proper development of the individual, as distinguished from the group. Games, when circumstances are favourable - a condition by no means universal - achieve much in the way of health, of self-restraint, of initiative; homework furnishes a salutary test of the degree of mastery attained by the scholar in the subjects studied. But games, as now pursued, tend to conventionalise the growing mind, and excessive homework dulls it. It seems desirable, therefore, that the hours assigned in boarding schools to organised games and in day schools to homework should both be materially diminished. We fully recognise that both games and homework have one important advantage; from an administrative standpoint they are easy to systematise; yet if we regard them as factors in the evolution of interests that make for individuality, this is an advantage too dearly purchased. Under the combined pressure of a full curriculum flanked by games on the one side or homework on the other, leisure occupations, which, by opening a way for the development of personality, might discover bents that would make for happiness in after-life, either do not come into existence, or function imperfectly and with difficulty. Thus ordinarily a school finds little place, or at best a tolerated one, for the various forms of intellectual exercise which foster originality or connote personality. Full provision for these purposes would doubtless be expensive to set up and difficult to handle, but we nevertheless think that means should somehow be found to meet both requirements. Artistic expression could be fostered in individual boys and girls if, for example, adequate opportunities in music, painting and sketching were made available; similarly, scientific aptitude or manual dexterity could be brought out by the outdoor study of nature, by use of the microscope and the making of collections, by constructive work in wood or metal; openings for the cultivation of household skill could be found in sewing and embroidery, in dress designing, in cookery and the like; while social instincts could be brought to practical proof in corporate activities such as scouting, acting and debating. The test of good school organisation is the existence of suitable arrangements, devised for meeting needs like these as they arise, but varied as circumstances alter. Such organisation is, however, far removed from mere systematisation or pigeon-holing. It means the right adjusting of relations in a living organism, and, as such, is rare as well as difficult. Yet, in view of the significance and the importance of the issues involved, the practical difficulty of providing and working the necessary equipment should no longer be held to justify its virtual non-provision except in the more expensive schools. For, so long as such equipment is not provided, the individual, as such, will continue to be sacrificed to the group; and, as regards the school, the negation of its original purpose as declared in its name will remain, and in practice will hold back, to the detriment of individual and community alike, all aptitudes which do not take the beaten road. On the whole, then, we are disposed to think that in many schools, and more especially girls' schools, the daily life is over-organised. The obvious result of such methods is to produce girls and boys who, though well-informed, are rather dull, and lacking in initiative and freshness of outlook. We regard this as a serious defect, and recommend that steps should be taken to allow boys and girls, but more especially girls, more free time in which to develop their own individual interests.
Recommendations I Recommendations for greater freedom in the curriculum for both boys' and girls' schools 105. (1) That greater freedom should be introduced into the curriculum both in boys' schools and in girls' schools, but more especially in the latter, and that the Regulations both of the Board of Education and of examining bodies in regard to the number of subjects to be offered should be modified accordingly. Sections 46, 47, 48, 101. (2) That the matriculation requirements of certain universities, which at present determine with undue rigidity the curriculum of the upper forms, both in boys' schools and in girls' schools, should, in the interests of freedom, be relaxed. Sections 47, 51. (3) That the curricula and timetables of schools should be modified in order to allow boys and girls, but more especially senior girls, more free time in which to develop their own individual interests. Sections 45, 46, 47, 48, 104. (4) That a more prominent and established place in the ordinary curricula of schools both for boys and for girls should be assigned to aesthetic subjects, including music, art and other forms of aesthetic training, (15) and that special attention should be paid to developing the capacity for artistic appreciation as distinct from executive skill. Sections 47, 52, 103. (5) That, while all candidates for a First Certificate should be required to pass in English in Group I, the group containing music and art (Group IV) should be accorded full parity in the First School Examination with Groups II and III. Sections 47, 52, 103. (6) That music should be made a principal subject for the Second School Examination. (16) Section 52. (7) That the present arrangements for advanced courses should be made more flexible in order to provide a wider field of choice; and, in particular, that a clause should be inserted in the Regulations for secondary schools empowering the Board to approve at their discretion syllabuses for advanced courses in suitable combinations of subjects, including music and art. Sections 56, 57, 103. II Recommendations for the assimilation of girls' schools and boys' schools in certain respects (8) That the methods of teaching mathematics, which are now being introduced into boys' schools, should also be more extensively applied in girls' schools, and in particular, that elementary physics should be taught in girls' schools in closer association with mathematics than is at present the case. Sections 76, 92. (9) That more care and attention should be given (a) in boys' schools to the use and comprehension of English and to the study of English literature as a means to this end, and (b) in girls' schools to the analysis and understanding of the logical content of works of literature. Sections 76, 92. (10) That adequate facilities should be afforded for girls who show special aptitude for manual instruction to receive it under the same conditions as boys; and that similar facilities should also be afforded to boys in domestic subjects. (See also note to Recommendation No. 15.) Sections 53, 82. (11) That in girls' schools the organisation of games should be left more to the girls themselves on the lines adopted in most boys' schools, and that games mistresses should not supervise girls' sports so much as at present. Sections 54, 86, 104. III Recommendations for differentiation between boys' and girls' schools in certain respects (12) That girls should, as a rule, be encouraged to take the First School Examination about a year later than boys; and that if and when State Scholarships are again awarded, the regulations for girl candidates should be modified accordingly. Sections 51, 72, 73, 103. (13) That in girls' schools the pressure of external examinations, which is in our opinion partly responsible for much over-teaching and for the unduly passive attitude of many pupils, should be reduced wherever possible. Sections 47, 51, 103. (14) That more attention should be devoted by parents, head mistresses, and school doctors to the possibility of taking suitable precautions for the protection of girls against physical fatigue and nervous overstrain. Sections 50, 61, 62, 68 (e), 71, 72. (15) That in girls' day schools and in other day schools attended by girls steps should be taken to reduce the amount of preparation required from girls, which, in some instances, is at present excessive in view of the relatively heavy domestic duties often performed by them in their homes. (17) Sections 46, 84, 103. (16) That the morning session in girls' schools should not exceed three and a half hours. (18) Sections 83, 89. (17) That the Board of Education should encourage the provision in secondary schools of courses adapted to the needs of non-academic pupils above the age of fifteen who desire to remain at school for a further period. (19) Sections 40, 45, 103. IV Recommendations in regard to special enquiries (18) That systematic enquiries should be undertaken in order to collect trustworthy data on the question of the relative susceptibility of boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18 (or 19) to mental and physical fatigue, both in ordinary school work and in games. Sections 61, 68 (e) and (f), 71, 72, 85, 88, 89. (19) That further enquiries should be undertaken with a view to ascertaining what games and physical exercises are most suitable for girls of varying ages, more especially day girls, in the different types of schools. Sections 50, 54, 86. (20) That research should be undertaken by psychologists and teachers on groups of boys and girls respectively, drawn from secondary schools of different types, with a view to collecting data (a) in regard to the intellectual and emotional differences between the sexes in their bearing on education, and (b) in regard to the achievements of groups of boys and girls in the various subjects of the curriculum at successive stages of school life. Section 90. V Miscellaneous (21) That further consideration should be given to the whole problem of the curriculum and organisation of junior schools and departments in its bearing on the future education of the pupils, more especially in girls' schools. Sections 38, 44. (22) That the various subjects of the curriculum should be taught in closer correlation with one another. Sections 45, 92. (23) That the methods of presenting those subjects, which are found in practice to be uncongenial to a number of pupils, should be revised with a view to rendering the teaching of such subjects more practical, and to showing their bearing on other studies in which the pupils may be more directly interested, and also on the affairs of everyday life; and, in particular, that the vocations which in any district touch subjects of the school curriculum should be utilised for the purpose of making the school work more concrete. Sections 45, 92,100. (24) That women should be adequately represented on all committees and examining bodies which deal in any way with girls' education. Section 101. (Signed) WH Hadow (Chairman)Robert F Young (Secretary) 29 September 1922. * Except Chapter 1
Memorandum by Mr WW Vaughan explaining his reasons for disagreeing with recommendation No. 5 Though agreeing with recommendation No. 4, that a more permanent and established place in the ordinary curriculum of both sexes should be assigned to aesthetic subjects, and with its corollary, recommendation No. 6, I am against (a) the form of encouragement suggested by recommendation No. 5, and (b) the added recommendation that a pass in English should alone be obligatory, for these reasons: A (1) It seems to me a pity to tamper just yet with so important a part of the regulations for the School Certificates. Great difficulty has been experienced in persuading professional and other bodies to accept these as evidence of a satisfactory school education. The existing difficulties would be increased, and old difficulties, now buried, would be revived if Group IV were placed on a parity with the other groups. (2) Many head masters are anxious that School Certificates should be accepted for matriculation purposes, without any conditions. This could less easily be pressed for if Group IV were accorded full parity. (3) At present the regulations for School Certificates, certainly in the case of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board, lay down that a candidate's work in Group IV will be considered in conjunction with his work in the other three groups in estimating his claims to a Certificate. The strengthening of this regulation seems to me to go very far towards meeting the wish expressed in recommendation No. 4, and to give the non-mathematical girls or boys (though it is really the former of whom we are specially thinking) a chance of recovery if they show special aptitude in one of the Group IV subjects. Further help would be given by allowing all candidates (as is now done by some of the examination boards) to offer the five subjects at present required, from all four groups and not from the first three groups only. (4) Another objection to the recommendation is that it would complicate the routine of a school, and consequently increase the expense of staffing. It would be very difficult for a head master, or a head mistress, to resist the claims of one girl or boy to give up Latin for music; of another to give up mathematics for music. (5) The standard now required for a pass in either Group II or III is not, certainly, a high one, and it is only with a pass that we are concerned. Boys now have a good margin of time to spend on other subjects; girls would have this if recommendation No. 12 were carried out. (6) I am very doubtful whether art could be examined at this stage without the encouragement of wrong methods of teaching the subject. (7) The result of recommendation No. 5 would be that about 5 per cent in boys' schools, and a rather larger percentage in girls' schools, would avail themselves of the new option. Even if those who took it gained, of which I am not convinced, the rest of the school would, I think, tend to be neglected in these subjects. Our aim should be to raise to a higher level the aesthetic and musical appreciation of the whole school rather than to cultivate intensively a small proportion of it. (8) For a pupil to obtain a pass in either Group II or III, at least five periods a week must have been devoted to the subject for about four years, i.e. between 12½ and 16½. No syllabus in art that I have seen proposed, no examination paper which I have heard suggested, demands an equal amount of time for Group IV. In my opinion it would be inadvisable to give it at this stage of a child's education. B. My objection to the pass in English being required if passes in the other subjects are not required, is based on: (1) The fact that English must necessarily tell right through the examination, and consequently it does not require to be placed in a privileged position. (2) That scripture knowledge and geography, as outlined in the schedule, do not seem to me to have any claim to a consideration that is not given to French or Latin, mathematics or science. (3) That if attention is concentrated on what is given in the schedule under 'English', too much time may be spent on precis writing and the prepared English books. (4) That a pass in English is now easier to obtain than a pass in any other group, and that consequently English does not require special protection. Both changes would accentuate the tendency to evade the stern intellectual discipline that the study of Latin, and mathematics with science demand. WW Vaughan.
Footnotes (1) cf. Report of the Committee, formed in October 1921, at the instance of the College of Preceptors to consider the effects of physical education on girls. (Printed in Educational Times for September 1922, p. 382.) (2) cf. Sir Michael Sadler's Report on Secondary and Higher Education in Essex (1906), p. 35, footnote. (3) cf. Prof. RL Archer's Secondary Education in the Nineteenth Century (1921), p. 243. 'In 1864 Miss Beale resorted to a change as regards the hours at the Ladies' College, Cheltenham, which had hitherto been arranged on the plan usual in boys' schools. She now experimented with a morning lasting from 9 to 1 o'clock, broken by a half-hour's interval, keeping the afternoons for individual music lessons and such extras. The plan was adopted by Miss Buss in the following year and became the standard allotment of hours with the schools of the Girls' Public Day School Company.' See the specimen timetable of a school with a long morning session on p. 192. (4) cf. Burstall English High Schools for Girls (1907), p. 233. (5) cf. Bacon's Essay of Studies 'Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies ... So, if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics.' Also essay on Nature in Man 'Let not a man form a habit upon himself with a perpetual continuance, but with some intermission. For the pause reinforceth the new onset.' (6) Reference may be made to a book which, originally written for girls' schools, has had a considerable vogue in France, where, as is well known, much attention has always been devoted to the teaching of the mother tongue: G Lanson Conseils sur L'Art d'ecrire (Hachette). (7) At a few boys' schools (for example, Christ's Hospital and some of the schools belonging to the Society of Friends) the boys are taught to mend their own clothes and so forth. (8) Table showing the proportion of unmarried, married and widowed in 1,000 females in each age group
(Census of England and Wales 1911, Vol. VII (Cd. 6610-1913), p. xxxv.) (9) Contrast this with the article on Women in Industry in the Edinburgh Review for 1859 (No. ccxxii, Article 1). (10) Female clerkships were first instituted in the Post Office in 1881. (11) Women were permitted to become solicitors by Section 2 of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. V. cap. 71.) The first woman student for the Bar of England was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 1 January 1920. (12) Women were enfranchised by the Representation of the People Act 1918 (7 and 8 Geo. V. cap. 64, Section 4 (1)) and were rendered eligible to sit in the House of Commons by the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 (8 and 9 Geo. V. cap. 47). (13) cf. footnote 3. (14) cf. Burstall English High Schools for Girls p. 235. (15) Such, for example, as dancing, dramatic representations associated with the teaching of the mother tongue and foreign languages, suitable artistic crafts, and, possibly, also eurhythmics as an adjunct to the teaching of music. (16) See Appendix IV. (17) In this connection the Committee desire to express a hope (they cannot, in the nature of the case, make a recommendation) that the parents of girls in secondary day schools will not expect them to perform an excessive amount of domestic work in the home; and they would add that they welcome the tendency of the Boy Scout organisation in encouraging boys to perform their share of household duties. (18) cf. Prefatory Memorandum to the Board's Regulations for Secondary Schools for 1906-7, p. xi. 'It is very doubtful whether in any circumstances a school meeting lasting longer than three hours is desirable or even ultimately economical.' (19) The principle implicit in Article 9 of the Regulations for Secondary Schools in regard to special domestic courses for girls over fifteen might be extended to cover the provision of such courses. 
|
