G30 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L 



(ii) The Education of the Feeble-minded. By Miss E. M. Burgwin. 



The London School Board commenced the work of educating the feeble- 

 minded in the year 1892, and the work has gone steadily on under the London 

 County Council. The order of reference stated that ' Schools for the Special In- 

 struction of Children ' should be established who, by reason of mental defects, 

 could not be properly taught in ordinary classes or by ordinary school methods. 

 The methods adopted depend largely upon the type of child attending the school. 

 All must, however, start training by the 'objective' method. They must see 

 the object, feel it, and talk about it before its name or quality can be understood 

 by them. The classification presents many difficulties, e. g., some have bad speech 

 defects, others acute hearing and good articulation. Others, again, and this 

 a large proportion, are very clumsy, having little power of using the fingers pro- 

 perly — so that the ordinary senses have to be carefully developed, and the 

 teacher has to be constantly on the watch to detect and correct faults. 



It is a great advantage in the education of these pupils that they are indi- 

 vidually instructed, and at the same time by being in a class of twenty pupils 

 they receive the stimulus of working with others of similar if varied capacity. 

 The power of concentration is possibly the hardest to obtain, but experience 

 proves that little is accomplished until this in some measure is secured. Lessons 

 must be not longer than thirty minutes each, the subjects must be put 

 before the pupils in an attractive manner, much repetition, though varied, is 

 necessary. The verbal lesson on an 'ear of corn' is illustrated by blackboard 

 drawings — the children subsequently draw, paint, or model the ear, and so learn 

 its colour and form, and to what use the grain is put, and finally a loaf of bread 

 is put before the class. Thus many lessons have to be given before the know- 

 ledge is of much use to the pupils. 



Activity is the essence of all the teaching. The feeble-minded must be ever 

 at work or play. For the junior schools containing boys and girls between the 

 ages of seven and twelve, half-time is given to the ordinary subjects of reading, 

 writing, numbers, &c, and half-time to varied occupations. Whilst some can 

 never be taught a letter of the alphabet, and others cannot calculate, there are few 

 who cannot be taught to work with their hands with some degree of efficiency. 



It is false teaching to specialise too early — i.e., no boy should be trained as a 

 shoemaker only until he is fourteen years of age and has had a fair chance of show- 

 ing what his own inclinations are. Success in work is only secured by the hearty 

 co-operation of the worker, for though thorough training may develop what is 

 in tr.e child, no teaching can draw out what is not within. From the junior 

 schools the boys of twelve are drafted into the senior boys' schools, where three- 

 quarters of the school hours are given to advanced manual occupations, sach as 

 woodwork, shoemaking, tailoring, &c, and a school for elder girls has been 

 opened where advanced practical housewifery, including cookery, laundry, making 

 of garments, 4c, are taught. This having proved a success, others are to be 

 shortly opened. Physical exercises are taught every day to correct the slovenly, 

 uncertain movements so characteristic of this class of pupil. Lessons, work, and 

 recreation have to be under the ever constant supervision of the teachers. The 

 teachers of the London Special Schools are all trained and well qualified for 

 their arduous work. All the pupils are admitted to the schools on the order of 

 the medical officer. This is often a difficult matter to decide, for the border 

 line between the normal and the subnormal is often very fine. There are 

 pupils who, if questioned about their life in the streets, answer intelligently, 

 and yet their whole conduct is so thoroughly bad that it is clear their criminal 

 instincts are the result of their feeble-mindedness. This has been frequently 

 proven by cases which have passed through the schools. There is great and 

 urgent need for further legislation with regard to pupils who, in spite of the 

 teaching and training given in the schools, clearly prove by their actions that 

 they are not fit to be at liberty, and yet having had the teaching would, under 

 supervision, work profitably under the Colony system. 



4. Backward Children. By Professor J. A. Green, M.A. 



The backward child differs from the mentally defective in the fact that he 

 is educable, but his education must often be a specialised one. He is at present 



