Educating maladjusted children

Laslett, Robert (1976). Educating maladjusted children. University of Birmingham. Other

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Abstract

The accounts of the treatment of maladjusted children in this country which have appeared in the literature have been dominated for many years by those who have based their work on psychodynamic principles, mainly Freudian in origin. These accounts have made important contributions to our understanding of how maladjusted children can be helped in residential special schools, but not much material has so far appeared (outside the American literature) about other approaches to the treatment of these children, nor have teachers in day schools and day units been able to find many suggestions about work with maladjusted children which they can put to practical use in the classroom.
This book has been written for teachers and for teachers in training who wish to know why maladjusted children behave in the ways that they do, and how they can best help them. Teachers wish to be acquainted with the theoretical issues on which they can base effective work with maladjusted children, but they also wish to know how they can develop skills in the management of maladjusted children, how they can provide school or class organisation which is most appropriate to these children’s needs, what sort of curriculum is likely to be appropriate, how they can manage their relationships with maladjusted children, how they can sustain helpful relations with the children’s parents and with their colleagues from other disciplines who are concerned with special educational treatment, and how they can develop their insights into the problems that maladjusted children present to them.
In considering the present situation in the education of maladjusted children, there are some aspects which are sufficiently remarkable to mention here. There is the very rapid expansion in the number of residential and day special schools in the years between 1950 and 1974, which makes it extremely unlikely that the output of specially qualified staff to work in these schools has kept pace with this expansion; there is the development of the idea that many maladjusted children should be retained in the ordinary school system and the investigation of alternatives to provision in separated special schools; and the emergence of disruptive and poorly motivated pupils in secondary schools. The extent and nature of this problem is not yet certainly known, but it seems indisputable that many teachers are now presented with problems for which their training and experience have not prepared them and which they have to resolve without the resources which are available to their colleagues in the special schools and classes for maladjusted children. Consideration of the situation of these teachers raises the question of what sort of balance should be made when increasing demands are made upon limited resources. As this book is not written for teachers in special schools and classes only, it is hoped that the material in the book will be useful to teachers of maladjusted children who are retained in the ordinary school system, and those who are managing with the considerable problems presented by children in ordinary schools.
Lastly, there is the surprising fact that although special schools for maladjusted children have been in existence for many years, there appears to be a remarkable resistance among those who work in them to assess the effectiveness of what they are doing. This does not mean that the work has not been successful, but at present we do not know how successful it has been or what factors contribute towards the success. As a result, there are limitations placed upon ongoing work with maladjusted children because teachers now working with them cannot learn all that they might from the efforts made by others. There is an urgent need for research, especially outcome research and into many other aspects of the education of maladjusted children.

Type of Work:	Thesis (Other)
Award Type:	Other
Licence:	All rights reserved
College/Faculty:	Faculties (to 1997) > Faculty of Education
School or Department:	Faculty of Education
Funders:	None/not applicable
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LC Special aspects of education
URI:	http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/8747

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