ABSTRACT
The potentialities of the private reading periods are incalculable, for the situation is theoretically one in which education according to the most enlightened modern tenets should be possible. It is at once evident that private reading holds a quite different place in the two sorts of school: in Senior Schools it is firmly established whereas in the Secondary Schools its position is uncertain, if not ambiguous. Quiet reading in Senior Schools is, then, partly a device for releasing teachers from teaching, and partly a method of drill, of securing the essential minimum of order from unwieldy groups of boys. 'Private reading' in the Secondary Schools is mostly a consciously operated teaching device rather than a release from teaching. The only general conclusions that can be drawn seem to be that teachers have no commonly accepted policy about private reading, and that it is frequently a form of relaxation for the boys.
