| District of | Year 191— | |
| Class | ||
| COMMUNE OF BOLOGNA Office X.—Hygiene Biographic Chart of the Pupil | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name and Surname | ||
| Age | ||
| Place of birth and residence | ||
| Parents' Place of birth and vocation | ||
| The Teacher. | ||
| State of skin, of the subcutaneous tissue, the muscles, the lymphatic glands | Illnesses incurred during the school year | |
| Head | horizontal circumference | |
| maximum width | ||
| maximum length | ||
| Cephalic index | Total number of absences | |
| Face | height | |
| width | ||
| Facial index | Number of absences on account of illness | |
| Hair | colour | |
| form | ||
| Eyes | keenness of sight | Profit derived from instruction |
| hypermetropia | ||
| myopia | ||
| colour sense | ||
| colour of iris | Conduct and character in school | |
| Hearing, acuteness | ||
| Teeth | form | Affection toward parents and school-mates |
| number decayed | ||
| number missing | ||
| Anomalies of development | Special observations | |
| Weight of body | at the beginning, | |
| at the end of the year | ||
| Total spread of arms | ||
| Stature | ||
| Pulmonary capacity | ||
| The Physician | the Master | |
The biographic chart of the reformatories is among the most complete; nevertheless, it is based upon antiquated methods for the study of the individual, including, for instance, the facial index and ignoring that of the stature; and limiting the psychic examination to abstract notes (reflection, attention, etc.). It constitutes, however, an anthropological record, for it follows the child throughout his whole residence in the reformatory.
What is called, in the chart in question, the moral account, corresponds to our third subdivision in biographic histories, in so far as it represents a summary of the daily records. Under this head mention is made of the moral balance, and the notes tell us that it is founded upon "punishments" and "rewards." In so far as they treat of disciplining children, these notes are not to be taken as a model; they are evidently a relic of antiquated educative methods that have survived amid the efforts of a new scientific movement. There is no mention made of medical treatment bestowed upon the children, who may very often owe their so-called moral anomalies to a pathological condition which must frequently be aggravated by punishments. It is well known that many normal children have periods of agitation which is manifested by the most various kinds of action (impulsiveness, sexual excesses, rebellion), followed by periods of calm during which the child exhibits the opposite characteristics (industriousness, obedience, etc.). The biographic chart is quite likely to show a record of punishments and rewards corresponding to these contrasted periods; and in this respect it follows antiquated pedagogic methods, which are precisely what need to be reformed under the light of science.
An illustration of this is contained in the biographic history of an idiot boy in the asylum of the Bicêtre, a report of which is given below: the periodic anomalies of character in the boy should be noticed. Many epileptic children do not have convulsions, but exhibit instead anomalies of character which become permanent and are naturally aggravated by fatigue and punishment; and the great majority of such children pass eventually into reformatories.
In the forms customarily used for biographic charts, there is liberal provision for daily notes. Accordingly, in the biographic chart of the child in question there are a number of blank pages on which casual notes have been entered (diary). Every fact deserving of notice has been entered; facts of a physio-pathological nature, such as illnesses, strength, endurance in running, appetite, outbursts of anger without cause; school-notes regarding the progress attained by the child in school, especially when he has overcome serious difficulties, correction of incidental defects of speech, etc., and notes of a psycho-moral nature regarding acts committed by the child, tending to show the state of his feelings.
The master has a general register which may be compared to the daily entry book used in book-keeping, and in which all the notes of the day are entered. Days and even months frequently pass without any entry being made in regard to some particular child. From this general register the master later draws up individual summaries which are then transcribed into the corresponding biographic history of each child.
Once in so many years all the measurements and observations are repeated in their entirety (e.g., at the most important periods of growth with especial study of the epoch of puberty). When the child is definitely discharged from the school, a general summary is drawn up; in such a case the biographic chart represents that individual's own personal history; a human and social document of the highest interest to anyone who wishes to know himself, and continue his own self-education! It might serve as a useful guide to a man of intelligence.
These registers and biographic charts may be compared to the record of points and the report cards that are in use to-day in the schools. Even the report cards which are obtained through a fatiguing process of averages represent a summary of notes taken every day by the teacher (although not every day for every pupil). But the report card is of no practical use to the man who wishes to draw up a faithful record of the education he has received that will serve to guide him through life.
Since there do not yet exist any complete biographic histories relating to normal children, I shall reproduce one of an idiot boy who was received into the great Paris hospital for defectives; this history is interesting because it is the result of the methods of Séguin who was the founder of the anthropological movement in pedagogy; it would be still more interesting if we could offer the complete history of a normal man or of a wayward boy redeemed by education. But let us hope for this in the near future!