Statistical Report 1935-1936 - Department of Education and Skills

90staff, an effort was made to cater for an undue number of centres.The services of fifteen teachers Were divided over five permanentcentres and ten rural centres. Not only Was a considerable portion ofthe teachers' time spent in travelling but-to quote from a report-" the results of the instruction in which the teachers' attention wasdivided amongst a number of different centres were transient andprevented the development of anything in the nature of specialised,training. ",Sessional Examinations are now a well-recognised feature of allwhole-time day courses. They are proving of great value in givingChief Executive Officers and Headmasters a useful standard forestimating, not only the relative efficiency of individual teachers, butalso the relative progress of individual students. Based upon thecourse of instruction actually given in each centre, they furnish a morereliable index of educational efficiency than could be secured from astandardised examination conducted from a central source. Inspectors,in all districts, comment upon the importance of these sessional testsand particularly upon the stimulus which they give to teachers. Someenterprising Vocational Education Committees are awarding certificatesto the students based upon the results of such tests, taken inconjunction with the general opinion of the teachers upon the abilityof the students. Such certificates are appreciated by the studentsand by their parents, to whom they provide definite evidence of theresult of the year's training.Instruction in Domestic. Economy was generally on sound practicallines and every effort Was made to adapt the instruction to the needsof the locality. The difficulty of providing practice in the generalroutine of housework has yet to be overcome in most areas. Coursessuch as the special course in the hotel at Lisdoonvarna, to whichreference has already been made, suggest one obvious solution. Therewas some tendency in evening classes to concentrate on the preparationof cakes and sweets. Inspectors see no reason why the preparation ofthe ordinary joints and vegetables should not be undertaken andbelieve that, if the teachers Were allowed to dispose of the cookedproducts at a reasonable price, evening students could be induced topay attention to this more important branch of the subject.The provision of new and well-equipped workshops has led toimproved teaching of woodwork and of engineering subjects. Inwoodwork classes, however, it has been noted that the less experiencedteachers sometimes allow students to begin the making of articles offurniture before they have had sufficient practice in tool manipulation.In nearly all urban schools there is now a well-equipped machine shopand forge. Bench lay-out, minor equipment and storage facilities havealso been much improved. Teachers in most cases are responding tothese improved conditions and the efficiency of instruction is being91steadily raised. There is room for improvement, however, in theteaching of practical work in junior classes. More collective instructionshould be given, and Where possible, the students should be requiredto prepare their own sketches for use by them in the workshop. Inevening technical classes instruction is being well graded to the needsof the district. In the special engineering class conducted in Monaghanfor farmers and farm labourers, the work covered the repair andmaintenance of agricultural machinery and the making of such articlesas potato grading machines, drill harrows, garden seats, field gatesand metal meal bins.The teaching of Art and Art Crafts in the Art Schools of Cork andLimerick was distinctly efficient. In Waterford the illness and subsequentretirement of the headmaster of the School of Art renderedprogress difficult. It is to be regretted that a greater number ofapprentices and journeymen do not avail themselves of the opportunitiesavailable in these county boroughs to acquire a knowledgeof subjects so closely related to every trade and craft. More attentionshould be paid in the Art Schools to the development of the industrialside of Art. Students should be encouraged to have a more practicaloutlook on the Arts and Crafts generally and the position they occupyin the industrial revival taking place in so many parts of the country.A series of lectures and talks dealing with " Art in Industry" uponsuch topics as Printing, Pottery and Weaving, should be inauguratedin the Schools with the help of men actually engaged in manufacturingconcerns. By this means a closer contact between the work of theArt School and the industrial activities of the City would be secured.In Vocational Schools outside the county boroughs, the acquisition ofgood reproductions and pictures for decorating the class rooms couldbe acquired at relatively little cost and would help to interest thestudents in good work and develop their tastes.The teaching of Drawing in day continuation classes Was generallysatisfactory. There is, however, in many centres yet, a failure toappreciate the purpose of such instruction. In no subject is the preparationof a scheme of work more essential. It is not enough thatteachers should have a good knowledge of their subject; it is no lessimportant that they should realise the connection between the coursethe student is following and the instruction in drawing which it isproposed to give. Thus for junior technical classes the emphasis shouldbe laid upon geometrical, model and freehand drawing to enablestudents to produce satisfactory explanatory sketches as applied towoodwork and metalwork. In Commerce, the bias should be towardsadvertising and towards the development of good taste in the matterof printing and window-dressing. For domestic economy students,on the other hand, instruction should tend towards a training indesign and principles, colour harmony and contrast. For a teacher