The increased W estern influence on the school system, due in part
to the new so c ia l environment and in part to a differen t concept among the newer m ission aries, may be noted in the curricula both
o f the c e n tra l m ission schoolo and of the In s titu tio n * In the f
s ta tio n schools, bepldes E nglish both as a teach in g medium and as a su b je c t, the c u rric u la had become larger, though not to the
com plexity of B ritis h sch o o ls, esp e cia lly in contrast to the v i l
lage sch o o ls, as the follow ing examples indicate*
i: ’f
"My personal attendances a t the school were 54.
On these occasions I taught the geography of South
A frica, with map* a lso read in g , w riting, a r ith - |
m ctic, and S crip tu re* "^ 4
The more ela b o ra te curriculum a t Fhalapy© showed a fu rth e r develop-
ment* .#A'-S
"The school is c a rrie d on in the same way as an English school, so near as p o ssib le . The su b je cts taught are* reading, w ritin g , a rith m e tic , S crip
tu r e , needlework, geography, drawing, dom estic _
economy, k in d e rg a rte n , singing and musical d r i l l .
-vi
follow ing subjects* 4
--m
1
Peroentagec and M iaoellaneous Problems eiabmolng f;
a l l the u se fu l ru le s .
Olase I I Heading I I Royal Header. A rith m etic, Oom pound R ules, Simple and Oompound P roportion,
P ra c tic e and Vulgar F ra c tio n s.
Olasé I I I A rith m etic. Simple Rules and Oompound o f f«y
Money to M u ltip lic a tio n . Geography Bàgland and
A-
Wales and P a le s tin e ," ! ;?
The work of the p rin tin g press shared the ups and downs o f edu- •
cational in te re st and achievem ent. In 1869, prospects seemed good ■ fo r th is fa c e t o f work, with in te r e st a t a fair ly high le v e l^ , but ;
by I89I , the work had again faile d and remained in
a
low s ta tei;
u n til almost the end o f the cen tu ry , when i t ag ain revived along with education in genera l.) Though the influence o f the general
educational atmosphere undoubtedly accounted somewhat fo r the f a i l u re , in printing as in education and other undertakings, th e human
fa c to r was most important.
"Who can estimate the good such a means o f diesem i- % D ating knowledge would and did e ffe c t? Our influ en ce
in the country w ill be com pletely broken by th is spasmodic way o f working. In f a c t, the work th a t we allow to s lip through our fin g e rs w ill be taken up
by o th e rs, and we s h a ll be d efeated .
As a conclusion to th is study and survey of educatio n al work in
the period I 665- I 89O, i t i s In te re s tin g to note the beginning of
3
! Bechuanaland D is tr ic t Oommittee m inutes,
6
March 1868. 4 |^Bechuanaland D is tr ic t Oommittee m inutes, 5 March 1689# Mookey to Thompson, 16 Ju ly 1869 and 20 August 1669, Gould to Thompson, 4
August I 89O, and Wookey to Thompson, 4 August 1890. ^
5see Gould to Thompson, 11 m rch 1891, P rice to Thompson, 28
S
January 1 6 0 , and Wookey to Thompson, 16 August 1899#
4Gould to Thompson, 11 March 1891, î !
164.
serio u s and conotruotlbe c r itic is m from the o u tsid e on the work o f the m iaclons. Laying personal c ritic is m based on preju d ice
a s id e , the qu estio n concerning the n e c e ssity of m issio n aries under
tak in g the work o f education in a d d itio n to purely ev an g elical y'
work i s most s ig n ific a n t, fo r the problem is g re a t today, e s p e c ia lly ment. That ed u catio n al work ha© and s t i l l does coneume much of the
in the minds of the m issio n a rie s, and they considered i t not so much a good work stemming from th e ir own C h ristia n m otivations as ^W illiams to Thompson, J May 1869#
I
I :
with the growing assum ption o f ed u catio n al re s p o n s ib ility by Govern- f
time and e f f o r t o f m issio n arie s i s an obvious f a c t, and from as e a rly as th is p erio d , the q u estio n was a r is in g as to i t s necessity* R epresentative thought on th e su b je c t is seen in a statem ent by
Williams*
Ï
-f:"I have thought very much of the suggestion made
and advocated by Macy th a t m issio n aries should r e - |
lln q u ish th is p a rt o f th e ir work and confine them selv es to preaching, e tc . X wonder where we should
be today in Bechuanaland i f th is advice were acted f
upon, inasmuch as th e re i s no school in the country %
except such as a re c a rrie d on by the agents o f Mi»- |
s io m ry S o c ie tie s . The advantages of se c u la r edu c a tio n combined w ith the influence o f C h ristia n teach ers cannot f a i l to l i f t them as they grow o ld er
to an a p p re c ia tio n even g re a te r than th e ir fo re - J
fa th e rs o f th e p riv ile g e s , and b lessin g s o f th e |
Redeemer’s Kingdom."!
*
I t may be seen here th a t the assum ption, consciously or o therw ise, j
%
th a t education was necessary to be an e ffe c tiv e C h ristia n remained Æ
:{
. 165.■
■V^ : a p re re q u is ite to G h rietia n growth in o th e rs .
.0
0# A ro h lte o tu re #
The a r c h i te c t u r e o f th e period 1885-1900 wae v ir tu a lly a % '4
r e p e t i t i o n o f th e development and underlying id e a s o f th e p re v io u s 4
p erio d . The pole and reed s t r u c t u r e , or the round clay and tliatch
I
h u t, 80 common in the pioneering days o f the m is s io n , had v ir tu a lly
d isa p p e a re d from m ission use a t le a s t, except f o r some of th e o u t-
I
s ta tio n s and temporary m ission c e n tre s . An example may he given -|
.. 3"
i n a l e t t e r from H epburn, whose s t a t i o n had j u s t been changed by i/
s:
th e rem oval o f th e t r i b e from Shoshong to Palapye, and a ls o th e
1
's itu a tio n o f Wookey. G e n e ra lly , though, the b ric k or stone b u ild - .
ing was r a p id ly re p la cin g more temporary s tru c tu re s , even to a G
'a
o a rta ln è x te n t In N ative housing, under the Influence o f the mie- A;
A
elo n erlea and the new s o c ia l environm ent. Even In the o u tsta tlo n e w'
•I
t hi s movement was going on#
I
"Another very en co u rag in g sig n o f s p ir itu a l awakening 4
among the people o f th is d i s t r i c t i s th e w idespread d e sire to r e p la c e the wretched hovels in which they have h ith e rto held d iv in e serv ice by s u b s ta n tia l b rick
b u ild in g s . Four such c h a p e ls have alre ad y been erected and opened fo r w orship.*^
A nother c o n tin u ed f e a tu r e wae th e use o f s k i l l e d E uropean la b o u re rs
w ith most o f th e u n sk ille d la b o u r coming from v o lu n tary o r paid 4|
A f r ic a n s .) G e n e ra lly on th e o u te ta tio n s th e b u ild in g s w ere p aid f o r .r| : ^Hepburn to Thompson, l6 December 1669 and Wookey to Thompson, 24 4
O ctober 1690. 4
B p rice to Thompson, 11 Ja n u a ry 1889#
)p ric e to Thompson, 20 Ja n u a ry 1685, and Wookey t o Thompson, JO v||
October 1668 and 4 August 1890.
186.
from, lo c a l fim d e, and on aomo o f th e m ain e ta tio n s work was done
w ith o u t money from th e S o c ie ty . On some p r o j e c ts , how ever, funds n o t o n ly came from th e S o c ie ty , b u t plans a lso —an in te re s tin g
developm ent f o r a group tr y in g to d im in ish dependence on an o u t s id e Ohuroh to a m inim um .! The rem aining fa c to rs s im ila r to ear l i e r periods are re p a ir work and th e d if f ic u lty o f o b tain in g
c e r t a i n m a te r ia ls se e n i n various le tte r s o f the perio d * E xcept f o r a v e ry few new s id e lig h ts , however, a rc h ite c tu re seems to have fo llo w ed th e g e n e ra l line© p re v io u s ly la id down and to have been o f seco n d ary importance compared to o th er a s p e c ts.
D. A griculture
The p la c e o f a g r i c u lt u r e i n the g e n e ra l m issionary scheme
was v i r t u a l l y the same as th a t o f a r c h i t e c t u r e . L ittle o f a n o v el n a tu re o c c u rre d , and a g r i c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t i e s seemed to move in th o se lin e s a lr e a d y la id down. Like a rc h ite c tu re . I t s place o f
im p o rtan ce was in e a r l i e r periods in the establishm ent and de velopm ent o f th e sta tio n s* Once i t s place o f importance had been a c h ie v e d , o th e r a s p e c ts such as education, s e lf-su p p o rt, and s e lf -
government moved to th e foreground. In e a r lie r days, th e m is s io n a r i e s had been b u ild e r s and farm ers o f n e c e ss ity , b u t the l a t e r
p e rio d s showed them a s le s s in c lin e d toward th is w ork. By th e end
of th e century, th e y had become more sp e c ia liz e d p r o f e s s lo m l men, and the work o f a g r i c u lt u r e and a rc h ite c tu re was l e f t e i t h e r
^hookey to Thompson, 24 O ctober 1890 end W illoughby to Thompson, 21 Ju ly 1894.
187.
to th e A fric a n s who had become more adept i n th e a r t e , o r to s k i l le d E uropean la b o u r e r e .
E . E f f o r ts tow ard M lsgloim ry R e ce ssio n
The g o a l o f com plete e o lf-a u p p o rt co n tin u ed to be u n a tta in e d in t h i s period, though in some ways i t p ro g resse d * E ffo rt® reim in ed much the eame a s in the pact, w ith S o c ie ty funda g o in g to pay the
s a l a r i é e of e v a n g e lic ts , w h ile lo c a l te a c h e rs and pastor# w ere p a id a s much a s p o s s ib le from lo c a l funds* R egarding th e money c o ê le c te d from th e p e o p le , th e ayetern waa a Local Teachera Fund, c o v e rin g th e w hole o f th e mieaion and paid through th e laieeionariea to a
c e n tr a l p la c e , from w hich a llo c a tio n s were made according to n eed .
Tills ayetem would eventually lead to trouble, as the follow ing
sta te m e n t shows g
"X find t h a t in 1894 t h a t Kuruman D i s t r i c t re c e iv e d
£132 from th e fu n d , and only c o n trib u te d £52- 19-0
to i t# You w i l l n o t wonder t h a t I d ared n o t m en tio n t h i s f a c t w h ile p&oading for more lib e ra lity ; f o r w h ile th e p eo p le o f Kuruman D i s t r i c t have had G ospel p r iv ile g e s from c h ild h o o d , th e 1142 ohuroh members
th e r e , who c o n trib u te d on a n av erag e 6 |d a head i n
1694, are q u ite ae a b le to help themselves as our