written down, and we were thus enabled to conduct this part of the business without either loss of time or digression from the matter in hand. It is hardly necessary to observe, that we avoided all leading questions, and that where circumstances required it, we did not hesitate to enter into a particular subject at greater length than we had contemplated. The mode of examination we adopted had moreover all the advantages of class-teaching, and may induce the masters to follow occasionally in their schools a similar plan, and to proceed in the examination of a class of children, with more system and method than is at present the common practice.

The following table contains for each class a summary of the results of the oral examination, as far as regards Reading, Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, and the Lesson Books. With reference to the three subjects last named, the marks by which the answering has been characterized are to be considered as relative, being chiefly derived from a comparison of the answering of each teacher with the average answering of those with whom he was examined.

Summary of the Results of the Oral Examination-con.

Of the 488 teachers for whom the returns are made out, only 7 can be considered as reading with fluency and expression; 124, or more than one-fourth, read with fluency and intelligence; 226, not quite one-half, read with tolerable correctness and intelligence, but not with that ease and fluency so necessary to render the meaning of a passage readily apprehended; the reading of 131 teachers appears to have been but indifferent.

The chief defect against which the teachers should guard, is the want of due attention to punctuation and emphasis. They must make themselves acquainted with the technical rules for good reading and correct pronunciation; for, without attaching to these too much importance, it is evident that a knowledge of the principles upon which they rest cannot but prove most useful to a teacher. is to be regretted that the "Art of Reading" published by the Commissioners, is not sufficiently simple and elementary, and that few, except some of the trained masters, have been able to avail themselves of the suggestions it contains.

It

Besides, our teachers generally have not a taste for reading, and until this taste has been created by placing within their reach the standard works of the language, which they have not at present the means of procuring, we need scarcely expect to meet with good readers among them. The new book of poetry, which the Commissioners are introducing into their schools, will do some service towards accomplishing so desirable an object, by rendering familiar to our teachers many of the noblest specimens of the best English authors. But selections will not suffice to educate the taste and discipline the mind: the works themselves must be read and studied in a connected manner, and so that the order and disposition of the several parts may be observed and noted as well as the mere forms of expression. To enable the teachers to cultivate the language in this spirit, and to make the works they may require for the purpose accessible to them, I would suggest that the Commissioners establish in each district a teachers' library, which should consist of works on Education and English Literature, and a few well selected volumes of History, Travels, and Popular Science.*

*

By dividing the District into three or four subdivisions, and the volumes composing the Library into as many sections, and placing a section at the centre of each subdivision, a teacher, in order to obtain a book, would not have any inconvenient distance to travel. If at the end of the year every

GRAMMAR AND PARSING.

The number of teachers who distinguished themselves by a sound knowledge of grammar, and great accuracy in parsing and analyzing a sentence, was 27, or 1 in 8; 120, 1 in 4, acquitted themselves very creditably; and 178, 1 in 270, in a satisfactory manner. The proficiency exhibited in this department by 137 was barely sufficient, while 11 were wholly unable to parse a simple sentence, and 15 were found very little better.

In general the teachers' knowledge of Grammar is rather technical, and consequently their parsing is to a certain extent mechanical. They frequently commence to parse before they have considered and analyzed the sentence, and are then led, especially in poetical passages, into mistakes which even a slight attention to the sense would have made them avoid.

GEOGRAPHY.

Under this head is included the answering on the three divisions of this science, mathematical, physical, and political; the knowledge of local geography being in many cases tested by requiring the teachers to point out on blank maps the various places, &c., that were named. 227 teachers-1 in 2-answered satisfactorily, and 98-1 in 47 with remarkable readiness and precision. The answering of 135-1 in 3-was either indifferent or bad. The parts of geography with which the teachers seemed most familiar, and which they appeared to have studied with most care and advantage, were those treated of in the "Geography Generalized."

ARITHMETIC.

With regard to Arithmetic, the returns are much less favourable; out of 342 teachers, the answering of 91,-1 in 37,-was very imperfect; and of the remaining 251, only 64 answered creditably, the others having passed through this part of the examination in a rather indifferent manner. Such an unsatisfactory result is to be attributed, no doubt, to the little attention heretofore bestowed in elementary schools, and even in schools of a far higher class, upon the teaching of the principles on which are based the rules of Arithmetic. Teachers were satisfied if their pupils became familiar with the processes, if they acquired a mechanical dexterity in the management of numbers, and were thus enabled to work out with ease and rapidity the solution of a question. But the rationale of the various operations was wholly neglected, and no further grounds were ever sought for a particular mode of proceeding than that it was so laid down in the Gough. Indeed until the large treatise issued by the Board, and Thomson's work, were introduced among the teachers, they knew but little of Arithmetic as a science; and even now, so difficult is it to overcome long-fostered prejudices, they do not apply their minds with sufficient earnestness to the theoretical investigation of the rules. They must, however, have learned from the examination to which they were subjected, how deficient they are in this department with which all thought themselves section were moved to a new subdivision, in three or four years the whole Library would have passed through each subdivision, and all the volumes would have been accessible to every teacher.

thoroughly acquainted, and they will feel, I hope, the necessity of studying Arithmetic, no longer as an art only, but as a science.

LESSON BOOKS.

The subjects here referred to, are principally those treated of in the Easy Lessons on Money Matters and in the lessons on Natural History contained in the National school-books. The returns regard 396 teachers, and the answering of 185,-1 in 2,6,-appears to have been of a fair average character, and such as would lead us to infer that the lessons are taught in their schools with care and judgment. 127-or 1 in 3-answered unsatisfactorily; and 84,

or 1 in 4-acquitted themselves in a very creditable manner. Much yet remains to be done; and to make the lessons contained in these books as useful and interesting to the children as is possible in a well conducted school, the teachers must familiarize themselves more and more with the subjects of which they treat, and so master them as to present each detail to the child in the clearest and simplest language. The most advisable course for the teacher to adopt would seem to be to prepare beforehand each day's lesson: he will then come to his school ready to meet the difficulties that may arise ; his explanations will be given with confidence and accuracy, and he will not be tempted to follow the mischievous practice of some, who under pretence of carrying out what is called incidental teaching, are ever travelling away from the subject of the lesson, and treat of every thing but of the very matter in hand.

HISTORY.

The knowledge of History possessed by our teachers is very limited in few parts of the course were they more deficient. Yet the outline contained in the Fifth Book, although it is unsatisfactory and in many respects defective, particularly with regard to Modern and English History, would, if studied with ordinary attention and industry, make them acquainted with the leading events in the history of mankind, with the dates at which they occurred, and some of the principal personages who bore a part in them. The study of history and chronology has been too much neglected in our schools, and it would seem advisable to have the omission repaired. I am of opinion, that the two tables of remarkable eras in ancient and modern history, contained in the Fifth Lesson Book, could be rendered very useful in this respect, if printed in large bold type on sheets about the size of Hullah's music sheets, and hung up in every school. These sheets would be to History what a map is to Geography, and would serve to fix on the minds of the children a few important historical facts and dates.

Regarding the preparation made by the teachers for the general examination held last year, it is my impression that too much time was devoted by them to the "higher branches," and that the elementary parts of the course were comparatively neglected. I endeavoured to make them understand how essential to a teacher is a thorough knowledge of these, and that without it, all other acquirements will prove useless to him.

I have already mentioned that the qualifications of the several teachers, as evidenced by the examination, were not the only grounds on which the classification was determined. The general efficiency

and fitness of each, as shown by the state of his school, were duly considered, and formed a very important element in assigning to him his proper class and division.

The requisite information on this head was derived chiefly from returns carefully prepared by the District Inspectors, in which they set forth in detail for the several schools their opinion regarding the method of teaching pursued, the amount of instruction imparted, the discipline and proficiency of the children, and the general state of cleanliness. These particulars have been tabulated in the Appendix to this Report, and are summed up in the following table: