Schools for Defectives. The course of modern education in the teaching of defectives furnishes an admirable illustration of the law first emphasized by Spencer in his classic essay on “Progress”—the germ and beginning of his great elaboration of the evolutionary process. He points out that every cause produces more than one effect. And “every tree bringeth forth fruit after its kind”—the good tree good fruit, the evil tree evil. As a consequence when you start out to accomplish one good object you inevitably—if you succeed—accomplish more than one.
ORIGIN OF THE MONTESSORI METHOD
In accordance with these laws of growth it was in her work in an institution for the feeble minded that Dr. Montessori (q. v.) unconsciously began the development of the remarkable system of education which bears her name and which seems destined to hasten such vital changes in our teaching methods.
HOW DEFECTIVES ARE CLASSIFIED
Defectives include the deaf, blind and feeble-minded or idiotic. It is only within 60 or 70 years that much attention has been given to their education, but in special schools in this country and in Europe the majority become self-supporting—particularly the deaf and the brighter ones of the feeble-minded.
EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND THE BLIND
In the case of the deaf the chief difficulty is to teach them the use of language without the aid of sound. For this purpose the three chief methods that have been used are that of sign-language, in which a separate sign is made to represent each different object or idea; that of the manual alphabet, in which our ordinary letters are symbolized by signs made on the fingers; and the direct, intuitive or oral method, in which the pupils learn to understand oral language and to speak it by watching the movements of the teacher's lips in speaking and by imitation of the movements of the vocal organs. The oral method is difficult, but in many cases excellent results have been secured by it. Most schools use a combination of several methods. Among private schools for the deaf the Wright-Humason School in New York is one of the best.
The first American schools for the blind were those of New York, Boston and Philadelphia, established about 1833, in each instance through private capital and enterpise. It is very important that the teaching of blind children should begin at an early age, lest the natural development of the mind be hindered through lack of activity. Here, also, various methods of teaching have been employed. Reading from embossed print has now been largely superseded by an alphabetical system of dots instead of letters, devised by the blind themselves. This system is easier to read by touch and easier to write than the letter-system. Recent inventions have made possible the rapid production of whole libraries for the blind in this latest braille system. The National Printing House for the blind at Louisville, Ky., keeps a large supply of books on hand. The task of teaching the blind is much easier than that of teaching the deaf and dumb.
There have been some remarkable instances of the successful teaching of the deaf-blind, particularly the cases of Laura Bridgman and Helen Keller.
Of the feeble-minded there are all varieties and gradations, and some can be helped or entirely cured by proper surgical treatment. They should always be separated from the insane. Some are incapable of much instruction and cannot be made self-supporting. In general the feeble-minded person lacks initiative and controlled and purposive action. Industrial and kindergarten training are each found very valuable for all classes of defectives.
Schools of Com′merce. Commercial education in the United States is conducted by four classes of institutions: private business and commercial schools; public high schools; endowed schools, which often have an industrial as well as a commercial bias; and colleges and universities. The need for special commercial education increases with the complexity of modern business methods. It is felt in the secondary more than the primary school. Elementary education is much the same for all, but the secondary school may tend to prepare exclusively for the college and not for a business vocation. The need of secondary commercial schools was met by their establishment in Vienna as early as 1754, in Brussels in 1834, Trieste 1877, Leipzig 1898, Aix-la-Chapelle 1900, Cologne 1901, Frankfort 1901, Milan and Lorraine 1902. In 1904 the enrollment at Cologne showed 778 students, at Frankfort 546 and at Leipzig 395. A higher commercial school opened at Tokio, Japan, in 1885; and another at Kobe in April, 1903. Japan also has commercial schools graded A and B according to the difficulty of the curriculum. In 1904 there were 48 of these schools, at which children of an age of not less than ten years, provided that they have finished a four-years' course in the ordinary primary schools, are allowed to attend. In Germany there not only are commercial schools, such as have been mentioned, and realgymnasien in which modern subjects are emphasized but even commercial universities at Aix-la-Chapelle, Frankfort, Cologne and Leipzig. These universities have 2,841 students, of whom 1,015 are matriculated. In American colleges and universities in 1904 there were 1,537 regular students of commerce in all. Courses in commerce were attended by 6,835 men and 5,430 women.
