Page 28 - The Gonzaga Record 1985
P. 28
This new building when completed would provide the following much needed
facilities to the school. A large Hall and stage; a fairly spacious vestibule as one
entered the building; a school library; two new class rooms; extra toilet facilities for
the Senior School; a secretary's office; and a handsome corridor connecting the
new building with the old.
We will leave the builders now to get on with their own proper work in raising
the new building, and turn to a consideration of the educational policy of the school
as it developed.
The developing educational policy of the College
This history of the early years of Gonzaga College began with an indication of
the general vision and ideal which the founding Father Provincial had for the new
college. It would break away from the public exam system with its rigid syllabus,
and allow complete freedom to return, if possible, to the aims of the old Ratio
Studiorum.
But that was a general directive. It would be a mistake to imagine that every step
was thought out in detail from the beginning. Certainly, the boys would not sit for
the Intermediate or Leaving Certificates. On the other hand, there would be one
external constraint, in that boys would take the University's Matriculation
examination. This would serve both as an entrance qualification for the University,
and as an indication of the standard attained in secondary schooling for those not
intending to go on to university. It was felt that the Matriculation examination of
those days was broader in its approach, less tied to a detailed syllabus, and would
suit the type of teaching that went on in the school.
Up to that point the teachers were given a lot of freedom. The Prefect of Studies,
Fr William White, encouraged masters to think and plan on their own. There was,
of course, a control. But within pretty wide limits teachers were free. The
Matriculation examination would be taken at the end of the fifth year of secondary
schooling. This would leave the sixth year gloriously free to be planned as a pre-
university year.
The 6th Year ideal
A good deal of thought and effort went into the planning of the pre-university
Sixth Year at school. It has often been pointed out that many school-leavers, who
have done very well in the public examinations, do not to well when they move into
university. Some are quite bewildered when presented with a long list of books
which they are expected to read and absorb for themselves. They have never
learned how to do their own synopsising of a book; how to search on their own for
information; indeed, how to study on their own. Quite frequently their successes in
the public examinations were a tribute to their teachers rather than themselves. The
synopsising was done for them; the reduction of large amounts of material into a
smaller compass; the extraction of the important central ideas ... all this was done
for them at school by their teachers. Many university students discovered for the
first time what they owed to their teachers, who had done the hard work for them.
Now they were on their own, with little enough guidance, and above all, no one
who cared very much whether they were working or not. The transition from
20
facilities to the school. A large Hall and stage; a fairly spacious vestibule as one
entered the building; a school library; two new class rooms; extra toilet facilities for
the Senior School; a secretary's office; and a handsome corridor connecting the
new building with the old.
We will leave the builders now to get on with their own proper work in raising
the new building, and turn to a consideration of the educational policy of the school
as it developed.
The developing educational policy of the College
This history of the early years of Gonzaga College began with an indication of
the general vision and ideal which the founding Father Provincial had for the new
college. It would break away from the public exam system with its rigid syllabus,
and allow complete freedom to return, if possible, to the aims of the old Ratio
Studiorum.
But that was a general directive. It would be a mistake to imagine that every step
was thought out in detail from the beginning. Certainly, the boys would not sit for
the Intermediate or Leaving Certificates. On the other hand, there would be one
external constraint, in that boys would take the University's Matriculation
examination. This would serve both as an entrance qualification for the University,
and as an indication of the standard attained in secondary schooling for those not
intending to go on to university. It was felt that the Matriculation examination of
those days was broader in its approach, less tied to a detailed syllabus, and would
suit the type of teaching that went on in the school.
Up to that point the teachers were given a lot of freedom. The Prefect of Studies,
Fr William White, encouraged masters to think and plan on their own. There was,
of course, a control. But within pretty wide limits teachers were free. The
Matriculation examination would be taken at the end of the fifth year of secondary
schooling. This would leave the sixth year gloriously free to be planned as a pre-
university year.
The 6th Year ideal
A good deal of thought and effort went into the planning of the pre-university
Sixth Year at school. It has often been pointed out that many school-leavers, who
have done very well in the public examinations, do not to well when they move into
university. Some are quite bewildered when presented with a long list of books
which they are expected to read and absorb for themselves. They have never
learned how to do their own synopsising of a book; how to search on their own for
information; indeed, how to study on their own. Quite frequently their successes in
the public examinations were a tribute to their teachers rather than themselves. The
synopsising was done for them; the reduction of large amounts of material into a
smaller compass; the extraction of the important central ideas ... all this was done
for them at school by their teachers. Many university students discovered for the
first time what they owed to their teachers, who had done the hard work for them.
Now they were on their own, with little enough guidance, and above all, no one
who cared very much whether they were working or not. The transition from
20
