Effects of play therapy techniques used in a slow learner classroom

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Authors
Reynolds, Iris J.
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Issue Date
1970
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Thesis (M.A.)
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Abstract

Since children attending school in a slow learner classroom have tended to regard themselves as unworthy individuals with no real place in the school setting, it became important to determine if this attitude could be changed through practical methods with regular classroom activities, and if so, whether such methods would have any effect upon academic performance.The characteristic behavior of educable mentally retarded children has shown that their problems are likely to be more intense than those found in a regular classroom. Aggressiveness, withdrawal, hyperactivity, and apathy along with other intensified traits have often been factors in the personality of these children. They have had many negative experiences with school. Because off their inability to compete in the regular classroom, they have often a perceived the world as rejecting and even hostile. As a result, they have developed defenses that could interfere with learning and with establishing satisfying relationships with their peers and with adults significant in their school environment. The question of whether mental deficiency has been a result or a cause of emotional disturbance has not been answered adequately but it has appeared possible that these conditions become a perpetual circle with each accenting the other. If discouraging, degrading past experiences have been an inhibiting influence on educational progress, it becomes important to find practical ways to reverse this effect before it is possible to achieve anything with the special program.Play therapy techniques were selected as the method for this study for two reasons. First of all, the practicality of this activity had a strong appeal, It can be practiced successfully in a corner of the school room by a regular classroom teacher. It can be introduced into almost any slow learner classroom without major expenditures of money or changes in the physical structure of the school, the second reason was that play therapy seemed to have a strong potential influence upon the development of independence and initiative which appeared to be an area of deficiency in the personality of slow learners. The indications were that the unique contributions of group play therapy techniques can bring about a new balance in the structure of the personality of the slow learner that Would be particularly valuable in facilitating personal, social, and educational growth,Using this rationale as a basis for development, it was proposed that group play therapy techniques be used with the children in the slow learner classroom as part of the regular classroom activities for a six-month period and that evaluation be limited to the program's effect upon IQ scores, reading achievement, and self concept to determine the value of the process.

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