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Show County Group Makes Report to State Education Committee i HOW FAR SHOULD THE 1 SCHOOLS GO IN CARING I FOR THE CHILD WHO "IS NOT EDUCABLE? ! Wc believe that the place for the child who is not educable is in some institution other than the public schools. However, the school should make sure that a child is not educable before be-fore recommending it to be placed in another institution. In one instance, a boy spent seven years fn the grades without with-out learning any of the basic skills of reading, writing, spelling, spell-ing, and arithmetic. During the last year he has made considerable consider-able progress in these skills and now shows promise of continuing con-tinuing with this improvement. He is an example of a child formerly thought not educable. AT WHAT LEVELS SHOUCD CERTAIN SUBJECTS BE TAUGHT - i. e., VocaJioinal Courses, Languages? An answer to this question depends upon many factors, and probably no generalization can be given. It seems sensible to introduce the course at the grade level when pupils are ready for them and when they will profit from them. Obviously Obvi-ously a course in language or a vocational or business course which requires more than one year should not be started in the last year in high school. In the elementary school, curriculum curricu-lum makers and psychologists have developed sequences and arrangements in subject matter which seem fairly satisfactory. Perhaps more experimentation and study by psychologists would be advantageous in developing de-veloping high school schedules. It may be that this is a problem to be dealt with on an individual individ-ual pupil basis, and that it should get the attention of the guidance counselor. At the same time that we decline de-cline to make specific recommendations recom-mendations on this problem, we recognize that young pupils can master some skills or subjects sub-jects better than older ones, That is why we recommended earlier in this report that foreign for-eign languages be taught, or started, in the elementary grades. Then other subjects demand a certain amount of maturity and mastery of other things before they can be pursued pur-sued successfully. (To be concluded next week) (Continued from last week) WHAT SHOULD BE REQUIRED RE-QUIRED OF ALL CHILDREN In Our Schools, and What Should Be Pui on a Purely Eleclive Basis? We feel that in most instances the State Course of Study (when kept up to date and changed to conform to new developments) de-velopments) adequately covers the problem of what should be required and what should be purely elective. We feel that it is very important that the district change textbooks every five years as specified by the State Textbook Commission. A possible exception to the electives is the fourth year j English in high school. We be- j lieve that all students with the possible exception of a few who are taking strictly vocational courses and whose education will terminate with high school ' graduation, should be required to have 'four full years of high school English. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GUIDANCE IN ASSISTING PUPILS TO FORMULATE THEIR PROGRAM? The question as stated in the circular appeared ambiguous to us. Use of the word "guidance" was variously interpreted to mean the program of guidance counseling and also supervision of activities, including extracurricular extra-curricular activities. We believe that a program of guidance counseling is very valuable, and that it should be used to the greatest extent possible to assist pupils in planning their program pro-gram and in developing their responsibilites. We believe that pupils require re-quire guidance and supervision in their extra-curricular activities. activi-ties. The complexty of our modern life requires that pupils pu-pils have the very best in guidance. guid-ance. Guidance should be two things: At its beet it is a philosophy phil-osophy of education that plvces value on the individual, and it is concerned with all pupils not just those who have serious problems and are obviously j, mis-fits. It is based on the principle prin-ciple that we live in a world of , responsibility and authority and 1 whether or not we like it we i must learn to get along with I authority. It teaches students . the value of getting along with I and working in harmony with I others and how to make and ! keep friends. j We believe that a committee . of administrators, teachers and parents should spend more flime ' in studying the curriculum and adjusting the offering to the needs and interests of pupils. Then the student should have adequate guidance (guidance is I a part of what every good I teacher does the chief purpose I of home rooms in secondary schools is guidance) in planning his or her program as well as making a success of it after it has been planned. WHAT IS THE RESPONSI- j BILITY OF THE SCHOOL FOR 1 THE EXCEPTIONAL CHILD? I Ths tendency of some schools to ignore, hold back, or not en-courage en-courage the exceptionally br'ght child is to be deplored. The school should direct the energies and talents of exceptionally excep-tionally bright children into creative and constructive channels. chan-nels. A bored child is a problem prob-lem child. Moreover, the gifted gift-ed child is our leader of the future. In order for our country coun-try to continue to be great, we must allow our exceptionally bright and talented boys and girls to develop their capacities Scholarships and intellectual achievements should be recognized recog-nized at least to the same extent as athletic ability. It is an odd situation that all statements of aims emphasize the value of the individual, yet education as practiced today reems to be geared to the ability abil-ity of the average individual in the class. We seem to bs practicing prac-ticing mass production of mediocrity. medi-ocrity. Then, too, in many classes the energy of teachers is expended dealing with trou-1 blemakers which makes it impossible im-possible to meet the needs of , the more Dromisine students. I We do not recommend that . the slower students be ignored; ' rather we recommend that instead in-stead of neglecting the gifted youngsters, the backward ones be givtn remedial help. We believe be-lieve that there are many opportunities op-portunities for developing creative cre-ative projects and activities which will permit the more brilliant students to express themselves and expend their energies in ways which are educational edu-cational for them and socially valuable. We fel that our athletic ath-letic program should be extended extend-ed to include a greater variety of activities in which all boys and girls should participate, i e. creative dancing, inuamural sports, tennis, and the like. |