It has been made clear that there are certain kinds of information
that should be given to the newcomers, with reference, for example, to
the change in the legal relationships within the family group, the new
responsibilities of the husband and father, and the rights of wife and
children to support. Attention has been called to the need of giving
instruction regarding sanitary and hygienic practices, with reference
to the new money values, and to the new conditions under which
articles of household use are to be obtained, to the requirements in
food and clothing, particularly for the children, in the new locality
as compared with that from which the family comes. And, as has been
suggested, above all there is always the question of teaching English.
Sometimes the necessary facts can be conveyed briefly and immediately.
Sometimes patient individual instruction will be necessary. Sometimes
group or class instruction will be the proper device. It is highly
important, then, that these various forms of instruction be developed
into a technique. Courses of instruction to be given according to
these different methods to those for whom a particular method is
appropriate must be organized, and a body of teachers developed.
The question then arises as to the extent to which this task has been
undertaken and the agencies that have undertaken it. As to the first
great body of material, it may be said to have been ignored. Only when
one is summoned to the Juvenile Court of Domestic Relations, or when
one learns of another's being summoned, is the body of family law
called to the attention of the group. In English, in cooking, and
child care, some agencies have attempted instruction. They are the
public school, organizations like the Immigrants' Protective League,
the State Immigration Commission, the social settlement, recreation
centers of various kinds, the Young Women's Christian Association in
its International Institutes. The possibilities in the work of these
agencies are numerous.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
The public school touches the foreign-born family at two points:
First, in the compulsory education of the children, and second, in
the opportunities that it offers to the adult members of the family to
learn English, to fit themselves for citizenship, and to adjust their
lives to the new community.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account