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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol 1, No. 12 June 22, 1938

Broadened Curriculum

Broadened Curriculum.

As to how they were to be put there he was not so certain, but suggested general courses of lectures, the broadening of the curriculum and an emphasis in all courses on the study of civics and a practical application of the arts. Here he admitted a slight anomaly, however, as a in his view there are already too many lectures and the average course is already too long to allow of broader interests; yet in spite of this, the proposal to remedy this state of affairs was the institution of still more lectures. Another difficulty as Mr. May pointed out, is that we go to the University to learn to think, and thinking, he agreed with most modern psychologists, is a muscular process; just as you cannot learn to play tennis by being told about it but only by having balls banged at you and learning to bang them back, so you cannot learn to think by being lectured to but, only by having ideas banged at you and learning to bank them back. Hence he thought the emphasis in the ordinary courses should be on a decrease in the number of lectures and an increase in the number of tutorials, and seminars with closer relationship between students and staff: in this way the student will presumably be taught to think, and he is then fitted to receive instruction in public affairs which will have to be given him in lecture from, although the lectures should probably be more in the nature of public addresses.