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HELPING THE MALADJUSTED CHILD: THE EFFECTIVE SCHOOL
Br. Othmar Wurth, F.S.C.
The common, tuition-free parish school, in which for the most part De La Salle and the early Brothers worked, soon developed an environment, a taken-for-granted, orderly way of operating, within which maladjusted, disturbed children found security and help. From his writings, we can easily infer the characteristics which De La Salle believed such a school should possess if it is to be effective. These characteristics, brought to fruition by dedicated teachers, virtually of themselves provided the special environment from which educationally handicapped children benefited.
It is in various parts of the Conduite and the Meditations, particularly the Meditations for the Time of Retreat, that De La Salle identifies three characteristics of the effective school. First, the school must be well- organized. Second, it must be staffed by competent and dedicated teachers. Third, it must maintain a well-defined and appropriate discipline. We shall examine each in turn, with our principal focus on their function in special education for the maladjusted child.
The Effective School is Well-organized
The effective school for De La Salle was first of all firmly grounded in the traditional teachings, liturgy, prayer practice, and parish life of the Catholic Church. While De La Salle's emphasis on fidelity to Rome may at times seem overly restrictive, it must be borne in mind that the seventeenth century was the time of Jansenism, and it was important for the Brothers to be very careful that the religious education they imparted carried no suspicious elements.
As we have seen, the well-organized school as De La Salle perceived it, included a program which was integrated, informed, practical, and orderly, and which provided for student participation. The particular emphasis which De La Salle placed on assisting the students individually is reflected in the thorough admissions and promotion procedures the Brothers used. These procedures contributed significantly to the proper organization of the school.
The teacher responsible for the admission of the new student was required to enter detailed information about the family in the "Register of Admission." Information was also recorded on the habits or qualities of the child. This practice assisted the Director in properly placing new students in classes. Improper placement in a class, De La Salle said, "could place the child in a position of being unable to learn and in danger of being ignorant the rest of his life." He also warned about keeping a child too long in the same level, "a situation distasteful to the teacher, the child, and his parents." (CL 24: 106- 130 passim)
This initial admissions information was supplemented by observations made by the teacher himself. He kept a file called "Register of the Good and Bad Qualities of the Students." Another file was kept for strictly scholastic evaluations. At the end of each school year, the teacher assembled all these entries in a report on each of his students. He submitted this to the Director of the school, who in turn passed it on to the new teacher of the student if there were to be a change of class. In this way the teacher would "come to know his students and the way he ought to act toward them." (CL 24: 236)
In order to have a personal understanding of the character of each student, the Director of the school kept all these reports and compared carefully "those of past years with those of the following years, and those of one teacher with those of another of the same class with the same students," to determine their degree of similarity and difference. (CL 24: 238) It was this personal knowledge of each student rather than mere grades that was the basis for a pupil's advancement through the school's program.
De La Salle knew that it was important to have the family accept the organization of the school and to collaborate in the task of educating the children. To accomplish this goal, he made the admission of the student contingent on his family's support of the educational philosophy of the school, and he urged the teachers to try to change the cultural resistance of some parents to the whole process of education. (CL 24: 184-184) He suggested that the teachers speak with parents who neglected to send their children to school, because he wanted parents to understand their duty toward their children and to realize the harm absenteeism did. For the remiss parent De La Salle proposed a rather drastic remedy. "Since these poor parents are generally those on alms, it is necessary to involve the parish priest . . . so as not to provide any alms until they send their children to school." (CL 24: 187)
He required parents to have their children take breakfast and lunch in school so that the children could learn how to eat politely and "in a Christian atmosphere, and to be sure the children were fed properly." Parents were to be sure that their child was diligent at schoolwork, that he not gossip about anything that took place in school, that he not associate with reckless companions, that he come to school properly dressed, that his hair be well combed and "free of lice," and that he not sleep with his parents. De La Salle also advised parents not to listen to the complaints of their child against the teacher, but rather to speak with the teacher when their child was not present. These warnings suggest situations De La Salle felt were at the root of many serious maladjustments. (CL 24: 167-169)
. . . . De La Salle recommended that teachers themselves not punish students who had been absent without permission, but require that the parents punish them at home before returning the to school. For the punishment of some children, De La Salle recommended that the teacher meet with the parents to decide upon the best approach. (CL 24: 190)
De La Salle reminded teachers that they too had the grave responsibility of making school attractive. He pointed out that if the children were learning and liked their classes, they themselves would put pressure on their parents to keep them in school. This would often be successful, he said, because "parents desire only what their children desire, so it will be enough that the children desire to come to school for their parents to be satisfied to send them there." (CL 24: 187)
This atmosphere of faith, this structured yet personal program, this attention to detail, this effort, however primitive to understand child and family and to have parents collaborate with the school, this combination of affirmation and affection — all these helped to create the environment within which the maladjusted child could find stability, direction, and purpose, and where he could learn to make some progress in controlling himself and managing his life.
The Effective School is Staffed by Competent and Dedicated Teachers
The Conduite is a compendium of the best which De La Salle could find in existing works on pedagogy, an eclectic work refined by his own insights and the experience of the Brothers themselves. The Conduite constituted the basic instrument for the preparation of the Brothers. Along with this detailed text went careful supervision of the new teacher and, eventually, a normal school or teacher-training institution. These elements, innovative in the synthesis De La Salle made of them, demonstrated his determination that the teacher be prepared for his arduous and responsible work.
But De La Salle was concerned not only that the teachers have an adequate technical or professional preparation, he also wanted teachers to be exemplary persons. The religious lifestyle which the Brothers embraced, together with the spiritual principles of the meditations De La Salle wrote and the retreats he scheduled, helped achieve this goal. (CL 24: 45-90 passism: CL 13: 30-67; CL 12: 45-71)
De La Salle was not satisfied simply to prepare the Brothers for the practical work of the classroom, nor did he limit himself to urging the Brothers to have a good understanding of their students. He wanted the Brothers to love their students, for he was aware of the educational power of affection, particularly for the troubled child. He also wanted the teacher to win the reciprocal love of his students. In one of his meditations, he asks, "Do you take advantage of the love students have for you to lead them to God?" He even wanted the teacher "to make [the students] love the school." (CL 12: 45).
Finally, De La Salle insisted on the importance of the teacher's good example. According to him, this example makes a much greater impression on the minds and hearts of children than do words, because children are not yet sufficiently "capable of reflection" and "ordinarily model themselves on what they see." He went on to say that children are drawn to do "what they see done, more than by what they hear said." Indeed, it was the example of the teacher which, he believed, would most help the maladjusted child. (CL 13: 32).
The teacher's relation to his students, his love for even the most troubled, and his vision of his life as a vocation in the Church were very often the subjects of those meditations De La Salle wrote for the Brothers for their daily prayer, for retreats, and for certain church feasts.
[The Brothers] will love all their students tenderly.
You must look upon the obligation you have of winning their hearts as one of the principal means of engaging them to live as Christians.
Let your zeal give concrete evidence in your actions that you love those whom God has entrusted to you.
It is necessary to show affection for [the students].
At the same time, De La Salle recognized that the teacher must exercise an appropriate firmness. He wished the teacher to couple the tenderness of a mother with the firmness of a father.
If you have the firmness of a father toward them, in order to pull them away from disorder and keep them from it, you must also have the tenderness of a mother for them, in order to protect them and do all the good for them that is dependent on you. (CL 13: 19)
Knowledge of the character of each student, De La Salle believed, allowed the teacher to individualize his guidance and balance tenderness with firmness.
It is necessary to have more gentleness for some, more firmness toward others. Some require much patience, others need to be prodded and encouraged. Some need to be reproved, punished, and corrected for their faults; others need to be supervised continually to prevent them from hurting themselves or wandering away. (CL 12: 104)
But De La Salle knew that preparation, conviction, and affection on the part of the teachers were not enough to make the school effective. The Brothers themselves had to be effective in the realities of the classroom. This was particularly important with the maladjusted child, for whom all too often learning difficulties were the root of his maladjustment.
De La Salle showed much affection for students with limited ability, and it can be said that he treated t hese students with extreme sensitivity. His concern can best be understood in terms of the profound faith he had in his own vocation as an educator of those deprived of even common resources. Better than any commentary, his own words bear witness to this fact.
The Directors of each house or the Inspectors of Schools must keep a very exact vigilance over all their teachers . . . and make sure that they carefully apply themselves to teach their students, that they neglect none of them, and that their concern be equal toward all, even greater toward the slowest and the most negligent. (CL 24: 188)
De La Salle gave many pedagogical and practical guidelines to his teachers for dealing with the slow student:
If it happens that a student is so slow that he cannot even repeat an answer that several others have recited one after another, the teacher will help him remember by having the answer repeated four or five times alternatively by a student who knows it well and then by the one who does not know it, in order to make it very easy for him to learn it. The teacher will use simple expression and words easy to understand in his questions . . . and he will make the questions and the answers as short as possible. CL 24: 116ff)
He urges the teacher to show a practical concern for the slow learner or the child frightened by schooling or ill-adjusted to it. Take things slowly, he recommended. "Help the children to read exactly, not skipping syllables." Slower students should be questioned often, helped by repetition, whether by themselves or by others, but not required to do what they obviously cannot.
The teacher will not allow anyone to laugh at a student who does not give a good answer, nor allow any prompting. (CL 24: 101)
It is . . . your duty . . . to motivate those who lack courage . . . and to support the weak . . . You will have to give an account to God . . . if you have neglected those who are most ignorant. (CL 13: 30-31)
Many maladjusted students, of course, found it difficult to maintain attention and to concentrate in the Brothers' classes. In the Conduite, De La Salle alluded to this problem.
Teachers will help students to be completely attentive, which is not naturally easy for children. Ordinarily their attention is of very short duration. (CL 24: 22)
The teacher will keep a very attentive eye on those who do not like to follow the lesson and those who most easily excuse themselves from paying attention. (CL 24: 23)
In order to keep students, especially slow students, attentive and prevent them from becoming bored, De La Salle offered several specific suggestions. The teacher should:
- avoid talking too much
- avoid speaking in a boring manner and in a way that is uninteresting
- frequently ask questions, especially of those who are slow
- make the questions short and use a simple vocabulary
- avoid belittling and embarrassing students, either by word or in some other way when they cannot answer well
- involve the students and help them to say what they have difficulty remembering
- give rewards to the slowest when they have tried their best to learn
- sometimes question a student unexpectedly to see if he is attentive
- from time to time, ask those students to read who do not like to follow the reading, but have them read only a little each time. (CL 24: 22-23, 97-100)
De La Salle noted that the teachers "will use those other similar ways which prudence and charity will help them discover, in order to have the students learn more quickly and to remember with greater ease." (CL: 100)
De La Salle was not satisfied with having a good relationship established between teacher and student. Aware of the detrimental effect of the lack of a good role model, De La Salle also was aware of the rehabilitative effect students could have on one another. The quality of interaction among students in matters of learning and discipline was important, and De La Salle wanted to take every opportunity to foster it. Even classroom seating became significant in this regard.
The Conduite lists some interesting ways of grouping students. De La Salle recommended that students be seated according to a strategic plan, so that "a thoughtless and flighty student is placed between two sensible and self-controlled students; a reckless student, alone or between two who are of stable character, a talkative student between two who are quiet and very attentive," and so on. A student was even to be assigned the task of taking from his classmates objects that might disturb the lesson. (CL 24: 119-121 passim)
In the seating arrangement, the teacher was also to take scholastic factors into account. He was to seat a student who was beginning in the writing section next to one who was perfecting his skill in writing, or one who was in the next upper section; a student who was having difficulty making a stroke, next to one who made the stroke with ease; a student who had a problem holding his body or his pen, next to one who did both well; and so with the rest, so that they would be able to learn from others.
When a new student came to a class in reading, the teacher was to assign him for several days, as he judged necessary, "to a companion who will teach him how to follow in his book while others are reading." (CL 24: 262)
It has been noted already that when a student was admitted to the school, De La Salle required the parents to ensure that he associate with good companions. The Brothers' desire that the students not be subjected to bad example was doubtless the motive for the practice of assigning to each student a classmate as a companion to and from school. (CL 24: 121)
To develop accountability and mutual support among the students, De La Salle also established the office of "visitor of those absent." In each class, two or three students were made responsible for checking up on the absent classmates who lived in their respective neighborhoods. These visitors of the absent were chosen from those "most attached to and most diligent at school." (CL 24: 32)
The visitors had to have intelligence, be of upright conduct, and be judged capable of resisting corruption. They also had to give evidence of a great respect for the teacher and an "entire obedience and docility of spirit." They visited the parents of the absentee in order to learn the cause of his absence and then reported to their teacher on the situation. When absentees were sick, the visitors saw them from time to time "to give them comfort and to encourage them to suffer their sickness with patience for the love of God." They then kept their teacher informed of the progress of their classmates' health. (CL 24: 245-246)
The Effective School Maintains a Well-defined and Appropriate Discipline
For De La Salle, the effective school was itself a discipline, in the very best sense of the word. Its purposeful, individualized program, its attention to detail, its competent and dedicated teachers all provided the direction, order, sense of value and achievement which children need, the environment which is particularly important in the special education required by maladjusted children. (CL 13: 104-105; CL 24: 138-140)
But De La Salle and the Brothers were well aware that there were times and circumstances in which a more specific and active disciplinary approach was required. Discipline in the sense of correction and punishment was also needed. Because of the harsh way in which discipline was administered in the schools of seventeenth-century France and particularly the severity with which maladjusted children were treated, De La Salle's provisions for discipline deserve our special attention. It must be conceded that by current norms some of what the Conduite prescribes for dealing with troubled children seems rigid and even severe, but the Conduite qualifies this severity with precise limits, with positive action, and with love and affection for the disturbed. (CL 24: 151-153)
Drawing upon the Meditations and the Conduite, we see that for De La Salle, what we might call discipline per se, comprises primarily and fundamentally vigilance on the part of the teacher, correction and punishment administered for various kinds of inappropriate behavior, and expulsion in extreme cases.
Vigilance
Vigilance, De La Salle believed, was essential for the good teacher. Discipline was to be rooted in the teacher's vigilance, that is, in the total presence of the teacher as a person whose authority was established by competence and dedication, who was prepared to anticipate and forestall disruption in the class, and who acted as a model of firmness and consistency. (CL 13: 13)
The vigilant teacher, De La Salle said, "will watch over his students, will observe them to learn their characters and dispositions." He urged the teacher to cultivate the affection of his pupils, supplementing the firm affection of the father without becoming, however, a competitor in the family's responsibilities. Vigilance, De La Salle believed, would be the major influence in properly disciplining the maladjusted child. (CL 13: 48-52; CL 24: 19)
De La Salle saw bad companions, whether in school or out, as the great cause of the destruction of youth, often leading them into serious misconduct, from which, he said, it could be almost impossible to free them. The good teacher will promote good discipline by exercising vigilance over the companionships and friendships developed among his pupils, even to the point, as we have seen, of assigning students to travel together to and from school. (CL 13: 11-12; CL 24: 121-122)
Because the presence of the vigilant teacher reduced the likelihood of disturbances, it also reduced the frequency of corrections and punishment. This itself contributed to discipline. "Frequent correction," De La Salle said, "is a great disorder in the school, . . . and to reduce the need for [correction] is one of the best ways to maintain good order." (CL 24: 149)
Correction and Punishment
As used in the Conduite, the word "correction" includes various forms of punishment from reprimands and simple written assignments (sometimes called "penances") to corporal punishment. Whatever the form of punishment or correction, it was always to be administered within carefully defined limits, and the teacher administering it had to take care to control his attitude and personal reaction. (CL 13: 53-63)
To achieve its purpose, all correction was to conform to a number of conditions. De La Salle reminded the teacher that he must at all costs avoid demeaning the student, for this embittered him and provoked a dislike for school. He pointed out that a child's feelings of revenge and ill-will following a punishment administered in anger sometimes continued a long time and aggravated an already disturbed student. In such circumstances the correction did not accomplish its immediate purpose, which was the improvement of the student, nor the long-range purpose, which was to awaken in him the desire to resemble his teacher. This was why De La Salle prescribed moderation in punishment. Proper motivation when administering punishment, he said in one of the meditations, is "one of the best means of touching and winning the hearts of those who have committed some fault and of helping them to improve themselves." (CL 12: 115)
In some instances, De La Salle recommended reproving students privately rather than in class. In all cases, he wished that the correction be individualized, that is, be appropriate to the personality of the student in view of the offense. (CL 24: 157-160)
Corporal punishment was an accepted school practice in the seventeenth century and led to great abuse. De La Salle accepted the reality, but moderated its use with very precise conditions to prevent the teacher from acting in anger or physically abusing the student. (CL 24: 153-154)
*Note: De La Salle uses the word "correction" to include five kinds of punishment: reprimands, penances, use of a strap (ferule), use of a rod, and expulsion from the school. "As one of the principal rules of the Brothers is to speak rarely in the schools, the use of reprimands ought to be very rare." Penances included the following: standing or kneeling for a period of time, as much as half an hour; memorizing a part of a lesson; reading aloud; writing a page or two at home; and being among the first to arrive at school for a week (a penance for coming late). The use of the strap and the rod was very strictly legislated (CL 24: 146 and 148). For example, the strap, which was padded leather 10 to 12 inches long and two inches wide, was to be administered on the palm of the left hand and with no more than two strokes. The rod, for more serious delinquencies, was limited to three strokes on the student's buttocks. Many other details governing the use of these instruments were given. These restrictions concern the importance of good judgment, self-control, and moderation on the part of the teacher, and humble submission and acceptance on the part of the student. The authority to expel a student from the school was reserved to the Director, and it was stipulated that it should be an "extraordinary occurrence." (Br. Augustine Loes)
From these general principles, we can infer that the specific directives De La Salle proposed for administering correction included that it be beneficial, just, proportionate, and timely. (CL 24: 151-153)
When correction was needed, De La Salle prescribed that it was first necessary for the teacher to determine that it would be beneficial, that is "useful and helpful . . . either for the student who is to be corrected, or the others who witness it." It was important for the teacher to examine himself to see that he was not correcting the student out of a feeling of dislike for the child or because he had been annoyed by him or by his parents.
The teacher had also to determine whether the correction was just and proportionate to the fault, whether the student was really disposed to receive it, and whether he recognized the fault for which he was being corrected. If such was not the case, the punishment had to be postponed. Punishment was to be administered with dignity, without "striking the student, pulling his ears or hair, or using insulting words."
If despite all these precautions, the student became angry over the correction or seemed otherwise unlikely to profit by it or understand the reason for it, the teacher was to wait until he judged that he could "gently help [the student] get control of himself and admit his mistake." In short, correction was to be timely. (CL 13: 60)
Rather than punishments, De La Salle was in favor of using for correction written assignments he called "penances," for he saw that these were less disagreeable to the students, lent themselves to more flexible timing, and caused fewer complaints from the parents. Thus, they were more likely to be beneficial.
The teachers will make use of penances to keep the students humble and to put them in a disposition of heart to correct themselves of their faults. These penances will be remedial and proportioned to the faults that the students have committed, so that the students can be helped to make satisfaction before God, and there will even be a preventive remedy to keep them from falling in the future. (CL 24: 174-179)
Since De La Salle saw frequent punishment as a very great disorder in a school, he urged that the teacher act with skill and diligence to maintain the students in good order "almost without using any correction at all." He added, "It is silence, vigilance, and the self-control of the teacher that establish good order in a school, not severity or beatings." (CL 24: 151- 152)
Though De La Salle stressed the remedial and preventive, as well as the restorative and formative roles of correction, he did not ignore the positive effect of rewards. He recommended that the teacher from time to time give rewards to those who are most faithful in their school duties, in order to encourage them to maintain their enthusiasm and to stimulate others to act in similar ways. (CL 24: 138-141)
Certain maladjusted students did not benefit from the orderly environment of the school or were unresponsive to the usual motivations, such as job assignments and rewards. These students needed special attention, and De La Salle addressed that need in several ways, with specific directions for incentives, action, and punishment, as the following passages show. (CL 24: 157-167).
It is necessary to punish students for . . . all lies, even the smallest; the students must know . . . that sometimes they will be pardoned when they honestly admit their guilt; they will be encouraged to ask pardon humbly for their faults . . . and will even be urged to impose a penance on themselves.
De La Salle proposed to correct in the same way "all those who have been fighting" and those who "have robbed someone or stolen something." If children have a naturally bold and arrogant spirit, they must be won over but also corrected for their bad attitude.
If they have a bold and arrogant spirit, it is necessary to give them some assignment in school, such as inspector, if they are judged capable, or collector of papers; or to promote them in some subjects as in writing, arithmetic, and so forth, in order to give them a liking for the school. It is necessary, also, to correct them and maintain control of them, not letting them do whatever they want to do. If these students are young, fewer steps need to be taken. It is necessary to speak little to disrespectful children . . . and always seriously when they have committed some fault. It is necessary to keep them humble, to correct them, when the correction is able to be helpful to them . . . It will be good sometimes to warn them and reprove them gently and specifically for their faults.
Since the faults of the thoughtless and flighty were considered to be the result of a lack of reflection, De La Salle proposed that the teacher take steps to prevent their faults by assigning these students to seats between thoughtful students and near the teacher. He also wanted them to be shown affection and from time to time be given some reward, "in order to encourage them to be diligent and have a liking for school," because, as he said, they are the ones who are most inclined to be truant. And while they are present, De La Salle continued, "these children will be helped if involved in ways that will keep them busy, so that they will be calm and silent."
It is necessary to correct the stubborn for their stubbornness, especially those who are stubborn when they are being corrected . . . It will be necessary, however, that the teachers act in such a way as to prevent the student who is corrected from grumbling, murmuring, crying, or disrupting the school in some other way, which often happens when the child is small or because he does not understand . . . It will ordinarily be better not to correct this type of student at all and to pretend not to notice when he is not studying or when he does neglect his duty in some other way.
It is generally better not to correct spoiled children, but to prevent their faults in other ways: . . . by giving them only those penances easy to do, or by managing the situation to forestall their mistakes by pretending not to see them, or by warning them gently in private . . . (CL 24: 183-184)
De La Salle placed great emphasis upon school attendance and urged that everything be done to determine the causes of absences so as to prevent them. Children who are truant, he felt, "are usually already inclined to evil, and bad behavior follows waywardness." De La Salle believed that interesting the child in school was the best remedy for absences, and even proposed rewarding with responsibilities those inclined to truancy, in the hope of giving them a liking for school and perhaps making them a source of good example.
The teacher will take care from time to time to stimulate [those inclined to be truant], encouraging them with rewards, and making them diligent in school by some assignment of work that occupies them and engages them, according to their ability. It is especially necessary never to threaten them with correction.
It is necessary . . . to have firmness in their regard and correct them when they do wrong and when they are truant. But it is also necessary to show them much affection for the good they do, rewarding them for every little thing — something to be done only with this kind of student and with the flighty. (CL 24: 183-184)
Expulsion
It would be naive to believe that De La Salle and the Brothers always managed to win over a maladjusted student. On the contrary, there were students who were actually impossible to deal with, since they presented serious problems by their misbehavior and did not benefit from the instruction and the correction. (CL 24: 148-149)
Feeling as he did about the importance of the Christian school as a way of escaping the oppression and degradation of the poverty and the moral dangers in which many of the pupils lived, De La Salle was very reluctant to dismiss any of them. We have already seen his concern that the parents themselves understand their responsibility for the Christian education of their children and be aided in meeting it.
Nonetheless, he and the Brothers quickly learned that they would have failures at times no matter how organized, how highly motivated, or how devoted they were. There would always be students whose conduct posed serious problems and created an environment in the school
damaging to others, students who simply would not or could not benefit from an education. The only recourse even in those days was expulsion.
De La Salle insisted; "It must be an extraordinary thing to dismiss a student from school," and this was to be done only after consultation with the Director and only upon his order, after consultation with the parents. "If the means taken to prevent or remedy their faults accomplish nothing, it may be better to dismiss them than to correct them, unless after speaking with the parents, it is found to be good to correct them."
The examples given in the Conduite of cases requiring expulsion as the only remedy are similar to those which would lead to dismissal from school even today. The school was not to tolerate the licentious or those capable of corrupting others. Students troublesome to others or interfering with the lessons, the retarded who were uncontrollable, students who persistently disturbed good order, thieves, those who repeated serious faults and refused correction — all of these were obviously destructive of the good discipline of the school, and if they remained incorrigible, they had to be expelled. Nor could those children remain in school whose parents refused to see that they attended Mass and the catechism lesson. (CL 24: 160)
In the matter of discipline and the enforcement of punishments, De La Salle began by moderating and regulating some of the practices which he saw were harmful and counterproductive. There remained, of course, vestiges of old ways and of old attitudes toward maladjusted children or slow learners, like the "bench for the ignorant" described in L'Escole Paroissiale (1654), but gradually De La Salle introduced into the schools the better, more productive means of discipline and correction developed by the Brothers.
The methods, guidelines, and restraints De La Salle presented for dealing with troubled children in the seventeenth century are considered fundamental in teaching maladjusted children today.
Summary
The principal effects of the establishment of Christian schools, according to De La Salle, were to prevent the disorders which arise when the child was left to himself, and to put a stop to the consequences of this neglect. But as has been shown, the school was also called upon to remedy these disorders.
De La Salle believed that prevention consisted in keeping the students from acquiring bad habits and becoming dissolute. To achieve this, the Brother was to maintain a constant vigilance over the students and instill in their minds in a firm manner the truths of the faith.
Frequent instruction and the use of the sacraments were to be the remedies against bad habits contracted by children. (CL 12: 79-80).
But it was the creation of a healthy environment that constituted the best means to prevent delinquency and the best remedy for the inadequacies of the family and of society. This healthy environment was the sum total of personal relations between teacher and student that were profoundly authentic and conformable to the most fundamental aspirations of human nature. The key figure in the educational environment was the person of the teacher, who in all his actions promoted the full development of the student, and by his demands and his efforts strove to improve the milieu of the child's family and at the same time elicit its support. Thus, the Brother became a personal model for both the student and the family. (CL 25: 17)
De La Salle began by reforming those pedagogical practices of his time which he judged most harmful. He introduced only gradually the better methods discovered by some of the Brothers. As has been said, there are vestiges of old practices, but the greater part of the guidelines De La Salle proposed can still be considered fundamental to a sound psychology of learning.
The theories and practices of De La Salle in the education of the maladjusted and educationally handicapped were developed in his practice in the parish or town schools. His experiences found a new application in the apostolate at Saint Yon. Here, in an establishment which was in fact one of the first of their tuition schools and which had been set up to support work other than a parish school, De La Salle and his Brothers expanded and adapted their early programs for discipline and correction and eventually came to work with troubled boys of many different types.
Reprinted from
John Baptist De La Salle and Special Education:
A Study of Saint Yon
by Br. Othmar Wurth, F.S.C.
Translated by Br. Augustine Loes, F.S.C.
Adapted by Br. Francis Huether, F.S.C.
Edited by Br. Bonaventure Miner, F.S.C.
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