Guidance and Training Relating to "Subnormal Children" at the Children's Institute of Clark University and the Role of G. S. Hall: Early Period (1909-1914)

Abstract

The present article aimed to clarify the guidance about "subnormal children" at the Children's Institute of Clark University, and the role of G. S. Hall there between 1909 and 1914. The analysis was based on the following: (a) the role of G. S. Hall in the organization and administration of the Institute, (b) in-service training for local teachers, and (c) guidance and consultation regarding "subnormal children". The data for this analysis were obtained mainly from the special collection of the Clark University Library, including reports and proceedings on child study from around 1910; the G. S. Hall papers, including correspondence; and the Clark University Papers, including annual registers. The Children's Institute was established in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1909-1910, as a result of Hall's efforts. Its specialty was "subnormal and backward children" and their teachers. At the time, only limited state and national funds were available for physical and mental examinations of such children from regular and special classes of public schools and for the provision of advice to their parents. In the first 3 months of the Institute's "Department of Subnormal Children," the examiners saw 21 cases, about equally divided between the genders, and ranging in age from 5 to 17, with most of them being between 8 and 12 years old. Local teachers attended lectures on "subnormal and backward children". The lectures, held after school hours and on Saturday mornings, were offered by specialists in psychology, pedagogy, and child psychiatry.