Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Some definitions of Conductive Education

I have seen today that Andrew Sutton has posted on his blog a piece about definitions of Conductive Education. Recently I have been investigating this very thing and compiled a list of definitions from various dictionaries which I had hoped to publish later, but will now do so here. 

As you will see some of the definitions are very brief and are often re-produced in various places.

Those that I have found are listed below:

Free dictionary online
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

conductive education
n
(Social Science / Education) an educational system, developed in Hungary by András Petö, in which teachers (conductors) teach children and adults with motor disorders to function independently, by guiding them to attain their own goals in their own way



Oxford dictionaries

Conductive education  noun
[mass noun] British  

a system of training for people with motor disorders, especially children, which aims to reduce their dependence on artificial aids.


wordreference.com
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/conductive%20education

conductive education n[oun]
an educational system, developed in Hungary by András Petö, in which teachers (conductors) teach children and adults with motor disorders to function independently, by guiding them to attain their own goals in their own way.

Collins English Dictionary

noun  
an educational system, developed in Hungary by András Petö, in which teachers ( conductors ) teach children and adults with motor disorders to function independently, by guiding them to attain their own goals in their own way


Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary
http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/conductive-education

a treatment for people with cerebral palsy that was developed in Hungary and that involves special physical exercises and learning methods


Dict.cc (german english dictionary)
http://www.dict.cc/english-german/conductive+education+CE+%5BPet%C5%91's+system%5D.html

conductive education  [Pető's system]
Petö-Therapie / Pető-Therapie {f} [konduktive Förderung nach Pető]

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductive_education

Conductive Education,or CE, is an educational system that has been specifically developed for children and adults who have motor disorders of neurological origin such as cerebral palsy. It is based on the premise that a person who has a motor disorder may not only have a medical condition requiring treatment, but may often have a major problem in learning that requires special education. The spread of CE throughout the world has probably in large part been due to the advocacy of families who appear to have lost confidence in the existing systems of treatment. These families strongly regard CE as a potentially effective response to their needs. Because of the successes and interest in Conductive Education, other scholars have begun to examine the CE approach. Research studies of the efficiency of conductive education have been inconclusive, however.


International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation
http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/en/article/46/

This has quite a long piece, too long to reproduce here, but it concludes with:

To sum up, conductive education is a system that is established on the basis of scientific medical theory. It performs an active and effective function in treating children with cerebral palsy. The theory and techniques of conductive education comply with the rules of physical and mental development of disabled children and should be disseminated and promoted. In line with the continuing development of a civilized society, conductive education should be recognized, accepted, used and developed by more and more people. This will spur on the healthy development of the rehabilitation industry of disabled children. At the same time, we should acknowledge that there is a large gap between the ideals and practice of children's rehabilitation and that the road is very long.


Make of these what you will. 

Perhaps a new statement is needed that not only explains exactly what Conductive Education is (clearly and succinctly, if that is possible) but also includes links to sources with more detailed and accurate information.

Anybody willing to have a go?

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