Pedagogical Anthropology, Maria Montessori [online e book reader TXT] 📗
- Author: Maria Montessori
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Treatment.—Regular application of the medico-pedagogical method: tonics during the winter; hydrotherapy annually, from the first of April to the first of November.
April 24.—The mother, finding the child much improved, takes him home on leave (March) and later (end of April) requests his dismissal, which is granted reluctantly, in the fear that the boy may lose part of what he has so laboriously gained.
May 19, 1892.—The boy, having become insubordinate and not making satisfactory progress in the public school (to which he was sent, so that he would not be present at the scenes between the mother and the father, who is habitually intoxicated), has been sent back to the asylum.
June.—The physical evolution continues. The child is very timid and sensitive, cannot bear to be reproved and cries when he is corrected. Reads fluently, but without expression. Has begun to write familiar words from dictation. During his absence from the asylum he learned to know the numbers and to do simple examples in addition and subtraction.
Treatment: School work; gymnastics; hydrotherapy.
July.—D—— is at present conducting himself in a way difficult to control; he plays ill-natured jests upon his companions; places needles and tacks in seats; during the assembly he amuses himself by sticking little pins into the backs of the girls who sit in front of him.
December.—The boy is very lazy, and often refuses to read or to do his tasks; he grins and sneers if he is corrected. But he carries out very well all the movements in the lower gymnastic course. Has been sent to the tailor's work-shop and seems to have taken a fancy to the trade.
April, 1893.—D—— has become quite reasonable, does good work in school, does not like to be inactive, has ceased to grin and sneer. His writing has improved; his reasoning power is good; he is careful of his clothes to the point of vanity; eats with propriety, has ceased to bolt his food; yet it is still noticed that he has a tendency to appropriate the wine of his companions.
June.—D—— is passing through a bad period; he laughs at everything that is said to him, is very obstinate, annoys his comrades, tears up copy-books, breaks pens, etc. Is careless regarding his clothing; makes a disturbance at night in the dormitory.
December.—Same state. Tries to smoke; is unwilling to do any work; laughs at everybody; dresses with great carelessness; it is necessary to compel him to wash his hands and face. No sign of puberty.
December, 1894.—Notable improvement; D—— reads quite readily, writes quite well, recognises all ordinary objects, their use, and their colour; has a conception of time. Is docile, neat, industrious in school work, is attentive to explanations and understands them. In the work-shop he continues to show progress.
January-June, 1895.—The improvement continues; D—— has begun to learn the multiplication table; he is well-mannered and scrupulous in his behaviour; excellent in gymnastics. In the tailor's work-shop he makes marked progress; he has already learned to put together an entire garment by himself, and he knows how to use the machine. From time to time he has periods of indolence; and this happens more often in the work-shop than in the class.
Puberty.—A slight down has begun to appear upon his upper lip.
July 8.—According to the night nurse, D—— had an attack of epilepsy during the night; he never had one before, and he has not had one since.
July 10.—Troubled sleep, nightmare, unintelligible and threatening words.
January, 1896.—Very notable improvement in class. The boy profited above all from the lessons about natural objects, in which he takes much interest. From time to time he shows a tendency to dissipation and gambling. Is docile, cleanly, and neat in personal appearance to the point of vanity. The master of the work-shop is very much pleased with him; he works well with the machine. Is doing well in gymnastics and in singing.
Puberty.—His beard has begun to grow even on his cheeks.
June.—Hand-writing, far from improving, seems to be growing worse. On the contrary, it is noticed that he has made progress in arithmetic. Can perform all four primary operations and has begun to solve easy problems. His general knowledge has improved. Has become a good tailor's workman.
January-June, 1897.—The boy prefers the work-shop to the school and for some time the mistake has been made of leaving him wholly in the work-shop.
December.—Same state from point of view of his studies; character docile, conduct good, personal care and neatness satisfactory. Works well and rapidly in the work-shop; can make complete suits of clothing; uses the machine dexterously; is beginning to cut out garments.
Puberty complete, no onanism. The right eyelids are less widely open than the left by nearly a quarter. The patient says that he does not see so well with the right eye as with the left, and cannot distinguish with it even large letters unless they are very near.
TABLE OF WEIGHT AND STATURE
Measurements 1890 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 January January July January July January July January July January Weight in kilograms. 25 34.700 35.200 35 37.800 39.800 44 46 51 53.700 Stature in metres. 1.22 1.39 1.42 1.42 1.50 1.53 1.58 1.61 1.66 1.69MEASUREMENTS OF THE HEAD IN CENTIMETRES
1891 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 January January January January July January July January July January Maximum horizontal circumference. 50.2 50.2 50.2 52 52 52 52 52 52 54 Anterior semi-circumference. 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 34 Distance from the occipito-allantoid articulation to the root of nose. 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 37 Maximum antero-posterior diameter. 17.5 17.8 17.8 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 Maximum biauricular diameter. 11 12 12 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.2 12.5 12.5 13 Maximum biparietal diameter. 13.5 14 14 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 Maximum bitemporal diameter. — — — — 11 11 11 11.5 11.5 12 Medial height of forehead. 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6In the antecedents of this patient, the only suggestions of degeneration are the alcoholism of the father and the fact that conception took place in a state of intoxication. The mother's migraine might also be considered as a nervous malady amounting to a family taint, but cannot be held responsible for so grave an abnormality as idiocy.
Consequently, it remains beyond doubt that the most interesting antecedent fact to be considered in this case is the conception during alcoholic intoxication.
The individual we are studying is a sick person; this is shown by ptosis (drooping eye-lid), the recurrent periods of agitation, the epileptic convulsion in the night detected by the night nurse.
It is interesting to observe in the photographs of the child, the alteration of expression between the periods of calm and those of agitation; in the latter the face is asymmetrical and shows contractions in the left facial region, while the right side is paretic; the paresis is also manifested by ptosis (drooping lids). During the periods of calm, on the contrary, the left side also is atonic.
In the course of the history the differences in the child's conduct in the two states are well described.
During the periods of calm, the child is attentive, docile, careful of his dress, timid, and makes progress in his studies; during the periods of agitation he is unstable, rebellious, careless, unkind to his comrades, and makes no progress whatever. At the beginning, there were no periods of calm at all; furthermore, the child had every appearance of being an idiot; medico-pedagogic treatment rendered longer and more frequent, and finally permanent, these periods of calm, during which the child's intellectual redemption became possible. The treatment did not consist solely in the education of an idiot, but also in the cure of a sick child. "At the time of admission," according to the observations in the record, "the diagnosis was retarded mentality, and that only in relation to primary instruction, because in regard to matters of common knowledge and manual work, the patient comes very near to a normal lad of average intelligence."
Such a surprising transformation of an individual is certainly deserving of admiration; but this diligently compiled study is not yet quite completed. As a matter of fact, when the education of D—— was begun, observations regarding types of stature were not yet made; but his photographs show that he was an exaggerated macroscelous type. The trade adopted by D—— which will oblige him to sit with his chest bowed over the machine, or in a kneeling position while he sews, will in all probability drive him straight along the road to tuberculosis, a malady to which his organism has singularly predisposed him. It would be interesting to follow further the history of this patient, who has been transformed from an idiot into a skilful and industrious workman.
The society, which under the guidance of science, achieved his difficult redemption, has perhaps at the same time condemned him to death.
The modern standards of pedagogical anthropology would have furnished a more far-sighted guidance in the choice of a vocation.
Meanwhile, however, this history reported by Thulié is a luminous demonstration of the folly of rewards and punishments; the only forms of intervention during the periods of agitation, which lasted for entire months, during which the boy was continually unruly, impulsive, malicious, reckless, and incapable of work, were tonics, hydrotherapy and kindly treatment.
"Punishments" would have cruelly wrecked the life of a human being who was naturally gentle, affectionate, and capable of diligent work and permanent improvement.
Something similar ought to be attempted in the reformatories. The boys who are regarded as incorrigible are frequently sick boys, with an hereditary degenerative taint, and need to live in a tranquil environment and to receive medical treatment.
The biographic charts of the reformatories give no evidence that this educative movement has as yet been understood. They show that punishments are still regarded as possessing a corrective efficacy, because the conception that the so-called delinquent children may be a pathological product and a result of disastrous family and social conditions, has not yet penetrated with sufficient clearness.
But progress along this path is surely bound to come as a result of the experience which this principle of reform has made possible.
The biographic charts have unquestionably laid the foundations of a new edifice in pedagogy.
Scientific Pedagogical Advantages of Biographic Histories:
The biographic chart takes the place of the report cards and records of the relative marks of merit and demerit; for while these records and reports constituted a statement of effects, altogether empirical, the biographic chart investigates the causes and in this way furnishes pedagogy with a scientific basis. There is no need of further demonstration. The principal consequences of the above indicated progress are two in number. The biographic chart, replacing the earlier classifications, raises the teacher's standard of culture by directing him along a scientific path, associates the teacher's work with that of the physician, and makes the teacher a far-sighted director of the development and perfectioning of the new generations. The biographic chart includes a new educative movement which abolishes rewards and punishments.On this third point much might be said, since it touches upon one of the fundamental doctrines of pedagogical progress. But since this is not a treatise upon scientific pedagogy, it is necessary to limit the exposition to a few fundamental points.
In fact, it will be sufficient to speak of cases in which education is most difficult and where the rewards and punishments are unavailing—for these will include all simpler cases. A luminous example is furnished by the education of new-born infants. Of all human beings they used to be the most troublesome because of the impossibility of educating them by the old-fashioned methods. They cried at all hours of the day and night, making a slave of the mother or whoever took her place.
To-day, babies are quiet; it is marvelous to go through the infant ward in the Obstetrical Clinic of Rome; absolute silence reigns there, and yet if we lift up the white curtains of the cribs, we see the little ones lying with their eyes wide open. A deeper knowledge than was formerly had of the hygiene of the child has enabled us to interpret his needs, and when these are satisfied, the child is tranquil. Bodily cleanliness, liberty of movement, prolonged repose in the crib, and rational feeding have obtained this remarkable result of silencing the baby, of rendering it more robust and of liberating
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