In behalf of the slow learner

Abstract

How often have we not heard similar comments from our colleagues, nearly always expressed plaintively, with drooping shoulders and an apologetic little smile. The very tone in which they pronounce judgment belies the wisdom of their words. Let's rise above the pall of discouragement and failure for a moment to view the problem objectively. Slow learners are those who, due to inferior mental equipment, personality disturbances or environmental influences, experience more than usual difficulty in learning school materials. As a group, they are distinguished by academic retardation and, in many schools, by behavior difficulties. They comprise some twenty per cent of our public school enrollment until the end of junior high school when a goodly number give up the chase. This nebulous, impractical thing education, which they have been encouraged, even forced, to pursue, finally eludes them. So often, it has seemed, the spectre has been within reaching distance. Always it has managed to keep ahead of them. In frustration and despair, they leave school to look for success elsewhere. Honest attempts have been made to alleviate the problem. In some schools the slow learners are grouped; in others, they are shunted into trade courses. The problem reduced is, however, the problem of the academic teacher rather than that of the pupils. Homogeneous grouping may be a step in the right direction, but what then? Are special curricula, special texts, special methods suited