MARGARET BANCROFT AS AN EDUCATION PIONEER

MARGARET BANCROFT AS AN EDUCATION PIONEER

Most of the people who have made it in life describe education as the key to success though some people believe in luck and inheritance. This is because it provides learners with knowledge and skills to social life. Almost a century ago, people believed in either formal or informal education which were experienced in different parts of the world basing their argument that only the mentally fit were the only people who were able to access education. Perhaps, they were proven wrong by an intelligent brave lady called Margaret Bancroft who believed that everybody deserved education whether they are of physically, mentally fitness or not. She was the pioneer of special education proving to the world that children with intellectual and development disabilities were also human beings, therefore, having a right to education (Murphy, 2006).

Harvey and Rebecca Bancroft bore, the famous special education activist, Margaret Bancroft in the year 1854 in Philadelphia in the United States (Murphy, 2006). After pursuing her education in Philadelphia Normal School she later becomes a teacher in the same town. She was so dedicated to education since she was willing to pass knowledge to others. Moreover, Margaret was so devoted to her work, mostly educating children, and she dreamed of instilling skills and knowledge to the children with disabilities since she termed them equal to the other normal kids.

In addition, she was very determined in her dream that she made a sacrifice of resigning her current job as a teacher to fulfill her dream. She felt that the children with disabilities were abandoned by the government by leaving them under the care of state institutions whose conditions were inhumane instead of providing them with special schools with trained educators and learning materials where they could learn comfortably.

According to Willard, (1931) in 1883, after she left her teaching position, which hurt many members of the board, she founded Haddonfield Bancroft Training School which accommodated multiply disabled children making her a pioneer in the special education. The institution was aimed at developing innovative ways to teach developmentally disabled children. Margaret’s vision had come to a reality and her efforts valued artistic development, personal hygiene, proper nutrition and daily prayers (Norwich, 1996).

Several factors instigated Margaret to come up with the ideology of special education in the United States. These factors were not only social, political but also economical. She had a good understanding and knowledge of these factors due to the fact that she had learned and researched more when she was still a grade five teacher (Willard, 1931). She made herself conversant with the social world and the political environment of the state that she knew all the barriers she would meet on her journey towards her dreams. The following paragraphs intensively discuss these factors.

The need for independence was one of the major factors that promoted Margaret to educate children with special needs (Friend, 2002). She saw that even if the children were being taken to the ill government institutions they grew up always depending on their parents and the society at large. That meant that they were given inferior skills which had a very little impact on their lives. Moreover, their self-sense of the importance of independence was very low. Little was being done in the governmental institutions to motivate the children that they deserved better regardless of their disabilities. These children had low self-esteem and could not believe in their self anymore. Margaret knew that when she would start a disability school she would ensure that all the children would be given compulsory tactics on how to cope with the social life smoothly with little or no guidance (Powell, 2015). These skills would include personal hygiene principles like brushing teeth, taking a bath, washing clothes and also keeping short nails and hair. Moreover, she would instill knowledge on how to depend on themselves when doing the simple chore of washing dishes, cleaning the house and compound and managing time effectively. This would greatly help them in their journey towards self-independence.

Consequently, the government had abandoned taking care of children with disabilities something which made Margaret take a swift action from her career (Friend, 2002). The government support and help had changed drastically showing less concern about the needs of these children. Besides, the government had left in the helpless hands of the understaffed institution which had no facilities nor food to feed the children. At that moment, the government had prioritized on supporting the first world war rather than the needs of the disabled children who were also her citizens. A lot of finances were engaged in making and buying firearms, ammunition, space warships and upgraded air crafts (Norwich, 1996). The government had almost withdrawn her support in her institutions which offered services to these children. The was a great depression in the facilities since the government had changed her structure and framework of funding these institutions. The disabled children were suffering since they lacked proper nutrition and healthcare. These children had acquired brain injuries and neurological conditions and they needed quick, effective and efficient healthcare from specialized doctors. Instead, these doctors were sent to treat the military personnel in the war zones leaving the mentally challenged more vulnerable to prolonged ailing.

Furthermore, there was need of public awareness of the needs of the challenged children in the society (Norwich, 1996). Margaret believed that the entire world had to be made aware that special education was necessary to the children living with disabilities. The normal education that was being offered in the United States and all the countries globally was not fit for them since the children in those schools had an advantage of mental stability. She wanted to the ambassador of special education and make all the necessary educational organizations and institutions know that these children also deserved better educational support by being provided special schools with skilled teachers who were knowledgeable in the field of special education like she was. Majority of the challenged children were being neglected not only by the governmental institutions and the government itself but also by the society. They were regarded as outcast something which was very mean according to Margaret.

In the same context, Margaret wanted to boost the peer interaction among the children with disabilities and the society. Basing her argument on the research she had conducted, she noticed that students who were mentally challenged experienced difficulties with interacting with their peers since they lacked proper communication skills. She believed that effective interaction with their peers depended on their levels of openness when interacting (Powell, 2015). Although, these children did not know that other peers had physical, emotional and cognitive differences. She was willing to offers supportive environmental and social tactics to the students who needed special help and assist them with all the knowledge and power she had to ensure that they interacted the same way the other children who were mentally fit did. Margaret was so determined to improve the listening skills of these children and help them with body language also (Friend, 2002). This would greatly help the peers with these challenges gain more self-esteem and improve their communication with everybody in the society.

The rate of the increase of children born with mental challenges was alarming in the United States. Margaret was not only concerned about giving the children with special education needs proper special education but also coming up with solutions on how the number of children born with these disabilities could be reduced. She had done her research and found out that many women had introduced themselves into abusing drugs such as cocaine to relieve their stress and also for fun. Every year more babies were being born with fetal alcohol syndrome because the drugs pregnant mothers used to take greatly affected the brain development of the infant. This was the cause of the rapid increase in the rate of children who were mentally challenged. Therefore, proper education was required for all mothers and children who abused these drugs.

Margaret’s strengths in pioneering special education for the mentally disabled has born fruits and impacted positively on the social lives of many in the society. His efforts led to the realization on the importance of special education to other children living with other disabilities like autism, visual and auditory impairment, disturbance in emotions, disability in learning, orthopedic impairment, impairment in speech, and non-categorical early childhood impairment (Ainscow, 1994). Her effort has not only influenced short-term impacts but also long-term impacts.

Her effort in special education has assisted in building confidence and self-esteem to the individuals with special needs. This confidence has boosted the realization of oneself hence making them comfortable in their social environment (Ainscow, 1994). Studies have revealed that individuals who are challenged and have undergone through special education programs have shown a lot of confidence when dealing with activities of social environments than those who have not. Progress is seen to the extent of the children with disabilities realizing their talents and inner skills (Turnbull, 1995). For example, people with autism learn how to control their emotions, fears, depression and their problems with anxiety with the help of effective special education.

Additionally, this education has manifested greatly decrease in social stigma. A few decades ago, people with special education need were segregated from the society because they were seen as incapable of doing anything. Moreover, they were regarded as parasites since they lacked skills in almost every aspect of life ranging from personal hygiene to matters of relating to the society (Sandall, 2002). They depended much to their families that’s why they opted to send them to the government institutions which lacked basic amenities. Nowadays, the rate of social stigma has reduced since they are included in many of the social activities. A large mass of people has been made aware by different governmental and no- governmental organizations that these people are like them and they need a lot of support from them rather than abandoning them (Turnbull, 1995).

Moreover, the accessibility of special education has impacted much on the personal lives of individuals living with disabilities. It has helped them focus more on their challenges in order to find an inner solution on how to cope with the situation. During their tutoring in different institutions, they are given ample opportunities to be more conversant with their challenges hence coming up with new ideas to comprehend and conceptualize them. They are tutored and made aware of their challenges and the ways they can live with them. Furthermore, they are given intense training in coping up with these challenges too.

This kind of learning has resulted in finding the best educators who understand individual disabilities. Majority of the tutors have the common tactics of approaching different disabilities rather than specific ones (Sandall, 2002). Some of the individuals living with disabilities require more than just the common skills since their disabilities are complex. Therefore, it is essential for the children with certain disabilities to match up with tutors who have already overcome the challenges by living positively with the disabilities.

Special education has contributed in preparing students for lifelong success in their lives. They are given the skills to maneuver and go past major challenges in their lives. Just like any other person, they are not limited to have certain personal goals and professional excellence. This is because they are given skills to develop the best possible understanding of their learning disabilities and needs.

Pursuing this further, special education program has led to improved academic excellence in the field of study.  This is promoted by smaller classroom setting which has the best tutor-student ratio (Ainscow, 1994). This helps in controlling and monitoring behavioral issues of individual students. This gives a better understanding where the tutor can decide with the best strategies to use on each individual. The ability to understand every child gears towards improving each child individual targets. The staff offer specific training which is specifically suited to children with disabilities offering restraining techniques to them. These skills help the individuals to be able to compete with the others who are not challenged academically. For instance, some students from special education have been seen performing even better than students from normal schools. Some schools offer additional specialist provision where the specialists spend time in the classrooms giving them benefits of special education and inclusive learning (Ainscow, 1994).

Margaret’s dream of boosting peer interaction has come to pass. In today’s world, students living with disabilities easily integrate with other people very conveniently socially. They create long-lasting friendships, which was impossible in the past, giving them more skills to relate with others which can be used later on in their lives. They are able to have them as their role models rather than having role models in their homogeneous classrooms where every student has a disability. This is very advantageous since they are able to emulate some social skills which some students in the special schools lack. By living in a normal exclusive environment, the students are exposed to non-disabled people and interacting with them help them in gaining more skills to interact in a normal manner.

In conclusion, Margaret Bancroft did an amazing achievement in pioneering the special education for students who greatly needed that type of education. She manifested to all education pioneers the fruits of patience and determination in the education sector. This is because she only rented a house in New Jersey to start Haddonfield Bancroft Training School with only one student (Willard, 1931). Her efforts in the realization of special education to disabled individuals have seen a lot of benefits in the current world of education. The social stigma which was a major problem in the past has been abolished by the creation of special education awareness.

Moreover, her efforts have attracted the attention of governmental and non-governmental organizations to promote special education programs. Teachers are now receiving advanced education on how to handle individuals who are challenged in schools. The world will never run out of people with disabilities hence we should embrace them and provide the necessary support they require. Furthermore, we should show them affection and love for them to feel accepted in the society. It is very overwhelming that the government has put a lot of interest in helping these people to the extent of waving off their tax when it comes to their point of earning. Many more of us should emulate the steps of Margaret Bancroft and promote her work.

References

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