Loading...
The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1964-10-29, Page 2OVER 1,000 CARDS ot.tiottrOoge91:rigt9iloliroiv woornorscornio doN SELECT NO EDITORIALS VESTARTICI,,E. Okay, but let's have a policy Opportunity class needed By J. G. BURROW PUBLIC 5CI-1001, INSPECTOR It is a well-known fact that the educational programmes, of the regular classreems may present too difficult a challenge to at least a few of the children who find themselves surrounded by those of average and above, average intelligence, What place is there for them to learn at a speed more in keeping with their ownpersonal abilities? The "Opportunity Class- room" has been established in many schools in order to provide an efficient, effective, learning environment for pupils who cannot profit from the kind of large-group instructional techniques employed by most of our teachers. When considering the pos- sible candidates for an oppor- tunity class we do not neces- sarily limit our investigations to those who are mentally re- tarded, for this term in itself is often misleading, and re- presents a wide-variance in the degree of retardedness. We do, however, give the educable retarded child first eonsideratipn, that is, those whose measured intelligence rating is below that of the "slow learning" pupil who would re, ceive secondary recommend- ation. Many of the "slow learn- ers" if given special help and extra instruction! are able to resume their place in the re- gular stream of educational programming. In smaller school systems educable retarded, slow learn- ing, and educationa.11y retarded pupils may be placed in one plass. In larger systems ' mi- ens are usually grouped ac- cording to chronological age. In order to differentiate be- tween the "educable retarded", the '<slow learner", and the ',educationally retarded", the first two types may be con- sidered as those pupils who re- quire a curruculum that is dif- ferent from that prepared for the regular grades in order to acquire the optimum degree of competence in the skills, know- ledge and attitudes necessary for self-sufficient living. The ',educationally retard- ONE MAN'S OPINION by John C. Boyne What 7s o.f. more concern is the lack of instruction Willert was given by the committee on What they expect :him to do as acting recreation director, The discussion around the. table made it quite evident that members of RAP are not even. agreed on 'what his duties include as arena manager, and the situation becomes even more grave with no discussion as to the new duties dumped on top.. It would not 'appear to be logical that. Willert will be expected to carry on the full duties vacated by Don Qravett, at least not if he is expected to carry on his full-time winter position at the arena. One—or more possibly both—of the jobs will have to be slightly .curtailed, and it Should not be up to Willert, to decide how this will be done, as this will leave him open to criticism if persons feel either task is being neglected to any extent. The responsibility of the entire pro- gram falls on RAP and it must be their de- cision as to drawing up his complete work- . ing arrangement for both position's. It is up to them to define his tasks clearly and to assume full responsibility for the allocation of his time and efforts in both lines of en- deavour, In fairness to Willert,; this must be done in1rnediately. And at the same time, it is of necessity that the length of his trial period in this dual capacity be clearly set. Arena manager Alvin Willert's PPiotrnent as acting recreation director -4111P 44 no. surprise:. The move had been rumored for some time as several members. of RAP bad intimated they felt one man could handle both jobs. Members of council, four of whom had previously gone on record ,as saying they felt the tewll required a full-time rec- reation director, were all silent on the news of the appointment, thereby giving apparent approval. This newspaper too is' willing to give RAP an opportunity to see if one 'man can. handle both jobs satisfactorily, as it will re- sult in a saving to the community if both postitions can be maintained as before with only one man being paid. However, we do suggest the appoint- meant was made in a rather poor manner And is unfair to Willert in some respects. In the first place, he wasn't even questioned at the RAP meeting as to wheth- er he wanted the job, or if he felt he could handle it. He was more or less just told -the job was now his, and due to the fact RAP serves as his 'boss as arena manager as well, there possibly wasn't much else he could do but accept the new duties. This may be excusable on the sup- position some members of RAP had already approached Willert on the question of whether or not he would try and handle both jobs during a trial period. ToAE OUR eaRFienDS GEMEWiVeS te ChiLDRQN FoNdMiciPAS DalinOGRcisiTAS DevoTedSisTeRs fforae MbeRS HaRiwoRDO Ili iSbAillIS MemBEISpfthe MEWS iiiThePAW GC_Ifielfatirte-SS 11ARBRONed N THEWS SWeet NiEC S 8 N. Nve) S A moral problem Joe won't make George do it (The following is a hypothetical conver- sation between Joseph P. Civic and John Care Less. While it's hypothetical, it unfortunately is often all too true.) Joe: See where there's four members resigned from council, John. Think maybe you'll offer your name this year, or maybe you're more interested in the public school board or the PUC? John: Not a chance! Business is pretty good these days and it keeps me going, to say nothing of holding down that office at the club and having to curl every Tuesday night. Joe: Well, I'm about in the same boat you know, but I figure I should take my turn in civic administration. After all, you can't expect the other fellow to do it all the time. John: That may be, but you'd have to drop your post as secretary of the club. And on top of that, you have to spend a lot of time listening to taxpayers' complaints and attending committee meetings. Joe: Oh, it's not that much work. And I guess I can stand a bit of criticism once in awhile. After all, I guess I've done my share of complaining in the past and this will give me a good chance to see the work involved. John: You know, Joe, a lot of people feel it affects your business if you get on council and don't do things some people want you to. Joe: That may be, but customers who are that small in their thinking aren't too val- uable anyway. And besides, unless you have a progressive council that initiates 'action to better the community, it's not very attractive to industry and we could lose a lot of future business. John: I still think you and I do our share of work in the community and I don't see why I should even consider running for a public office. Joe: Well, as I intimated before, civic administration is the most important job there is in the community. A great many things we do hinge on good local government. John: Nonsense, the government tells you what to do and what not to do. Joe: That's ridiculous! Look at that new trailer factory we have at the north end. If council and the PUC hadn't agreed to put We SEVD OIAR HMTIEST WiS18 FoR WolcdeWL SPENDID MNNIFENT GICTRIoUS GRAND UrXR,rassRIS MERRY CM§Tri ed!' on the other hand, Is pupil who is having severe problems with regular class- room instruction for reasons other than limited intellectual abty. These ptipils often score on a level with the average or higher on an individual intelr ligence test. °Mimes, the contributing In- ters in such cases may be phy- sical, emotional, social, ex- tended periods of absence from school, or exposure to inade- quate teaching techniques. The opportunity class then, provides an environment for growth so broad and flexible that the ex- ceptional child may have an opportunity to discover and de- velop his abilities to the great- est degree. Broadly speaking, these ob- jectives may be considered to be the development of: 1. Skills in the basic aca- demic subjects that will prove useful and beneficial in present and future living, 2. General skills for future occupational competence. 3. Adequate habits of health and hygiene. 4. Emotional security andin- dependence. 5. Useful leisure-time ac- tivities. 6. The ability to become well adjusted and contributary mem- bers of a family and the com- munity. As can be plainly seen, these objectives are no different than the goals we strive to achieve with all pupils. The main dif- ference is that with this special group we must proceed at not only a different speed, but from a more individualistic ap- proach, taking more strongly into account, background, native ability and emotional response and attitudes. Are there many such children in our local systems of edu- cation? Yes, there are. A simple way of calculating the number of children who would, without question, profit from special help, and who represent the above-defined groups, would be to count the actual number of classrooms. There would be at least one such pupil in every room. This means in my inspector- ate alone, a small portion of Huron and Lambton Counties, I could be certain of having 100 children who should be given such consideration. In rural communities, setting up such a classroom, is doubly difficult. It can be one, how- ever, with the complete co- operation of the various boards who become interested and in- volved. Ideally, a room should be used that is within the con- fines of a large school. Isolation or segregation is not advisable if at all avoid- able. Though when our choice of accommodation is limited, we must use what is at hand. Coincidentally, the 'Osborne Township School Area Board has offered to retain one of their rural school buildings for this purpose, if there is any sound positive indication of in- terest on the part of parents and school boards in this vi- cinity. The need is obvious, the op- portunity present, the neces- sary action is required. In the U.S. a group of scien- tists and teachers recently sent the following request to Wash- ington, "The government should undertake an unqualified com- mitment to provide every in- dividual and every family with an adequate income as a matter of course". The simple point of econo- mics is that purchasing power must be available to buy the goods produced by an automated productive system. In a small town rural com- munity this sounds like stupid heresy. But it's good economics and even better social philoso- phy. We are beginning to see that each family should receive a share of our national abun- dance. Labour always gets a blast, from the farmer. But my last ministry was in a working class district in Victoria—from a practical look at both sides the farmer is away ahead— how many workers have an invest- ment of $20-40,000? I knew no worker in Victoria with that kind of investment! Personally I find witch-bait- ing of unions a little much. After all this country knows what it's like to produce food in abundance which no one can afford to buy, however low the price. Our society was so mis- managed that we had ten years of that abusrd situation. To my mind, and I must add, to the mind of a majority of ob- servers, labour, management and government all have an equally significant role to play in grappling with solutions for what may well be the most thorny economic and social problem of our time. It doesn't help to throw stones at any one segment of the tri- angle. in the services, we never would have had it. And I see where they took advantage of that Municipal Works Assistance program and plan to install another sewer line, a couple of drains and better water service to the north end. You know, they put that sewer past my place this year and I don't have to worry about that darned old septic tank any more. And now I understand they're planning to put a permanent surface on the street. That will cut the dust down considerably and it means I won't have to paint my house so often. John: They do that in every commu- nity, regardless of 'ho's on council. Joe: No they don't. There still are some backward communities, and by the same to- ken we're still behind some too. And if you sit back and let "George" do it, we may find out that "George" isn't the type of progres- sive leader we need for this community. John: But you have to take time off work and go around and look •at streets and drains and the rest of it. Joe: Not any more. They have a works superintendent who looks after all that. Coun- cil just sets the policy and he carries it through and administers it. John: Well, it sounds as though you're going to run for council. Joe: Oh, I don't know. Perhaps wait and see if there's an opening on the school board. There's another important position, as the future of the whole nation rests with the training our students receive. It's a job any of us should consider taking a turn at. By the way, John, will you come to the nominating meeting and nominate me for a position if I decide to run. John: I'm sorry, but that's a Friday night and I enjoy those good movies on TV that night. And anyway, what's the sense of going to listen to the discussion at the nomi- nation. Joe: Well, for one thing it shows that you are at least interested enough to hear the reports of the past year's work. And it indicates you think enough of the men who have been on council and on other boards to hear their reports. In fact, when you boil it right down, it's about the least you can do for your community. Hallowe'en is for ghosts and goblins our catalogue collection . • . NOT hoodlums and destructive vandals! :::;,•;,.•'• • , Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 50 YEARS AGO Mr. Robert Luker, who pur- chased Mr. Milo Snell's farm on the London Road South, has moved in with his family. Mr. Earl Parsons, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Parsons of the London Road South; is another Exeter boy to enlist for active service and is train- ing at Ottawa, Mr. T. M. Newell has closed up his open shed in connection with the Commercial Hotel and converted it into a garage arid ice house. Mr. Joseph Bawden, an Exe- ter Old Boy, iS among the can- didates for election in North Battleford. NOW ON VIEW Acereterlrinies-ilitsocate 25 YEARS AGO Miss Irene VanCamp, nurse- in-training at Victoriallospital, London, spent Thursday and Friday at her home here. The twelfth annual meeting of the grandmothers of the com- munity will be held at the home of Mrs. H. Kyle, Andrew St. under the auspices of Exeter WI Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday evening about 70 neighbors and friends met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Al- fred Hicks to do honor to Mr. and Mrs. Garnet Hicks, who were recently married. The Exeter School RedCross unit Was formally organised, President is Miss Margaret Tape; vice-president, Miss Ha- zel Woodall; secretary, Pat. ricia Russell; treasurer, Jack MoiSe. SERVING CANADA'S' BEST FARMLAND Mernberi C.W.N.A., d.C.N.R. and ABe Call us — we'll bring the collection to your home PLIELISNIERS: J. M. Soothed% R. M. Southcott EDITOR: William Batten EARLY ORDERING ADVISABLE Published Etch Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. Authorized ai Secend, Class Mail, Pest Office Dip'', Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash I wish to dispute certain statements made by the editor of this paper in an editorial entitled, "Cut Their Own Throats". The editor stated, "It is be- coming rather apparent that one of the greatest hazards to the future of the common labourer is the labour union . . . La- bour unions are forcing man- agement into automation by their excessive demands and automation is quickly replacing many employees every day throughout the nation". "There can be no doubt but what unions have served a tre- mendously important task in our society but there can also be no doubt but what they are reaching a stage where they are no longer necessary and in fact are doing serious damage in many instances". Labour doesn't have to force effective management into adopting automated procedures which will produce more ef- ficiently and thus create greater profits. When it becomes eco- nomically profitable to auto- mate any section of the pro- duction line it is not manage- ment's concern to worry about what will happen to the men who are replaced. They will automate regard- less of what labour does. Man- agement is not primarily con- cerned about the welfare of the worker; it is primarily con- cerned about profits. To say that unions are no longer necessary is to make an absurd statement. They were never more necessary than they are right now. Almost everyone sees ma- chines replacing men. This in- evitably means that more men will be available than are need- ed. Someone has to press for fewer hours, longer vacations and earlier retirement simply to spread the available work around. So the U.A.W. is pressing primarily for, and I quote, artier retirement, higher pensions, full costs of life, sick- ness and accident insurande". This is to assure that more workers will be required. It is to assure that workers will have the purchasing power to buy the goods produced by automation. Machines don't buy the products of automation— people do and if they're to do so they must be provided with the necessary purchasing power to do so, At the moment labour unions and governments have a vitally important task to perform, They have to provide a "social cushion" to ease the effect of automation replacing men with machines-rand it may well mean having a fireman on a diesel! He's better there than on relief! I comment on this issue be- cause i believe this issue in- volves a new understanding of moral and Social responsibility. So it is that Labour Minister Macs ashen recently'told a con- ference of industrial relations experts that to Spread employ- ment in an era of automation legislation may be needed to limit overtime, provide longer annual vadationS, More statu- tory holidays and earlier re- tirement. This is predisely What unions are pushing fell One Alberta professor of po. Hildal science has gone so far as to recommend a standard of living alloWalice fern ever y single family. Paid-in-Advance Circulation, Setiteitibee 30; 1963, telg 'SUBSCRIPTION RATES;' Canada $4.00 Pie Year; USA $3.00 Order imoltaxitate 10 YEARS AGO Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Lov4 Were elected WorthYniatten and Worthy patron of Exeter Chapter OES. Rebell Turnbull, chief phOte• grapher at the London Free Press, addressed Exeter Kinser Men en preSS night Oetober 21 With the installation of a new ftitna.ed in Trivitt Memorial Church this week the pastor, A. D. Knox, announced that, ter the 'first time in 10 yearS, the church will remain opeh during the Winter. 15 YEARS AGO The $5,800 cottage won by Jack Drysdale of Hensall at the CNE arrived in Heiman Friday night. The men from the firm which donated the cot- tage arrived to erect the build- ing on the bowling green. Mr. Drysdale donated it to the Hen- sall Chamber of Commerce as a community hallo Rev. F. E. Clysdale of Thorn- dale, a pastor of Main Street United Church 25 years ago preached anniversary services- Sunday. Mk. and MrS. 3. T. Allison Of Thames Road ;Sunday ob. served the 59th anniversary Of their Wedding. 424 MAN gOUTH 255.1J31 woaaleciawow SY swavm!sua was 010,V)il73iistqk:Wil