A Different Kind of School Summary 

 

The narrator is saying that he had heard a lot about Miss Beam's school, but that he had a chance to see it last week.

When the narrator arrived at the school, there was none other than a two-year-old girl. His eyes were covered with a bandage and a four-year-old boy was guiding him through the flower-beds. She stopped as if she had come to ask who had come. It was as if he explained to the visitors in detail about him. Then they passed.

As per the narrator's expectations, Miss Beam was middle-aged, dominating, yet friendly and understanding. His hair was turning brown. She was fat and was probably trying to make a domestic child feel comfortable. The author questioned him about the simple methods used for teaching.

His answer was that in his school he simply taught by helping to learn simple spelling, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and writing skills. The rest of the learning took place while reading them and having interesting conversations, during which they had to sit quietly without stopping. Other than that, there were really no other lessons.

Furthermore, she stated that the real purpose of this school was to teach thoughtfulness to students, to make them understandably kind and concerned with others and to awaken them to their duties. Then, they asked me to look out of the window.

The narrator told what he was able to see - beautiful grounds, many cheerful children. He was saddened to notice some children who were not very healthy and active. After coming in, he saw a girl, who had trouble with her eyes. Then, he saw two more with the same type of disability. He also saw a girl with a crutch, who was watching other children play. Although he was lame.

Miss Beam laughed and explained that he was not lame, rather it was her lame day. Others are also not blind, but are celebrating their blind day. She laughed again at my astonishing appearance.

Subsequently, he explained that his children appreciate, accept and understand misfortune with the same mind as if they have made such activities an essential part of their system. Every word, every child must observe a blind day, a lame day, a deaf day, an injured day, and a dumb day. They are blindfolded on a blind day and they promise that day that they do not peep at all and this is done overnight so that they wake up like the blind and seek their help. It is the duty of other children to help and guide them. In this way both the blind and the helpful learn a lot of things.

Miss Beam further said that even a very carefree child learns to be responsible at the end of the day by this type of play.

That blind day was the worst but according to some children the dumb day was the hardest because mouths cannot be silenced. The children had to use their will power in that case. He then took her to the garden so that she could see the children and their feelings for themselves.

Miss Beam takes the narrated to the banded girls and leaves them after introducing them.

The narrator asks the girl if she has ever tried to look outside. The girl eagerly replied that it would be a hoax. But from this experience he never realized that being blind was bad. She could not see anything and at every step there was a fear of being hit by something. It was a comfort to just sit down.

He further asked if his helpers were kind. Their response was positive but according to them the intensity of help and care was low. She will be a better assistant during her turn. According to his statement, people who had experienced blindness became better helpers. Since they were able to understand their situation. The inability to see was full of horror and fear. She wished she could try it. Then, he asked her if he could show her the way and help her get anywhere.

He replied in approval and suggested going for a walk. She also asked him to tell her about those things, she said that she would be filled with happiness as the day ends. He went on to say that even half of the bad days would be worse than the blind ones. In her opinion, other things were fun like having one leg tied up and one arm tied after jumping on a support, yet it was annoying because it was difficult to eat without any help. She said that she would not mind being deaf for a day but being really blind scared her. It distracts her mind from the fear that she will get hurt.

The narrator told her that they were in the playground and walking towards the house. Miss Beam was walking up and down the garden with a tall girl. The little girl called the narrator and asked what dress the girl wore? He explained to her the details of the dress: a blue cotton skirt and a pink blouse. He inquired about the color of her hair. And knowing the light color of her hair, she inferred her to be a Milli-head girl. The narrator tells her that an old man was tying roses. He replied that he was Peter - a 100-year-old gardener. Then a girl with curly red hair crossed over Baisakhi, stating that she was Anita.

The narrator felt that he became more thoughtful and sensitive to disability issues and did not want to leave the place, but had to leave. Miss Beam proudly stated that the system of her school was so special and unique that the audience feels the same.