Gillingham: Contemporary after 76 years

Abstract

It is impossible to separate the woman from the work; both are impressive! All the more impressive is the fact that after 76 years the work of Anna Gillingham remains a contemporary, holistic technique for teaching children. I shall not resist the temptation to note some highlights regarding one of my favorite topics, the development of Gillingham, the educa tor. In 1969 the late, and sorely missed, Sally B. Childs, compiled a Monograph entitled Education and Specific Language Disability. It in cludes biographical information, reprints from bulletins of the Ethical Culture School, from early manuals, and from The Independent School Bulletin. This Monograph is required reading for my teacher trainees and, in my opinion, should be required reading for all educators. Some of this biographical information was iterated most ably by Margaret Rawson in her article, "The Orton Trail" in the 1987 Annals of Dyslexia. The life of Anna Gillingham is especially fascinating for me, as one of the teachers she trained. However, it belongs to a period for which young people today have little frame of reference. There seems to be an unfortunate trend among college students to check the copyright date of publications and to ignore those which were written years ago. I have often thought how fitting it would be to change the dates on Gillingham's biography and her papers, and to republish them. Her scholastic and pedagogical achievements, especially re markable for a woman in her time, would be no less so today.