The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

12
The Relation of the Supervisor to
the Health of the Pupils
By DR. ANITA S. DOWELL, Assistant to the President, Teachers College, Towson, Maryland.
A talk given at the National Handwriting Council in St. Louis
The topic, The Relation of the Supervisor
to the Health of Pupils, has
several aspects which we might consider.
I have chosen two which seem
to me especially important. These
are:
1. The supervisor's influence upon
the school program.
2. The opportunity for teachers of
handwriting to deal with one
phase of pupil health that has
been frequently neglected by
teachers and even by health
specialists in the grades.
Supervisor's Duties
It is with considerable trepidation
that I discuss supervision in any way
with you who are so skilled in the
art. I have great respect for the
knowledge that a supervisor must
have of her own subject and its related
fields and for the tact and good
judgment which the supei'visor must
exercise. The extent of the supervisor's
activities impressed me when
I was glancing through some recent
texts on the subject of supervision
not long ago. In one of these books
I found twenty-six different activities
listed as the duties of supervisors.
This number would not be at
all impressive if these were simple,
detailed duties. Instead they were
generalizations of types of activities
which included a great number of
simple acts. In another text published
about a year ago, the duties
of supervisors, pertinent to the topics
discussed, were placed at the beginning
of chapters. They were far too
numerous to count in order to state
the complete number.
However, a few of the supervisor's
duties, whether she is a general or a
special supervisor call to mind how
her duties ramify the whole program
of teaching. Among a few are the
supervisor aids in diagnosing pupil
needs and helps in planning for the
growth of pupils; the supervisor
helps the teacher measure the results
of her activities; she assists the
teacher in long distance planning;
she points the way for teacher
growth; she ascertains and brings
about needed changes in organization
and administration that will facilitate
more effective teaching; and so
on, with the many more that you are
able to add. These few duties listed
suggest, first, that the responsibility
of the supervisor is great; and, second,
that she is expected to discover
the needs of children and guide the
teacher in satisfying these needs.
Leader's Influence
Wherever there is responsibility,
there is some power. Though tiie
teacher and supei-visor cooperate, still
the supervisor is expected to take her
place as an authority in her own field.
During the efforts in Germany to
establish a republic under President
Von Hindenberg, I visited the free
schools in Hamburg. In their endeavor
to prepare children for democratic
living, these free Hamburg
schools allowed children to choose
their teachers, their subjects, and
what they wished to do while they
were in the classroom. Though most
of the pupils in each classroom
seemed interested in the same subject,
I was impressed with the variety
of interests shown in the different
rooms. In one, mathematics was
the favorite subject; in another, excellent,
indeed, amazing work was
being done in art, literature, and
A person who enters the
business world unable to
write legibly and rapidly, is
needlessly handicapped.
composition. It was later possible
to confer with the teacher of the
class that was making such fine
achievement in art and literature.
To my questions for an explanation
of why his children were so interested
in art and literature, and why
other classes were as deeply engrossed
in other subjects, he shook
his head as if he had no answer, and
said, "The children choose what they
wish to do, you know." I learned,
however, that he was no mean artist
and had achieved some renown as a
writer. Likewise, the teacher of the
class that enjoyed spending most of
its time on mathematics was especially
fond of that subject himself.
So I felt able to answer my own
question. Children become interested
in whatever the teacher likes
most or thinks is important for them.
The teachers and the children of the
Hamburg schools may be considered
analagous to supervisors and their
corps of teachers. Whatever super-
visors emphasize, teachers attempt
to accomplish. The results may not
always be gratifying to the supervisor,
I admit, but an earnest teacher
gives time and effort to ideas that
an enthusiastic supervisor has passed
on to her. Not so many years ago
science was not taught in most of
the elementary schools of Maryland.
There was at that time no course of
study in the subject. We knew,
when our students went out of the
college, that they would teach science,
if the supervisor were interested
in the subject. That seemed
assured.
Diagnosing and Prescribing
A supervisor's duty, to aid in
diagnosing pupil needs and in planning
for the satisfaction of these
needs, puts upon her the necessity of
recognizing not only the needs of
children in general, but of all the
children under her supervision. The
needs of children may be grouped as
intellectual, emotional, and physical.
Accompanying the intellectual needs
may be found the physical and emotional
which have a curious way of
presenting themselves in any subject
and at any time throughout the
school day. The physical and many
of the emotional needs of children
make up the subject matter of Health
Education. Like the Cheshire cat in
Alice in Wonderland, health needs
have a sudden way of appearing.
There may be need for ventilation,
for good lighting, for improving posture,
for relieving fatigue or excitement,
all as you know arising during
the handwriting period. The
teacher, in the midst of things, is
not always so aware of the health
needs of pupils as a supervisor can
be. Therefore, the supervisor, interested
in the health of pupils, can
awaken a teacher to not only the importance
of promoting the health of
pupils but to the close relation of
the health of pupils and their ability
to do efficient work.
Lighting Important in Handwriting
Much has been accomplished in the
field of health education during the
past twenty years. Out of the chaos
of enthusiasm, sincere effort and yet
lack of training in health education
after the World War, there have
evolved a greater consideration of
health needs in the construction and
furnishing of school buildings, more
adequate health service and excellent
teaching of health practices in many