Toronto Teachers College - Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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and ordinary levels University of Cambridgel, Spanish and French Cat advanced Ievelst, English Language Cad- vanced and ordinary levelsl, Industrial Arts fwood- working, metal working, draughtingb, Arts and Crafts, Music, Social Studies, General Science, one year of Rural Science, and Geography Cadvanced levell. In- cidentally the advanced level University Certificate is considered as a first year university standing at the Universities of England, the University of the West Indies, and at some Canadian Universities. Literary and Debating Societies are formed, and the colleges are constrained to participate in other cultural activities and games. There are teaching practices on five occasions for three week durations during which time the student teacher is rigidly supervised. Some student teachers might select in favour of special schools like those for the deaf and dumb, Schools for the Handicapped, and Mental Institutions. At the Em- ergency Training College, the student teachers are those who are advanced in age and who are allowed to take the only instance of a one year training pro- gramme. At Mausica Teachers' College, student teach- ers are constrained to live-in and the Institution pro- vides accommodation for 800 teachers in two separate dormitories. An interesting facet of teacher training is the Monitor System. A teacher who has passed through this system has indeed been properly trained. After a pupil has passed his Post Primary Exams CGrade Eighth and has indicated that he intends to become a teacher since he is too old to obtain a High School education he is attached to a trained model teacher. Here he ob- I I EIIIICIITIUNIIL SYSTEM UNGARW BRANKO DERONJA Similar to our children here in Canada, the education of the Hungarian child takes place at three levels. Fol- lowing a noncompulsory pre-school training, the child- ren spend eight years in primary schools studying be- sides the arts of reading and writing, arithmetic, science, geography, history and a foreign language fllussianl. At the age of fourteen the children have a choice. They can go to work in a state-owned factory or farm, or else return to school, an option which most of the children take since education is free and its importance very much emphasized. At the secondary level they can enroll either in one of the Gymnasiums - the most popular form of secondary schools, reflecting in its name the dual principal of physical and mental training advocated by the Greeks - where the emphasis is on the human- ities, or in a Lyceum - named after the school of serves daily the teacher's mannerisms and methods of work during school hours, and has to go to lessons on afternoons after school. After a year he takes the Pre- liminary Exam Certificate I, then the following year Certificate II, until the third year when he obtains the Certificate Ill. If he fails, he has to rewrite these exam- inations until such time as he passes. The monitor is given a stipend of about 390.00 to 35100.00 monthly until he obtains his certificate III and a raise in salary. He can then teach as an acting teacher or student teach- er until he enters Training College for the two year stint and final examinations. If he wishes to specialize in Infant School Teaching CGrades one to threet the general tendency is to study the Montessori method and allied self-explanatory methods. In the Junior and Senior Schools CGrades four to eighth he studies a com- bination of methods dependent on the subject in ques- tion. In reading and in most other subiects classes are streamed A, B and C, and occasionally a teacher has to teach a dual grade. A student with the University of Cambridge Advanc- ed Level in three subiects can teach High School without training. However this is more the exception than the rule as most High Schools are staffed with degree per- sonnel having also a Diploma in Education. This is more or less what teacher training is in Trini- dad and Tobago. It is indeed an exhaustive and sys- tematic training and on completion one is essentially more capable to enter formal teaching the noblest of professions, yet the sorriest of trades! Aristotle - where science and practical subjects tend to outweigh the classics. For the even more practical minded a great variety of commercial and technical schools are available. To complete the studies at the secondary level takes only four years - as compared with the Canadian five year course - but considering that classes are held for six hours over six days of the week, it takes about as much time and effort as it does for a Grade I3 student in Canada. Those who pursue education at a still higher level can enter one of the highly specialized and diversified university courses, where they have to study for five years to obtain the lowest university degree. The education on all three levels is, with a few ex- ceptions, free. Materially, that is, for the price the in- dividual has to pay for it is high. One does not choose, but is assigned to a school or university where the cur- .ZI

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this his position becomes permanent only after teaching for 20 years, in the public schools. lf he desires to be promoted to a principal's or a supervisor's position, he needs to pass, aside from the Jr.-Teacher Regular, the Senior-Teachers' Regular Examination. The highest elementary school official after the Secretary of Education is the Director of Public Schools. The counterpart of Canada's boards of education are the Some Aspects of Teacher Training in ec eee' W T fll Tobago in Q-.uv-Munn-v.v -vo?-v ----.. Trinidad L. THOMAS Ba: '-'a To the average Canadian the words West Indian ls- lands coniure up the picture of a mass of small islands somewhere down to the south to which the birds mi- grate in winter. To the more knowledgeable it may be associated quite rightly with the word Caribbean , or further still might even provoke the question which island? In my particular case being a Trinidadian, it is the island of Trinidad. When thinking in terms of size relative to the vastness of Canada, it might be humour- ously pinpointed, not as an island or country, but rath- er as a geographical position. After undue consideration one might be moved to ask What is the educaion system like, or more speci- fically, What is teacher training like? To put the matter in a nutshell, l shall try to elucidate, yet in all humility not assuming the pretensions of a knowledge- able scribe. Since education has been chiefly respons- ible for our unprecedented independence, teacher train- ing has quite rightly played a significant and important role. There are five teacher training institutions in Trinidad and Tobago. In order to be accepted for one of these institutions a candidate must have at least the Univer- sity of Cambridge and Oxford Ordinary Level Certific- ate Division ll with at least five credits in different subiects. Normally a person with one of these certific- ates may enter the teaching profession directly, and later enter a training college if he is thought worthy by his head master or principal. Entrance is normally gained on seniority, according to how many years the person has taught, and his overall performance during 20 division offices. Each division office is under a division superintendent. In the division offices are the different subiect supervisors or inspectors. Directly responsible to the division superintendent are the district super- visors. A district is composed of one, two or three towns depending upon the number of schools in each town. The principals and the head teachers are directly responsible to the district supervisors. this time. With respect to the Canadian situation, it would seem quite surprising that a person teaches without having gone to a Teachers' College, and in some isolated cases up to a period of even twelve years! This teacher is called an acting teacher or per- haps a monitor , yet there is a vast difference here. An acting teacher is one who has obtained his Grade two Cambridge Certificate but has not yet been chosen to go to Teachers' College, whereas in the monitor's case the teacher has only passed his Post Primary exams at age fifteen, and is not eligible for a High School education because of age. The Post Primary education is equivalent to a grade eight or nine education in Canada. Whereas the Cambridge and Oxford Certificate classes are similar to a Grade twelve education. On being chosen to go to a teachers' training Col- lege, the student teacher has to sign a contract to work for the government for three years, and if the contract is broken he reimburses the government under pain of prosecution, and dependent upon the amount of time that he has worked after graduation. A situation like this arises, since teachers are paid salaries whilst going to Teachers' College, the salary being the amount of money which the said teacher was earning before entrance. This sum is paid to the student teacher during the period of training which lasts for two years. If dur- ing those two years of training he obtained 54,800.00 then he has to repay the government one third of this sum, 51,600.00 in default payment, having only work- ed for two thirds of his contract stipulation. On gradu- ation, if he obtains the highest marks in the entire college in all departments he is given a scholarship to the University of the West Indies or to a reputable overseas University. The curriculum of these institutions varies slightly, but basically it comprises the three P's, which are Philosophy, Psychology and The Principles of Teach- ing. As regards Philosophy the course deals with the doctrines of the great educators with emphasis on Rous- seau, Pestalozzi, Froebel and Montessori. For The Prin- ciples of Teaching, one studies Methodology, class management, etc., and in Psychology the course deals emphatically with child Psychology. Other compulsory subiects are Physical Education, Health, Science and participation in the College sports which are held annually. Other subjects in the curriculum are Sociol- ogy, Electricity and Magnetism, Mathematics fadvanced

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riculum is strictly set without the freedom or chance to follow one's personal inclination and talent. This phen- omenon is particularly prevalent at the university level. The universities are overcrowded and the doors of pres- tige universities or courses leading to a good position or income are open to students who satisfy the re- quirements of the Party, those who do not, no matter how talented, are rerouted to other universities o'r could be even barred from further studies. The state recognizes, just as Plato and Aristotle did, the great importance of education and sees to it that by the pro- vision of a proper education and environment the chosen elite is conditioned to become the faithful serv- ant of the system. Political sciences and Marxist-Lenin- ist dogmas are integral parts of this training. FUREIGN LANGUAGE BRANKO DERONJA I was about ten years old when the English language became a compulsory subject in our schools. This sud- den decision on the part of the Board of Education created a great shortage of English teachers, however, this fact bothered neither the Board of Education nor the pupils. The principal would select a sinner from the staff, who was then given the task of teaching him- self and us, the English language. We were quite happy with this arrangement, since in this way, the new sub- ject presented no headaches. On the contrary, the Eng- lish was a pleasant relaxation from the other subjects. During these lessons we entertained ourselves quite well. When the teacher did not learn the new lesson, he would get quite indignant at the mere mention of English, and would quickly turn the conversation to a different area. He would tell us, for instance, how King Mitridat VI, who reigned a whole century before Christ, spoke twenty-two languages. He would then tell us about an old Montenegran who travelled around the world and knew five languages, his only fault being he spoke them all with a montenegran accent. At times, when our teacher did learn the lesson that he was to teach us, he would inevitably-begin with: Children, you have to pay special attention to the English language. This language is not essential, let us say, if you plan to become a Minister of Internal Af- fairs, but if your ambition is to become a doorman in a hotel, then know that without English you cannot acquire this post. After this wise saying, he would place in front of us a well-known book, Olendorf Method for Learning English . This book was the only textbook that existed, and from it both teacher and pupil learned English. At last, a conversation based strictly on the Olendorf method started. 22 Finally, something about the education and training of the teachers themselves. The educators are trained at three levels. Those who have an early call of vocation can enter a Pedagogical Secondary School , from where, upon successfully completing the fourth year, they obtain a teacher's certificate enabling them to teach in the lower four grades of the primary schools. The teachers of the upper four grades of the primary schools are educated at college level in the so-called Pedagogical Upp-er School . lt takes three years to complete this course where every teacher specializes in two or three subjects. Thus, starting from Grade 5 the children can benefit from the more thorough know- ledge of specialized teachers. To teach at the secondary or higher level requires a university or post-graduate degree. Question: The brother of your wife, does he have a bird that sings nicely? Answer: Yes, the brother of my wife has a bird that sings nicely . Question: lsn't your aunt's sister a relative of my nephew's aunt's sister? Answer: Yes my aunt's sister is a relative of your nephew's aunt's sister. Question: Did you see my uncle's knife? Answer: Yes, I saw your uncle's knife on the bench in the garden of my aunt. As you can see from these examples, the Olendorf method is well suited for learning the English language. Spelling gave us the most trouble. This was a pitfall that buried not only our class, but our whole genera- tion. lt is true that other languages have difficult spel- lings, but somehow these looked reasonable in com- parison. When English is a foreign language you almost feel that the English made it up as one of their military manoeuvers for destroying the enemy. A barb wire seems to envelope this language and any attempt to learn it is always painful. You sweat and sweat until you finally learn a phonetic rule, and then, happily, you stand in front of the teacher to recite the rule that you just learned hoping the teacher will say, Very well, sit down . Instead, he asks you if the rule has any exceptions and if so what are they. That is about the same as when you, with the greatest of gusto, finish eating a dish of cooked peaches covered with honey an dthe one who serves you exclaims, Now you must swallow this crab-apple! Because of these intricacies in both En-glish spelling and English grammar, a pass in the subject was the ex- ception, not the rule.