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Phanny, v. 3, issue 2, June 1944

Page 3

3     PHANNY     3

little indeed that a small child can do to alter his immediate environment. If he is born of poor parents in a sparsely settle district, he is seriously handicapped, and may never discover his own abilities and capacities.

In such an instance, failure of the child to utilize his powers when he reaches maturity constitutes s serious loss to Society. And the fault lies with Society, not with the unhappy individual engaged in a routine job, while thousands of less gifted persons struggle and strain at jobs far beyond their powers. Perhaps he doesn't want to work at tasks requiring his utmost iffort? That, too, I think, is the fault of Society, for children normally try to do their best at any and all tasks, if they are presented properly; and what the child does, the adult is most likely to do. Give him the right home and school environment, and the brilliant youngster will become a mighty useful man--and a reasonably happy one, too, I think. 

But the failure of the schools to provide the proper training and stimuli for the gifted child is not, primarily, the fault of the schools themselves. The problem of the gifted child is one of the most difficult of all educational problems. For many years, the National Educational Association, with the co-operation of various colleges and universities, and some city school systems, has been carrying out extensive and intensive experiments in this field. They have developed techniques and procedures vastly superior to prevailing practices, and persistently advocate the adoption of these techniques. If the NEA had one-tenth the legislative influence of some Big Business lobbies, or of the major Labor Unions, we would be well on the road to solving this problem. But the NEA is about half a century ahead of the-man-on-the-street, just as Mayo's is ahead of the small country practitioner.

The major difficulty lies in the almost fanatical opposition which develops whenever any school man, armed with the latest findings of experimental psychology, attempts to do anything progressive on any level below the college grade-- by which time it is almost too late, "as any fule kin plainly see," as they say in Dogpatch. The political mountebank can make more capital out of the suggestion that schooling should be adapted to the individual child than out of any other element in educational procedure. All he has to do is to get up and bellow, "What's the matter with our schools as they are? They was good enough fer you and me when we was kids, wasn't they? We didn't git none of this fancy coddlin'. Our kids ain't no better'n we was, are they?"--and so on, ad nauseum.

A few school systems have attempted to do something about the situation. Some have adopted the Winnetka Plan, either in its entirety, or with modifications. This provides individual instruction for all pupils, good, bad, and indifferent, and the children are encouraged to go as fast as they can, andno faster. Its success depends very directly upon the teachers, upon whom it puts a heavy load, unless the classes are very small. Under the prevailing low wage scales for teachers in most areas, sufficient capable teachers are usually not available, but even an average teacher who is conscientious can accomplish much, if she (or he) has the knack of keeping the pupils interested.

A simpler plan is to divide the pupils according to ability and aptitudes. This is so methingof a makeshift substitute, but it has, at least, the merit of making possible assignments of such length, complexity, and thorught-provoking qualities as to the challenge the intelligence of the pupils in the superior groups, rather than limiting the assignments to the capacities of a high-grade moron. Just how much has been done along similar lines since I last taught (in the early 'thirties) I don't know; but judging from the depression-provoked trends of the time, I should say that progress has been small.

For all that, Ashley's statement that there seems to be a definite attempt

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3 PHANNY 3 little indeed that a small child can do to alter his immediate environment. If he is born of poor parents in a sparsely settle district, he is seriously handicapped, and may never discover his own abilities and capacities. In such an instance, failure of the child to utilize his powers when he reaches maturity constitutes s serious loss to Society. And the fault lies with Society, not with the unhappy individual engaged in a routine job, while thousands of less gifted persons struggle and strain at jobs far beyond their powers. Perhaps he doesn't want to work at tasks requiring his utmost iffort? That, too, I think, is the fault of Society, for children normally try to do their best at any and all tasks, if they are presented properly; and what the child does, the adult is most likely to do. Give him the right home and school environment, and the brilliant youngster will become a mighty useful man--and a reasonably happy one, too, I think. But the failure of the schools to provide the proper training and stimuli for the gifted child is not, primarily, the fault of the schools themselves. The problem of the gifted child is one of the most difficult of all educational problems. For many years, the National Educational Association, with the co-operation of various colleges and universities, and some city school systems, has been carrying out extensive and intensive experiments in this field. They have developed techniques and procedures vastly superior to prevailing practices, and persistently advocate the adoption of these techniques. If the NEA had one-tenth the legislative influence of some Big Business lobbies, or of the major Labor Unions, we would be well on the road to solving this problem. But the NEA is about half a century ahead of the-man-on-the-street, just as Mayo's is ahead of the small country practitioner. The major difficulty lies in the almost fanatical opposition which develops whenever any school man, armed with the latest findings of experimental psychology, attempts to do anything progressive on any level below the college grade-- by which time it is almost too late, "as any fule kin plainly see," as they say in Dogpatch. The political mountebank can make more capital out of the suggestion that schooling should be adapted to the individual child than out of any other element in educational procedure. All he has to do is to get up and bellow, "What's the matter with our schools as they are? They was good enough fer you and me when we was kids, wasn't they? We didn't git none of this fancy coddlin'. Our kids ain't no better'n we was, are they?"--and so on, ad nauseum. A few school systems have attempted to do something about the situation. Some have adopted the Winnetka Plan, either in its entirety, or with modifications. This provides individual instruction for all pupils, good, bad, and indifferent, and the children are encouraged to go as fast as they can, andno faster. Its success depends very directly upon the teachers, upon whom it puts a heavy load, unless the classes are very small. Under the prevailing low wage scales for teachers in most areas, sufficient capable teachers are usually not available, but even an average teacher who is conscientious can accomplish much, if she (or he) has the knack of keeping the pupils interested. A simpler plan is to divide the pupils according to ability and aptitudes. This is so methingof a makeshift substitute, but it has, at least, the merit of making possible assignments of such length, complexity, and thorught-provoking qualities as to the challenge the intelligence of the pupils in the superior groups, rather than limiting the assignments to the capacities of a high-grade moron. Just how much has been done along similar lines since I last taught (in the early 'thirties) I don't know; but judging from the depression-provoked trends of the time, I should say that progress has been small. For all that, Ashley's statement that there seems to be a definite attempt