TEACH democracy in education: education for domecr IN THIS ISSUE o¢°¢ Legislative Report Selma M. Borchardt A Glance at Pension Legislation Florence Rood Essentials of a Sound Tenure Law ’. Dr. Abraham Lefkowitz Citizenship and the Schools Professor Charles E. Merriam The Return to Representative Government Senator Bronson M. Cutting The Teacher as a Citizen Elizabeth Eastman An Experiment in Accelerating Assimilation Maude E. Aiten Teacher Leadership in Defense of Civil Liberty A. J. Muste The Teacher Orients Himself E. E. Schwarztrauber OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHE em i dot E ‘d Ne ae foe eet. RG ER a “YOUR JOB and YOUR PAY" A Picture of the World in Which We Work By KATHERINE H. 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Mitchell, Manager NEW YORK CITY THE MEANING OF FREEDOM This much-discussed topic in education wil be fully treated in the December, 1931, issue of PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION MONG the contributors are, William Heard Kilpatrick, Teachars Col! lege; Joshua Lieberman, editor of ‘Pioneer Youth"; Hughes Mearns, New York University; Laura Zirbes, Ohio State University; S. A. Courtis, University of Michigan; Mrs. Josephine Duveneck, Peninsula Schoo! of Creative Education, San Francisco; Elsa Euland, Carson College, Pennsylvania. You will not want to miss this unusual number, nor the many features PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION is issued from October to May, inclusive Mrs. Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen, Ojai Valley School, California: in 1932 of practical, stimulating benefit. a magazine which has won widespread recognition in the field of liberal education. A subscription entitles you to membership in the Progressive Education Association. Note the special offer in the coupon attached below for your convenience. 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Questionnaire The AMERICAN TEACHER sincerely desires to be of maximum service to its readers, and to this end earnestly solicits your answers to the following ques- tionnaire. Such other criticisms and suggestions as you may make will be highly appreciated. We trust through your cooperation to be able to produce a magazine which will be of value to its individual readers and to the organization it repre- sents. What type of articles seem to you of greatest value? (Mark order of value 1, 2, 3, etc.) Organization Promotion...... TET Ae Te Educational Methods... Economic Problems Social Problems.............. splat aca ienpistahanieiigaidi Book and Magazine Reviews............-....0.00-20.eeeeecce ee Oe Pa icin icnacsecsattensinien EE ee Re een ee Foreign News..................--.----- General News.......................--.-- beiasctisanedaaos What articles published this year or last have been of especial interest to you? What articles published this year or last seem to you of little value? like? Of what features of: make-up or arrangement do you disapprove? THE AMERICAN TEACHER, 506 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois. LL ——— — Ve Ke REOB rw HONESTY, AND,TRUTH | \ Ya); LIBERTY: OF senaaumamal See DEMOCRACY: IN-EDUCATION-EDUCATIONIN DEMOCRACY | THE AMERICAN TEACHER OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS Editor Lucie WaRING ALLEN DECEMBER, 1931 Vor. XVI No. 3 Table of Contents PAGE REPORT OF LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE.......... Selma M. Borchardt 5 A GLANCE AT PENSION LEGISLATION.........------00-----0-- Florence Rood 7 ESSENTIALS OF A SOUND TENURE Law, Selma M. Borchardt, Abraham Lefkowitz 8 CITIZENSHIP AND THE SCHOOLS...........-------------- Charles E. Merriam 9 THE RETURN TO REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, Senator Bronson M. Cutting 10 THE TEACHER AS A CITIZEN............-...--00ec0e-eeeeeeees Elizabeth Eastman 12 AN EXPERIMENT IN ACCELERATING ASSIMILATION, Maude E. Aiton 13 TEACHERS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES.............------+--00000eceeeeeeeeees A. J. Muste 14 THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE............------cc-eceeceosee-00e ..Dr. Henry R. Linville 15 a 16 THE TEACHER ORIENTS HIMSELP...............----- E. E. Schwarztrauber 18 Report oF A. F. or L. EDUCATION COMMITTEE...........---ccc0--e--eeeseeeeees 20 SomME TENDENCIES IN EDUCATIONAL MAGAZINES........ Nell Peterson 22 ELE eR mee ee NN LT Le TU en renee 23 EE IE OE LI EET eT Tee TED 25 PN a EN OT Lee Oe 28 LT OT EN a 32 EC ON ee a ee CS 32 Office of Publication 312 Southern Bldg., Washington, D. C. Editorial Office DUBLISHED monthly except August and September by a the American Federation of Teachers, 1319 F Street, a UBSCRIPTION $2.00 for the year—Foreign $2.20— N. W., Washington, D. C. Entered as second class Single copies, 25c. At the time of expiration, a bill will _ matter October 27, 1926, at the post office of Washington, » C., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for wailing at special rate of postage provided for in Sec. 1108, Act of Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Nov. 8, 1926. be found in the copy. Subscribers are requested to give prompt notice of changes of address. Remittances should be made in postal money-order, express order, draft, stamps or check. 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois. a or 4 i NT) Ae RO Ng = ‘ An attractive suitable and inexpensive Christmas gift of lasting beauty consisting of the following pictures: The Washington Monument The White House Library of Congress The Lincoln Memorial The Capitol The New Commerce Building United States Soldiers Home First Division Memorial Golsmtes Momestel Peunteln National Cathedral of St. Peter Skyline from Meridian Hill Po lg ARTISTIC reproductions of the original pencil drawings that have appeared in the Washington Star and which, because of their outstanding merit have been selected by the American Federation of Arts for their traveling exhi- bition. The drawings are suitable for framing. De- signed for use in the classroom (descriptions on the back of each print) living room or denand will make ideal gifts atalowcost. Size 6”x7'\4”. 20 ‘SKETCHES - OF IMPRESSIVE:BEAUTY IN - THE - NATIONAL CAPITAL 4 /Himmelheber) Park The Japanese Cherry Blossoms Mount Vernon Connecticut Ave. from Colum- McPherson Square bia Road , F Street Rock Creek Park $10 Postpaid The Francis Scott Key Bridge The Water Front . \ Enclosed $ .......... for..........Sets “OUR WASHINGTON” , (CE at $ 1.- each postpaid \ ED I csscsisnieiinipiccenenliiaisinsenichinsinieieiinihanioeiitininwnasasninitiniann P.O. Box 243 1255 - 25TH STREET N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. = x a > ance: Sf, — 9 “; RSy--> = —— AFL — DECEMBER, 19381 REPORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE Fifteenth Annual Convention American Federation of Teachers HE LAST SESSION of Congress was a short session. This means that all legislation which was not pleasing to those who formulate the legislative program was not allowed to come up. It means also, fortunately, that some undesirable legislation failed of passage. A short session is at best, however, a negative session. During the last session no work was done formally on the bill to create a Federal Department of Education with a secretary in the President’s cabinet. The bill will undoubtedly be reintro- duced next year. I recommend that we reafirm our position in favor of a Federal Department of Education for research, and that we scrutinize the phraseology of any bill introduced, so that there be no language therein which would directly or indirectly grant to the Federal Government any power to administer the educational affairs of the states ; that state autonomy in edu- cational administration be securely safeguarded. Pending the establishment of a Fed- eral Department of Education to con- duct research in all fields and phases of education, we should seek to secure lor the United States Office of Edu- cation increased appropriations to en- able it to carry on its work properly. | recommend that we seek particularly to have the necessary funds appropri- ated to enable the United States Office of Education to make extensive studies im teacher load, size of classes, extra- curricula activities, and classroom teachers’ salaries as distinguished from aminstrators’ salaries. The ratification of the child labor amendment by the legislature of the ‘tate of Colorado last winter revives ’ hope that this amendment may be ratified. You will recall that when the amendment was first submitted there were those—some through con- "ction, some through hyprocrisy—who ‘aid that in a few years the states Selma M. Borchardt would raise their own basic standards without any move on the part of the l‘ederal Government. That was eight BorCH ARDI Setma M. Legislative Representative American lederation of Teachers years ago. And now, during a period of widespread unemployment, when adults can’t even find work, we find your children legally at work in many of our states! May we all rekindle our fervor, and double our efforts, so that all states may follow those which have ratified the amendment! For the American Federation of Teachers the Child Labor Amendment must remain on its active program, demanding our continuous active attention until it be ratified. The death of Congressman William C. Hammer of North Carolina, our friend, and a man big enough to dare to champion any cause, however un- popular, if he deemed it just and right his death left us without a champion in the House for our illiterary bill. We had introduced, it will be recalled, a bill which sought to give outright to the states (no dollar-matching scheme ) funds to enable them to combat illit- eracy. Such a measure is_ sorely needed, for the states which are the poorest are the ones in which there is the greatest illiteracy. The efforts emanating from Washington have thus far been well intended, presumably, but ridiculously sentimental. A well- planned, scientific, truly social pro- cedure is necessary. The bill we have prepared makes an excellent start in this direction. Senator George, of Georgia, will reintroduce this bill for us in the Senate, and it will be rein- troduced into the House also. I recommend that we reaffirm our support of Federal aid to the states to combat illiteracy, making sure that the administration of this fund be left to the states, on the principle of guaran- teeing to all persons an equitable op- portunity to share therein, and that we call on the American Federation of Labor to support us in our efforts. During the last year five states passed statutes (in one, Indiana, the Governor vetoed the bill) outlawing the yellow dog contract. Before our Federal Con- gress there was, and there will be again, an anti-injunction bill. The ex- act form and phraseology of this bill is as yet unknown. We will, of course, join with our fellow trade unionists in giving our fullest and best efforts to helping secure the early enactment of such legislation, so basic a guarantee of our fundamental liberties. We deplore the defeat of the Wag- ner Unemployment Bill, through the presidential veto. | recommend that we reaffirm our support of the safe and sound principle embodied in the Wag- ner Bill—Federal supervision for the organization and maintenance of Fed- eral employment agencies. We deplore the failure of Congress to re-enact the Baby Bill. | recommend that we reaffirm our support of federal legislation with ade- quate appropriations for the promotion of rural health work, and for the pro- motion of maternity and child hygiene, and that we again ask that the admin- istratition of the maternity and infancy welfare work be left in the children’s bureau of the Department of Labor. A highly meritorious bill which has thus far had but scant attention is Con- gressman lLaGuardia’s bill which would authorize the calling of a con- ference of the official representatives of all the states to consider a means whereby the several states may more nearly establish similar minima in so- cial legislation. As Mr. LaGuardia points out, the “better” states which seek to protect and enhance the social welfare of their people are penalized, the more unsocial states “profiting” in comparison, by permitting human ex- ploitation, and thereby attracting the unscrupulous unsocial interests. I recommend that we endorse the principle of this bill. Periodically there have sprung up in this country movements based on fear. Our present hangover of postwar hys- teria is particularly alarming; for this time the fear has manifested itself in attempts of federal and state legisla- tion. Statute crystallized fears are a grave menace. The disregard for the Bill of Rights, the numerous attempts at censorship, the all too often inhuman treatment of the foreigner in our midst are alarming signals, serious indications of our need to remain on guard to pre- serve the fundamental principles of the American Constitution. We must continue our fight, vigor- ously, against any attack on our civil liberties. And this fight demands our unfaltering attention. Censorship of all kinds, sought through legislation instead of through local police ordi- nances established through the courts of law, must be fought. Postal, tariff, moving picture, radio, and forms of federal censorship have had and must continue to have our active opposition. Last year we went on record as op- posed to alien registration, a most un- American form of espionage which was sought by some in this country. The alien of today, the citizen of to- morrow, needs our sympathetic inter- est. We, the teachers, are particularly charged with making him realize that this land which to our forefathers was a haven of peace and opportunity holds to them a promise. Likewise we must seek to afford them a full and rich opportunity to become an integral part of this country. We deplore the at- tempts to deport men and women be- cause of their participation in indus- trial disputes. Surely, our country is firmly enough established that it need not fear the expression of opinion of anyone. Danger lies in suppression of opinion and thought ; not in expression. To Selma M. Borchardt, Legislative Represent- ative, American Feder- ation of Teachers: I am not unmindful of the wonderful coopera- tion and the progressive spirit manifested by you and your organization; the splendid assistance you are giving me in be- half of Freedom of Thought and action; I as- sure you I appreciate your loyalty in this com- mon cause. SENATOR BRONSON M. CuTTING. Restricted immigation as a matter of simple justice to our own workers and to those who would come here and could not be properly assimilated is a principle for which we stand, with all other trade unionists. But restricted immigation must be humanely adminis- tered. We deplore the separation of families, and other such unsocial poli- cies. A full opportunity for actual Americanization in our schools, our factories, and our community life in general for the foreign born, we recog- nize as essential to the true interpreta- tion of the spirit and letter of our Constitution. We deplore the failure of WCFL, “Labor on the Air,” to gain a free air channel, and hope that the efforts to secure federal legislation granting la- bor and agriculture a cleared channel THE AMERICAN TEACHER, will soon be successful. I recommend that we reaffirm our support of this measure. Muscle Shoals, the Baby Bill, the effort to stop smuggling seamen into this country, the anti-injunction bill, unemployment relief, and the Norris Lame Duck Amendment all were de- feated—largely because it was a short session. I recommend that we reaffirm our support of the Norris Lame Duck Amendment so essential to the welfare of our country. There are a number of other legislative matters to which reference must be made. As they are, however, so much more intimately a part of our International Relations program, they will be discussed therein, In closing let me refer to one matter, not strictly legislative, but closely a part of it—the Progressive Conference held last March. Your legislative rep- resentative was invited to it. The sec- tion on “Return to Representative Government” is the part of the pro- gram which should be definitely and intimately a part of any teacher organ- ization’s program. I should like to see the statement of Professor Ross of the University of Wisconsin urging the teachers of the nation to organize and join the Federation, made a part of our proceedings. I do recommend that we authorize the appointment of a large, thoroughly representative committee which should offer to cooperate without in any way establishing a formal or informal con- nection with this section of the Pro- gressive Conference—to do all we can to help bring about “the return of rep- resentative government.” Professor E. A. Ross To Conference of Progressives Now the great field is the high school. There are 3,000,000-odd young people in our high schools. I think there are 17,000 public high schools in the country, and the number of teach- ers of civics and economics is increas- ing all the time, and they are not organ ized. There is going to be constant recurrence of serious disturbances 0! liberal teachers of these subjects until they do organize effectually; * * * joining the Federation of Teachers. So the teachers are about where 177 was in our nation. They are getting ready to throw off the yoke, but they have some distance to go yet. They have got the eight years of hard fight ing ahead of them. IER nend this the into bill, Orris » de- short firm Juck fare nber hich are, ly a tions rein, ter, ly a ence rep- Sec- ative pro- and gan- ) see r the high ung hink s in ach- eas- yani- tant ; of intil , # 775 ting they “hey ght- DECEMBER, 1931 A Glance At Pension Legislation WENTY years ago an education | association secured a pension law for the teachers of a state. De- spite the arguments of the few experi- enced members of the committee in charge, a small group of superintend- ents drafted the plan in which they at- tempted to embody the features they liked best in two other systems, both poor. Their work was not completed in time for more than a hurried scru- tiny by a lawyer who, however compe- tent he may have been on points of law, was unacquainted with pension princi- ples. The members of the legislature, lukewarm in their attitude on the bill, followed the method usual with unpop- ular measures. At the last moment the teachers were offered the alternative of having the bill killed or accepting a drastic cut in the tax appropriation. Rather than lose out entirely, which would have been the wiser choice, they agreed to an amendment which reduced the possible contribution by the state to a totally inadequate figure. The result was no better than the planning. At no time after the sys- tem went into effect were retired teach- ers paid more than 80 per cent of the expected pension and even this was cut in following years. Unsuccessful at- tempts were made in succeeding legis- latures to improve the law but it finally was practically scrapped to begin, it is hoped, on a sounder basis. Unless other teachers profit by the experiences of those who have at- tempted pension legislation not many chapters will be added to the story of accomplishment. The basic plan of a sound retirement system is not difficult to understand. It should provide for contributions from both the teacher and the commu- nity, either the city or the state. No annuity should be granted unless there is a principal sum in the treasury to carry it. Assured of this, there is lit- tle danger of insolvency. The sound- ness of the fund is a first and vital question. If the plan contemplates a living in- come then the amounts paid by the contributing parties, the teacher and the community, must be carefully fig- Florence Rood ured. The retirement annuity should depend on the accumulated fund on which it is based. Only the best ac- tuary available, one thoroughly versed in pension and insurance matters, Pe pay FLORENCE Roop Execute Secretary, St. Paul Teachers’ Retirement Fund Association should be permitted to make the de- cision on a point which is fundamen- tal to the welfare of the fund. An adequate public contribution is a sec- ond very vital question which, because it involves tax money, is indeed a knot- ty problem. The only suggestion to be offered is that the best income should be provided which is possible—and that expert advice must be called on to determine what annuity can be safely paid with the available support of the fund. The type of plan should be decided by the group itself after a study of existing systems, but those trained and experienced in the work should draft the bill. Its intricacies are quite be- yond the specialized abilities of teach- ers. If this statement is questioned, examine the details of a system which is recognized as sound, particularly one where an old association has been reorganized on a proper financial basis. Before teachers risk the future of anything so important as their pen- sion by attempting a job for which they are not prepared—that is, the drafting of a finished bill—let them in- quire into the causes of the failure of the early pension systems to give satisfaction. They, for their part, will have all they can do to carry success- fully each step in the progress of the campaign to secure the enactment of their bill. A very substantial majority of the teachers affected must favor the move. Legislators are extremely sensitive to any proposal which means an increase in taxation. A disagreement among the backers of a bill is gladly seized as an excuse to delay action or to kill it at a convenient moment. The expenses of legislation are many and varied: fees for actuarial and legal advice and counsel; a salary for a lobbyist who will watch the progress of the bill on the legislative calendar and summon the committee at critical periods; and a margin for committee expenses for, in fairness, those who give their time and services for the benefit of the group should not be expected to stand the cost of those services which are sometimes heavy. Unless teachers are convinced that there are certain inev- itable and proper expenses connected with legislation and are prepared to give it liberal financial support it had better not be undertaken. Thousands of people who take po- sitions in the schools following grad- uation from college, even normal school, do not expect to stay in the profession. This is so universal in practice that modern pension plans ex- empt young teachers from immediate membership. Serious interest in the subject appears when teaching is ac- cepted as a permanent occupation. (Turn to Page 27) THE AMERICAN TEACHER, Essentials of a Sound Tenure Law HESE ARE THE TIMES that try men’s souls. The outstanding need of the hour is for fearless, critical, social thinking. Such thinking can be developed only in an educational system manned by teachers enjoying academic freedom, who, therefore, dare face social problems in a fearless, im- partial and critical spirit. .\cademic freedom is possible only when efficient teachers are guaranteed a life position under sound tenure laws. Without tenure protection, educational subser- vience is inevitable as teachers are at the mercy of any group temporarily in control of the educational machinery. Such subservience tends to develop blind, unthinking obedience instead of the courageous thinking the world so sorely needs. The American Federation of Teach- ers, committed to the philosophy of change as essential to progress and to a saner social order, stands for aca- Selma M. Borchardt Abraham Lefkowitz demic freedom and tor sound tenure laws embodying the following prin- ciples : 1. Careful selection of candidates on the basis of desirable personality, ade- quate professional equipment and cul- tural background. 2. Careful, constructive supervision and testing of teachers during a proba- tionary period not to exceed two years. 3. The elimination of the unfit at the termination of the probationary pe- riod and the permanent appointment of the fit. 4. Continuous employment during satisfactory performance of duties. 5. Removal only for causes definitely embodied in the law such as inefficiency or immorality. 6. Charges to be filed with adequate opportunity for the teacher to answer such charges publicly, if he so desires. In such cases the teacher shall have the right to be accompanied by friend or counsel. 7. A full and impartial trial to be granted the teacher, who shall have the right of counsel, the right to summon and cross-examine witnesses. 8. If found not guilty, immediate reinstatement with pay lost during the trial; immediate dismissal if found guilty of the charges. 9. The teacher sha!l have the righ of appeal to the Commissioner of Edu- cation or to the courts, with a right of review on questions of law as well as of fact. The American Federation of Teach- ers urges all teachers, in cooperation with socially minded citizens, to work for tenure laws embodying the above principles so that teachers may strive to develop thinking citizens animated by a social outlook and an _ interna- tional point of view. From the Convention Wuereas, The Supreme Court of the State of Washington has affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court for King County in dismissing the suit of the Seattle High School Lo- cal 200 of the American Federation of Teachers to enjoin the directors of Seattle School District No. 1 from enforcing a resolution adopted by the board of directors whereby no election of a teacher shall be consid- ered binding unless the teacher shall sign the declaration, “I hereby de- clare that I am not a member of the American Federation of Teachers, or any local thereof, and will not be- come a member during the term of this contract”; and WHEREAS, In this decision as well as in similar decisions in the states of Ohio and Illinois the courts have held that the question involved is not one of regulating the conduct of teachers, but of the power of the board to say whom it will employ as teachers, which right it has under the State’s statutes ; and that since under the laws of these states contracts with teachers were for terms of one year only, the enactment by the board of such regulations with regard to the employment of teachers for the ensuing year was within its rights; and WHEREAS, In any state where similar laws with regard to the term of teachers’ contracts exists, rules de- priving teachers of their constitu- tional rights and imposing indigni- ties destructive of the welfare, hap- piness and public respect of teachers may be adopted at the close of any school term; Therefore, be it resolved, That the American Federation of Teachers bring this danger to the attention of its locals, and, as far as it may be possible, to the attention of all per- sons and groups interested in the well-being of the schools in America; And be it further resolved, That the American Federation of Teachers and its several locals actively engage to the full extent of their powers in a movement to further the enact- ment of tenure laws for teachers in all states where such laws do not exist ; And be it further resolved, That the American Federation of Teachers in convention assembled express to the teachers of Seattle its unbounded admiration, respect and gratitude for the brave fight they have made to uphold the dignity of our profession and to protect the schools 0! America. pr en or he On ite he nd lit u- of as mn rk ve ve a(| DECEMBER, 1931 vr Is My conclusion after a long and careful study of various sys- tems of civic education in modern that the school has already become the chief factor in social and political cohesion, and that in the fu- ture the position of the educational sys- tem will be increasingly important. The school becomes the great civic educator taking the place once held by the army and the church. Citizens in the most impressionable years of their lives enter the and remain there for long periods of time, increas- ing as the educational process develops in range and scope. General principles of behavior are taught in the schools, even where church and state are sep- arated, and civic principles will be in- culeated incidentally. Higher institu- tions than the elementary schools hold the pupils for still longer periods of time, and will train the leaders of the future state. In all the systems ap- praised in this study, the school emerges as the heart of the civic educa- tion of the political community, and in all probability will continue to func- tion increasingly in this role. The school emerges as the dominant figure in the new process of civic edu- cation, and in all probability will con- tinue to hold this position for some time to come, and to strengthen its in- fluence with the adoption of more scientific methods of analysis and in- struction. Here will center the strug- gles, scientific and political, for the control of social and political behavior, at one time or another centering around the family, the army, the church. The state-builder of the future will address himself to this strategic point in the organization of political interest, allegiance, and ideals. To be sure, the school cannot be effective unless it is integrated with the life of the commun- ity, and supported by social morale and a sense of political and social values outside the educational institution. But assuming that the school and society are not too far apart in their codes of behavior, the educational organization under such circumstances will wield fnormous power over the oncoming generation in the formation of inter- nations IAUOLS sche yf Is Citizenship and ‘The Schools Professor Charles E. Merriam ests, drives, attitudes, and skills. It is here, consequently, that those inter- ested in the formation and continuance of state attitudes will address them- selves for assistance in the prosecution of their plans. The school is by all odds the most important of the techniques employed in the process of civic education in the states here considered, and there is every reason to conclude that it will continue to be so. In this connection, the school should be taken to mean not merely the teaching function but also that of research and inquiry into the basic social and political patterns and their application in a given society a development even now on the hori- zon. The formal training system is con- fronted with many grave problems in the technical field of civic education. Among these basic questions are the closer analysis of the objectives of civic instruction, the most appropriate levels of education, the training and equip- ment of teachers, the content of courses, and, above all, the closer study of the nature of the political process in the juvenile and youth pe- riods, itself closely related to the larger problem of political interest, drives, and controls, in the larger sense. There has been little systematic atten- tion given to these problems, and it cannot be said that very notable progress has been made in this direc- tion. It is all the more important, therefore, to consider some of the out- standing developments and questions in chis field. Among the fundamental problems in civic education are the constitutional (physical-mental) bases of citizenship, the reconciliation and integration of pluralistic social allegiances and codes as well as of international, political al- legiances and codes; the adjustment and balance between the rdle of tra- dition and that of invention and adap- tation; the application of social sym- bolism; the technical analysis of the nature of political behavior on the one hand, and perfection of the teaching and transmitting process on the other. If this is true, it is clear that the position of the teacher in the commu- nity is one of very great importance, and that the responsibility of the teach- er is very large. It is easy for us to magnify our office, but it also is possible to underestimate the meaning of the teacher’s function in modern society; and from my point of view this has happened in many parts of the modern world. My suggestion to my fellow instruc- tors and students is that it is highly important for the future to empha- size several points strongly and per- sistently : 1. The liberty of the teacher as a citizen in the communit, in which he lives. 2. Protection of the teacher in the school against arbitrary and un- fair treatment on account of so- cial or political views. 3. Economic and social recognition corresponding to the actual func- tion of the teacher in the society. 4. The development of the study and science of human behavior and the organization of the most ef- fective social studies to the high- est possible point, so that the in- fluence and power of the teacher may be most wisely and usefully exercised.” ; 5. Organization for the purpose of carrying through the purposes in- dicated above, for it is plain that the above objectives have not yet been attained in American life, and will not be without coordin- ated intelligence and sustained and well-directed effort. 1 The results of this are embodied in my volume on “The Making of Citizens,” and separate volumes on eight different national systems. 2 The American Historical Society’s Com- mission on the Social Studies is working hard on a comprehensive report on the social studies under Professor Counts as research Director and Professor Krey of the Uni- versity of Minnesota as Chairman, and will publish important material on this subject in the near future. With this are associated in a joint committee representatives of the American Council of Education and the American Political Science Association. 10 THE AMERICAN TEACHER The Return to Representative Government Address Before Conference of Progressives March 11, 1931, Washington, D. C. UNDAMENTALLY, in the subject before us, we have just two basic facts to consider. One is the governmental machinery which ex- ists in this country and the other is the individual voter who expresses his opinion through the only channel open to him, the casting of a ballot at the polls on elec- tion day. How can we combine those two fundamental factors in order to improve economic and political conditions? I con- ceive that that is the problem which is set before us tonight in the general subject, “Return to Representative Government.” For a good many years, there has been discussion as to the value of representative govern- ment at all. I remember that several years ago, Senator Thomas of Oklahoma, then a member of the House, called at- tention to the strong propa- ganda in favor of dictatorships and against democracy. I do not think it is more than two years since that another very prominent member of the Sen- ate announced that it would not be long now before America adopted the system inaugurated by Mussolini in Italy. Accord- ing to him, instead of the voters taking any part in the questions of governmental policy, these matters were to be handled for them by a self-appointed and self-perpetuating board of directors. Now, that kind of propaganda was a little too crude for the American peo- ple. It has been modified, but the ef- fort is made to teach the American public doctrines of the same kind in perhaps a subtle and more insidious form. That form is the exaltation of the executive branch of the govern- ment as against the legislative branch. Only recently we have heard from a well nigh unanimous press that the safety of the country depended on the Senator Bronson M. Cutting immediate adjournment of Congress. According to that doctrine, it is a men- ace to the people of the United States to have their own elected representa- tives functioning in their behalf. It SENATOR BRONSON M. CUTTING would follow logically that our coun- try would be even more prosperous if Congress were never to meet at all except perhaps at rare intervals in or- der to comply with the Constitution and in order to ratify decisions which had already been made by the Execu- tive. It is quite clear that with all its faults Congress does constitute the popular branch of our government. It is the only branch elected directly by the voters. The people have compara- tively little to say about the nomina- tion of the President. Less than half of the states have presidential pri- maries. That is four less than enough to take the question of nomination out of the hands of a political convention, Moreover, when you come to the general election, the fiction of the electoral college tends to disfranchise many millions of our citizens. The minority vot is not merely unrecorded and disregarded, it is actually regis- tered in favor of the majority candidate, that is in favor of the man against whom these mil- lions of voters cast their ballots. In my personal opinion the elec- toral college should be abolished by constitutional amendment. The states should be encouraged to pass presidential primary laws which will give their citi- zens a chance to express them- selves directly and preferably by what is called the preferential system as to nominations for President. It must be obvious to all of us that for a long time the leg- islative branch of the govern- ment has suffered encroachments from both the other branches. The courts, by an arbitrary 1- terpretation of the due process clause in the Constitution, have succeeded in nullifying the ac- tions of the state and national legislatures. This in many cases amounts to practical usurpation of the legislative function. By abuses of the injunction process in labor cases, the Federal courts have not only gone contrary to the policy laid down by Congress, but contrary to the elemen- tary rights of the individual. These same courts, which have been a stone wall against legislative enactments, have repeatedly shown themselves pa* sive against infringement of elementary civil rights at the hands of executive and bureaucratic departments. Oftet, indeed, the courts have been the fits sinners against civil liberties. tio lib the lat ER ial f ori- igh out on. to ion » to of ote and O1S- rity the nil- ots. lec- hed ent. ged ary citi- em- y by itial tor leg- rn ents hes. in cess lave ac- onal ases tion uses 1SeS, yone | by nen- hese tone ents, pas- tary itive ften, DECEMBER, 1931 I wish we had the time tonight to oo into this general question of civil liberties. It is an enormously impor- tant one. It is one which if this Con- ference were going to last the length which it probably ought to have lasted, we should all be glad to go into. It is a question which seems to me entirely vital in a representative system of gov- ernment. We have not that time to- night. I am only going to call atten- tion to this one fact, that so far as civil liberties are concerned, the history of the world shows that they have always been promoted by the popular or legis- lative branch of any government and that they have been menaced by the executive and judicial branches. So far as the executive branch of our government is concerned, the his- tory of this country since the Civil War has shown continuously increas- ing usurpation of the policy making function of Congress. That is, of the basic function for which Congress was created. It is not my purpose to idealize the legislative branch of the government at the expense of the other two. Con- gress has many faults. It is made up today of one House with rules so fash- ioned that they express the desires of its leaders rather than the wishes of the people of the United States, and of another House whose rules are ad- mirably adapted to block vicious legis- lation but far less effective toward carrying out a positive policy. Moreover, it seems to me that both Houses of Congress waste an enor- mous amount not only of time but of actual brain power of the members who compose it. We have here the men whom the states send to the Na- tional Congress to decide major politi- al problems and it has surprised me in my short experience in Congres- sonal work how much of our time is taken up by questions which ought not to come before a body of this kind at il. I have seen a committee of twenty of presumably the ablest men in the country, many of whom are household lames in every family in the United States, spending hours deciding the question of whether Corporal Tom Smith actually did or did not steal 60 tents worth of lard immediately after the battle of Gettysburg from the com- pany cook. Those questions, and they #€ repeated over and over again, are wt questions, to my way of thinking, which ought to confront the branch of government whose duty it is to for- nulate the policy of the United States on the major problems which con- front it. Furthermore, the weakness in Con- gress is intensified by the ridiculous system of lame duck sessions which are required to end on a certain date and which frequently are made up largely of men who have been repu- diated by the people at the polls. Yet I do insist that when all is said and done Congress remains closer to the public than does the Executive branch. Under our Constitution, there is per- manent conflict, and so far as the Con- gress is concerned, intentional conflict between the legislative and executive branches. This has been one unchang- ing feature of American history. Un- der these conditions, if popular gov- ernment is not to be pronounced a failure, the legislative branch must be strengthened against the encroachments of the other two, and the people them- selves must exert more direct and more intelligent control over the activities of both legislative and executive. The handicaps of the voters are obvi- ous. The average man is politically apathetic. He is busy with his private affairs. He is easily swayed by sec- tional pressure or religious prejudice and apt to be confused by the vast power of organized propaganda. Those of us who believe in the American sys- tem of government are convinced that in spite of these disadvantages, the average voter is sound and will usually vote soundly on an issue which is ade- quately brought home to him. We believe also that the average man has an inherent right to share in holding his own destiny, and that self-govern- ment in the long run is more important than perfect government. A despotism may for a time be more beneficent and certainly more efficient than a popular system, but the history of the world has shown that despot- isms do not long remain either benefi- cent or efficient. On the other hand, as has so frequently been said, the cure for democracy is more democracy, that is the strengthening of the posi- tion of the average man and of his duly elected representatives. Now, I want you to think about this particular thing; that the only public act performed by the citizen is per- formed at primary and general elec- tions. That is the only chance that he has to perform his function as one item in this general system of ours. It is preposterous that that solemn act on which our whole system is based should be financed not by public but by private funds. If the people are interested in 1l maintaining their own control of their representatives, they should themselves pay for that privilege. The scandals which have been brought to light dur- ing the past few years, both in primary and general elections, have no neces- sary connection with the actual amount of money expended. The most out- rageous of them all, in the case in Ne- braska, involved comparatively small sums of money. On the other hand, the huge sums spent in Illinois and Pennsylvania may conceivably have been spent for perfectly legitimate pur- poses such as postage and publicity. Mr. Grundy, in testifying before the Nye Committee, explained that it had been necessary for him to expend some $400,000 in the Pennsylvania primary, and when asked why, he explained it was in order to educate the voters. Now, obviously, it was not for Mr. Grundy’s personal interest to educate the voters. If the voters needed edu- cation, isn’t it plain that they should have paid for it themselves, and not be under obligation to Mr. Grundy or to any other individual to provide this kindergarten education for them? Now, as a matter of fact, everyone of us knows that the sums of money spent in campaigns are not spent in order to educate the voters. On the contrary, they are spent in order to confuse the voters. Unimportant and trivial issues are invented and broad- cast to every corner of this country in order to divert the voters from the real problems which confront them. On the other hand, I am certain that the voters would be far better off and far better educated if these huge cam- paign funds were eliminated, and if, instead, they were given a brief and definite statement of the attitude of the various candidates such as might be provided under a publicly financed sys- tem of elections. Now I freely concede that legislation which will do away with private cam- paign funds is exceedingly difficult to obtain. I do not concede it is impos- sible. Until such legislation can be perfected, it is most important that our present corrupt practices act be ampli- fied and extended to primary as well as general elections. If the Newbury decision of the Su- preme Court means that a Constitu- tional amendment is necessary in order to accomplish this, then such an amend- ment should be passed forthwith. I want to leave this thought with you. It is for those who believe in popular government to see to it that (Turn to Page 29) THE AMERICAN TEACHE; The Teacher as a Citizen HE OTHER DAY a ten-year-old girl came home from school in great distress. She had been told by her parents that her teacher was “such a nice teacher’ and that she was sure to like her and enjoy being in her room that year. “Mother,” said she, “Miss Brown isn’t a nice teacher, after all.” “Why, how is that? Why isn’t she nice?” asked her mother. “Be- cause she called a colored girl a ‘nigger,’ ” replied her daugh- ter indignantly. A few days later I was talk- ing with a young man about his teaching job, and he re- marked casually, “You know, I’m teaching a lot of little wops.” These instances of a pecu- liarly dangerous racial attitude for a teacher to manifest are exceptional, probably. In the first case, the attitude of the child had fortunately been ac- quired from association with fair-minded and tolerant par- ents, but many children belong to the “underprivileged” class in that respect, and if they are to contribute to the creation of a harmonious national life they must be helped by the teachers who build so much of the structure of that same na- tional community in which we live. I once had a teacher of his- tory who was so aware of her own citizenship against the background of which she was telling us that we could hardly be in her classes without realizing something of what it means to be a citizen. Her patriotism was not of the sentimental kind. On national holidays she often reminded us that the man who hung out a flag and failed to vote or avoided jury duty was a rather poor specimen. I recall that we had to pass through some streets in the process of being Elizabeth Eastman repaired on our way to school. She asked us whether we knew how that question had been decided, and where the money was coming from to make these improvements. We learned a ELIZABETH EASTMAN good deal about what taxation is just because that daily walk to school had furnished us with an excellent example of one way in which a taxpayer’s money is spent. And that teacher’s eminently practical views about the du- ties of every member of a community in relation to his own government, city, county, state, and federal, were woven into our historical studies in a way that must have been rare, but should haye been the rule and not the exception To go back to the question of racial prejudice. The teachers of this cour- try are the creators of our futur What is in their minds passes into the consciousness of thos they teach. If they are aware that the culture of our ow national life is rooted in thy culture of other nations and peoples, this sense of inter relationship will become part of the thinking of the childres whom they teach. Any touch of arrogance or superiority on the part of a teacher who be lieves that only Anglo-Saxons are worthy to live in the United States will be increased tenfold in the mind of the pupil. In the last analysis, tt is the attitude and idealism of the classroom teacher that in fluence boys and girls. One great fact of our national his- tory should be kept constantly before their minds—that th various racial and national groups that make up our diver- sified population have al brought enrichment to our life as a nation. When immigrants or children of immigrants art in the same class with native born Americans this task 1 vitally necessary. Instead 0! calling them “little wops” the teacher can show his America! _pupils what they owe to Italian citizens, how much of beauty and poetry and charm have entered our life through their charac teristic culture. - How many of the barriers that divi one group of Americans from anothet and tend to destroy the unity of ou life could be broken down by classroom” teachers who have freed themselves from outworn and baseless prejudices Waldo Frank speaks of the “symphon (Turn to Page 27) D CO Gt ev HEP have ption. racial coun- uture ASSES thos: Aware own n the > and inter- part Idren touch ty on o be- 1XOns the ease( the is, it m of it in One | his- antly t the ional liver- e all r life rants S are itive- k 1s d ot ” the ricat alian eauty have arac- ivide other our 0m elves ices! onic DECEMBER, 19381 13 An Experiment in Accelerating Assimilation The Americanization School Association of the District of Columbia State because of the experiences of the World War had become conscious of the large bodies of aliens who were unassimilated in our midst. Great efforts were made by practically every patriotic organization to set up conditions that would bring about rapid assimilation of the group. Many schools for immigrants were opened. Much that was tragic occurred, a little that was definitely good. This short report will be made to show what a group of newcomers have done during the past nine years, and the fundamental sociological principles upon which they have more or less con- sciously based their activities. It must be noted that throughout the period a faculty group of the Americanization School of Washington, D. C., and a small but deeply interested group of native-born friends have entered into the many ventures with understanding and intelligent sympathy. However, both the initiation of activities and final decisions on policies have rested abso- lutely within the alien group, this being the basis of organization. The point of view taken by the Car- negie Corporation of New York City in 1918 in a “Study of the Methods of Americanization or Fusion of Native and Foreign Born,” as shown by its director, Allen T. Burns, follows: “Americanization is the uniting of the new with native-born Americans in fuller common understanding and ap- preciation to secure by means of self- government the highest welfare of all. Such Americanization should produce no unchangeable political, domestic, and economic regime delivered once lor all to the fathers, but a ‘growing and broadening national life, inclusive of the best wherever found. With all our rich heritages America will develop through a mutual giving and taking of contributions from both the newer and older Americans in the interest of the common weal.” This point of view was fundamen- | 1922 the people of the United Maude E. Aiton tally that of the new organization. Some twelve students of the Ameri- canization School representing eight nationalities gathered together, first motivated by the need of having a rep- resentative “speak” to the faculty of the school, and explain some of the “feelings” of the students. Needless to say “feelings” had been hurt; all teachers did not understand ; teacher at- titudes fitting mature and widely expe- rienced adult students had not been developed. So for the protection of the students the first step was taken; just as so many first steps have been taken in progressive movements. Out of a six-week deliberation and meetings with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Co- lumbia, who had been appealed to to advise on legal aspects, a constitution was evolved. The preamble is inter- esting: “We the students of the Americanization School of the District of Columbia, tn order to establish closer personal relations, to become better acquainted with the people and customs of the United States and give mutual assistance in the promotion of patriotic, intellectual and recreational pursuits, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Americanization School Association of the District of Columbia.” A group of people at first numbering twelve, now numbering over 1500, without so naming it, deliberately set out to accelerate assimilation. Park says, “ patriotism, loyalty and common sense are neither created nor transmitted by purely intellectual proc- esses. Men must live and work and fight together in order to create that community of interest and sentiment which will enable them to meet the crises of their common life with a common will.” Knowledge of some of the early feelings, and establishment of policies, are necessary to a real understanding of this effort and of similar ones. Quoting from a discussion in 1922 these remarks are pertinent: “Because we are foreign-born and don’t know English they (American-born at large, some definite persons at close range) think we don’t know anything—there- fore whatever we do must be done well.” “, we (a group of eight students including Armenian, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Pole, Russian, Swiss) are getting much from this school given by the government; we must give much to make it a success.” “. . . may we take down the flags of many nations and have only the Ameri- can flag? The flags separate us.” (Much psychology is embodied in these words. ) Here was seen definitely a reaction from the deep inner feeling of conflict between different cultures. But this group of men and women gave, and gave, and of their best—and are still revivifying the idea of offering only the effectual and worth while. Only self-expression that is worthy is accepted. The activities of the Americanization School Association have grown as membership has grown, but policies and principles have remained. The activities at present are: 1. A service library open all day and every school evening, five evenings a week, until 10 o’clock. A cozy, com- fortable room granted to the Associa- tion by the Board of Education. A committee of members of the associa- tion have learned library procedure, have catalogued and accessioned the several thousand volumes and are al- ways on hand to welcome and advise newcomers. The library has become an Extension Service Station of the Public Library. A teacher assistant is assigned to aid students who have gone from the Americanization School to High School or University and return to the Americanization School Associa- tion Library to study, and our own stu- dents who are carrying out research projects. (Turn to Page 31) THE AMERICAN TEACHER, Teachers and Civil Liberties A. J. Muste HE FIRST ten amendments to the | Constitution of the United States set forth a bill of rights. Ac- cording to that bill of rights the citizen has certain definite and unalienable rights as over against his government. Patricularly, he must be left free to think, to write, to speak, to assemble, to associate with his fellow-citizens for any lawful purpose, to petition govern- ment for redress of his grievances. In one form or another every state con- stitution sets forth a similar bill of rights. When we speak of the United States of America as a spiritual and historical rather than a merely geographical en- tity, we have foremost in our minds this conception of freedom for the common man, the absence of tyranny. Many, at least, of “the founding fa- thers” of the nation regarded civil and religious liberty, freedom of thought, expression and association, as the very foundation stone of the Republic. Fur- thermore, such men as Thomas Jeffer- son did not think that the Revolutionary War (Jefferson personally thought a little revolution about every nineteen years was a healthy thing!) had been fought for a sham liberty. Freedom to them meant the right to utter any opin- ion whatever, including mistaken, wrong and dangerous ones. They real- ized that an opinion that seemed wrong might be proved right, that if it were really wrong then that could most read- ily be proved by bringing it into the light of day, and as for safety, there was much more of it in permitting pro- test than in bottling it up. Certainly democracy becomes a sham if the channels of education, agitation and communication are not free and open. Orderly change and progress hecome impossible when discussion is suppressed or limited. It is an ominous fact that in the United States today civil liberties are often denied. It is not merely that ex- treme radicals are often brutally treated, have their meetings and papers suppressed, are subject to cruel meth- ods of deportation, etc., though that is bad enough. Liberty is endangered for all as soon as in the case of some we depart from Voltaire’s position: “I do not believe what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.” It is a general condition in our American industrial communities where there is not a strong union (and that is unfortunately the case in 80 per cent of our industries) that a worker can protest against evil conditions, ask for redress, try to organize a union, vote for any but a Republican or Demo- cratic candidate, only at the risk of los- ing his job, being blacklisted in his trade, and often being assaulted by so- called authorities of the law, impris- oned, even killed. Hardly a strike oc- curs that violence is not used against workers engaged in peaceful picketing and an injunction issued abridging well-defined rights. Individual, or yel- low-dog, contracts abrogating the work- ers’ right of association, are “legal” in most states of the union. Teachers are in many instances subject to laws or rules which undertake to define what they may teach or not teach, or even how they are to dress and what they are to eat. Many a social worker can speak out the truth about industrial conditions in her community only at the risk of losing her job. I venture to assert that never before in our American history has conform- ity been so rigidly enforced, never be- fore has intellectual integrity and cour- age of utterance been so expensive a luxury. And this is at a time when confessedly we live in a new, rapidly changing world and can avoid catastro- phe only by willingness to experiment boldly and to adapt our economic and political and educational instrumentali- ties to the new conditions. Teachers should lead in the defence and the reassertion of our liberties, but as a class they do not. They should lead for certain obvious reasons. In the first place, the educa- tional process simply cannot go on un- der any condition other than that of freedom. If the scientist is told in ad- vance what conclusion he must reach, if he may not go where the facts lead him, no truth can be discovered. If the child is to be merely a receptacle into which someone else’s ideas are poured, ready made, not to be ques- tioned, then we may be making gramo- phones or parrots, but certainly not educated citizens. Now this does not merely mean that there must be freedom in the class- room. in the vast majority of in- stances there will be no freedom in the classroom if repression is the domi- nant note in the community. An un- usual teacher may maintain such a con- dition for a short time, and then will find himself kicked downstairs. The classroom in the main and in the long run will reflect the social life around it. Of course such a teacher by mak- ing his children intelligent may make them rebels against conformity and re. pression. That is so far to the good, but certainly our permanent aim must be a social system in which the finest self-expression may be attained, be. cause the frictions due to needless re- pressions have been removed. Thus the teacher has an essential professional interest in the maintenance of all liberties, apart from the interest which he or she shares with all citizens, Teachers as a class are conformists, do not lead in the battle for civil ana other liberties, in the last analysis be- cause they are afraid of their own jobs, That is a condition which strikes at the very root of our national life. For we need citizens who can think, who have courage, independence, the critical and also the creative spirit, who are socially minded. But how can we ex- pect such citizens to be developed when in the schools the children are in the charge of teachers who are afraid to think and to speak, in whom the critical and creative spirit is repressed, who live narrow and cowardly lives and therefore are the very opposite of socially minded? Because, then, freedom is of the very essence of the educational process and because our educational system must largely determine what the nation of the future is to be, teachers should lead in the defence of our constitu- tional liberties. They do not, with a few shining exceptions, because they are themselves deprived of many of their rights, and that has taken place because they are not organized into professional organizations affiliated with the unions of other groups of workers. In an organized world, such as the world of today, the isolated indi- vidual is helpless. Thus the individu- alism of the teachers, their feeling that they must guard this freedom as pét- sons and professional people, not pet mit-it to ‘be swallowed up in an orgat- ization, has had the precisely opposite effect to what was intended. The teachers have ceased to be individuals are mere cogs, often, in an educational machine, nonentities or mere conform- ists in the life of the community and the nation. Teachers who have learned how to protect their own rights by means of organization are natural leaders in the (Turn to Page 27) or = Hes ta Ss = i) Wi HER ound mak- make d re- 500d, must inest ] be- S re- ntial ance erest Zens, rists, and ; be- jobs, Ss at For who tical are OX: vhen the d to tical who and . of very and nust 1 of ould titu- th a they r of lace into ated ; of such ndi- idu- that per- per- pan- site The sals, onal yrm- and y to ; of the © DECEMBER, 19351 15 The President’s Page Providentially, independent spirits writing for the press tell us what they think of us. Mrs. Walter | Ferguson, writer of the column, “A Woman’s View- point,” in the Scripps - Howard newspapers, tells us that “The Birming- ham (Ala.) Post” has been conducting a prohibition poll. “Do not print my name,” says a teacher who favors repeal. I quote from Mrs. Ferguson’s article :— “This is a splendid commentary upon our slavish suppression of honest thought in the public schools. And Birmingham is by no means the only place where such things occur. Go into any city or town of any State in the Union and you will find that the most fearful of all individuals, and the one who forces his mind to a set pattern, is the teacher of children. He dares do nothing, say nothing, be nothing save what the school board approves.” From Two Angles There are at least two ways of look- ing at the situation described by Mrs. Ferguson. We can admit the truth of the statement and try to work toward the solution of the problem by the means that may be at our disposal. Or, we may admit the truth, and lay the blame where in part it belongs; that is, distribute it among the school officials, the political or economic rulers of the community and the attitudes of Mrs. Grundy and others. In this case, the idea of doing something about it might never enter our heads. ; By far the larger number even of those teachers who really want to be members of a self-respecting profes- sion, after admitting the truth, would maintain that any activity directed to- ward elearing up the situation might itself be unprofessional. So, nothing atall would be done by them. Doing something about it would thus be left to the small minority in our profession which always must tear the responsibility for forging ahead with whatever constructive pro- gram is believed by it to be necessary. But Think of the Job _ It would amount first of all to mak- ing a catalog of the factors involved in “our slavish suppression of honest thought in the public schools.” Such 4 catalog would resemble the follow- Ing: Dr. Henry R. Linville . A long history dating back to the time when teachers were slaves in fact. . The age-old custom of employing or designating persons to transmit to the young something that has been written in a remote past and accepted as true and unchangeable. 3. The belief continuing to the present time that a teacher’s main task is to transmit formulated knowledge to the young. 4. The implication involved in the early employment of typically submissive and conformist spirits that teaching can be done by those who are not vital or active at anything else. . The persistence of the belief ex- pressed by Count Metternich of Austria in the repressive Carlsbad Decrees of a century ago that the state has the right to repress freedom in any or all of its activities or intrests. 6. The belief held in the present time by such reactionary groups as the Allied Patriotic Societies, the Better America Federation and the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution that teachers should be compelled to sup- port the status quo by signing “oaths of loyalty.” Tradition Bound Thus, historically and actually teach- ers have come to constitute a class that is bound securely to those requirements that are conceived to be right and necessary to that section of society that rules the schools. We may scoff as we like at the ridiculous character of the pronouncement of Senator Clayton R. Lusk, of New York, author of the infamous Lusk School Laws (repealed in 1923), nevertheless his ideas still persist in many respectable and power- ful sections of our citizenry. In 1921 Senator Lusk said: “In entering the public school system the teacher assumes certain obligations, and must of necessity surrender some of his intellectual freedom. If he does not approve of the present social system, or the structure of our government, he is at liberty to entertain those ideas, but must surrender his public office.” Agents of Tradition and the Status Quo Thus, it is not as simple a situation as Our newspaper critics may surmise. Even if our boards of education may definitely lay down a policy of denying to teachers the right to express opin- ions and of punishing when teachers do express opinions on controversial is- sues, they are acting primarily as agents of influences that have come down through the ages, and only sec- ondarily as representatives of the status quo of the year 1931. If we as advanced members of the profession of teaching should attempt i wo ur to roll back the scrolls of the past and proclaim ourselves henceforth to be independent and liberated spirits and the defenders of the new order, we would be courting disaster. Neither liberty nor progress comes that way. On the other hand, we would be con- demning ourselves to ignominy if we should say with the spineless and hope- less members of our calling, ‘What's the use of butting our heads against the stone wall of tradition?” The Joy of Living It As a matter of fact, the most inter- esting and emotionally and intellect- ually profitable experiences in the pro- fessional lives of teachers and educa- tors generally are derived from activi- ties in the direction of doing thing: for teaching and for education that may not immediately involve one’s right to say what one pleases on controversial issues. To some it may appear that civil liberty must be won before any progress may be made in productive thinking in the lives of teachers. But to win that battle a frontal attack against an entrenched position must be made. Freedom by Strategy and Work We may have to make these attacks, but it appears to me to be by far the better strategy, if we would win free- dom, and at the same time win satis- faction in our career, that teachers as a beginning should create by collec- tive efforts through other avenues of approach the ideas and conditions that make for greater social power for the entire profession. In every school system there are conditions affecting the w«!fare of the children in the schools which school officials are often unable to improve upon, sometimes, no doubt, because their minds fail to act in the face of official, financial, social, or natural in- hibitions. Among these conditions may be mentioned the relation of schools as they are to truancy, the size of classes in relation to good teaching, the basic factors relating to growth and improvement in education. A body of teachers giving their thought through years of time to problems of this kind may build up a commanding influence in our greatest social enter- prise that will give them freedom as well as distinction and professional sat- isfaction. After all, the socially powerful have no lack of freedom. American Federation of Teachers Organized April 15, 1916 Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, III. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL President Henry R. Linvucte, New York Local 5; 70 Fifth Ave. New York, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer FLORENCE Curtis Hanson, Chicago Local 3; 506 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, II. Legislative Representative and Vice+President SermMa M. Borcuarpt, Washington Local 8; 1741 Park Road, N. W., Washington, D. C. Associate Secretary and Vice-President Lucte Warinc ALLEN, Chicago Local 3; 506 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IIl. V ice-Presidenis Mary C. Barker, Atlanta Local 89; 685 Myrtle Street, N. E., Atlanta, Ga. Amy Fox, Minneapolis Local 59; 906 W. 42nd Street, Minneapolis, Minn. AsprAHAM LerKowiTz, New York Local 5; 10414 27th Ave., East Elmhurst, New York, N. Y. A. J. Musrte, Brookwood Local 189; Brookwood, Katonah, N. Y. BERNICE Rocers, Cambridge Local 195; 20 A. Prescott Street, Cambridge, Mass. FLORENCE Roop, St. Paul Local 28; 372 St. Peter Street, St. Paul, Minn. W. B. SatrertHwalte, Chicago Local 2; 5463 Kimbark Ave., Chicago. E. E. ScHWARZTRAUBER, Wisconsin University Loc.’ 223; 130 Breese Terrace, Madison, Wis. W. J. Scorr, Atlanta Local 89: 212 Kings Highway, Decatur, Ga. Democracy in Education Congress Convenes Whether legislation be bread and butter or ideals is possibly an open question. Or, possibly, it is where the two meet. Certain it is that at the 1931 Convention the leading spokes- man for a program of social idealism was also the very able chairman of the Legislative Committee and, incidental- ly, one of the most experienced and effective legislative workers in the or- ganization. However that may be, as long as education is a function of the state, all must agree that before our ideal- ism (be it professional or more broadly social) can be translated into reality, it must pass through our legislative mills and emerge (perhaps) as “acts” to do this and this. Probably most locals know the emerging seldom may be effected ex- cept by the most skillful, persistent and arduous work on the part of the erst- while idealists. As the legislative session approaches in the National Capital and in a num- ber of the states, the attention of our locals and our members may well be directed to the opportunities and re- sponsibilities of the intelligent citizen- ship of the country. “Government of the people, by the people” should be more to us than a skillfully turned phrase. Representative government is scarcely synonymous with democracy unless the means is found to translate the will of the people into the laws of the land. The duty of citizens to inform themselves of the matters under con- sideration by these legislative bodies has been too often stressed to bear repeating, and “write to your Con- gressman about it” has become a col- umnist’s joke. But to teachers whose salaries and conditions of work are ob- viously directly in the hands of these legislators it is emphatically no joke. An attempt has been made in this is- sue of THE AMERICAN TEACHER to put before its readers some of the more important social and educational legislation to which the American Fed- eration of Teachers stands committed. Genuine service can be rendered if all members individually, and all locals as organizations, put their full strength into support of our program of national legislation, and to such state programs as are demanded. The status of the child labor laws, provisions for rev- enues for support of schools, teacher tenure laws and retirement provisions, the rights of workers to organize and to bargain collectively, should be inves. tigated by each local for its own state, ‘The standards set up in our Legislative Program and our Convention resolu- tions should be used as a measuring stick to estimate the need for legisla- tion in the several states. For school legislation the teachers have a double duty. From one stand- point their responsibility for this is no greater and no less than that of other citizens. But their first hand knowl- edge and their specialized training give them a comprehension of this most important function of the state and of the needs of our schools which no other group can possess. Hence they have here an added responsibility. Jn some cases we shall find our work is to initiate legislation for needed re- forms; in some, to block vicious legis- lation ; in all, to enlighten the people on school conditions and needs and to de- velop a public opinion which shall com- pel the legislation demanded. Labor and Education Were argument still needed on the value of the affiliation of organized teachers with organized labor recent education programs of a goodly num- ber of State Federations of Labor could be cited. To those who do not see eye to eye with us on this question we are apt to emphasize the value of the political strength of organized la- bor as protection to teachers. We do not undervalue this, but to see nothing else is to take a limited and belittling view of both labor and teachers. The greatest service any powerful group of citizens can render to the na- tion is to throw their power back of ef- forts to raise the educational standards of the country. No other such groups have responded so zealously to the needs of the public schools as have la- bor organizations. Before the public school was, labor championed it. Et ficient and intelligent service has never ceased. The presence of representatives of organized class-room teachers in the councils of labor bodies has given these bodies a grasp of educational princi- ples and school problems which too few lay groups have. Unfaltering devotion combined with intelligent understand ing makes a powerful ally. Since education is a function of the several states and school legislation ' ons, and 1Ves- tate, ative solu- ring ‘isla- hers and- S$ no ther owl- ning this state hich ence lity. york | re- -giS- e On de- ‘om- DECEMBER, 1931 17 Education for Democracy state legislation, no more important work can be accomplished by our locals than their active participation in the state labor bodies. Recent reports to the National Office from Georgia, Oregon and _ Illinois show very effective work being done by our locals in these states. Well-ad- vised education programs heartily in- dorsed by the state federation conven- tions give evidence that first hand knowledge and sympathetic support united in these conventions to plan for the welfare of the schools of the state. In each of these cases a member of the American Federation of Teachers was chairman of the Education Committee. Copies of the reports of these Edu- cation Committees to the state conven- tions can be secured from the Informa- tion Bureau in the National Office. Other locals are urged to send in simi- lar reports that our records may be complete and up to date. Responsibility Assumed Last winter when New York was striving to crowd Chicago off the front page of the nation’s annals of corrup- tion, setting up their judges against Chicago’s gangsters, Dr. Linville facetiously (or was it) remarked, “No one has yet charged our schools with being at fault in having missed fire in the teaching of the principles of citi- zenship to its embryo judges.” Maybe no one had then, but in these days one who reads most certainly will find the schools charged with responsi- bility for the crime wave, the depres- sion, the prevalence of low type citi- zenship, and for all our mental inade- quacy in the face of the economic crisis. It is not pleasant reading for the educational world, but we may hope our discomfort may prove to be grow- ing pains. The general response of educators to the charges has been: our responsibility is indeed great, our product falls short of standard, where- in have our methods been wrong? Professor Merriam’s view of the responsibility of the schools for our Civic life, based as it is on extensive study of civic education in many coun- tries, is a noteworthy example of the reaction of our highest type of educa- tors to the challenge of the present conditions. A scientific estimate of the function of the school and investi- gation of methods used are combined, not with bitter criticism for the con- siderable degree of failure which may be charged, but with thoughtful accept- ance ot the responsibility which its enormous power places on the school, and a call to teachers to address them- selves to the solution of the educational problems involved and to the establish- ment of a social status for teachers which will enable them to attain their objectives. A New Service WHEREAS, Several locals of the American Federation of Teachers have made extensive surveys regarding such matters as salary scale, Sabbatical leave, teaching load, exploitation of schools for advertising purposes, and the status of married women teachers, and Wuereas, These same surveys, if available, might prove of value to other groups making similar investiga- tions ; therefore be it Resolved, Yhat this convention di- rect the Executive Council to charge the Associate Secretary with the defi- nite task of collecting such research material for the National Office, keep- ing it on file, and furnishing it to lo- cals and interested citizens upon re- quest ; and be it further Resolved, That this special activity of the National Office be developed as rapidly as funds permit into a Bureau of Research and Information Service with the necessary clerical help under the direction of the Associate Secre- tary. In compliance with this resolution passed by the convention of 1931 the Executive Council arranged that an Information Bureau should be estab- lished in connection with the National Office under the supervision of the Editor of THE AMERICAN TEACHER. This service must be a truly co- operative enterprise, as the director will be powerless to collect and file for reference that which the locals do not supply. The enthusiastic response which this resolution called out in committee and on the floor would indicate a gen- eral feeling that shared experiences of locals could be mutually helpful. We believe this to be true, but each local must remember it must do as it would be done by. If it would profit by the experiences of other locals it must help in the building up of the general files. The director is very desirous of knowing of topics other than those enumerated in the resolution on which the locals want material collected. All desire that this shall be a genuine working collection, not just quantities of documents to gather dust and steal office room. If it is to be the highly valuable collection of data that it may be, our limited time and space must be spent only on such subjects as will be practically useful. We therefore urge each local through a committee or spe- cially designated officer to communi- cate with the National Office as to the topics considered of general value, and to arrange the local’s contribution to the library. The Questionnaire Your attention is directed to the Questionnaire on page 2. The responses which have been received are extreme- ly helpful, and are deeply appreciated. \Ve earnestly solicit the cooperation of our readers in our attempt to make our magazine valuable. A Request The Editorial Office receives fre- quent requests from libraries for complete files of Tne AMERICAN Teacner. These inquiries show a growing interest in our organization and it is with regret that we reply that no complete files are available. If members can furnish any of the num- bers listed below it will be a genuine service. January, 1931. March, 1931. April, 1931. October, 1929. November, 1928. Any numbers back of April, 1928. Errata The November issue of Tur AMER IcCAN TEACHIER recorded H. S. Bech tolt as chairman of a special commit- tee of the American Federation of Labor. This was an error for the American Federation of Teachers. Miss Taggart was misquoted as re ferring to the “simple and unlimited education of a generation ago.” We apologize to Miss Taggart. We would be glad to think there was ever a time or place when education was unlimited ; but Miss Taggart would hardly locate such an idyllic conception in Chicago within a generation. To Dr. Lefkowitz we offer humble apologies for our printer’s new version of his name. HE HISTORY Of teacher status in | America is not an enviable one. It is a story of declining posi- tion and influence in the community on the part of the individual teacher. In colonial days, and even well into the last century, the teacher was the intellectual center of the community, and, in so far as he performed the pas- toral duties of the church, he was also the spiritual center. During an agri- cultural era with its comparatively sparse population and its meager social surplus, few went to school and fewer were capable of teaching even the most rudimentary subjects then thought necessary for good citizenship. It was natural then that the teacher should stand foremost in the community, and, even if his material rewards were piti- fully small, his remuneration in com- munity esteem was real and sincere. It expressed itself in many ways, sometimes by elevation of the teacher to place of political power in town and state. It was perhaps no accident that it was the teacher often who led the common folk of a community in re- volt at abuses of common rights or de- nial of privileges. It was Thomas Dorr, a Rhode Island school teacher, who led an armed uprising of artisans and mechanics against the undemo- cratic freehold qualifications for suf- frage in the state. The Industrial Revolution, in its gradual transformation of America from a group of pioneer, self-con- tained, agricultural communities to a highly organized, interdependent, in- dustrialized society, also transformed the status of the teacher. The labor movement of the early nineteenth cen- tury, a product of the Industrial Revo- lution, demanded and finally secured the right to compulsory education. The little red school house became, for the worker, a symbol of equality in a land of unlimited opportunity. The teach- er, however, did not continue to hold his place in community esteem. As his numbers increased his functions The Teacher Orients Himself E. E. Schwarztrauber and necessarily his influence decreased. His competitors in the field increased with the increase in access to educa- tional advantages. Moreover, his E. E. SCHWARZTRAUBER task as teacher became secondary in the minds of average Americans to that more thrilling and, incidentally, more lucrative task of exploiting a nation’s unbounded resources. The era of the successful business man as an ideal for every boy to emulate had come. Henceforth, with lip service rendered by Fourth-of-July, Chautauqua, and similar orators, the schools were lauded as “the bulwark of the nation” and a bouquet thrown in for the teacher as good measure. But the function of the latter, though of course a mainstay in providing a “bulwark,” was no longer looked upon as actually so vital. To- day teachers of long experience in our public schools are quite aware of the poorly concealed wonderment, to use a mild term, on the part of average Mr. American that any red-blooded young man should choose the teaching pro- fession as a life work. Such persons THE AMERICAN TEACHER must ordinarily lack ambition. women teach. Only The “bulwark of the nation” is manned chiefly by female soldiers. This attitude of the general public is a measure of the level to which teachers have fallen in function as well as in esteem. But not quite so the schools. And here we approach the fundamental basis for an answer to our question. In so brief an article as this, one can scarcely touch on more than the obvious. The Industrial Revolution, as is quite evident, has wholly changed the face of American life, economic, social, political. Mechanization in in- dustry and agriculture has gone for- ward at a terrific speed, particularly in the last few decades. The individual- ism and self-sufficiency of an agricul- tural era are gone. There are no geo- graphic frontiers across which a land- hungry population can press to new conquests ; no “Young man, go West” advice can now relieve the pressure of poverty or the limitations of blind- alley jobs. One place in America is as good or as bad as another. And every place feels the stamp of the machine upon it. America is becoming standardized for mass _ production whether in the factory or on the farm. But, the machine has brought about this mass production only through a vast co-ordination of economic forces. The very poorest observer can note the evidences of the truth of the above statements. Individual enterprise has given way to corporate management of industry. Chain groceries, chain banks, chain department stores, hold- ing companies, mergers are all mani- festations of what the machine is do- ing to modern economic life. This growing integration of the instruments of production, exchange, and distribu- tion is accompanied by an ominous concentration of ownership and con- trol which should be a matter of pro- found concern to every thinking Amer- ican. And it is in the problems in- herent in the above-stated situation [ER nly the ale ral to ion ute ach ver one the 1ic, ul- in iS DECEMBER, 1931 that the teachers of America are deep- ly involved whether they realize it or not. The tragedy of it is that probably the average teacher in our public schools, to say nothing of the college teacher, scarcely realizes that a critical issue faces him. Teachers ordinarily have been poorly trained, if at all, in economics and other social sciences. Furthermore, they have been burdened with a multiplicity of class room detail and routine work which, together with poor pay and other adverse circum- stances, have tied them slavishly to the immediate surroundings. The result is that they go about the teaching of “fundamentals” scarcely aware that they are in the center of a bitter strug- gle for economic power. The real fundamentals are in the process of hap- pening, and the teachers are, with their pupils or students, the docile actors with the stage directors in the back- ground. It may seem, at first thought, a far- fetched assertion that the schools are a center of struggle for power. What basis in human experience is there for the belief that our American social or- der exhibits the tendencies customarily found where political or economic pow- er, or both, become highly concen- trated? The answer is this: History has no record of which the writer i: aware of a similar situation in the life of a people where those who have gathered to themselves wealth and power, and particularly power, have willingly laid it down. Quite to the contrary, they have fought bitterly to retain power. By the very nature of the methods whereby they attain pow- er, they become incapable of giving. Getting is all they as a class under- stand. Concentrated power fears change, and why not? It has what it wants or it is in the process of getting what it wants under the existing or- der. Hence it has sought to maintain the status quo, or “things as they are,” the methods varying to fit the age. To- day in America concentrated power wills to retain power. But it must fit its methods to meet modern situations. One of these methods is the “right” training of youth. In other words, the schools have become in actual fact “the bulwark of the nation.” But the “bulwark” for what? That is the issue. All else pales into insignificance. Should the schools be an instrument to maintain the status quo, or should they be the advance guard of civilization? The former end requires one kind of “right” training; the latter, another kind. In either case it is probably foolish to ascribe any evil, devilish in- tent in the demand for the one or the other. Vested power in America has a natural desire to survive and fol- lows the path that seems best to it. So do other groups. In this struggle between the few and the many, with the many still represented by a medley of voices, the future of America is be- ing written. If wealth and power win in the struggle, the product of the schools will become more and more a set pattern, rigid in its “safe-and-sane- ness.” The leadership which will arise from the youth of the schools will in- creasingly come to supply the one great demand, viz., the buttressing of vested power. Witness even now the best talent of our law schools enlisted for the protection of corporation holdings. But the mass production of our schools will be regimented as they already are, largely, into the ranks of docile, un- critical employees in counting house and factory. Upton Sinclair’s picture of the “Goosestep” and “Goslings” may be only too real a possibility if not already an actuality. But if such a picture is not to be consummated, then the schools have a quite different task. Then the schools must express the yearnings of the mil- lions who toil and must help translate those yearnings into the better life. That will involve the encouragement and nurture of a “divine discontent” in the hearts of the youth. Leadership must then be a creative leadership with a vision of a better social order grow- ing out of the old. It must possess a reverence for all that is good in the old, but an active impatience for the out- worn. Such a leadership will then be able to cope intelligently with Amer- ica’s present growing ills. Our Ameri- can social order will not have had op- portunity to crystallize, as did the old Russian regime before the Revolution, into a rigid, unbending mass which only a volcanic eruption can break. The schools will thus serve as a fer- ment, a life-giving force making pos- sible an evolutionary process of change. What hope, if any, is there that we may escape the first of these possible ends pictured above? Here one could be quite pessimistic. Everywhere about us is evidence of the control of our schools by vested interests. Pa- triotic societies, consciously or uncon- sciously the tools of these interests, are increasingly dictating what shall be taught, who shall teach, and the text- books that shall be used. Regimenta- 19 tion of mind and militarization of thought for the bolstering of an out- worn nationalism which can be of service chiefly to selfish economic in- terests, is being rapidly promoted by the military arm of the government aided by semi-private military organi- zations. ‘The powerful public utilities are reaching into the public schools, colleges and universities to control the thinking of youth through propaganda literature and through the buying or bullying of teachers into a “proper alignment.” In such an atmosphere creative thinking and creative leader- ship have little chance for survival. Where, then, rests the hope for an America growing into a new life through a living school system? One answer is in an emancipated body of teachers. Somewhere, some _ way, teachers must be made free. Freedom cannot come to them individually. It is a collective process. This is an age of group action, and teachers, as all other groups in American society, must learn to work as a unit. But mere organizations will not make teachers free for their great task. If the teach- ers are to make the schools the foun- tainhead of creative leadership and critically-minded, intelligent “follow- ership,” they must evolve an organiza- tion which has its springs of action dug deep in the yearnings of America’s millions, not of its few. Ideas and ideals, the reaching out and up for a better order of things rarely, if ever, comes from the top stratum of society. That stratum has what it wants and is satisfied. It is dried up spiritually. Teachers must therefore turn their eyes to the common, everyday, strug- gling people whom we know as the “workers,” out of whose sufferings and failings and strivings even a Galilean carpenter once obtained his inspiration. Teachers can do no less and probably no more than He. It is true that teachers have had and do have their organizations, some of them quite powerful in numbers. The National Education Association and the League of Class Room Teachers in our public school system, and the American Association of University Professors in our colleges and univer- sities are teachers’ organizations which function in many valuable ways for the present order of things. But they can never, as at present consti- tuted, meet the fundamental needs of teachers and the schools nor ultimately the needs of America. Their fatal weakness is their isolation from the (Turn to Page 30) Report of Committee on Education THE AMERICAN TEACHER American Federation of Labor Convention Vancouver, B. C., October 5-15, 1931 The American TeEacuer takes pleasure in placing before its readers portions of the report of the Commuttee on Education to the annual convention of the American Icderation of Labor which it believes will be of especial interest. itt AMERICAN I*EDERATION OF I.ABoR is and always has been in the forefront in the promotion and fostering of education. The Amer- ican Federation of Labor has an un- equaled reputation as a leader in pro- vressive education. The pronounce- ments of our President in his opening address to the fifty-first annual conven- tion of the American Federation of Labor setting forth the constructive economic philosophy of organized labor have greatly enhanced this reputation. Your Committee on [ducation be- lieves that in this time of world-wide economic, educational and social crisis, when everyone is looking for construc- tive planning and leadership out of this morass of distress and threatened dis- aster, the sound philosophy and eco- nomic principle of our chief officer should have the widest possible distri- bution. The educative value of this address is very great. Non-trade unionists, who are most in need of eco- nomic and social education, are looking to Labor and this Convention for direction. Your Committee on Education there- fore suggests that this opening address of President Green at this fifty-first Annual Convention be given the widest possible distribution, that it be sent to schools and colleges for reprinting in their journals wherever possible; to school, college and public libraries, to educators, to Chambers of Commerce and to State and Federal Government officials, and further urges that all members of Organized Labor aid fully in the distribution of this address to non-members. Your Committee also urges the same procedure as far as possible with other addresses and literature of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor. Contributions to Education Upon that portion of the Executive Council’s Report under the caption, “Contributions to Education,” are shown some facts of organized labor’s great work in the field of public edu- cation. Organized labor was the major in- strumentality in establishing the public school system. One hundred years ago the courageous and far-seeing advo- cacy of free education by Labor was responsible in a large part for the es- tablishment of our system of public education. To the growing class of wage-earners in sound organization we are indebted for our free tax-supported schools. Since that day Labor has been the consistent protector and defender of the public schools. Compulsory education laws, legisla- tion providing for vocational, continua- tion and evening schools, for free text books and for increases in school reve- nues, material increases in teachers’ salaries, administrative reforms, such as the reduction in the size of classes and the more democratic participation of classroom teachers in the conduct of the schools, the election of progressive boards of education with labor and occasionally teacher representation, are among Labor’s accomplishments in public school education. No labor convention has been held in recent times which did not devote an appreciable part of its time to a con- sideration of the school problem. It has adopted an educational platform in which everyone of its demands aims at the improvement of the schools— among these are: Better enforcement of the educa- tional laws, wider use of the school plant, reduction in the size of the school unit and in the size of classes, revision of salary schedules upward, increase of school revenues to maintain and develop public schools, co-opera- tion between Boards of Education and superintendents and committees repre- senting the teaching body in all cases of controversy between school authori- ties and teachers. Tenure of position for teachers dur- ing efficiency. Text books for social subjects to re- flect a comprehensive presentation of the social sciences; a curriculum for sound training in citizenship; promo- tion of adult education; elimination of adult illiteracy ; workers’ education and vocational retraining for the unem- ployed. ‘This is an educational pro- gram second to none and organized labor does well to be proud of it. Workers’ Education Bureau 10 Years’ Service The Workers Education Bureau of America completed in April of the year 1931 ten years of education service to the American wage earners. In that decade its educational objectives have been made clear, its methods have been tested by a wide variety of experience; and a most valuable body of material has been developed. The Bureau has acquired a status and a reputation both at home and abroad which are the re- sult of a decade of effective leadership in the general field of adult education. Upon its successful completion of this first decade of constructive educational service to American wage earners your committee recommends to this Fifty- first Annual Convention that it record its appreciation and admiration for the high-minded and unselfish devotion of the officers and directors of the Bu- reau in carrying forward this pioneer- ing but essential service to our labor movement. The Year’s Work Your committee commends _ the Workers Education Bureau on the range and variety of its activities dur- ing the past year. ‘lhe work of the Bureau has been carried forward in a most constructive manner. ‘The ac- complishments are the more significant in view of the added burdens that have been placed upon the staff of the Bureau. The Labor Institute at Rutgers University The most notable work of the Bu- reau during the year and the outstand- ing project in the entire workers’ edu- cation movement was the Labor Insti- tute held upon the campus of Rutgers University in the State of New Jersey. The manner with which the Bureau succeeded in drawing into a co-opera- tive agreement and working arrange- ment the State University and State Federation of Labor, is not only a no- table achievement, but an example for ER ar ice lat ve en ial as th ‘ip in. 1s al DECEMBER, 19381 other state federations to follow. For a good many years the Federation of Labor has declared its belief in closer co-operation between our tax supported universities and the labor forces in the several states. Convention resolutions have added to the weight of this con- viction. It has remained for the Work- ers’ Education Bureau to work out the method and practical details, first in the California Plan for non-resident study groups, and second the Rutgers Plan for a resident institute. On pre- vious occasions the convention has dis- cussed with entire approval the Cali- fornia Plan. On this occasion your committee desires to record its enthu- siastic approval of the Rutgers plan. To bring together mature members and leaders of the labor movement on the campus of a state university for a week’s institute and enable them to consider with the faculty of the uni versity matters of great economic im portance, which concern both Labor and the community, is not only a highly significant, but a highly practical thing to do. The complete approval with which this plan was received by Labor has been set forth in the vigorous reso- lution adopted by the New Jersey State Federation of Labor at their annual convention in September The added endorsement of President Green and other leaders of the move- ment to this commendable project is full and final proof of its value. Your committee commends _ the Workers’ I¢ducation Bureau for its initiative and leadership in this work and the New Jersey State Federation of Labor for its whole-hearted co-op- eration and subsequent determination to make this institute a part of its an- nual educational work. It recommends to the officers of the other State Fed- erations of Labor this plan as success- fully developed in New Jersey and urge these officers to call upon the Workers’ Education Bureau for its good offices in making contacts with their state universities, and setting up similar institutes. Week-End Conferences Your committee has in previous con- ventions endorsed the plan of week-end conferences as developed by the Work- ers Education Bureau some seven years ago. It is glad to know that they are continuing to prove a serviceable me- dium in the Workers Education move- ment. The week-end conference held at Fort Collins, Colorado, this spring, was a splendid example of the value of such a conference when the entire labor movement has given it a full measure of support. It commends the Colorado State Federation of Labor and the the Workers Education move- ment of that state on their successful conference. It commends also the Wisconsin Federation of Labor on its successful conference over the Labor Day week-end as well as other similar projects throughout the country. For the Co-ordination and Consoli- dation of All the Educational Activities of the American Federation of Labor One of the most notable contribu- tions of the American Federation of Labor to the public welfare during the fifty years of its existence has been its unwavering support of the extension of education for all the people. Indeed i_abor’s contribution to the widening of educational opportunities for the entire citizenship would alone justify its ex istence and merit a generous measure of public approbation. Such service m behalf of wider educational facilities which began with the needs of the children of the Nation has been ex- tended until today Labor recognizes that the education of the adult popu- lation is an inseparable aspect of demo- cratic citizenship and should be uni- versal and lifelong. Many of the organizations affiliated with the Federation have furthermore come to place increasing reliance not only on education and educational methods during the past half century, but also have developed certain notable educational activities under their im- mediate direction which are an indivis- ible part of their function as trade unions. The plans for apprentice training in some of the more highly skilled trades, the program of re-train- ing journeymen for new technical processes in certain branches of the printing trade, the provisions for cor- respondence instruction for the mem- bership in still other crafts, and the conference method of education in the development of union-management co- operation programs are but a few ex- amples of the manner in which educa- tion has become both the measure of union progress, and the essenfial method of its accomplishment. In still other cases the Federation through its affiliated organizations has in the past half century made func- tional contacts with various depart- ments and branches of our educational system from the elementary schools to the universities. It has set up co- operating relationships with various educational societies for the advance- ment of its educational work. In more recent years the Federation has de- 21 veloped an organic and functional rela- tionship with the Workers’ Education Bureau of America in the development of adult education opportunities for the entire membership which has been of unique and lasting value. Your Committee on Education is firmly of the opinion that there is no clearer trend of labor development for the past fifty years than the utiliza- tion and extension of both educational methods and objectives for the labor movement. Educational methods have been stamped upon hundreds of La- bor’s proclaimed policies. It is the rule of a wide variety of Labor prac- tices. It is the prophecy of Labor’s future development and service to the public welfare. Your Committee is accordingly of one mind in feeling that the Federation at this historic mile- stone in its development can no more fittingly signalize its past trend and its future direction than to make education one of its foremost working policies. Your Committee further realizes that the most effective manner of giv ing education its proper place among the working policies of the Federation would be to co-ordinate these various educational activities now carried on by the Federation through the Perma- nent Committee on Education and the Workers’ Education Bureau into a uni- fied whole. It would add weight to what is now being done and concen- trate and focus more sharply the direc tion of Labor’s educational advance. Your Committee on Education there fore unanimously recommends to the Fifty-first Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor that the President and the Executive Council be authorized to undertake an appraisal of all of the existing educational activi- ties now carried on by the American Federation of Labor either directly or indirectly as heretofore described and be empowered to co-ordinate and consolidate all such activities as may serve the most effective growth and de- velopment of the labor movement in the future. Child Welfare Under this caption on page 134 of its report the Executive Council has on one page provided food for volumes of thought upon this very important sub- ject. Pages 124-125, Executive Council’s Report. The Executive Council calls attention to the fact that this amend- ment to the Constitution of the United States has been before the legislatures of the various states for several years, and that but six have so far ratified it. (Turn to Page 28) S AN OVERPRODUCTION of college I graduates in America possible? The Dean of the College at Princeton, Christian Gauss, believes it may be. Analyzing the difficulty that college graduates of 1931 have had in finding employment, Mr. Gauss states that fifty years ago the great majority of seniors went into the professions. During the last decade, however, busi ness has been absorbing from sixty to eighty per cent. Now it can no longer provide employment for anything like this percentage. Many young men and women who were graduated from col- lege in June, finding themselves unable to secure a job, have decided, in spite of all hardships, to avoid idleness by continuing professional or graduate studies. Their solution of the prob- lem confronting them has some dan- gers for society. “Quite evidently if business cannot now absorb its normal percentage of college graduates, in a few years the professions may be called upon to make a place for them. This may be hard on the professions, for some of them, particularly the law, are already overcrowded, and we may be running serious danger of creating what al- ready exists in many European coun- tries—an unemployable intellectual proletariat.” “The Last Generation,’ by Christian Gauss; Forum; September, 1931. One wonders, after reading Mr. Gauss’ analysis of the new spirit evi- dent among the young people today, whether their economic plight has not had its compensations. Of course, he is speaking of the more intelligent college students when he summarizes their beliefs as follows: “Sins are serious, this new crowd holds, in proportion to their social effects, and an act which affects the doer alone is not as seriously or far-reachingly im- moral as one that tends to beget injus- tice and ill-will or corruption in the city or state. It is worse to poison a community well than to take a swig out Some Tendencies in Educational Magazines Nell Peterson of your own gin-filled flask. Good Citizenship, the kind that insists ac- tively and effectively upon living in de- cent communities and under a social and economic system that is fair and just to all, is far more central to mor- ality than is total abstinence.” “The New Morality in the Colleges,” by Christian Gauss, ‘Scribner’s, November, 1931. If, as Mr. Gauss believes, the young are seriously drawing up acts of accu- sation against the generations which produced the world in which they find themselves, it is well that the older men and women are doing some self-ap- praisal. For instance, there is the An- nual Report for 1931, in which the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance- ment of Teaching has published cer- tain preliminary results of. an investi- gation called the Pennsylvania Study. This Study is “an inquiry into the re- lations of secondary and higher educa- tion.” It purposes to follow the rec- ord of about 12,500 pupils who en- tered the seventh grades of Pennsyl- vania schools in September, 1928, through the junior and senior high schools until they are graduated from high school in June, 1934. Also it in- volves following the growth of thou- sands of high school graduates of 1928 through the cooperating Pennsylvania colleges until they receive degrees in June, 1932. Max McConn, of Lehigh University, after making an exhaustive study of this report, concludes that up to date the evidence against the quality of work done in Pennsylvania colleges is “valid and pretty damning.” Taken at their face value the facts “seem to show that college students learn prac- tically nothing, that seniors within a month of their graduation are nearly as ignorant as freshmen and, in some important fields, even more so.” Naturally all who accept the evidence of this study are concerned to find causes and remedies for such expensive futility. Two causes stand out clearly: the organization of studies in American colleges on the basis of isolated semes- Tae AMERICAN TEACHER ter courses with accompanying credits; and the indiscriminate admission to col- lege of students who have not the nec- essary mental ability or the intellectual interest to profit by any plan of college education. Many boys and girls who can get along very well so long as they need only memorize small bodies of material, which may be forgotten after sixteen weeks, are really without any genuine intellectual interest and inca- pable of constantly recalling and using the raw data of knowledge until it can be carried forward as permanent and growing wisdom. If colleges were not compelled to accept second-rate minds, probably educators could devise a plan of study that would make learning cu- mulative and vital. “How Much Do College Students Learn?” by Max McConn, North American Review; November, 1931. Another suggestion for a complete change in our way of organizing edu- cation should arouse more than one group of teachers to honest thinking and to well-controlled experimentation. Mr. FE. FE. Keener notes that, “At- tempts to teach large classes in high school have shown that in some sub- jects classes of one hundred pupils can be taught effectively.” He admits that both teachers and administrators are slow to accept the validity of evidence which has tended to the conclusion that work done by, pupils in large classes is as good as work done by pupils in small classes ; and he urges further and better guarded experiments. His revo- lutionary suggestion is this: “If the teaching is well done in the early grades, the problems of study habits and hehavior will hecome fewer and fewer as the pupils progress through school. As the pupils learn how to study, the teacher can teach larger and larger classes. If this argument is valid, our school system needs turning upside down as far as class size is concerned.” “What Size Class?” by E. E. Keener, in The Elementary School Journal, October, 1931. ER ot g in d 1931 DECEMBER, BOOK S “There is no frigate like a book to bear us lands away.”—Emity DicKINsoN Firty-Five “Bap” Boys By Samuel W. Hartwell Knopf, 1931, New York. $3.50. HE stTuDY of human relations | (as distinguished from mere observations on them) is one of the real intellectual adventures of our time. For teachers such studies offer peculiar hope for the solution of the age-old problems of the class-room and every contribution is worthy of their careful attention. Most teachers know that it is not so much what we know as what personalities we have to offer and how these personalities in- teract with those of our students, that counts in a good education. But very few teachers know much about how to cultivate just the personalities they want, and less of achieving just the relations they intend with their stu- dents. A study which may cast some light on our thinking on these matters is this book by a skillful psychiatrist in a Child Guidance Clinic, who analyzes for us as well as for him- self, first, what are fruitful relations between physician and patient and how they are established; second, the nature of his successes and his fail- ures in specific cases; and third, what are the underlying causes of “good ad- justment,” whether attained by his ef- forts or without them. The technique is far more elaborate than the teacher needs to use, but for that very reason shows clearly the pit- falls of our more sketchy methods. First, thinking about a boy or forming a theory of his conduct, thinking for him or making a plan to meet his difii- culties and thinking with the boy are kept separate in consciousness. Dr. Hartley distinguishes four stages of rapport; that of friendly belief where “the child thoroughly believes in me and thinks I have a knowledge that may help him”; that of personal trust, where “in addition to believing in me, the child now trusts me in regard to personal matters”; that of personality contact, where he “now believes in me, trusts me, and in addition to that he likes me and wants me to understand and to like him”; that of dependent attachment, where in addition to all this, “he is dependent on me and wishes very much to have me like and ap- preciate him.—-He is suggestible to the greatest possible degree.” A _ good teacher recognizes that, the relations most suitable to the classroom are the first two; there are dangers in the third degree and very grave dangers in the last, but his establishment of a good rapport while avoiding too deep a one in certain cases is usually the result of good “instinctive” attitudes: the psychiatrist shows how it may be- come a conscious process and there- fore, more readily controlable. And, by implication, his case histories show us the ills which arise from lack of a good rapport ; a situation which is only too frequent with us all in relation to some of our students, and gives us a little insight into how this unfortunate situation may be avoided. Dr. Hartley is not afraid to admit and study his failures. When human relations are our job we are shirking if we merely say: “That child is a failure” and do not seek to single out those factors in the total situation which most probably contributed to the failure; some of these case histories are good examples of how to go about it. Most illuminating of all the stud- ies is No. 14, where a boy who had had nearly everything that could be had in his environment about as bad as it could be, was. nevertheless, so well adjusted that he “was frankly told he might help other boys and girls by trying to help me understand how he had always been a well-behaved and happy bov and how he had learned to make so many friends.” Here neither the physician nor the social worker claims a success, hut hopes in under- standing to find the way to successes with others. In successes and failures alike, Dr. Hartley sees repeatedly that loyalties to something or somebody is the clear- est need. The five cases discussed in chapter seven take this as a central theme, but the thinking out of the treatment suited to many of the other cases comes back again and again to this fundamental. It is in such prac- tical thinking out of individual cases that a scientific approach to character building lies, and the unexpected stress on loyalties which grows out of these studies may well give us pause in fol- lowing any wholesale methods or aim- ing at standardized ideals and behavior. —Ruth Gillette Hardy. THE COUNCIL OF THE Gops By Ruth Harshaw Thomas S. Rockwell Company, Chi- cago, 1931. Pp. 198. $2.00. To most of us, the mythology we crammed in our school days was just a collection. of more or less disconnected tales, more or less interesting, but wholly lacking in significance. It was only as we met them again and again in the reading of after years that these airy nothings took on a local habitation and names whose significance widens with the years. What Mrs. Harshaw has done is re- create for children the community of Greek deities on Mount Olympus and build out of a familiar myth a commu- nity project, through which not inci- dents but personalities shall be corre- lated. The loss of Persephone and its effect upon Demeter and, through her, upon mankind furnishes the occasion for a council of the gods. As Hermes, messenger of Zeus, flies hither and yon, summoning gods and goddesses to Olympus, we see their abodes and their occupations. The banquet hall of Zeus’ palace furnishes a gorgeous setting for the council and its happy outcome. The narrative maintains a classic dignity becoming to the theme. But throughout the story has been written with a view to the children’s dramatiz- ing it, if they so desire. Nothing could be more inspiring to the child than the 24 blend of classic repose and poetic feel- ing in the illustrations by Nicholas Kaissaroff. This newcomer to Amer- ica is a distinct addition to our artists. A pupil of the famous Russian Bilibin, he has also the rich heritage of a well- born Russian underlying a thorough understanding of art. The Foreword is by Carleton Wash- burne, superitnendent of the Win- netka (IIl.) schools, under whom Mrs. Harshaw has served as teacher, princi- pal and supervisor. Lydia J. Trowbridge lf OREIGN LAN Iluse; Uni- $3.00. THe PsyCHoLoGy o1 GUAGE Stupy, by /7/. W. versity of North Carolina Press ; CONOMIC DEPRESSION, social mal- adjustment, political corruption and an unending prophecy ol conditions yet more dire so cloud the picture of this gloomy world in which we find ourselves that it is with a sense of surprised recollection that we catch mental sight of certain more optimistic and abiding facts. Honest human re lationships and human emotions. still hold. Parents still love their children and the reverse is equally true. Friend — thrives. Generosity at times breaks through the hard shell of public impersonality. There is still that sub- tle thing which we call spiritual aspira tion. So in the consideration of Mr. Huse’s book, the Psychology of For- Language Study, the reader is glad to recollect that despite the weight of his considerations in negative, foreign languages are still taught with some degree of profit. In the case of many students they continue to be a pleasurable scholastic experience amid the arid stretches of a curriculum over- crowded at present with pseudo-sci- ences. The experience of more than a decade of teaching might cause one timidly to express the opinion that a considerable residue of language knowledge and language skill remains and continues to function after the prescribed study is completed. Mr. Huse’s book is_ incorrectly named. One reaches for it with pleas- ure, the Psychology of Foreign Lan- guage Study, in the hope that here will be something new or original or stimu- lating but instead one finds a compen- dium of notes garnered from those who have espoused or opposed the cause of methodology. The arrange- ment is orderly and systematic, Part I, Comparisons Between Methods, Fx- periments Related to Methods, and Experiments in Learning and Recall. Mr. Huse does not avail himself of the privilege of expression of those who would draw conclusions. He collects and arranges material. He who runs may read and draw his own conclu- sions if tabulated negations are pro- vocative of them. In this respect the author shows himself a collector, a compiler, rather than an_ original thinker or writer. Part II again is a compilation which concerns current pedagogical doctrines. It is only in Part III that we find anything that might be called original and then it is sO entirely negative as to be negligible. The world of linguistic investigation is not waiting to hear that, 1) “There is no present agreement universalized in practice as to what to teach. 2) “There is no agreement and little scientific information as to how best to teach... . 3) “\ determination of these points has been infinitely complicated by dozens of different aims... . 1) “A scientific foundation for lan- guage ped: agOgy has been impos sible. ‘These summarized conclusions with which Mr. Huse ends his sixth chapter of Part IIT have long since been appar- ent to those who are interested in the study of foreign language. The rest of the world will be, as it has been, completely indifferent to them. The only positive results of the author’s study appear in the last two chapters his book, a plea for the establish ment of a minimum aim that would be acceptable to all and some suggestions for the technique of presentation. Those who seek in brief and acces- sible form a glimpse of the investiga- tions in foreign language study of the past twenty-five years may find some help in Mr. Huse’s work. As a real contribution to the field of foreign language study it adds _ extremely little. Blanche TT. Dow. The Office of Education Announces— More than 100 specialists in the lederal Office of Education are con- stantly on the lookout for progressive innovations and vital trends in educa- tion in the United States and foreign countries. What they find is given at once to the school world through School Life, monthly journal of the Federal bureau. For teachers and school administra- tors who wish to keep informed about the studies, surveys, and bulletins of the Office of Education, School Life is a necessary guide. Its artieles can- vass every phase and field of edu- cation. THE AMERICAN TEACHER In addition, School Life tells each month what new free or low cost pub- lications the Government has issued which teachers of geography, home economics, history and many other subjects can use to give life to their classroom projects. It also reports ac- tivities of other Federal departments and commissions significant to edy- cators. School Life can be obtained for one year by sending 50 cents to the Su- perintendent of Documents, Goy- ernment Printing Office, Washington, a ol For High School Journalists A free twice-a-month high school newspaper service—combining editorial and typographical suggestions for ad- visers, editors and journalism classes, with a nation-wide feature service— has just been announced by the Ameri- can Boy Magazine, 550 West Lafayette Boluevard, Detroit, Mich. Clipsheets will be mailed without charge, every two weeks, to high school newspapers that request them. In charge of this new service depart- ment will be William L. Mapel, assist- ant editor, who comes to the magazine from the directorship of the Lee School of Journalism, Washington and Lee University. He will be assisted by Miss Marjorie Nordstrom, former secretary of the Department of Jour- nalism, Iowa State College. High school newspapers may obtain the clipsheets through application to Mr. Mapel in care of the American Boy Magazine. High school editors and journalism teachers are invited to call on him for assistance in publica- tion problems. [ligh school and pre- paratory schools are asked to place Mr. Mapel on their exchange lists, so that he may study their newspapers and quote from them. Mother: “Well, Jimmy, do you think your teacher likes you?” Jimmy: “I think so, mufnmy, because she marks a big kiss on all my ’rithmetic.”— Scarboro Post. If a man is right, all the bombardment ol the world for five, ten, twenty, forty years will only strengthen him in his position. So that all you have to do is to keep yourself right. Never mind the world.—Talmage. —| WE ASK YOU Help increase the value of your magazine by spending a few minutes and two cents on the Questionnaire on page 2. ee ——— —_ as a in > Heme « ome ther heir ; ace ents edu- one 30V- ton, sts hool rial ad- Ses, leri- ette eets very pers art- sist- zine nool Lee by mer yur- tain . to ican tors 1 to ore- Mr. that and your she _” it ol ears rseli abate DECEMBER, 1931 Portland Local 111 An event which our union will re- member through the year is the visit to us of our national secretary, Mrs. Florence Curtis Hanson. The pleas- ure of her friendship and the stimulus of her enthusiastic and effectual work jor the Teachers’ Federation will re- main a happy memory and a more than transient inspiratiou. This year the board of education again allowed the Teachers’ Union to send a delegate to the convention of the State Federation of Labor. Our representative, Miss May Darling, was chairman of the committee on educa- tion. The report of that committee was violently attacked because of the cause recommending that ability to teach rather than need of work be con- sidered in the employment of teachers, hut it carried with a gratifying ma- jority. With the adoption of that re- port the convention went on record as approving : (1) educational qualities as first requisite for teachers; (2) no in- crease in teacher load; (3) adequate tenure; (4) salaries consistent with services rendered the state; (5) fur- therance of the study of the social sci- ences; (6) promulgation of informa- tion dealing with the ‘‘dangers threat- ening our industrial and social life’; 7) the incorporation into the Federa- tion of the committee on education, di- rected by the executive secretary and reinforcing his work. Because the board of education still felt it wise, as an economic relief meas- ure, to ask the married teachers with other means of support than their sala- ries to withdraw temporarily, Local 111 sent to the board the following com- munication : “Members of the School Board : “In the discussion of unemployment relief, the suggestion has been made that married women teachers be asked to surrender their positions, tempora- tily, at least. “The advocates of discrimination against married women apparently lose ‘ight of the fact that the schools are conducted for the benefit of the chil- dren; that the welfare of the children should not be subordinated to employ- ment needs of individuals, and that. therefore. educational qualifications and teaching ability should be the first consideration in the employment of teachers. Assuming. however, that the married women could be replaced by other teachers of equal ability, we still believe that such discrimination would be objectionable in that it would be made on sex lines. The adoption of such a policy by the board would pe- nalize women for marrying, thus strik- ing a blow at the institution which is the foundation of our social system. The continuation of such a_ policy would have a tendency to discourage women of ability from preparing for the teaching profession. “We do not believe that the situation is such as to warrant discrimination in the matter of employment against any class. But if, in the opinion of the board, conditions of unemployment are serious enough to demand such drastic action, then we ask that the basis for such discrimination be entirely the eco- nomic needs of the individuals and that the question of sex, or marital status, be eliminated. If employment needs are to be truly the test for employment, then those who are asked to retire will be teachers, or other employees of the district, who have sources of income other than the salaries they receive from the district, or who own sufficient property to permit them to retire. “We therefore request that if an economic survey is to be made, it be ap- plied alike to married and unmarried women teachers and to married and unmarried men teachers. We also ask that it extend from the highest to the lowest and that it include every em- ployee of the district, whether he be a member of the teaching staff or em- ployed in some other capacity. “We are convinced that the board, in whatever action it takes, will desire to promote the best interests of the schools, and we wish to assure the board that we, as members of the teaching staff, are willing to put aside personal considerations and view these problems in the light of their effect on the schools and on society as a whole. We believe that in the hiring of teach- ers the need for employment should not be allowed to take precedence over much- more important considerations. We feel that, in the end, any discrim- inatory practice, regardless of the class which is to be benefited or injured by such practice, will react against the best interests of the schools. “Assuring you of our sincere desire to cooperate with the school authori- ties in all matters which look toward the betterment of -the schools, we are “Respectfully yours, “PoRTLAND TEACHERS UNION.” 25 NEWS OF THE LOCALS Washington Local 27 The Washington Teachers’ Union, Local 27, during the past summer was one of the cooperating organizations in the enterta’: ment of the National As- sociation o: Teachers in Colored Schools. This large body representing the educational leaders in negro educa- tion of America was the guest of the Columbian [Education Association of Washington, D. C. Local 27 distrib- uted literature designed to acquaint the visitors with the American Federation of Teachers and presented souvenir fans at the closing reception. These fans pictured Harriet Tubman, an apostle of freedom, as “A Great Teacher of Vital Lessons” and told of the aims of the American Federation of Teachers. In September Washington Teachers’ Union mourned the passing of its one member-at-large, Miss Ella M. Boston, for more than thirty-seven years prin- cipal of Kemper School and leader of educational thought in Arlington, Vir- ginia. When she retired in 1928 Supt. Fletcher Kemper wrote to her: “I can assure you that your contribution to public education will be felt for many generations to come. I! do know that you have devoted your entire life, en- ergy and efforts to the noble profession that you saw fit to choose.” Our Local 27 congratulates at this time the First Assistant Superintendent of Colored Schools, Mr. Garnet C. Wilkinson, who received his master’s degree from the University of Penn- sylvania this summer. His wide expe- rience and progressive achievement in the field of education place him in the foremost rank of educational benefac- tors of the country. Two of our members who have been promoted to the rank of administrative principals are Miss Edythe Lyons of the Morgan Elementary School and Mr. Walker L. Savoy (who was the delegate to the 1928 convention of the American Federation of Teachers), principal of the Garnet-Patterson Jun- ior High School. LINNIE R. Situ, National Representative. Buffalo Local 39 With its first executive meeting Oc- tober 15, the Buffalo Industrial Teach- ers Association got under way, and made plans for the coming year. It was decided to tender a compli- 26 mentary dinner to the members of the Central Labor Council in appreciation of their assistance in securing for the teachers of Buffalo this year’s salary increase. ‘The local labor support was probably the most important factor in getting this increase. The first regular meeting of the As- sociation will take place October 27 at 4 o'clock. The holding of an afternoon meeting with dinner afterwards is in the nature of an experiment, to see if the afternoon meeting will be more popular with our members. LyMAN B. FIsHEr, Correspondent. Local 5, New York The teachers of New York have the highest salary schedule of any city in the country, and they are paid promptly on the first day of each school month. The checks are good at any bank for the full face value. But there are drawbacks. The Mayor of our city, “the playboy of Manhattan,” himself receives an an- nual salary of $40,000 or double the salary of the Prime Minister of Eng- land. There has been no announce- ment of the amount Mayor Walker contributes to our local unemployment relief fund, but there has been consid- erable said of the amount he would like to have the city employees contribute. The police were told to give up three per cent, which they did. The sugges- tion offered to the teachers was like- wise three per cent, but some superin- tendents made an “ante” of ten per cent as an example. Whether it was more than an ante as applied to the first month's salary no one knows. But here and there principals have passed the word to teachers that the contribu- tion might well be five per cent. The Teachers’ Union has called the attention of the officials and the teach- ers to the fact that last year’s contri- butions were wastefully used, and that teachers must not be subjected to pres- sure to give to the officially collected fund if they prefer to give elsewhere. The Superintendent of Schools stated publicly that the teachers were under no compulsion to give. However, the district superintendents and the princi- pals have a way of applying the pres- sure with one hand while receiving soft-pedal messages with the other. The moral (if that word can be ap- plied to the ways of political high- binders) of this tale is that if you are a subordinate, your superior can throw you and your purse to the wolves and escape with his own purse and per- sonality. Meantime, suggestions from the Teachers’ Union and from others that charity, even compulsory charity, is not the remedy, are disregarded. Social planning requires too much thinking to be attractive. And, besides, there may be no graft in it. It is astonishing the amount of sloppy sentimentality that can be ex- uded from the mouths of the ignorant and the hypocritical to take the place of sound devotion to the cause of the people at a time when human misery is at its flood tide. Politicians, profi- teers and the holders of vast economic resources urge the unthinking and un- resisting employed classes to the sacri- fice, while thousands of the very bene- ficiaries of misery escape unassessed. In the midst of all this and the most aggressive official investigation of civic rottenness of a generation in New York, the leaders of both majority political parties meet to divide the spoils of twelve new judgeships and to make money payments for the places in direct violation of the law and the decent traditions of our courts of law. Does anyone of us still believe that this is none of the business of teachers ? San Francisco Local 61 Our Local has settled down to its regular routine with practically the same officers in charge as last year. Miss Marcella Glazier, for eight years Financial Secretary of our Local, re- tired from the school department in June. Our members showed their ap- preciation of her long service by pre- senting her with several gifts of con- siderable value. Her place has been filled by the election of Byron G. Na- son of Portola Junior High School. One of our members was illegally demoted from the senior to the junior high school in June last. His case will be taken to the courts for adjudication. Several other cases of irregularities are being looked after by the chairman of our Law and Legislative Committee, Mr. E. J. Dupuy. In answer to an inquiry in the June issue of THE AMERICAN TEACHER rel- ative to the graph showing our ex- penditures for the past year, our Treas- urer, Mr. C. A. Davis, states that his calculations were based on the total in- come of the Local for the year, which amount included several contributions from outside sources for our member- ship drive. We are expecting a visit from our Executive Secretary, Mrs. Florence Curtis Hanson, and Locals 61 and 215 have united in tendering a banquet in her honor. H. P. Dore, President. Chicago Elementary Local 199 The Elementary Teachers’ Union, despite the fact that Chicago teachers THE AMERICAN TEACHE) have received no pay since last April, is conducting a membership campaign, Building representatives have been ge. lected and a series of free bridge par. ties for non-members has been started, For the October meeting a dinner fol- lowed by a trip to the new studios of Radio Station WCFL has beep planned. Sumptuous quarters on the twen- tieth floor of the Furniture Mart on the lake front have recently been opened by Station WCFL. The six Chicago locals broadcast school pro- grams every afternoon from four to four-thirty. The Fair Department Store is cooperating on these pro- grams. Governor Louis L. Emmerson has appointed Miss Agnes Clohesy, presi- dent of the local, as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Unemploy- ment and Relief. Superintendent William J. Bogan, also, has accepted appointment on this commission. Miss Clohesy and Mrs. Helen R. Orrell represented the local at the Con- vention of the Illinois State Federation of Labor, held in Galesburg from Sep- tember 14 to September 18. On September 22, 1931, Miss Clo- hesy appeared before Governor En- merson’s Commission on Revenue and spoke for the Men Teachers’ Union, the Elementary Teachers’ Union, the Board of Education Playground Teachers’ Union, the Educational Sec- retaries’ Union and the Truant Offi- cers’ Union. Miss Weil spoke for the Federation of Women High School Teachers. During the conference sev- eral members of the Commission stated that not only should Chicago teachers not receive a cut in salary but that in their opinion they are entitled to a raise. “The Chicago Union Teacher,” a monthly magazine published by the six Chicago locals, is on the presses. It will be sent to the homes of fourteen thousand teachers and should be of material assistance in promoting mef- bership in the locals. Attractive pins bearing the insignia of Local No. 199 are being proudly worn by members of the Union. A pin and guard set in pearls was present to ‘the President by the elementary teachers. Six Chicago locals have organized the Joint Board of Teacher Unions. The following permanent officers have been elected: Chairman, Agnes B. Clo- hesy, Local No. 199; Vice-Chairman, Dorothy Weil, Local No. 3; Treasures, Freeland G. Stecker, Local No. *) Secretary, Winnifred K. McCormick, Local No. 224. \pril, aign. Nn se- - fol. ds of been wen- ‘t On been 2 six pro- ir to ment pro- | has rresi- f the ploy- ident epted n R. Con- ation ission icago y but titled E a le six . It irteen ye of mem- signia oudly A pin ented ntary nized 11008. suref, 0. 2; mick, DECEMBER, 19381 Teacher Leadership in Defense of Civil Liberty (Continued from Page 14) struggle to preserve the liberties of all citizens. Opportunities to take part in that necessary and noble warfare con- stantly present themselves. There is the tendency in every group to repress the unusual individual, sometimes by direct force, oftener by other forms of social pressure. Thus the community, to save itself annoyance, often robs itself of the fruits of genius. The teacher should lead in opposing such wastage of human material. There are the tendencies toward racial discrimi- nation, the failure to enforce the rights of individuals and groups of certain races. There are the many discrimina- tions against women, including women teachers, which are clear infringements upon “the natural rights of the citi- zen.” There are the numerous in- stances where workers are deprived of their right to associate together, to withhold their labor if terms are un- satisfactory, to picket peacefully. Sometimes this leads to the provoca- tion of civil warfare as in Harlan County, Kentucky, among the miners today. Even when the results are not so obviously disastrous as this, it re- mains a fact that in practically every organizing campaign, every strike of any proportions a mockery is made of the workers’ constitutional rights. A virtual terrorism prevails in many in- dustrial communities even in times of industrial peace. Thus: just recently the present writer was asked to address a meeting of the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania in commemoration of John Mitchell, a founder of that union and one of the outstanding conservative trade unionists of the past. The person- nel manager of a big coal company sought to compel the abandonment of that meeting by having the Chief Bur- gess of the town issue a notice which read, “All propaganda . tending to breach of the peace, disorder, of defi- ance of government is prohibited within this — and will be promptly pun- ished . We invoke the aid of all cit- izens in this cause.” Here is direct incitement to riot on behalf of a coal company, whose real concern is to pre- vent propaganda against wage-cutting. Miners who sponsored and went through with the meeting faced the risk of losing their jobs on some flimsy pretext. What a hopeful omen it would be if in the battle against legislation abridg- ing ‘ “the rights of man and of the citi- zen,” in the maintenance of civil liber- ties and the spirit of tolerance in each city or town, in the defence of the vic- tims of judicial tyranny, police bru- tality, insidious racial or social discrim- inations, teachers whose professional activity is killed in an atmosphere of intolerance and repression were every- where to take the lead. The defence of civil liberty is the defence of the school, the teacher, the child. The Teacher as a Citizen (Continued from Page 12) nation” in which every group contrib- utes its own tonality. “In a symphony, each note rises and speaks and disap- pears forever. Many notes are grouped to make melodies and themes; are in- terwoven to fill chords; and these, too, tide and fall. All the innumerable notes left their instant voices, and pass, and only the symphony remains. Such would be our nation; save that its cre- ator would not be ‘outside’ the music. He would be the individual note itself —the group of notes, building the structure of the whole by knowing the whole, and by living it, personally, in its several parts.” When the child, as a future citizen, has been trained to appreciate his obli- gations towards family, comrades, vil- lage, city or state, he must further learn that this solidarity cannot end at the frontiers of his nation. Civilization has been and still is the common work of all peoples, and in spite of inevitable differences, this common bond must be maintained and strengthened. You who teach will not cease from your creative labor of beauty. You will yourselves become more aware of truth and “bring truth to bear upon the unborn world; not for any issue in time or person, but for the joy of the eternity of the moment lived in the image of God.” A Glance at Pension Legislation (Continued from Page 7) Even so, there are still those who pro- test on the ground that the compul- sory features are a reflection on their ability to handle their own finances properly or, in rare instances, that they will, be considered objects of charity. Pensions for teachers have lagged far less because of opposition on the part of the public than because teachers have been indifferent or antagonistic toward them. The members of the group who look on pensions as a form of insurance have allowed themselves to be shouldered aside while a noisy majority held the center of the stage. Once the teachers become pension- minded as a whole, retirement allow- ances, if the term is more agreeable, will be a matter of course for them as they are for thousands of federal em- ployees. a _ A QUARTER CENTURY OF LEARNING 1904-1929 Edited by Dixon Ryan Fox $3.50 Eighteen professors of Columbia Uni- versity survey the progress of the world in the fields of history, eco- nomics, sociology, government, juris- prudence, psychology, education, col- lege administration, letters, classical studies, architecture, medicine, chem- istry, physics, engineering and geology. Summing up much of the intellectual history of our time these essays are themselves contributions to intellec- tual history. WORLD WORKERS’ EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENTS THEIR SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE By Marius Hansome $5.00 Here is an evaluation of the subject, marked by an enormous range of mate- rials covered. It is based upon workers’ education associations’ re- ports, on attendance at such institu- tions and conferences, and on ten years experience in teaching adult classes. “The author's capacity for critical analysis, sociological interpretation, philosophic grasp of issues, and careful scholarship make this comprehensive study a very valuable addition to criti- cal educational literature,” writes Henry J. Jeddeloh in the “Journal of Higher Education.” COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS Descriptive announcements of any books will be sent on request We Stand Corrected Editor, The American Teacher. I have read with great interest the article entitled “The Chicago Situa- tion’ which appears in the October is- sue of THE AMERICAN TEACHER. However, | wish to take exception to one point made by the author. In the paragraph commencing, “The next economy proposal was an increase in size of classes,” Miss Weil states as a fact that Chicago is worse than most other cities with its average of 46 pu- pils in the elementary school, 35 in the junior high and 30 in the senior high. It is well known that these figures, official or otherwise, are misleading, and for that reason they should have heen qualified or at least explained. As | understand it, these figures are obtained by dividing the total enroll- ment of any given school by the total number of teachers on the payroll of that school. It is a recognized fact that all schools have a certain number of executives and administrative aids who do little or no actual teaching. Thus the quotient obtained by this method of figuring is decidedly smaller than the actual number of pupils in the classroom. Most of the junior high school teachers with whom I have talked tell me that 45 per class is the minimum. The only junior high with which I am personally acquainted is equipped with 48 seats in each and every room. The senior high school teachers at present average about 40 in each class. I be- lieve that 35 seats is the minimum for any senior high classroom. I am not so familiar with conditions in the ele- mentary schools but I do know that a first grade teacher who sat beside me at a recent meeting of the Chicago divi- sion of the Illinois State Teachers As- sociation told me she had 54 in her room and she seemed to take that huge enrollment as a matter of course. [ wonder if the authors of these “official figures” feel that the class- room teacher’s load will be less heavy if she sees in print that her average enrollment is not 45-50 as she has thought, but 35; not 40, but 30; not 54, but 46. (It will be noted that in the elementary schools where there are no deans or executive heads of depart- ments, the discrepancy is not so great. ) | for one deeply resent this glossing over of facts and I feel that if civic leaders are disturbed over the figures as given by Miss Weil, they should know just how much worse actual con- ditions are. Very truly yours, Corpetia B. O_mstep, Hyde Park High School. Editor, The American Teacher Miss Olmsted’s letter is really its own answer. Those of us who are teaching in the Chicago school system know that in the high schools, the offi- cial average of students per teacher is reached by totaling the number of stu- dents in attendance and dividing that by the number of teachers assigned to the school. Among the teachers, cer- tain special duties are recognized. The assistant to the principal, the deans of boys and girls, and a limited number of administrative aids are classified as part time teachers, since the rest of their duties comprise the administra- tive functions necessary for the efh- cient management of a large high school. In many schools, these four groups of executives do not teach classes in accordance with the regula- tions of the Board of Education; and in most of the schools they simply can- not do so without seriously crippling the actual mechanism of t: — school. When we get schools of 3006 to 8000 students and 120 to 300 teachers, it takes a lot of lubricating to keep all the wheels going. Nevertheless, this very oiling of the machinery intended to make things easier for the teacher, results instead in throwing the stu- dents that the Board fondly expects the administrators to teach into the classes of those who are already allot- ted a full program of classes and a full quota of students. As a result, although the official average enrollment may be thirty, the six daily classes of many teachers may easily range from 40 to 53. An additional cause of over- large classes at this time is an in- creased enrollment of approximately 20,000 pupils—all in the high schools— for whom no increased budgetary pro- vision for teachers has been provided. High school teachers in English, mathematics, stenography and foreign languages are reporting, this semester, teaching loads of 250 to 280 pupils per day. That is the reason the Fed- eration of Women High School Teach- ers protested so vigorously against an additional two pupils per class to the official quota. Classes with standard- ized equipment such as shops, labora- tories, and typewriting groups cannot add more pupils, the entire stock has to he taken up by the academic classes which are already perilously over- crowded. The real problems are to have ad- ministrative duties so recognized by the Board of Education that provi- sion is made for them, and to have the entire teaching load equalized so that each teacher does his honest share of teaching and yet does not have to face the appalling prospect of a daily teach- THE AMERICAN TEACHER ing load beyond the possibility of hu- man contacts between pupil and teacher. The Federation of Women High School Teachers started to work on these problems in 1926 and formulated some definite recommendations in De- cember, 1927. These “Suggestions to Improve the Efficiency of our Schools by Equalizing the Teaching Load” were presented to the high school principals at the invitation of Mr. Bo- gan, then First Assistant Superin- tendent of Schools. The result of the conference was a request from Mr. Bo- gan that as many of these suggestions as possible be embodied in the school programs for the next semester. Con- ditions improved noticeably at first, but Miss Olmsted’s letter indicates that the problem is squarely before us again. She and the other Chicago high school teachers carrying the over- loads must prepare to organize their forces. Sincerely and fraternally yours, Dorotiy WEIL. Report of the Education Committee (Continued from Page 21) The report calls special attention to the last of these, Colorado, where con- sideration of the amendment had been postponed indefinitely by the legisla- ture of that state, but due to persistent efforts of the labor movement of that state the legislature has changed its mind upon this important subject, and has ratified it. The Executive Council urges the state federations of labor, city central bodies and local unions, in the states that have not yet ratified this amend- ment, to follow the lead of the Color- ado trade unionists and to elect legisla- tors who will vote for ratification. Your committee recommends. that the initiative in securing the ratification of the child labor amendment be taken by local labor groups in the various states and that they in cooperation with national and international unions and the American Federation of Labor as- sume largely the responsibility for se- curing this action, and that in each of the states every candidate for the legis- lature who will not pledge himself to vote for ratification be opposed and it also recommends that state federations of labor and city central bodies be s0 advised by the President of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor. It also rec- ommends that state federations and city central bodies be called upon for a report of their activities on this sub- ject. FLorENCE C. HANSON, Secretary. hu- and igh on ted De- to ols ad” 00] Bo- ‘in- the Bo- ons 00! on- but hat 1g0 er- eir tee to on- Pen sla- ent hat its ind the ral tes id- or- Ja- Ti- ry. DECEMBER, 1931 The Return to Representative Government (Continued from Page 11) it overcomes the handicaps which are inherent in its own nature. People who govern themselves have a right to govern themselves badly, and in most cases they will prefer to do so rather than to be governed well by somebody else. Nevertheless, in the present conflict with governmental sys- tems, a system which works badly will find it extremely hard to hold its own, because there is the pressure of rival systems. “The people of this country devoted a vast amount of energy to the study of industrial, scientific and economic problems. They can afford to direct far more intelligent thought toward the problems of political life. There is no real conflict between ad- ministrative efficiency and the popular sovereignty. It is for such conferences as the present one to think out ways and means of reconciling the two, and of approaching more nearly to the idea which was formulated more than two thousand years ago by the man who said that the details of government were a matter for experts, but that only the whole community could determine the aims to be attained. Let us face our problems without fear and without prejudice. If we are attacked, and we are bound to be at- tacked if we are doing anything con- structive, let us welcome opposition from the sources from which that op- position is bound to come. Let them call us obstructionists if they like, provided that we have a con- structive program which they will be bound to fight and obstruct in their territory. Let them call us radicals as long as we remember we are one group which is trying to preserve at least the spirit which animated the founders of this republic. No one would call the mak- ers of our Constitution radicals, but those men had the courage to meet the immediate situation which confronted them and to trust to posterity to meet the entirely different situation with which they would be confronted. It is in that spirit and with that courage that I hope members of this Conference will meet the great problems which con- front us today. The real science of political economy is that which teaches nations to desire and labor for the things that lead to life, and which teaches them to scorn and destroy the things that lead to destruction.—Ruskin. Some Questions for You on Page 2 29 THE JOURNAL FOR HIGH SCHOOL PEOPLE The Junior-Senior High School Clearing House A challenging journal for liberal secondary school people A progressive magazine, revealing present practices and suggesting improvements Can yeu afford to be without it? SCHEDULE OF NUMBERS FOR 1931-1932 SEPTEMBER—Opening Number.......................““Getting Under Way” OctopER—Fall Number... 0... “Solving Our Problems” NovemMsber—Thanksgiving Number, “Improving Winter Opportunities” DeEcEMBER—Christmas Number, “Safeguarding Educational Momentum” JANUARY—New- Year Number... FEBRUARY—Winter Number... Marcu—Spring Number... Aprit—Conference Number... May—Vacation Number ....“Surveys and Innovations” ........‘Evaluating Our Progress” ....“Entering the Last Lap” .............‘Needs and Opportunities” _...........““The End of the Cruise” Edited by a National Committee—Published Monthly from September to May SPECIAL TRIAL OFFER Three Months for One Dollar So convinced are we that new subscribers want to continue the Clearing House, that we gladly extend this trial offer to prospective subscribers. However, it carries no obligation beyond the three trial numbers Give it a trial—then decide The magazine to be sent for three issues to: RRR Se ON i ree ; Street or School ee State Send this coupon and your dollar to: THE JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL CLEARING HOUSE 32 Washington Place, New York, N. Y. If you prefer, send $3.00 for a one-year subscription Address Tue Juntior-Senior HicH ScHoo. CLearinc House, 32 Washington Place, New York, N. Y. Subscription $3.00 a yerr 40 cents a copy 30 The Teacher Orients Himself (Continued from Page 19) worker. Their psychological, if not actual, affiliation, is with the upper stratum of society. In their claim of being “objective,” “unbiased,” “serv- ants of all” they lose sight of the fact that they stand on a _ battleground where one cannot function in a no- man’s land. Consciously or uncon- sciously, they have to help maintain in America the status quo. Though individually some may want to see the schools in the vanguard for a new and better world, yet collectively they must act to the contrary. The Na- tional Education Association is dom- inated in its policies by principals and superintendents whose phychology is that of the employing class. The League of Class Room _ Teachers, though it claims otherwise, is an en dured foster-child of the National Education Association, and in any case it stands proudly aloof from direct contact with labor. The American As sociation of University Professors, containing in its membership a large body of thinking men and women, is nevertheless timid in the face of crit- ical issues and makes largely futile gestures. It is dominated by the elders in the organization who have in long years of secluded teaching lost touch with the mind of the worker. And its steady refusal to brush elbows with the worker has unfitted it for the tasks ahead. There is only one thing left for the teachers to do if they want to be free for a living, creative service. They must definitely, boldly unite in a com- mon cause with the only group in America which looks forward. In other words, they must unionize and stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow workmen of factory and field. Despite all serious arguments or “stalls” regarding the mistakes and failures of organized labor, the fact remains that through unity with it, teachers are brought into close under- standing with the yearnings of those The UNION LABOR Life Insurance Company WASHINGTON, D. C. Conceived in the AMERICAN FEDERATION of LABOR Owned by the Trade Unions and Trade Unionists Announces the Perfection of Its New Insurance With Annuity Contract Designed especially for trade union members The Insurance with Annuity Contract Provides may select. death and dependency in old age. 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And through that touch of brotherhood a new impetus is given to the teacher. It was the workers of America who emancipated the schools from a mere class service for the well-to-do; it will be again the workers of America who this time will emancipate the teachers from a position of inferiority and sub- serviency to selfish interests. And the organization with which the hope for a new day of service for teachers rests is the American Federation of Teach- ers and its affiliated locals, all of which, nationally and locally, are affiliated with organized labor. If America is to evolve to a better day for the common man, if it is to es- cape from the path which history in- dicates is so truly possible, then it must develop a constant flow of crea- tive leadership and an intelligent fol- lowership. This it can do only if the schools are unfettered and free as a testing ground for ideas and ideals, and only a free, courageous body of teachers can help make the schools function in that manner. But coupled with freedom and courage must be an awareness as to the needs of America and the forces which menace the fu- ture peace and happiness of the com- mon man. Freedom and courage are partly the product of collective action, but vision and insight, whatever their degree, grow out of one’s sources of inspiration, one’s environment and con- tact. Teachers’ organizations of vari- ous kinds as already listed may make possible a certain amount of freedom and courage for action, but only an organization such as the American Federation of Teachers, with its roots deep in the aspirations and hopes of America’s working masses, can furnish the way to fundamental service to America and through America to civili- zation. Many other important func- tions for the benefit of the schools and teachers are a part of the program of such an organization. Security of tenure, better pay, better conditions, are all important for the immediate happiness and effectiveness of the teacher. But when it is asked, “Should teachers unionize ?” the answer takes us far beyond these important but tempo- rary reasons for unionization to one upon which ‘hinges the life and hap- piness of the generations to come. —From The Wisconsin Labor Annual. “An idealism of action that is devoted to creation of the future, instead of staking itself upon propositions of the past, is in- vincible.”—John Dewey. Americans have no National Church, but they have a national religion, and it is educa- tion.— America. —_= —=—— ~ += = =ssen =6 Ss Os A - i1t we —- O85 4 DECEMBER, 1931 An Experiment on Accelerating Assimilation - (Continued from Page 13) 2. Series of lectures are given each year by eminent men from various Federal Departments. Definite re- quests are made by the Association to each lecturer ; these are to speak slowly as many of the listeners are new to the language ; to keep to their subjects and not discuss the problem of the immi- grant in America, because the audience is well acquainted with these problems, but they are, through these lectures, seeking definite information ; and to be brief in order that there may be a long period for questions and discussion. 3. Publication of a bulletin the pur- poses of which are: “To bring about a better understanding between native- born and newcomer, to give authori- tative information to the newcomer rel ative to their problems; to afford an opportunity for self-exression in the student group.”” Much that is vital in the growth of the association has been brought about through the medium of the A. S. A. Bulletin. 4. The A. S. A. Orchestra and Cho- rus gives a series of musicals each year. A high musical standard has been con- stantly maintained—only the best is al- lowed. Recognition of the superior quality of productions has just been evidenced by the winning of the cup in a competitive musical festival. The director is a former student of the school and an active member of the Association. 5, Many recreational affairs are given—dances, parties, dinners, excur- sions, pilgrimages in which American- born and newcomers from more than fifty countries participate. By creating situations of enjoyment we break down many of the inhibitions and barriers which separate people under conven- tional situations. 6. A. S. A. special aid and employ- ment, work developed slowly for a number of years but rapidly since the depression. Here perhaps the associa- tion has shown its finest achievements. It has assisted its members by small loans until they could finance them- ‘elves, it has sought positions both within and outside of its membership, it has aided the native-born as well as the foreign-born. Better than simply getting “the job,” it has assisted in keeping up morale and is doing so con- ‘tantly. Throughout the city the work is known and calls come to it not infrequently. In closing I believe I can best show how this effort has brought real assimi- lation by quoting from several articles recently written by members and offi- cers of the A. S. A. who have through these nine years given active, construc- tive service. These three are racially Armenian, Russian Jew and Swiss, through their idealism and assimilation, American. From the present vice- president who initiated the idea of the organization in 1922 and whose pro- gressive plans and cooperation with others are carrying it successfully for- ward: “Were it not for the Ameri- canization School Association, many of us would feel that there is nothing more to do except complete our school course and go out into the wide world without any binding ties. But the asso- ciation binds us together in spirit and real activity, whether we are in the school or out of it.” From the present secretary: “For the best of native- and foreign-born Americans to find each other—therein lies the real purpose and true value of Americanization work.” “From an active member, nine years ago an immigrant, today a successful professional man: “There is some- thing infinitely touching and marve- lously romantic about this all-embrac- ing ideal, ‘Americansim,’ which lures one to delve into its deepest recesses. “The word embodies so much that its meaning must be felt and not merely known. It conveys the idea of a dy- namic process, an idea which is always in the making, ever becoming, yet never completed. It is an idea that carries in it the greatness of a world principle, the symbol of the heights. It is sym- bolized by two parallel streams running side by side: one for the purity of the individual, and the other for the na- tion’s destiny. “Those who consider Americanism as something fully completed and lim- ited in its scope, must necessarily un- derestimate its value. It is a spiritual constitution which guides. It cannot be connned to the narrow bounds of tradition and inheritance alone. A mere inheritance cannot exist long, be- cause whatever does not grow must necessarily fade. Citizens with this limited view of Americanism need to come into closer contact with newcom- ers so that intuition may help where mind denies understanding. “Tdeals, these are the living springs of great acts. Happy is the one who bears with him a God, an ideal of a country which he obeys. It matters not that Americanism is a far ideal. It is that far lighthouse, which may never be within our reach, but to which we will always strive; working for the welfare of our country and thereby working out our own perfection. The high ideal of Americanism may be a vision, but he who so desires will behold it and gain courage and in- spiration.” a American Federation of Teachers 506 South Wabash Ave. CHICAGO, ILL. The American Federation of Teachers desires to establish an intimate contact and an effective co-opera- tion between the teachers and the other workers of the community. The American Federation of Teachers desires to co-operate with all civic organizations for improved civic life. Groups of seven or more public school teachers are invited to affil- iate with this National Organiza- tion of Classroom Teachers, for mutual assistance, improved pro- fessional standards and the de- mocratization of the schools. Our Slogan Is: Democracy in Education Education in Democracy The American Teacher is published monthly by The American Federation of Teachers Membership dues carry subscrip- tion to the magazine. To all oth- ers the subscription price is $2.00 per year, 25 cents per copy. 32 Union Cooperative Insurance Association 1200 Fifteenth St. N. W. Washington, D. C. > a ORGANIZED LABOR’S FIRST OLD LINE LEGAL RESERVE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY a Special Attention Given to Life Insurance For Teachers SCHOOL and Edited by J. McKeen Cattell A weekly journal that aims to present the unity of edu- cation from the nursery school and before, to the university and after, and to keep the educational system in touch with modern demo- cratic civilization. Five dollars a year Fifteen cents a copy The Science Press Grand Central Terminal New York, N. Y. News of Our. Members Dr. John Dewey was the second speaker of the “Men of America” series presented under the auspices of the National Advisory Council on Ra- dio in Education. Dr. Dewey was heard over a nation-wide hook-up on October 25. William T. McCoy, who has been principal of the Curtis Junior High School (Chicago), has been appointed to the principalship of the Bowen Senior High School. Mr. Walker L. Savoy has been pro- moted to the principalship of the Gar- net-Patterson Junior High School at Washington, D. C. Bertha J. Ferguson has contributed an article entitled Mental Health and the Schools to a recent issue of the Minnesota Journal of Education. Miss Ferguson’s monograph Labor and the Public Schools appeared in the Survey and her story Square Baby in the N. E. A. Journal. Miss May Darling was chairman of the Education Committee of the an- nual convention of the Oregon Feder- ation of Labor. The report of the committee was a notable expression of advanced educational principles. Dr. Harry A. Overstreet’s latest book, The Enduring Quest, is very highly regarded among the new books. Miss Edythe Lyons has been ap- pointed administrative principal of the Morgan Elementary School (Washing- ton, D. C.). Reinhold Niebuhr, associate Profes- sor of Philosophy of Religion in Union Theological Seminary, delivered an ad- dress before the World Young Men’s Christian Association Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, which has been much quoted for its searching analysis of the present economic crisis and the re- sponsibility it throws on religious lead- ers for developing a more sound social philosophy. AMERICAN TEACHER THE Who’s Who in This Issue Selma M. Borchardt—Legislative Rep. Vice - President American Federation of Teachers. Past-President Teachers’ Union of Washington, Director World Feder. ation of Education Associations. resentative and Vice-President and Past-President American Federation of Teachers, Trustee Teachers Pen. sion Fund, St. Paul, Minn. Florence Rood Dr. Abraham Lefkowitz—Vice-Presj- dent American Federation of Teach- ers, Legislative Representative New York Teachers Union. Dr. Charles E. Merriam—Chairman Department Political Science, Uni- versity of Chicago, author of numer- our works on Political Science. A. J. Muste, Chairman of Faculty of Brookwood Labor College; Vice- President of the American Federa- tion of Teachers; Lecturer and writer on social and economic prob- lems; Pioneer leader in Workers’ Education Movement. Maude E. Aiton—Principal American- ization School, Washington, D. C.. Past-President Teachers’ Union of Washington. Elizabeth Eastman—Chairman Wom- en’s Joint Congressional Committee, Past-President D. C. League of Women Voters, Past-President D. C. A. A. W. W., Chairman Legisla- tive Committee National Board of Y. W. C. A., Executive Committee, Foreign Language Information Service. sronson Cutting—United States Sen- ator from New Mexico; Harvard, Phi Beta Kappa; Led Victorious fight in the Senate against press cen- sorship; Holds perfect record on votes affecting labor. Dr. Henry R. Linville — President American Federation of Teachers. President New York Teachers’ Union, author of scientific works. E. E. Schwarztrauber—-Vice- President American Federation of Teachers. President University of Wisconsin Teachers’ Union, Fellow, University of Wisconsin. Nell Peterson—Local 3, Department of English, Nicholas Senn High School, Chicago. ——_— HER sue > Rep- sident chers. on of ‘eder- S. t and ration Pen. Presi- ‘each- New rman Uni- imer- ty of Vice- dera- and »rob- kers’ ‘Protect YOUTH and STRENGTH Help fight tuberculosis ican- n of /om- ttee, > of t D. isla- 1 of ttee, tion Sen- ard, ious cen- on CHRISTMAS GREETINGS € Buy CHRISTMAS SEALS lent ers, ers’ lent ers, isin sity 25™"ANNUAL SEAL THE NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL TUBERCULOSIS ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES ent igh How Much Education Will Satisfy You? yo some people a grammar school education may seem sufficient; some believe that a high school training or its equivalent is necessary; others would never be content unless they or their children continued education at least through college. Many of the professions require both college and post graduate training. The greatest thinkers—statesmen, writers, preachers, and eminently successful business men —have repeatedly said that education must never stop; that to be happy and successful to one’s capacity one must continue study throughout life. How much education will satisfy you, and help you most toward your objectives? There is no douht that, by careful selection of subjects, every- one can reap great benefit from continued study. Whether the objective is a greater ability for ser- vice, a larger financial reward, a more interesting social life, or a richer background to train one’s children, there are available to all, who will give spare time, valuable and attractive courses pre- pared especially for study at home. Columbia University invites you to inquire about them, and to enroll fcr courses that seem suived to your needs. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Offers Home Study Courses of University Grade Accounting Agr:culture American Government Applied Grammar Banking Business Administration Business English Business Law Business Mathematics Business Organization Business Psychology Chemistry Child Psychology Classics Greek Harmony High School Courses History Investments Italian Juvenile Story Writing Languages Latin Library Service Literature Machine Design Magazine Article Writing Marketing Mathematics Composition Contemporary Novel Corporation Finance Draftiig Drawing and Painting .conomics English Composition English Literature European History Fire Insurance Foremanship French Geometry German Grammar in the Following Subjects: Personnel Administration Philosophy Physics Poetry Psychology Public Speaking Religion Secretarial Studies Short Story Writing Sociology Spanish Stenography Typewriting World Literature, Ete. ip this country we are in the midst of an adult education movement. University home study courses are one of the important factors in this progressive movement, for they offer expert guidance under educators qualified to direct. Our courses have been prepared by our in- structors to meet the special requirements of study at home. While all basic material essen- lial to the full understanding of each subject is fully covered, sufficient elasticity is allowed to permit adaptation to the individual needs of the student. Everyone who enrolls for a Columbia course is personally taught by a member of the University teaching staff. Special arrangements can be made for group study. The University will send on request full in- formation about these home study courses. A coupon is printed below for your convenience. If you care to write a letter briefly outlining your educational interests our instructors may be able to offer helpful suggestions. Mention subjects which are of interest to you, even if they are not listed here, as additions to the courses offered are made from time to time. HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE PREPARATORY COURSES OLUMBIA University Home Study Depart- ment has prepared courses covering the equi- valent of four years of High School study. This complete High School or College Preparatory training is available to those who can not under- take class room work. We shall be glad to send you our special bulletin upon request. wv COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, University Extension—Home Study Department, New York, N. Y. " Please send me full information about Columbia University Home Study Courses. I am interested in the following subject: Am. Teacher 9-31