RETARDATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 227, 25 September 1928, Page 10

RETARDATION.

SFFICUXiT TO ESTIMATE.

CHIEF INSPECTOR'S VIEWS.

The problem of retardation of panQs attending the primary schools vTtiZ cussed by the Chief Inspector of Prim ary Schools (Mr. W. W. Bird) £]£ annual report for the past year The number of special classes established for backward children, he states has now reached' twenty, and proposak for additional ones are "being made. By the courtesy of Professor principal of the Vinelands Institution! New Jersey, U.S.A., two New Zealand teachers of special classes spent six months in training in the best-known school in America, and there they gained much valuable experience. A New Zealand teacher of special classes is proceedI ing to England shortly on a Year's exchange with an English teacher engaged in similar work, and her experience abroad should add greatly to our knowledge of the technique necessary in dealing with the children concerned. "At the same time," says Mr. Bird, *1 do not think that we can at present form a true estimate of retardation in the Dominion. There are so many different causes assisted for retardation that it would seem necessary to fix in some way or other a standard by which it is to be judged. The inability of a child to perform the work of the class below that which is considered normal for its age depends very largely upon the soundness of the classification of the teacher who makes it. This would seem to require that a uniform standard of achievement for each class be first set up—a matter which requires a considerable amount of experiment and research. Of the subjects of the curriculum, arithmetic appears to be the one most fruitful of retardation, and this can hardly be justified when it is prescribed by the regulations that the classification of pupils shall be made on the basis of English, and not arithmetic. The modification of the present programme in arithmetic and the increased appreciation of English contained in the new syllabus should lessen the retardation that may have arisen from this cause."