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Althouse. cation f.“ Convenhall- 1 came t0 .1 annual conventi ll- 7 Newfoundland There an - rovmce , _ lgndéChThPis booklet may be obta‘ped from the secretary. 1?! ErPlIIllgps, at the Ontario College of Education, for a nominal _ It 15 well worth study. I - _ . The meetings of‘the association were memorable in many ways, but in no way more than in the revelation which they gave. of the striking similarity of dominant elements of odor. tional progress in _ every .pFoâ€" vinre. Every part of the Dominion is pie mineutly concerned about two of education,â€"about the non ity of equalizing opportunities and about the importance of the quality of the human product of the Srluml system. ' Equal Opportunity Equality of educational opportunity is :m ideal hard to attain, but capable of lu’dCll closer approximation than we mu. experience. It does not mean idmtity of opportunity, for not all children can profit equally from the opportunities. It does mean the ion for each child of the best or ntunity by which he can profit. An Approximation of this provision (ltivilds upon at least three factors: u , istribution of educational funds to LIVE to all children opportunities nw enjoyed by onl a. few; the pro» ll in of adequate elp to enable the r]. or his parents, to select the mm for which he is best fitted; m. conviction on the art of the y. no, including the chil ’s parents, 1? continued education is advant- :icwus. ‘iiese three conditions every pro- w- n is seeldng' to bring about In 3 province, as in Ontario, the in- iuacy of the property tax as the w n sourde of education budgets, l inequalities of assessments and ii huge sums required for war pur- s are complicating the financial ilem. Despite these difliculties, i, ever, every province is making in IIESS towards a more equitable 4h .i-ibution of available funds and increasing the amount of money table for education. No other 1“ mac has such ambitious schemes :i our own along these lines and all watching with eager interest v .L Ontario is doing. Guidance to the Fore lathe field of guidance, too, this I' mince is well in the forefront. \iihough a provincial director of L lance was appointed only a few vwths ago, he finds many of the in er communities already W811 “I mixed for this service and a very ‘ral tendency to take advanta e of recent amendment to the igh stools Act which enables a High bKimol Board or Board of Education "' itDpoint a guidance officer. There _ many communities, of course, in \- urch no special officer is required, if” Yet there is urgent need of the in- lwmotion and of the personal service Much the guidance de artment of a timer centre might 0 er. In these 1:! Aces the provincial guidance direct» “I can be of the greatest assistance ”' suggesting how to undertake and conduct the Work and in protecting the board and the teachers from the Mistakes of over-enthusiasm to which I“:L'lriners are often prone. But com- munities which want the help of the pr"Ritual guidance director will have V‘” ask for it; he is too busy to go ubout volunteering assistance, but he "‘ certainly not too busy to give l’rP‘FPt attention to the serious en» Homes of serious people. HOME AND COUNTRY SIGNS AND PORTENTS Rural High Schools It is only fair to give one warnin f any locality is prett well co:- vmced that the only igh school course‘worthy of serious consider- ation is the general or academic course, that locality had better not seek the services of the provincial director of guidance, for even the faintest attempt at a guidance pro- gramme causes many seriousâ€"minded pupils and parents to raise quite vxgorously the question of the ade- uacy of the academic course to meet t e needs of a very large number of the boys and girls. It may interest you to know that this year the De- partment of Education is paying large grants to the boards of small rural high schools if they will engage to do two things: to make their schools available as community centres, and to devise variations of the general course to meet more adeâ€" quately the needs of the local com- munity and of the children in it. Not every board is able to devise such a variation from the general course. but it is surely significant that thirty have already shown enough ingenuity and enterprise to warrant encourage- ment. Public Interest The third condition for the equal- ization of educational opportunity which I mentioned was that the public, including the parents, must be convinced that continued education is advantageous. This, it seems to me, places the responsibility of proof squarely upon the schools. I can re- member that, in the days of the deepest depression, the secondary schools were crowded with older boys and girls who could not get work. In too many cases, the work offered by the school failed miserably to in- terest or to motivate these young peo- ple. What they learned in their on- forced prolongation of school days was polite indifierence, the habit of inattention and sustained idleness. It is quite likely that in the period of post-war reconstruction, in order to give demobilized persons and war Workers a chance to become absorbed in civilian industry, the schools will be asked to care for older adolescents for two or three years beyond the present school leaving ages. The schools must manage to do a better job this time, or it will be futile ever to expect to convince the people of Ontario that protracted education is worth while. Reward for Industry But if the keeping of reluctant pupils in a School which fails to enlist their efforts kills confidence in edu- cation, it is fortunately equally true that enabling eager young people to attend a school which serves them well has the opposite effect. It builds confidence in the benefits of education. And this province has been active in extending to many industrious and capable young persons the chance'of continuing at school or at university after their own rcsourccs have proved inadequate to permit them to do so. Last year $60,000 were devoted to this purpose; this year $160,000 have been provided for Provincial Scholar- ships and for Uomlnion-Prownciai Bursaries. It is perhaps not gener- ally understood that this assistance is also available for the use of in- tending Normal School students who could not without this help manage'to finance the required period of train- ing. This help, it should be noted, is not for all who have the desire to use it; it is for those who have marked ability and industry. The Human Product We must turn now to the other HIEJOI‘ concern of all the provincial school systems,â€"tbe quality of the human product of the schools. It is trite to remind you that the school pupils of to-day must be the citizens of tofmorrowtâ€"the citizens not only of this municipality. of this province and of this country, but the citizens of a world which, we trust, will he a far better world than the one for which we must hear our share of responsi- bility. Because this is not only trite, but also true, it is fittin that we should ask ourselves what c aracteristics we think must be exhibited by the citizens of a brighter, better world,â€" a brave, new world. As I listened to the papers and discussions at the con- ference last week, there appeared to be general agreement that the citizens of that brave, new world must have at least three main char- acteristics. They must be able and willing to discern common purposes. They must have acquired the habit of working together to accomplish their aims. They must possess a‘scala of values on which some few goods rank so high that to attain them, they must be willing to sacrifice literally everything else. A Common Purpose What is meant by the remark that children must learn to discern com- mon purposes? For a very vivid illustration recall the events in Europe in the spring and early sum- mer of 1940. The so-called “ hony war" had ended abruptly wit the German swcep through Belgium and around the Maginot Line. France collapsed like a pack of cards; the Lowlands fell without having had a chance; Britain repatriated the remnants of an army from Dunkerquc and all the military experts believed that effective opposition to the Nazi power was over. As far as the main- land of Western Europe was con» corned, that was practically true. France, the traditional champion of democracy, had proved incii‘octivc. But remember that France had been split up into sections and partisan groups, that there had grown up a cynical disbelief in even the possi- bility of a common purpose strong enough to unite those warring groups. So France could not cope with the sudden cmcrgcncy. Then Winston Churchill spoke to and for his countrymen. Despite the loss ut a blow of all his effective allies, except the other units of the British Empire and despite a complete lack of a military equipment which is only now beginning to be understood, this doughty John Bull defied the aggres- sor and won for decency, for freedom and for civilization :1 second chance. How was he able to do this? Because his countrymen recognized u com- pelling common purpose and were willing to subordinate to it every private and party advantage. And so Britain stood,â€"nnd stood to rally a world against evil. This almost miraculous resistance is a tribute to Churchill, but it is also a tribute to the British people and to their training for nations do not de- velop the ability to discern common purposes over night. It is inculcuted by generations of a Way of life, and each generation lcarns it in its most plastic years. It is in school as s that future citizens can best be taug t to look for common purposes as the best way of avoiding or surmounting difficulties. And no spirit is more conducive to common purposcs than is n warm and generous school spirit. Concerted Action But it is not enough to see what should be done; we must also do it. And, in these days of rapid com- munication, breath-taking scientific development and the everyday use of complicated machinery, more and more of the important things require concerted action. Now this is a new and not a very congenial lesson for most of us to learn. The pioneer days are not so far behind us.â€"the days in which each family, if not each man, had to be almost self-sufficient,â€"the days in which a good man asked no odds from anyonc,â€"nor any help, either,â€"but carved out of his fortâ€" one with his own wits and his own brawn. That is a heritage to be proud of,â€"it has left us much to cherish; but its self~sufliciency is not today as valid as it was, we must learn to work to ether or we must be content to fall be ind those who do learn that lesson. Now, working together is a habit, and like all good habits it can be enâ€" couraged and strengthened. Schools are setting themselves to teach this lesson. It is not easy. chiefly because it is a new lesson both to teachers and to pupils, and. when both teachers and pupils have a fair start at learning it, parents are often unconvinced or unsympathetic. When, in your schools, you find that the competitive elements are reduced and that joint tasks seem to have replaced many of the tough old individual assignments that you remember, will you take time to enquire whether this is by design or not? Will you hesitate to label it. the softness of an elfcte age before you have ascertained whether it be not something more significant and more positive? Values Worth Sacrifice Then the third characteristic which I mentioned of an effective citizen of the hotter world is the ability to find something im ortant enough to war- rant the sacri cc of all else. Freedom was a god of this sort to the British people when Churchill rallied in that lack summer which I recalled to you. To him and to those who stood with him frccdrim was so important that to defend it they were pro arcd (and many of them expected) itcrnlly to sacrifice everything cvvii freedom it- self. It is only when men hold some- thing dearer than life itself that they rise to the best that life can olier. But sacrificial spirit is not quite enough. It is lamentably possible to devote a sacrificial spirit to evil cnds. Simply to condition young peuplc to the thought of self-sacrifice is only to [:0 half the way, and half-truths are ulways dangerous. After all, the totalitarian nations dill an effectch job of stimulating the spirit of self- sucrifice in nu ignoblc cause. We must not make their mistake. We must teach our youths to select their Ltiiuses rightly and not to be at the back and cull of unscrupulous doma- gogues. The Department of Educa- tion of this province makes no apology for attempting to hubituutc the children in our schools to see the Christian basis for ethical conduct. Nor docs it offer apologies for those changes in the school courses which seek to assure to our children social development in terms of social obligae tion on well no of social rights and social success. School and Corn munity Here again school practice is of the utmost importance. when the school tradition is such that the pupils of the school lay fair, work hard and pride tlicmse vcs on being of service, only one thing can defeat that influence. That thing is the indifference or hostility of the community. When the school’s code is contrary to the code of the community the school loses out,~it accrue to lack reality; it ceases to be convincing. But when the school’s code is dcsignedly lii h and when that code is reinforced y local ublic opinion, then you have a situation in which the pupil learns far more than the subject matter of the school course. He learns to live on the noblest pluno envisioned by the elders of his community,â€"nnd that's u very noble plane indeed. In that situation and only in that situation, the school really helps the youngster not only make u better living but to live better. And that is the kind of school that every province in this Dominion is trying to develop and to multiply. This banner province of the Dominion cannot take second place.