Slow learners at school.

  • Department of Education and Science
Date:
1964
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Slow learners at school. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    without injury to self-respect. Indeed, the education of dull child- ren cannot be considered complete unless they have also come to know their limitations and to bear failure. They are not necessarily any more or less sensitive than others but their limitations do increase the chance of failure. It is continuous lack of success that may lead either to anti-social behaviour or to withdrawal; both responses show that the child is protecting himself from failure. Slower intellectual development carries with it the likelihood of slower or possibly distorted emotional growth, in fact a slower general development, notably in the earlier years. Dull children often take longer to reach the stage of playing and co-operating with their fellows, longer to become acceptable group members, and tend to be solitary unless encouraged to join in. Their physical development may proceed as fast as that of abler children, yet they are apt to feel inadequate when playing with other children of their own age, sometimes taking refuge in the company of younger children or withdrawing into themselves for protection. If the teacher can draw them into the social groupings of the classroom they enjoy sharing in the songs and rhymes and poems and the games that the rest enjoy. But they will show little imagina- tion or leadership, usually being content to follow the example of others—a characteristic that can be a cause of danger later on, when ready suggestibility can lead a boy into mischief or a girl into being exploited. Not least among the advantages of education ina special school is that the dull can there enjoy the company of others who are at the same stage of intellectual and emotional maturity. They are more readily accepted as members of the group and less exposed to unfavourable comparisons. If their earlier years can be passed in an emotionally satisfying atmosphere most dull children follow a fairly normal pattern of development. They can become acceptable at home, in the club or at work and show the same desire for independence and respon- sibility as ordinary children. But throughout their lives many remain conscious of their limitations; fear of failure frequently makes them diffident in accepting responsibility or in entering a new field of activity or anew social grouping, though once they have overcome their diffidence they may adjust happily. Many older backward boys are, for example, very shy of making new acquaint- ances, of joining a youth club, of entering a café or of using a telephone, but gain confidence rapidly once they have been helped to take the plunge. Sometimes they fail, and the resulting feeling of inadequacy can lead to quarrelsome behaviour or excessive timidity. The influence at this period of the school as a good society
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