Nykonenko N.V. - Elizabeth E. Farrell’s Contribution to the Establishment of the US Special Education

Contact: Nykonenko Nataliia, PhD of pedagogical sciences, associate professor of pedagogy and special education department in Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Dnipro, Ukraine. Academic interests: peculiarities of special education organization and special education teachers’ preparation in the world, sexual education of schoolchildren with intellectual disabilities.

 The article examines the contribution of Elizabeth E. Farrell, her pedagogical and civic activity on the creation of special education in the United States in its current state. Her unique concept was to educate underachieving children gathered in one ungraded class in the public schools. As the first ungraded class teacher educating students with special educational needs, she first came up with the idea that the most complex and largest school system in the country or even in the world with hundreds of thousands of children, rigid curriculums, and its mass methods, could be modified to meet the needs of the students. In this order she proposed to use individualized instruction. One ungraded class she created led to many others, building up a network of teachers experiencing the same problems.   As the school system’s first inspector of the Department of Ungraded Classes E. Farrell contributed in every way to changing the paradigm of the city school system, its teaching methods, and the general direction of educational policy. She first raised the issue of enhancing the role of a special education teacher and personally oversaw the activities of local training courses. In 1915 E. Farrell founded ‘Ungraded’ magazine to promote special education and encourage practitioners to share their work experiences. As a founding member of the New York State Psychological Association, E. Farrell established the basis for a special education professional network still in existence. In 1922, Elizabeth E. Farrell founded the Council for Exceptional Children and became its first president. The aim of the professional organization was to enhance the status, voice and leverage of special education teachers across the country. Today, the Council for Exceptional Children is the largest association of special education teachers in the world. 

Key words: Elizabeth E. Farrell, history of US special education, Council for Exceptional Children, special education teacher training, special education.