EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22201, 18 September 1937, Page 7

EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE

IMPORTANCE TO CHILD ADDRESS TO TEACHERS DY DR. H. FIELD The importance of educational guidance as an essential preliminary to vocational guidance was emphasised by S'^ H \ E \ eld ’ Profes sor of Education at Canterbury University College in an address to the Teachers’ Institute rfre\iH«n ni ?r g ’ whcn Mr s - G- Prebble Ef?t m „ He U J ged the for nprk P S of properly trained exnrifn ™! 10 ould be able assist and advise teachers. ? uid . ancc ’ which was the wise choice of a job, was inadequately urdes , s . built upon educational guidance, which was the wise choice f courses of study, and proper guidnn C f..,a n courscs - together with an understanding of problems of character and conduct, said Dr. Field. Educational guidance that would be really sound and effective could not be based otherwise than on the work of the teacher. The term “educational guidance" had come into use in recent years. It had been going on in an informal wav, however from generation to generation, but the formalised and systematic approach had been developed to overcome definite shortcomings in everyday P racd is°-. Tbo waste to the community and the individual from unwise choices m occupation had forced the matter to the view not only of parents and teachers, but of industrialists. Exclusive emphasis should not be placed, however, on the vocational aspect, nor on the abnormal children or the specially gifted. Expert and Teacher .. Tbe , re . were now available methods that had not been worked out 20 or •JO years ago. _ There were standardised tests of intelligence, of aptitudes and attainment, and methods of gettmg at the roots of the child’s difficulties. While the expert had a definite PEce in educational guidance, it was the teacher, with his day to day experience of the child carried on over a long period, who was in the key position, and the expert's function was to co-operate with him. That longperiod acquaintance, provided it rested on proper observation in the playground as well as in class, and concerned itself with home circumstances f- s i W j as be sc bool, was the essential knowledge without which guidance could not be done soundly. Many questions had to be asked in solving the problem of educational guidance. The auestion of what sort of course the child was suited for arose a* the transition from primary to secondary school, or to intermediate school. Generally, a final and irrevocable choice of career to aim a* could not be made at an early stage, and even when a choice wp« made it should not be regarded as irrevocable. The causes of a child’s failure in any line of work had to be determined. Were they lack of trying, lack of foundation, or general lack of ability? If the cause was lack of ability it was criminal to force the child on. if it was'foundation it was criminal to let matters slide, and if it was lack of effort it was not enough to say that the child was just naturally lazy. The good teacher was not content to let his effort be ineffective, and let the child go downhill. The teacher owed it to the child to have an occasional check-up. That could not be done en masse: it must be individual, and comparable to the process of diagnosis followed by a doctor. The things to be taken into account were many and varied. They included home circumstances, which were often the predominant cause of mental inefficiency and maladjustment. Physical condition was a matter for the medical specialist, but his findings were sometimes very relevant to the educationist. Intelligence tests were now widely used, and although they were far from infallibly, by and large they took the investigator nearer to a knowledge of the child’s inborn ability than any other device. The results, however, had to be compared with observation. Temperament had to be con c id-red. It included such things as stability, characteristic mood and special difficulties of personality. Interests on the social, practical, and active side as well as the educational side had to be taken into account. Place of Examinations Actual attainment was important. Examination results were useful in this direction, but the great danger was in attaching too much importance to marks and too little to the strong and the weak points in a child’s work. The development of effective habits and methods of work was much more important than the ability to reproduce a number of facts at an examination. Besides these factors were such things as personal habits, social adjustment, and moral qualities. Information on all of them was desirable if sound guidance was to be given. Maladjustment was shown by certain danger signs, including such things as excessive day-dreaming, impulsiveness, striving for notice, stealing, bullying, and abnormal sex behaviour. A cumulative record for each child was needed, for experts would be in an unsound position without full evidence. In making judgments about a child it was essential that prejudice should be avoided, and to obtain objectivity it was desirable that two or more teachers should talk over the data. * Need for Careful Observation The teacher could build up standards of Judgment by care ul observation and study of the relative literature. He must be in a position to judge if a thing was significant or not. Teachers would agree that there was need to provide specialists to assist them in dealing with the problems of educational guidance, and in a proportion of cases the teacher would be willing to place the responsibility on the specialist. There was a place for such specialists in the education system. Dr. Field believed that in the present stage of New Zealand’s educational development many things were likely to happen. There had been developments in the test few months, and he believed that before many weeks there would be some official recognition of the system of vocational guidance. “This is only one step forward, said Dr. Field. "We have to press the matter that vocational guidance is only one aspect of the problem. It cannot be complete unless it is based on educational guidance. It must not merely recognise the difficulties of the children, but help them out. “The trained psychologist has something to offer. There is need for more special classes —such for example, as the class for speech de ectives at the normal school. In addition there is the need for dealing with the great bulk of minor cases, and for a general guidance service m which the teacher has available the services of a specially trained and qualified person. lam not thinking of some new innovation, but of a necessary complement to class teaching.” ,