The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

I of
I
I modern
' ing
places. In one respect, however,
little has been done. This is true
of eye health, a matter which seems
especially important to those who
teach handwriting.
For the teacher, or supervisor, eye
health may be said to include:
1. knowledge of the principles of
good lighting
2. knowledge of the growth and
development of the eyes of children
3. some understanding of common
visual difficulties and their effect
upon children.
From scientific studies three fundamentals
of good lighting have been
established. These are:
1. an adequate amount of light for
close work
2. diffusion of light so there are
no spots of light and shadow
within the field of vision
3. the prevention of glare.
Dr. Harry H. Levy in his study
a large number of schools makes
the statement that "even in the most
schools, conditions of lightare
far from perfect".
Results Influenced by Intensity
of Light
Studies on the progress of children
working under different intensities
of light show a relation between the
amount of illumination and efficiency
in school work. One of these experiments
was conducted during the
school year 1935-1936 by the Board of
Education of Cambridge, Mass., in
cooperation with the Cambridge
Electric Light Companies. Two
carefully balanced groups of children
were selected. One was placed in a
well lighted room; the other remained
in its poorly lighted room. At the
end of the experimental period the
children in the well lighted room had
gained ten percent in achievement,
or educational age, and twenty-eight
percent in reading age over the children
in the poorly lighted room.
Drs. Rand and Ferree, who at the
time of their experiments were in
charge of the Wilmer Ophthalmological
Laboratories of the Johns
Hopkins Medical School, found that
the human eye works more efficiently
in daylight than in artificial light.
Color, which is so common in artificial
light, affects the visibility of
objects and is more fatiguing.
Drs. Rand and Ferree also experimented
on the amount of light required
for efficient work, whether
this be daylight or not. They found
that the normal eye could distinguish
words, that is read, when type is that
commonly used in the smaller headings
in newspapers in bright direct
moonlight, the measurement of
which by light meter is one-tenth of
one foot candle meter. But the accuracy
and speed in reading increase
The Educator 13
rapidly up to ten foot candle and
somewhat beyond. After that the
cui-ve for efficiency in reading flattens
out. High intensities cause discomfort
and even pain. From these
findings and those of other scientists,
it has been determined that the minimum
amount of light in all parts of
the classroom where children are
using their eyes for close work,
should be not less than 10 foot candles.
Fifteen foot candles help those
children who have that very prevalent
defect, astigmatism, to secure a
clearer vision.
Since the eyes adjust readily to
different intensities of light, guessing
at the amount of light on pupil's
desks is very faulty. There are on
the market today light meters which
are more easily read than those
which first came out and they require
no attention to keep them in
condition and are much less expensive
then the earlier ones. Children
in the fourth grade can read these
newer meters.
What business man would con-
sider an application for a position
written in scrawly, hardly
intelligible handwriting?
—The Boston Post
Things AflFecting Quantity of Light
There are many factors which may
affect the amount of light in a room
of even good architectural design.
James E. Ives, whose studies in illumination
appeared in the United
States Public Health Reports, in
April 1935, states that doubling the
height of a window will increase the
amount of light on the horizontal on
the opposite side of the room by
three, that is, to put this in simpler
language, the upper quarter of a
window admits considerably more
light than any other quarter of it.
Covering over the upper part of a
window by shades or Venetian blinds
which usually do not run up to the
top of the window can cut down the
amount of light on desks on the opposite
side of the room to much less
than the minimum of ten foot candles
needed for all pupils. When
shades are fastened at the top of the
window frames, a teacher's sense of
tidiness may cause her to draw them
down evenly over the upper part of
the window. Habits of children, such
as piling books on desks, dirty windows
and sitting positions in reference
to the window, all decrease the
amount of light on desks in an astonishing
manner. Children are amazed,
when they are measuring the amount
of light on their own desks to see
how many foot candles of light they
lose when the child sitting next
bends forward. I need not remind
you that if a teacher learns to know
the lighting of her room, she needs
to measure the intensity on both
bright and dark days.
Accommodating the Left-handed
Pupil
Furniture in most classrooms is
arranged for right-handed children.
You are very familiar, I know, with
the shadow cast by the hand when a
left-handed child writes in such
rooms. His writing or ciphering is
in the darker area. In theory, we
know that these left-handed children
ought to have as satisfactory conditions
for work as those who are
right-handed. There are certain obstacles
which make it difficult to arrange
a room for left-handed children,
especially when the room is
crowded, yet I have seen one teacher
take care of the seating of as many
as six left-handed children in her
classroom.
Sharp Contrasts of Light
Studies on lighting have shown
that there should not be sharp contrasts
in light within the field of
vision, which produce muscular fatigue.
Probably this idea is best
explained by describing how a low
shaded lamp lights a desk or table.
Such a lamp usually casts a bright
spot on the page or paper before
the individual with darkness surrounding.
The eyes are constantly
adjusting to the bright light and to
the surrounding dimness. Though
the brightest light should fall upon
the work on which the eyes are focused,
there should be less difference
in these intensities than that to
which many of us have been accustomed.
A shaded lamp that casts
light completely over desk prevents
this. The amount of difference advised
by research workers has been
given as not more than one foot candle
meter. The left-handed child, who
sits as right-handed children do for
writing, is bothered by the shadow of
his hand and the light surrounding
area.
Prevent Glare
We are very conscious of the need
for the third criterion for good lighting,
the prevention of glare; for all
of us have suffered from the effects
of glare at some time. Glare has
been defined as any bright light within
the field of vision. Spots of sunshine
on desks, on the floor, glass
doors of bookcases, shiny desks, all
constitute sources of glare, if they
reflect light into pupils' eyes. The
usual classroom today has its rows
of desks running across the room,
perpendicular to the windows. Children
who sit in the rear rows always
see the windows more or less. 'To
try to read, whether at one's seat or
from the board, or to write, while
looking into the light from a window,
has been found to be fatiguing and
at times harmful. This can be remedied
by turning the seats so that
the light comes over the shoulders
of the children and so that pupils
naturally look away from the win-