BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL AND HIS ANTECEDENTS
The child, like every other individual, represents an _effect_ of
multifold causes: he is a product of _heredity_ (biological product)
and a product of society (social product). The characteristics of
his ancestors, their maladies, their vices, their degeneration,
live again in the result of the conception which has produced a new
individual: and this individual, whether stronger or weaker, must pass
through various obstacles in the course of his intrauterine life and
his external life. The sufferings and the mistakes of his mother are
reflected in him. The maladies which attack him may leave upon him
permanent traces. Finally, the social environment receives the child
at birth, either as a favoured son or as an unfortunate, and leads him
through paths that certainly must influence his complex development.
All of the preceding and theoretic parts of this volume which took
up each characteristic for separate consideration, have already
explained all that it is necessary to know in order to interpret the
characteristics present in a given individual, and the more or less
remote causes which contributed to them.
We may now _apply_ our acquired knowledge to individual study, by
making investigations into the antecedents of the child and recording
his _biographic history_. It forms a parallel to the _clinical history_
which is recorded in medicine: and it leads to a diagnosis, or at least
to a scientific judgment regarding the child.
Although this biographic part is eminently practical, certain
principal points of research may be indicated for the purpose
of guiding the student. But no one will ever make a successful
study of medical pedagogy unless he will _follow_ the practical
lessons dedicated to the individual study of the scholar, and make
a practice of personal observation. In the Pedagogical School of
Rome, we provide _subjects_, taken from the elementary schools or
from the Asylum School of De Sanctis for defective children. And we
read their biographical history in regard to their antecedents, and
then make an objective examination of them, frequently extending
it to an examination of their sensibility and their psychic
conditions and enquiring into their standard of scholarship. From
these lessons based upon theory, profitable discussions often
result; and they certainly are the most profitable lessons in the
course.
A biographical history is essentially composed of three parts: the
_antecedents_, which comprises an investigation of the facts antedating
the individual in question; _the objective examination_, which studies
the individual personally; and the _diaries_, _i.e._, the continued
observation of the same individual who has already been studied in
regard to himself and his antecedents.
The objective examination and the diaries cannot be considered solely
in the light of anthropology, because they chiefly require the aid
of psychology. But even anthropology makes an ample and important
contribution, first, in the form of an objective morphological
examination, the vast importance of which has already been shown;
secondly, because it gives us a picture of the biologico-social
personality which it is necessary to compare with the _reactions_ of
the subject in question, with his psychic manifestations, his degree of
culture, etc.; and upon this comparison depends the chief importance of
the individual study of the pupil.
Accordingly, in addition to an examination of the individual,
anthropology ought to concern itself also with the conditions
antedating the individual; therefore, it traces back to the _origins_
(antecedents), while psychology reserves for itself the principal task
of _following the psychological development_ of the subject in his
school life (diaries); a task in which it will nevertheless go hand in
hand with anthropology since the latter must follow at the same time
the physio-morphological development of the subject himself.
Accordingly, the gathering of _antecedent_ statistics is the task of
anthropology. The antecedent statistics may be called the _history of
the genesis_ of the individual; the manner of collecting them is by
means of _enquiries_ that are generally made of the child's nearest
relations (the mother) or of the teachers who have superintended his
previous education. The enquiries are conducted under the guidance of a
certain system of which we give the following outline:
anamnesis:
/ remote / ascendant
{ \ collateral
biopathological { / conception
{ { pregnancy
{ / mother { delivery
\ near { \ lactation
{ / dentition
/ first development of { locomotion
{ \ speech
\ child { maladies incurred
{ / character
{ maternal opinions { intelligence
\ of child \ etc.
/ vocation of parents
sociological { their morality
{ their culture
\ their care of their children
school record { opinions of teachers, history of previous schooling.
We may distinguish biopathological antecedents, which have regard
to the organism of the child as a living individual; sociological
antecedents, having regard to the social environment in which
the child has grown up and which contributes to the formation of
his psycho-physical personality; and scholastic antecedents or
_scholarship_, regarding the previous schooling of the child under
examination. The biopathological antecedents are certainly of
fundamental importance. They are called _remote_ when we refer to
the hereditary antecedents of the subject, and _near_ when we have
reference to his personal antecedents.
=Remote Antecedents.=--These include an investigation regarding the
ancestors, the brothers and sisters, and the collateral relations. The
age of the parents (since we know that too immature or too advanced an
age, or a disparity in age between the parents may result in the birth
of weak children). Degree of relationship between the parents (since we
know that the offspring of parents related to each other may be weak).
Maladies incurred by them or prevalent in their families, incidental
vices of the parent (since we know that constitutional maladies, such
as syphilis, tuberculosis, gout, pellagra, malaria, mental and nervous
diseases, etc., _alcoholism_ or an irregular life of excesses, may lead
to the procreation of degenerates). Furthermore, since it is known that
according to the laws of collateral heredity, maladies may reappear in
nephews which previously occurred in uncles and not in the parents,
information should be sought, so far as possible, from all members of
the family. Information regarding the brothers of the subject offers an
interest of a very particular kind, because this gives us an insight
into the generative capacity of the parents: for instance, if there
were abortions, children who died at an early age of convulsions,
meningitis, etc., this argues unfavourably for the normality of the
subject.
=Near Biopathological Antecedents:= _Mother, Child._--Our inquiries
should centre first of all upon the mother, in order to know the
conditions of conception, pregnancy, delivery and lactation, in the
case of the child under examination, because we know that frequently an
error at the time of conception may produce a degenerate or a weakling.
For example, a child generated in a state of physical or mental
exhaustion--_e.g._, after a long trip on a bicycle, or after passing
an examination--may be born feeble, predisposed to nervous diseases
(idiocy, meningitis), just as he may be born abnormal (epilepsy,
anomalies of character, criminal tendencies) if generated by the
father during an alcoholic excess, or by the mother while suffering
from hypochondria, illness, etc. The history of the pregnancy is also
of interest: whether it proceeded regularly to the close of the nine
months, whether the mother suffered especially from mental anxiety,
illness or received any blow on the abdomen.
Other causes which may affect the health of the child have reference to
birth and to lactation. If the delivery requires an operation, it may,
for instance, deform the skull; while a hired wet-nurse, or artificial
feeding are more or less apt to cause deterioration in the child.
Having completed this first enquiry, we pass on to consider the child
itself, from the time of birth onward, lingering especially over its
early development and more particularly over the _cutting_ _of the
teeth_, _learning to walk_ and _learning to speak_, which are the three
first obstacles to infantile development. The healthy child overcomes
them according to normal laws, while the child of tardy development
shows the first characteristic anomaly in these three fundamental
points of its early existence (tardiness of development, incomplete and
defective development, development accompanied by diseases, etc.).
Usually a tardiness in the development of the teeth denotes general
weakness and more especially skeletal weakness (rachitis, syphilis);
tardiness in learning to walk may occur in connection with the
above-named causes (weakness of the lower limbs); or with difficulty
in attaining an equilibrium (of cerebral origin; witness the case
of idiots who, without being paralytic, cannot walk, because they
cannot _learn how to walk_); or with paresis, more or less partial or
diffused, of the muscles controlling the act of walking (infantile
paralysis, Little's disease, etc.). A tardy development of speech is
sometimes found together with a notable intellectual development and
the child will not begin to speak until he can express thoughts and
speak well; but more frequently such delayed development is due to
partial _deafness_; or it originates in the association centres of the
brain (the idiot child cannot _learn_ to speak).
It will also be helpful to know whether the child was ever ill. It is
very important in this connection to find out whether the child ever
suffered from infantile eclampsia in early life (convulsions, or "fits"
as the mothers of the lower classes call them). This is an indication
of a cerebral malady which leaves behind it permanent alterations of
the brain and of its functions. The child may be an idiot, or may
belong to one of the various catagories of children who go under the
name of defectives; or he may be abnormal in character (cerebroplegic
forms). Another important fact to record is nocturnal _enuresis_ (loss
of urine during sleep subsequent to the normal age); this is considered
by some authorities as a pre-epileptic state--that is, a child that
suffers such losses may in the future become subject to epilepsy, and
quite probably, if studied, will show various anomalies of the nervous
system, such, for example, as too deep sleep, slowness of intelligence,
etc. Repeated attacks of _infective diseases_, even though they are
survived, also denote organic weakness, with facile predisposition to
infective agencies--in other words, deficient powers of immunity.
Prolonged intestinal maladies or typhus in the early months
(denutrition from pathological causes, exhaustive diseases) may, in
themselves, be the cause of the child's enfeeblement and its consequent
arrest in development.
But in the interpretation of such observations, the physician should be
the guide and the direct judge.
The most salient symptoms in regard to the child--intelligence,
conduct, character, endurance, etc.--are, for the most part, expressed
with great clearness by the mothers. Prof. De Sanctis, for example,
has noted that the mother's first words might serve the purpose of a
diagnosis; for instance, the mother says of an idiot child: "he doesn't
understand," of a child retarded in development, "he is stupid,"
of an abnormal child, "he understands but he is bad." Accordingly,
Prof. De Sanctis begins his diagnostic researches by registering the
_maternal judgments_, because the mother is _struck_ by the salient
characteristics of her child; and even if she is uneducated she always
finds concise and effective phrases to express her judgment.
To the end of rendering the research into antecedents surer and more
complete so far as regards the personal antecedents of the child,
certain anthropological tablets are being introduced to serve as
_maternal diaries_. In this way the mothers have a guide for studying
their children, and this forms one of the first practical attempts
toward the "education of the mothers."
Here is a form of chart for keeping a record of the dentition. The
significance of the letters is as follows:
_U. r._: upper right, _i.e._, the right half of the upper jaw.
_U. l._: upper left.
_L. r._: lower right.
_L. l._: lower left. (The fact must be borne in mind that in
the first dentition there are twenty teeth.)
FIRST DENTITION
-------------------------------------------------------------
| Dates |
Teeth |------------------------------------| Observations
| of first | of complete | of |
|appearance | development | shedding |
--------+-----------+-------------+----------+---------------
U. r. 1 | | | |
2 | | | |
3 | | | |
4 | | | |
5 | | | |
| | | |
U. l. 1 | | | |
2 | | | |
3 | | | |
4 | | | |
5 | | | |
| | | |
L. r. 1 | | | |
2 | | | |
3 | | | |
4 | | | |
5 | | | |
| | | |
L. l. 1 | | | |
2 | | | |
3 | | | |
4 | | | |
5 | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------
In this way we have an analytical and exact chart of the development
of the teeth. Analogous tables are made for the second dentition,
for the growth of the stature, for increase in weight, for certain
physiological notes, etc. When the first period of growth is ended, the
mother's note-books contain annual notes, like the following:
YEAR 190....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date |Jan-|Feb- |March|April|May|June|July|August|Sept-|Oct-|Nov- |Dec-
|uary|ruary| | | | | | |ember|ober|ember|ember
Weight | | | | | | | | | | | |
Stature| | | | | | | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special annual diaries are now employed for keeping a minute record of
maladies incurred, symptoms, treatment, etc.
These note-books, similar to those hitherto kept by ladies for their
house accounts, or for sentimental notes, would be of great service
and aid to pedagogic anthropology, even though their use could not
be extended to all mothers (the mothers of the proletariat, immoral
women, etc., either could not or would not give similar contributions).
The institution of "Children's Houses," if more widespread, could
easily facilitate the _education_ _of the mothers_ and the diffusion
of "Maternal Note-books" throughout all grades of society. But at
most these mother's diaries furnish us only with notes of the near
antecedents and not of the remote, which are of extreme importance.
=Sociological Antecedents:= _Vocation, Morality, Culture._--Before all
else, in inquiring into the sociological antecedents, it is necessary
to know in what sort of an environment the child has grown, and
whether it is an environment favorable, or otherwise, to his physical,
psychic, intellectual and moral development. This is an exceedingly
important matter to determine for the purposes of a clinical history,
since the child's moral conduct and the profit derived from study
depend to a large extent upon the environment in which the child
has grown and lived. To this end inquiries should be made into the
economic circumstances of the child's parents, their vocation, moral
standards and degree of education, and also into the child's mode of
life, whether with the parents or other relations, or with persons not
related to him, whether he plays in the street, keeps company with
street children, etc.
=School Record:= _Judgments of Teachers._--This is the history of
the pupil as made by his teachers, beginning with the first day that
he enters school. The judgments of teachers, although not always
so precise and so fair as those of mothers, nevertheless have an
importance of their own. Inquiry should be made into the child's
conduct in school and the profit he derives from his studies.
_Illustrative Cases._--There are, for example, certain families so
infected with a degenerative or pathological taint that the remote
antecedents are sufficient in themselves to stigmatise the biological
condition of an abnormal subject. This may be seen in the genealogy of
the Misdea family (taken from Lombroso's work):
_Grandfather_: MICHELE MISDEA
(Not very intelligent, but very active)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | |
1st uncle 2nd uncle 3d uncle 4th uncle Misdea the
Guiseppe Domenico Cosimo Michele father (alcoholic,
(imbecile) (eccentric (quick-tempered (semi-imbecile) spendthrift, married
and killed in a to an hysterical
violent) quarrel) woman, one
| of whose brothers
------------------------------------------------------- was a brigand and
| | | | another a thief).
1st cousin 2d cousin 3d cousin 4th cousin |
(idiot) (madman) (imbecile) (imbecile) |
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | |
1st brother 2d brother 3d brother 4th brother 5th brother
Cosimo Salvatore (sane) (alcoholic) (incorrigible)
(obscene, Misdea
epileptic,
drunkard,
convicted of
assault).
|
grandson
(obscene)
Similarly extraordinary is the genealogy of Ada Tuercker, an alcoholic,
thief and vagabond, born in 1740, a large part of whose numerous
descendants it has been possible to trace. Out of the 834 individuals
derived from this degenerate woman, the lives of no less than 709 have
been followed up, and among these are included 143 mendicants, 64
inmates of asylums, 181 prostitutes, 69 criminals, and 7 murderers, who
altogether cost the state upward of seven million francs!
Besides families like these there are others infected with a
pathological taint, in which phthisis and gout alternate with epilepsy
and insanity. Then again there are other families in which the
pathological taint is scarcely perceptible, as for example, the family
of an epileptic child with criminal tendencies, personally studied
by me; all the members of this family are long-lived and enjoy good
health; the father alone is a sufferer from articular rheumatism.
Lastly there are families in which there is no sign of pathological or
degenerative weakness; and in such cases we say that there is nothing
noteworthy in the genealogy, and the near antecedents assume the
highest degree of importance.
The study of antecedents not only has a scientific importance, in so
far as it contributes to a knowledge of anthropological varieties of
mankind (due to adaptation); but it also has an immediate pedagogic
importance through its useful application to the school.
Lino Ferriani is the first jurist to investigate the antecedents of
juvenile delinquents, by gathering notes not only regarding their
parents, but also in regard to their own _school standing_ (by
consulting the teachers in the schools where these juvenile criminals
received their education!). I have extracted from his volume on
"Precocious and senile delinquency" the following statistics of the
physico-moral condition of the parents:
Convicted of crimes against property 1,237
Convicted of crimes against the person 543
Addicted to wine 2,006
Women leading meretricious lives 581
Doubtful reputation 1,500
Very bad reputation 670
Good reputation 210
Industrious 1,888
Semi-idle 4,000
Idle 2,000
Sentenced for drunkenness 1,590
Sentenced for offences against public morals 240
Alcoholics 1,001
Confined in lunatic asylums 48
Mothers deflowered before the age of 15 1,560
Couples separated through fault of the husband 59
Couples separated through fault of the wife 69
Couples separated through fault of both parties 135
Among these notes there is a numerical preponderance of _idlers_ (the
idle and semi-idle: degenerates are weaklings who cannot work and who
shun work; their only form of work is crime, which is an attempt to
reap the fruit of other people's industry) and alcoholism (addicted to
wine, alcoholics, and those sentenced for drunkenness; this also is a
stigma of degeneration: weaklings have recourse to alcohol, because it
gives them an illusion of strength). Furthermore, the majority show,
through crime and prostitution, that they belong to the class of social
parasites.
In regard to the psycho-physical characteristics of juvenile offenders,
Ferriani gives these principal notes:
Nervous 1,250
Habitual liars 3,000
Fond of wine and gluttonous 2,501
Proud of delinquency 2,700
Blasphemers 3,900
Cruel to animals 2,100
Excessive emaciation 1,648
Long hands 1,650
Unreliable workers 2,195
Without interest in life 1,347
Desirous of authority 1,000
Scrofulous 700
Rachitic and syphilitic 500
Vindictive 842
Timid and cowardly 900
Obscene 900
Cruel to parents 700
Cruel to companions 700
And now we come to the most interesting part of all, namely, the notes
taken by teachers where these children went to school.
_Boys._--Age from ten to twelve years. Characteristic notes on 100
children in regard to bad conduct:
Humiliating poorer companions 2
Absolute refusal to obey 4
Corrupting companions 4
Mutilating books of poor companions 2
Spirit of rebellion 1
Malicious and headstrong 1
Resentful of routine 1
Stealing food at expense of companions 6
Abnormally spiteful 4
Impertinent answers 7
Proud of inventing misdeeds 2
Stealing from companions and teacher (school stationary, etc.) 10
Calumniating companions 6
Desire to play the spy 8
Obscene writings in toilet room 2
Obscene writings in copy-books 6
Obscene actions in the school-room 9
Obscene writings on the benches 3
Violence with a weapon (pen-knife) 2
Bullying smaller boys 12
Feigning loss of speech for a month, to avoid reciting lessons 1
Blaspheming 1
Afraid of everything and savagely vindictive 1
Frequently absent from school, to play games of chance 3
Spirit of destruction 1
Spirit of contradiction 1
_Girls._--Age from ten to twelve years. Characteristic notes on 50
children in regard to bad conduct:
Soiling the clothing of their companions 3
Abnormally spiteful 2
Intense envy 4
Frequent absence from school, to play games of chance 4
Tyranny 3
Immoderate vanity 2
Spirit of rebellion 1
Insolent answers 1
Absolute intolerance of supervision 1
Damaging the school furniture 2
Slandering the teacher 4
Slandering school-mates 6
Theft, limited to pens 1
Lascivious love-letters 4
Constantly speaking ill of her mother 1
Attempts to make school-mates unhappy 1
Unkindness toward animals 1
Unkindness toward old persons 1
Unkindness toward small children 1
Obscene writings in the toilet room 1
Harmful anonymous letters 1
Hatred of beautiful things 1
Spirit of contradiction 1
Corrupting companions 1
Thefts in school 1
Mutilating the clothing of companions 1
The prevailing faults among the boys are: theft, obscene actions,
tyranny over the weak; and among the girls: slander, extreme envy and
lascivious love-letters.
If we compare the notes regarding the parents with those relating to
the children, we find a connection amounting to that of cause and
effect. We might almost say that the phenomenon revealed to us in
school through the teachers' notes concerns not so much the pupil
himself as his past history. To keep this sort of record of misconduct,
so damnatory to the pupils in question, would be worse than useless,
if we were unable to trace back their source to the presumable causes
which determined them. There is an intimate relation between the
environment and the products of that environment. If we should read the
notes relating to the children who receive prizes for good conduct, and
who are held up as moral examples, we could trace back and find the
cause of these notes in a favourable family environment; hence, the
qualities which we praise in the child are not a merit peculiar to the
child, but are due to causes, of which the pupil himself is merely the
fortunate epilogue.
And passing from studies taken from works of criminal anthropology to
examples contained in works of pedagogic anthropology (these works all
being based upon the same scientific standards), I am happy to cite a
work which has even earned the praise of Lombroso: _Notes on Infantile
Psycho-physiology_, written by Professor Calcagni.
Notwithstanding that this book of Menotti Calcagni's is inspired by the
most advanced pedagogic conceptions, so that it well deserves to be
cited in its entirety with much profit, I shall avail myself only of
the part which particularly interests me at the present moment. It is
the part containing the data collected and arranged by the author in
a series of tables, in the form of a brief clinical history, of each
pupil in the class studied by the author.
I shall pass over the statistical tables concerning the personal
examination of the pupils (anthropological, physiological, etc.), and
confine myself to just two tables: one in regard to the examination
into the pupil's antecedents (name and surname; day of birth; place of
birth; age of father; age of mother; vocation of father; vocation of
mother; conditions of home environment, hygienic, economic and moral;
conditions of other members of the family; maladies and casualties
incurred by the parents before and after the procreation of the child;
defects and vices of parents, and details regarding their psychic
constitutions; conditions and accidents during pregnancy, birth and
puerperal period; illnesses incurred by the child); the other in
regard to the pupil's previous school record (name and surname; pupils
enrolled at beginning of the year; those transferred to other classes;
those promoted without examination; those promoted after examination;
those permitted a second trial; those not admitted to examination;
those dropped from their class, and for how many different years).
I select from these the notes referring to the children _promoted
without_ _examination_ and those _not admitted to examination_; _i.e._,
the privileged ones before whom an obstacle has been withdrawn which
the majority must surmount before continuing on their path in life: go
forward in peace, you favoured ones! and those who are not even allowed
a chance to overcome the obstacle: turn back, you to whom the path of
other men is closed!
And I read these notes relative to those _promoted without
examination_: "Father shoemaker, Mother dress-maker, home orderly,
frugal and clean; brothers labourers;"--"F. professor of chemistry,
M. housekeeping, condition of environment excellent, brothers
studious;"--"F. assistant engineer, M. keeps house, conditions of
environment good, deaths in family from acute diseases;"--"F. country
tradesman, M. keeps house, conditions of environment excellent, very
religious family;"--"F. man of means, M. housekeeping, conditions of
environment excellent, brothers studious;"--"F. machinist, M. keeps the
house, home somewhat damp because of adjoining garden; much anxiety
on the part of the mother regarding the children, because her first
husband was a consumptive, and the seven children she had by him
all died. Children of second marriage all healthy; but the pupil in
question frequently had attacks of fever;"--"F. cab-driver, M. keeps
house, economic and moral conditions satisfactory;"--"F. antiquarian,
M. keeps house, condition good;"--"F. manager of a lottery office, M.
keeps house, economic conditions of the very best, moral conditions
good," etc.
And here are a few notes on the pupils _not admitted to the
examinations_: "Father itinerant vendor, Mother keeps house, home
exceedingly dirty, utmost indifference regarding the children and their
education. Insufficient nutriment for the mother both before and after
the child's birth;"--"F. cobbler, M. wash-woman, poverty, squalor,
and indifference, dwelling gloomy and cramped;"--"F. mason, M. dead,
dwelling gloomy and unhealthy, through lack of supervision, Giacinto
often runs away from home and goes to play on the banks of the Tiber;
the mother died of tuberculosis; the father is an alcoholic; the child
was brought up by a wet-nurse, etc."
To recapitulate: in the case of children promoted without examination
there is an absolute prevalence of the most favourable social and
biologico-moral conditions, while the opposite holds true of the
children excluded from examinations.
Finally, in my own modest work on children adjudged to be the highest
and the lowest in their classes, I arrived at some very eloquent
conclusions.
In the case of children who stand at the foot of their class,
the prevailing conditions are not only an unhealthy home but an
over-crowded one, with ten or twelve persons sleeping in a single room.
On the contrary, in the case of the children standing at the head
of their class, the homes are for the most part roomy, comfortable,
well-aired and hygienic.
In regard to nutrition, the children who have the lowest standing are
those who go to school without their breakfast and who go from the
school to the street without having had their luncheon. Those who stand
first, on the contrary, bring with them a luncheon that is sufficient
and sometimes over-lavish; and after school, they return home, with the
assurance that food, care and comfort await them.
The parents of these leaders of their class belong nearly all of them
to the liberal professions or the more favoured crafts and trades;
consequently the pupils enjoy a more comfortable and respectable
environment, a higher standard of culture, a mother who can aid them
in their lessons, and who, equally with the father, watches with
solicitous care over her children's education.
The others, the dullest pupils, go at the close of school into the
street, or else--although fortunately very few of them do so--return
directly to the wretchedly cramped quarters that they call home.
Consequently it is not enough to recognise the fact that in school we
have to deal with the more intelligent pupil and the less intelligent,
with the moral and the immoral, the highest and the lowest; these are
effects, the causes of which it is our duty to discover; and that is
what the study of antecedents does for us.
Here begins the far-sighted task of the teacher, who no longer
praises the pupil who is a product of fortunate causes, nor blames
the unfortunate one heavily handicapped by a destiny which is in no
way his fault; but he gives to all an affectionate and enlightened
care, designed to correct and reform the reprobates and raise them to
the level of the chosen few, thus working for the brotherhood and the
amelioration of all mankind, and devoting special attention to those
that need it most.
The study of antecedents is what contributes most to the interpretation
of personality. It is needful, however, that it should be sufficiently
thorough; and to this end a certain order of interrogation should be
followed. Physicians are well acquainted with this order, from the
habit they have acquired of taking the antecedents of the patient in
their clinical practice; but for making biographic charts for schools,
a _guide_ is needed for the use of whoever puts the questions.
Besides, the biographical history is based on different principles
from those of the clinical history (_e.g._, the moral status of the
parents, their degree of culture, etc., which are not taken into
consideration, in treating a patient). Consequently, the blank forms of
biographic charts contain suggestions that are likely to prove helpful
in conducting an inquiry into antecedents. Among such models, I have
selected that of Pastorello, because it is one of the most complete,
and also because it was compiled by an educator (see page 420).
Nevertheless, the inquiry into his antecedents is only a preparation
for the scientific study of the pupil in his present state; a study
which should _follow_ the pupil through his daily life (diaries) and
thus constitute his complete _Biographical History_.
Having collected the antecedent details, we pass on to the objective
anthropological and psychic examination of the pupil: beginning with
the anthropological, which it is more important to secure first; since
the psychic examination will produce better results after a _prolonged
observation of the subject_ (diaries, school records).
In the anthropological examination it is customary to begin by taking
the principal measurements (total stature, sitting stature, weight,
thoracic perimeter, perimeter of the head, and its two maximum
diameters) which furnish the data needed to give a fundamental idea
of the child's physiological constitution and racial type, and to
determine the normality of his growth. Many other measurements may
be taken (spirometry, dynamometry), according to the custom of the
school, and, in private schools, according to the object which the
Principal has in view, in the way of contributions to science. For
instance, in a school for defectives the examinations as to general
sensibility, speech, muscular strength have an importance of the first
order, and equally important is the accurate and minute inspection
of the different organs, for the purpose of discovering possible
malformations. There are various special objects to be attained by
gathering anthropological data, and accordingly every school based upon
modern scientific principles has its own "Biographical Chart" drawn up
according to special forms containing the necessary measurements and
observations, and the examiner has only to follow the directions of
this guide and to fill in the required information obtained from the
individual pupil.
INQUIRY INTO ANTECEDENTS IN PASTORELLO'S BIOGRAPHIC CHART
----------------------------------------------------------------------
General Information Regarding Pupil's Family
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME AND SURNAME OF PARENTS
_Father_.........................................................
_Mother_.........................................................
_What degree of relationship, if any, exists between the parents?_
......................................................................
_At what age did the parents contract marriage?_.................
_How old were the parents at the time of the child's birth?_.....
STATE OF HEALTH
_Father_.........................................................
_Mother_.........................................................
_From what diseases have the relatives of the pupil died?_
......................................................................
_Have there been any predominant_ _diseases in the family?_
......................................................................
EDUCATION
_Father_.........................................................
_Mother_.........................................................
EMPLOYMENT
_Father_.........................................................
_Mother_.........................................................
ANCESTRY
_Father_.........................................................
_Mother_.........................................................
MORAL AND FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE PUPIL'S FAMILY
_Is the family interested in the education of the children?_
......................................................................
FAMILY HABITS, ECCENTRICITIES AND VICES
......................................................................
Here, for instance, is the anthropological form used in the great
orphan asylum in New York:
NEW YORK JUVENILE ASYLUM
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION AND MEASUREMENTS.--_No. of page_
------------------------------------
Date of entrance
Sex
Age
Date of birth
Name
Total stature
Sitting stature
Total spread of arms
Weight
Prehensile strength, right hand
Prehensile strength, left hand
Power of traction
{Antero-posterior diameter
Thorax {Transverse diameter
Maximum circumference of head
Maximum antero-posterior diameter
Maximum transverse diameter
Minimum frontal diameter
Height of head
Inspection: cranium
Face
Eyes
Ears
Gums
Teeth
Palate
Uvula
Strabismus
Limbs
Body
Genitals
Lung
Heart
Special notes
-------------------------
This form has signs of _modernity_: in fact, it concedes the greater
part of the research that is to be made in the first objective
examination to anthropological observations, limiting the observations
of a physiological nature to those of muscular strength--it being well
known that all _functions_ in general, and especially the _psychic_
_functions_, cannot be determined with reliable accuracy except after
repeated and prolonged observations. Furthermore, the modern tendency
in anthropologic research is revealed by the preference given to
measurements of the body in its entirety, giving first place to those
of the _bust_ and _limbs_, from which the important ratio of their
development is obtained (standing and sitting stature, total spread of
the arms), and the _weight_. Furthermore, there is a notable _absence
of measurements of the face_, measurements which it is the modern
tendency to abandon where the subjects of research are children, since
in this case they have no physiological or ethnical importance, because
the face of the child _varies from year to_ _year_, and has no _fixed_
index like that of the cranium. A study of the facial measurements
might be of importance as contributing to a knowledge of the evolution
of the face through successive years; but such knowledge can be
obtained, so far as is needed, from "special studies and researches,"
without making _obligatory_ a form of research that is both troublesome
and dangerous (the application of pointed instruments to the faces of
children). The best method of examining the face is by photographing
the full face and the profile at intervals of one year. Accordingly,
the biographic form used in the "Children's Houses" contains only
questions of an anthropologic nature of importance in relation to
growth (see the form of the Biographic Chart of the "Children's
Houses," page 423).
The greatest importance attaches to the _stature_ and _weight_. Indeed,
while all the required measurements are taken _once a year_ on the
occasion of the child's birthday, the total stature and the weight are
taken once a month upon the day of that month corresponding to the
child's birthday. The numerous other physio-pathological and psychic
notes, the examination in regard to speech, etc., are obtained partly
from the diaries and partly from the physician, according to the
necessities of individual cases.
The photograph should complete the examination of the pupil. The
methods of observation adopted in the "Children's Houses" represent,
I think, the ideal method for the accurate recording of individual
characteristics. Since the pedagogical methods there employed are
themselves founded upon the "spontaneity" of the manifestations of
children, it may be said that they represent the technical and rational
means of proceeding to a psychic examination of the child.
I cannot linger upon this point, because the question deserves a
special investigation; but it must suffice to point out that in order
to render biographic charts a necessary adjunct to the management of
schools, so as to offer a real aid to the teacher and not to have them
mean to her (as happens to-day only too frequently!), "just so much
more work," the immediate utility of which is doubtful, it is essential
that the _pedagogic methods of instruction_ should be changed.
So long as a child is required to perform certain definite acts, he
will reveal nothing of himself beyond responding, in so far as he is
capable, to the requirements of his environment; and any attempt to
make psychological deductions from such response would contain profound
errors.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL FORM
USED IN THE "CHILDREN'S HOUSES," IN ROME AND MILAN
_No._............... _Date of Enrollment_.............
_Name and Surname_..................................... _Age_.........
_Name of Parents_........................... _Age_: _M_......_F_......
_Vocation_............................................................
_Hereditary Antecedents_..............................................
......................................................................
_Personal Antecedents_................................................
......................................................................
ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | | | Cranium
Total | |Thoracic|Essen- | Index | Pon-|-------------------------
stature|Weight|circumf.| tial | of |deral| Cir-|a.-p.|Transv.|Ceph-
| | |stature|stature|index|cumf.|diam.| diam. |alic
| | | | | | | | |index
-------+------+--------+-------+-------+-----+-----+-----+-------+-----
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
_Physical constitution_................................................
_Muscular development_.................................................
_Color of complexion_..................................................
_Color of hair_........................................................
NOTES..................................................................
Nevertheless, the earlier forms of biographic charts, and even the
modern ones _in general use in Italy_ (!) frequently contain minute
requirements for psychic examination in relation to such points as
memory, attention, perception and intelligence.
And even less satisfactory are the requirements in the charts regarding
the examination for _sensibility_--namely, ability to distinguish
colours, sense of touch, smell, etc.; because the pedagogic methods in
vogue in school (and this applies to-day to all our schools) make no
provision for a rational exercise of the senses, nor for instruction
in the nomenclature relating to them. An examination of the senses
for the purposes of the biographic chart should at most be limited to
a test of their _acuteness_, forming an inquiry analogous to that of
_sensibility to pain_. For an inquiry into the power to discriminate
between various sensations ceases to be a simple examination of the
senses, and becomes a combined test of psychic powers and of the
degree of culture attained (the degree to which the senses have been
trained). Furthermore, it is well known that a psychical examination
demands preparation on the part of the person to be examined, complete
repose from all emotion, isolation of the senses, etc., the preparation
depending upon the special research which it is desired to make; all of
which is absolutely opposed to the _aggressiveness_ of the tumultuous
examination conducted by an investigator whose chief aim is to fill
in the blanks upon the biographic charts. The psychic examination of
a pupil is a task to be accomplished slowly, by watching the child's
behaviour, in the course of its _daily life_ under the eye of an
intelligent and trained observer.
Nevertheless, it is sometimes necessary, especially in schools for
defective children, to form at once a comprehensive first impression of
the psychic condition of a given child; it furnishes the observer with
a needed point of departure, and abridges the long and difficult task
of a psychological study of the pupil, to be made in the course of the
ensuing year. In such a case, the biographical form should not contain
such general topics as the following:
Memory,
Sense of place and time,
Judgment,
Moral sense, etc.,
but a series of very simple _questions_ to be put by the examiner
to the pupil, the replies to which must be recorded _accurately_,
without alteration in any manner, but reproducing their incorrectness
of speech, their hesitations, etc. In this way such a form of inquiry
constitutes not only a first psychical examination, but also a first
examination as to defects of speech, which is of much value and
reproduces quite exactly the state of the subject at a given moment.
On the contrary, the sort of results obtained according to the older
method, _e.g._:
_Memory_, poor;
_Intelligence_, sufficient;
_Attention_, easily aroused, etc.;
were practically worthless, especially in absence of any knowledge of
the competence of the person who formulated these judgments.
Here is an example of a series of questions to be used as a psychic
test, prepared by Professor Sante de Sanctis, and included in the
Biographic charts of the Asylum-School for Defective Children at Rome:
1. What is your name?
2. How old are you?
3. What is your mamma's name?
4. Have you any brothers?
5. Have you any sisters?
6. What is your father's business?
7. Is your father (or mother) old or young?
8. At what age is one old?
9. How do you know that a man is old?
10. What is this? (a couch in the corridor).
11. What is it for?
12. What is this? (a table).
13. What is it for?
14. Do you always feel well?
15. Are you hungry?
16. When are you hungry?
17. Do you ever dream at night?
18. What do you dream?
19. What time is it now, more or less?
20. What year is it?
21. What month is it?
22. What season of the year?
23. What day of the month is it?
24. What day of the week?
25. Where do you live?
26. Where are you at the present moment?
27. What are these? (two books or two pictures) and which of the
two is the larger?
28. Which of these three glasses has the most water in it?
29. Which will weigh the most and which the least of the three?
30. How many persons are there in your home?
31. Is your home large or small?
32. How many rooms are there?
33. Whom do you love most?
34. What would you do if (the person named) were hungry?
35. What would you do if he were very sick?
36. Or if he died?
37. Do you love some playmate, or some friend? Why do you love him?
38. Do you hate anyone? Why?
39. Do you know the meaning of right and wrong?
40. Do you know the meaning of rewards and punishments?
Out of all the existing forms of biographic charts I have selected
four in their entirety; two are historical: 1. the first form for the
individual examination of the pupil ever published in any treatise
on pedagogy; and 2. the first form printed in Italy by the city
authorities with the intention of having it introduced into the
elementary schools.
The first of these is the biographic chart proposed by Seguin in his
pedagogic treatise relating to the education of idiots (_Traitement
moral, hygiene, et education_ _des idiots_, 1846); the second is the
one proposed by Sergi for the communal schools of Rome, and printed
by the Commune with the intention (1889), never actually carried out,
of introducing it into the schools; at all events, this is the first
historic document representing an idea twenty years in advance of the
time when the idea itself was destined to begin to be popularised.
Here are the two forms in question:
=Seguin's Form.=--This follows out all of Seguin's pedagogical ideas,
and all of his didactic methods; it is a guide for the physician, and a
minute guide for the teacher who intends to adopt the Seguin methods of
education. Seguin calls his biographic chart a "Monographic Picture,"
and divides it into five paragraphs, the fifth of which deals with the
pupil's antecedents.
MONOGRAPHIC PICTURE (_Seguin_)
I. _Portrait (Objective Morphological Examination)_
Age.
Sex.
Temperament, health.
Illnesses, accessory infirmities.
Detailed configuration of the cranium.
Configuration of the face.
Proportional relation between cranium and face.
Inequality of the two sides of cranium and face.
Hair, skin.
Proportional relation between the trunk and the limbs.
Inequality of the two sides of the trunk and limbs.
General attitude of the body.
Attitude of the head.
Attitude of the trunk.
Attitude of the lower limbs.
Attitude of the upper limbs.
Attitude of the hand and fingers.
Configuration of the organs of speech, and their possible relation
to the organs of generation; dentition.
Configuration of the thorax.
State of the vertebral column.
State of the abdomen.
II. _Physiological Examination_
Activity, general and applied.
Apparent state of the nervous system.
General irritability of the nervous system.
Irritability of special groups of nerves.
Cries, groans, singing, muttering, etc.
The change which certain stimulants such as cold, heat,
electricity, odours, etc., produce upon irritability and
sensibility, general or special.
Probable state of the brain.
Voluntary articular flexions.
Locomotion.
Positions, recumbent, seated, standing, walking, ascending, descending.
Running.
Jumping.
Grasping objects.
Dropping objects.
Catching objects.
Throwing objects.
Ability to dress, eat, etc., without aid.
Probable state of the spinal marrow.
Probable state of the organic nerves.
Probable state of the sensory nerves.
Probable state of the motor nerves.
Difference of action between the sensory nerves and the motor nerves.
Inequality of action of the motor nerves and sensory nerves on the
two sides of the body.
The muscular system, contractibility of muscles, and condition of
sphincter muscles in particular.
Muscular movements.
Voluntary movements.
Automatic movements depending on the condition of the sympathetic nerve.
Automatic movements depending on the state of the central nervous system.
Spasmodic movements.
Coordinated and disassociated movements.
Sense of touch.
Sense of taste.
Sense of smell.
Sense of hearing.
Sense of sight.
Erectility.
The voice, abnormal tones.
Speech.
Assimilative functions.
Unnatural appetites.
Manner of taking food.
Mastication.
Swallowing.
Digestion.
Evacuation of faeces and urine, voluntary or involuntary; other
excretions, saliva, nasal mucus, tears, sebaceous humor, sweat,
perspiration, etc.
Pulse.
Respiration.
Sleep.
III. _Psychic Examination_
Attention.
Sensorial perception.
Intellectual perception.
Deduction.
Coordination.
Inventiveness.
Unrelated memories.
Foresight and forethought.
To what extent are these intellectual operations, when they exist,
applied to concrete phenomena, mixed phenomena (_i.e._, concrete
and abstract) and to ideas of a moral nature?
Are the general ideas of time, space, conventional measurements,
relative value, intrinsic or arbitrary, understood and applied in
actual daily life?
Comparison.
Judgment.
Reflection.
Have the ordinary rudiments, such as the alphabet, reading,
writing, drawing, arithmetic, been taught to the pupil or not, and
can they be taught in his present state?
Have his attitude toward music and mathematics, enjoyment of
singing, irresistible desire to sing, been brought about naturally?
Has he a perception of the physical proportion of bodies, such as
colour, form, dimensions, relations between the parts to form a
whole?
IV. _Examination Regarding Instincts and Sentiments_
Instinct of self-preservation.
Instincts of order, readjustment,
preservation and destruction
of objects.
Aggressiveness, cruelty.
Instinct of assimilation and
possession.
Is the child obedient or
rebellious, respectful or
impertinent, affectionate
or cold, rude or courteous,
grateful, jealous, merry or sad,
proud, vain or indifferent,
courageous or cowardly, timid or
venturesome, circumspect or
thoughtless, credulous or
suspicious?
Has the child a sense of abstract
right and wrong or only in relation
to a small number of acts that
concern himself?
Does the child show spontaneity
an active will--the kind of will
which is the initial cause of all
human actions producing intellectual
or social results?
Has the child only a negative will
associated with instincts and does
he protest energetically against
any extraneous will that tends to
compel the idiot to concern himself
with social or abstract phenomena?
Finally, in what direction and
within what limits has the idiot
passed beyond the boundaries of his
ego in order to enter into physical,
instinctive, intellectual and moral
communication with the phenomena
which surround him?
V. _Etiology_
Origin of father and mother.
Their constitution.
Hereditary diseases.
Place of residence at the time of
the child's conception,
gestation, birth and lactation.
Possible causes of idiocy.
Circumstances worthy of note during
conception.
Circumstances worthy of note during
gestation, delivery, lactation.
Serious illnesses of the child
during the first year.
Infirmities and illnesses from the
first year down to the first
symptoms of idiocy. Progress,
retrogression or stationary state
from the child's birth down to the
time of examination.
If we realise that this model for a biographic chart was proposed
more than one-half a century ago, it makes us marvel at the modern
spirit of its concepts: it actually considers the relation between the
development _of the trunk and of the limbs_, the _mimic_ _attitudes of
the body_, the _constitution_, etc., all of which concepts are foreign
to the studies of the medical clinics from which Seguin must have drawn
his inspiration, since even to the present day the tendency in the
clinics is toward purely analytical investigation, with the exception
of Professor De Giovanni's clinic.
In the model proposed by Sergi, the examination was required to be
made twice: first upon the reception of the pupil, and again at his
departure with the modifications shown below:
BIOGRAPHICAL CHART FOR SCHOOLS (SERGI)
TABLE I.--_Physical Observations_
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On entering school | On leaving school
|
Class Year | Class Year
----------------------------------+-----------------------------------
1. Name. | 1. Name
2. Age. | 2. Age
3. Birthplace. | 3. Birthplace.
4. Parentage (father and mother).| 4. Parentage (father and mother).
5. Vaccination. | 5. Vaccination.
6. Stature. | 6. Stature.
7. Weight. | 7. Weight.
8. Pulmonary capacity. | 8. Pulmonary capacity.
9. Muscular force. | 9. Muscular force.
10. General state of health. |10. General state of health.
11. Past illnesses. |11. Past illnesses.
12. Anomalies, deformities. |12. Anomalies, deformities.
13. Head, horizontal circumference|13. Head, horizontal circumference.
14. Head, maximum length. |14. Head, maximum length.
15. Head, maximum width. |15. Head, maximum width.
16. Cephalic index. |16. Cephalic index.
17. Face, length. |17. Face, length.
18. Face, width. |18. Face, width.
19. Facial index. |19. Facial index.
20. Hair, colour, form. |20. Hair, colour, form.
21. Eyes, colour. |21. Eyes, colour.
22. Skin, complexion. |22. Skin, complexion.
23. Incidental remarks. |23. Incidental remarks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOGRAPHICAL CHART FOR SCHOOLS (SERGI)
TABLE II.--_Psychological Observations_
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On entering school | On leaving school
|
Class Year | Class Year
----------------------------------+-----------------------------------
1. Sight, acuteness, far- or | 1. Sight, acuteness, far- or
near-sighted. | near-sighted.
2. Sense of colour, normal, | 2. Sense of colour, normal,
defective. | defective.
3. Hearing, acuteness. | 3. Hearing, acuteness.
4. Sense of touch, acuteness. | 4. Sense of touch, acuteness.
5. Intelligence, quick or slow. | 5. Intelligence, quick or slow.
6. Perception, rapid or gradual. | 6. Perception, rapid or gradual.
7. Memory, tenacious or short. | 7. Memory, tenacious or short.
8. Attention, easily aroused or | 8. Attention, easily aroused or
not. | not.
9. Speech, rapid or slow. | 9. Attention, how long sustained.
10. Speech, pronunciation perfect |10. Attention, progressive
or imperfect. | weariness.
11. Speech, stammering. |11. Speech, rapid or slow.
12. Emotional sensibility, dull |12. Speech, pronunciation perfect
or easily assumed. | or imperfect.
13. Conduct and character at home.|13. Speech, stammering.
14. Affection for parents. |14. Emotional sensibility, dull or
15. Taciturnity or loquacity. | easily assumed.
16. Preferences during free hours.|15. Conduct and character in school.
17. Caprices, eccentricities. |16. Friendships in school.
18. Unusual incidental |17. Taciturnity or loquacity.
occurrences. |18. Preference during free hours.
|19. Caprices, eccentricities.
|20. Unusual incidental occurrences.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The two other biographic charts that deserve specific mention are,
unlike the above, charts in actual use, since they have both been
recently introduced into practical service.
The first, which I reproduce in entirety, is the one adopted by the
Commune of Bologna for its schools; the second is the one introduced,
for the purpose of studying the inmates, into the government
reformatories, of Italy, that have recently been transformed into
educational institutions, into which a number of important reforms have
been introduced, through the influence of scientific pedagogy--among
others, these biographical charts and the anthropological researches
connected with them.
Biographic chart for elementary schools:
DISTRICT OF _Year_ 191--
_Class_
COMMUNE OF BOLOGNA
OFFICE X.--HYGIENE
_Biographic Chart of the Pupil_
_Name and Surname_...............................................
_Age_............................................................
_Place of birth and residence_...................................
_Parents' Place of birth and vocation_...........................
THE TEACHER.
* * * * *