Pedagogical Anthropology by Maria Montessori (best novels of all time TXT) 📕

et éducation des idiots, 1846); the second is the one proposed by Sergi for the communal schools of Rome, and printed by the Commune with the intention (1889), never actually carried out, of introducing it into the schools; at all events, this is the first historic document representing an idea twenty years in advance of the time when the idea itself was destined to begin to be popularised.

Here are the two forms in question:

Séguin's Form.—This follows out all of Séguin's pedagogical ideas, and all of his didactic methods; it is a guide for the physician, and a minute guide for the teacher who intends to adopt the Séguin methods of education. Séguin calls his biographic chart a "Monographic Picture," and divides it into five paragraphs, the fifth of which deals with the pupil's antecedents.

Monographic Picture (Séguin)

I. Portrait (Objective Morphological Examination)

Age. Sex. Temperament, health. Illnesses, accessory infirmities. Detailed configuration of the cranium. Configuration of the face. Proportional relation between cranium and face. Inequality of the two sides of cranium and face. Hair, skin. Proportional relation between the trunk and the limbs. Inequality of the two sides of the trunk and limbs. General attitude of the body. Attitude of the head. Attitude of the trunk. Attitude of the lower limbs. Attitude of the upper limbs. Attitude of the hand and fingers. Configuration of the organs of speech, and their possible relation to the organs of generation; dentition. Configuration of the thorax. State of the vertebral column. State of the abdomen.

II. Physiological Examination

Activity, general and applied. Apparent state of the nervous system. General irritability of the nervous system. Irritability of special groups of nerves. Cries, groans, singing, muttering, etc. The change which certain stimulants such as cold, heat, electricity, odours, etc., produce upon irritability and sensibility, general or special. Probable state of the brain. Voluntary articular flexions. Locomotion. Positions, recumbent, seated, standing, walking, ascending, descending. Running. Jumping. Grasping objects. Dropping objects. Catching objects. Throwing objects. Ability to dress, eat, etc., without aid. Probable state of the spinal marrow. Probable state of the organic nerves. Probable state of the sensory nerves. Probable state of the motor nerves. Difference of action between the sensory nerves and the motor nerves. Inequality of action of the motor nerves and sensory nerves on the two sides of the body. The muscular system, contractibility of muscles, and condition of sphincter muscles in particular. Muscular movements. Voluntary movements. Automatic movements depending on the condition of the sympathetic nerve. Automatic movements depending on the state of the central nervous system. Spasmodic movements. Coordinated and disassociated movements. Sense of touch. Sense of taste. Sense of smell. Sense of hearing. Sense of sight. Erectility. The voice, abnormal tones. Speech. Assimilative functions. Unnatural appetites. Manner of taking food. Mastication. Swallowing. Digestion. Evacuation of fæces and urine, voluntary or involuntary; other excretions, saliva, nasal mucus, tears, sebaceous humor, sweat, perspiration, etc. Pulse. Respiration. Sleep.

III. Psychic Examination

Attention. Sensorial perception. Intellectual perception. Deduction. Coordination. Inventiveness. Unrelated memories. Foresight and forethought. To what extent are these intellectual operations, when they exist, applied to concrete phenomena, mixed phenomena (i.e., concrete and abstract) and to ideas of a moral nature? Are the general ideas of time, space, conventional measurements, relative value, intrinsic or arbitrary, understood and applied in actual daily life? Comparison. Judgment. Reflection. Have the ordinary rudiments, such as the alphabet, reading, writing, drawing, arithmetic, been taught to the pupil or not, and can they be taught in his present state? Have his attitude toward music and mathematics, enjoyment of singing, irresistible desire to sing, been brought about naturally? Has he a perception of the physical proportion of bodies, such as colour, form, dimensions, relations between the parts to form a whole?

IV. Examination Regarding Instincts and Sentiments

Instinct of self-preservation. Instincts of order, readjustment, preservation and destruction of objects. Aggressiveness, cruelty. Instinct of assimilation and possession. Is the child obedient or rebellious, respectful or impertinent, affectionate or cold, rude or courteous, grateful, jealous, merry or sad, proud, vain or indifferent, courageous or cowardly, timid or venturesome, circumspect or thoughtless, credulous or suspicious? Has the child a sense of abstract right and wrong or only in relation to a small number of acts that concern himself? Does the child show spontaneity an active will—the kind of will which is the initial cause of all human actions producing intellectual or social results? Has the child only a negative will associated with instincts and does he protest energetically against any extraneous will that tends to compel the idiot to concern himself with social or abstract phenomena? Finally, in what direction and within what limits has the idiot passed beyond the boundaries of his ego in order to enter into physical, instinctive, intellectual and moral communication with the phenomena which surround him?

V. Etiology

Origin of father and mother. Their constitution. Hereditary diseases. Place of residence at the time of the child's conception, gestation, birth and lactation. Possible causes of idiocy. Circumstances worthy of note during conception. Circumstances worthy of note during gestation, delivery, lactation. Serious illnesses of the child during the first year. Infirmities and illnesses from the first year down to the first symptoms of idiocy. Progress, retrogression or stationary state from the child's birth down to the time of examination.

If we realise that this model for a biographic chart was proposed more than one-half a century ago, it makes us marvel at the modern spirit of its concepts: it actually considers the relation between the development of the trunk and of the limbs, the mimic attitudes of the body, the constitution, etc., all of which concepts are foreign to the studies of the medical clinics from which Séguin must have drawn his inspiration, since even to the present day the tendency in the clinics is toward purely analytical investigation, with the exception of Professor De Giovanni's clinic.

In the model proposed by Sergi, the examination was required to be made twice: first upon the reception of the pupil, and again at his departure with the modifications shown below:

BIOGRAPHICAL CHART FOR SCHOOLS (SERGI)

Table I.—Physical Observations

On entering school On leaving school Class Year Class Year Name. Age. Birthplace. Parentage (father and mother). Vaccination. Stature. Weight. Pulmonary capacity. Muscular force. General state of health. Past illnesses. Anomalies, deformities. Head, horizontal circumference Head, maximum length. Head, maximum width. Cephalic index. Face, length. Face, width. Facial index. Hair, colour, form. Eyes, colour. Skin, complexion. Incidental remarks. Name. Age. Birthplace. Parentage (father and mother). Vaccination. Stature. Weight. Pulmonary capacity. Muscular force. General state of health. Past illnesses. Anomalies, deformities. Head, horizontal circumference Head, maximum length. Head, maximum width. Cephalic index. Face, length. Face, width. Facial index. Hair, colour, form. Eyes, colour. Skin, complexion. Incidental remarks.

BIOGRAPHICAL CHART FOR SCHOOLS (SERGI)

Table II.—Psychological Observations

On entering school On leaving school Class Year Class Year Sight, acuteness, far- or near-sighted. Sense of colour, normal, defective. Hearing, acuteness. Sense of touch, acuteness. Intelligence, quick or slow. Perception, rapid or gradual. Memory, tenacious or short. Attention, easily aroused or not. Speech, rapid or slow. Speech, pronunciation perfect or imperfect. Speech, stammering. Emotional sensibility, dull or easily assumed. Conduct and character at home. Affection for parents. Taciturnity or loquacity. Preferences during free hours. Caprices, eccentricities. Unusual incidental occurrences. Sight, acuteness, far- or near-sighted. Sense of colour, normal, defective. Hearing, acuteness. Sense of touch, acuteness. Intelligence, quick or slow. Perception, rapid or gradual. Memory, tenacious or short. Attention, easily aroused or not. Attention, how long sustained. Attention, progressive weariness. Speech, rapid or slow. Speech, pronunciation perfect or imperfect. Speech, stammering. Emotional sensibility, dull or easily assumed. Conduct and character in school. Friendships in school. Taciturnity or loquacity. Preference during free hours. Caprices, eccentricities. Unusual incidental occurrences.

The two other biographic charts that deserve specific mention are, unlike the above, charts in actual use, since they have both been recently introduced into practical service.

The first, which I reproduce in entirety, is the one adopted by the Commune of Bologna for its schools; the second is the one introduced, for the purpose of studying the inmates, into the government reformatories, of Italy, that have recently been transformed into educational institutions, into which a number of important reforms have been introduced, through the influence of scientific pedagogy—among others, these biographical charts and the anthropological researches connected with them.

Biographic chart for elementary schools:

District of Year 191— Class COMMUNE OF BOLOGNA
Office X.—Hygiene
Biographic Chart of the Pupil Name and Surname Age Place of birth and residence Parents' Place of birth and vocation The Teacher.
State of skin, of the subcutaneous tissue, the muscles, the lymphatic glands Illnesses incurred during the school year Head horizontal circumference maximum width maximum length Cephalic index Total number of absences Face height width Facial index Number of absences on account of illness Hair colour form Eyes keenness of sight Profit derived from instruction hypermetropia myopia colour sense colour of iris Conduct and character in school Hearing, acuteness Teeth form Affection toward parents and school-mates number decayed number missing Anomalies of development Special observations Weight of body at the beginning, at the end of the year Total spread of arms Stature Pulmonary capacity The Physician the Master

The biographic chart of the reformatories is among the most complete; nevertheless, it is based upon antiquated methods for the study of the individual, including, for instance, the facial index and ignoring that of the stature; and limiting the psychic examination to abstract notes (reflection, attention, etc.). It constitutes, however, an anthropological record, for it follows the child throughout his whole residence in the reformatory.

What is called, in the chart in question, the moral account, corresponds to our third subdivision in biographic histories, in so far as it represents a summary of the daily records. Under this head mention is made of the moral balance, and the notes tell us that it is founded upon "punishments" and "rewards." In so far as they treat of disciplining children, these notes are not to be taken as a model; they are evidently a relic of antiquated educative methods that have survived amid the efforts of a new scientific movement. There is no mention made of medical treatment bestowed upon the children, who may very often owe their so-called moral anomalies to a pathological condition which must frequently be aggravated by punishments. It is well known that many normal children have periods of agitation which is manifested by the most various kinds of action (impulsiveness, sexual excesses, rebellion), followed by periods of calm during which the child exhibits the opposite characteristics (industriousness, obedience, etc.). The biographic chart is quite likely to show a record of punishments and rewards corresponding to these contrasted periods; and in this respect it follows antiquated pedagogic methods, which are precisely what need to be reformed under the light of science.

An illustration of this is contained in the biographic history of an idiot boy in the asylum of the Bicêtre, a report of which is given below: the periodic anomalies of character in the boy should be noticed. Many epileptic children do not have convulsions, but exhibit instead anomalies of character which become permanent and are naturally aggravated by fatigue and punishment; and the great majority of such children pass eventually into reformatories.

In the forms customarily used for biographic charts, there is liberal provision for daily notes. Accordingly, in the biographic chart of the child in question there are a number of blank pages on which casual notes have been entered (diary). Every fact deserving of notice has been entered; facts of a physio-pathological nature, such as illnesses, strength, endurance in running, appetite, outbursts of anger without cause; school-notes regarding the progress attained by the child in school, especially when he has overcome serious difficulties, correction of incidental defects of speech, etc., and notes of a psycho-moral nature regarding acts committed by the child, tending to show the state of his feelings.

The master has a general register which may be compared to the daily entry book used in book-keeping, and in which all the notes of the day are entered. Days and even months frequently pass without any entry being made in regard to some particular child. From this general register the master later draws up individual summaries which are then transcribed into the corresponding biographic history of each child.

Once in so many years all the measurements and observations are repeated in their entirety (e.g., at the most important periods of growth with especial study of the epoch of puberty). When the child is definitely discharged from the school, a general summary is drawn up; in such a case the biographic chart represents that individual's own personal history; a human and social document of the highest interest to anyone who wishes to know himself, and continue his own self-education! It might serve as a useful guide to a man of intelligence.

These registers and biographic charts may be compared to the record of