Besides a good general education, the blind must have careful and
detailed training in some handicraft, or thorough preparation for some
profession. The trades and professions open to them are few, and if they
fail in one of these they cannot turn quickly to some other line of work.
Those who have charge of their education should avail themselves of the
knowledge that has been gained in all countries, in order to decide
wisely in regard to the trade or occupation for which each pupil should
be prepared. It may be some kind of handicraft, pianoforte-tuning,
school-teaching, or the profession of music; the talent and ability of
each child should be carefully considered before finally deciding his
future occupation. The failure to give the blind a practical education
often means dependence through life.
Pianoforte-tuning.
Pianoforte-tuning as an employment for the blind originated in Paris.
About 1830 Claud Montal and a blind fellow-pupil attempted to tune a
piano. The seeing tuner in charge of the school pianos complained to the
director, and they were forbidden to touch the works, but the two
friends procured an old piano and continued their efforts. Finally, the
director, convinced of their skill, gave them charge of all the school
pianos, and classes were soon started for the other pupils. When Montal
left the institution he encountered great prejudice, but his skill in
tuning became known to the professors of the Conservatoire, and his work
rapidly increased and success was assured. Montal afterwards established
a manufactory, and remained at its head for many years. Tuning is an
excellent employment for the blind, and one in which they have certain
advantages. The seeing who excel in the business go through a long
apprenticeship, and one must give the blind even more careful
preparation. They must work a number of hours daily, under suitable
tuition, for several years. After a careful examination by an expert
pianoforte-tuning authority, every duly qualified tuner should be
furnished with an official certificate of proficiency, and tuners who
cannot take the required examinations ought not to be allowed to impose
upon the public.
Musical training.
Music in its various branches, when properly taught, is the best and
most lucrative employment for the blind. To become successful in the
profession, it is necessary for the blind to have opportunities of
instruction, practice, study, and hearing music equal to those afforded
the seeing, with whom they will have to compete in the open market. If
the blind musician is to rise above mediocrity, systematic musical
instruction in childhood is indispensable, and good instruction will
avail little unless the practice is under constant and judicious
supervision. The musical instruction, in its several branches of
harmony, pianoforte, organ and vocal culture, must be addressed to the
mind, not merely to the ear. This is the only possible method by which
musical training can be made of practical use to the blind. The blind
music teacher or organist must have a well-disciplined mind, capable of
analysing and dealing with music from an intellectual point of view. If
the mental faculties have not been developed and thoroughly disciplined,
the blind musician, however well he may play or sing, will be a failure
as a teacher. The musical instruction must be more thorough, more
analytical, more comprehensive, than corresponding instruction given to
seeing persons. In 1871 Dr Armitage published a book on the education
and employment of the blind, in which he stated that of the blind
musicians trained in the United Kingdom not more than one-half per cent
were able to support themselves, whereas of those trained in the Paris
school 30% supported themselves fully, and 30% partially, by the
profession of music.
Royal Normal College.
To provide a better education and improve the musical training of the
blind, the Royal Normal College was established in 1872.[3] Its object
was to afford the young blind a thorough general and musical education,
to qualify them to earn a living by various intellectual pursuits,
especially as organists, pianists, teachers and pianoforte-tuners. From
the first, the founders of the college maintained that the blind could
only be made self-sustaining by increasing their intelligence, bodily
activity and dexterity, by inculcating business habits, by arousing
their self-respect, and by creating in their minds a belief in the
possibility of future self-maintenance. A kindergarten department was
opened in 1881. In July 1896 Queen's Scholarship examinations were held
at the Royal Normal College, for the first time, for blind students, and
the institution recognized by the Education Department as a training
college for blind school-teachers.
Educational needs.
From the first day a pupil enters school until he finishes his course of
training, care must be taken to implant business habits. Blind children
are allowed to be idle and helpless at home; they do not learn to
appreciate the value of time, and in after years this is one of the most
difficult lessons to inculcate. Having drifted through childhood, they
are content to drift through life. The important habits of punctuality,
regularity and precision should be cultivated in all the arrangements
and requirements. A great effort should be made to lift the blind from
pauperism. As soon as pupils enter a school, all semblance of pauper
origin should be removed. They must be inspired with a desire for
independence and a belief in its possibility. In the public mind
blindness has been so long and closely associated with dependence and
pauperism that schools for the blind, even the most progressive, have
been regarded hitherto as asylums rather than educational
establishments. A sad mistake in the training of the blind is the lack
of an earnest effort to improve their social condition. The fact that
their education has been left to charity has helped to keep them in the
ranks of dependents.
The question of day-classes versus boarding-schools has been much
discussed. It is claimed by some that a blind child gains more
independence if kept at home and educated in a school with the seeing.
This theory is not verified by practical experience. At home its
blindness makes the child an exception, and often it takes little or no
part in the active duties of everyday life. Again, in a class of seeing
children the blind member is treated as an exception. The memory is
cultivated at the expense of the other faculties, and the facility with
which it recites in certain subjects causes it to make a false estimate
of its attainments. The fundamental principles in different branches are
imperfectly understood, from the failure to follow the illustrations of
the teacher. In the playgrounds, a few irrepressibles join in active
games, but most of the blind children prefer a quiet corner.
For the sake of economy, schools for deaf-mutes and the blind are
sometimes united. As the requirements of the two classes are entirely
separate and distinct, the union is undesirable, whether for general
education or industrial training. The plan was tried in America, but has
been given up in most of the states. To meet the difficulty of proper
classification with small numbers, blind boys and girls are taught in
the same classes. The acquaintances then made lead to intimacy in later
years and foster intermarriage among the blind. Intermarriage among the
blind is a calamity, both for them and for their children; some who
might have been successful business men are to-day begging in the
streets in consequence of intermarriage.
In every school or class there will be a certain number of young blind
children who, from neglect, want of food, or other causes, are feeble in
body and defective in intellect; such children are a great burden in any
class or school, and require special treatment and instruction.
Educational authorities should unite and have one or two schools in a
healthful locality for mentally defective blind children.
More and more, in educational work for the seeing, there is a tendency
to specialize, and thus enable each student to have the best possible
instruction in the subjects that bear most directly on his future
calling. To prepare the blind for self-maintenance, there should be an
equally careful study of the ability of each child.
A scheme of education which has for its object to make the blind a
self-sustaining class should include: kindergarten schools for children
from 5 to 8 years of age; preparatory schools from 8 to 11; intermediate
schools from 11 to 14. At 14 an intelligent opinion can be formed in
regard to the future career of the pupils. They will fall naturally into
the following categories:--(a) A certain number will succeed better in
handicraft than in any other calling, and should be drafted into a
suitable mechanical school. (b) A few will have special gifts for
general business, and should be educated accordingly. (c) A few will
have the ability and ambition to prepare for the university, and the
special college should afford them the most thorough preparation for the
university examinations. (d) Some will have the necessary talent,
combined with the requisite character and industry, to succeed in the
musical profession; in addition to a liberal education, these should
have musical instruction, equal to that given to the seeing, in the best
schools of music. (e) Some may achieve excellent success as
pianoforte-tuners, and in a pianoforte-tuning school strict business
habits should be cultivated, and the same attention to work required as
is demanded of seeing workmen in well-regulated pianoforte factories.
The United Kingdom stands almost alone in allowing the education of the
blind to depend upon charity. In the United States, each state
government not only makes liberal provision for the education and
training of the blind, but most of them provide grounds, buildings and a
complete equipment in all departments. Although it costs much more _per
capita_, from L40 to L60 per annum, the blind are as amply provided with
the means of education as the seeing. The government of the United
States appropriates $10,000 per annum for printing embossed books for
the blind. Most of the European countries and the English colonies
provide by taxation for the education of the blind.