April 9, 1970

Outside Pressures and Frustrations

I have been teaching in the Warwick School System for the past ten years, and as a classroom teacher, a parent of six children who have attended or are presently attending Warwick schools, I feel Mrs. Friedel has been very unfair in her criticism. Each year I teach the very brightest children in the school, the average, the slowest, and also those children who have reading disabilities. Through my observations of children who have learning disabilities, I feel that these youngsters lack the concentration to learn because outside pressures and frustrations overwhelm them.

In following the statements made by Mrs. Friedel, it is not yet clear to me what she means by a gifted child. Does she mean a child with an I.Q. above 136, working two or three years above grade level, or does she mean a child who has a special talent or a strong motivation in one particular area? My experience with most children with high I.Q's is that they are more mature than average youngsters, have a greater curiosity and more enthusiasm than average for all learning.

I also feel that the statement Mrs. Friedel made about creative teachers being discriminated against is false. I have always been encouraged by my department head and other administrators when I undertook creative activities in the classroom. My experience in working on curriculum commitees, participating in summer workshops: taking in-service courses, and as a parent, has proved to me that Warwlck has more than the average share of creative teachers The greatest problem Warwick has which hinders creativity in the classroom, is the inadequate facilities for learning.

However, in spite of this problem, there is creative teaching and learning going on presently in the Warwick schools. To mention a few examples: A group of students formed a company sold shares, built a boat, sold it and returned the shares with dividends; another group of students formed a Creative Writing Club, published a magazine of their work, and sponsored a short story contest which was judged by members of the Journal-Bulletin staff; another group of students as a language experience wrote their own plays (including dialect),designed and made the scenery and costumes, performed for fellow classmates and were evaluated by their classmates; another group of students acted out and taped their impressions of a courtroom trial and then visited the court house to see the actual happenings---then later a comparison of the two; presently an elementary school has an after school class in creative dramatics; there are classes in choral reading, band and orchestra and art.

The above mentioned are only a few examples. I'm sure there are hun- dreds of other classes which would qualify as creative learning and teaching.

page-2

I feel it is unfair of anyone to criticize any institutions of society without having done a thorough investigation. Mrs. Friedel mentions twelve children. What about the other thousands of children who meet success in the Warwick schools? I am not saying that we have an Utopia in Warwick. There is always room for improvement, but constant curriculum revision takes place, as well as pilot programs each year.

It seems to me that the critics of society today find it very easy to take a negative attitude and tear down what already exists. How- ever, they do not leave any blueprints or concrete basis for rebuilding.

Mary E. Selwyn Warwick