INFANT TEACHING

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 149, 24 June 1920, Page 4

INFANT TEACHING

METHODS CRITICISED

In a letter to the editor, "A Teacher" writes in interesting vein of the problem of backward children, recently discussed*! by the Council of Education. The letter, somewhat abridged, is as .follows :— "We are all aware that there is an abnormally- large percentage of backward children in. our schools. These children are almost invariably dubbed by headmasters and assistants alike as mentally | defective. The children .or the. parents are blamed for the evil. If the matter be thoroughly, investigated, the fault, I think, in the great majority of cases, will he found to be in methods of infant teaching. /We dull the infants' 'brains in the infant-room, and then, growl and' strap them through their painful school career. Too many teachers have a. false conception of the child brain. They think of it as a vessel into which tables and spelling must be hammered and rammed, and wedged. I was sitting in the school office adjoining an infant-room orfe morning last year while the infant mistress was giving the number lesson. The teacher kept'time with, a stick—4 an' 8 are. 12,' and the children repeated the chant after her. I counted. Twenty times was the chant repeated, and then the teacher dodged round the class, pouncing upon some poor inoffensive infant—4 an' 8? What are 4 an' 8? Apparently the answers were not satisfactory, for the chant began again, aud continued anther 12 times, making 32 repetitions in all. I happened to have this class when the inspector came, shortly afterwards, The inspector asked the usual, addition tables. A number of hands went up, and satisfactory answers were given by the owners. 'Good' was the inspector's verdict. Latar I tried the class individually. The resiilt was appalling; A large number had not the faintest conception oi the value of the digits—-7 and 2 are 3, 4 and 3 are 2 were some of.the ansewersi Their poor little brains had been dulled by the ••u"n!-i*onQUS repetition .of meaningless words : mentally weak had been the verdict of their former teacher. With concrete work they began to show signs of intelligence, but, oh, how much easier the work would have bsen for all con-" cerned had individual concrete' work been given from the beginning. The fact that some children are able to survive the repetition of. abstract tables has kept'the method in vogue in far too many ot our schools; In reality, these children would benefit just -as much .with individual concrete work as the so-called duller ones.- I believe that the finer or the more delicate (not necessarily weak) the nervous system, the more irksome and 1 injurious is repetition without interest and comprehension. The mind becomes unresponsive, and a st&ta of obstinate apathy results.

"What is true of tables is jusb as true ■of methods of teaching reading. The alphabetic method is answerable for' as high percentage of dull, brains.-.- .Right from the beginning reading can be made intelligible to. the child. Here again wa need more concrete v.'OTk—models, pictures, objects, and dramatisation. Our primers and infant readers need revising —we need mo^e pictures and less print, mora everyday language, and less phonic nonsense, more differentiation and less similarity in words—'a bad boy is preferable to ' a bad lad,' 'pony is better than nag; it is easier to visualise 'eel' or 'flounders' than 'tench.' (What is a 'tencH?) "Fear, too, is answerable for a fair percentage of dull brains. The strap 1 ifc still too common in the infant-room. The. inspector finds a suppressed class —per--fect quiet reigns (the strap, of'course, is not in evidence) and the- teacher is allotted high marks for discipline. Oneteacher, passing over her. class to me, said, 'You can't get "J." and "R." to do anything unless you go for them. They are growled at a*fc home, and it's the only, language they understand.' As. far as I could see, tha poor little urchins had not begun to: do anything in spite of the bullying. They were exceedingly _ nervous: A. little kind treatment and' some encouragement and they were soonable to concentrate sufficiently to begin ,to form their letters: *

'"'We need- carefully-chosen woman- inspectors . for the infant-roomy indiviauai examination; and. examination of. methods; . Although- intelligent teaching, in-' the infnnt-rsom is stressed in the new syllabus, many teachers make not the slightest difference in their' methods,- for' they know that the inspectors (with some exceptions) , are in sympathy with the abstract drill method, and will make no comment if syllabus regulations are not followed.-. 'It lias served us- very well-in the past,' they say, 'and ib will serve Us now.' Conditions of life are changing— the race' is- becoming .more sensitive or more highly strung.- Mental development changes with conditions, a-nd we must adjust our educational methods to meet a changing environment.-"