BACKWARD CHILDREN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19146, 14 April 1924, Page 9

BACKWARD CHILDREN.

SPECIAL EDUCATION SEGREGATED SCHOOLS. QUEENSLAND’S EXPERIMENT.

(From Odr Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 3. ; Education authorities are watching witi* keen interest an experiment which Queensland is making in the specia training Ot-.-. sub-normal children. The scheme, under which several -special schools have been established in Brisbane, to which free travelling is given trom considerable distances, was introduced only ten months ago, but it is said that incst beneficial, results are already noticeable. Until tins system was introduced no attempt was made in the State schools to dea witb . mentally deficient or backward children. . The knowledge they absorbed was left a - great deal to chance. Teachers of large ■> classes had no time to give them special attention, so they drifted, more often.. than not to become a burden to selves and to the State through lack of educational or vocational knowledge, ihey i( , are now made to feel that they have - -i chance, whereas when taught with did- . dren of normal mentality Hie opposite effect was achieved. A sympathetic m-_- | terest by the teachers especially selected ■ for the work helps m the development of the children. A bright environment is another' -essential factor in the system ■ of training, and all the class rooms show a painstaking care on the part of the instructors to make the surroundings aa happy and cheerful as possible. Models made bv the youngsters adorn the walls, and flowers and suitable pictures 'end a healthy atmosphere. Parents at first were disinclined to allow the children .to be taken from their schools and placed with v other backward children, but they see now the benefits of these classes, and are only too glad to have them taught in the new tests are held, and when a child is found to be either mentally dofie’ent, or backward through some other cause, it is placed in one. of the classes at the special schools. The classes are t graded so that children who are specially . backward are not taught with those who are moderately so. One of the schools is at Buranda, where some' 20 boys, ranging in age from 8 to 16 years, are being taught by Mr 1. Dolan, who takes a keen individual interest in all those under his care. Mr Dolan has his own ideas, and finds that when, a child d’splays a liking for any parties , lar idea, it is as well to train him along that line. The morning is devoted to rudimentary educational subjects, learned in most cases by interesting methods, such as games, etc., and the afternoon, is given over to .vocational training in wood and w ; cker working and bnotmaking. The youngstears are well-behaved, and display a keen desire to exhibit their knowledge, ■ seeming happy and contented in their pleasant surroundings. A noticeable feature of the. system is the idea for developing concentration, and the results achieved are verv satisfactory. At Smith Brisbane, a class of 50 girls . and boys is under the care of Misses Sheehy and Yo-ung. This was the first school established in the State, and many of the pupils here are backward through illness, notably plumbism. Infinite patience and a real sympathy for the children, combined with clever methods of teaching, have worked wonders, and it is expected that by the end of the year many of the children will have been drafted back to the ordinary classes. On being ouestioned, the youngsters invariably answer that they much prefer their present classes to the ones which they bad previously attended. At other schools children in different stages are grouped, ■ and careful attention is being devoted to ascertaining the best system of advancing their education and making them useful