Welsh Journals

THE WELSH REPORT AND THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS by Principal D. R. Harris, M.A. THE Report of the Departmental Committee on Welsh has had a very good press. There has been very little criticism and much appreciation. Public bodies everywhere have wel- comed it as a valuable contribution towards the promotion of the Welsh language in the educa- tional system and the life of Wales. It is not only that it has come at a time when Welsh National- ism is growing in favour amonc the intelli- gentsia". No one, whatever view he may take of the survival value of Welsh, can dip into the Report without becoming interested and, if he be Welsh, responding to the appeal which it makes on behalf of the native language and its litera- ture. The appeal is so reasonable, the case so good in itself,-there is no need for rhetoric or place for mere sentiment. Except for one unfor- tunate lapse, there is no talk of compulsion, and the argument as a whole gains enormously by this recognition of the fact that force is no remedy. The Committee recognise that their task was simplified by the restrictions imposed upon them in the terms of reference governing their appoint- ment. They were not called upon to weigh and consider many matters which will have to be faced by those who are now in their turn urged to put the Committee's recommendations into effect. Sincere and ardent supporters of these recom- mendations say that they have no desire to burke discussion of the economic factors involved. The Local Education Authorities, Governing Bodies of Schools and Colleges, the University itself, cannot shirk these issues, whoever else may do so. To carry out the provisions of the Report is going to cost money, and it will involve sacrifice. To make either worth while it will be necessary to explore the position with much greater care and local knowledge than was possible in the case of the Committee of Enquiry. In a sense they were necessarily moving rather on the surface. Their survey was comprehensive rather than par- ticular and detailed. It is for the Local Authori- ties and the Local Governing Bodies to see and say how far it may be practicable or even wise to apply the recommendations wholly or only in part within their own area of responsibility. It is in the conviction, for example, that the advice of the Committee is unwise in some of its recom- mendations with regard to the Training Colleges and the University Training Departments that what follows is written. In the opinion of the Committee, the key of the whole position is the elementary school". They go further and say that, "though whatever content of culture the Welsh language may in the future possess does not depend on the elementary school, the general spread of that culture and ul- timately the very existence of the language itself, undoubtedly do". It is clear, therefore, that what- ever may be possible will depend very largely upon the place which the Welsh language is given in the life and in the work of the schools. Now what can be done in the schools depends in the main on the teachers. The qualifications of the teachers, their training and equipment, are there- fore matters of first-rate importance in the eyes of the Committee. As regards qualifications, the statistics quoted show that during the last twenty years there has been a remarkable increase in the number of teachers taking Welsh in the training colleges. This is so, and it has been made possi- ble by the intermediate schools, to whom much of the credit is due for the fact that Welsh is now one of the most popular and successful of the subjects taken at some of the training colleges, whereas it was not on the time-table a generation ago. Some credit must, I think, be given to the train- ing colleges themselves for what thev have done in making provision for the teaching of the sub- ject, by encouraging the use of the language in the life of the college and in the teaching practice of the students. Behind it all, as far as the train- ing colleges are concerned, was the influence of Sir Owen Edwards, who made it his first business when he entered the service of the Board of Education to give Welsh a proper place in the training college curriculum. And what has been the result? Speaking from my own experience, I have no hesitation in saying that the inclusion of Welsh language and litera- ture in the training college course has meant a better educated and more cultured type of teacher for the service of education. So far from being at a disadvantage, the Welsh student is in the for- tunate position of having within his reach the mastery of two languages and the appreciation of two literatures. Apart from Welsh, this would only be possible at the honours stage of a univer- sity course. Given a reasonable foundation, such as is afforded at the school certificate stage, the Welsh elementary school teacher may receive this measure of culture within the limits of a two year training college course. The second result can be given in the words of the Report itself "The training colleges and training departments prepare a perfectly adequate supply of teachers who are competent to teach Welsh in the elementary schools". But there is a snag. "Only a small minority find employment in these schools, and those who are employed are generally of an inferior quality". And so the Com- mittee is led to consider "the migration of teach- ers to England", which in the language of the Report "has assumed such proportions as to be a