Lancaster schools study of limited scope'
The authors of the Lancaster University Research, unlike Mr St John-Stevas, (April 30) do not wish their work to he used as an excuse for schools to take the easy way Out and return to the traditional methods of teaching which, their report clearly shows; are still being used in some Primary schools.
In fact, neither is the size nor the nature of the selective study undertaken by the researchers
Hugh Kay not OK on SA
I lugh Kay is utterly mistaken ill his assumption ( •April 23) that there arc "arguments On both sides" about invest ment in Smith Africa. It is a clear "he whois nut for roe is against me" issuo.
. lay support for whites in South Africa and i(hotlesia is support for a Naii SIM,. more bestial in its treatment or ■Iric.m, lh.ui Hitler's treat of the lens I know. I've lived Tilos Consolidsted Gold Fields. Noon!! kraal \l'ric.ins are coerced into morLine ill the mines. Sonic are ninoceinls happy at the prospect of
CitrIII14!
No MK' tells them they will he dead hCi \\ 0211, If) and 40 from the effect or %corking long hours in inkilt:ratite heal. No one tells them that sodomy i, inevitahle in locked .111.rmile eomooands w here they will slabs in concrete sleep on cement dormitories. .f that Untreated VI) is the inevit.ible consequence of pro,/ Ul i on outside 1 he compounds.
Mier:fin labour., entailing separttii,m from ‘‘ile and family for years ou amts ILI, kern condemned by the I sit bolls hierarchy in South Africa for veto. 'Without it the gold mines couldn't operate.
If at the weekly medical check. on African mineworker is found miff for maximum la hour outpttt he is hired w111h1111 pension Or eoinpen'.alioii. Ilis work-pass is cancelled :111(1 he must return to his kraal to stone slou, h. to death.
This is il,I)Ven)Ment policy. It is callcrl -controlling the labour force'" I Iiilcr's any-chambers were comp.ireti to this slow. oenoCide ht destruction of bodily starvation.
A South Ilrican tiovernment
published in 1945 nut die siln.ilion thus; "Forts-nine per cent of tls• Stack population die of rmilinitrition under the age of 40.", Whal did the other 51 per cent die of" Police action? Raiskaap rders? Industrial a cc e n I s? Measles? It is inescapably obvious, they didn't die. or old age. One does not sec elderly Africans around.
What possible argument can there by for supporting such a Situation" Certaink not the Dives crumbs of Jesuit missionaries work. Arc th,..sc intelltcentsia of missionaries so n.live. so ignorant that 1110 are onaw:tre that. sell'. vi,t crimp:Hi st ill only come through the barrel of a gun and that the
handful out of millions -that Ilrc% have trained for selfvoi, eminent ;ire halite to he the first
•
be gannet! timsii" lee caul Lull!. hope the mis-,fflaries will he conned down with thorn and not he allowed to "run ,155.15 to misdirect another day." Esme Dollard New lirotton.
Near Salthorn.
l'le‘,411111 such as to merit a general change of direction in educational method.
Of the 37 classrooms tested by Dr Bennett's team, 12 were "kirmal" and 13 "informal". In each case extreme examples were chosen, despite the fact that in the majority of schools a mixture of techniques is used.
Only 12 "mixed' classes were studied, and these were from only three of the eight types of mixed class which Dr Bennett recognises. Yet it is to one of these eight types which classes in the great majority of thoughtfully progressive schools belong.
The most important limitations of this work, however. pertain to the real values it does not seek. Even in the narrow academic sphere, it fails to take into consideration the overall picture in the school.
For a pupil at a good progressive school will probably show peak progress in the basic subjects nearer to the middle of his time there than to the end. Yet Dr Bennett's figures are based on progress made during the final 12 months of the children's schooling.
Finally, the survey makes no attempt to show any of the vital social and emotional effects of the different kinds of school regime. The Plowden Report did take these important factors into account and came down heavily in favour of a more progressive approach. The conclusions of this great report cannot be overturned by a local research of limited scope, particularly one whose only concern is with mechanical proficiency. The whole child needs to develop evenly, in a balanced way. and Christian educators should be especially aware of this.
J. II. Collins 13 Moore Close New Milton, I lampshire.
Group of 77 not seeking charity
Congratulations on printing John Madeley's concise and informative article of April 23 on UNCTAD 4.
To those of your readers who, on reading the last paragraph, asked themselves "What can I do?" I suggest they write to their MP asking him to press the BritiSh Government to (I) agree to support the Common Fund, and (2) accept the "integrated programme" for commodities.
It is still not too late to persuade the Government that the public is not so selfish that it demands an unfair share of the world's wealth and trade.
The Group 77. are not asking for charity: they are asking for a chance to develop their own economies, and they can only do this if they increase their income.
At the moment they have to pay more and more for the manufactured goods they buy from the developed countries, while prices they receive for raw materials, although fluctuating, remain very low.
The obvious solution to this problem is to "index" the price of raw materials to those of manufactured goods. so that if one goes up so does the other and yet the British Government has `said it is not in favour Of this "index". All in all, Mr Wilson's words in Jamaica are beginning to look like a hollow sham!
If we do nothing, and the British Government continues its uncooperative attitude to the suggestions atilt: Group of 77, we can expect to he put among the "goats" at our final judgment, for: "I was hungry and you gave Inc not to cat." Rosemary A. Read 6 Middleton Avenue, Littleover, Derby.
Christian failure
I would like to ask the Catholic Church — indeed, the Eastern Orthodox Church as well — where they have succeeded?
After two thousand years of Christianity, Russia and Germany became barbaric savages almost overnight. Gas chambers and concentration camps have killed millions.
So 'where have Christians been successful? In Ireland the churches are full on a Sunday. and in Belfast the streets are empty on Holy Days, and on other days bombs and killings are almost normal everyday events.
So I repeat my question to all Christian clergy: Where have they succeeded?The only thing that really civilises people and makes them natural and human they condemn as sinful and wicked. That is sex.
In primitive societies sex and religion were linked up together and made into a beautiful ritual. But such things the Christian missionaries destroyed and made sinful and evil. Let's have bombs but not pornography. The Christian Church. I believe, has harharised mankind by separating religion from sex.
Marvin Shaw 14 Kenton Court, 365 Kensington High Street, London WI4.