The Deaf Part 17

INCEPTION AND GROWTH OF THE DAY SCHOOL

A small number of the inst.i.tutions for the deaf had begun as day schools, the pupils living away from the school outside school hours, and had continued so for a longer or shorter period. The schools were then in an experimental stage, and this plan came first to hand. In the course of time it was found that this feature was not practicable, as the pupils were often far scattered, and the boarding arrangement was accordingly adopted.[285] This was the policy finally chosen in all the states having schools. Later, however, when the states had grown in population, and in some of the cities there were found not a few deaf children, the demand was renewed for day schools.[286] The result has been the beginning and development of a system of day schools in a number of states; and they have come to occupy part of the field formerly covered by the state inst.i.tutions alone.

Of the day schools now existing, the Horace Mann School, of Boston, which was established in 1869, is accredited with being the initial one.[287] Two others were opened before 1890, while from 1891 to 1900 there were 22 started, and since 1901, 40, making 65 in all now.[288]

These schools are found in fourteen states, but the movement has reached its greatest growth in the Middle West, especially in Wisconsin and Michigan. In some of the states special laws have been enacted, providing for the establishment of day schools.[289]

DESIGN AND SCOPE OF DAY SCHOOLS

The day school for the deaf is still sometimes regarded as an experiment, while its advocates insist that its success has been demonstrated. Among school authorities in cities especially, pleas for the establishment of day schools are often listened to with favor, and there is frequently a tendency to give them at least a trial. General bodies interested in education or the public welfare are likewise inclined to countenance day schools, largely for the reason that they are opposed to the inst.i.tution idea, and would place as many children as possible in the regular schools. An ill.u.s.tration of this view is found in the Report on Children of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections in 1906.[290]

Inst.i.tutional care of healthy, normal children is objectionable....

Inst.i.tutional care for educational purposes is necessary for a portion of the deaf and blind children ... but it is recognized that in large cities public schools can be provided for many deaf and blind children.

By some it is believed that in time the day school will supplant the large inst.i.tution, so far at least as large cities are concerned, and that the deaf, and the blind as well, will not be differentiated from the pupils in the regular schools. Separate apartments and special teachers will be provided for them, but in all public school systems these cla.s.ses will be actual factors.

On the other hand, it is maintained that there is an abundant field for both day school and inst.i.tution. The former should only supplement the work of the latter, especially in reaching children that cannot otherwise be brought into school. The reason why the day school is called into being is thus given by an educational authority of one city:[291]

Inst.i.tutions that care for these children throughout the entire year, that feed, clothe and educate them, that render skilful and prompt medical attention, and afford uplifting social advantages--all under one roof--have a worthy place under our social and educational systems; but these inst.i.tutions cannot care for all the unfortunate children in need of education.

It is also suggested that it might be arranged that day schools should keep pupils during their early years, as from five to nine years of age, after which time they could enter the inst.i.tution, and be placed in graded cla.s.ses and in a suitable trade school.[292] Hence it is pointed out that the day school and inst.i.tution should not be antagonistic, that their interests are common at bottom, and that they should work hand in hand, without friction or misunderstanding.

The day school plan has not as yet been followed in a large number of states; yet as these schools are being looked upon with more and more favor by city boards of education, and as in the centers of population there is said to be a need for them, it is not improbable that they may be extended much farther in the future. It is doubtful, however, if very soon they will spread beyond the large cities; and states without great cities may be without such schools for many years at least.[293]

EXTENT AND ORGANIZATION OF DAY SCHOOLS

The day schools, numbering 65 in all, as we have seen, are found in the states of California, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Ma.s.sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. In Georgia, Louisiana, Ma.s.sachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, and Oregon each there is but one school, in New Jersey and Washington each 2, in New York 3, in California 4, in Ohio and Illinois each 5, in Michigan 14, and in Wisconsin 24. Where only one day school is found in a state, it is located usually in the largest city (Atlanta, New Orleans, Boston, St. Paul, St. Louis, and Portland), while the two schools of New Jersey are in Newark and Jersey City, the two of Washington in Seattle and Tacoma, and the three of New York in New York City. Of the five schools in Illinois, four are in Chicago.

In six of these states, namely, California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin, there are special state laws under which the schools are established and operated.[294] By such laws it is generally provided that where there are a certain number of deaf children, usually three,[295] a school may, on application of the local school trustees or district board, be organized by the state department of education.[296] The minimum age for such children is often three. A stated sum is frequently allowed for each pupil, as $150.[297] In the remaining eight states the schools are organized and directed by local school authorities, without a.s.sistance from legislative statute.

These schools are supported by local funds or by state and local funds together. The latter is the more common procedure, and in the case of schools operating under a state law, it is the usual, but not the necessary, practice. The schools in six states, namely, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and New York, are thus maintained only by local funds of the city or county, the remainder receiving aid in whole or in part from the state.[298] The school in Minnesota and one in California are aided by private contributions. In nearly all cases carfare is provided to and from school when necessary.

In the day schools special buildings are not usually provided, separate cla.s.ses being created in the regular school buildings; but in some of the larger cities there are special buildings, known as distinct schools, in which the cla.s.s-rooms are for the different grades of deaf pupils.

The number of pupils in the day schools in 1912-1913 was 1,942. The smallest schools have but three pupils, while the largest one, in Chicago, has 307, the number usually depending on the size of the city.

The method employed in the day schools is exclusively the oral with but two exceptions.[299] In all but a few certain industries are also taught, or more or less of manual training is given.

ARGUMENTS FOR THE DAY SCHOOL

The great argument for the day school is that it is not well that children be "inst.i.tutionalized." The inst.i.tution life is said not to be the normal life, and its habits and a.s.sociations are not in accord with the principles now being largely held in America. It is coming to be more and more realized that the home should always be the center of interest and attachment in the well established community, and that the character and influence of the family should be maintained unimpaired.

In connection with orphan and other child-caring agencies, a greater emphasis than ever before is being put on the question of how to reduce the life to one of normality, and the "placing-out" of dependent children in homes where they can grow up as normal children is now a popular faith. The great watchword to-day in intelligent and constructive philanthropy is the "ideal of the normal," and it is on this ground that the inst.i.tution is declared to be removed from the standard of the highest interests of society. Even though a child should profit in the inst.i.tution, and even though he should be sent out into the world strong and self-reliant, yet while in the inst.i.tution, he is out of line, and is just so far displaced from the ideal of the normal; and even though the inst.i.tution is cleanlier, more sanitary and otherwise better equipped than the quarters from which the child comes, still the inst.i.tution cannot be justified, for no solution can be acceptable if in the end it results in the breaking up of the home.[300]

More specific charges are also brought against the inst.i.tution. Here life for the inmates is made too easy, and little can be known by them of the actual struggles of the world. The life is machine-like, and all is routine clockwork. By the discipline, which is necessary, much of the spontaneity of growing children is destroyed, and the surroundings are pervaded with the spirit of uniformity, "solidarity" and "dead levelism." On the other hand, the children fail to learn many important lessons in domestic economy which would be before them every day in the home; and they lose the att.i.tude towards life, morally and socially, which is given by the home.[301]

The arguments for the day school may be stated more concretely yet. The special day school may be co-ordinated with, or made a part of, the state's educational system, standing on a level with its other schools.

Deaf children here come to feel their place in the normal world, while people in general become more ready to regard them in a proper manner.

These children at the same time are not made strangers to their own family circles and communities; and certain ones, by a school nearer home and consequently more acceptable to their parents, may be reached who would otherwise possibly never enter an inst.i.tution.

In the way of cost the balance is distinctly on the side of the day school. With no costly special plant necessary, and with no charges to be incurred for food supplies, attendants and the like, it appears to decided advantage in the matter of economy in comparison with an inst.i.tution; and its normal expenditures approach nearer those of the regular schools. At present the difference between the cost per pupil in the day schools and in the inst.i.tutions is the difference between $120 and $277.[302]

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DAY SCHOOL

The argument against the day school rests upon the fact that the deaf form, educationally, a special cla.s.s, very small in most communities, who have to be reached by unusual methods. To them the large inst.i.tution offers advantages not likely to be had outside. For this reason the case against the inst.i.tution, however cogent and logical it may be in general, cannot well apply.

In the inst.i.tution the children may be under intelligent supervision and direction their entire time, and they may be able to get, outside school hours, a part of the education which the hearing child so naturally acquires, for in an inst.i.tution learning continues outside the cla.s.sroom as well as within. The "picking up" of knowledge and bits of information, which the hearing child begins to make use of from the time he first hears human words, and the importance and value of which the general public cannot be expected to appreciate, is lost in the greatest measure to the deaf in the home. Here ready means of communication are lacking, and the necessary care and attention cannot be expected to be given in the household. Even though deaf children can and do mingle with their hearing acquaintances, they cannot get so much happiness or zest out of their sports and intercourse as they can with their own deaf comrades; and while, no matter what their surroundings are, the difficulties of most of them in mastering language will never be overcome, still in a.s.sociations with similar deaf children there will be far more stimuli to react on their consciousness, and the tendency will be for them to become more and more in their mental actions like the normal. In the home there can be no great a.s.surance of study and supervision; and the growing deaf child, not being able to appreciate the forces that surround him as the hearing child does, may the more easily fall under unwholesome influences. In the inst.i.tution there can be suitable discipline, regular attendance, enlightened general oversight, and co-ordination of all that is concerned in the child's proper development. Furthermore, although there may be a growing feeling against the inst.i.tution life, there is, on the other hand, an increasing social questioning as to the advisability of a child's remaining in a particular home if his welfare is not properly safeguarded.

In many day schools there are comparatively few pupils, and in most of these we cannot expect to find the carefully graded cla.s.ses, with a place for every pupil according to his needs, bright or dull, quick to learn or slow. A pupil in a day school, if not neglected to some extent, may be required to do work for which he is quite unfitted, being either beyond it or incapable of it. The backward child will here be the worst sufferer, for if there are but few cla.s.ses, he can get little of the special attention he needs; and his progress cannot be the same as when in a cla.s.s of like pupils and under an appropriate and patient teacher.

Again, the attention that is given in an inst.i.tution with a considerable number of pupils to the learning of a trade--accounting in strong measure for success in after life--means much more to a deaf child than it could to any other. In an inst.i.tution there will usually be found larger equipment, fuller apparatus and more varied lines than in any but a very large day school; and in its trade department habits of industry will be formed, talents developed, a knowledge of mechanism and the use of tools implanted, an ardor enkindled for the mastership of a trade, and an appreciation of the part to be played in the great world of industrial activity, besides the incentive of being in a great workshop with other workers--all in far greater measure and more effectively than would be possible anywhere else, save in a great trade school, in which there could not be expected to be taken the special care and provision necessitated by the want of hearing of the pupils.

Finally, it may be said that we have no evidence, as respects inst.i.tutions for the deaf, to show that they have in any way undermined the character or mission of the home, or that their results have been other than desirable in a well-ordered state. Hence we are told, in a word, that no matter how strong and valid are the theoretical objections to an inst.i.tution, yet so far as the practical issues are concerned, in the preparation of the deaf for the world, and in what really counts for their development and progress, the inst.i.tution, for many at least, occupies a position of demonstrated usefulness, recognition of which cannot rightly be withheld.[303]

EVENING DAY SCHOOLS FOR ADULTS

Thus far in this chapter we have discussed day schools in relation to children, that is, pupils in the usual sense. But there is another form of day schools to which attention is to be directed. This is in the creation of evening day schools for the use of adults only, the field open to which is as yet apparently but little realized.

Occasion for such schools arises chiefly in communities, especially large cities, where a considerable number of adult deaf persons are within reach, and where a real need may often be found. The matter is to be regarded in effect as the extension of the means of education by the state to include as large a part of the population as possible--a movement which is being so notably evidenced in the opening of evening schools of not a few kinds in cities to-day. With the deaf the demand is of a peculiar nature. Their avenues for receiving instruction are materially restricted, and for some, especially the congenitally deaf, the acquisition of correct language always remains a difficult problem, while to others the advantages of the regular schools may have been limited. A large number of the deaf will not require such special opportunities, but for a portion of them the a.s.sistance may be of quite substantial character.[304]

FOOTNOTES:

[285] The New York Inst.i.tution, the Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution and the Western Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution notably started out as day schools, the first remaining so for eleven years. In some of the inst.i.tutions also there have been at times day school pupils in attendance.

[286] Day schools have, moreover, been fostered and supported to a great extent by advocates of what is known as the oral method, in opposition to the manual, or sign method, which had been largely the method hitherto employed in the inst.i.tutions. The day school may even be said to have entered the field in part as a protest against this method.

[287] A day school was started in Pittsburg two months previously; but it was soon made into the Western Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution. _Annals_, xv., 1870, p. 165.

[288] A number of day schools which were started have been discontinued, but there were never so many as at present.

[289] Wisconsin was the first state to have a day school law, which was enacted in 1885. Bills were offered in 1881 and 1883, but were defeated.

The movement in this state has been in large part due to the activities of the Wisconsin Phonological Inst.i.tute to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, an organization formed in 1879. The question has even been considered in this state of abolishing the state school as a boarding inst.i.tution. See _Public Opinion_, xxv., 1898, no. 16; _a.s.sociation Review_, iii., 1901, p. 193.

[290] Proceedings, p. 88.

[291] Mr. C. W. Edson, a.s.sociate Superintendent of Schools of New York, _Charities and the Commons_, xix., 1908, p. 1357. See also Report of Illinois Inst.i.tution, 1874, p. 65.

[292] See Report of Washington State School, 1910, p. 6. A like solution was offered before the National Educational a.s.sociation in 1903. Certain children might be "trained in special schools and live at home if possible up to the age of adolescence, when they may acquire trades at special inst.i.tutions maintained by the state". Proceedings, p. 1004.

[293] It is to be remembered that in Michigan and Wisconsin schools have, under the operation of the state law, been organized in comparatively small towns.

[294] Efforts have been made in several other states to secure laws. In Ohio in 1902 the state law was declared unconst.i.tutional, as being cla.s.s legislation in granting special aid to the cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati. See Report of Ohio School, 1903, p. 14.

[295] In California the number is five, and in New Jersey ten.