Bentley Teacher | Frances

Frances Bentley’s impact on the South Australian educational system is enduring.

Bentley rejected the idea that all seven-year-olds were ready to read at the same time. Instead, she developed a system of diagnostic observations. For the first two weeks of every school year, she did not teach. She observed. She watched which children gravitated toward puzzles, which toward stories, and which toward physical movement. frances bentley teacher

Bentley reportedly wept with joy. That teacher, whose name is lost to history, was a true "Frances Bentley teacher." which toward stories