FOR THE CHILDREN

Southland Times, Issue 20609, 6 October 1928, Page 8

FOR THE CHILDREN

A SPECIAL CLASS GRANTED AFTER FIVE YEARS’ REQUEST SUPERVISOR IN INVERCARGILL During the week Miss W. A. Valentine, New Zealand Supervisor of Special Classes under the Education Department, has been in Invercargill in connection with the establishment of a special class for those children whose progress in ordinary classes is unsatisfactory to their parents, to their teachers and to themselves. Not Mentally Deficient. “These children are not necessarily mentally deficient,” said Miss Valentine to a representative of the Times in the course of an interview, “but their rate of development is so slow that they have great difficulty in keeping up with their classes. “They worry the teachers who put a great deal of time and thought into teaching them and get so little result for ail their effort; the parents, who would naturally wish them to make good progress and get the best out of their education; and themselves, because no child ever yet enjoyed being bottom of his class, or enjoyed being a failure. The position of these children at the present time is not at all an enviable one, in that they are as a rule much bigger and older than the other children in the class in which they are situated, and are yet constantly humiliated by their inability to compete successfully with the other children. There are many such children in the Dominion and the Teachers’ Institute and other educational associations have for many years urged the establishment of special classes to deal with these special cases. This has been done not only in the interests of the teachers themselves, but in the interests of the children who have not been receiving a ‘square deal’ under the ordinary educational system. “For the past five years” Miss Valentine continued, “the Southland Education Board has been agitating for the establishment of such a class in Invercargill, and the board’s request has at last been acceded to, thanks to the efforts of the Little Southlanders organized by yo ir Cousin Betty of the Southland Times. I would like to express my appreciation of this effort that has been made by the children of Southland, which is unique, and which, I consider, is the most encouraging thing that has happened since the initiation of the special classes in New Zealand, and indicates that the Invercargill public is alive, to the fact that the needs of these children constitute a problem which calls for sympathetic and decisive action. I understand that the Little Southlanders have pledged themselves to raise £250, the Education Department contributing the balance; and now plans are under way for the opening of the class on March 1. The site chosen is in the Park School ground and is to be regarded as a special class of the Park School.” Children Examined. Miss Valentine has been in Invercargill all the week examining children with a view to recommending admissions. For this work Miss Valentine has gained experience in Canada, the United States, England and Scotland. When it is decided which children shall be admitted, the parents will be informed and asked to discuss the matter with the headmaster of the school their child attends, who will explain to them the objects of the class, giving them any information they may require with regard to it. There are 21 other classes of this kind in the Dominion and the Invercargill class is one of six about to be established. Ten of these special classes have been established in the last three years and the six new ones will make sixteen in that period. At present there are five in Auckland, five in Wellington, one in Wanganui, one in New Plymouth, one in Napier, one in Hastings, three in Christchurch, one in Nelson, one in Westport and two in Dunedin. The “Myers” Class in Auckland was the first started in New Zealand. “There is an impression abroad that academic work is not done at all in the Special Classes,” said Miss Valentine. “This is incorrect. One-third of the work is academic, one-third manual and one-third is devoted to physical education. The academic work is purely individual, the teacher being required to prepare for each child a daily lesson in reading and number work. She is also required to adapt her methods to the mentality of the child, and to study the individual needs of each. For this reason it is unwise to place in a class more than fifteen pupils. The curriculum is somewhat similar to that of the ordinary school classes, but is reduced to those things which the child is likely to need in after life. Arithmetic, for instance, is done almost entirely by concrete methods. Such things as long tots and long division sums, which the child is never likely to need are dispensed with, but the child learns to measure by measuring, to weigh by weighing, and so on. Other subjects such as history and geography are dealt with graphically and dramatically, each lesson being followed by hand work bearing on the subject. Many varieties of handwork are introduced, for however backward a child may be in academic work it usually shows some ability in this respect and derives great benefit from instruction in it. Physical education is regarded as important, for many of these children are poorly developed and lack a normal power of balance, which can be helped considerably by special periods of drill, games, folk dancing and eurythmics. From an academic point of view these children will never be brilliant scholars, but the individual attention they receive ensures that what ability they have is fully developed. Those who show special abilities of any sort are given every opportunity to develop along this line. A child, for instance, may be capable of doing only Standard One arithmetic, but Standard Four reading, and arrangements are made for him to work in this way. Teachers Specially Selected. “No longer does the child feel humiliated by being unable to compete with younger children, and the strain to which he has been subjected is thus removed. In many cases the development of the personality is quite remarkable in children who have been sullen and depressed. Learning self-expression they become happy and are encouraged to regard themselves as entities. It is usually through the handwork that the child finds himself. The teachers of these classes are specially selected for their patience and sympathy. As a rule they have proved themselves successful teachers of ordinary classes and before taking up this work they are required to undergo an intensive course of training in Special Class work.” Asked what the attitude of the parents was to these classes, Miss Valentine said she had found that parents differed greatly. Many were simply indifferent, many who had been greatly concerned by their child’s unhappiness were relieved to have him placed in a position where he would no longer be worried. There were many other parents still who were conservative, being suspicious of anything new especially in education. She found them incredulous that a child was being educated away from the orthodox subjects and the orthodox ways. Often they complained that the children in the Special Classes did not work hard enough, when, as a matter of fact, they work very hard indeed and, what is more, they loved their work. To most Special Class children holidays are not at all welcome. Some parents, of course, had the mistaken idea that Special Classes were primarily established for the benefit of imbeciles. That error fortunately was being dissipated. Imbeciles were not being admitted to Special Classes. The parents of children attending a Special Class were encouraged to keep in touch with the teachers who gladly received from them any information that would help her to understand the child. Co-operation between the parents and the teacher was in the best interests of the child.

“After-Care” Committee. “Children themselves can be and often are very cruel,” stated Miss Valentine. “In some cases they begin by being very unkind to the Special Class children, but as a rule this does not last long. When they see the work produced by these other children they become quite envious and frequently cast longing eyes on the door of the Special Class-room. On the other hand if parents make unkind remarks the children will naturally follow suit.” Referring to post-school days of these Special Class children, Miss Valentine said that the Department had enlisted the help of voluntary welfare officers who had rendered valuable assistance in finding employment for Special Class children. During the period of unemployment which was just passing this had not been very easy to do. Plans were under way, however, for the establishment of “after-care” committees which would undertake to work out a satisfactory scheme for meeting situations of this kind.