SEEKING FUTURES FOR CHILDREN

Hokitika Guardian, 27 September 1930, Page 6

SEEKING FUTURES FOR CHILDREN

ECONOMY OF LABOUR. VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE OF RETARDIATES. Various aspects of vocational guidance were discussed .a\t a meeting of the Australian Association of Psychology and Philosophy at Christchurch on Wednesday last. The economic value of vocation guidance and vocational guidance of the retarded child were the principal subjects dealt with. Professor C. H. Salmond presided over a good attendance. The need for some body similar to an apprenticeship committee to watch the interests of boys in “blind alley” occupations, was suggested by Mr G. Lawn, M. A., in his address on the eco nomic value of vocational guidance. Mr Lawn said that there could be no question as to the economic value of a system which would enable each boy or girl to find out what occupation hei or she was best suited for. It was equally important that an opportunity to enter the right occupation be provided. There were no statistics to show what was the economic loss In the Dominion, because the opportunities to wOrk in the right occupation had not been provided. A great deal of economic loss was created -through frequent turnovers of labour This had been discovered by statistics in the United States.

The primary industries, which included the farming, mining, fishing and forestry industries, in ' 1896 provided employment for 36 per cent of the 241,000 workers in the Dominion. Industrial occupations had 22 per cent, transport and communication 6 per cent, commerce and finance 11 per cent, public administration and professional 6 per cent., domestic and personal 10 per cent., others 9 per cent. In 1926 the number of breadwinners had inerased to 426,000. Of them, 24 per 'cent were engaged in the primary industries, 23. per cent in industrial, 10 per cent in transport and communication, ,14 per cent, in finance and commerce'!/. 9£ per cent in public administration and the professions, 1\ per cent in domestic and personal, and 12 per cent in other occupations. So it would be seen that proportions- had greatly changed in-that period. • CHANGING INDUSTRIES.

The figures had a bearing on vocational guidance, for • some industries were declining and some were expanding added Mr Lawn. There had been a decline in the numer of persons engaged in farming, amounting to 5000 males between 1921 and 1926. The decline in mining had also accounted for a decrease : in the primary industries An increasing - difficulty would be found in absorbing an.jhgfeasirig population in farming, due to the increased use of machinery. '

Wih_ respect to the destination of children leaving school, the questions of training and continuity of employment were very important. Although a good deal had been spoken of establishing a system of education with an agricultural bias, there was a practical method of doing this in existence already. The children who were reared on farms learned farming in their homes. He suggested that it was not lack of keenness on the part of children to take up rural occupations that prevented many children from taking up farming, but it was the lack of opportunity. There was a need for more opportunities. There was also a need Tor improving the conditions and social status of 'farm labourers.

In the industrial occupation#, there were several categories of employees. There wer'e apprentices and those who were not bound by apprenticeship. The apprentice system still prevailed in New Zealand; . although ,it was becoming obsolete. It still had its valuable aspects, however, and did involve a greater degree of .security of employment for a few years at least. W’■ out it, there was a danger that a boy would be placed at a specialised task and, in a few years’ time, would be iso highly specialised that if he lost his work he would be unable to do other work. The apprentice system ensured a wider range of training than that. When they had considered those engaged in farm occupations, professional occupations and apprentices, all of whom received supervised training, they had to remember that there were also several hundred boys engaged as labourers and at “blind alley” occupations. There did not see to be any system of supervision or training in these occupations. In many cases, in view of the economic situation of the family, it was necessary that boys should earn something as soon as possible. It was . also, necessary for someone to carry 911 the “blind alley”, occupations. This was one 01 the greatest problems. It might be possible to build up committees, similar to apprenticeship committees, with certain powers of direction and control so that adequate supervision could be given to those engaged in these “blind alley” occupations. If some method such as this could be adopted to safeguard the rights of these hoys and to provide conditions for the absorption of these boys in industry when they lost their “blind alley” occupations, it would be of benefit to the Dominion. RETARDED CHILDREN.

Miss E. Jameson, of the Normal School, was the first speaker to deal with vocational guidance for the retarded child. She said that there were thirty-two children in the special class

at the Normal School. These were of various types. About one-third of the children’s time was occupied in handwork. It was essential that the children learn to read and write, so that they would be partly . equipped for the world. Arithmetic was the weakest subject, and they tried to teach the children practical work which . would be of use to them in the world. Each child was allowed to proceed at his own rate and according to bis own ability. All the children were.fond or music and got a great deal of pleasure out of it. It also developed concentration. The music lessons included singing, eurythmic work and folk-dancing,, for these were valuable in the training The choice of music among these children was very good. The chidren were taught to handle a wide range of tools and a wide range of materials, said Miss Jameson. They also tried to get the chidren to tackle new jobs, because that brought them up against new problems. Very few of the children would attempt constructive work. The older boys and girls went to the woodworking and cookery centres, but did no theoretical work, although they did well in the practical work. Many other phases ol the work were also described. Dr C. E. Beeby described the methods of testing the mental capacities of retarded children. There were, he said, a number of jobs which could be filled by these children when they left school, although they would have the intelligences of children of about nine years old. Farm labouring, routine factory work, packing, and working with automatic or semi-automatic machinery, were all capable of being carried out by these children. Mr W. B. Harris, M.A., dealt.h with the care of retarded children who had left school, and described the work of .-the After-Car Association. He said that retarded boys could do routine jobs, and some of them enjoyed work of this nature. The hoys were watched and were visited in their homes and at their work, and guided by the association visitor. It was hoped that the supervision would go on until the boys had grasped the principles of good citizenship.