The Education of Mentally Handicapped Children in Various Countries
- Author:
Thomas B. Hill, M.A. Edited by
D. J. A. Verco, M.A., Dip. Ed. Melbourne University Press in association with Oxford University Press. 4/-.
This is the Report of a Survey conducted by the Teachers’ Union of Western Australia, with a financial grant made by the Australian Council for Educational Research.
The Survey aimed at ” bringing together comparative information from all available sources with a view to assisting the Special Class teacher in the difficult task of formulating a programme which will give every facility for developing the potential abilities and interests of the mentally handicapped “. A Questionnaire on the subject was sent to 118 towns and districts in England, America, Germany, France, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and all the Australian States. 76 replies were received, representing each country except France.
72 out of the 76 towns from which information was obtained, reported the existence of some sort of organised scheme for the training of ” backward children ” (the term was used in the Questionnaire to include all types of children below the normal, though the difficulty of terminology was not overlooked). Two areas implied that although there was no organised scheme, head teachers were encouraged to institute special classes in their individual schools. Only two reported the absence of any type of provision. The enquiry revealed an astonishing variety of names applied to Special Schools and Classes and a list of 18 in common use is given including such unfamiliar terms as ” Mental Deviate”, ” Direct-Learning “, ” Orthogenic Backward ” Orthogenic Disciplinar}’ An interesting account is given of the ” Hilfsschulen ” to be found in most of the large cities of Germany.
In the chapter on ” After-Care Schemes and the Effectiveness of Special Class Instruction”, it is recorded that only about 20 per cent, of the replies received ” indicated the existence of a permanent, organised scheme for the guidance of children after leaving special classes “. From various ” follow-up” studies which have been carried out it appears that the great majority of ex-special class pupils make satisfactory adjustments in after life, but the Report suggests the need for ” more extensive guidance work and a more thorough understanding on the part of the special school teachers of the types of employment into which their pupils are capable of entering”. Some useful information is also given in this chapter embodying the results of After-Care investigations in New Orleans, San Fransisco, and certain German cities.
The Report concludes with a chapter 011 ” The Curriculum ” containing a number of specimen time-tables, etc., and there are some useful Appendices including the Questionnaire as sent out, and a summary of Teachers’ Training Courses. The Bibliography might, with advantage, have been brought rather more up to date.
Much information of real value has been collected through this Enquiry, and one regrets that the price to English readers is ?for a book of only 104 pages and with a paper binding?so high.
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