: Proceedings of the Rational Education Association 1938 1 Frontispiece shows the entrance to headquarters of the National Education Association, W ashington, D. C. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES PROCEEDING OF THE SEVENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING HELD IN NEW YORK CITY JUNE 26-30 1938 VOLUME 76 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D. C, FOREWORD This book comprises the seventy-sixth annual volume of Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association of the United States. It contains the papers delivered at the meetings of the Association and its departments in 1938 and the official records of the Association for the year 1937-38. In the preparation of this volume it has been neces¬ sary to abstract many of the papers, particularly those delivered before departmental sessions, owing to the abundance of material and the limited space available. Wherever abstracting has been done every effort has been made to preserve the essential ideas the speaker conveyed in his complete address. Where the material for a given department exceeded the space available for that department, the officers of the department were asked to indicate which addresses to include. In a few cases addresses were received too late for inclusion in the volume. Willard E. Givens Executive Secretary Contents of previous volumes of Proceedings of the National Education Association may be found by consulting the Education Index. CONTENT GENERAL SESSIONS A Tribute to Mrs. Mary C. C. Bradford . In Memoriam . For Such a Day as This . Address of Welcome . Address of Welcome . Address of Welcome . Address of Welcome . America’s Largest City School System . Response to Welcome . Greetings . . Greetings . Into One Great Educational Brotherhood . Progress, Man’s Distinctive Mark Alone . Federal Aid for Education . Radio — the Educator . Developing Youth in Promoting World Citizenship — thru the School Program (Abstract) . The Part of Recreation in World Citizenship (Abstract) . . . Promoting World Citizenship thru Social Relations ( Abstract ) Our Children: Their Intelligence (Abstract) . Individual Guidance (Abstract) . Our Children — Their Attitudes (Abstract) . Art and World Citizenship . Literature and Life . What Music Contributes to World Citizenship . Address . Handicapped Children (Abstract) . Education of Negro Children (Abstract) . The Education of the Intellectually Gifted (Abstract) . Juvenile Delinquents (Abstract) . The Place of Sound Pictures in Education (Abstract) . The New Spirit of Our Planet (Abstract) . A Collegian’s Point of View on the Role of the Student in Achieving World Citizenship . Address . Greetings . Greetings . .... What Can Formal Education Contribute to the Solution of World Conflicts? . Presentation of Life Membership Key to Mrs. Roosevelt Introduction of the New President of the National Education Association . LIFE MEMBERSHIP DINNER Historical Note Tenth Annual Life The Association A Teacher’s Viewpoint of Education from Capitol Hill — Lewis . . . . 17 — A heme .... . . 17 — Si zoo . 18 — Lehman . . . . . 25 — La Guardia . . . 27 — Graves .... . . . . 29 — Marshall . . 31 — Campbell . . . . . 32 — Tarbell . . . . . 34 — Sunter . . . . 35 — Hardy . . . . . 38 — IV oodruff . . . . . 40 — IV oolley . . . . 47 — Thomas . . . . . 50 — Anqell . . . 56 — Marshall . . . 57 — Hjelte . . . 58 — IV at son . . . 59 — Stoddard . . . 61 — Lee . . 62 — Prescott . . . . 63 — Munro . . . 65 — Buck . . . 73 — Earhart 85 — La Guardia . . 90 — Jack . . . 93 — Wilkinson . . 94 — Greenberg . 95 — Kelley . . 96 — Dale . 97 — Lorette . . 99 — McKay . . . 100 — Roosevelt . 102 — De Saint-Quentin 105 — Pu mare jo . 108 — Monroe . . 114 — Woodruff . . 122 — W oodruff . . . . 122 . 126 — Martin . . . 127 — W oodruff . . . . 127 — Crabtree . . 128 — Mason . . . 129 6 National Education Association NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION Historical Note . Group Discussion — Implementing Democratic Processes and Perfecting Democratic Technics thru the American Public School Statement of Theses and Abstract of Introductory Comments . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Summary . Group Discussion — Report of the Advisory Committee on Education and Impending Legislation Statement of Theses and Abstract of Introductory Comments . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Summary . Secretary’s Minutes . 132 — Sexson . 133 — Threlkeld 136 — Myers . 137 — Doudna . . . 137 — Saunders 138 — Shaw . . 138 — Runyan . 139 — Tarbell . 139 — Sutton . 139 — Ganders . 140 — Sexson . 140 RECREATION Historical Note . The Challenge of Teaching . What Price Progress? . Experimental Ventures in a School Health Program . Education and the Individual . Our Debt to Democracy . Accidents and the National Health . Secretary’s Report . Problems in the Promotion and Organization of Recreation in the Rural Areas . The School as a Recreational Center for Rural Areas . A County Recreation Commission Program . Functions of the Health Teacher . Functions of the Nurse — a Problem in School Health Admin¬ istration . Functions of the Nutritionist in School Health Administration The Program of the Association . The School as a Coordinating Agency for Leisure-Time Activities . The Development of Co-Recreational Activities . — Newlon 143 — Kiely . . 144 — Lamkin . . . 144 — Graham . . . 145 — Brunner . . . . . 146 — Zook . . . 147 . 148 EDUCATION, AND . . . 154 — Givens .... . . . 155 — McCloy . . . 156 — Nyswander . . . 158 — Carmichael . . . 160 — Harman . . . 161 — Stack . 162 — Mitchell . . . 164 1 — Poison . . . . 167 — Brunner . . . 167 — Cranford 168 — Davis . . . 169 — Swanson . 170 i — Stone . . . 170 — Bell . 171 — Scott . . 172 — Smith . . 173 Contents 7 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS Historical Note . . Ceremonial Opening of the Exhibits . Truth and Poetry . Presentation of Gavel . The Challenge to Complacency . Federal Relations to Education . Presentation of Honorary Life Membership to Charles H. Judd . . Facing the Future . A Word on Education . Youth Education Today . Occupational Adjustment . Forum on Youth Problems . The Next Step in American Education . Shall the People Control Their Schools? . Public Relations . Secretary’s Minutes . Resolutions . . 176 —Glenn . 177 —Phelps . 179 — Chenovjeth . . 188 — Stoddard . 189 — Reeves . 199 — Smith . 205 — Judd . 207 — Keller . 219 — Oberholtzer . . 225 — Lee . 232 — Studebaker . . 236 — Hunter . 251 — Strayer . 260 — Sexson . 268 277 280 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS COLLEGES Historical Note . What Is the Essential Nature of an Evolving Curriculum of a Teachers College? . . — Evenden . What Is the Essential Nature of a Teachers College Instruc¬ tional Staff? . — Russell . . What Is the Essential Nature of a Teachers College Admin¬ istrative Staff? . — Donovan The Essential Nature of a Teachers College Student Body. . — T ovsnsend Report of the Secretary . — Hunt . . . List of Accredited Institutions — 1938-39 . 284 285 29 5 309 320 324 336 AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION Historical Note . How Can We Evaluate the New Education? (Abstract) . . . . — Dix . Principles and Technics in the Appraisal of Newer Prac¬ tices in Elementary and Secondary Education (Abstract) — Lorge . Appraisal of Newer Practices in Selected Public Schools (Abstract) . — W rightstone . . . New Methods Needed in Studying the Significance of Trends (Abstract) . — Fraser . Cost of Education Compared with Other Governmental Costs ( A b sir act) . — Soper . Issues in Educational Law (Abstract) . — Chambers .... The Needs of American Youth: What the American Youth Commission Has Found (Abstract) . — Rainey . Secretary’s Minutes . Report of the Secretary-Treasurer for 1937 . Report of the Joint Committee of the American Educational Research Association and Department of Classroom Teachers . A Plan for the Affiliation of Local Educational Research Organizations with the American Educational Research Association . Report of the Committee on Awards . 342 343 344 345 346 347 349 350 352 353 356 357 358 8 National Education Association DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION Historical Note . . President’s Report . — Alton Adult Education . — Brunner After Naturalization — What ? . — Maxwell Report of the Secretary . — W etmore DEPARTMENT OF ART EDUCATION Historical Note . A National Program for Art Education: a Challenge to Art Educators (Abstract) . — MacGowan The Cooperation of Art Teachers in Other Courses and Activities of the Secondary School (Abstract) . — Diederich . The Preparation of the Art Teacher (Abstract) . — Boas . Esthetic Experience and Growth as an Essential Part of Life and Education (Abstract) . — Dix . Composition, a Live Activity (Abstract) . — Ridgaway The Guidance of Young Children’s Art Expression (Abstract) — MacLennan Secretary’s Minutes . DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS EDUCATION Historical Note . Opening Address . — Maclean A Message from Business ( Abstract ) . — Lawrence . The Schools and Business Ethics (Abstract) . — Lord . Basic Considerations in Adjusting the Business Education Curriculum to Conditions Today . — Douglass Address . — Barton ... Sectional Meetings Secretarial Section . — Carmichael National Conference on Distributive Education . — Forkner Secretary’s Report . — North . . . . DEPARTMENT OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS 364 365 371 371 375 380 381 382 384 385 386 386 387 390 391 391 393 394 397 398 399 402 Historical Note . President Reviews Year’s Activities and Points Out Accom¬ plishments . Propaganda and Democracy . Supervision in Education . Secretary’s Minutes . Platform and Recommendations 1938 . 404 — Tarbell . 405 — Bliven . 408 — Lefkowitz .... 414 417 419 DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Historical Note . Teacher Participation thru the Parent-Teacher Association . — Pettengill Some Important Factors in Personality Development . — Redl ... Panel Discussion — The Curriculum in Transition . — Conroy Secretary’s Report . . 424 425 428 431 445 Contents 9 DEPARTMENT OF HOME ECONOMICS Historical Note . 454 Discussion — Home Ecotiomics Education . — Winning . 455 Discussion — Readjustments in the Teaching of Home Eco- nomics To Meet the Needs of the Brilliant, Non-A cadcmic, and Other Groups . — Day . 458 Discussion — The Role of Home Economics in Developing Effective Citizenship: on Various Levels . — Kauffman 459 Discussion — The Contribution of Home Economics to Effec¬ tive Citizenship . — Smith . 461 Home Economics among the Nations . 463 President’s Report . — Winning . 464 DEPARTMENT OF KINDERGARTEN-PRIMARY EDUCATION Historical Note . The Right of the Young Child to Security in an Insecure World (Abstract) . — Hill . What We Know About the Needs of Young Children (Abstract) . — Stoddard The Unmet Needs of Children (Abstract) . — Andrus A Challenge to Teachers of Young Children (Abstract) . . — Speer Bylaws . ' . Secretary’s Minutes . 466 467 468 469 470 471 474 DEPARTMENT OF LIP READING Historical Note . What New York City Schools Are Doing for Children with Impaired Hearing . — Reynolds Discussion . — Chase Discussion . — Morrison The Essential Likenesses and Differences in Teaching Lip Reading to the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing . — Nevolee Discussion . — MacNutt Report on Recommendations for Certification of Teachers of Lip Reading . — Carney Secretary’s Minutes . 476 477 478 478 479 481 482 482 DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC EDUCATION Historical Note 486 DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION Historical Note . 488 Factors Affecting Country Life in the United States . — Pittman . 489 A State Program of Curriculum Development and the Rural Schools . — Peters . 490 Adapting Instruction in Reading and Language in Rural Schools . — Griffith . 494 Curriculum Adjustments for Small Rural Schools . — Kent . 497 A Rural School Attacking Problems of Instructional Improve¬ ment . — Hoppock . 500 Adjusting Secondary Education to the Needs of Rural Youth — Trabue . 503 National Education Association 10 Is a Strong Centralized County or Similar Unit of Rural School Administration Essential to an Efficient Program of Rural Education? . - Language Arts and the Social Studies . Art and Music in the Rural School . - Uses of Community Resources as Curriculum Materials in a Rural School . - The Rural School as a Community Center for Recreation . A Program for County Supervision in Illinois . - A Program for County Supervision in Virginia . - A Program of County Supervision in New York State . - An Experimental Program in Elementary Education . - Secretary’s Minutes . Report of the Committee on Resolutions . -Dawson . 504 -James . 507 -Van Sant . 509 -Weber . 512 -Whiteside .... 513 -Tuggle . 514 -Bennett . 516 -Trainor . 518 -Valentine . 522 . 523 . 525 DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION Historical Note . Science in the Chicago Public Schools . — Johnson Some Aids to Reflective Thinking . — Clark The Emphasis of the Science Program Shall Be Placed on Principles . — Johnson Secretary’s Minutes . 528 529 532 535 537 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY EDUCATION Historical Note . Ethical Standards in High-School Instruction (Abstract) . . . . — Walsh Methods in Junior High School To Reach Varying Types of Pupils (Abstract) . — Wall . The Challenge of the Slow Pupil (Abstract) . — Eisner Functional Geographic Education in High Schools (Abstract) — Shryock . General Language — an Appreciation Course in the Study of Foreign Languages (Abstract) . — Tharp .... Music and the Forgotten Pupil in the High School (Abstract) — Richter Specialized General Science in the Junior High School (Abstract) . — Mathewson The Forgotten Pupil (Abstract) . — Lieberman Secretary’s Minutes . . . 540 541 542 543 545 546 547 548 549 549 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Historical Note . 552 The Organization and Subjectmatter of General Education. — Hutchins . 553 Specialization, the Bane of Secondary Education . — Judd . 559 DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION Historical Note . 566 Special Education: Its Contribution to Better Citizenship . — Enders . 567 N wer Developments in Special Education . — Cook . 570 The Role of the Teacher-Training Institution in Develop¬ ing the Field of Special Education . — Rowell . 573 Special Education for Handicapped Children in New York City (Abstract) . — McCooey . 575 Contents 11 DEPARTMENT OF SUPERVISORS AND DIRECTORS OF INSTRUCTION Historical Note . Dictatorship or Cooperation? . — Raup . The Place of Cooperation in the Development of Instruction — Misner Technics of Cooperation between Community Groups and the School . — Sheffield. Teachers in the Cooperative Development of Instructional Programs (Abstract) . . . — Miel Community Cooperation in the Development of Instructional Programs (Abstract) . — Kendall Technics of Cooperation . — Courtis Secretary’s Minutes . 580 581 586 592 593 594 595 597 DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL INSTRUCTION Historical Note . 600 The Experimental Use of Visual Aids in Teaching Beginning Reading . — Jar dine . 601 Improving Illustrative Material in Textbooks . — Zisman . 602 Film Production in the Schools . — Finch . 603 A Closeup and a Long View . — Dale . 604 Secretary’s Minutes . 605 DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Historical Note . Meeting the Vocational Needs of the Forgotten Pupil in the Junior and Senior High School (Abstract) . — Newkirk Educate Our Youth To Live and Also To Earn a Living (Abstract) . — Small Developing the Training Program for the Distributive Trades (Abstract) . — Milligan The Scope of a Vocational Program (Abstract) . — Dennis The Dull Normal Child . — Hopper . Industrial Education . — McCarthy Distributive Education . — Kyker . Secretary’s Minutes . ft. 610 611 611 613 614 615 616 617 618 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEANS OF WOMEN Historical Note . 620 Raising Professional Standards . — Allyn . 621 Is Guidance a Racket? . — Reed . 625 NATIONAL COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATIVE WOMEN IN EDUCATION Historical Note . 632 Current Literature . — Williams . 633 Women’s New Opportunities and Responsibilities in Public Life (Abstract) . — Herrick . 637 Secretary’s Minutes . 640 12 National Education Association NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES Historical Note . 642 The Teaching of the History of Education in Secondary Schools (Abstract) . — Thursjield .... 643 A Challenge to Democracy (Abstract) . — Marshall . 644 Social Studies Material in the Elementary Reading Program (A bstra ct) . — Ca nty . 645 WORLD FEDERATION OF EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS Historical Note . 648 Tokyo Conference of the World Federation of Education Associations . — Monroe . 649 ASSOCIATIONAL RECORDS AND INFORMATION Charter and Act of Incorporation . 653 Bylaws as Amended at the Annual Business Meeting of the Representative Assembly, New York City . 658 Standing Rules . 669 Calendar of Meetings . 674 Officers — 1937-38 . 676 Headquarters Staff . 678 Officers— 1938-39 . 681 Committees of the National Education Association — 1937-38 . 687 Minutes of the Eighteenth Representative Assembly . 708 Minutes of the Meetings of the Board of Directors . 759 Minutes of the Meetings of the Executive Committee . 765 Minutes of the Meetings of the Board of Trustees . 780 Report of Auditors . . 787 Report of Treasurer . . 803 Report of Budget Committee . 805 Report of Committees Academic Freedom . — Smith . 814 Appraisal Committee . — Pratt . 817 Bylaws and Rules . — Adair . 821 Committee To Cooperate with the American Teachers Association . — Ncivbold . 821 Cooperatives . — Shaw . 822 Credit Unions . — Moran . 852 Economic Status of the Rural Teacher . — JVofford . 853 Educational Policies Commission . — Sexsott . 854 Equal Opportunity . . — Mallory . 859 Horace Mann Centennial . — Smith . 861 Individual Guidance . — Stolz . 865 International Relations . — W oodward . . . 866 Joint Comimttee on Health Problems in Education .... — IVood . 867 Joint Committee of the National Education Association and the American Library Association . — Greer . 868 Joint Committee of the National Education Association and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers — Pettengill . 869 Legislative Commission . — Hall . 871 Necrology . — A heme . 885 Resolutions . — Powers . 894 Retirement . — Pogue . 900 Salaries . — Elsbree . 901 Contents 13 Supply, Preparation, and Certification of Teachers . — Goodykoontz Tenure . — DuShane Report of World Federation of Education Associations . — Monroe Annual Report of Secretary . Membership of National Education Association by States, 1931-38 The Eighteenth Representative Assembly . Index . 902 904 917 919 955 956 983 ALLIED GROUP MEETINGS The following allied groups met during the time of the conventions of either the National Education Association at New York City or the American Association of School Administrators at Atlantic City: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VISITING TEACHERS AMERICAN CLASSICAL LEAGUE CONFERENCE OF CCC EDUCATIONAL ADVISERS CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL ARTS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HIGH SCHOOL SUPERVISORS AND DIRECTORS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISM DIRECTORS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL SECRETARIES NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECRETARIES OF STATE TEACHERS ASSO¬ CIATIONS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENT OFFICERS NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL AD¬ MINISTRATION NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF SPEECH - ELEMENTARY- SCHOOL COMMITTEE NATIONAL NATIONAL NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS COUNCIL OF CHILDHOOD EDUCATION COUNCIL OF GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS NATIONAL NATIONAL NATIONAL NATIONAL NATIONAL NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS LEAGUE OF TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATIONS SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF EDUCATION SOCIETY OF COLLEGE TEACHERS OF EDUCATION VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE ASSOCIATION SCHOOL GARDEN ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA SCHOOL PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATION The work on this volume , including the gathering of materials, editing, proofreading, and makeup, has been done by the following members of the Division of Publi¬ cations staff : Lyle W . Ashby, Mildred B. Berry, Ruth Hirst, Anne M. Smith, and Marjorie Starr. Joy Elmer Morgan, Director Division of Publications General Sessions 'i VESPERS A TRIBUTE TO MRS. MARY C. C. BRADFORD MRS. INEZ JOHNSON LEWIS, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, DENVER, COLO. Mary c. c. Bradford, a former president of the National Education Association, and a former state superintendent of public instruction of the state of Colorado, died in Denver on January 15, 1938. M rs. Bradford was president of this great Association during the World War. Her leadership was pronounced in directing the energies of the membership to cooperative patriotic activities of the teaching profession. Her influence was evident thruout the country in stimulating local school activities to the end that the local school unit contributed in a practical way toward providing means of support to the government in its struggle with nations of the world at war. It was during her administration also that the present headquarters of the National Education Association was pur¬ chased and its present home established in the national capital. She was devoted to her office and to the teachers and children of the commonwealth. During the World War she was called to Washington by President Wilson to help in the organization of the Junior Red Cross. She was also a pioneer in the woman’s club movement. She served as president of the Colorado Federation of Women’s Clubs and her activity in this field was national in its scope. She was the first woman member of the Board of Directors of the World Federation of Education Associations. She was elected to the Board of Directors in Edinburgh in 1926. In the passing of Mrs. Bradford the teaching profession lost a devoted friend, the rights of children a great defender, and democracy a staunch believer. Hers was a great heart and a great mind. She was a great woman and a great citizen. IN MEMORIAM MRS. VINA M. AHERNE, NEW HAVEN, CONN.; Chairman , COMMITTEE ON NECROLOGY Since we met in Detroit last year, many members of our profession have passed on. No section of our country has been free from the loss of some beloved teacher. A list of over nineteen hundred names has been received and will be filed in the report of the Committee on Necrology. Circumstances do not permit us to name each teacher whose work has been completed. Some of the most outstanding would be recognized by [17] 18 National Education Association many of you. Altho many of the less well known would be recognized only in his or her own community, we all know the great cause for which they labored. We miss their physical presence, but we know that they are ever with us in spirit, and are a part of the lives of the youth they touched. As an expression of sorrow at their going and gratitude for the lives they have lived, let us at this time stand for a moment of silence in tribute to these noble souls. FOR SUCH A DAY AS THIS REVEREND JOSEPH R. SIZOO, MINISTER OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS, NEW YORK, N. Y. It is a very great honor to have a share with you in this impressive serv¬ ice, and for that privilege I wish first to express my sincere gratitude. What endless satisfaction your profession holds! There is no career quite so rewarding as that of the teacher. It is to be questioned if anywhere on earth there is a work so enriching and so enlarging as that to which you have given yourselves. It must be a wonderful thing to take a bit of gold and a steel spring and a few jewels and make out of them a watch that keeps time with the sun. It must be a wonderful thing to take a bit of canvas, a few brushes, and a little color and make of them a Millet’s “Angelus.” It must be a wonderful thing to take a thin pine board and a few strings and a pot of glue and make out of them an instrument that can sob out an “Ave Maria.” But nothing in all the world is quite so wonderful as to sit down with a child, enlarge his horizons, push back the foothills, and enrich his understanding of the mystery of life. No wonder, then, that when Henry Ward Beecher lay dying and a friend asked him, “Mr. Beecher, if you had your life to live over again, what would you be?” he replied, “I would be a teacher.” But it is not an easy profession. There is no work which requires such invincible patience, such compassionate goodwill, such unconquerable under¬ standing, and such cheerful steadfastness. The Oxford professor who wrote Alice In W onderland described a croquet game in which the wickets were forever moving, in which the ball never ran in the direction it was aimed, and in which the mallet never struck the ball at the place of contact where it was intended. Nothing stayed put. That is peculiarly true in your pro¬ fession. It is never easy to mold life; and nature in the raw is never mild. We are living in a world that is on the march. Our generation has deter¬ mined seemingly to set up a whole new scheme of things. We may not know where we are going, but we are on the way. New fires are playing in the heart of the earth and civilization is becoming molten again. New seeds are being planted in new furrows destined to bring the world new harvests. New waters are gushing out of new springs destined to make their way to new and undiscovered seas. Everywhere in the world is a sense of aspiration. There is upon mankind the quest for a fuller life. You may speak of it negatively in terms of revolt and revolution which are rife General Sessions 19 everywhere in the world, a kicking against the pricks and an unwillingness to live within the inevitable restraints of life. But it is much more honest to speak of it as the quest for a fuller and better life. You may not be in agreement with these aspirations. You may believe they will only further entangle and enmesh the world with deeper dilemmas and disillusionments. You may believe that these aspirations of our generation are contradictory and self-destroying. You may believe if the aspirations of one are to be realized the aspirations of another must be defeated. You may believe that that which brings gain to one will bring loss to another. But the fact stands that everywhere in the world there is this sense of aspiration. Not since Christ died upon His lonely cross Has life such prospect held of a new birth. It is never easy to live in such a world. When the frost goes out of the ground in springtime the rural roads are always most difficult to travel. It is then that ruts are easily formed, mud clings to the wheels, and travel is slow. In a world at springtime there will have to be a lot of plowing and harrowing. It is a very unrewarding and discouraging time. We may never see the harvests of that sowing or toil. Indeed, already misgivings are com¬ ing to multitudes of people and the sense of hopelessness is compromised by the feeling of futility. We seem to be like people who walk on streets which have no foundation, who eat food which does not nourish, who live in houses which do not shelter. We seem to be like boats on muddy flats with never a wffiite sail in sight. We seem to be like sailors climbing in the rigging of a sinking ship, always above the water line, but never far from destruction. We seem to be like sleepers, conscious of the dawn, but unable to awaken. Many people are becoming afraid that a different world may not be a better world. We are not quite sure that change will mean im¬ provement. Such is the world in which we are living. It is the only world we will ever know. If we expect to play our part it will be in that kind of world. We did not make it, but we will have to do something about it. The question therefore arises, How can we live successfully in such a world and how can we play our part so that a different world will be a better world and change will be improvement? First, education in democracy must increasingly emphasize the sacredness of personality. Its business is to make individuals, not robots; to cultivate personality that shall stand upright and unashamed. There can be no true culture without the cultivation of self-reverence and self-respect. Individ¬ uality must come to the fore. We must champion again the right of per¬ sonal judgment and of personal initiative. Man is not a pawn in the lap of kings or a tool in the hands of political charlatans. Have you ever thought that to whatever God has given life, to that He has given individuality? There are millions of spring-tinted leaves in the forests of the hills about us, but every leaf differs from every other leaf in outline, texture, and color. A thousand stars shine out of a winter night sky, but every star differs from every other star in glory. So it is with personality. God casts each life into a different mold and when He has made that life He breaks the mold. 20 National Education Association We are not born so much to conform as to bear witness to a fire that burns within us. Man is an individual inbreathed with purpose, endowed with genius, and enswathed with high adventure. There is no form of government which so needs the leadership of the best as ours. In monarchy nobody needs intelligence except the king, and oftentimes the less the people know the better for the king. In autocracy nobody needs intelligence except the sheriff or the executioner. In anarchy nobody has intelligence. But democracy is a form of government so high and so exalted that it requires a high level of intelligence to appreciate and a high standard of character to maintain. Yet many people suppose that democracy is the rule of the mediocre, a government which involves a leveling down process. Robert Ingersoll once said that a college is a place where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed. I do not propose in this place to debate the correctness or error of that judgment, but I do know that in the current attitude toward democracy that same opinion all too often prevails. There are two kinds of democracy; there is a democracy of mud and there is a democracy of the stars. Ours is a democracy of the stars and it requires adventurous souls to maintain it. In our democracy unless we have the leadership of the best we are lost. One of the grave perils of our generation is crowd-mindedness. An age that has gone in for mass production has come to the dreadful counterpart of mass thinking. We are content with the regimentation of ideas, cul¬ tivation of intellectual security, and the surrender of personality. Things have come to such a pass that it is no longer in good taste to advance an individual opinion. It is not patriotic. If you do not think with the majority you are not a good citizen. The glamor of crowd-mindedness has us spell¬ bound. We have learned to follow, not to think; to drift, not to swim. Everything is being standardized today, including thinking. Individual judgments are warped or obliterated by an avalanche of postcards, a wheelbarrow of telegrams, or the decree of a self-appointed Caesar. We are rubbing out the marks of selfdom. We are content to become passive copies of the current mind. We send up trial balloons to find out which way the wind is blowing and teach children accordingly. We want to know what public opinion is before we outline a course of instruction. The individual is terrorized by the majority and hypnotized by the state. We are afraid of the black mark of majority disapproval. Now every bridge has a limit to the number of vibrations it can endure. Regiments of soldiers passing over a bridge always break step. It is high time we remember that we cannot violate this ageless law of physics with impunity. A goose-stepping generation with its regimentation of ideas and ideology may yet destroy the equilibrium of the world and lead it to an inevitable smash-up. Let us say to ourselves so clearly it will never be forgotten that there can be no great living apart from concentration and detachment. There is a sentence written of Jesus of Nazareth which always grips me. I cannot read it without a lump rising in my throat. It is this: “He General Sessions 21 dismissed the crowd.” That is the hardest thing to do. We are unable today to live apart from crowd-mindedness. Public opinion haunts us like a vise and follows us like a shadow. Whether in the economic world there is room for regimentation I do not know, but in the realm of mind and spirit we cannot keep our self-respect by goose-stepping. In a day of ready-to-wear clothing, predigested breakfast foods and philosophies, we need to remember that the first business of the teacher is the cultivation of the individual. The words of warning which Jesus raised to His disciples, “Come ye apart,” have a strange significance for us. It is impera¬ tive to recall that before God gives a man a great task He always takes him away from the crowd. He sent Moses into the desert, Elijah into the Kedron, Jeremiah into the meadows of Anathoth, Amos to the plowed fields of Tekoa, Paul to Arabia, and Jesus to the wilderness. It is time that we take fresh hold of the Magna Carta of Christianity’s conception of personality. It is so easy to conform, but the test of civiliza¬ tion lies in its ability to create the individual and develop him as a per¬ son. A different world will never be a better world until that day comes. To thine own self be true And it shall follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man. There is another contribution which education must make for such a day as this if a different world is to be a better world. The second objec¬ tive of education is the integrating of the individual in a society. To personal initiative there must be added social responsibility. After all, rugged individualism must not degenerate into ragged individualism. It is all very well to talk about the philosophy of self-expression ; obey that impulse; let yourself go; but one is always thrown back upon the question, Have we a self worth expressing? For this reason there is a word which holds increasing emphasis among us. Without that word we shall never come to a braver and better tomor¬ row. Without that word no cause in all the world is quite so hopeless as the cause of peace. It is the word understanding. It is so easy to play the role of the Pharisee and, seeing a world bloody and broken lying by the wayside, to pass by on the other side. But you never solve problems by calling people names. We all accent different syllables. We are all mysteries to one another. One drop of dew, no matter how large, cannot hold all the glory of the morning sun. Because I have certain political, economic, and social convictions is no reason that other people should hold those same convictions. I may be right or they may be right. If I am right it is my duty to convert them, but I have no right to slander them or to shoot them. Among the Sioux Indians there prevailed in the days of the frontier a strange custom. If one of the tribe determined to travel for a little while in areas guarded by other tribes, always on the night before he left his camp the traveler would be required to sit with the chiefs of the Sioux tribe around a campfire and then before it fell back into gray ash he would be asked to arise and, silhouetted 22 National Education Association against the flames, would lift this prayer, “Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have walked two weeks in his moccasins.” If only now and again in this world we could walk in one another’s shoes, how much better would life be and how much more hopeful our tomorrow! The business of education is to create understanding. Whatever else culture may do for you, always first it should make you sensitive to the needs of the world. To know all is to forgive all. Culture should always lead to compassion and the end of education is understanding. The purpose of knowledge is not to make one arrogant, but considerate; not calloused, but compassionate; not unconcerned, but understanding; not indifferent, but interested. Bigotry and intolerance are always the inevitable earmarks of ignorance, while the first fruits of education are sympathy and understanding. Educa¬ tion may make you skeptical, but it can never make you cynical. A skeptic is a man who has lost faith in the power of truth. A cynic is a man who has lost faith in the power of virtue. A skeptic maintains it makes no difference what you believe, while a cynic affirms it makes no difference how you live. Education may make you skeptical, but never cynical. To know all is to forgive all. To talk about culture without compassion is like talking about a crooked-straight line. How little one sees of this adventurous goodwill in our current world ! We seem to be baptized with prussic acid rather than with love for our fellowmen. There is breath-taking need of a Pentecost of compassion. What hate there is in our modern world ! Indeed, hate is the modern American tragedy. It is gnawing at the lute strings of our national life, haunting us and following us like a shadow. I never knew there was so much hate in the world. We hate the Jew; we hate the German; we hate capital; we hate labor; we hate the old guard; we hate the New Deal; we hate “nine old men”; we hate economic royalists; we hate the Congress; we hate the Constitution; we hate the President. Young people hate old people and old people seemingly return the compliment. We hate races. One section of the country hates another section of the country. It has even crept into religion, for we are apt to hate a shade of truth more than we hate error. We are tumbling apart into broken and brittle bits. The only thing we seemingly have in common is a mutual ill will and distrust. Just at a time when we are in need of a common front to bring in a braver and better day the vengeful spirit of class consciousness has gripped people. I do not mean to suggest that there are no wrongs to be righted. It is hard to justify some things. It is hard to justify disease in the presence of well-being; poverty in the face of plenty; ignorance in the presence of knowledge. I live in a city that has seventeen square miles of slums with sixty-five thousand condemned tenement houses in which there live one million children under fourteen years of age, in which there are one quarter of a million family units with sleeping rooms without windows or doors, one quarter of a million family units without running water, General Sessions 23 and one third of a million without central heating. It is hard to justify some things in this world. One wonders if Dostoyevsky was not right when he wrote, “The only contribution that civilization has seemingly made is to increase our capacity for pain.” We have built our world order upon human suffering rather than upon human understanding. But hate does not solve these problems. It only multiplies them. It does not lessen, but deepens, the barriers. We cannot hate ourselves out of these dilemmas. The pity of it is that men say if we only hate enough we shall bring in a better tomorrow. Men are going up and down the land saying that we are going to hate ourselves into prosperity. In the last analysis, democracy is a living together for the common good. Such forms of self-government can never last long or be maintained with ugly moods and uglier tempers. The world is waiting for the sunrise of those who will see the ten thousand heartaches and disillusionments of our generation, its terrible injustices, its fierce discontent, its sordid shambles, its drugged sensibilities, not in terms of arrogance, but understanding; not in terms of cal¬ lousness, but compassion. We have so many architects today, but so few builders; we have so many who are anxious to tell us what is wrong, but so few who are willing to make it right. There is scolding enough in our world without another college generation joining the anvil chorus in the morning. It is so easy to look upon the dilemmas of our generation and say what a dirty mess it is and then shut the window upon it and walk out. We need more compassion and goodwill. That was the glory of Jesus. He lived in a world much like our own ; with economic injustice, financial disarrangement, political maladjustment, and religious chicanery. Yet He never lost compassion for His age. After two thousand years men are not yet agreed upon the full meaning and mission of His life, but everywhere men are agreed that only by His way shall a braver and better day dawn to the children of men. We all live for something — some people live for money; some live for fame; some live for power. Jesus lived for love. He asked nothing of the world and the world had nothing to give Him. Wherever He went He dragged the sorrows of His generation across His soul. He could not keep Himself out of the welter and misery of His day. He walked with men thru their shadows. At midnight it was a Hebrew scholar; at daybreak it was a foundering ship ; at noonday it was a fallen girl by the well ; in the after¬ noon it was a company of hungry unemployed. Across the threshold of His home in Capernaum there fell the shadows of the limp and the lame, the halt and the blind, and He healed them every one. There are three things which Jesus of Nazareth never took into con¬ sideration — three things which meant nothing to Him. Geography meant nothing to Him. He never traveled more than one hundred miles from home, yet what He said was for all ages and all times. Then, too, He never took time into consideration. A thousand years were with Him as a day, and a day as a thousand years. He did not begin His work until He 24 National Education Association was thirty. In six months He was checkmated and two years later He was dead. Yet when He died He said, “It is finished.” More than all these, the social frontiers which separated and estranged men meant nothing to Him. The hero and the helot; the rich and the poor; the old and the young; the moron and the savant, all found in Him something that satis¬ fied them as they walked back into the world with new purpose and a finer spirit. If we propose to build a new order it must be on the philosophy of One who said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” No way of life is quite so rewarding. Nothing so enriches life as an adventurous goodwill toward all people. Great sympathies have a way of making small men great. Because he saw the burden of his people Moses became one of the figures that will always live. Because he carried an ache in his heart Dante in exile became the most moving figure in the twelfth century. Because Bunyan saw the distress of his time he lifted himself into immortality. Because Jesus of Nazareth dragged the sorrow of His world across His soul He became the ageless and timeless Redeemer of the world. The surest way to redeem life from mediocrity and pro¬ vincialism is to identify it with a great cause. Nothing small or mean can live in a life that is dominated by a great compassion. Not only is this determination to live with compassion the test of education ; it is also the test of true religion. Religion may begin with the individual, but it does not end there. It is not a solitary adventure of a lonely soul upon a lonely God, but rather an adventure in the fine art of living together for the common good. The Christian of the future is not one who has an answer for every question and a solvent for every riddle, but one who lives with a compassion towxird mankind. To say that you love God and do not love your fellowmen is as anomalous as it is untrue. This world is not a “Morro Castle” which shrieks with the cry, “Every man for himself,” but the Father’s house in which we live together for the common good. No one quarrels because faith in God brings peace and serenity to the heart. If you walk into the world sullen, cynical, and calloused, you will scald your soul and turn your back upon the adventure of the true cul¬ ture. So it all comes back to this : Are there enough of us left who care, determined to live compassionately and with adventurous goodwill ; are there enough of us left who will not let it down ; are there enough of us left who will not walk out on it ; are there enough of us left who will stay with it to the end until the inheritance is won, until Jesus Christ shall see the travail of their souls and shall be satisfied ? General Sessions 25 FIRST GENERAL MORNING SESSION ADDRESS OF WELCOME HONORABLE HERBERT H. LEHMAN, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, ALBANY, N. Y. It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to have the privilege as governor of welcoming this convention to the state of New York. Indeed, the long traditions of the office I have the honor to hold dictate to me, quite apart from my own impulses, the obligation and duty to receive and to honor the teachers of the nation meeting within our borders. It is now just three centuries since our first schoolmaster, Adam Roel- andsden, called children to their lessons on this island. I wish that the entire intervening history of our struggle to establish and to maintain free schools in the Empire State might be unfolded to you in pageant and story. On the whole, the record is one of which we are justly proud. While the presentation of our history might tell those of you who come from other states nothing essentially new, for our problems in education are common the county over, yet the long and interesting record of our successes and failures would, I am sure, give you added courage to persist in these advanced days of the twentieth century in the high calling to which you have dedicated your lives. At the very first session of the Legislature of the State of New York after the close of the Revolutionary War, my distinguished predecessor in office, the first governor of the state, the Honorable George Clinton, in his opening message to the lawmakers, made this significant utterance : Neglect of the education of youth is among the evils consequent on war. Perhaps there is scarcely anything more worthy of your attention than the revival and encouragement of seminaries of learning, and nothing by which we can more satis¬ factorily express our gratitude to the Supreme Being for His past favors, since piety and virtue are generally the offspring of an enlightened understanding. The universal and continuing response of the people of this common¬ wealth to that challenge of Governor Clinton, issued 154 years ago, is to he found today in broad terms in our basic law — the constitution of the state. Beyond our constitutional declarations there has grown up thru acts of the legislature, thru quasi-legislative regulations of the regents, and thru common public consent, a body of fundamental principles to which the state is profoundly committed which govern and control the administration of public education. The state commissioner of education and the superin¬ tendent of schools of this city who are to follow me on this program can, of course, speak to you of these fundamental principles from the standpoint of membership in your guild. I speak as a private citizen, profoundly inter¬ ested in public education, and for the time being as governor determined that the will of the people concerning their schools shall be executed. Let me, therefore, as citizen and as governor, enumerate some of the 26 National Education Association fundamental principles which characterize and, in my judgment, dignify our management of public education. We have determined by long practice and by court action that the supervision and direction of education is basically a state function. We have, therefore, called upon the treasury of the state to bear a con¬ siderable portion of the cost of maintaining schools, and have adopted meas¬ ures to bring a satisfactory minimum standard of educational opportunity, both on the elementary and secondary level, within the reach of every child in the state no matter what the wealth of the school district in which he lives. We are committed to the principle that the growing science of educa¬ tion and the fine art of teaching demand a high level of academic and professional training on the part of every teacher. We pledge the state to provide opportunity for such training, and we permit no person to teach in the public schools who does not meet the minimum standards set by the state for certification. Believing that the laborer is worthy of his hire in every walk of life, we have established by law, minimum salary scales for all public school teachers. Recognizing the high public service of the teacher, we have established in this great city and in the state at large teachers retirement systems which give assurance of security in old age. Believing that the faithful and competent teacher should be free from apprehension of security in his position, we have enacted tenure laws which protect our city and village teachers and which will in time, I believe, be extended to teachers in rural schools. Being a conservative people, we have slowly and even reluctantly come to the realization that the one-room country school, so useful in earlier days, no longer satisfies our educational needs. A far-reaching movement is under way which will eventually, and I hope speedily, centralize our rural schools. It is to a state committed to these principles thru constitution and statute and practice to which I welcome you. Every problem you can con¬ ceivably discuss in this convention is our problem with you. By reason of our population, roughly speaking, we undertake to carry one-tenth of the problem of conducting schools in the United States. This ought to be fertile soil, therefore, for the propagation of forward-looking movements and for the promotion of common educational causes. I welcome you also to the state of New York in these trying times for yet other reasons. In some quarters of the globe the benefits of certain eternal verities which we have nurtured in America are denied whole peoples. Freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, so common in our belief, so inherent in our system of government, no longer mean today what they did yesterday to millions of people in certain other lands. It is for this reason we hear so often these days the declaration that democracy is on trial. General Sessions 27 That declaration is, of course, merely rhetorical. Democracy cannot be on trial since over a period of a century and a half it has conclusively proved its worth in this country, not alone as a political philosophy but as a way of life which has brought happiness and security to our people. But while democracy can never be on trial, it is unquestionably under attack and pressure here and in many other parts of the world. The threat that dictatorship constitutes to democracy is a very real one, and may be¬ come imminent if we are not ever vigilant in defense of our liberties. Unlike dictatorship, which invokes force and violence and oppression to stifle opposition, democracy must rely for its preservation on the force of public opinion and on the undivided devotion and loyalty of its adherents. In this country we may be thankful that we are still free to speak the truth and to write the truth as we see it. One of the great weapons of democracy is universal free education, which teaches youth the eternal truths of justice, liberty, tolerance, and equality. Those truths can be brought before no tribunal save that of an enlightened public opinion. In your hands lie the privilege and responsibility of keeping vital the principles of American democracy guaranteed to us by constitutional covenant. I consider it an honor to welcome you to the state of New York because in your hands, in great measure, lie the destiny and future of the youth of our nation. ADDRESS OF WELCOME HONORABLE FIORELLO H. LA GUARDIA, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY I want to extend a most cordial welcome to all the delegates on behalf of the people of the City of New York. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy every minute of your visit. I want to congratulate the committee on arrangements for all its pains¬ taking attention to every detail. Judging from the program, you are to have a very busy week. I hope that the delegates who are particularly in¬ terested in any feature of our municipal government and who desire to visit and inspect any branch of the city government will indicate to your registration office the time and the place that they care to visit, and we will be very happy to provide accommodations for them. We are proud of our school system in New York City. As the governor stated, we have all of the problems of every other city, except that ours are multiplied so many times. I concur heartily in what Governor Lehman said about education being a state function. I concede frankly and publicly and openly that it is a state function, but since it is a state function, I want my state to take it over entirely. Governor Lehman stated that the state fixes the standards. That is right; the state should fix the standards. Governor Lehman also stated that the state guarantees tenure. That is also right. But I say that the same governmental agency that fixes tenure ought also to have the responsi¬ bility of removing teachers who are incompetent and unfit! Of course, we 28 National Education Association will go along and cooperate with the state so long as there is divided responsibility, but I believe the idea of education being a state function ought to be carried out to the fullest degree without any divided responsi¬ bility. We are approaching a time when education will take an even more im¬ portant part in the shaping of our social and economic life than heretofore. I mportant as education has been in the past, it is far more important today. I need not repeat to a gathering of this kind, or add to what the governor has already said, that education and democracy are so closely related as to make the one dependent upon the other. The governor pointed out three fundamental principles which we might call the trinity of democracy: the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. The three, of course, imply government by the consent of the governed, but that is not enough today. We cannot have a complete enjoyment of democracy and the benefit of a government by the people in these days with just these three factors. We have arrived at the time when we must frankly state that democracy depends not only on freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to worship, but also on economic security. It is difficult to enjoy democracy when starvation is staring some of our citizens in the face. We are now fully embarked upon a national policy that will guarantee, along with the fundamentals specifically mentioned in the Constitution, the right for every citizen to find employment and to live decently and properly and happily. That brings up, then, the additional duties and responsibilities thrust upon the schools of our country. There has been a time when there was resentment and resistance to the training of children in the skilled trades. We are now approaching the time where it will make very little difference how one earns his living. This will occur when there is a certain dignity to labor, and in the final adjustment, which is bound to be brought about, there will be leisure for the great mass of people in this country. There is a distinction between leisure time and idle time. Idle time is the result of unemployment and is depressing and discouraging and demor¬ alizing. Leisure time, under a system which will spread employment, can be made inspiring and helpful and encouraging. Rut to enjoy leisure time, one requires a certain cultural background in order to prevent it from becoming monotonous. And so, we are establishing in New York City specialized high schools of every sort and description, and we invite your consideration and thought on this plan and would like to get your reaction. But there is one phase of it which must be carefully guarded. There should be no arbitrary formula of channeling the children from the grade schools to specialized high schools! It is difficult to agree on any formula which would be applicable. I do not know just how it should be done, how they are to consult the incli¬ nation of the child himself and give him ample latitude to change after the General Sessions 29 first or during the second year, but surely there should be no hard and fast rule of channeling these children to any of the specialized schools. I firmly believe that it can be worked out satisfactorily. To date, we have had very little, if any, difficulty in our system here in New York City. We expect to expand these various specialized schools. Only a few days ago I attended the graduation of the High School of Aviation where young men are being turned out as skilled airplane mechan¬ ics or as motor mechanics for airplanes — a highly specialized training these days. The school does not pretend to make engineers or plane designers out of them, but the graduates are prepared to take up a highly skilled trade with a cultural foundation which will permit them the fullest enjoyment of the new age in which this country has embarked. 1 feel confident and optimistic that we are going into a very happy period of our national life. I feel that we have conquered and destroyed old ideas such as, that in a crisis we naturally develop our economic system, that unemployment is bound to come with such conditions, and that poverty and hardship make rugged individuals. We have certain policies in this country. No American family should be humiliated and degraded by taking a place in a breadline or in a soup kitchen because of the inability, thru no fault of his own, of the head of that family to find employment. When history shall have been written in the future from an impartial perspective, a glorious page will be given to the leadership in this new national policy of the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt! In every high school in this country there are young men and women who have been enabled to continue their studies without any humilia¬ tion at all thru our system of governmental aid. I want to extend again our welcome to the delegates, and to wish the National Education Association a most successful congress in New York City. I hope to see all of you again soon ! ADDRESS OF WELCOME FRANK PIERREPONT GRAVES, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, AND COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, ALBANY, N. Y. Twenty-two long years have passed since we school men and women of New York had the keen pleasure and satisfaction of entertaining you brothers and sisters in the National Education Association, and we are very happy indeed that you have at length returned to us. We are not in the position of the man who invited the members of his fraternity to be sure to drop in on him when they were in town, but begged them, “For Heaven’s sake, don’t all come at once.” The more of you we see, the happier we shall be, and there is both sincerity and volume in our greet¬ ings. Eighty thousand teachers and two and one-half million school chil¬ dren bid you thrice welcome to this gathering of our national Association. Thru the annual meetings in other parts of the country we of the Atlantic Seaboard have experienced the eloquence and hospitality of the South and 30 National Education Association the independence and friendliness of the West, and have been inspired by your educational programs and progress. We hope, in turn, that you may discover corresponding capacities and virtues in us and be glad of the opportunity to witness what we are doing in the school system of New York. This state has at times been referred to as devoted to materialism and the pursuit of the almighty dollar, but in reality the pride of her heart is to be found in her public schools, maintained at an approximate cost of more than a million dollars a day; and in her seventy colleges, universities, and other degree-conferring institutions, with their 200,000 invaluable leaders-to-be. Of course, bigness must not be mistaken for greatness, and New York is chiefly concerned in those articles of educa¬ tional faith to which Governor Lehman has alluded — free, universal, non¬ sectarian, and state controlled education for her boys and girls; a cultural wage, secure tenure, training in service, and adequate retiring allowances for her teaching staff. New York, by far the largest and wealthiest state, is chiefly concerned in preserving and promoting these educational safe¬ guards for democracy, a responsibility which she shares with all the other states of our Union. If she has anything to offer beyond that attained elsewhere, it is to be found in her delegation of educational administra¬ tion to a non-partisan state board of regents and her freedom from all school control by any political official. I think that you must have found it refreshing to discover a governor who not only has no power or respon¬ sibility in matters educational but does not even wish to have. In this respect New York comes close to being unique. It is well that we teachers from the various states should come together annually and compare notes. The evolution of our Association is akin to that of the federal government. Like the nation, we began as a series of separate units, but soon felt ourselves compelled “to form a more perfect Union.” At first, informal groups were started to discuss ways and means of improving the teaching profession and its material welfare, and these gatherings eventually developed into strong state and then national organ¬ izations, with a membership of goodly proportions. Massachusetts and New York established state teachers associations nearly a hundred years ago, and the other commonwealths followed until by the close of the last century no state remained unorganized. Then in 1857 a national teachers asso¬ ciation met for the first time, which, after affiliating with several other groups having a like purpose, shortly blossomed into what is now the National Education Association. This great organization, now meeting for the year 1938 in our midst, has for over three-quarters of a century put forth more and more effective efforts to realize its objectives, “to elevate the character and advance the interest of the profession of teaching, and to promote the cause of popular education in the United States.” We teachers of New York take genuine pride in our membership in the Na¬ tional Education Association, and appreciate fully the privilege of offering hospitality to the organization as a whole. Please do not wait twenty-two years before you come again. General Sessions 31 ADDRESS OF WELCOME JAMES MARSHALL, PRESIDENT, BOARD OF EDUCATION, NEW YORK, N. Y. You have been welcomed here by our scholarly commissioner of educa¬ tion, by our enlightened governor, by our magician and enlightened mayor; you have been welcomed to death, but it would not be right if, on this occasion, you were not also welcomed thru me by the forty-eight thousand teachers and supervisors of our New York City school system. Over eleven thousand of us are members of the National Education Asso¬ ciation, including at least four members of the Board of Education. We have thought long, we have worked hard, we have contributed much, and we have tried to make this convention a great success; the children, the teachers, and the Board of Education have all worked together. Unfortunately, all of our schools, except the playgrounds, are closed, so we cannot show you the work actually going on, but you are welcome to see our plants and our buildings. Do not let them take you only to the brand-new buildings; let them show you that we, too, have problems of school housing — serious problems — which we are trying to meet. But we have a long, long road ahead. There has been provided, thanks to the courtesy of the Port of New York Authority, an excellent exhibit hall at the Port of Authority Building. We hope that some time during your visit you will all go to that building and see examples of some of the work which our children and teachers are doing. Tonight, tomorrow afternoon, and Wednesday morning there will be a pageant on the subject of democracy, entitled “Skylines,” which will be given at Brooklyn Technical High School. It is worth your time to see the pageant, and I would suggest that while you are there you stop and look at the remarkable technical high-school building. This evening a reception will be given by our teachers at the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel in honor of President Woodruff. We hope that you will be there. On Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden, in addition to the excellent school band which you have already heard, there will be our orchestra and chorus. On Thursday the mayor will be your host at Madison Square Garden again. This will be a demonstration of the work of the police and fire departments. Our teachers have liberally contributed of their time and you will find them ready to act as your guides, as your ushers, as your chauffeurs, and as your hostesses, and we hope that you will avail yourselves of their services. We welcome you here. We welcome the opportunity of exchanging views with you, of trying to understand both the differences and similarities of your problems and of ours, and we want to tell you that we regard the National Education Association as the source of a great stimulus to our school system. 32 National Education Association AMERICA’S LARGEST CITY SCHOOL SYSTEM HAROLD G. CAMPBELL, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, NEW YORK, N. Y. The task assigned to me is to tell about the largest city school system in the United States. Several comments have been made about this largest school system. I want it clearly understood that we do not boast of the fact that it is a large school system, but we do boast of the fact that within that system not one of our wonderful teachers in the City of New York forgets the individual child. Out of this great mass we are trying to carry on, not mass education, but real education. Our organization is not only the largest organization ; it is the most heterogeneous organization to be found anywhere in the world — heterogeneous as to race, as to social outlook, as to economic condition — and out of this, we are trying to make good American citizens. The school principals who are here will understand some of our difficul¬ ties when I mention just one incident. Not only have we a large population, but we have a population that is always shifting from one part of the city to another. For example, during the last two years, when a committee headed by President Marshall and associate Superintendent McCooey, made a study of maladjustment and delinquency in the schools of this city, we found one school which started in February with a register of 1000 children. It closed the term at the end of June with a register of 1000 children. But during that term, there had been 1000 transfers out and 1000 admissions, so that at the end of the term, altho it had 1000 children, there was not one child who had been there at the beginning of the term. I think school people will realize the difficulty that teachers have in handling a problem such as that, so, as I said before, the thing that we are proud of is the fact that our teachers are able to handle this type of situation. New York City’s million and a quarter individual school children, housed in more than 1000 buildings (representing an investment of half a billion dollars), constitute the sixth largest city in the United States. If all the children might pass in review before us in parade formation, it would take them the entire period of this convention — five days and five nights. Our system extends beyond the city’s borders. There are classes for handi¬ capped children and others in day camps, convalescent homes, hospitals, and institutions on Long Island and in neighboring counties along the Hudson. About 1,110,000 of our children are in regular day schools. The others are in part-time continuation classes, evening schools, and Americanization classes. We have 612 elementary schools with approximately 669,000 students; 80 junior high schools with approximately 130,500 students; 47 academic and technical high schools with an enrolment of 255,000; and 24 vocational high schools with an enrolment of about 60,000 students, of whom 45,000 attend full time and 15,000 part time. There are 44 evening elementary schools with a register of 27,500; 23 evening high schools with a register of 56,000; and 11 evening trade schools with a register of 12,000. General Sessions 35 Staff — Our teaching and supervisory staff numbers approximately 39,000. There are nearly 27,000 teachers in the elementary and junior high schools; 9300 in the senior, academic, and technical high schools; and 2128 in the vocational high schools. We employ more than 300 attendance officers to enforce the compulsory education law. Our schools range in size from Public School 2, in the Borough of Rich¬ mond, with one teacher and 14 children, to the New Utrecht High School, in the Borough of Brooklyn, with 347 teachers and 9965 children. The smallest school is, in reality, a typical rural school with grades from 1A to 6B all in the same classroom and all taught by the same teacher. The average size of our elementary-school classes in the city as a whole is 34.7. In our senior high schools the pupil-teacher ratio is 31.5, and in the junior high schools we are organized on a basis of 36 pupils per teacher for regular classes, 25 pupils per teacher in adjustment classes, and 18 pupils per teacher in industrial classes. Costs — To finance our educational program there will be spent this year more than $152,500,000, of which about $54,350,000 is contributed by the state and about $97,800,000 by the city. Federal aid amounts to approxi¬ mately $350,000, exclusive of the cost of WPA projects. Our per capita cost of instruction in the main groups is $103.05 in the elementary schools, $113.99 in the junior high schools, and $144.30 in the senior high schools. Each year figures are compiled showing how the school dollar is spent — how much of it is spent for administration, how much for instruction, for maintenance, operation, etc. Last year every $100 spent for education i t New York City was spent as follows: For instruction and the agencies auxiliary thereto, including the cost of playgrounds, recreation centers, and other items . $88.74 For physical maintenance of the school plant including the cost of replace¬ ments and repairs . 2.91 For physical operation of the school plant including the cost of heating and cleaning the buildings . 5.40 For administration and miscellaneous expenses . 2.95 Trends in register — As in other parts of the country our elementary- school register is declining, due to the lower birth-rate and restricted immi¬ gration. Current figures show that we had 23,800 fewer pupils in our ele¬ mentary schools this April than we had in April 1937. A gain of 3000 or so in the junior high-school register hardly offsets this loss. Registration in senior, academic, and technical high schools, while it has grown enormously, is now leveling off. In the vocational high schools the trend is still upward. Last year there was a gain of nearly 8000. Experiments — Thruout our school system numerous experiments are being conducted. Notable among them is the experiment with the activity program which emphasizes the development of the child thru participation in actual experiences. Sixty-nine representative schools, with a combined register of 60,000 children, are engaged in this experiment. 34 National Education Association At a special school known as the Speyer School, which we are conducting in cooperation with Teachers College, Columbia University, an effort is being made to devise more effective courses of study for slow learners and for rapid learners. From among our 612 elementary schools we have selected 70 in under¬ privileged neighborhoods, and assigned to them additional teachers so as to bring class registers down to 30 and in some cases to 25, and thus to permit more individual instruction. Remedial programs have been instituted in these schools both in the tool subjects and in health education. The children are taken on trips to other parts of the city and every effort is made to overcome the adverse effects of unfavorable environment. RESPONSE TO WELCOME EMILY A. TARBELL, SYRACUSE, N. Y. ; PRESIDENT, N. E. A. DEPARTMENT OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS For the wholehearted welcome which you have extended to the members of the National Education Association gathered in your magnificent city, we say “Thank you.” Coming to New York City is always an adventure. To those of us who have visited you before comes a spirit of elation each time we return. You offer sky-towering proofs of your achievements. You give to the “up-staters” and the “out-of-staters” a keen appreciation of the accom¬ plishments of this country, a greater realization of the potentialities, and awaken in us as teachers a quickened responsibility. To some of us who are here today this visit means much more. It is the realization of a long cherished dream. Our books, our magazines, our newspapers, and our radios have brought New York to us. But many of us have nurtured a deep resolution that some day we would see for ourselves the greatest city of our country — some day we ourselves would walk down Broadway and ride on Fifth Avenue and behold the majesty that is New York. With some of us it has taken years for the dream to reach its fulfilment. But the dream has come true. We are here. We pay tribute to the educational record of New York City. You offer a rich curriculum to your students. You provide a lifelong opportunity of learning to your citizens, for after elementary and secondary training there are the city colleges and schools for adult education that open their doors to thousands. You have established high standards for your teachers. We pay especial tribute because you have helped to maintain the unexcelled system of state aid for education for the equalization of opportunity to the children of the state. We are glad of the privilege of seeing your educational system at firsthand. Your city opens to us new vistas of thinking. We have come to behold your marvels in buildings and bridges, to gaze at your displays of art, to admire your schools, to watch your pageant, to explore your transportation systems and your World’s Fair grounds, and to visit your docks, your marts General Sessions 35 of trade, your theaters, and your parks. But we are looking too for those shrines of historic interest, those monuments to pioneer and Colonial days. Here where the first President of our country was inaugurated, we remem¬ ber that upon the enterprise and labor of those early citizens the New York of today was builded. Appreciation of enterprise and of the dignity of labor — this we would take to our own classrooms. There is abroad in our land a spirit of apathy and of bafflement, a cry of “Oh, let the government do it.” When such a spirit begins to invade even the classroom, as it has been doing, ours is the task to give to the young people continued courage, ability to cooperate, a sturdy independence, and an honest zeal for work. Here at these meetings among these earnest minds we would gain renewed inspiration to bring to our students more joy in doing. There is another lesson we would learn from your metropolis. Is there another city in the universe which has as many nationalities as New York? This has fittingly been called the “Great Melting Pot.” While fires of hate are being fed abroad, here we find friendly intermingling of peoples. In these days of bitter race consciousness we would take back with us a refresh¬ ing tolerance and respect for our fellowmen. In this setting of man-built canyons, of torrents of traffic, of ever surging tides of people, we appreciate deeply the neighborliness and the hospitality extended by the teachers, the officials, and the citizens of New York City. We are glad we are here. GREETINGS JAMES SUNTER, NELSON, LANCS., ENGLAND; REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS OF ENGLAND I am greatly honored by your gracious introduction. Your words of friendship and goodwill put me at ease. I am no longer a stranger in a strange land, but feel quite at home among you. William S. Taylor, your representative to our national conference in England, said, “If you like us as much as we like you, we hope you will come to see us in the States.” Well, I have come, and I am delighted with my reception and am looking forward to having a great time with my new found friends. I am particularly happy to be here as representative of the National Union of Teachers of England and Wales, and more than delighted to bring fraternal greetings to fellow teachers in the West. Many cen¬ turies ago, wise men came from the East and brought with them gold, frankincense, and myrrh, to present to the greatest Teacher of all time. I come from the East. I do not bring gold but the best wishes to you, and I bring these to a band of comrades whom I know to be great teachers. The National Union of Teachers of England and Wales was established in the year 1870, and now has a total membership of 154,614 teachers of all types and grades. This number consists of more than 90 percent of the total teaching establishment of the country. The prestige of the Union stands high in the land and on all occasions when the teaching service or 36 National Education Association the child life of the nation is involved, the national government and local education authorities confer with our officials. In the coffers of the Union we have more than £1,500,000 sterling, and this proves a very effective “helpmate.” “Money talks,” and very effectively sometimes. I wish to make a frank admission, however. The Union has based its appeal in the past upon its professional service. It has achieved much in regard to (a) conditions of service, (b) stabilization of salaries and pensions, (c) security of tenure, (d) professional freedom in school, and (e) easement of legal responsibilities. Each of the above provides a story of its own and it is impossible for me, in the time allotted, to say anything of these achievements. On the educational side the work of the Union has been no less marked, and notable advances have been brought about in our national system of education. First and foremost is the abolition of the half-time system. The day has now gone when a child of eleven years of age must go to work for half a day for tuition, and then attend school for the other half day, often working under wretched conditions and beginning at 6 A. M. and working until noon with only half an hour for breakfast. We thank God that our efforts have banished this iniquitous system from our midst forever. Next, for many years the Union has made valiant efforts to obtain an extension of school life. This matter has been our more recent concern, and now the school-leaving age has been raised to fifteen years. Seven out of every ten children still leave school, to begin to earn their own living, at the age of fourteen years. In this matter we have much to learn from you in this country. Again, the Union has done much to increase opportunities for higher education. Every endeavor has been put forward by our Union to make a broad educational avenue for every child, and especially the poor man’s child. As yet, we have not attained the ideal stage of free education for all, but I am happy to say that while the progress to this great ideal is slow it is none the less sure. We look forward to the day when every British boy and girl, whether rich or poor, will be able to have free education from the nursery school to the university. It is essential that every member of the profession should have a high standing among his fellow citizens. He must have financial stability, and it is the duty of the Union, of which he is a member, to secure and maintain that position. This, however, cannot be obtained unless there is unity. Unity must be the watchword — “Each for all and all for each.” Compared numerically, the teaching profession is a small part of the community but what a wealth of power lies in its keeping! An English statesman once said, “A contented teaching profession can be of great service to the state, but a discontented and disgruntled one may become a grave menace to the state.” No one knows better than the teaching profession the truth of this statement. This statesman recognized the power which we, as teachers, have entrusted to us. I pray God that we may never abuse that trust. He also recognized that it was the duty of the General Sessions 37 state to see that every teacher should receive adequate recompense for his services, and when old age and retirement became inevitable, he should have a pension which would insure comfort to the end of his days. Into our care are given the children of the nation. We have the molding of their lives. This is no mean task entrusted to us. The citizen of tomorrow is in our keeping; his whole outlook can he changed and his existence made a blessing or irrevocably marred. With this great opportunity there comes a grave responsibility. We now live in an age of transition, confusion, suspicion, upheaval, uni¬ versal upset — almost madness. We are in a state of international chaos. How much have we teachers contributed to this state of national affairs? Have our aims in education been as true to the principles of peace as they might have been ? I sometimes wonder. Be that as it may, what of the future ? True education is international in scope, and I strongly urge the tight¬ ening of the bonds of friendship among all educationalists thruout the world. I would wholeheartedly press for further activities in educational advance by (a) international associations of teachers unions, (b) international fed¬ eration of teachers associations, (c) international federation of the world education association. The salvation of the world from its present trouble may be brought about by education. Contacts with one another will bring about an appreciation of difficulties and eventually a realization of universal idealism. World citizenship and peace teaching in schools should develop thru a better understanding. Let us boldly face the future, determined that we will hasten the dawn of world peace. Let us implant within the heart of every child love of justice, love of honor, love of true liberty, peace, and goodwill. I have no hesitation in saying that your great nation has been built upon the solid foundations of freedom and liberty and your teachers have built and are now building wisely and well. You still hold these things that matter near and dear to you, and I am sure you will continue to train the child in the true path of social and religious equity. We in England are one with you in this matter, and together the children of America and those of England can bring about that which we all so much desire — peace. May I once again thank you for the honor done me. This is an occasion which I shall always cherish and the memory of which will remain fragrant to the end of my days. I trust that your deliberations during the week may be divinely guided and will result in great educational advancement. Finally, may your great Association go on from strength to strength, knowing full well that by so doing untold benefit will accrue, not only to its members, but to the children of this great and mighty land — the land of liberty, truth, and right. 38 National Education Association GREETINGS E. A. HARDY, TORONTO, CANADA; PAST-PRESIDENT, CANADIAN TEACHERS FEDERATION, AND TREASURER, WORLD FEDERATION OF EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS Almost two thousand years ago the Friend of Man lived His brief but dynamic life on this earth and gave up His life in His own great way. Today this vast assemblage is a witness of the fruitfulness of that life. Here is an audience of thousands of men and women, drawn from a country almost as large as Europe, and every man and woman an ambassador of the rights of the child, and the rights of the individual man and woman, to a life at once independent and yet pledged to aid every other life; of the rights of a nation to live by peace and goodwill ; and of the duty of the nation to spread that idea of goodwill among all the nations of the world. To this great assembly of American teachers, members of the American nation, I have the honor, speaking as a past-president of the Canadian Teachers Federation, to bring you the greetings of the Canadian teachers, members of a sister nation of high democratic ideals. These greetings are warm and sincere, as we realize in the first place the far-reaching, beneficent influence of that comprehensive structure, the National Education Asso¬ ciation of the United States, and are conscious of our many obligations for its kindly services to Canadian education ; and in the second place, as we recall that for over one hundred years American educational ideals and prac¬ tices have profoundly influenced the development of education in Canada. Of this sister nation, the Dominion of Canada, may I say three things: First, Canada has a story of achievement, material and spiritual, of which she is proud. Second, Canada is a democracy; so much so, in fact, that in Toronto, for example, each member of the city council and the board of education is elected every year. Democracy can hardly go further. Third, the teachers of Canada have been, for the past twenty years, actively experi¬ menting with teacher organizations. Immediately following the Great War, from 1914 to 1918, professional teachers organizations sprang up in almost every province, supplementary to the older organizations of the academic type. Provincial organization was followed by a national federation of all the provincial associations into the Canadian Teachers Federation and a further step was taken when the Canadian Teachers Federation became the second constituent unit of the World Federation of Education Asso¬ ciations — the first unit of the W.F.E.A. being the National Education Asso¬ ciation. The situation of the Canadian teacher today is this: When he joins his local association he automatically becomes a member of his provincial association, and thru that act he is linked with the national and world fed¬ erations. In other words, he is locally, provincially, nationally, and inter¬ nationally organized. Two more Canadian experiments may interest you. The Province of Alberta is the first and only district in the world, so far as I know, in which General Sessions 39 teaching is recognized by law as a profession. The Alberta Teaching Profes¬ sion Act created the Alberta Teachers Association as a body, corporate and politic, and made all the teachers in the public and high schools of the province, members of the Association. It provides for the payment of their fees thru the local boards of education and the provincial department of education. It grants disciplinary powers to the association and sets up an appeal board to deal with grievances. In other words, every teacher in Alberta is a member of the Alberta Teachers Association and no teacher is employable on any other basis. Saskatchewan has a law very similar. I submit that these two provinces lead the world in this phase of teacher organization. The other experiment is that of boards of reference set up by law to deal with disputes between teachers and schoolboards. The Province of Ontario has just secured this legislation which some other provinces have had for several years. Every Ontario teacher now has a right to appeal, in case of dismissal, to a legal tribunal consisting of a representative of the schoolboard, a representative of the teacher or of his organization, and a county judge as chairman. These experiments are indicative of the spirit of cooperation between employing bodies and their staffs. What 1 have been saying about the progress of Canadian teacher organiza¬ tions is another way of saying that Canadian teachers unite with American teachers in believing that the teacher is the heart of the whole educational system. Buildings, equipment, endowments, administrative and maintenance staffs, and professional organizations are of high value, and the United States is honored among the nations of the world for the generosity of her provision in all these respects. All of these, however, are to provide the setting for the teacher, so that he or she may carry on that great art, one of the greatest of all fine arts, the art of teaching. Teacher and pupil, face to face in the classroom, are the very center of things. We teachers are a people so busy that often we fail to see the perspective of our life work. Shall we lift up our eyes this morning and look out over this vast area which we call the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada, an area almost twice the size of Europe? In this section of the world a mighty experiment is in process — the blending of many races to make two great and very similar nations. In no other part of the world is there, or has there ever been, such an experiment on so vast a scale. Every nation in Europe, along with nations from other continents, has sent us thousands, in some cases millions of people. The greatest motive for their coming is the finding of freedom, economic and political. Their greatest desire is to become real Americans and real Canadians, part and parcel of these new North American nations. For most of these millions, the last desire would be to return to their native lands tho they rightly treasure the ideals and traditions of the lands of their birth. Sometimes this tremendous experiment is designated by the metaphor, “The Melting Pot” — a metaphor, however, which is fundamentally inac¬ curate, as human nature is not changed as metals are changed. A far more 40 National Education Association accurate metaphor is that drawn from the art of the weaver. In our two nations there is a steady interweaving of the threads of racial characteristics, ideals, and traditions, into a pattern of citizenship which should ultimately transcend anything which the world has known. This great pattern will retain, not destroy, the many distinctive national threads fashioned in the experience of centuries, and the whole web will be a glorious thing — an inspiration to all the other nations of the world. Do you realize, teachers of the United States, that our public schools, elementary and secondary, are the greatest single factor in this magnificent experiment in the making of nations? Into our schools they pour, these hundreds of thousands, yes, millions of boys and girls of the first and the second generations of new Americans and new Canadians, of all races, creeds, customs, colors, and traditions. Here, in an environment of North American pattern, reflecting our democratic ideals, they face their teachers, American and Canadian, and during eight to twelve years they follow, day by day, our pathways to democratic citizenship. Nowhere else in the world is so great an epic of transformation being wrought, for nowhere else in the world has so mighty a tide of immigration swept such teeming millions to a nation’s shores. The task resting upon the teachers of our schools is great — almost beyond the bounds of imagination. 1 am not transgressing modesty when I affirm that this task is being nobly done. May we not have even a wider vision of our task? The world today is a challenge to humanity. But strangely simple tho it may seem, world well¬ being can be brought nearer by the teacher thru the classroom, if the teacher is given a fair chance. From the smallest and remotest red schoolhouse to the greatest city educational institution, the power of the teacher is a mighty current. Let it sweep on thru the years, till boys and girls everywhere are ambassadors of goodwill, world understanding, and world friendship. INTO ONE GREAT EDUCATIONAL BROTHERHOOD CAROLINE S. WOODRUFF, PRINCIPAL, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, CASTLETON, VT. ; AND PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION We have come together from all over this great land in the interest of public education to discuss the responsibility of education in bringing about better world conditions. If I were to ask you what is the one great objective of education — one that embraces all others — most of you would say in words that signify “to bring about a better world.” Today on the battlefield of Gettysburg there is assembling a distinguished group, a handful of men bowed with years — all that are left of those boys, the blue and the gray — the guests of the nation this week. They are there on the 75th anniversary of that bloody battle which alone cost the lives of more than 30,000 young men of this nation — from the North and from the South — slaughtered and wounded in an attempt to settle a great national question, each side struggling for a principle as it saw it. They are there to dedicate a monument — not to the youth, their comrades who fell there. They have come to consecrate a shrine symbolizing peace I General Sessions 41 and human brotherhood. On that battlefield a new white shaft will be dedicated this week, topped by an ever burning torch, the eternal light of peace, to show to all the world that the people of this nation are committed to eternal peace and that no internal disagreements shall ever again call forth the life blood of its youth. Today, also, the representatives of the nation’s teachers are assembling here to dedicate themselves anew to a faith in human cooperation and brotherhood that was lighted long ago. Six years before the struggle at Gettysburg, eighty-one years ago the 26th day of next August, a handful of teachers — forty-one men and two women — from the District of Columbia and twelve of the thirty-one states then belonging to the Union, met at Philadelphia, for the purpose, in the words of the principal speaker at that first gathering of the nation’s teachers, of organizing “those who believe that the time has come when the teachers of the nation should gather into one great educational brotherhood.” It was a significant hour. That was the birth of the National Education Association and those baptismal words are the title of my message this morning — “Into One Great Educational Brotherhood.” In the seventy-five years since the battle of Gettysburg the National Edu¬ cation Association of the United States has grown from a membership of 187 to an association numbering almost one quarter of a million, representing every field of educational effort from the pre-school thru the university, and representing every state and territory. In these seventy- five years America as a nation has seen momentous peri¬ ods of growth and development — social, industrial, and commercial. In these years since Gettysburg, years which parallel the development of the National Education Association, this nation has grown also to such moral and spiritual stature as to bring about the situation we are witnessing at Gettysburg this week. Seventy-five years ago a peaceful people, knowing no other way of settling a dispute but thru shedding the life blood of its youth, today meet on that same spot to pledge eternal peace. Time alone has not brought about this change; other forces have been at work. In this development the nation’s teachers have played a significant part. It is fitting that we join those who honor themselves this week at Gettys¬ burg in our own rededication to the cause of peace and educational brother¬ hood — not alone to the internal peace that has long ago cemented us into a great, forever-united country, with our 3000 miles of frontier unfortified by a single gun — but a rededication to that understanding which contributes to goodwill among all the peoples of the world. We have, therefore, selected as the theme of this convention week, “The Responsibility of Education in Promoting World Citizenship.” Treaties and peace pacts have been made but they have not settled the question, or have tribunals, or conferences, or even the church. As yet edu¬ cation has never wholeheartedly attempted a solution and so we are daring this year to center our thought upon this theme, wholly conscious that we have chosen the long road and that building is a slow process. 42 National Education Association Early in the year a questionnaire was given wide distribution from our National Education Association headquarters asking: 1. What, in your opinion, constitutes world citizenship? 2. What can education do about it? 3. Are you willing to be quoted in your reply? This was sent to the officers of hundreds of national and international organ¬ izations; heads of universities and colleges; to lay, professional, and tech¬ nical groups ; and to leaders in all countries of the world. Excerpts from these replies, which constitute a great body of opinion, are given in our Official Program. They may be used as a guide in developing a practical, working program. The National Education Association has endorsed all movements leading to world peace since 1899, when, meeting in Los Angeles, it tendered offi¬ cially its congratulations and support to the first peace conference in session at The Hague, and it has so recorded its attitude by resolutions year after year ever since. As long ago as 1907 the following crisp sentiment was expressed in formal resolution, “The forces of this world should be organ¬ ized in the interests of peace and not of war.” But in 1920, when the world was still trying to make secure the peace proclaimed at Versailles, a more than verbal expression was made and the first plan of action was launched. The Association at Salt Lake City created a committee of five on foreign relations “which shall have authority, under this Association, to cooperate with like committees from other countries . . . for the purpose of finding a way of promoting world understanding for coming generations thru the children of today.” This was action. The committee was formed and along with the committees of other nations began at once to function, with the result that there assembled in San Francisco in 1923 more than six hundred persons representing the lead¬ ing countries of the world. And out of this conference came the World Federation of Education Associations with an American, Augustus O. Thomas, then state commissioner of education in Maine, as president. Pro¬ vision was made for meeting biennially, and each of the biennial conven¬ tions since, including that in Tokio last year, has more than justified the existence of the organization by focusing the attention of the countries of the world upon the obligations of the school to create attitudes of friendship and cooperation with the children and youth of other countries. Again and again this Association has officially expressed its determination to aid in seeking ways of settling national and international differences other than thru war. In 1931 the Association recommended that the Peace Pact of Paris be taught in every school in this country. In 1934 it recom¬ mended also a program of education which would include the study of the history, interests, and problems of other nations, with the purpose of pre¬ paring both children and adults for cooperative living in the community of nations. The dream of peace is not new; it is an age-old dream. Seven hundred years before the Christian era the prophet Isaiah foretold that the people of the future “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into General Sessions 43 pruning-hooks.” Isaiah’s prophecy is a living faith, a living hope today. Only a short distance from here — over the entrance to the international building in Rockefeller Center where every passerby may see — an American sculptor, Lee Lawrie, has cut into gray limestone in enduring form the words and the symbol of that long-ago prophecy of Isaiah. Yes, and it is a coincidence that to make more vivid today that prophecy of 3000 years ago, a remarkable sculpture stands in the Metropolitan Art Museum here in this city — a bronze figure by Jules Butensky — of a powerful man holding an armful of swords on an anvil as he beats them into plowshares. These are but suggestions, gestures if you will, of the hope and the faith that dominated these artists and led them to portray their dream that should reach out to catch the thought of the multitudes. This desire for peace and stability from earliest times has been more than a hope. It has been expressed and is being expressed in our political, eco¬ nomic, and social institutions, as will be seen in reviewing some of the great movements to establish peace in the world’s history. The first great peace was maintained by the Roman legions. For two hundred years the Pax Roman a helped fix for mankind the ideal of peace as a “way of living.” It was an enforced peace, to be sure, and fell in utter confusion when Caesar’s legions become ineffective. Then, too, the religious leaders of the Middle Ages compelled their followers to refrain from war during certain seasons. This was not an armed peace but it was an enforced peace, with penalties prescribed for its violation. And then on to 1648, after a thirty years’ war had crippled a generation of European peoples, the first treatise on international law was compiled, but since there was no court thru which these laws might be applied in regulating the conduct of nations, it too was ineffective. And we come on to modern times. The Pan American Union has suc¬ ceeded, since 1890, in settling amicably questions largely to do with trade involved in the international relationships of the two Americas. In 1899 the International Court of Arbitration was established at The Hague, an institution which at least has kept alive among the nations a sense of respon¬ sibility for peaceful settlement of their disputes. And following the greatest conflict of all times, the war-sick nations met at Geneva, to organize a League thru which wars might be made forever unnecessary. Its story we all know. Yes, and since the Treaty of Versailles, the principal nations of the world have met again and again in conference to limit armament, to effect trade agreements, and to exchange peace treaties. All these are sign¬ posts in man’s efforts to establish and to preserve the peace of the world. Notwithstanding these peace movements, as we assemble here this morn¬ ing war clouds hang low over many nations and mankind finds itself today far from the destination pointed to by these signposts on the road to peace. In the final analysis, peace does not rest upon the intervention of authority, upon resort to courts, to treaty agreements, or huge armaments, all of which may be and have been defied and ignored. It rests upon the spirit of individual goodwill which arises from understanding and coopera¬ tion toward a common purpose. President Roosevelt made it clear to the 44 National Education Association whole world when, in that memorable address at Buenos Aires a year ago, he said: “Peace comes from the spirit, and must be grounded in faith. . . . That faith arises from a common hope and a common design given us by our fathers in differing form but with a single aim — freedom and security of the individual, which has become the foundation of our peace.” Those of you who were in Atlantic City last February and were privi¬ leged to be among that vast audience of 15,000 people who had met to do homage to Helen Keller, will never forget her reply to a question from one in the audience: “If today,” he asked, “one wish only could be granted you, the greatest wish of your life, what would it be?” The audience sat hushed in rapt attention for the reply which was not slow in coming — each person anticipating a certain answer. Instantly she replied, in utter selflessness: “If I could have one wish granted, 1 should wish for world peace and brother¬ hood !” All wars have their beginnings in economic selfishness — in the ambition, the intolerance, the prejudice, the hatred by which one or both of the parties to the conflict were swayed. In selecting for the theme of this convention “The Responsibility of Edu¬ cation in Promoting World Citizenship” we recognize that it is the business of education to deal with those human attributes from which war springs. It is the province of the schools to temper those human emotions with intelligence, to inculcate a spirit of tolerance, to lay a basis for appreciation of the rights and of the achievements of all peoples. It is the mightiest privilege of the school to educate its children for peace thru an understanding of human relationships. This teaching must begin with little children in their relations with one another — in their play and their work together in the schoolroom. World citizenship does not imply an impractical idealism or does it mean docile submissiveness; neither does it countenance for a moment indifference to the interests of one’s own country. On the other hand, a desire for perma¬ nent peace between nations is the soundest kind of patriotism. Freedom from war makes possible that cooperation necessary to achieve a more abundant life for one’s own people and for all other peoples of the world. Peace means opportunity to satisfy man’s material wants, to devote time and energy to the advancement of human culture and of spiritual welfare, and it means opportunity to worship God as each human being may choose. All this may he acquired with a practice of world citizenship. Constructive peace is more than an opportunity, it is an obligation upon every individual to serve the ends of human existence. And it is the province of the teacher to impress that obligation upon children and upon youth, and to prepare them for cooperating in that service with other youth, the youth of all lands. The only lasting peace is a positive and living peace founded upon action and upon cooperative effort. This concept has few words that seem fully to express it. The term “citizenship” includes the obligations of an individual to his own community, to his own state, and to his fellow citizens; therefore, to express the idea of an individual’s responsibility to all nations and to their citizens everywhere, we have used the term, “world citizenship.” General Sessions 45 Out of the excerpts from the replies to our questionnaire, none more clearly expresses our ideal of world citizenship than the statement of W. W. Hauer, a member of the joint Committee of the National Education Asso¬ ciation and the American Medical Association, who said : In the history of medicine thru the ages, there is to be found an excellent example of what constitutes world citizenship. There are no international medical treaties, no formal pledges; but actions speak louder than words. The progress of medicine against disease is a truly international achievement spurred by healthy rivalries and seldom marred by nationalistic quarrels. What is true in medicine is true in all the great achievements of the human race. The things that have contributed most to our physical and spiritual welfare have seldom been national in character. They have been attained thru the collaboration of citizens in one or more nations, and have crossed political boundary lines to relieve the peoples under every flag. There is no French way of curing tuberculosis. No nation has a monopoly of the automobile, the telephone, the radio, the electric light, the music of Wagner, or the Iliad of Homer. Astronomers of every nation look at the stars with the instrument designed by Galileo. The fruits of science, agri¬ culture, invention, sculpture, the most useful and desirable things of the world, bear the mark of no flag. The great masterpieces of literature have no national trademark. Shakespeare and Goethe, Tennyson and Moliere, Emerson and Vergil — their words will live forever in all tongues. And the true artist, scientist, educator, or statesman retains that pride and appreciation in his own field even in the face of adverse circumstances. An act of Toscanini, whose symphony concerts were broadcast each week last winter from this great radio center, illustrates this devotion to culture and to real achievement in spite of prejudices. He was loyal to his native Italy during the Great War and gave benefit concerts for charitable purposes during those tragic years. He conducted a military band even under fire at Monte Santo while it was being stormed by the Italian troops. He did not hesitate to lead his orchestra in German music, and in Rome played the Got- terdammerung funeral march over the protests of his friends. Great art, as we have said, belongs to all peoples and all ages, and the joy of the artist in its beauty is not dimmed by political animosities. In response to the second question, “What can education do in promoting world citizenship?” there were many replies, most of which can be summar¬ ized in such words as “understanding,” “appreciation,” and “cooperation.” The freedom of learning and teaching which is a characteristic of edu¬ cation offered to an individual for his own growth and not for some other individual, is emphasized in the reply of Secretary of the Interior Harold L. I ekes when he said : Education can best develop world citizenship by inculcating the free interchange of ideas. The world has much less to fear from the spreading of evil than from the suppression of good. 1'he ideal of cooperation included in world citizenship is suggested in the statement of Ruth Bryan Owen Rohde, former minister from the 46 National Education Association United States to Denmark, that education should encourage “the recog¬ nition by the individual that he is a component part of a world community, to the welfare of which he owes definite duties, and from which he is entitled to receive protection.” Our schools may show war as it is, with all its horrors, but the knowledge of what man has done to promote peace and to practice its arts is of far greater importance. The world has seen many war-threatening differences between nations settled amicably since 1918. Of these we have perhaps thought too little : The Tacna-Arica dispute which was settled by arbitration thru the President of the United States, and the Argentine Anti-War Pact, the Balkan Pact, and others. We should take courage from the fact that thru the League of Nations, handicapped as it is, we are told that more than thirty controversies that seemed to make war inevitable have been settled by peaceful means. Yes, human attitudes do change. We are making no study here of the fundamental causes of war but, as a step toward a knowledge and understanding of the peoples of the world, education should recognize the fact that economic security is an aspiration of all peoples, and that there will be no lasting peace or long-continued pur¬ suit of the arts of peace until all the peoples of the world have at least food and clothes and shelter. Of these there is enough in the world for all, a bal¬ anced production and distribution waits alone for the knowledge and skill of men and women whose genius has grown with rapid pace thru the years. Let the schools create a sense of obligation for service of man to man — of nation to nation — yes, to mankind, which we have called world citizenship. Let them teach the drama of human life which began on the gigantic stage of the world ages ago, the conflicts of which are the struggles for food and warmth and shelter, for beauty, for health and spiritual perfection — the struggle to develop the latent capacities of man himself and the struggle of man to understand his God. Let them teach the children of the world to engage together in those struggles with that feeling of human brotherhood so beautifully expressed in the words of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus 1500 years ago. He said : Why should we not all live in peace and harmony? We look up at the same stars, we are fellow passengers on the same planet, and dwell beneath the same sky. What matters it along which road each individual endeavors to find the ultimate truth? The riddle of existence is too great that there should be only one road leading to an answer. Some will call this year’s program but a gesture. A gesture, yes, but many gestures must be made before a thing crystallizes into a reality. We have no thought that out of this year’s discussion of education’s responsibility in building world citizenship will come peace between nations now at war, or that other wars will not arise. But if the centering of our thought upon the responsibility of the members of our profession in building a concept of world relationships — be it world understanding, world citizenship, or world brotherhood — thru the children and youth who are entrusted to us— if this stimulates a bigger emphasis in the classroom, thence out into the homes, General Sessions 47 we may think of the year’s program culminating in the dynamic presenta¬ tions, on many programs this week, of thought and opinion as something more than a gesture. As we go back to our homes to the work in education that is ours, may we ask ourselves in the words of that opening address in Philadelphia eighty-one years ago, when the National Education Association was born, if we really believe “that the time has come when the teachers of the nation should gather into one great educational brotherhood.” If so, the building of a vital, dynamic world citizenship will ultimate in an active thing, in something more than words, and this convention of 1938 in New York City will have a place in history unsurpassed by any other. FIRST GENERAL EVENING SESSION PROGRESS, MAN’S DISTINCTIVE MARK ALONE MARY E. WOOLLEY, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, MT. HOLYOKE COLLEGE, SOUTH HADLEY, MASS. A cheering aspect of a day in which one is not invariably tempted to use that adjective, is this great gathering and the subject which it has chosen. “The Responsibility of Education in Building World Citizenship,” is a magnificent theme and out of the discussions of this week, approached from different angles, will come food for thought for many a day. The choice of the subject is in itself an inspiration. Do you fully realize, I wonder, what it means to have an army, composed of thousands upon thousands of thoughtful men and women, marching under the banner that you have unfurled? It is impossible to compute the influence of this factor alone, that you consider world citizenship a necessity of the day in which we live and — to go a step further — a possibility . It is along these two general lines that I should like to direct your thought. World citizenship, world understanding, world-mindedness — a necessity of the day in which we live. Is it? Can any sane observer of existing condi¬ tions hesitate as to the answer? There are times when one wonders whether there may not be an awakening as from a hideous nightmare, to find that the unspeakable cruelties in Spain and China and Ethiopia, the depths to which humanity has sunk in its racial animosities, the arrogant denial of individual freedom on the part of dictatorial governments — all these are not reality, but just the wanderings of a distorted imagination. It is hard to believe even in the light of the last five or six years; against the background follow¬ ing the World War it is incredible. I often think it fortunate for our sanity that imagination fails to picture fully the suffering of the day in which we are living, the agony of body and the anguish of soul among human beings — a great army that no one can number. But it is not only human suffering that makes the situation serious. The undeclared war in China, the aggression in Ethiopia, strike at the foundation of human relationships — the keeping of faith. 48 National Education Association The question before the world is a crucial one for the future of humanity, namely, can a treaty be entered into with a mental reservation, to be kept — or broken — at the convenience of the signer? “Unless there is faith, there can be no human relationships,” said Grotius. The keeping of faith is funda¬ mental to civilization, the cornerstone upon which it rests. Without faith, the future spells the rule of might, the battle to the strongest, and ultimate chaos. It is easy to understand the mood of the cynic in this day when “realism” is “in the saddle” and seems “to ride mankind.” But cynicism is not the banner under which to set forth for conquest. Humanity is not caught in a net from which it cannot escape ; never was there a more mistaken inter¬ pretation of world tragedy. There are calamities overtaking human beings in whose grip they seem helpless — floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, relentless seas — the cataclysms in which the individual is like a leaf in the wind. But it is not violent explosions of physical nature that are responsible for the crisis in which we are living. The tragedy of today is both man-made and preventable. It is a human crisis, due to the failure of human beings to realize their higher possibilities. The causes of this crisis are fundamental; for the cure we must turn to the fundamental — to that which has to do with the human mind and the human spirit. The world will never be saved by formulas. The signing of pacts or the forming of organizations are not effec¬ tive in themselves alone. In order to endure the strain of human passions, they must have within them the power of thought, to solve human problems ; the power of the spirit, to inspire right human attitudes. And here enters the teacher ! World citizenship is not only a necessity if civilization is to endure, hut also a possibility. Again we encounter the cynic. There is a strangely persistent fallacy, even among otherwise intelligent persons, that man is a fighting animal and that we cannot expect anything more rational than force in the realm of international relations. He was at one time a cannibalistic animal, but in polite society, that custom is no longer considered good form! In other words, “progress is man’s distinctive mark.” Education is based upon that theory. Dismiss it as untenable and the very foundations of our profession are undermined. It would be easy to use all the time that is mine this evening, in illustrating the progress of the day along mechanical lines, progress so rapid during the last fifty, even during the last twenty-five, years that the preceding years seem primitive by contrast. But when we turn to another phase of life — its human relationships — it is another story. We are not thrilled by the moving forward; on the contrary we are appalled by the falling backward. Are we on the verge of another Dark Ages? Is it possible that humanity is “on the downfall”? I do not believe it and you do not believe it. But the simple statement of our belief is not enough. Let us show our faith by our works. And when I make that plea, I make it preeminently because of the audience which I am facing. I suppose that there is no group of human beings today having greater opportunity to shape the future than the group of which you are the representatives. “Every time I enter my schoolroom, with hardly a pupil whose name suggests American ancestry or American traditions, I General Sessions 49 am impressed by the fact that these boys and girls are citizens in the making,” said a teacher in this city many years ago. Today it has become a question of world citizens in the making. Generalities are easy. In the minds of many of my hearers there must be the question: “But what can I do?” There will be a multitude of answers in the wealth of suggestion from speakers in this week’s program, experts in various fields. Already much is being attempted, encouraging because “it indicates a new aim in education and a new attitude among educators.” Many states have valuable syllabi on international understand¬ ing, emphasizing the importance of a world outlook and the understanding of other nations, the existing machinery for peace, the causes and results of war, and the efforts that various organizations are making to build world peace and to develop the international mind. The syllabi vary both in their spirit and in their emphasis. Also it is interesting to note that comprehen¬ sive and practical suggestions are not confined to any one section of the country. The Middlewest and the Far West, the South and the Atlantic states, share in this forward movement. As a New Englander, I am pleased that the syllabus of a state in my own native sphere is characterized by its emphasis on world events, stating as its “modest aim . . . the building of a better world thru world knowledge.” I am saved from a temptation to “put my hat on with a shoe horn” by observing that it is a state quite far west that presents one of the most understanding insights into the purpose of a course on international relations : The most important task in the world today is the creation of a new attitude of mind that may transcend national boundaries. To be effective in the promotion of peace among nations, knowledge must be translated into modes of conduct on the part of individuals composing the nations. Education as provided by the schools and their cooperating agencies is a slow process by which changes in civilization may be effected, but it has proved to be the surest and most perma¬ nent. We need teachers trained in the command of these concepts. Again, a southern state offers an admirable unit on “The League of Nations.'' But syllabi are only guideposts pointing the way. It is the human factor that counts and here — as all along the line — it is the internationally-minded teacher who makes the internationally-minded pupil. It is not an extravagant statement that “the curriculum may be barren, the textbook negative or even positively nationalistic, but if the teacher himself is an internationally- minded person, he can counteract the unfavorable influence and do much to develop in his pupils an international outlook.” In this phase of educa¬ tion, as in all others, the teacher is the secret of success — or failure. I some¬ times wonder that we teachers are not more “cocky” than we are ! It goes without saying that back of the teacher is teacher training. Is there any institution of more vital concern to the future of humanity than the one which plays so large a part in framing the point of view of the human being, to whom will be entrusted the citizens-of-the-world-in-the-making? The task is not an altogether easy one. My audience knows that better than the speaker. There are, even in this land of freedom, narrow-minded communities. But there has been no change in public opinion so marked as 50 National Education Association in the case of international relations. The National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War, representing millions of women, citizens of the United States, in its “Declaration of Faith,” announces “that after thirteen years of conscientious research and study, it concludes that the universal abolition of war is not only possible but certain.’’ The Declaration adds: The human race commands its own destiny and as soon as enough men and women are intelligent, determined, and courageous enough, they will together find methods to settle their differences, thru conciliation, arbitration, and legal processes, and will relegate war to oblivion as an ancient and outworn relic of barbarism. . . . The destiny of the human race is to climb upward and onward. Never did the educational Moses have more Aarons to uphold his hands — strong organizations of men and women, fertile in suggestion, prolific in programs and publications, adding spice to life in the variety of their methods but united in their determination that brute force shall give way to the law of reason. This spirit of progress is not limited to the United States of America. Let us not labor under that delusion. When the day of eclipse shall have passed in Geneva, there will be brought to light one of the most valuable parts of the work of the Conference on the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments — that of the Commission on M oral Disarmament — the disarm¬ ing of the mind, fundamental to progress in international relations. An outstanding danger of today is the nationalistic menace, the inordinate desire of nations to be first. There is a desire to be “first” which carries within it not the undoing of others, but their more complete realization. “America first?” asked Woodrow Wilson, and answered, “Yes, first in moral leadership.” To you, the teachers of America, is given, preeminently, the opportunity to help in the realization of this ideal. FEDERAL AID FOR EDUCATION HONORABLE ELBERT D. THOMAS, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM UTAH ; Chairman, SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR Federal aid for education needs no defense before a group of this kind. I am not going to spend my time attempting to show you that the necessity is with us, that the time has come in our constitutional and federal develop¬ ment, that aid on a nationwide basis is essential in guaranteeing an equal opportunity for the fundamentals of ordinary education to all of the people of America. You have had before you for some time now the Harrison- Black- Fletcher Bill, and the Harrison-Thomas-Fletcher substitute. You have also had before you the Reeves Report, which is the basis for the substitute. In addition to that, you have had before you for over a year the findings of the Committee on Education and Labor made as a result of its hearings on Senate Bill 419. These things are now historical, and the need for federal aid is made apparent, not only sentimentally but also realistically because there is not equal economic ability in all of the states of this vast nation. The substitute bill stands before you almost without valid criticism in educational theory consistent with our federal system. The substitute has General Sessions 51 the support of practically all of the education associations in our country. There are one or two branches of educational thought in the nation which reflect some sort of fear about the federal government getting too close to education in the states and in the communities. This fear to the thoughtful has been completely allayed because no person in approaching the question of federal aid would attempt to overcome what has been one of the basic ideas of American government, the local control of education. I think that I expressed as well as it can be done the basic governmental theory in regard to education in America when I wrote into my bill pro¬ posing to create a Department of Education and Public Welfare the follow¬ ing two sentences : The Department of Education and Public Welfare shall promote, aid, encour¬ age, and develop the educational and public welfare facilities of the nation. This act shall be construed as intending to secure to the several states, territories, pos¬ sessions, and the District of Columbia control of their educational and public wel¬ fare facilities within their respective jurisdictions and to preserve local initiative in the operation of schools. American education based upon the great public school system recognizes the place for the home, the church, and private organizations in our educa¬ tional setup. The endowed schools are too well established and are function¬ ing too successfully for the benefit of America ever to attempt to do anything but to aid them in a better functioning of their contributions to American life. The church schools have found their place in the American system and are contributing to the evolution and development of their own objectives, as well as to the growth and development of American democracy. The home, too, thru such agencies as the parent-teacher associations, and as a result of the thoroly democratic manner in which teachers in our public schools are trained and selected, is contributing its share to the proper growth and development of our nation. The great problem — which is a fundamental problem of a democracy — is that of preserving the individual that he might attain the maximum of potential enlargement ; always in theory and practice stressing the importance of maintaining the concept of the individual, that the welfare of the citizen shall be the reason for gov¬ ernment ; and at the same time developing the community so that it will exert the influence of society upon the individual and thus temper him, that his aims and activities shall be bent toward social helpfulness. Education’s task is to serve the leaven that will preserve the individual, yet mold him to a thoughtfulness of his place as one of many others. That is democracy’s mission. Was there ever a time for a greater need? Pay attention to world trends and see if those ideals and those ideas which have made us a nation stand in danger. As a reader of history I count the American experiment definitely worthwhile. This land is one where many peoples and cultures mingle and from the contributions of all receive an enhanced appreciation of each. As one who has been made by America — who is a product, or should I say, a victim, of our American public school system — I count this land blessed 52 National Education Association and its ideals and ideas worthy of preservation. And in the preservation of those ideas and ideals I count our schools the greatest contributor. Can government ever have a greater function than that of its own preservation ? Education is the path democracy trods. Propaganda is the way of the dictator and dictatorships. And there is a vast difference. Shall the people learn the truth, be free to express it, discover it, expand it, and use it, or shall they be given just what is for their good? Thoughtful American citizens demand the first. He who would destroy democracy in America will picture the second as attractive. Equality of early educational opportunity offers democ¬ racy’s greatest chance. Conditions are not perfect, but ideals controlling and governing education in America are more widely and universally accepted today than they ever were before. In fact, educators are in reality a unit when it comes to these things: All recognize the place for the home, the place for the church, the place for the endowed private institution, and the place for the public school in our educational scheme. There is in reality no conflict. The great Amer¬ ican government settled once and for all that it was possible even in the individual for many loyalties to exist without producing an inconsistency. Thus, all contribute to the building of our nation. American citizenship has become so complex that we no longer divide our all into those things which are to be rendered unto Caesar and to those which are to be rendered unto God. American citizenship has now evolved to the place that even in our constitutional system itself the complexity of the citizen is recognized, for in the Fourteenth Amendment we laid down the principle that persons born in the United States, and under its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. There are, you see, at least two political loyalties in each of us and there is no conflict. With the adoption of that principle of citizenship came a tremendous significance to our consti¬ tutional scheme and new America had its beginning with that theory. We fought our Civil War because men could not see that a person had a dual loyalty. For the first seventy-five years of our national development, concepts in regard to sovereignty controlled the thinking of all of our statesmen. The Constitution itself was a symbol of sovereignty and so were the constitutions of every individual state, and therein came the clash. “Sovereignty is indivisible,” said Webster. “Sovereignty is surely indi¬ visible,” said Calhoun. “Sovereignty must therefore rest in the nation,” said Webster. “Sovereignty must therefore rest in the state,” said Calhoun. And then we fought. A better light dawned and wiser heads, after the shedding of our brothers’ blood, realized that we were fighting over a principle that need not be, and we learned that our federal system could he preserved thru the creation of a dual citizenship without loss to either state or nation, hut with benefit to them both. Since I do not have to convert you to the necessity for federal aid for education, probably I can, with advantage to all, trace our constitutional development and thereby emphasize not only the need but even justify in our constitutional scheme the desirability of a step which we will be taking General Sessions 53 when federal aid becomes an accomplished fact. This seems necessary to do because the thoughtless among the critics of federal aid for education assert that federal aid is contrary to our states’ rights theory — that federal aid means federal control. And some even go so far as to call the whole idea unconstitutional. Various thinkers approach our constitutional development in different ways. I like to do it in this way : The Constitution came into being that moment that various men thruout our Thirteen Colonies recognized the fact that there were some things which were of common concern to all of the Colonies. It was that thought which made us a nation. As I told our friends in Boston during their last Bunker Hill celebration, in April of 1775 we had Lexington and Concord ; in May we had the meeting of the Second Continental Congress; in June we had Bunker Hill; in July we had Wash¬ ington taking command of the Army of the United States at Cambridge. Those four steps are history. Their significance is the thing which I would stress now. Lexington and Concord were Massachusetts incidents. The meeting of the Second Continental Congress was a reaffirmation of the fact on the part of the leaders in all of the Colonies that there were elements in the various local conflicts that were of common concern. Bunker Hill was, therefore, the first fight after the discovery of this concept. By that fight the de facto government of the United States came into existence and Wash¬ ington the following month ratified that concept in accepting the command of the Army of the United States. The Declaration of Independence in the following July turned the de facto United States government into a de jure government, and the American nation was born. As the nation grew, written descriptions of these fundamental concepts were created by the preparation of the Articles of Confederation and our Constitution. This gave us a federal system creating one out of many but based upon the theory that each state should take care of its local affairs, but the nation should take care of those affairs which were of common concern to all. And our federal system based upon this simple concept actually existed before our Constitution and was the mother of it, not its child as so many seemed to think. Today this distinction is not essential because both mother and child are fused in the dim past. But in the beginning a national citizenship was not thought of. The Con¬ stitution remained a symbol of sovereignty, thought of more or less as a static affair. Then it evolved into a living organism, much as a result of changing concepts in the world and as a result of judicial review and Marshall’s great reasoning in expounding the doctrines of a Constitution that was established to endure thru the ages. Then came the Civil War, and with it came the concept of a dual citizenship. And today no longer is the Constitution a mere symbol of sovereignty; no longer is our Consti¬ tution a mere embodiment of a living organism ; but today it has become in very deed the companion of the American people in the accomplishment of their objectives. Thus it is not only the word and the letter of the law but it is its living spirit. 54 National Education Association Now let us turn to the growth of some of our national educational habits as they have evolved in relation to our constitutional development. Federal aid for education is not new. That which has been done has in no sense harmed the local control or marred our Constitution’s spirit, and that which is about to be done must in no sense harm the local control or mar our Con¬ stitution’s choicest principles. It was in Buchanan’s administration, I believe, that the first bill to create the land-grant colleges was introduced. You all know how our country had grown politically and economically, how the movement to the West carried the ideals of the American educational system, but not the facilities for its preservation. My own state and territory reflect the theory very well, for the second act of our territorial legislature created the university which became one of the first to be established west of the Mississippi and one of the earliest to inaugurate the coeducational system. You will remember that after the bill creating the land-grant colleges passed Congress, President Buchanan vetoed the bill on the score that there was no provision in the Constitution of the United States for federal aid for education. But with the coming of Lincoln, and with the necessities growing out of or incident to the Civil War, Lincoln found a sanction in our Constitution and signed the bill and our land-grant institutions became a fact. Probably this act of Lincoln’s has meant more to the growth and development of American democracy than any other single act. When one realizes what has been accomplished in research alone by the great institu¬ tions which have evolved from this simple act of Lincoln’s, sanctioned undoubtedly as an act consistent with the national defense provision of the Constitution, one realizes its importance not only to our country but to the whole world. Yet if we had remained strict constructionists in con¬ stitutional theory, if we had conceived our Constitution as a mere symbol of sovereignty and the division of rights merely between the state and the nation, we could not have taken this great step. But on analysis we see that what was taking place was merely the same as that which took place when our nation came into existence. Lincoln discovered one more thing which had been conceived of as being merely of local concern actually to have been something of national concern. Pause long enough and consider, if you will, the retarded growth of our country had Lincoln persisted in maintaining Buchanan’s constitutional outlook! That also is the story of the building of our railroads. That also is the story of the evolution of federal relief and federal aid for the distressed. We must remember that during the extremely hard times of Cleveland’s admin¬ istration, when the farms thruout the Mississippi Valley were left so dry and desolate that even seed crops were not preserved, a bill was introduced into Congress to provide for federal aid to farmers, but Cleveland vetoed that bill as a strict constructionist on the theory that the government of the United States was set up to be supported by the people and not to support the people of the United States. But with the growth of the need for relief and the development of the cooperative activities between the state and the nation has come, of course, the necessary change. Yet who today would call General Sessions 55 Buchanan or Cleveland illogical? Constitutional development is not a matter always of logic ; there come times when it is a matter of necessity. It is in keeping with the necessities of the times that we turn to federal aid for education. It is in keeping with this evolving theory of cooperation between the state and the nation that we today justify that aid. It is in keeping with the growth and development and the meaning of American citizenship and the relation of that citizenship to the theory that education is basic in American democracy that we extend now the cooperative spirit and justify federal aid on the score that all persons born in the United States shall have an equal opportunity in the attainment of the fundamentals of education. In the substitute Harrison-Thomas-Fletcher bill educational needs are recognized as having broadened. If the various states have developed a system of adult education, that is recognized as a legitimate need. If the various states are taking care of handicapped and backward children, th^t is recognized as a legitimate activity. If the various states are doing work for kindergartens, that too is recognized as a legitimate activity. Thus, we see the citizen in his varied activities has come into the educa¬ tional picture. If the nation has an emergency the citizen, no matter how far removed from that emergency, is discovered and he is told that he must contribute to that which is the concern of all. Public education is in this way justified. Federal aid to all of the citizens can also in this way be justified. American democracy, resting upon the theory of a trained citizenry, a citizenry growing into more complex activities as time goes on, conscious of the worth of that American democracy both to himself and to the world, marches on with the growth and development of our Constitution. Thus, federal aid, viewed as a cooperative activity — cooperative on the part of the state and the nation ; cooperative on the part of the state, the nation, and the citizen ; cooperative in the development of our constitutional scheme in harmony with Marshall’s great notion that the Constitution was set up to endure thru the ages, and in harmony, too, with our presentday en¬ lightened concept of that Constitution as the companion of the people in the accomplishment of their objectives — I repeat, federal aid for education viewed in this sense finds its place and keeps its place in the development of American democracy. We may go even farther: It is a base upon which that democracy rests. Both reason and purpose underlie American democracy, both reason and purpose will preserve it, but it is only thru the medium of trained minds and trained persons that reason and purpose, and therefore democracy, can be maintained. Fellow teachers, that is your mission. That you may better fulfil your mission thru federal aid will be our task. 56 National Education Association SECOND GENERAL MORNING SESSION SECTION A RADIO— THE EDUCATOR JAMES ROWLAND ANGELL, EDUCATIONAL COUNSELOR, NATIONAL BROAD¬ CASTING COMPANY, NEW YORK, N. Y. ; AND PRESIDENT EMERITUS, YALE UNIVERSITY Welcoming this opportunity the National Broadcasting Company has sought within the compass of this program to present to you significant examples of the contribution radio is making to education — and not only to the classroom but also to the general public. The messages of greeting we have just received from our distinguished friends in England and France demonstrate how easily the best educa¬ tional thought and opinion the world around may be put at our disposal. While each nation has its own peculiar problems, the considered judg¬ ments of wise and experienced leaders elsewhere must always have im¬ portance for us; to say nothing of learning authoritatively and directly by word of mouth exactly what new’ educational movements are in progress. There is here an opportunity which radio will wish in the future to explore more fully. Thru the radio, outstanding events in the world of science are brought into the home of every owner of a receiving set. Here at the very instant that a great event in nature, like an eclipse of the sun, is occurring on the opposite side of the earth the American listener can hear a precise and detailed description given from moment to moment by the members of the scientific expedition sent out to study it. Similarly, when Hitler marches into Austria, the agents and facilities of the National Broadcasting Com¬ pany are on hand to give the American listener an instant and accurate account of that historic occurrence. The newspaper and the film also give their reports of these events, but always somewhat post-mortem. The radio is absolutely contemporaneous. Time and space are both conquered by it. Quite literally is it true that radio brings the world to the listener. Not less true is it that radio brings the listener to his world. By which we mean that the best radio programs offer the listener new and illuminating insights into areas of social, intellectual, and emotional experience wThich no other agency has been able so effectively to do. They open new doors of appreciation and understanding into the world which he already imper¬ fectly knows. Radio can stimulate powers of observation and thinking. Moreover, by securing the listener’s active cooperation, it can actually teach simple technics. The National Broadcasting Company puts many different types of programs on the air — programs that bring to the listener interesting and often thrilling disclosures of values in literature, history, art, and daily life to which he may have been oblivious, and of undeveloped territory in his own personality wThich deserves cultivation. General Sessions 57 M usic is, of course, the great “natural” for radio and is probably the source of the greatest pleasure people get from radio. Under Walter Damrosch, it is the field in which the most extensive and distinguished work has been done for the schools. Supported by admirable documentary material for both teachers and children, it marks one of the outstanding accomplishments of American radio. Many of us believe that, while radio will have increasing importance for schools as programs are perfected for their use and as the difficulties of time schedules are overcome, nevertheless the transcription represents the field of largest immediate potential development. The finest material of every kind can be thus made available at any hour, in any schoolroom, for one or for many listeners, and the material can be repeated again and again, as the discs have a long life. SECTION B DEVELOPING YOUTH IN PROMOTING WORLD CITIZEN¬ SHIP-THRU THE SCHOOL PROGRAM —Abstract JAMES MARSHALL, PRESIDENT, BOARD OF EDUCATION, NEW YORK, N. Y. The key to citizenship, as the key to the future, is, of course, in the younger children. I believe that progress is being made in the kindergarten and nursery schools. Progress has been made in teaching technics; in taking the children out of their seats; and thru the recognition that all children cannot be expected to read and do long division on the same birthday. Here in the elementary school, it seems to me that the important work, the important task, is the intelligent use of play; to give the child an oppor¬ tunity to discharge his feelings; to rid himself of those pent-up feelings and emotions which he cannot discharge at home on parents, brothers, and sis¬ ters — to teach the children to learn to be a part of a group without strong emotional ties or antagonisms. There is no use in fooling ourselves that in the best homes children do not have jealousies and hatreds, and that these feel¬ ings do not affect them when they are at school ; they cannot get rid of these feelings at home because they love their parents, brothers, and sisters, but if in school they are taught how to play and read, they can rid themselves of many of these feelings. The drive of the schools must be to make teachers alive to this oppor¬ tunity, to make them realize how dangerous it is to intimidate the child, to arouse new fears or anxieties or guilty feelings — because they get plenty of this from their parents and their neighbors. If schools are to do their full share, it must be by avoiding the increase of the normal maladjustment that every child has, and by counteracting maladjustments which situations outside of the school create. Teaching skills and teaching facts are important, but, in our minds, they must remain as secondary to a far more basic end. Now, for this, it seems to me the school must have as its objective, not merely the teaching of 58 National Education Association children to know things but the creation of thinking adults ; people who are emotionally grown up and not merely grown up in years. And, to do this, I think the schools have a very important public function and that is to sell the public the idea that education is not a thing restricted to tra¬ ditional hours of the day, not restricted to books, pens, and papers. In summation, it seems to me that the principles of the elementary schools should be not only to give tools according to the ability of the child, but to help the child achieve emotional healthy stability — a sense of security and achievement. The purpose of the high school should be not only to improve the skills which the child has acquired in the elementary schools but also to bring the child to emotional maturity. The school’s attitude should be that what is on the child’s mind as far more important than what is in the child’s mind. What are his emotions, his anxieties, his hatreds, his ambitions? How can the anxieties and hatreds be removed? How can the causes of his hatred and ambition and attachments be removed? How can a child be helped to realize his best capacity? If the school answered these questions for each and every child, then, I believe that facts and skills would pretty well take care of themselves. The schools would then be doing the job they should be doing as a social¬ izing force and for the building of world citizenship. THE PART OF RECREATION IN WORLD CITIZENSHIP — A bstract GEORGE HJELTE, SUPERINTENDENT OF PLAYGROUND AND RECREATION, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. Side by side with the forces that are heading the world toward interna¬ tional chaos and war are the forces that are making themselves felt in the opposite direction toward international peace and world brotherhood. Of the latter, recreation is of the utmost importance, because it is a most effective method of educating the individual for world citizenship, without the sacrifice of national or local citizenship. Recreation in its broadest sense includes all the activities in which man engages when he is free from external compulsion. What people do in their leisure when they are free to do as they please is a factor of vast importance in indicating the quality of their citizenship and in molding traits of the good citizen. Sympathy with the people of other lands and a capacity for cooperating with them in worthy human endeavors, are characteristics of the world citizen. Recreation fosters these qualities, because so many recreational and leisure pursuits are universal in their appeal and furnish a basis for common understanding. Typically universal, for example, are drama, music, motion pictures, sports and athletics, arts and crafts. In recreational pursuits, the people of the world are becoming more interdependent than in any other field of human interest. The culture of a people springs from six fundamental fields of human activity, namely, General Sessions 59 family life, work, worship, education, community life, and recreation. Improved technology has greatly increased leisure, thereby making recrea¬ tion during leisure vastly more important today than ever before in history. The dangers of the misuse of leisure are strikingly apparent. Dictators of totalitarian countries are misusing recreation for their own ends and are developing a type of nationalism inimical to the interests of world citizenship. In these states recreation no longer belongs to the people but to the state, which uses it to inculcate military discipline and prepare for war. Italy and Germany have banned recreational organizations based on international friendship, such as the Boy Scouts, Y.M.C.A., and other groups. In democratic countries, democracy must be preserved in recreation, and this must remain a sphere of activity in which there is freedom of choice and action, rather than regimentation. For recreation in its broad sense is one of the greatest of social and educational forces. Practical suggestions for encouraging recreation and world citizenship by the educator are as follows : 1 . Emphasize resemblance of peoples around the world to ourselves and the mutual obligations we owe for the enrichment of our lives thru recreation. 2. Cooperate with the people of other nations and share with them in the development of an increasingly fine recreational culture. 3. Participate freely in international recreation movements. 4. Protect the essential democracy of recreation. 5. Accord to recreation the important place it deserves in the purposes and program of the public schools and in the concerns of statesmen. PROMOTING WORLD CITIZENSHIP THRU SOCIAL RELATIONS — A bstract GOODWIN WATSON, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, N. Y. it Over many centuries the world has moved slowly toward greater inter¬ national cooperation. Today we seem to be moving in the opposite direc¬ tion, and dangerously near to war. The reason is not that the masses have lost their desire for world peace, but that small ruling groups in business and government act to defeat the interests of the many. To get world citi¬ zenship we must first have governments which act in full accord with the desire of the people. To get governments which act in full accord with the desire of the masses of mankind, economic power must first be transferred from the organized few to the organized many, from the owners of indus¬ try to all the citizens or the consumers or to all who work with brain or brawn. We cannot move from plutocracy to democracy politically unless we first do so in our economic institutions. 60 National Education Association Changes in social relations and social attitudes which must precede any important steps toward democracy are matters of education. They are mat¬ ters of education not only in broad questions of national policy, but they come right down into every community: to the relations of farm owner and tenant ; of housewife and household help ; of hanker and debtors ; of business man and laborer ; of publisher and the public ; of consumer and storekeeper ; of rising groups challenging the old power groups which still seek to pre¬ serve precarious privileges. Reasoning not by analogy but by analysis of the social forces, we have come a long step from world problems down to the way things are actu¬ ally run in our own schools and in our home towns. We see the same kind of forces at work in complex international treaties and in our home town papers. AVe make the big jump from the class of people represented by our schoolboards, to the influences which tie the hands of the League of Nations. Herbert Hoover returning from Europe reported fourteen Fascist nations, with 240 million people, but our attack on dictatorship begins by organiz¬ ing farm hands, truck drivers, office clerks, house maids, news reporters, and school teachers to repel a tyranny closer at hand. The impotence of America in enforcing economic sanctions it could so easily and so power- fully have employed against aggressor nations is only a cumulative conse¬ quence of our failure in local communities to overthrow plutocracy and bossism, bv enlightened, organized, militant democracy. Changing our present social institutions to more democratic ones seems, perhaps, a slow procedure to advocate, with the fuse of war explosion already sputtering. Organizing consumers, organizing labor unions, organiz¬ ing political movements precinct by precinct, may seem to be a forsaking of urgent international problems. How much more satisfying if we could throw out some grand gesture! We might affirm the Kellogg Pact, but it would be weighted by a trickery of words. Japan has done so. We might propose a bill to take the profits out of war, but a congressional committee would promptly eviscerate it in obedience to those who live by and for, profits. All the bills that matter have been safely put away. We might sound a call for a referendum on war, but paid propagandists would quickly stir the American pulse to beat to drums and bugles. It has been done before. AVe might call for a quarantine upon aggressors, but would we look to gov¬ ernments which have already failed to use the power they undoubtedly had? AVe might rise and repeat the Oxford pledge, hut are we ready to hand over rule of mankind to the ruthless terrorist ? Instead of any dramatic gesture, we have chosen instead, in accord with educational ideals, to lay a solid foundation of greater understanding and more genuine democracy. AAT are putting our shoulders along side our fellow workers in other fields against the door of history. That door is al¬ ready ajar and we catch a gleam of a land beyond, where fellowship, brotherhood, and comradeship shall be virile realities. General Sessions 61 SECTION C OUR CHILDREN: THEIR INTELLIGENCE — Abstract GEORGE D. STODDARD, DIRECTOR, IOWA CHILD WELFARE RESEARCH STATION, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA In order to talk clearly about this question, a satisfactory definition of intelligence must be given. In the past, during the heat of the controversy as between the influence of heredity and the influence of environment, there was a tendency to evade this issue. By defining intelligence in terms of the child’s ability to carry on certain processes in the field of the abstract, with¬ out reference to how he attained such ability, we arrive at conclusions that can be supported by experimental evidence. In general, a great mass of research in recent years seems to point to the following conclusions : 1. That intelligence is a functional concept. 2. That the problem of nature versus nurture is not especially helpful (rather they always go together). 3. That whatever the genetic inheritance, environmental pressures dynamically conceived can change things, and conversely, that no matter how good the environ¬ ment may be, one cannot neglect genetic determiners. 4. That under good environments the dull and the bright do not change their roles. They simply move upward. And analogously, for poor environments. 5. That the tests, while inadequate, do have a substantial reliability and validity. 6. That most changes in mental status are made in young children. 7. That experimentation, demonstration, and the control of factors should be exchanged for opportunism and mystery. Certainly this whole field of mental development is one in which the teacher has a permanent interest. In some of our recent well-documented work at Iowa under the direction of Wellman and Skeels, certain findings of interest to teachers have been brought out. These new statistics indicate definitely that the intelligence quotients of young children can be raised by environmental stimulation. They are not fixed once and for all in the genes. They fluctuate, going up in good homes and good environments, and down in the impoverished environment represented in our poorer orphanages and other institutions for children. Similarly, the intelligence quotients of children can be raised thru good nursery school practice. When this is done, it can be shown definitely that the effects are not due to the way we carry on the testing, or to practice, or to coaching. Moreover, the gains that are made tend to be enduring, and the child’s school work corresponds with his new mental level better than it does with his old. It is apparent that what we have in children is, within very wide limits, truly plastic material. Teachers, parents, and other persons associated with young children have given up too easily. If the child does not learn rapidly and under any kind of stimulation (or lack of it), a child is likely to be labeled dull or inferior. For children who are really young — for example, from the ages of one month to five years — we have been able to demonstrate 62 National Education Association that the changes made in the intelligence quotient carry over to such factors as vocabulary, general information, motor achievement, social competence, and personal adjustment. In short, in the truest sense of the word, a careful attention to environ¬ mental needs, conceived in a realistic and dynamic sense, will produce chil¬ dren superior to present expectations. INDIVIDUAL GUIDANCE — Abstract EDWIN A. LEE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL CONFERENCE, NEW YORK, N. Y. If one were to search for the idea that most exactly characterizes modern education as contrasted with that which our parents received, it would be difficult to find one more precise than the word “individualized.” And if at the same time we were trying to find a noun which connoted accurately that which sums up what our best teachers try to do when they teach, the word would probably be “guidance.” Those two words in sequence constitute the topic before us. “An individual,” states the dictionary, “is anything that cannot be divided or separated into parts without losing its identity; that which has definite and continuous existence; a person, animal, or thing, especially a human being.” It is not too much to say that every teacher must be constantly on guard to preserve the individuality of those whom she teaches even under the best of modern conditions and technics. “Guidance” implies alternatives. There is no need for guidance if there is but one thing to do or one way to go. It is when we come to crossroads or forking roads on the highway of life that we need guidance. Choice is im¬ plicit in guidance, and the choice should be made not by the guide but by the one who is being guided. Guidance can only take place when it is based on adequate information. Such information is of three kinds: (1) That information which is most difficult to secure and to interpret, if secured, has to do with human personality. If by human personality we mean the sum total of the attributes making up an individual, consider what a complex matter is the knowing of that individual sufficiently well to counsel him wisely. (2) That information which consists of facts about occupations, health, ethics, leisure — any of the realms in which alternatives present themselves to human beings. (3) That information which involves technics. Knowing a human individual and knowing the possible outlets for that individual in a given community or situation, how may these two bodies of knowledge be interrelated so as to bring about a wise choice on the part of the young man or woman involved? This is where counseling, well done, reaches its best performance. Guidance is a dynamic rather than a static matter. Only the most inept of counselors find the job dull or lacking challenge. Generally speaking, a good counselor is a mature person with a background of splendid teaching experience. One must have lived a while, faced problems, simple and com¬ plex, and made decisions involving imagination and daring before he can truly undertake to act as a guide to others. General Sessions 63 No choice which our children are called upon to make transcends in im¬ portance that of occupational choice. Who shall be responsible for the occu¬ pational guidance of our children? Shall parents? Whether or not it was ever reasonably so, there is no question that presentday parents, with rare exceptions, are in no sense qualified to guide their children concerning occu¬ pational choices — neither are the church, the press, or the business men, whether individually or in service clubs or fraternal organizations. Neither can we expect the government to do the job, for occupational guidance is a matter of individual guidance. Turn whatever direction we will, the road ultimately leads back to the school as the one institution of society best equipped, inadequately as it is, to help our children decide most wisely what their life careers shall be. Other important areas in which individual guidance functions are: (a) health — largely a matter of guidance which leads toward sensible habits of living; and (b) leisure time — guidance which makes leisure count for in¬ creased vitality and joy of living. I return to my definition: “An individual is anything that cannot be divided or separated into parts without losing its identity; that which has definite and continuous existence . . . especially a human being.’’ Our task as teachers is to educate — the exact meaning is to lead out — these separate and distinct human beings. To the extent that we who claim to be modern educators can guide them individually toward the realization of their highest potentialities can we say with any degree of assurance that we are dis¬ charging our real obligation to them and to the society of which we all are a part. OUR CHILDREN— THEIR ATTITUDES— Abstract DANIEL PRESCOTT, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. A man’s attitudes and sentiments are and always have been regarded as among his most significant attributes. Attitudes direct or at least channel our behavior. When we realize a particular desire, attitudes tell us what we may or may not do in the process of satisfying this desire. If a person s attitudes are selfish, unsocial, aggressive, and unethical, he is not to be trusted. On the other hand, if a person’s attitudes are socially and ethically sound he will not stoop to sharp, unscrupulous practices. The important thing to remember is that our attitudes determine how we look upon or evaluate our own behavior and that of others. They are the basis of our prejudices and of our consciences. Attitudes underlie our desires, shape our very goals of life for us. They supply a dynamo, or drive, which urges us on to action to achieve these desires and goals. It is a sad commentary on our American culture that about one person in every twenty has the prospect of spending some part of his life in an asylum, hospital, or sanitarium for the insane. The disturbing emotions which ne¬ cessitate a person’s commitment to such an institution are caused by mental conflicts within his own personality, or by frustrations, because he desires 64 National Education Association the unattainable or the inappropriate, or by conflicts between the individual and the culture in which he lives. The cure of these functional disorders can come about only by changing the underlying value concepts and attitudes of these unfortunate persons. More important yet, the prevention of all this illness and unhappiness can be accomplished by supplying children and young people with the environing conditions and the experiences which will favor the development of appropriate attitudes in the first place. If our attitudes are harmonious among themselves and realistic regarding the outside world, our behavior is consistent and effective, and we are said to have an integrated, healthy personality. In contrast, if our attitudes are inconsistent with each other or inharmonious with physical, economic, social, or ethical realities, then we show dissociated, unstable, and unhealthy personalities. We have no more important problem than that of improving the mental health of the population by creating more hygienic conditions in which our children and youth may develop wholesome attitudes consistent within themselves and harmonious with reality. Public education must assume the leadership in this work of mental hygiene. The present is a period of great social unrest because the industrial rev¬ olution, the wonderful applications of science and invention in modern life and the pressure of modern merchandising have contrived to develop a tre¬ mendous number of wants in our population which modern industry can satisfy when better methods of distributing these services have been de¬ veloped. During the present socially unadjusted interim, frustrations rather than satisfactions are being created and these mass emotions hold grave social dangers while at the same time they supply the dynamo for a whole¬ some evolution of society. The major problem is whether the necessary social evolution can be secured by the application of democratic procedures or whether the social conflicts will become so severe as to force a dictator¬ ship of either the fascist or proletarian type. This democratic procedure of social adjustment is now menaced from a number of directions by the tendency of minority groups or powerful indi¬ viduals to repress free speech, free assembly, and free association, and to substitute the domination of the minority attitudes. If we believe in demo¬ cratic processes and if our schools really were established to prepare young people for democratic citizenship then, it seems to me, school people have inescapable obligations now. One important manner in which attitudes are formed is by the accumu¬ lation of experiences, which gradually crystallize and clarify concepts, and consequently build attitudes by the process of integration or summation. The creation of attitudes by this process is a primary concern of curriculum committees, for it is the obligation of these committees to plan for our chil¬ dren a series of experiences which will favor the development of an under¬ standing evaluation of the contemporary world. Many, perhaps most, of our attitudes are adopted ready-made. This occurs when a young person, or even an adult, psychologically identifies himself with some person whom he greatly loves, admires, or respects. When General Sessions 65 this psychological identification occurs, the attitudes stated or implied by the model are adopted by the child as his own and may be greatly strength¬ ened and deepened by repeated contacts with this person. Here the large responsibility of school people is apparent at once. Every teacher who is at all human, capable, and attractive is the object of numerous identifications by different pupils in the course of ten years of service, and the attitudes which are thoughtlessly and effortlessly passed on in this way are perhaps much more important to the children concerned than the skills and the facts which are drilled into their minds. Every teacher needs to be a very sound person as to his own attitudes and ideals because of this fact, for a teacher with attitudes that are out of touch with contemporary reali¬ ties may be a serious source of psychic contagion for his pupils. My sincere conviction is that our schools must make the education of attitudes their primary concern. The characters of our children and their mental health depend upon the attitudes which they hold. So do the orderly evolution of our society and the very preservation of the democratic way of life in the world. SECOND GENERAL EVENING SESSION ART AND WORLD CITIZENSHIP THOMAS MUNRO, CURATOR OF EDUCATION, CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, CLEVELAND, OHIO To be a citizen of the world, in the full and literal sense of the word, is still a dream of the future. There is no world state, no civitas of worldwide extent, to which one can give allegiance today. “The parliament of man, the federation of the world,” seem even farther away and more visionary today than when Tennyson wrote of them two generations ago. For in the meantime humanity has tried, with high hope, to create the basis of a world state in the League of Nations; and in the last few years that hope has been disappointed. Not only has the League itself been weakened and discredited, but the main trend of world politics appears to be definitely in the other direction: toward a new and more disastrous outbreak of national rivalry, hatred, and war. But there is another sense in which world citizenship means a state of mind. We can speak of it more clearly, perhaps, as “world-mindedness.” In that sense, world citizenship is not only possible today, but is in some degree an actuality. It has existed for thousands of years, in the thought and action of a few enlightened citizens of every age who have risen above narrow group and sectional interests to achieve a broadly human point of view. There is a kind of world citizenship in the realm of ideas ; of art and science, religion, philosophy, and all constructive social effort. Its members are the true cosmopolitans. Wherever they meet, or read each other’s written words, they quickly overstep the boundaries of language and nationality. They speak the universal language of world civilization, and find a mutual basis 66 National Education Association of discussion in the interests of educated people; in the common task of opposing man’s perennial enemies — ignorance, hunger, poverty, and suffer¬ ing; and in the creation and enjoyment of the arts. They overstep the boundaries, not only of space but of time; so that the meditations of an ancient Hindu, a Chinese, or Egyptian sage may be far more comprehensible today than the partisan rancors of some narrow-minded contemporary, who lived a few years ago, or lives at present in another town. Ikhnaten of Egypt, Confucius and Plato, Epictetus and St. Francis, Erasmus and Voltaire — men as different as these were all, in one way or another, world- minded citizens of the planet earth, and not merely of the town or country in which they happened to be born. Travel sometimes helps to produce the cosmopolitan mind ; but not always. For some have it who have never traveled outside their own villages and some confirmed globe-trotters re¬ main provincials to the end. If the number of world-minded people could somehow be multiplied in every nation so that each could have a sympathetic understanding of the others’ needs, desires, and peculiar folkways, the coming of an actual world state would no doubt be much accelerated. It would almost follow as a matter of course. For there are no problems of boundary, of raw materials, or of tariffs too difficult to be solved by reasonable conference, if the will to solve them in that way exists. The primary need is for a will to world citizenship. And in the production of that will, the arts can and often do play an important role. All great civilizations have left expressions of the ideal of a united, peace¬ ful humanity under one rule and one religion. In Egyptian art we find the symbol of the overarching sky and the sun’s disk high above, with mankind united in allegiance to one king. Of course, such conceptions of world citizen¬ ship have usually been coupled with the idea that all men should accept my king, submit to my form of government, and worship my God with my kind of church and ceremony. Even the Christian church, strong force as it was for internationalism in the Middle Ages, was often intolerant toward other religions, and toward other empires than the Holy Roman Empire. The nearest approaches to an actual world state have been made, not by voluntary confederation, but by those empires like the Roman and the British, which by force made many weaker peoples submit and accept the Pax Romana or the Pax Britannica. Perhaps (we say in discouraged mo¬ ments) that is the only way in which world unity can ever be achieved. Certainly the history of attempts to induce free sovereign peoples to sur¬ render their rights and privileges for the sake of unity, except in the face of a common enemy, has been a record of pathetic failures. But idealists never lose hope that such a world confederation will some day be made, on the basis of voluntary agreement. They still have faith in more humane inducements than machine guns and policemen’s clubs — in the forces of education and rational thinking. Among these they look to art as a force for unity thru its power to express the ideals of unselfish harmony and beauty. General Sessions 67 To what extent is this hope justified? Has art been a force for world citizenship in the past, and is it now? It would be pleasant if the answer were so simple, and if we could honestly indulge in a wholehearted rhapsody in praise of art. But history shows the facts to be otherwise. Art is some¬ times a force on the side of social unity, and sometimes on the opposite side. Like all the other great instruments of human living — science, commerce, and religion — art is a two-edged weapon. All these forces tend in some ways to unite people, and in others to antagonize them. In the history of civiliza¬ tion, art has sometimes made for peace and tolerance. Sometimes, and very often, it has made for narrowness and bitter rivalry; for greed, intolerance, and oppression. Art has been a means of expressing the hatred of one people for another; the struggle between social classes and religious sects. It has been a means of inflaming peaceful folk against each other, and a source of envious contention. In general, the works of art produced by a people cannot rise very far above the average level of thought at the time. Artists are not a race apart — • of supermen or pure idealists. Here and there, we can look back and pick out an exceptional genius, far in advance of his age. But on the whole, art expresses the mentality of its own age and culture. If religious bigotry and the desire for conquest are active in a nation, we may be sure that they will find artists to express them. If a dictator rises to power, whatever type of man he is, we may be sure that some artists, poets, and composers will be among the crowd that fawns upon him, flattering his pride with heroic statues, epics, and triumphal hymns. Let us not delude ourselves with the comfortable answer that all art so produced is bad art. Among the most respected classics in our libraries are the epics in praise of military conquerors and destroyers of liberty. Our museums are filled with idealistic statues of them. The most skilful painters in China and Japan, in Bagdad and Mogul India, Florence and Venice, and in the capitals of modern Europe, have left us exquisite portraits of the bloodiest war lords of their day, whom we know to have been, in many cases, the most consummate rascals. The secular art and literature of all times, from Ancient Egypt to the present, is full of the clash of arms and the praise of military heroes. Even religious art and literature abound in praise of those who have smitten down the enemies of the true god, burned heretics and witches, and put heathen infidels to the sword. Even supreme geniuses, like Dante, are not always above partisan bitterness. He could rise to cosmic visions of the universe ; but he could also hate, with all the fury of civil strife, the enemies of his party in medieval Florence. The tremendous rise of nationalistic imperialism since the Middle Ages has been aided and inspired by artists in every medium. Not by all artists, for there have been voices raised in protest ; but by enough to show that art is never wholly a force for unity. In recent years, communism and anarchism have sometimes been expressed as idealistic philosophies, preaching a world¬ wide brotherhood of labor. But in practice and in the theories of actual leaders, they have emphasized another line of contention in the class struggle 68 National Education Association between capital and labor. They have not been able to avoid nationalistic division, and we see them today as factors in the general scramble for politi¬ cal and economic power. They, too, have found artistic expression, some¬ times of high esthetic quality, as in the best Russian moving pictures of a decade ago. In these, as usual, art and propaganda, war and peace, ex¬ pressions of hatred and of friendship were inextricably joined. Has music been exempt, and always a charm to soothe the savage breast? Then let us remember that there have been war songs, and songs of triumph over fallen foes, as long as there have been songs of peace, love, and friendship. The production of art is often bound up with social injustice and op¬ pression. If we look at the history of decorative art and architecture with an eye to its social background, the story is not a pleasant one. It would seem that when we speak of palaces and gardens, of soft brocades and deli¬ cate enamels, we are entering a world of pure beauty, where hate and suffering have no place. But who built these palaces and gardens, and who enjoyed them? How many slaves died wretchedly in building the pyramids of Egypt ? How many serfs went without bread that the lady of the manor could have silks and jewels from the Orient? The blood and hunger of workers run like invisible strands thru the silks of Asia and the tapestries of Europe. True, this is only one side of the story. For craftsmen have at times been well paid, and have lived in comfort. There are pleasant pages in the history of society where industry brings its just reward, and where its profits are diffused to raise the level of a whole people. But on adjoining pages, we see the production of art bound up with extreme inequality of wealth ; with utter misery at the bottom and fabulous wealth at the top. We see it flourishing because some leisure class could afford every whim, and could divert the energy of artisans from food for the masses to luxurious refinement for the rich. Is this good or bad ? As humanitarians we may deplore it ; but as lovers of art we cannot wholly regret the conditions, unjust as they were, which made this art possible. Some economists would have us believe that these conditions are a thing of the past, since we are going from an “economy of scarcity” to one of abundance. Machinery and large-scale production, we are told, will do the work of slaves and allow us all to have luxuries with¬ out depriving anyone of necessities. Let us hope this day will soon arrive ; but it is not here yet. What has this to do with art and world citizenship? Simply that it illus¬ trates once more how art — in this case the luxury of beautiful possessions — can be a bone of contention among human beings. For such possessions do not rest easily in the grasp of their original owner. The thief, the robber baron, and the foreign conqueror cast envious eyes upon them. The hungry populace outside the garden gate looks in, and thinks how much has been spent upon it. At periodic intervals in history, it breaks thru the gates, and causes what we call a revolution. Then no art is sacred. Unless its own leaders are farsighted enough to call a halt, the mob will seize and carry off what it can, then destroy the rest in a fury of revenge against the elegant fineries General Sessions 69 which have been produced at the cost of children’s lives. What we think of as the most innocent and spiritual forms of art — the stained glass window, the altar, the carved figures of saints — all these are smashed with shouts of rage, as they were by the French revolutionists, and by the embattled Puri¬ tans of England over a century earlier. The reason is that such things are associated by the revolutionists with an oppressive regime, in which church and state have alike forgotten justice, and have pursued instead the magnifi¬ cent formalism of decorative art. In this light we can understand why so many religious and moral leaders have preached against the love of wealth, including what we call decorative art. They denounce the glittering splendors of Babylon and Persia. They tell us to lay up our treasures, not on earth but in heaven. They praise the simple life, ascetic and frugal, given over to things of the spirit. Often they denounce idolatry, tho most of the world’s great sculpture has consisted of these same “idols.” Sometimes they directly oppose the artists of their time, as did Savonarola, and St. Paul before him, who opposed the silver¬ smiths of Ephesus. For such reformers see in what we call the decorative arts a source of greed, sensuality, and superstition; of eternal crime and killings. I have presented the case against art for the sake of realism, and because we so often fall into exaggerated reverence for the very word “art,” as if it were a synonym for all that is holy. As a matter of fact, it is human ; and therefore by turns is both good and evil. It makes a great deal of difference whether art is old or new, from the standpoint of its effect on social unity. When a war is over and peace de¬ clared, time begins healing emotional wounds. Many of the more extreme expressions of hatred are forgotten or pushed out of sight, with a little shame, perhaps, as both sides try to revive friendly relations. Songs, car¬ toons, and writings which were merely vindictive, drop out of sight; those which have some artistic merit are looked upon in a new way, and praised for qualities which have little to do with the “late unpleasantness.” Year after year, the survivors of the conflict, often slow to pardon old enemies, die. The war itself, if its causes are really removed, recedes into the legend¬ ary past, along with the wars of classical antiquity. This has almost hap¬ pened with our own Civil War. Descendants of both sides respect Grant and Lee; they sing both “Dixie” and “John Brown’s Body.” But it does not happen at once. It is wise, even now, not to sing “Marching through Georgia” in the state of Georgia. This has happened completely with our Revolutionary War, and with the Jacobite Rebellion of eighteenth century Scotland. Prince Charlie has become a legendary figure, and the songs about him carry no sting. There is no partisanship, but a sense of our com¬ mon heritage of old romance, when we “tell sad stories of the deaths of kings, and battles long ago.” It is the same with the statues and paintings of ancient war lords. We see them striding haughtily over the bodies of their foes, yet we feel no answer¬ ing pride or anger at these bloody deeds. We know how brief their day of 70 National Education Association glory was, and how time has obliterated the wounds they made. Shelley wrote of such a statue : Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these Avords appear: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. The art of the past becomes a part of the cultural heritage of all human beings. As such, it tends to unify humanity^ regardless of the old antag¬ onisms which produced it. Indeed, the very spectacle of so many past dis¬ putes, of so much blood shed over quarrels which now seem unnecessary, should make thoughtful people think twice before engaging in another. Perhaps, as some psychologists believe, art can even become an imaginative substitute for war and a healthful outlet for some of the energy which, when maladjusted, produces war neuroses. In all countries today, the treasures of past art become rapidly socialized. This is the case in capitalistic countries almost as much as in those which call themselves socialistic. Private art collections of wealthy men are left to public museums, often with the great houses which they occupied. Funds are left to purchase more works of art, including decorative luxuries which only aristocrats used to enjoy. Cathedrals, palaces, private parks and gar¬ dens, are placed under government care and are thrown open to the public. Tho owned by one nation, they are really properties of all the world, for every traveler may enjoy them, and carry home pictures of them. Literature and music of the past become even more completely socialized. After the copyright period, they are freely copied, translated, read, and performed in every country of the world. They cannot be stolen or hoarded. They form bonds of sympathy between the peoples who love them. The heritage of past art is a powerful force to soften present rivalries. One who has learned to love the arts of Japan, of Germany, of Italy and to think of these countries in terms of their music, their gardens, their temples, their dances, their paintings, and their peasant costumes, has a hard time brushing aside these memories when a political dispute arises. The people of those countries feel much the same way about us and about other countries, even tho their governments are at the time shaking fists at each other. As much as propaganda offices may try to suppress these bonds of sympathy, to revile or exclude foreign culture, and to force domestic taste into national channels, they meet with stubborn resistance. The Japanese love for A.merican music and moving pictures, for American dotfies and General Sessions 71 furniture, is a factor to be reckoned with by militarists who would make the Japanese people hate America. Even in the class-struggle type of conflict the traditions of art succeed at times in bridging over wide gulfs of sentiment. In Russia, those leaders who would force a sharp cultural break with the past are surprised and baffled to find that the public still prefers, on the whole, the kind of public buildings which the Czars put up, and that it still likes to hear the music of Bach and Chopin. Strangely enough, economic factors themselves often force the producers of art into a sort of internationalism ; not on idealistic grounds, but on those of commercial self-interest. Many of us remember the early moving pictures in which a Mexican bandit was the despicable villain ; or in which a band of Chinese opium friends kidnapped the heroine. Why do we see them no more? For the very good reason that the people of those countries refused to import our films as long as such misrepresentation continued. Producers are now very careful to ask whether a certain incident will offend the British market, or whether it will have to be left out of the film when shown in India. It must not offend labor or capital, Catholics, Protestants, or Jews. This is not altogether a good thing for art. Sometimes, when we try to keep from offending anyone, there is nothing left but insipid triviali¬ ties. On the other hand, the need to please an international market may favor a genuine artist like Charlie Chaplin or Walt Disney, whose films have universal appeal. In the United States, much has been done by popular art to break down sectionalism and narrow local attitudes. Not only the movies but the radio, popular magazine art, photography, and even the much condemned sign¬ boards on our highways, have done their share. Television will soon begin to reenforce them. If not impeded by governmental restraints abroad, these popular arts may do as much for international unity in future. What has art done to express directly the ideal of world citizenship? Not as much as one might expect or wish. Art often does so indirectly by rising above petty local interests to portray the basic themes of human life — love, birth, and death; man’s enjoyment of nature, and his struggle to control it; his desire for immortality, and his visions of another world. Primitive folklore and mythology dealt largely with these themes. Greek art translated man's ideal of his own perfection into the visible forms of sculpture, even while Greek civilization itself was crumbling thru its inability to achieve political union. Christian art has given visible form to the desire for peace and brotherhood, all thru the ferocious wars of Christian history. But most of it pointed toward the hope of another and better world, rather than an ideal state on earth. Philosophers like Bacon and More have shown us their ideal of a perfect earthly state. Many a wise man since has shown us how a world state could be organized and run, and has scolded us for not accepting so obviously sensible a course. Poets like Robert Burns and Walt Whitman have voiced their love of all human creatures. But the fact re¬ mains that most of the art — literary, musical, and visual — which the world agrees to call great, has not directly presented an ideal of world unity. Why is this so? 72 National Education Association There are many reasons, but let us notice one in particular. It is an un¬ fortunate fact that the notion of world citizenship is not, in itself, especially glamorous or exciting. It is much easier for an artist to excite us by talking about a clash of arms than by talking about peace and cooperation. The essence of drama, it is often said, lies in conflict. Peace and cooperation are all very well, but who wants to read a story or see a play about them? The same fact holds true of other arts as well. The music of Wagner and Beethoven excite us with emotional conflict. Castles and fortresses are exciting as architecture. Swords and armor fascinate the children in museums. But the instruments of world citizenship are humdrum desks and conference tables, statistical reports and tariff agreements. Peace is not only prosaic, but often inglorious. We thrill to the memory of some great soldier who died with all his men rather than surrender an inch to the enemy. But peaceful cooperation is one long succession of com¬ promises, partial surrenders of each national interest in order that an open break may be averted. Where are the epics and the monuments to patient diplomats and foreign secretaries who averted wars by months of tedious negotiation over economic details? Many received not thanks at home, but insults, for the ignoble concessions which they chose to make in the interests of peace. The same is true of social strife between upper and lower classes. We have praise, too often, for the leader who incites our side to force, and stones for the one who proposes reasonable compromise. It is hard, then, for art to add glamor and emotional appeal to so dull a theme as world citizenship. Shall we give up the task, leaving all the glamor on the side of war and selfish nationalism? It seems to me that artists are accomplishing, in our own time and country, a task which is in some ways even harder. I am not thinking now of the fine arts — of the exalted painting and sculpture which fill our galleries. I am thinking of something much more humble and mercenary. This is what we call ad¬ vertising and commercial art. We are too close to this development to see its full social significance. We rightly condemn a good deal of it for blatant insincerity and cheap sensationalism. But there is one thing to be said for it. The advertising artist sets out, in response to commercial inducements, to add visual and emotional appeal to any article, any service, which his patron has to sell. He daily achieves miracles, in our newspapers and weekly magazines, by throwing some esthetic glamor on prosaic tools and industrial products, on articles of medicine and personal hygiene which one would say could not possibly be so presented. This is the work of everyday artists in the service of our competitive system of salesmanship. One hundred years ago Auguste Comte, founder of sociology and a truly world-minded philosopher, called for art to enter the service of hu¬ manity. As a psychologist he recognized the tedious, even repellent nature of the tasks ahead on the road to social cooperation. He called for art to outgrow its primitive delight in violence and superstition; to ennoble and emotionalize the new ideal of humanity in poetry, music, visible form, and ceremony. H is hopes have not yet come true. Art is a mighty instrument of social control which we leave too often in the hands of selfish people with a General Sessions 73 war to stir up, or a piece of shoddy merchandise to sell. When shall we, as an organized people, put it seriously to work in the service of better aims? Let us be more specific. Why have the League of Nations at Geneva and the old palace of peace at The Hague made so little hold upon the world’s imagination? May it not be, in part, because they have been so lacking in the kind of appeal which art can give ? Their meetings have been housed in tiresome architecture, a weak imitation of older styles. Their activities have been devoted largely to very worthy, but very dull discussions of political and economic matters, to endless bickering and committee reports. There is no brilliant life around them, nothing remarkable for the traveler to see, or those at home to read about. Meanwhile, the national capitals of Europe and Asia glow with life, with gay restaurants and music, operas, theaters, and art museums, and with athletic tournaments and sports. We take pleasure in visiting and revisiting them. The glamor of all the arts is cast, as a result, upon centers of nationalism. World fairs and expositions are international centers of art and pleasure. But they are temporary and are housed in national cities. Five years from now, or fifty, the noise of cannon may subside for a time, and the hopes of the world may turn again to the League of Nations or some new substitute for it. Why should not world-minded citizens attempt to raise it, by the means of art, into a center of beauty and enjoyment, to wTich all men’s thoughts can turn with pride? I have in mind a city which should be a true international capital of civilized culture, a permanent world’s fair as well as a business office. It could be the property of an international organization to which all nations contributed their best in friendly rivalry. It could have its great museums of old and modern art and craftsmanship, its libraries, its palaces and pleasure gardens, surpassing in magnificence the forts and palaces of other days. It could be a center for international musical and dramatic performances, for scientific exhibits, for Olympic sports, and for all other civilized enjoyments. Any nation could contribute to these without first committing itself to fight or sacrifice economic interests in defense of a world state. Such a city of the future, I believe, will be a tangible founda¬ tion for world citizenship, an emotional bond between nations, and a potent symbol of their common cultural heritage. LITERATURE AND LIFE PEARL S. BUCK, AUTHOR, NEW YORK, N. Y. The subject upon which I have been asked to speak this evening is the con¬ tribution of literature to life — so large a subject that to say anything definite about it is like trying to hold two large separate stars in the universe and show their cosmic relationship. What is this cosmic relationship? A certain phrase was used in your letter of invitation for tonight. “What,” that letter asked, “can literature contribute to world citizenship?’’ To know how to live in the world is to know how to be a citizen of it. Our topic seems to me best and most simply expressed thus: What, if anything, can literature con- 74 National Education Association tribute to the individual to enable him to know how to live in his environ¬ ment ? The answer to this question depends, of course, on our definition of litera¬ ture. Is literature what most people read, or what a few people have written ? Are popular magazine stories literature? Are detective stories, romances, wild west tales, true heart confessions to be included in literature? And is that what we have to think of when we consider how literature contributes to life? Or are we to limit our definition of literature to a few books written by a few dead ? This we do know — most people in America know the mechanics of read¬ ing. We are not, of course, the most literate nation on earth. There are sev¬ eral nations where the literacy ratio is a good deal higher than ours, notably Japan. But somewhere along the way, even tho formal education does not persist beyond the grades, we have been exposed, tho very slightly, to what is considered great literature. We know, too, that most of us do not read very much after all, or if we read, it is in relatively small numbers. There is, of course, the much-talked-of competition with reading — radio, motion pictures, automobiles, and soon television all combine to keep people away from books and literature. A sort of life seems to be coming in which books could be largely eliminated and their loss scarcely noticed. Indeed it is already here for many people. All this is true. And yet it does not, I think, matter so much that the mass of the people are never going to read literature. The bits of Shakespeare and Browning and Tennyson — or whatever children have in school nowa¬ days — are not going to affect them one way or the other. No, we have to acknowledge that literature is never going to contribute to most lives at all. Most people are going to the movies instead, not to a particular picture, but just to the movies. They will turn on the radio, not to a special program, but just turn it on. They will read newspaper headlines probably, and make a desultory choice out of the lurid array of popular magazines on the stand at the street corner or in the drugstore. If a book is talked about a great deal, as a few books a year always are in the United States, they may look into them curiously just to see what it is everybody is talking about. That is all. I will confess this surprised me at first, since having lived so much of my life in a country where 90 percent of the population was illiterate, I had come to value literacy and to think people would read if they knew how. I see now, after four years of watching my fellow countrymen, that knowing how to read has little to do with reading. People learn to read in order to read advertisements, bills, sports announcements, and news — altho printed news does not matter so much since we are getting so many pictorial maga¬ zines. Of course, in the old days of silent pictures to know how to read was necessary, because of the captions, but now we have talking pictures — and we will have talking newspapers, they tell us, before long — and the radio gives us love and crime and wisecracks. Practically, literature does not contribute anything to most people’s lives. This must be faced. Our system of education teaches average children a little of everything, from the essentials of mathematics and biology to how to make General Sessions 75 » a dress or hammer nails. But it does not teach them there is anything in literature which is essential to their life. Knowing how to read is simply knowing how to use a tool. If there is no desire to use that tool, then the tool is not used. And by and large, the crowd neither hungers nor thirsts after literature. But not all of us belong to that radio-turning, movie-going, unthinking crowd. What concerns me is that the intelligent people, the leading people, the people who have brains and whatever we possess of culture and very often of means — they do not read ; or if they do, they read too often digests of books and essays and stories rather than the works themselves. Even quite in¬ telligent people, who would be shocked to think they have no touch with literature — do not realize what a menace to literature a digest is. They pick up a digest magazine because they are busy, and by it are deceived into feeling they have read the best articles of the month. Indeed, I believe digest maga¬ zines are the more serious enemies of true literature, because their readers are among the more intelligent and think that in the digests they are keeping up with contemporary literature. Yet the habitual readers of digests inevi¬ tably lose the appreciation of style and grace in language, just as we would lose appreciation of food, its taste, and color and texture, if we should take it in the form of chemical pellets. Our physical nourishment might be adequate, but mere physical nourishment from food is not enough. To get the plain meat out of a book or story or essay is to live on dull fare, so insidiously dull that we do not know what we are missing. So it is not enough to get the bare meaning out of a piece of music or of a painting or of a great book. “Mona Lisa” digested is nothing but a woman smiling. A digested symphony is noth¬ ing but a group of themes which can be played in five minutes. Of Human Bondage is a book without a plot, one which no magazine would accept as a serial, and which could be digested in a few pages of a small magazine. When these digests are made of literature, people read them and think they know what it is all about. Yet they do not know what it is about. For they have missed that which makes literature. The blue pencil reduces every¬ thing to the dead tastelessness of a chemically prepared pellet. That graceful fleeting fancy, that individual quality which is the inherent mark of genius upon every material which it chooses to work upon, is lost. People say they are busy. / say, if you have onltf half an hour, use it not for a hurried survey of the bones of books and magazines, picked for you by someone you do not know, who may have overlooked entirely the one incident, character, or quality which would have most enriched your reading, but use that valuable half-hour for reading entire, and as it was really written, one thing — a few real pages from a book, or one actual story or essay. You will have more in the end — more real food for thought, and your literary palate will not be dulled by a succession of small dishes prepared by the same cook in the same pot and all tasting alike. Yet these people who read digests are the very people to whom literature would contribute much. They are, too, and this particularly perhaps of women, the ones who in their leisure pick up a book or a magazine to amuse or divert them instead of a book or a magazine to read. There is no harm in 76 National Education Association amusement and diversion. That is a legitimate reason for literature. What concerns me is that educated people are amused and diverted by the ephem¬ eral, passing book or story or the smart, silly patter of a columnist, and not by literature. I am not surprised or concerned when Mrs. Jones, the janitor’s wife, begs the librarian for a nice book with a lot of things happening but everything turning out all right. But I am concerned when Mrs. So-and-so in Sutton Place, a graduate of the finest schools of our country and wife of one of our leading men, uses her scant leisure, after all the worthy enterprises in wdiich she engages, from Spanish relief to a rally of republican women, to read — what she does read. That lady once undertook to upbraid an author for writing in a certain popular magazine. Said she, “I picked up a copy of Pui'ple Shadows the other day and was astonished to find a story of yours in it. How can you write for such magazines?” Said the author, “How can you read such a magazine?” Said she, “My dear, I only do it for relaxation.” Whereupon I began to ponder why when she wants relaxation, she reads what even she considers trash. Why does the cheap, the ephemeral, the highly colored, the falsely romantic, relax and amuse the educated mind instead of boring it? Education, to be sure, has left this mark — it has taught people a sense of shame, so that they know they should have on their tables the great names and books of literature. But these are not what they really read. The reason for this is that educated and uneducated, we Americans all want escape from reality. We dislike so much of what life is, we shrink so much from knowing more about it, that one still hears different people say, tho comic papers have made it a joke for twenty years, “I suppose that’s a fine book, but I have enough troubles without reading about more,” or, even more frequently, “When I go to the theater I want to be amused.” Now I have no complaint against escape literature. It is natural to want to escape from ourselves and the immediate circumstances of our lives, some¬ times, but how can such childish stuff as is read afford any escape to the reasoning mind? How can the educated mind so often enjoy what is false in all its proportions and premises? How can it fail to appreciate, and lose itself in what is true to life? No, the threat to literature, the check upon its de¬ velopment is not from the low standards of the many ignorant, but from the low standards of the few intelligent, who tocf often demand of literature that it shall not be true art rather than that it shall. There are reasons, of course, for this state of being. Foremost, perhaps, is our often boasted youth. I was talking about this the other day with a well- known painter who said that during the war it was interesting to him to see the difference between the way the American soldiers and the French ones relaxed. The Americans wrestled and raced and played jokes; the Frenchman talked. “What are those fellows doing?” one of the Americans asked him. “Exercising,” he replied, “just as you are.” "Talkin’? That’s no exercise!” the American said incredulouslv. “Only for the mind,” the painter replied gently. “Try it,” he added. “It’s fun, too.” General Sessions 77 The same difference appeared in their letters, which it was his duty to read. The Americans wrote letters of pure incident. “It rained today. Jimmy got caught AWOL. I saw a fellow from Stockton yesterday.’’ The French letters were full of thought and reflection upon incidents. Well, culture is after all a matter of time and long mellowing age. And collectively we are not old and individually we cling to childhood and its enjoyments. We don’t want to grow up. I saw a film the other day. The theme was a sound democratic theme — that the joy of living is to do what you like. But in this film what was liked was only one thing — drinking tubs full of beer, getting very drunk, and running away from it all to a South Sea island. It exemplifies exactly what I mean — a limited and essentially im¬ mature form of enjoyment. And the reason for this is that the average person in America is not yet interested in life. That is, he is not interested in human nature and its true character. Or perhaps it would be truer to say he is in¬ terested in the activities of life, but not in its meaning or its philosophy. He is instinctively frightened of anything like a view of himself and why and how he is. And yet that view, of course, is what literature is. What do we want when we read ? We approach literature with a strange impossible sort of expectation. We ask, on the one hand, to be supplied with unrealistic romantic ideals so earnest as to be naive, which have, it seems to me, no reality of any kind, either actual or desirable, and on the other hand, we have this childish wish to be amused, or rather to escape from the very restrictions to which we cling. We ask to be uplifted and, or, amused — if possible, a little of both at the same time. A et literature, it seems to me, has nothing essentially to do with either of these things, except incidentally. Literature cannot have as its function the satisfaction of moralism or the wish to escape from it if it must deal simply with life as it is. And yet, at present, life is exactly what most people do not want. They want to read about a dream existence, where everything is as they wish it were — where all mar¬ riages are happy, where the poor, ugly girl becomes rich and beautiful, and where all evil persons are punished, or at least lose all the money and the girl. I once had an impassioned letter from the editor of a certain popular maga¬ zine begging me to write her a story, a happy, cheerful, sweet story. “And,” she added, “oh, if it could be about young love, that would be wonderful." Now to an adult, young love is not very interesting. It is a part of adolescence and youth, an experience which everyone suffers and recovers from. While it has a certain touching quality, its symptoms are so universally alike as to be extremely uninteresting. It is evanescent and almost purely biological — on the whole, quite a stupid business from the point of view of one primarily interested in the working out of character. Then, a day or two later, I happened to meet a friend, also a writer, and I discovered that she too had received this letter, asking for stories of young love. We concluded, therefore, that this enterprising editor was trying to establish a corner on young love in order that her magazine might have a new record of sales. Well, you may say, these are only popular magazines. What about books? 78 National Education Association But Americans, as a whole, don’t read books. In this country where every¬ body is supposed to know how to read, publishers consider a hook successful if it sells four thousand copies, and excellent if it reaches ten thousand. Once or twice a year a good many people read a book — books sweeping into popu¬ larity and passing away again. There has been a vogue for historical novels in the last few years. But this is only another manifestation of the desire to evade and avoid life by taking refuge in another world where all endings are known and safe — and also where incidentally there was plenty of action. I read modern American novels rather assiduously, as a matter of interest, and I find further evidence of what I have been trying to say, in the lack of interest in life. The characters are almost universally subordinated to the incident and environment. That is, what apparently interests readers is how much characters hop, skip, and jump, and not how they feel and are. Char¬ acters are instantly recognizable types. “Good,” “bad,” “funny,” “pretty” are about all the adjectives needed to describe them. Especially there is evi¬ dent this poverty of character analysis and development in the so-called re¬ gional novels — very properly so-called, too, for they are novels of regions: the weather of the regions, the storms, the crops, the animals, the shootings and crimes, and so forth, but never, deeply, the people. There seems in our Amer¬ ican literature especially to be no real relationship developed between the region and its people. A et it seems to me only when that relationship is thoroly understood and portrayed can the result be even called regional literature. I have recently come back from a journey thru seventeen central states of our country. As part of my preparation for this trip I read some of the re¬ gional novels. I w'as able to get a good idea of the landscape, of the weather, and of the history of various regions, and particularly amazingly good local color, but absolutely nowhere an adequate idea of the people. In all the books the people were the least interesting part because the most slightly developed and the least understood. Yet, even in a journey, it was the people who im¬ pressed me. The landscape, for instance, of South Dakota, is in some ways the finest I have ever seen in the world — the most amazing and the most strange, and the most beautiful. It is on such a scale and so peculiar, as well, that I cannot blame a writer for dwelling upon its shapes, its weather, and its devastations. But to me far more vivid than that terrific landscape are the people who live there. It seems to me they are the most magnificent people I have ever seen, dreamers, all of them, those who are left, people held to the country in spite of abject poverty, people who live in the dream of a tomorrow, believing still in the country they cannot but love. They are not really sub¬ ordinated by the landscape. They tower above it, poor as death and as trium¬ phant. What literature lies there, unwritten — and probably never to be written, because young love is not of primary importance and there is very little action ! Outwardly people seem static — they suffer and wait and dream, but what tremendous inner action there is in those three words! Not many people see the romance in a man’s loving dry, black soil that will not yield him food and holding to it grimly because if there were water it would yield enormously, and tomorrow it may rain. Yet there is the essence of romance in it. But the ending may not be happy. General Sessions 79 We are afraid, we Americans, of tragedy. I mean tragedy in the deep fundamental sense of the Greeksj who understood that life is tragic in its whole course from its unexplained beginnings to its unknown end. Even comedy in that Greek sense had its foundations in tragedy — a butterfly flutter¬ ing in gaiety over a dark and bottomless river. So long as we shrink in fear from acknowledging we are what we are — beings brought into this brief consciousness which we call life — and from accepting this, and from pro¬ ceeding to the living and understanding of this life, we can have no great literature. That is not to say that literature must always be sad, any more than that life is always sad. Indeed, life ceases to be sad when we accept its facts and know its limitations. It becomes, then, a time for enjoyment. To know that one day a joy will end is to make the joy infinitely sharper and more precious. The day is not less beautiful because night comes — no, day and night together comprise life, and literature must deal with all if it is to be an art, and not only with that brief moment of morning when everything is fresh and new. Noon comes, and heat and trouble and strength and freedom, and evening falls, and everything passes, and it is all life and therefore the stuff of litera¬ ture. And there can be no appreciation of literature until there is appreciation of life entire. Until we do appreciate life entire and as it is, we will go on demanding that literature give us for a few dreaming moments what we wish life gave us all the time and never will — and that is not literature. Literature contributes to life only the awareness of life itself. If its func¬ tion is to teach, it is to teach men what they are and help them to understand their own lives by showing them themselves. It cannot, or so I believe, teach abstractly or apart from life as it is. Literature cannot have a moral purpose in a primary form, tho it may follow that a lesson is taught. A writer, for instance, does not produce literature if he habitually writes propaganda. It may be that at some time in his life he writes propaganda which is literature. If the life which he is then living and portraying because he is living in it, expresses itself in some ardent declaration of faith, it may be propaganda and yet be literature, since it is not a cause which he sponsors, but the life which he is then living. Never ask, “What does this book teach us?” but ask “What does this book show us about life?” if the book be literature. To say, then, that literature can never be propaganda is to speak as arbitrarily as to say literature must always carry a thesis and teach a lesson. But in all propaganda literature, the human beings must be more than ordinarily alive in order to carry the extra burden of propaganda, and the writer who goes out seeking causes about which to center his novel prostitutes his art as surely as does the one who writes merely for money. What I am trying to say is, if one’s life is embroiled in some social storm for the time and he writes out of his own life, then he may safely write as sharp propaganda as he likes. I will put it this way: What literature contributes to life is simply a clarifi¬ cation of life. We ought, if we read literature and learn to love it, to know ourselves and others better, and to have some little further idea of why we behave as we do. And we ought to welcome many books, and differences in authors, and variety even in the same author. 80 National Education Association Yet why do we Americans not really welcome change, but only the same old romance? We love above all things the romance of a person’s springing from unknown beginnings to sudden fame and fortune. It is as good, we say, as a movie. We are all generous in helping the unknown writer, or actor, or the newly elected president even. We take pride — very properly, too — in the fact that among us people can rise from the bottom to the top, and with incredible speed. But when they reach the top, the story is ended. I cannot think of our treatment of Theodore Dreiser, for instance, without anger. I do not see any body of work in American letters to equal the body of his work. Yet how shamefully we neglect him! With a delight almost equal to that with which we raise people up we forget them. We have so little appre¬ ciation or understanding of individual genius. It is another manifestation of our lack of interest in life. Our interest is in the romance and the action which a career affords us as a story. To welcome to our shores a Thomas Mann or an Einstein is a romance. We are all charmed with it, especially since in it the hero is not Einstein or Mann, but America. What we shall do with them is another matter — probably forget them if they are quiet, and turn against them if they say anything we don’t like. But we won’t pay any attention to them as individual geniuses. For we are not taught to be detached and catholic in our interests. Even our literary critics too often judge a book on some personal ground — whether they personally like the main character or not. I remember hearing a nice lady say of a recent character in a certain book, “I shouldn’t like my son to marry such a woman.” The finality of her tone was terrific. And she was a symbol of most readers of books, who limit the contribution of literature to their life by their prejudices and preconceived ideas and have no desire to know what life really is. One ought to approach a new book as one approaches a new country, with curiosity and expectation, not wanting to find only what one knows and likes, but with the zest of learning about something new. Such an attitude would be the greatest boon to literature. What, then, literature can contribute to life depends to a large degree on what is demanded of the writer. The de¬ mands we make today are practically nothing. I have chosen to take my subject in a practical sense, rather than to de¬ scribe the abstract benefits of literature to the human being. You know those benefits as everybody knows. You teach that Shakespeare is great literature. “So what?” they say today. “So nothing,” is what I reply. That is the whole trouble — so nothing. The abyss between literature and the average person today is bottomless. Why is this? Why does life so terrify us that we need this constant escape from it? I think it is because as a people we have no philosophy with which to live. We do not know how to understand and enjoy life. We are really afraid all the time — afraid of what is happening and may happen — afraid most of all of death. We do not know how to accept what¬ ever comes in the spirit of gaiety which a philosophy of life gives. There is a constant hue and cry over our economic chaos, but no one says anything about our chaotic lack of any sort of philosophy of life, tho if we had such a phi- General Sessions 81 losophy, our very economics would improve, because we would know what life is and what it is reasonable to expect of it. And yet I feel nothing is stronger in our American people than the desire to find some sort of philosophy with which to face life. The desire is in¬ articulate, and it expresses itself in all sorts of ways, from swing music to theosophy. There is such an earnest blind longing to know what to make of life as it is, and it is coupled at the same time with a sort of fear of know¬ ing, so that when anything serious comes near, it is evaded by the jazz touch. And so even literature is evaded, as something too serious, tho if they would only see, they would know that literature contributes to the understanding they want of what life is, and can help them to know, therefore, what their attitude toward life should be, as reasonable creatures. The contribution could be continuing and enormous, if it were only understood and wanted, since literature crystallizes and expresses for many what they only vaguely see and feel in their own lives and the life about them. Is there any hope for the establishment of an American philosophy toward life which would result in a demand for real literature and an increase in its production? I think there is, by a difficult, half-blind, negative sort of process, being forced on us against our wills and almost without our consciousness, by world events. These events are hacking and turning out for us anew the shape of an individualism first planned for us in its simplest form centuries ago. I am reminded of that huge sculpture now being done at Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota by Gutzon Borglum. There on the moun¬ tain top from a rocky cliff are emerging the enormous figures of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. But the sculptor does not do it himself. He has only made the model, now standing in his studio — an inch to a foot, the scale is. The final sculpture is done not by his hands, but by dynamite. Sticks of dynamite laid by ingenious workmen deepen the lines in Lincoln’s face and make plain the idealism of Jefferson’s eyes. Dynamite blows tons of rocks away to shape the determination of Washington’s profile. So dynamite, the dynamite of terrifying events elsewhere in the world, is forcing us to define our own opposite philosophy, the philosophy of individ¬ ualism, and this may bring us out from the childishness and immaturity of our present retreat in the isolation of dreams, which has so nearly smothered our literature to death. But a philosophy needs to be enriched and explained, and that again is literature’s function. Philosophy and literature are closer together than any other two of the arts. They have their roots in life and their flowering in the expression and explanation of life. Philosophy is the skeleton, literature the beautifying covering flesh, dependent upon and yet shaping and shaped by the inner structure of philosophy. The flesh cannot stand alone without the skeleton, and without the flesh the skeleton is an arid collection of dry bones. They must be united. Today literature seems to me to be slowly dying of uselessness, just as sight will fade if the eyes are never used. I do not mean only that presentday good writing is not often much read. I mean also that the established body of past literature — the only literature which we know is sure — is being 82 National Education Association neglected. So few people read today the literature of the past that it may as well be said nobody reads it and great books are coming to be only great names. There are, of course, motion pictures. But the sort of motion pictures which are now being made of works of literature are something worse than neglect. They are travesties and foolish parodies and outrages of T om Sawyer and The Travels of Marco Polo , Antony and Cleopatra , and what not. The vitiating touch of silly and impossible romance is ruining even great books of the past, as it ruins everything, and high and true romance is almost gone. Worst of all, people, seeing these pictures, imagine they need not read the book, since they have “seen the picture.” Every parent and teacher ought to insist that no child see the picture made from a great book until the book has first been read. The book at least cannot spoil the picture. And yet when it comes to ending what I have to say on this note, I find I am not willing to do so. I hope this is not contamination by popular taste. 1 hope 1 am not just demanding a happy ending, too. But I keep feeling this is not the true end of what literature is contributing and can contribute to our life. Literature is at once the purest of all the arts and yet the most easily defiled, because more than any art its source is in human nature, that is, in life. And so when human nature becomes defiled, as in certain periods in history it is beyond other periods, literature is defiled with it. There are times when the course of man is so corrupt that all minds become confused by that corruption. Then musicians can retire into their own seclusion and out of themselves alone draw pure melody. Painters can paint the sea and the sky and the hills and those elements of the universe which never change. But writers cannot retire from life. Whether they will or not, they are forced to draw their material from human sources. If these are defiled, they are de¬ filed with it, because the materials with which they work are defiled, and because the demand made upon them at such times is for a corrupt enjoyment. W e are in such an age now. In many parts of the world pure literature is impossible to produce because of the dictation of political charlatans who have an absolute power for the moment. It seems a proved fact that creative writing is impossible in the totalitarian states. Nor is there any greater free¬ dom in the Orient. China is too torn for anyone there to be able to write with the perspective necessary to literature, and the same is true of Japan. It is chiefly in the English-speaking nations and in France that any sort of freedom of mind exists for the creative writer. Yet in America at least the dread of the realization of life among the reading public is so strong as to be an actual and serious limitation which any writer is forced to consider, whether he will or no. All rumination upon this seems to bring us back to the same dead end. And still I am not willing to leave the matter so. For in spite of everything, I believe in the enormous and deathless energy which produces literature somehow and anyhow in any age. It must be somewhere, even in this age. I am watching with interest the WPA writers. The federal theater at least is showing an independent vitality which is hopeful. The genuine creative writer is not usually greedy for money. He wants to have freedom of mind not to think about money; that's all. He does not want elaborate living be- General Sessions 83 cause it interferes with his work. He wants security so that he can work, and work at what he thinks worth doing. It is not true that genius will out. It will not. Genius can be as easily crushed as any other delicate and sensitive thing by too extreme poverty, by discouragement, by foolish and blind criti¬ cism, by being born in an age unsuited to it. Perhaps under the care of the WPA, as rude as it is, the writer may find relief — that is, freedom to do his work, which is all he wants — together with masons and carpenters and tenant farmers and all the others who have been thrust out of the economic machine. I am not suggesting that writers should be removed from life as it is — only that they should not be compelled in order to live to write of a life that is not and never can be, a life of impossible, cheap romance. It would be easy for me to do what many have done — simply shrug my shoulders at the mass of popular writing and say that it has nothing to do with literature. But I cannot. I keep going back to it. It is what most people read — then it must have its importance somewhere in relation to literature. One cannot dismiss lightly a magazine bought and read by three million people or a book bought and read by thousands. It is important. It is a serious thing for literature if three million read — not literature, but something else which gives them greater satisfaction. I have put the blame on the people in the first half of what I had to say. But there is always the possibility that there is something wrong with literature. Jazz, so despised once, we have now come to think of as contributing something very especial to music. What it is we do not know, and shall not know until jazz is dead and its vitality has become merged into the great body of permanent music. Swing — is it fad or new rhythm? Who knows or can know in our generation? It must run its course until we see it take its true place in what is past. If it has a definite value for human beings, something will remain which no amount of scorn or ignoring can kill or even displace. Perhaps it is literature which today has become devoid of philosophy — so devoid that it has no inner light, so that people, reading, have caught no real illumination of the life which most of us live so blindly from day to day. The vogue for historical novels has been, perhaps, because the novels of presentday life cast no glow. Perhaps people are not afraid of tragedy, after all, if it is their tragedy — that is, tragedy which they recognize as beyond mere sordid living. The greatest books have always been tragedies. Madame Bovary is one of the most tragic books ever written. So is Resurrection . So is Of Human Bondage. So is Vanity Fair. The list is long, and most of these books when they first appeared were met with criticism. People did not immediately like them. It took time to get over the first revulsion against sadness and see beyond into the light. But the books that people have kept on reading are the books with that inner warm light which makes them have a sort of timeless rightness and accord with life which is happiness in itself, as dis¬ tinguished from amusement and a mere happy ending. These are the books which give life in the full — not slantwise from the viewpoint of region or vogue. These are the books which have laid hold upon life and have had a philosophy to expound. A lesson is a glib thing — easy to teach, easy to learn 84 National Education Association and gabble oft. But a philosophy is something wrought out of experience. It can be accepted or rejected but never learned by rote. So this relation between human life and literature is more mutual than l first said it was. We should read literature — but only if literature satisfies some primary need of ours. If people must have a philosophy of life with which to appreciate literature, literature must also have a philosophy with which to satisfy the reader. I do not need to say, I am sure, that by the word “philosophy” I mean no dry abstractions with no relation to human daily lives. I mean those questions which every creature capable even of simple thought asks himself in times when he is alone — hours which he may hate and dread and from which he seeks all sorts of escapes, but which, nevertheless, exist — those hours when he asks, who am I and why was I born and what is it all for ? Who are these others and what have they to do with me and what have I to do with them ? To ask these questions is to seek the essentials of some sort of philosophy of life. And to answer them in one way or another is the meaning of literature. Whenever a book, thru the direct voice of poetry or thru the voices of char¬ acters in a novel, recognizes these fundamental questions of the human heart, that book is read and lives on and on. And whenever a book ignores them, tho it achieves a momentary popularity, it passes on and is forgotten. Light upon the deep and primitive inquiry of the human heart is the primary con¬ tribution, then, of literature to life. It may seem a curious contradiction to say on one hand that people demand nothing but amusement from literature and then to say that literature which only amuses does not satisfy them. But such indeed is the case. The American public is peculiarly constituted and full of contradictions. With all our child¬ like love of a good time, we never really have a good time unless we feel we are improving ourselves, too. The moral sense is very strong in us. It may be it is only that well-known and famous puritan conscience, which, it is said, is never strong enough to keep us from doing anything we want to do, but only strong enough to keep whatever we do from being pleasant. We may be trying, in all our desire for escape, to escape not from the realities of life, but from the reality of ourselves. If so, of course escape is impossible, and yet, if it is impossible, the effort is all the more frantic. But none can escape that “Hound of Heaven” — his own self. And real literature has nothing to do with that attempt to escape. It has only to do with the pursuit, and it shows that the end of that pursuit is only the deeper and fuller understanding of that self. I know from an old Buddhist book the story of the monkey who wanted to escape God, who had him in His hand. He was a great jumper, this monkey, and so he made up his mind to jump as far as he could and he did. When he came to himself after a stupendous leap, he found himself on a mountain top somewhere in a strange country. “Ah,” he thought exultantly, “I have escaped!” Then he heard God’s voice, very near, speaking. It said, “You have only jumped to the base of my thumb. You are still in my hand.” So there is no such thing possible as this escape which occupies so much of the reading of today. So long as we breathe we are in this world which General Sessions 85 encloses us. Literature does offer the only real escape — but deeper into the world and not away from it. And that is what it contributes to life — more life, more understanding of that life. Any good book is like a microcosm where in a small compass we can see how life functions. In our daily ex¬ periences we are lost in the largeness of all around us. We cannot under¬ stand all that is going on. But a good book catches a part of what is going on and holds it for us, and we can see relationships there, and causes and effects which escape us in the flying by of actual time and events. We ought when we put down a book to feel a deeper sense of completion of self, not of escape from it. We ought to understand that self better and feel in closer accord with it and more content with it. If we do, then the book is literature, and literature has made its contribution to life. WHAT MUSIC CONTRIBUTES TO WORLD CITIZENSHIP WILL EARHART, DIRECTOR OF MUSIC, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PITTSBURGH, PA. A philosophy, unformulated and very incomplete among the masses, has long pervaded the Western world, and has provided the intellectual climate which has shaped the thought and action of people of today in every area of their lives. That philosophy provides no rational basis for a theory of art or for an evaluation of its function in relation to world citizenship. For that reason we must turn our attention upon it, for unless we can establish a firm place in reasoned belief for art, our discussion must go forward, as discussions of art so often do, in terms of intuition and warm esthetic sentiment that may arouse sympathetic response but fail to leave conviction. If, as we believe, we are dealing with a great reality, we should discuss it as a fundamental truth, and not leave it in our thought as only the embodiment of an amiable wish or a beautiful dream. The modern philosophical assumption that has blinded us to the funda¬ mental importance of art began and grew with the beginning and growth of what we recognize as the present scientific age. The Renaissance came and passed. It left a greatly enlarged terrestrial world to which men’s minds turned with newborn and intense interest. Jung, in a telling phrase, says that an outlook which had been vertical was at that time intersected by an outlook which was horizontal. Galileo, Kepler, and others came, and discovered natural laws under which the universe appeared to operate as a blind mechanism. Even earlier, Francis Bacon formulated a philosophy which bade men observe things observable and reason from these inductively in order to gain that knowledge which is power. His one-time secretary, Hobbes, carried various implications that were in the Baconian belief into the formulation of an explicitly materialistic philosophy. Locke further aided in the development of the modern world view. He depicted the mind of man when he comes upon earth as a tabula rasa, or blank tablet; and he laid down the dictum, “nothing in the mind except what was first in the senses.” We need not carry further our historical resume, for here we reach the 86 National Education Association point at issue. It is an old, a very old problem. Does man bring to earth absolutely nothing but capacity to receive sensation ? Is there nothing in the mind, and does nothing develop there, except that which comes in thru the senses? We all know how a host of idealist philosophers, both before Kant and from Kant on to Bergson, have opposed this mechanistic and materialistic belief. Their arguments need not be restated here. All that is essential for us to point out is the impossibility of making a substantial place for either art or religion, unless and until we are prepared to find something in the mind that cannot be found in the mere mechanism of sensation, or yet in perception. That which the idealistic division of philosophy finds implicit in mind and not derived from experience is, of course, the power of discrimination, preference, choice. For religion, power of choice is considered as operating in the moral field, giving us the ability to discriminate between good and bad. For art, the power of choice is recognized as operating in the esthetic field, giving us the ability to discriminate between beautiful and ugly. Philosophically the problem is one of the ultimate reality of this power, which makes us see values or meanings instead of things, and endows us with freedom and responsibility instead of leaving us automatic. Surely it is not difficult thus to believe that values and meanings, which are interpre¬ tations that from infancy we put upon all that is crowded in upon our consciousness thru the senses, are something not implicit in sensation itself. Time is lacking, however, for discussion. Let us observe, instead, that education, no less than religion and art, stands in need of this belief. How, without it, can education proceed in character training, in the development of art appreciation, in the development of fine sensibilities and culture generally? ^ et in great measure education continues to follow instead a starkly mechanistic psychology that looks for little or nothing in a human being but reactions to stimuli and responses to environment and, conse¬ quently, prompts education only toward the storing of memory and the development of knowledges and skills. Educational psychology should surely speak some word about the existence and development of these sentient powers of esthetic and moral preference, and not leave the awaken¬ ing and guidance of them wholly to the teacher's intuition and human sympathies. Perhaps, indeed, the reason that education has not proceeded far in developing moral and cultural sensibilities and strength, and is now so much concerned about them, is precisely in this, that its leaders, along with the world outside the educational field, have been too much infected with the prevailing materialistic thought. Assumption of the primacy and reality of powers of choice and judgment having cleared the way, let us examine the place of art in general, and of music in particular. The most comprehensive conception of art with which we can begin is that it constitutes an agency of communication between men. In this sense it is a kind of language. We have all heard the saying — and it is one which is quite true — that music, as one art, is a universal language. When we ask, however, what it is that art communicates or expresses, we can say immediately only that it communicates a state of General Sessions 87 feeling; and if we try to state more explicitly the precise nature of that feeling we become aware of difficulties, and, even more, of many popular misconceptions. The estheticians often say that the purpose of art is to create beauty and communicate the feeling of beauty. This, too, in a sense is true; but the statement suggests that beauty is a definite quality or prop¬ erty, perhaps laid upon the face of things, and consequently susceptible of definition and description. But beauty does not, any more than values or meanings, have an objective existence; it does not exist on the face of the world. True, some things are commonly judged to be beautiful, but is not judgment subjective? We can at least say, without going into the trouble¬ some question of the objectivity of beauty, that the landscape is not beau¬ tiful to the camera, or yet to the soaring bird of prey; the symphony is not beautiful to the phonograph, and the dog does not hear beauty in the peal of the organ. Beauty, in this ultimate sense, is then subjective ; it is an appear¬ ance or quality given things because of a way of feeling about them. The artist may consequently find it anywhere because that way of vision inheres in him, and the beast may discern it nowhere because he has not that vision. Moreover, this sense of beauty which is communicated thru a work of art is a feeling and not a pure intellectual concept of perfection, such as might arise in connection with the visions of passionless glories that are found in higher mathematics; and because it is a feeling it discloses varieties of affective coloring. That is to say, beauty is of some kind : And so we have a tender beauty, a rugged beauty, a graceful beauty, a joyous beauty, a majestic beauty. Even the purest type of Bach fugue, or of a Grecian urn, reveals some measure of these coloristic attributes. More¬ over, the various arts differ in the quality of feeling that is communicated by the artist thru his work. A poem, a painting, a symphony, a cathedral, all convey artistic feeling, but in subtle ways the feeling-states differ. We will consequently not attempt yet to describe too explicitly the precise content of the feeling which art communicates, but let the nature of it appear later and only then in connection with music. For the present, in addition to saying that art in general is a vehicle by which a feeling is communicated from one man to another, we would better say only that in ordinary connotation this feeling is understood to be rare, to be one that to the sense of the artist is significant, important, and therefore worthy of communication, and that the attempt at communication consequently be¬ comes a devoted and purposeful effort. With respect to the specific character of music, it may be said that of all the agencies by which man tries to capture and share with others the com¬ plex, wordless, and elusive feelings that arise out of his contacts with life, music is the most direct and the most plastic. We will see the truth of this if we reflect that that which is to be communicated is itself wholly subjective; and, in common experience, music is found to be not only the natural voice of such broad and permeative subjective states, but, in a greater degree than any other art, to take its rise directly from those states. Indeed, the other arts, characteristically, tho by no means invariably or of necessity, 88 National Education Association express a feeling as experienced in connection with some particular cir¬ cumstance, object, or incident in life; but music appears to express directly feeling itself, not necessarily or even characteristically in connection with anything specific, hut as something deep and inborn or as a developed sense of the poetic aspects of life in general. In this sense it is the more direct expression, and at the same time it is the more plastic, because it does not have to ally itself with anything representational — that is to say, with any form handed to it from without. It is reflections such as these that have given rise to statements that music is the most subjective of the arts; that it alone of the arts is “presentative” and not “representative” (tho this is only a specious half-truth) ; that it is the most purely conceptual of the arts; that it is — and this is Schopenhauer’s term — “objectification of the will.” Such capacity of music for direct and unconditioned expression must have been in the mind of Walter Pater, also, when he made his celebrated statement to the effect that all the arts constantly aspire to the condition of music; for in music, as in architecture, form and content are one. We might add that ultra-modern painting strives to attain that condition very di¬ rectly, as when it portrays, for instance, conflict and turmoil by means solely of jagged lines and twisted masses. Music, then, is ideally fitted to communicate a feeling that, in Tolstoy’s expressive phrase, an artist “has lived thru.” Let no one imagine that this means precisely the same as to say that music expresses emotion. According to the ordinary connotation of the term, emotion is something much more violent and brief than the feeling that seeks to become articulate thru prismatic beauties of tone wrought into patient architectonic symmetries. It ordinarily connotes feelings connected wdth sharp incidents of earthly living, feelings that might sear and disintegrate the soul, while art deals with feelings arising from a deep awareness of ideal values that rather calm and integrate the soul. Such a concept of music must have arisen from thought fixed only on song and opera, where music allies itself with words and so with specific earthly happenings. But even in that case it is an illusion to suppose that music itself is expressing a strong and definite passion. Thus the “Marseillaise” may be thought to express fierce rebellion ; but if you will think of the tune at the words, “To arms, to arms, ye brave,” and to it fit instead the words, “All hail our noble king,” you will see that the tune might carry as well a poem in praise of Louis XVI. The music itself bears no political insignia ; it voices only a mood of stirring, triumphant, human energy, made treasurable by being wrought into an art-form. No music can do more than thus voice a pervading mood in relation to life; and because the mood is expressed, if the work is to remain anything that we recognize as music, in terms of beauty of material (that is, musical tone) and in beauty of form, the mood-state voiced can not be ignoble or violent. Of course, all arts have their lower strata, in which trivial or base meanings are expressed in ugly and empty materials and forms; but art cannot be rightly interpreted in terms of examples that represent artistic failures and impurities. And so music, however poor, can never be General Sessions 89 wholly prosaic and worldly, can never voice passion alone, can never com¬ bine with its beautiful material and ideal form such ugly feelings as hate, envy, or greed. Were this not so, men might revile one another in a tune, and the howl of the mob might became a musical art-expression. The fact that the moods reflected in music are broad and general needs renewed emphasis at this point. Music voices man’s timeless and universal experiences in feeling, not those that are temporal and sharply individual. Wagner learned this, and, after “Rienzi,” abjured what he termed the “historical” drama, where characters lived in restricted and narrowly con¬ ditioned environments, and sought the realms of myth and legend where the characters moved, as the gods on Olympus, in obedience only to the dictates of broad and universal impulse. Wagner’s own argument for this departure was that his art could and should deal only with what he called the “purely human” — a significant term. Paradoxically, when the char¬ acters are thus released from ordinary human conditioning, they become at once more human, more understandable by us, and more significant in our lives. For now they enter the realm of universal humanity, whereas, fettered in time and place, they were separated from us by a thousand material barriers. So it happens that Siegfried of the “Ring,” is more a blood-brother to us than Walther of “Die Meistersinger,” and Wotan more meaningful than Hans Sachs. In truth, then, music is a universal language, and in that same sense it is specifically the language of those elements in man’s nature which bind men together into a sympathetic and understanding brotherhood. Upon a high plane of spiritual understanding, it provides the touch of nature that makes the whole world kin. The nature and worth of the contribution of music to world citizenship is implied in what we have said, and in practical experience we know that men understand one another thru their folksongs and folkmusic, and that they come to understand the human heart itself thru the revelations of great feeling found in the works of such interpreters of life as Bach and Beethoven. A more explicit statement, perhaps, can best be approached thru Tolstoy. In Tolstoy’s belief, language is a human activity by which man communicates thought, and, he says, “if people lacked this capacity to receive the thoughts conceived by men who preceded them, and to pass on to others their own thoughts, men would be like wild beasts or like Kaspar Hauser.” Tolstoy conceives art, comparably, as a human activity by which man communicates feeling that, in Tolstoy’s words, he has “lived thru.” Then follows this comment: “And if men lacked this other capacity of being infected by art, people might be almost more savage still, and, above all, more separated from, and more hostile to, one another.” He says further: “Art is not a pleasure, a solace, or an amusement; art is a great matter. Art is an organ of human life, transmitting man’s reasonable perception into feeling. . . . All that now, independently of violence and the fear of punishment, makes the social life of man possible (and already now this is an enormous part of the order of our lives) — all this has been brought about by art.” 90 National Education Association This from Tolstoy is about art in general. All that can he said of music in particular is to repeat that it is a peculiarly direct and plastic medium for the communication of such feeling. Faith, joy, courage, sorrow, love, reverence, aspiration, yearning, spiritual triumph — these are the things of which music speaks directly; and it is of the utmost importance to remember that it speaks of them thru extended forms of ideal symmetry and beauty, the very pursuit of which is impossible until the soul has moved beyond the reach of violent and explosive passion. And all of these elements are incorporeal ; they occupy no space in the visible world, are connected with no particular place, person, form, scene, race, nation, or creed, and can therefore be communicated in music in disconnection from all that is local and, therefore, sectional or divisional. They are, indeed, unless for great truths, the only universal realities in human life; and they are realities of transcendent importance because of the part they alone can play in nourishing, strengthening, and guiding the souls of men. All men hear and understand the message that is borne to them when music speaks ; and within the bond of that common understanding men will, so far as they heed the voice, discover their essential kinship, find a new dignity in human life, and again see gates open on a world in which men are brothers and life becomes a movement toward happier and more blessed goals than those which now entice us. Such is the effect upon men now when the\T gather to make or to listen to music. That the influence shall not wholly die, hut shall sing in the hearts of men long after the tones are stilled and those who gathered have departed, must remain our hope and our lasting conviction. THIRD GENERAL EVENING SESSION ADDRESS HONORABLE FIORELLO H. LA GUARDIA, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY President Woodruff : It is my privilege to present to this great audience the mayor of this great metropolis — one whose interest in public education is known everywhere. He is particularly concerned with the underprivileged and the handicapped children. We know of his recognition of the gifted children, those with special talents. In introducing him tonight, may I express in the name of the National Education Association, which I represent, with its almost quarter of a million members, many thousands of whom are here today from every state and territory of this great land — in their name may I sincerely express our appreciation of the hospitality that has been extended on every hand, thru the school officials, the teachers, the children, the citizens, to this wonderful first convention that has been held here for twenty-two years. And I must not omit expressing special appreciation for the music that has been furnished. On every program, music has been contributed by the children and the youth of the public schools, the leaders and directors. I specially appreciate the courtesies that have been extended in countless General Sessions 91 ways here. We shall take back to our homes something that will make the 1938 convention a real red-letter day in our educational experiences. I now present his honor, Fiorello H. La Guardia, mayor of New York City. Mayor La Guardia: It is really a thrill to be with you and to hear from your distinguished president that you have enjoyed your visit to our town. 1 note that you were twenty-two years in coming. Well, we have that in common. So was I ! I want to remind you about the party we will have here in Madison Square Garden tomorrow night for all the delegates of the National Education Association. Tomorrow night there is going to be something new for the convention, and I know you will enjoy it. Tomorrow night we spend the whole evening without hearing a single speech! The police and the fire departments have been working hard to prepare their show and I am sure that it will be most entertaining. I have been requested on behalf of the Municipal Art Commission to announce that the Committee has awarded a medal to the two hundred and twenty-five musicians of the All-City Orchestra and Band. I want to tell the orchestra and the band that it is a very tiny medal, hut it is well meant ! I also wish to announce that scholarships have been awarded to Hazel Wisten and Charles Crawford. I have a certificate to award to the four hundred and fifty members of our All-City Chorus. We have an unexpected and distinguished visitor here this evening, and I am going to give him the honor of presenting this certificate — National Commander Doherty of the American Legion ! [Com¬ mander Doherty presented the certificate.] We are very proud of our children. Please do not tell the people back home that you saw high buildings or wide streets, but do tell them about the affection of this big city for its children. You certainly have a rare privilege and opportunity of rendering such useful service, not only in your own community but thru this great organization, to the entire country. As I have stated, New York City, tho large, covering a large territory with seven million people, is just as solicitous and as anxious for the welfare of all its children and their future as the smallest community. This evening we have presented to you a sample of our high-school students. We have forty-seven academic high schools, twenty-four voca¬ tional, technical, and specialized high schools, and twenty-three evening high schools. Fifty percent of the graduates of our high schools continue their studies in institutions of higher learning. We have over six hundred grade schools, and we have quite a happy family of thirty-six thousand school teachers. You will be interested to hear that of the graduates of our grade schools, 78 percent go into the academic high schools, 16 percent go into vocational and professional high schools, and the remaining 6 percent to private high schools, leave town, or thru age are not eligible to the high schools. We have compulsory education up to and including the seventeenth year. 92 National Education Association Now, any city in this country can boast of doing just as much for its children as we have done. Every delegate no doubt knows that his com¬ munity has just as good schools as we have. But that is not enough, and that is why 1 say you have such a rare opportunity thru this great national organization to render services to the entire country. You can do more for national education in one short week each year, as you meet from all parts of the country, than all the United States Congress could do in five years. You can do it because you know the subject, because you are free to talk on education, and because you must recognize that when you do speak, you speak with authority. It is not enough to have a perfect system of education in large cities and in some communities. We must have a complete and perfect system of public and free education for every section of the entire country! At this very moment, when the attention of the country is focused on your convention, when editorials and newspaper articles will speak of our great educational systems thruout the country, I would like to have published a map of the E nited States with big, black blotches showing the sections and the communities where education is insufficient, and in some instances, utterly lacking. Education, as I see it, is like public health. We have a great health department in this city. Our neighboring cities have health depart¬ ments. We have an extensive service of preventive medicine, but what good does all that precaution do if other sections neglect their health and people with infectious diseases travel from one section to another? Just as we need preventive medicine, just as we need health forces, just as we need proper health departments all over the country to protect the entire popula¬ tion, so we need education. In some sections of our country, and of course you know it better than I, we still have the old system where the school teacher comes for ten or twelve weeks — maybe sixteen weeks — is boarded a week at a time with some family, and then teaches school to the youngsters of that community. We must have uniform standards, both of the schools and of the teachers, thruout the country. I know that the National Education Association will give some thought to this very important subject, to crystallize public opinion in understanding and pressing for a universal system of education, uniform in its standards and uniform in the ability and competency of its teachers. There is room, of course, for all the private schools and schools not sup¬ ported by public funds. They, too, are doing a great work and contributing particularly in the large centers, in taking part of the tremendous load that we have in our public schools. But what I am referring to are the sections of the country and counties where there is insufficient or utter lack of educa¬ tional facilities. I purposely mentioned the number of high schools that we have in New York City. In addition to that, we have four colleges maintained and sup¬ ported entirely bv the City of New \ ork because the time is coming when not only will every American child be entitled to a high-school education, General Sessions 93 but no American child will be deprived of a college education because of the economic condition of his family. Therefore, in addition to the little local problems that come up from time to time in our schools, as I see it, the great mission of the American teacher is to press forward that we may have the benefit of our system of education for every American child, and, as the gentleman stated in his prayer, life, lib¬ erty, and the pursuit of happiness. I would say, with life, liberty, and educa¬ tion we are sure of the pursuit of happiness. FOURTH GENERAL MORNING SESSION SECTION A HANDICAPPED CHILDREN —Abstract WILLIAM BLAKE JACK, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PORTLAND, MAINE The Portland, Maine, school system, as well as many others of the country, offers several very definite types of service for handicapped children. A more complete conservation of our human resources is certainly as important as the conservation of our natural resources about which we have so much concern from time to time. Not only is it necessary to conserve the handicapped children, but a very real and definite part of the program for education of the handicapped should be to develop, among the more fortunate students, an intelligent interest in and an understanding sympathy for the handicapped. This, perhaps, can best be done thru a general school project similar to the Junior Red Cross. The teacher of today must have a twofold vision : ( 1 ) he must look directly at the individual child ; and (2) he must look out of the school window at the world with all its problems and complexities in which the child must live. The first and almost paramount requisite of the teacher of classes of handicapped children is to recognize that character handicaps of fear and doubt and discouragement, which, tho like all mental handicaps are unseen, are quite as real as physical handicaps. To wisely and sympathetically help children physically or mentally handicapped to surmount whatever handicap of disposition or character they possess, is one of the ever present and impor¬ tant objectives of all our teachers in atypical classes. Another service which a teacher should give is to interpret the needs and problems of these children and youth to the community at large and to secure for them fairness and courtesy on the part of the public and especially on the part of employers, who with some slight adjustment in the requirements of work may find many of the older handicapped youths able to give exceptionally valuable, faithful, and worthwhile service. There are many types of handicapped children — those handicapped spirit¬ ually, financially, socially, mentally, emotionally, or physically. Never did the handicapped child in our schools need more careful consideration than in these days of depression and great social unrest in America and the world at large, with the tremendous confusion of opinions, the complexity of ideals, 94 National Education Association and the conflict of ideas. Class or race prejudice is one of the greatest handi¬ caps which many children may inherit or acquire. It is one of the aims of the Portland schools to help break down unwarranted barriers of prejudice and encourage the students to appreciate real worth in character and ability wherever they may And it. Today, more than ever before, the American school must hear the voice of every child. EDUCATION OF NEGRO CHILDREN— Abstract GARNET C. WILKINSON, FIRST ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, WASHINGTON, D. C. More rapidly in education than in any other area of human endeavor the Negro has made progress within the last two generations. Much of this progress among Negroes educationally is due to the fact that the attitude of the South on the education of the Negro has been steadily changing for the better thru the years. Thruout the South today the general tendency with reference to common schools for Negroes is to improve facili¬ ties, to exercise more helpful and efficient supervision, to establish vital con¬ nection between school work and the activities of the people served, and to project the influence of the school into community life. To conclude that there are no present serious problems in the education of Negro children would, however, be a fatal mistake. There is yet an immediate and persistent need for more education, for better education, and for higher education among Negro children in this country. This need is strikingly revealed by the following facts : 1. The educational opportunities offered Negro children in rural communities are lacking in adequacy, and the educational facilities provided for them in these areas in the main are difficult of access. 2. Approximately 16 percent of the Negro population ten years old and over are unable to read and write. 3. There is lack of appropriate emphasis upon commercial training and guidance in the educational program provided for Negro children. 4. Facilities available for the professional training and preparation of teachers of Negro children are altogether inadequate. 5. There is convincing evidence of inequitable distribution of public funds between racial groups for the support of education. These facts eloquently bespeak the need for a more abiding public concern for and interest in the educational welfare of American children of Negro blood and tradition. Reasonably interpreted, these findings mean that Amer¬ ica has not yet established equality of educational opportunity for all of her children without respect to race. General Sessions 95 THE EDUCATION OF THE INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED — A bstract BENJAMIN B. GREENBERG, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, NEW YORK, N. Y. Of great concern to the administrators of our educational program has been the relatively little progress in adaptability to the needs and the poten¬ tialities of the intellectually gifted children — the so-called fast learners — in our schools. A well-conceived program of education for these children be¬ comes a “must” part of our agenda because society, bewildered with sugges¬ tions for social, economic, and even political changes, needs the best — the most competent thinking and dynamic leadership it can get. The challenge to do something about the intellectually gifted children of our country is made all the more necessary because in many of our public schools the policy underlying the educational program is guided most by the myth that the “bright” children take care of themselves. Unfortunately, these children, instead of taking care of themselves so that their potentialities may be fully realized in social endeavor and so that the optimum growth for them can become of special and indispensable value for our civilized society, become as helpless as any other children under authorities blind to their exceptional ability. The 6000 elementary-school children in New York City whose superior mental ability is indicated by an I.Q. of at least 130, have been shown to be slightly superior to the norms in physical characteristics, healthier than the unselected school children of corresponding age. This group of our school population is superior in character and personality traits, in emotional sta¬ bility, and in social adjustment. In all the studies of the followup of the careers of these gifted children, it has been found that they remain gifted. They do not lose in educational or general ability, and the gains far out¬ balance losses with respect to such traits as social adaptability and breadth of interests. Surely it is our obligation to identify these gifted children, to promote better educational opportunities for the intellectually gifted, to experiment with instructional technics and educational procedures that will develop better educational opportunities for all children who have propensities for leadership. Influenced by the diversity of experiences in a rapidly changing economic, social, and political world, our intellectually gifted children need to be chal¬ lenged to assume a dynamic part in the understanding of and in the possible solution of such needs as they present themselves in their world. The educa¬ tional procedures in such a conceived program of education must be evolved so as to mature, enrich, and strengthen human personality, and to help our educational program to become an instrument for personal and social creativ¬ ity, and to guide the development of the individual so that he can resist the evils of his environment and do his share to reconstruct that environment in the interests of human happiness. 96 National Education Association In 1936 the board of superintendents of New York City founded an ex¬ perimental school with the one object of improving education for exceptional children. The experiment was organized for a five-year period. Fifty children were selected and were to he retained for the full five years. To enable the essential accumulation of records of progress, development, and appraisal the teachers were to advance with them. These children are now between nine and one-half and twelve years of age. Two teachers were chosen on the bases of their alertness and resourceful¬ ness, willingness to enter into the spirit of experimental approach, wholesome personality, and recognition of the creative character of the learning process. The children have studied the following seven areas of living, for which units of learning have been developed: clothing; transportation by water, air, land; communication; metals and minerals; housing; sanitation; and illumination. Besides the chief enrichment project, the following additions to the learning program have been found to be extremely broadening: the study of biographies, the science of nutrition, general science, the cultural contributions and personality satisfactions of music and art, and the con¬ versational study of French. Handicrafts, too, are part of the daily activity of these classes. Training for leadership is emphasized in our program. In teaching these classes, the individual contract method, with an individualized method of instruction, has been found most successful. Standardized educa¬ tional tests are given at periodic intervals. Our pupils do not have homework assigned to them. Citizenship — an informed citizenry for social betterment — has been the central theme of the National Education Association conference. Surely, the present age calls for leadership second to no period of human endeavor. Qualified leadership proceeds from gifted children and youth who are ade¬ quately trained. They are the children whose superior endowments, whose training in the schools, in the home, and in the community for efficient and effective citizenship are the standard hope of men. The intellectually gifted children are society's potential investment and humanity’s best contribution to the advance of mankind. JUVENILE DELINQUENTS — Abstract HONORABLE CAMILLE KELLEY, JUDGE OF THE JUVENILE COURT, MEMPHIS, TENN. The deliberately delinquent boy or girl is rare where analysis shows a normal mind. Youth is frivolous, not corrupt, adventurous, not vulgarly daring, and needs intelligent guidance. Youth is in search of happiness. Wh at is a juvenile delinquent? Just where do we draw the line between the violent outburst of normal youth and the delinquent who is dangerous to society? When we consider background, inheritance, environment, neglect, economic strain ; dissipation, mental and physical cruelty, inadequate social facilities, and limited educational opportunities as the curves and danger spots on youth's highway, we wonder whether a juvenile delinquent sins against society or whether society sins against the juvenile. General Sessions 97 It is important to classify according to talent. When we train children to do the things they can do well, and when we educate them along the line of their capacity and talent, they get joy and satisfaction in expression and they fit into, instead of out of, society’s requirements. The panacea for “all the ills that flesh is heir to” is education. This is cer¬ tainly true if Spencer’s definition of education is correct: “To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge.” We are searching for the answer to youth’s problems. We are realizing that the word “educate” means to draw forth and not to drive in. The unfoldment of youth is a vital and interesting process. In the behavior world much depends on how the community handles or cares for the insane, the feeble-minded, the crippled, and the lawless. The taxpayer pays for this care. The official distributes the money. The type of institution — both educational and protective — determines to a large degree the amount of security and happiness enjoyed by the normal citizen. There¬ fore, it is lack of citizenship that jeopardizes our safety more than does crime. A juvenile court is a social clinic providing mental and physical examina¬ tions, and is as important as a schoolhouse. Modern parents who have lost none of the ideals of yesterday and have not relinquished their controls represent the first line of defense against juvenile delinquency. Censure is cruel and I do not believe there is much healing in it. It may be a safety valve for the person using it, but pounding people down has very little power toward building them up. Confidence is a healing lotion. Every generation has its peeve. Yesterday we blamed dime novels, today we blame modern influences, picture shows, automobiles, etc. I do not con¬ cur in this condemnation. Perhaps in the morning of the morrow we will call it universal extravagance, fast living, or new appetites and desires. Diagnosis without suggested remedy or prescribed treatment is of little value. Educa¬ tion with its natural social results is the answer. School systems, where ade¬ quate care and attention is given to all types of growing children, and where well-paid and well-chosen school teachers and probation officers are provided ; modern juvenile courts where mental and physical examinations are made; the right kind of training and reform institutions; protective social legisla¬ tion — all of these combine to make a healthier atmosphere for the growing child and to prevent delinquency. SECTION B THE PLACE OF SOUND PICTURES IN EDUCATION — Abstract EDGAR DALE, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLUMBUS, OHIO The motion picture possesses unique potentialities for the development of an adequate educational program. First of all, it is less abstract, less symbolic, more easily understood than written symbols. Then, too, the motion picture can humanize ideas and can show us what things mean in terms of their effect upon people. 98 National Education Association Thru the motion picture's power to influence emotions and to influence attitudes, we have it within our power to definitely sensitize our boys and girls to the need for better housing, for better care of juvenile delinquents, for an extension of public health work and health insurance; to the need for vocational and occupational guidance; and to more tolerant feelings toward various races and nationalities. And in this connection let us make haste to use the motion picture to develop the motivations necessary for living intelligently, for living cooperatively in a democratic nation. In this connection, I would recommend such pictures as “Emile Zola” and “The Life of Louis Pasteur.” Some of you may be surprised at my insistence that we take account of the theatrical film when we discuss the sound film in education. But if our objectives are pupil behavior and not isolated subjectmatter learnings, we must, in the school of the future, take more account of all community influences. We must help boys and girls interpret their out-of-school ex¬ periences. Surely we cannot lightly cast aside the fact that in our urban areas at least, high-school boys and girls spend almost a half-hour daily with the newspaper, two or three hours a week in the movie theater, and are within earshot of a radio for two hours a day. We must, then in our schools, take responsibility in teaching students how to evaluate the movie, the radio, and the press. The school has certain specialized objectives aiming to make experiences in the field of geography, biology, mathematics, and health more illuminating to pupils. The motion picture has unique value in clarifying certain experi¬ ences in these fields. It can, for example, give a unified, coordinated picture of a condition, a place, or an event that is not easily given by other methods. History in many cases tends to become a series of unrelated events. Thru the motion picture, however, we can in a brief space of time bring together images which help us to understand what we did not understand before. The sound film has an unusual contribution to make in the field of the sciences. It is able to show to all the members of a class at the same time microscopic materials which are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Similarly the motion picture by means of a telescopic lens brings to us pic¬ tures of objects and events that are ordinarily too large and too far away to be seen by us. High-speed photography offers us a visual understanding never before possible. This is also true of the animated diagrams of the operations of plants or animals or machinery. The sound film of the future will make signal contributions to the field of teacher education. Thru this device we shall be able to trace from year to year the growth and development of children and we shall be able to have classroom procedures on tap for our young teachers to evaluate, to criticize, and to emulate. But, many of you are thinking, can we afford this new educational device? How can we pay for such equipment and films? I have one specific suggestion at this point. If we could get along with one less sixty-million- dollar battleship, we could do the following things with the money: We General Sessions 99 could put a high quality 16-mm. sound projector into 200,000 different schools. We could produce 1000 different film subjects. We could dis¬ tribute 500,000 prints of these films to the schools of the country. Our schools in the past have limped along on foot while the world was moving forward on wheels. Education, like individuals, faces the problem of keeping up with the times. George Bernard Shaw’s statement that “education is always putting the tacks where the carpet was two weeks ago,” is too true. The use of new tools in education like the motion picture is imperative. Romain Rolland once said, “The world has become a unity and for this high destiny, mankind is not yet fit.” It is the task of education to fit us for this destiny. SECTION C THE NEW SPIRIT OF OUR PLANET — Abstract ROBERT LORETTE, GRADUATE, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, CASTLETON, VT. We must conquer minds if we are to have world citizenship. Our own mind is the first one to conquer. We must include world citizenship in our philosophy of life. It is in this point that communism, fascism, socialism, and democracy, as they are now practiced, fail to make world brotherhood a reality at the present time. Each holds itself as the only path to its ultimate goals and holds all others as either inadequate or antithetical. Thus each theory becomes absolute, which in itself justifies any attempt to master the world by whatever means. If we accept the theory that the philosophy of state must be our philosophy or way of life it follows that we must decide what that way of life shall be. If we ask the German, is it not logical that he will answer, “Naziism” ; the Russian, “Communism”; the American, “Democracy”? The net result is that we find ourselves living in an era of nationalism. All groups are equally endangered by their extremely nationalistic policies. Each in expanding for the security of its segregated people, is infringing on the security of other organized groups. Hope for each group — fascistic, communistic, democratic — lies in a common cooperation for the solution of common difficulties. World citizen¬ ship would be peaceful cooperation between the peoples of the earth, based on sympathetic understanding and peaceful settlement of differences by arbitration. Youth is often blamed for its selfishness and impatience. Nevertheless, we are willing to begin to do something about working for this idea of world citizenship. The following eight points are at least a start in that direction : 1. Inclusion of the spirit of world citizenship in our way of life 2. Use of the ballot to select worthy public officials and to communicate with these officials to keep them constantly conscious of our desire for world citizenship 3. Development of education for receptiveness to the ideal of world citizenship thru the proper handling of subjectmatter 100 National Education Association 4. Development of a higher general mentality thru increased physical well-being 5. Development of radio, aviation, and television as a means to develop common interest and understanding 6. Development of economic and political policies which emphasize the long-time good rather than the immediate profit 7. Promotion of a worldwide front to combat crime and disease 8. Establishment of an international university to be placed on neutral ground. If we, the college graduates, accept these and similar aims we can raise world citizenship to the level of reality. We can make world citizenship our planet’s new spirit. A COLLEGIAN’S POINT OF VIEW ON THE ROLE OF THE STUDENT IN ACHIEVING WORLD CITIZENSHIP MARY JEANNE MC KAY, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL STUDENT FEDERATION OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, N. Y. What is the difference between citizenship and residence wdthin a country? Since the days of the French Revolution the term “citizenship’’ has had a connotation of individual action, of freedom of participation and intercourse in the affairs of the state or the community; whereas residence in a state may give no such liberty, but may place the individual in a position of subjectivity. The happiest existence for a man seems to be brought about when he is a citizen of a country rather than a subject of a country — when he ma)r transact his affairs with some degree of independence, integrity, and mutual respect. World citizenship may be thought of in these same terms — the interaction of many smaller communities within a harmonious whole. But this world citizenship is not to be achieved except in terms of understanding, compre¬ hension, and tolerance. These virtues are expressed only when practiced by the members of each smaller community. This tolerance, this understanding, is a learned way of doing things. Within the complicated modern society no better training ground to effect these ends exists than that found in the college community. Here a selective, somewhat isolated, group affords a laboratory for the practice of technic in world citizenship. Of all young people, students are the most fortunate in having greater access to the material for achieving these necessary tools — tolerance and understanding. Implementing this statement so that it has concrete meaning gives rise to practical suggestions in the administration of educational institutions. The college should practice the spirit of democracy in achieving amicable relationships among the various campus groups. The essential social controls should be formulated only after considering all points of view. This means that such practices as “administrative control,” “faculty dominance,” and “isolated” student government must give way to the concept of community government in which the administration, the faculty, the students, and the business staff have a part. Any other arrangement is detrimental to the General Sessions 101 development of self-reliance and tolerant understanding in dealings with others on the part of the student, who in reality is a member of his com¬ munity whether or not he is a member of the electorate. The curriculum should include subjects designed to present to students a knowledge of world affairs and of the differences in the cultures and economic structures of the many countries. This may call for the revision of curriculum standards, the stimulation and building up of international affairs with a recognition that such subjects are as vital and necessary as the traditional pillars of classical learning. Within the student group there should be an increased participation in those extracurriculum activities especially relating to the international field. The collegian should give his active support toward such things as the securing of exchange scholarships, membership in international affairs clubs, and participation in peace promotion activities. The exchange student be¬ comes a visual education of his own country, reaching many more students than would ever have the opportunity to visit that country. International affairs clubs are outlets for intellectual activity, and peace activities provide a dramatic and useful crusade to arouse the apathetic student. He should be stimulated further to engage in those other projects which, heeding the educational principles of learning by doing, give practice in tolerance in the settlement of issues by arbitration — such things as debating, open forums, and, above all, the campus government. All of this, of course, can have real meaning only when these student citizens become active citizens in the sense that they have a legal voice in the determination of the affairs of their community, and when they insist that this learned way of doing things becomes the actual way of doing things. With this great opportunity for leadership in the struggle to achieve world citizenship, the student of today has at one time a great responsibility, but a most splendid challenge. Whether or not the student accepts this challenge and supplies this leadership will be determined by today’s educators; indeed, we may say that the achievement of tomorrow’s world of cooperative states will be but a monument to today’s educators. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM The International Program session convened on the New York World’s Fair Grounds at three-thirtv o’clock, Thursday afternoon, June 30, 1938, M rs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, presiding. President Woodruff: Mr. President, distinguished guests, members and friends of the National Education Association: It is a distinct privilege and an honor to present this afternoon Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who will preside over this International Program. Mrs. Roosevelt! Chairman Roosevelt: Mr. President, President Woodruff, distin¬ guished guests: I am going to ask Reverend Quincy Blakely, minister of the Congregational Church, of Farmington, Connecticut, to give the invo¬ cation. (The invocation was given.) 102 National Education Association ADDRESS HONORABLE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Chairman Roosevelt: I know that it is the privilege of a presiding officer to make speeches in introducing each speaker. We are late today, and so I am not going to avail myself of that privilege. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the President of the LTited States ! President Roosevelt: Dr. Woodruff, members of the National Edu¬ cation Association : I am glad to come here today to this great meeting, and I am especially happy that, I think for the first time in my life, I was intro¬ duced by my wife. If you have followed the arguments of financial experts over the last few years, you have guessed that they have as many theories of keeping books as there are ends to serve. They do not always agree on the definition of capital, and they even disagree on what is an asset and what is a liability. That is true both in private business and in government. But whatever differences bookkeepers and financiers may have over the rules of their professions, no man or woman of common sense can forget, or allow government to forget, what are the true and ultimate assets and liabilities of a nation. The only real capital of a nation is its natural resources and its human beings. So long as we take care of, and make the most of both of them, we shall survive as a strong nation, a successful nation, and a progressive nation — whether or not the bookkeepers say other kinds of budgets are from time to time out of balance. This capital structure — natural resources and human beings — has to be maintained at all times. The plant has to be kept up and new capital put in year by year to meet increasing needs. If we skimp on that capital, if we exhaust our natural resources and weaken the capacity of our human beings, then we shall go the way of all weak nations. Before we can think straight as a nation we have to consider, in addition to the old kind, a new kind of government balance sheet — a long-range sheet which shows survival values for our population and for our democratic way of living, balanced against what we have paid for them. Judged by that test, which is history’s test, I venture to say that the long-range budget of the present Administration of our government has been in the black and not in the red. For many years I, like you, have been a pedagog — of course many people who are not strong on spelling will get that word mixed up with demagog — striving to inculcate in the youth of America a greater knowledge of and interest in the problems which, with such force, strike the whole world in the face today. In these recent years we have taught the prudent husbandry of our national estate — our rivers, our soil, our forests, our phosphates, our oils, our minerals, and our wild life. Along these lines we have made mighty strides — come further than in all the years before in knowledge of how to General Sessions 103 grapple with the problems of maintaining the estate that our forefathers handed down to us. With the dissemination of this knowledge, we have taken action. Few men begrudge what that action has cost, because it has been based on operations physically large and spectacular, dramatic, easy to see. I am thankful that I live in an age of building, for it is far easier to dramatize to yourself the importance of the object if you see it while it is coming up, than if you come along later and see it only in its completed stage. And so we are fortunate today in seeing the New York World’s Fair of 1939 in the construction stage. This glimpse will make it mean more to us when we come back and see it completed next year. The other half of the preservation of our national capital is likewise a problem of husbandry — the conserving of health, energy, skill, and morale of our population, and especially of that part of our population which will be the America of tomorrow. This also is a problem of the fullest use, the fullest development of precious resources of ability, human ability, which cannot be stored and will be lost if they remain unused. No nation can meet this changing world unless its people, individually and collectively, grow in ability to understand and handle the new knowledge as applied to increasingly intricate human relationships. And that is why the teachers of America are the ultimate guardians of the human capital of America, the assets which must be made to pay social dividends if democracy is to survive. We have believed, we have believed wholeheartedly, in investing the money of all the people on the education of the people. That conviction, backed by taxes and backed by dollars, is no accident, for it is the logical application of our faith in democracy. Man’s presentday control of the affairs of nature is the very direct result of investment in education. And the democratization of education has made it possible for outstanding ability, which would otherwise be completely lost, to make its outstanding contribution to the common weal. We cannot afford to overlook any source of human raw material. Genius — genius flowers in most unexpected places; “it is the impetus of the undistinguished host that hurls forth a Diomed or a Hector.” No government can create the human touch, the self-sacrifice which the individual teacher gives to the process of education. But what government can do is to provide financial support and to protect from interference the freedom to learn. No one wants the federal government to subsidize education any more than is absolutely necessary. It has been, and, I take it, it will continue to be, the traditional policy of the United States to leave the actual management of schools and their curriculums to state and local control. But we know that in many places local government unfortunately cannot adequately finance either the freedom or the facilities to learn. And there the federal government can properly supplement local resources. Here is where the whole problem of education ties in definitely with the natural resources of the country and the economic picture of the individual 104 National Education Association community or state. We all know that the best schools are, in most cases, located in those communities which can afford to spend the most money on them, the most money for adequate teachers’ salaries, for modern buildings, and for modern equipment of all kinds. We know, too, that the weakest educational link in the system lies in those communities which have the lowest taxable values, therefore, the smallest per capita tax receipts, and, therefore, the lowest teachers’ salaries and the most inadequate buildings and equipment. We do not blame these latter communities. They want better educational facilities, but simply have not enough money to pay the cost. There is probably a wider divergence today in the standard of education between the richest communities and the poorest communities than there was one hundred years ago ; and it is, therefore, our immediate task to seek to close that gap — not to close it in any way by decreasing the facilities of the richer communities, but by extending aid to those less fortunate. We all know that if we do not close this gap it will continue to widen, for the best brains in the poorer communities will either have no chance to develop or will migrate to those places where their ability will stand a better chance. To continue that parallel between natural and human resources, it is well to remember that our poorest communities exist where the land is most greatly eroded, where farming does not pay, where industries have moved out, where flood and drought have done their work, where transportation facilities are of the poorest, and where cheap electricity is unavailable for the home. All of this leads me to ask you not to demand that the federal government provide financial assistance to all communities. Our aid for many reasons, financial and otherwise, must be confined to lifting the level at the bottom rather than to giving assistance at the top. Today we cannot do both, and we must, therefore, confine ourselves to the greater need. In line with this policy, the federal government during the past five years has given relatively more assistance to the poorer communities than to the rich. We have done it thru direct relief and thru work relief, thru the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security program, the National Youth Administration, and thru the rehabilitation of flooded, or stranded, or dust-blown areas. We have provided schoolhouses, colleges, libraries, educational equipment, and sanitation in every state in the Union, and I include “sanitation” because it has always seemed to me that good health and good education must go hand in hand. We have placed many millions of dollars in the field of adult education thru the Works Progress Adminis¬ tration, and, here again, most of the money has been expended in the poorer communities of the land. I have spoken of the twin interlocking assets of national and human resources and of the need of developing them hand in hand. But with this goes the equally important and equally difficult problem of keeping education intellectually free. Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free. Such things did not need as much emphasis a generation ago; hut when the clock of civilization can he turned back by burning libraries, by exiling General Sessions 105 scientists, artists, musicians, writers, and teachers, by dispersing universities, and by censoring news and literature and art, an added burden is placed upon those countries where the torch of free thought and free learning still burns bright. If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands, they must be made brighter in our own. If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep it free. If in other lands the eternal truths of the past are threatened by intol¬ erance, we must provide a safe place here for their perpetuation. Yes, there may be times when men and women in the turmoil of change lose touch with the civilized gains of centuries of education ; but the gains of education are never really lost. Books may be burned and cities sacked, but truth, like the yearning for freedom, lives in the hearts of humble men and women. The ultimate victory, the ultimate victory of tomorrow, is with democracy, and thru democracy with education, for no people can be kept eternally ignorant or eternally enslaved. GREETINGS COUNT DOYNEL DE SAINT-QUENTIN, AMBASSADOR FROM FRANCE Chairman Roosevelt: It is a great pleasure to introduce the next speaker. He comes to us from a country with which we have had traditional ties of friendship from the very, very earliest days of our history. For that reason, we would welcome him. But today the friendship between France and the United States means much to us. We have much to learn today, as we had in the early days, from France; and we hope that today we may be able to contribute something to that country which has done much for us in the past. So it is with a great deal of pleasure that I introduce to you Count Doynel de Saint-Quentin, Ambassador from France. Ambassador de Saint-Quentin : At all times, great writers, artists, and scientists have existed whose ideas and influence have passed the bound¬ aries of their own countries. Such men as Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Goethe, Moliere, and Benjamin Franklin do not belong only to one nation; they are a part of the patrimony common to all mankind. That is why history has raised them to the dignity of citizens of the world. Nowadays, this enviable title is still borne by the masters and the dis¬ ciples who have followed their inspiration. But it is no longer the exclusive attribute of this elite. It has taken an enlarged meaning in a changing world, where the question is for every individual to determine what are his rights and his duties outside his own land. The history of the modern world shows a succession of ever increasing communities, each of which surrenders to the next larger one some of its independence for the support it gets. In the beginning, the individual recognized the authority and sought only the protection of the head of the 106 National Education Association family. Then, families grouped themselves into tribes or cities. Cities then formed the nation, long embodied in the person of the sovereign. Not before the 17th century did the individual become aware of the ties binding him to his co-citizens in the same state. Only in the 18th century and merely among the nations who were the first to achieve their unity did the notion appear of a universal community which could be superior to the national community. One cannot indeed find a clearer idea of the bonds between the different human communities and of their hierarchy than that expressed by the great French writer, Montesquieu: Were I to know something which, while being profitable to myself, would be detri¬ mental to my family, I would dismiss it from my thoughts ; were I to know something, profitable to my family but not to my country, I should seek to forget it; were I to know something profitable to my country but detrimental to Europe, or again, profit¬ able to Europe and detrimental to mankind, I would consider it as a crime. Montesquieu knew only the Old Continent. But America was soon to offer the first example of a national unity achieved while viewing an enlarged horizon. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were undoubtedly conscious of their world citizenship. In the course of the 19th century, this conception was still enhanced. The great French poet, Lamartine, who was at the same time a statesman, wrote in 1841 a fine poem, an excerpt of which I shall attempt to translate: Neither sea, nor meridians, nor rivers bound any longer the common heritage of mankind. Every man is of the climate of his intelligence. I am the co-citizen of every thinking man. Truth, thou art my country. But, in practice, nationalities, upon waking, have often felt the urge of a sacred egotism, and the countries are few, indeed, for which the require¬ ments of interest have not at times conflicted with the aspirations of ideals. Be that as it may, the revolution caused by progress in our material life has deeply left its mark on international relations. In the century of aviation and of the wireless, our fate is without choice closely bound to that of other peoples. We benefit by their efforts; we suffer from their misfortunes; we feel the shock of whatever good or evil affects them. Besides, the ever increasing intricacies of the duties assumed by the state, and its growing intervention in favor of the general welfare in every sphere of human activity, have tended to limit the independence that the citizen could devote to the service of the world. It becomes more and more difficult, even to the artist or to the scientist, to isolate himself in his meditations and to live, as a modern French writer put it, above the turmoil. So that today, apart from the exceptions rightly conceded to genius, no one may hope to be a citizen of the world who is not in the first place simply a good citizen. It is indeed easier to attain such a distinction in a country whose government sets the example. Highly qualified voices in this country have proclaimed that a nation may, while entitled to the right of ordering its own internal affairs and of seeking in its own way to promote the welfare of its own people, scrupulously avoid actions that would infringe upon the rights of other nations and prac- General Sessions 107 tice, in every sphere, economic as well as political, the spirit of international cooperation. Suffice it to say that these great voices ever find a warm echo in my own country. In what. measure can education help the young generations to face the new duties thus incumbent upon them? I should not have ventured upon such a topic before men who, having devoted their lives to the noble task of education, are assuredly much more competent than myself on the subject, had they not formally invited me to bring my own testimony. It seems to me that education will succeed in molding world citizens if it endeavors to develop in individuals, not what differentiates them, but what brings them nearer to each other; if it emphasizes less their particular or national character than what in them is common to all human beings. Allow me to recall how French thought, from Descartes up to our days, thru Voltaire and Diderot, strove to bring out the universal character of the human mind. Such is the reason for the importance placed upon general culture in French education. After visiting some of your great universities, I know the importance you also attach to it in America. The future physician, the future electrical engineer, and the future wood engraver will learn, while studying the history of their technic, that the edifice of science or art was slowly erected in the course of centuries and that each scientist or artist has contributed his stone. It would be a vain task, most of the time, to try to determine which man or nation should be endowed with the honor of a discovery. General culture gives access to the common heritage of thought and science, towards which all nations have an equal right and duty. Then comes the study of foreign languages, the knowledge of which alone can enable us to fully understand the genius of other civilizations. Forgive me for praising my own Saint, as we say in France, and for assert¬ ing the educative value of the French language, thereby meaning also literature which is the florescence of language. Born of the Latin language, revigorated in the 16th century by the contribution of Greek and Latin antiquity, constantly renewed by contacts with foreign civilizations — Span¬ ish, Italian, English, German, Russian, and more recently, American — the French language has borrowed from all other civilizations the inspiring elements which harmonized with its own genius. A foreigner, while devoting himself to its study, need not fear to deviate from the genius of his nation. I shall mention next all the disciplines which, in every country, efficiently contribute to the formation of the ordinary citizen. First of all is sportive education, for it teaches to respect the effort of others, when in conformity with the rules of the game, and develops team spirit, which is a preparation for civic duty. Then there is civic education — the one that teaches the citizen to par¬ ticipate, according to his rights, in the government of his country. How can a nation be conscious of the rights and duties incumbent upon it in matters of world interest, if its own citizens are not aware of the responsibilities which are involved in their right to vote? Before leaving the precincts of university life, I should like to emphasize the contribution brought to the development of world citizenship by the 108 National Education Association exchange of professors, students, scholarships, theses, and scientific publi¬ cations between universities and libraries of different countries, as well as by international meetings of professors and scientists. Outside the university, in the varied and often trying field thru which, with a firm and, at times, hard hand, life — that great educator — leads man, the opportunities for improvement, especially in this country, are manifold for any one who aims at world citizenship. Should he feel a strong call for world problems, he may rely upon the assistance of such institutions as the Foreign Policy Association, the Council on Foreign Relations, or the Carnegie Endowment for Inter¬ national Peace. He may find in the newspapers, the periodicals, the radio, and the moving pictures of this country a wonderful means of broadening his knowledge. They will provide him with objective views on international affairs, the precision and the abundance of which are not surpassed in any other land. Museums and art exhibitions will keep him in close touch with other civilizations. The development of international tourist traffic will acquaint him with foreigners. If he is a business man or an economist, he will realize better than any one else that the expansion of commercial exchanges, while raising the standard of living in all countries, creates between them a natural feeling of solidarity. Finally, how could I forget here that most of the efforts and tendencies which foster the spirit of world citizenship, assert themselves in the great international exhibitions? In a few months, over sixty nations inhabiting the most varied regions, will participate in the New York World’s Fair. Forgetting their differences, they will enter a peaceful competition, which will not be a display of strength, but of knowledge, intelligence, and skill. The buildings they intend to erect will reveal to the world the results of their creative effort. At the same time, it will be an opportunity to com¬ pare their methods, to communicate to each other the value of their research, to exhibit in common their knowledge for the benefit of progress and the greater happiness of mankind. No other task could ever bring a more useful contribution to world citizenship, and the nation which organizes such a manifestation is entitled, while the display takes place, to feel that, thru the unanimous vote of the friendly countries which have answered its invitation, it has been endowed with “world leadership." GREETINGS SENOR DON MIGUEL LOPEZ PUMAREJO, MINISTER FROM COLOMBIA Chairman Roosevelt: Now I have the pleasure of introducing to you a gentleman who comes to us from a sister republic. It is a token, I think, of the growing friendship between our nations that Senor Don Miguel Lopez Pumarejo, Minister from Colombia, has come to speak to us today! Senor Pumarejo: The invitation extended to me to speak before the N ational Education Association was so obliging that I found no better way of expressing my appreciation than by coming personally to greet you and General Sessions 109 to thank you, even tho I could not contribute with authority to the discussion of the subject under consideration. I offer you my gratitude and I recipro¬ cate with what I have: an attitude. I know that educators like to hear all voices, and being convinced that we must all share in the formation of public opinion and policy, 1 have the assurance that to those of you who have the responsibility of instructing and inspiring the younger generations in their attitudes toward human problems, the impressions and observations of those who have had experience in public office are always deserving of your attention, whatever their ultimate value may be. I ask you to bear in mind that my experience in international affairs has been mainly restricted to the Western Hemisphere. The problem of human relations is so vast and intricate that it would be vain to pretend to apply one’s impressions and conclusions to all conditions and circumstances. However, I may say at this point that I have always considered the regional approach as the most effective founda¬ tion for international understanding and collaboration, and that altho your problem before youth is of a general character, your immediate field of application is necessarily the one imposed by your geographical location and by your closer neighbors. It is superfluous to draw before you a picture of present world relation¬ ships, with their uncertainties and disturbing expectancies in some quarters, and to contrast it with the picture of 1918 with the hopes and illusions borne of the greatest man-made suffering that the human race has experienced. It is, however, pertinent to our subject to recall the conditions of 1914 as being more similar to the present ones and to underline the fact that the hopes of 1918 were based on the condemnation of war and on the conviction of the futility of war. They represented the better feelings of humanity, what humanity wanted to be. For once, universal feelings and emotions were unanimous and they squared with logic. And vows were made then to create a new and better world. Many countries which had not taken part in the conflict joined in the subsequent endeavor for world order and peace. The results have certainly been far from those anticipated but they should be taken rather as an experience than as a source of discouragement, and in no case as an evidence of a change of mind or feeling by humanity at large. Whole peoples may have followed or supported their governments actively or passively in what may appear as a contradictory attitude, but the better selves of the same peoples yearn for peace and understanding. But even tho the dream of 1918 has not been realized, there is no doubt that progress has been made and that human forces are in a receptive mood for a continued experiment leading towards the desired goal. Those who preach war and employ force know well that they are running counter to the feelings and thoughts of a vast majority of the human race. Let us review briefly some of the forces that are operating in international relations. Perhaps the most outstanding achievements in the past twenty-five years, measured by their universal application and utilization, have taken place in the field of communication. The radio and aviation have been veri¬ table revolutions in their respective spheres. They have provided us with 110 National Education Association means of communication far superior to those existing in 1914 and they have stimulated improvements in the pre-existing means. Wireless, cable, tele¬ graph, and telephone, on the one hand, and trains, motor vehicles, and ships on the other, have all recorded notable improvements since the advent of radio and aviation, and all these combined and related products of human ingenuity constitute the most powerful force promoting the interdependence of peoples and nations. Their power is recognized universally and even those countries where censorship prevails and where individual movements are more regulated employ the radio to carry their messages to other lands, and some employ aviation to enhance their political and technical prestige. A more explicit acknowledgment of the value of these forces could not exist. In the industrial field we have had since the World War a stupendous advance both in the efficiency and variety of production. The physical work of man has been made easier and his out-of-work life more convenient and plentiful. All this reflects the advancement of science and human thought, which, like their byproducts, are the achievements of a much broader co¬ operation than can ever be substituted within the narrow boundaries of any country. And this deliberate process of making life more abundant neces¬ sarily requires contributions of one kind or another from many sources. Thus, isolation and economic self-containment are merely obstacles in the way of the superior force of human progress, against which they are waging a losing battle. Besides these major forces there are innumerable minor forces at work, all promoting and forcing, as it were, a greater interdependence, because the products and manifestations of human culture have no nationality and we all claim them for our use or enjoyment as a heritage of the human race. There is, perhaps, no better illustration of this point than the tragedy of the clash between the mind of a genius and the petty environment of racial, religious, and political prejudices. We all feel the tragedy as ours no matter where it occurs. Why is it, then, that in spite of the universal tendency of human progress there exists an apparent regressive nationalistic movement ? One need not delve into a study of human thought to realize that today an appreciable majority of people when discussing international or world problems take a broader and higher plane of thought. Such an attitude implies a recognition of a superior force towards which we all gravitate. That the substance and power of this superior force representing the true destinies of humanity should be greater than individual racial or national forces is only natural. It is equally natural that a lag should exist between the general and the individual cultural progress. The lag itself will be represented in as many forms and degrees as may be dictated by human, social, and material resources in each case. It may be more accentuated in material progress in some cases; in others in political advancement; and yet in others in cultural development, so that it will always be impossible to expect a uniform world rate of progress and, consequently, a unity of mind and of attitude. All these variations of form will be reflected in the political thought of countries and races with the inevitable repercussions on General Sessions 111 international policies. There will always be governments and individuals clinging to passing standards and running, thereby, counter to the pre¬ vailing general trend, whatever the latter may be, but the human race has mastered this earth by its ability as well as by its yearn for improvement and perfection, and the general trend will always be towards advancement. There is no reason to believe that the human spirit has been so corrupted or decayed that a backward movement should be considered inevitable. Such reverse trend could only be conceivable if the constructive forces which have always been in the majority fail in their outlook, duty, and responsi¬ bility. Such is the prism thru which we have to view world processes and con¬ ditions in order to determine how education can best contribute to the advancement towards the higher ideals, taking the facts as they are and not as we would like them to be, and meeting these facts as realities that must be investigated and thoroly understood in order that we may properly appraise them before advancing thought or taking action. Many times we fail because we do not understand or do not want to understand the reasons for specific situations or conditions and their attendant human emotional reactions. If we disagree as to an attitude, we are prone to grant ourselves the righteous cause and unconsciously plunge into deadlock and stagnation. The problem of education and international relations is mainly one of approach, and it seems to me that in order to arrive at a proper approach we must first create the right attitude, both in the student bodies and in the teachers. To the latter falls the main responsibility, as theirs is the direct obligation to youth and to the community at large, for their approach and attitude are going to determine the attitude of future generations towards human relationships. Inadequate presentation of facts, jingoism, and flag- waving in schools and colleges are more apt to create international compli¬ cations in the future than an unbiased presentation of facts, an open mind to understanding, and a sympathetic attitude towards the problems and actions of others. All this can certainly be accomplished without prejudice to patriotism. It is questionable that he who loves his country most never sees or admits its shortcomings and mistakes, and does not recognize virtues in others. I, for one, do not subscribe to this theory. Wherever intellectual freedom exists, education for human relationships will harmonize with the purpose and functions of education itself — search for and dissemination of truth. In the Americas we believe that thru intel¬ lectual freedom we can endow the average citizen with a knowledge and appreciation of true values; that in his appraisal of major problems such as those bearing on international relations, he may be free from class interests, partisan feelings, religious, racial, and national prejudices, in other words, that he may be free from the enslaving tyranical habits of thought and mental attitudes so easily acquired thru indoctrination where intellectual and educational freedom does not exist or where ignorance prevails. Ours is, therefore, the opportunity to acquire and to transmit the power to appre¬ ciate and to appraise, to criticize others with respect, and to enjoy the 112 National Education Association human values and virtues coming from other lands. We learn then that everywhere men cling tenaciously to what they consider good ; that as a rule they defend their political systems as the best suited to their circum¬ stances; that they will defend their ideals and ethical standards, and, above all, that whatever differences may exist in ideals and practices, however opposite men may be or appear to be, they are more complementary than mutually exclusive and that their differences are the stimulating forces that are at the root of human progress. As our knowledge and attitude improve, so does our power of restraint and control and all in all our ability to understand the reactions and attitudes of others as well as our ability to deal with them. No better evidence of this process can be given than the prevailing spirit of mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration in our continent. The installation of the good neighbor policy, enthusiastically indorsed thruout the United States and consistently enforced by your gov¬ ernment, has been one of the outstanding events in inter-American relations, and its unqualified and equally enthusiastic adoption by the other nations of the continent is an implicit recognition that the Bolivarian dream of Amer¬ ican fellowship is being made possible by the right application of knowledge and the right use of power. The dominant feeling in the Americas is motivated by the proper approach and attitude and now it will only be a question of time when a more rapid, constructive, and mutually beneficial progress in our relationships will be made. Please do not infer that all is milk and honey in the Americas, that we have no problems, and that all meetings are appointments to love feasts, but be assured that we are on the right road and that no contribution can be more effective and of greater future value than the one that you, the teachers, can render. In this period of adjustment to new relationships we have to guard our¬ selves against old prejudices and methods. It is most important to stress the point that if the common goal is going to be, as I firmly believe it should be, the liberation of the human spirit from racial, religious, and local prejudices, and the enrichment of life in general, the process must necessarily be one of mutual consent and agreement, and of collaboration. Spiritual values cannot be advertised, sold, or given away and consumed like goods. In countries enjoying intellectual freedom it is just as useless to try to impose a philosophy of life as it is to sell merchandise that the people do not want. Both are very bad business. But on the other hand, it is just as easy to trans¬ mit cultural values or to convey their meaning as it is to sell goods that people need and are ready to pay for in cash. Let me give you a practical instance to illustrate my point. In what is termed Latin America there was a great Indian culture that was mostly substituted by the European. Out of the mixture of races and cultures a new culture has been developing which, naturally, varies somewhat from one country to another ; but on the whole we have a philosophy of life and an appreciation of human values which some of us believe to be as good in their balance and breadth, if not better, than those prevailing in some of the more industrialized and economically advanced countries, and, while, General Sessions 113 as mentioned before, we all have a tendency to hold to what we consider good, no group of people has a deeper feeling of human understanding or a keener disposition to learn than the average Latin American. Parentheti¬ cally let me clarify a paradox by telling you that if we have not made the same display of progress as other countries have during the last century, it is due in no small part to our struggles over ideals and to natural conditions which have made us more indifferent to the supremacy of material satis¬ factions. Still you need only read any comment on so-called international cultural activities or to glance at a radio map to see that the directional antennas are pointing at us and that we are the overwhelmed objective of this amazing and gratuitous scramble for cultural and political markets. It is astonishing to contemplate this human effort when we know that half of it, if conducted cooperatively by mutual considerations and agreement, would produce far more advantageous results. The behavior and attitude of individuals, particularly of those who visit other countries or who express written or oral comment about them, are of the greatest importance and should be taken as an object lesson for edu¬ cational activities. Some of you may have heard the remark that we Latin Americans are sensitive and resentful. Certainly we are! We are not as susceptible to flattery as is supposed by those who confuse discreet restraint of reaction with approbation, but we are sensitive to the attitude of the self-appointed conductor who thinks it is just as easy to construct a vehicle and to provide the means therefor as it is to tell a passenger where to get off; we are sensitive to the patronizing look and gesture of the foreign individual whose righteousness and infatuation are a blemish to his own country; we resent the consideration that human poverty and suffering are picturesque when seen in foreign countries and that they are legitimate objects of trade, and we resent as you do the hasty comments of individuals who are not sufficiently equipped or informed to express opinions. I am not singling out nationalities or implying that when our fellow citizens visit foreign countries their behavior is beyond reproach. I am merely trying to be helpful by telling you some things that I think you should know, and I hope that in the same spirit you will frequently tell us things that we should know. In connection with the educational activities in the Americas, I would like to register here a word of praise and appreciation for the splendid con¬ tribution of your own Department of the Interior. The radio program conducted last winter under the title of “Brave New World’ is a most commendable interpretation and application of the spirit of compenetration and understanding that has taken root in the Western Hemisphere. You gentlemen are privileged with the task of preparing the new genera¬ tion for a wholesome and abundant life. Of the newer concepts that have been introduced to education perhaps no one is so alluring as the one calling for responsible world citizenship and for human understanding and solidar¬ ity. You will not only be called upon to teach your students the nature of human values, but what is more fruitful you will have the opportunity of 114 National Education Association contributing to the feeling of such values. Thus you will have the larger participation in the work of removing the obstacles which man himself has put on the road of a broader human collaboration. The task is by no means easy and the results will not be seen overnight, but your labors will be rewarded with great satisfaction, not the least of which will be the grati¬ tude of your fellow beings. WHAT CAN FORMAL EDUCATION CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOLUTION OF WORLD CONFLICTS? PAUL MONROE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, N. Y. ; PRESIDENT, WORLD FEDERATION OF EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS Chairman Roosevelt: Now I think that as teachers many of you are frequently asked the question, “What can be done today to advance peace in the world?” and as teachers I am sure that you often answer, “The only real way to advance peace is by education.” However, I am also sure that people frequently press you to explain to them just how they shall take action, and, sometimes, you find it hard to answer. We are to have the pleasure now of having the president of the World Federation of Education Associations tell us something on the subject of, “What Can Formal Education Contribute to the Solution of World Conflicts?” I am very happy to introduce to you Dr. Paul Monroe! Dr. Monroe: No educational problem is ever completely solved. The most that we can hope for is that each is in the process of solution. Only by the daily contribution which we as teachers make thru the classroom can this continuous process of solution go on. Otherwise, education stops. Hence I have no hopes, in these few moments, of completely solving even academically these world conflicts, but only of making suggestions to you as to how education can contribute to their solution. There must be con¬ tinuous and persistent effort made to answer the question, What can or¬ ganized education do to contribute to the solution of the many world conflicts of our generation? The World Federation of Education Associations was founded fifteen years ago by the National Education Association. As its contribution to this effort, various foreign education associations were invited to participate in the conference of the International Committee of the N.E.A. Since that meeting in San Francisco, the Federation has held biennial conferences in Edinburgh, Scotland; Geneva, Switzerland; Dublin, Ireland; Oxford, England; Toronto, Canada; and Denver, Colorado. Last year we met in Tokyo, Japan, where more than 1000 American teachers received the generous hospitality of the Japanese teachers. We are in receipt this week of an invitation from President Bargas and from the teachers of Brazil to hold the conference of 1939 in Rio de Janeiro. That invitation has been accepted and I herewith invite as many members of the National Education Association as will find it possible to attend this conference in Brazil. We General Sessions 115 hope at the same time to extend the itinerary of the summer so as to visit at least the capital cities of a number of our sister republics to the south. The purpose of the World Federation of Education Associations is to promote international understanding and goodwill. In pursuit of these aims I, as president of the W.F.E.A., have a place on this program thru the courtesy of the president of the National Education Association. Naturally the question is raised, as it must be raised repeatedly — what can organized education do to contribute to the solution of the many world conflicts of our generation ? The first two suggestions as to how this end may be accomplished are advanced by the Federation. The best answer is by the extension of ac¬ quaintance of teachers of the countries constituting the Federation. Gen¬ eral acquaintance can become a solvent of international antagonisms. An incident told of the English essayist, Charles Lamb, illustrates the point. Mr. Lamb was a timid soul but much sought after by the social lion hunters of his time. At one of the receptions at which he was being exhibited, his hostess remarked, “Mr. Lamb, I want you to meet Mr. Smith.” Mr. Lamb replied, “I don’t want to meet Mr. Smith. I don’t like Mr. Smith.” “Oh,” replied his hostess, “I did not know that you knew Mr. Smith.” “I don’t,” replied Mr. Lamb, “that is the reason I don’t like Mr. Smith.” This contains a general truth. W e do not like those people whom we do not know. Hence the first function of the World Federation is to arrange that the teachers of various countries meet each other. The second objective of the Federation is to disseminate information about educational systems of various countries, their problems, and their significant experiences. Both of these major aims are promoted, first, by these biennial confer¬ ences. But the Federation has also established two supplementary means. The first of these is a travel bureau to promote the acquaintance of teachers. The second is the establishment of a magazine, not publishing original articles but giving extracts and condensations of articles from the educational publications of all countries. Hence all materials by which education and teachers may contribute to the solution of international problems should be disseminated. The third objective of education to the solution of world conflicts is made by developing the idea of world citizenship. We have been told frequently by our political leaders that disarmament of nations must be preceded by disarmament of the mind. Disarmament of the mind can be accomplished only by an educational process. The practical way to accom¬ plish this end is by the creation of the ideal of world citizenship to supple¬ ment the idea of national citizenship. The question naturally arises — what can be substituted in education for the objective of nationalistic loyalty? The answer is — substitute an inter¬ national world citizenship. Some such formulation of the objective is in¬ evitable, especially since the recently invented means of education are all international in their effects. The radio and the cinema are not limited in 116 National Education Association their effects, as is the printed word, by linguistics and hence by nationalistic bounds. So it is, too, with a universal economic basis and a universal system of transportation which almost defies time and space. 'The barriers of language and of the printed word are overcome. Education must use all of these means but it is not essential that all of these should be limited to nationalistic ends. Loyalty to family ties and interests does not prevent one from being a loyal and effective citizen of a country. So it is not necessary that loyalty to a national citizenship be an obstacle to a loyalty to world citizenship. Only a world citizenship must be on a rational rather than on an emotional basis. In my opinion the basis of a world citizenship is to be found in teaching children that citizens of one nation are neither better nor worse than citizens of another country, but are different from them ; that civilization or cul¬ ture is a complex fabric to which many nations have contributed essential strands; that all peoples have some excellencies which are their own; and that in these days all possess the essentials of modern complex civilization ; and that it is becoming more difficult for any one people to possess any gen¬ eral superiority over another. Especially will it be difficult to achieve this end with respect to political institutions and customs. It is just here that education has one of its most difficult tasks to perform. It must train each citizen to look upon his own social or political institutions as best for himself since that is his fabric of civilization and he must become an effective na¬ tional citizen before he can become an acceptable citizen of the world. It is essential to teach that each country is entitled to use its own type of political institutions without interference from other peoples. It is this principle which is being so grievously violated at the present time in several quarters of the globe. To recognize this equality of rights is one of the essentials of world citizenship, but with strong nationalism such as we possess in the United States it becomes difficult to recognize this essential principle in world citizen¬ ship. As a matter of fact, it is a principle which the LTnited States has been particularly prone to violate because of the effective teaching of nationalism by our own public schools. The recognition of the rights of others to their own institutions even when very different from our own is a task of international education and of a rational, national education. This can never be achieved on an emotional basis. The fourth value of education in international conflicts is to be found in the character of the conflicts themselves. Such conflicts are now caused largely by differences in political ideals; to use the terminology of the day, they are idealogical in character. “Fascism,” “communism,” “totalitarian¬ ism,” “etatism,” “democracy,” are words that have come to have a signifi¬ cance all out of proportion to the words, all out of proportion to the original meaning of the political concept which gave them origin. This enlarged meaning of the power and force which these words have is the result of education — a new kind of education, it is true, an education which we also label wi th a new term — “propaganda.” The essence of propaganda is the one-sided presentation of facts and the appeal to emotions, especially to self- General Sessions 117 interest and to fear. The only weapon which we have to use against these is the education which appeals to reason, to ideas rather than to emotions. The appeal to emotions has a more ready response and a more immediate bearing on action but those of us who believe in the verities taught by many generations of experience can best rely on these ancient truths. The appeal to emotions will soon run its course. Its chief characteristic is that it must continually arouse stronger and stronger emotions. Hence there must be a constant shift of appeals. Consequently, it must eventually exhaust itself. Either we must await another generation or the present generation which has responded to the emotional propaganda appeal will with maturity and experience realize the futility of such superficial solutions. Then the task of rational idealogies, whether politic or of a more general social character, will return to its traditional basis and to the field of rational education where it becomes the task of professional educators. It was for this purpose that the school systems were originally formulated. There is no quarrel with the use of educational systems for nationalistic antagonisms. The fact that those countries which have used education most freely for arousing nationalistic antagonisms have resorted to a new type of education and have created officials to direct propaganda is a proof of this statement. In fact, some countries have substituted propaganda for traditional rationalistic education and administrators of propaganda for administrators of education. In such countries it is obvious that many educators are lending them¬ selves unwillingly to this end, are departing from old traditional procedures and are depending upon the central government for financial support of local educational programs and systems. Financial support cannot be sepa¬ rated from control. To create a situation where support and control are separate is immoral and will eventually result in centralized control that inevitably will be used for political ends. In saying this I realize that I am voicing the views of the past generation, not of the present; but in defense I would plead that the past has worked out the principles of the present educational system and that its practices and results still meet the approval of most educators. But in the United States, as elsewhere, I believe that present obsessions will run their course and that in time education will return to the essential principles of traditional practice. To believe otherwise is to confess funda¬ mental doubts concerning our accepted educational principles. I am not willing to do so. For many of the new procedures have not justified them¬ selves by results. Thus may the “acids of modernity eat themselves out.” At least the only antidote to emotional nationalism based on feeling is an education of a rationalistic character. The fifth contribution of education to the solution of world conflicts is the substitution of an education based on reason for one based on emo¬ tions. An emotional appeal has an immediate effect and is a powerful stimulus to action but its effects are transitory and superficial. Only when based on reason supplemented by knowledge is the resulting influence in action last¬ ing and deep-seated. 118 National Education Association The one consideration in studying the effect of emotional propaganda appeal is the realization that such effects are not lasting — that time and experience will furnish the remedy. There are very many in our country who are so thoroly antagonistic to war or to political, racial, and religious intolerance that they are con¬ stantly engaging in various forms of propaganda in public education which are essentially based on emotional appeals. Such people do not seem to under¬ stand that such emotional appeals are very closely related to emotional appeals in favor of violation of neutrality by taking sides in conflicts that disturb other people. There is another general limitation of such emotional education. It soon becomes very easy to change the emotional attitude against war into an emotional attitude favoring war; or, in fact, any one emotional attitude into another one quite contrary. Hence again it is the task of our public educators to base our training upon a rational instead of upon an emotional basis because of this easy exchange of one emotional attitude into another emotional attitude even of a diametrically opposite character. For this reason also we do not need to be greatly disturbed by the organizations of antinational or antipatriotic character or of antiwar character. The chief danger of this emotional education is that it is so easily changed into the opposite objective. This easy development of emotional attitude into something quite different is one reason for believing that time and experience are the only remedies for the extreme enthusiasm which bizarre political attitudes and programs meet in various foreign countries. In time, such attitudes will be outgrown. Time and experience are probably their only palliatives. The same is true, of course, for our own country. Bizarre and seemingly un-American forms of ex¬ periments contain their own correctives. Reason is the outgrowth of ex¬ perience as emotionalism is of propaganda. The function of the teacher is now, as it always has been, to attempt to build up in the pupil a rational attitude based on fact or on the experience of the past or of our con¬ temporaries. Out of all of this complex of competing ideals has come a new valuation of words as the means of education. The traditional educational system of recent years has expressed a growing skepticism of an education of words in favor of an education of activities. But the education of words is not to be despised. Propaganda, the new form of education, has seized upon the discarded or disfavored means and has shown what can be done with an education of words if sufficiently charged with emotional content guided by expert administrators. In fact, even in our own country where as yet we do not have an official propaganda publicly recognized we have developed a new science of the meaning of words. Many of these words of super¬ charged meanings have already been mentioned, such as "fascism,” “com¬ munism," “totalitarianism” — even “democracy" and the term “propaganda” itself. I have used several of these terms myself, such as propaganda. Each has a meaning quite different from its original connotation and from its General Sessions 119 ordinary significance. Each seems to carry a supercharge of meaning not to be defined but also not to be escaped. Then again the present is shown to be an era of words because of the time which masses of population spend in listening to or in reading mean¬ ingless words. The effect of the radio in this respect is appalling. One can understand how a school child should become absolutely impervious to the use of words after listening for hours to the meaningless patter of words on the radio or of a meaning only for entertainment or as “busy work.” There is little reason to expect that the words of instruction would have much lasting effect. Like all American educators in the past, I have favored an emphasis on an education of doing, of activity, instead of a passive education in ideas and ideals. My contention now is that we must return to an education of knowledge largely as a means of competing with the education of propaganda. By many this may be looked upon as a return to an education of words instead of an education of activities, but the success of the various educational propaganda forms, together with the complete failure of the education of activities to meet our social and economic prob¬ lems of the present, call for a revision of our professional thinking. It is the emergence of the world conflicts based on differences in ideas as well as our present economic and social problems which have justified this shift in emphasis back to the earlier objective of public education — namely, the imparting of knowledge and the building up of a substructure of ideas and a superstructure of ideals that will enable the youth of another genera¬ tion to avoid the failures and the conflicts of the present — hence to form social ideals as well as international relations on a basis of reason rather than on one of emotions. While these are the long established moral questions affecting education in the United States that have been open for debate, European countries are involved with other similar unstable principles which seem fraught with even more sinister immediate significance. One of these is the fact that a nation’s plighted word no longer seems to have any significance save as a matter of convenience. The insecurity of the times and the misplaced education of the new nationalism led to discarding the laboriously built-up rules of conduct which hitherto have guarded people from the return to the moral status of barbarism under the stress of interna¬ tional conflicts. The rights of nations to sovereign independence now care¬ fully guarded by the stronger nations are violated with impunity when dealing with weaker nations. We need not question the political forms or institutions chosen by any people. That is their own affair. But the imposition of their own moral standards in substitution for those upon which civilization has been based is of very grave concern to us. Here again education of doing or of activity has been replaced by an emotional nationalistic education which depends upon words and appeals to the emotions — some worthy, some unworthy. These long-settled principles accepted as eternal verities in the past have 120 National Education Association been wholly rejected or challenged or flouted. No remedy for this conflict seems to be in sight except a change in educational procedure which will return to much of that of the past which for the present has been rejected. One other reason for the renewal of emphasis upon instruction in ideas is that one of the outstanding characteristics of this astonishing age is the open¬ ing up for public discussion of many questions presumably long since settled as a matter of fundamental social ethics. A few of these questions are peculiar to America. Presumably the general acceptance of these political or moral ideals had been considered as leading characteristics of the Ameri¬ can attitude. One of these is with reference to the question of lotteries or of gambling in general. During the 18th and early half of the 19th century few educa¬ tional institutions were established without the aid of a lottery. Alany other public and philanthropic enterprises were similarly assisted. The populace quite generally participated in such activities with little or no public dis¬ approval. However, by the early 19th century there had arisen a very gen¬ eral public disapproval of lotteries as well as of all other forms of gambling because of the social and economic evils incident to such activities. Public disapproval gained very largely, particularly as a result of educational processes and particularly as lotteries were used to assist educational en¬ deavors. By the middle of the 19th century, lotteries and all forms of public gambling had come under public disapproval and were subject to legislative or constitutional prohibition. N et now there are many agencies agitating for the renewal of this form of indulgence of human weakness so productive of social ills. A similar question of social procedure that had seemingly long since been settled is that of the relation of church and state with reference to schools. In man)’ parts of the United States the removal of the schools from church control and the prohibition of granting public moneys for ecclesiastical edu¬ cational efforts had been established after a long and most painful con¬ troversy. Here in New York state particularly, the question had been fought out twice in most acrimonious political campaigns, the result being the prohibition of the practice written into the state constitution during the middle of the 19th century. In New England the question had become a part of the Horace Mann educational discussions and had related more to the question of instruction in religion as determined by the local school au¬ thorities. But the result practically everywhere was in the acceptance of the American plan of the complete separation of the schools from ecclesiasti¬ cal control and the elimination of all religious content of education. How¬ ever, now this question again is open to public controversy and again is arousing the passions of people of all classes with reference to the use of public funds for a religious educational purpose. The third one of these principles, presumably long settled, is that of the local control of schools and the rejection of any authority exercised by the general government. The American school system was built up entirely on the basis of local initiative, local interest, and local control. Any departure General Sessions 121 from that is a departure from our established political as well as educa¬ tional procedure. The adoption of any procedure opposed to this principle must be validated by arguments which must bear the burden of the proof. Yet, as indicated earlier, there are many educational leaders who seem to be converted to this point of view so long and so frequently rejected. Seemingly they have been so converted by the availability of funds without the difficulty of raising such funds by public action or having to pay for such assistance immediately. In European countries some of these same principles involved in the American controversy may be raised but the questions in Europe appear in a much broader form. There, these controversies relate to the political use of the whole educational system as well as the inclusive control by state authorities and all forces that have an educational bearing. This is but a part of the political philosophy which we label “totalitarianism.” Some countries use a more significant term and one which may cover tendencies in this country as well — a term not connoting public disapproval as such terms as “totalitarianism” and “fascism” do in this country. In eastern Europe the term “etatism” or “stateism” is the expression used to indicate the idea that the state is all-powerful and should be all-inclusive in its control of social and educational functions. Any activity which has as its result the shaping of attitudes of youth, by that very fact, becomes subject to state control and becomes a form of state activity. Consequently not only the state control of education, but the elimination of all private schools, the state con¬ trol of the radio and cinema, the state control of the press or of any form of publicity, become immediately legitimate activities. Many of the ad¬ vocates of such a system hold very logically that no authority has a right to shape the attitudes of youth or of citizens in general except authorities of the state. But when this view is carried out, no matter how logical it may be, all forms of individual liberty or of action are thus subject to the control of the political organization of the state. It is against much milder forms of this idea that our ancestors have struggled in the past. Such a struggle has been the price paid for liberty. The question now which we confront, not only as educators but as citizens, is, Are we willing to give up the gains of this long and costly struggle in the face of difficulties of the present which we hope are but temporary? The belief that the American people are not willing is the basis for my confidence in the importance of instruction in ideas rather than instruction in procedures or activities and for my profound faith in the importance of education and of our public school system. To recapitulate in a few words — TV hat can education contribute to the solution of world conflicts f I would suggest the following: 1. The extension of acquaintance among teachers; the dissemination of informa¬ tion regarding educational ideals, institutions, and experiences, both of which will lead to a greater international understanding 2. The creation of a world citizenship which will make for toleration and also appreciation of others 3. The emphasis on an education of ideas and ideals instead of upon one of activities 122 National Education Association 4. The emphasis on an education based on reason rather than on emotions 5. An insistence on the importance of principles and ideals which are the product of long experience and a return to an education of reason based on knowledge rather than on one of emotions based on a one-sided presentation of the situation. To the realization of all of these the teachers of the National Education Association may contribute by an interest in your committee on interna¬ tional relations and its creature, the World Federation of Education Associa¬ tions. PRESENTATION OF LIFE MEMBERSHIP KEY TO MRS. ROOSEVELT CAROLINE S. WOODRUFF, PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION President Woodruff: And now, members of the National Education Association, whose official representative I am, we turn to the one who has generously presided over this closing session of the Seventy-Sixth Annual Convention, one whom we know today as the gracious First Lady of the Land but today, yesterday, and tomorrow, one known to all as an understanding humanitarian, a world peace advocate, one who has opened up a new way for women, who has risen above non-essentials free and unbound ; one who fearlessly follows her own convictions with tolerance for opposing views, who has the common human touch, who has shown herself a master of time unhurried, a seeker of actuality, a practical idealist, and one whose record in this profession of ours is significant as a teacher. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, in the name of the National Education Associa¬ tion, and with the authority vested in me as its president, I present to you this key, symbolic of the highest honor in the power of this Association to bestow, the key of honorary Life Membership in the largest organized body of educators in the world, which will admit you to all the rights and privileges and give to you the official entree into all the activities of the Na¬ tional Education Association of the United States for the rest of your life. The Association is honored by your acceptance. Chairman Roosevelt: Dr. Woodruff, I am deeply honored to receive this key, and I thank you and the members of the Association for the privi¬ lege and honor which has come to me today. I am very happy to have been a teacher, and I hope I may continue to be in the future. Thank you. INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION CAROLINE S. WOODRUFF, PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION President Woodruff : I am deeply conscious of the honor you bestowed upon me last year in Detroit and the confidence you reposed in me. As I assumed the presidency of this great Association, largest, and, in many respects, the most significant body of educators, I said it was a solemn General Sessions 123 moment ; it was not a moment of triumph but of consecration. I meant it then, but the solemnity has deepened thru the year, the bigness of it has at times seemed almost overwhelming, and now, at this closing hour of that year, the memory of which will be to me forever a precious possession, I want to express my deepest appreciation. Dr. Shaw, you and I have been working long together in the interests of education and I pass on to you this symbol of leadership with the assurance that it will be in the hands of one who will give the best, as he sees it, to the progress of this organization. May God bless you and the National Education Association this coming year and lead it on thru you, to a greater and more unified profession than it has ever been. Dr. Rueben T. Shaw : Madam President, I deeply appreciate all the honors that are evidenced by the friendship which comes from my fellow members at this convention. I am deeply conscious also of the responsibility which the gavel that you have passed to me represents, a responsibility far too great to be carried by me alone. I am glad that you are going to be with me during the coming year on the Executive Committee, and I crave the support of every member of the Association that we may carry forward much more than was evidenced in President Woodruff’s remarks. I want in a small way, if I can, with your help, to carry forward the great torch which our distinguished leader and much beloved president has carried dur¬ ing the past year. . JH.FE c. Membership T> inner HISTORICAL NOTE As early as 1863 the regulations of the Association provided that a per¬ son eligible to become an active member might also become a Life Member by paying an additional fee. However, comparatively few took advantage of the privilege until 1926. In 1884 and again in 1921 special efforts were made to increase the number of Life Members but with little success. Prior to 1926 there were less than two hundred Life Members. At the Philadelphia convention in 1926 the officers of the Association approved Secretary Crabtree's recommendation to permit the payment of the Life Membership fee on the instalment plan, ten annual payments of ten dollars each, zvith the understanding that these payments would go directly into the Permanent Fund, a lasting contribution to the work of the Association. This put Life Membership within the reach of the aver¬ age teacher's budget and Life Membership in the Association became at once a democratic and popular professional possession. To date, 5927 Life Memberships have been issued of which 132 zvere issued during the past year. The custom of holding a Life Membership Dinner on Monday evening of the annual convention zms inaugurated at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929, and has been continued each year with grozmng interest and enthusiasm. The following have presided on these occasions: 1929 Atlanta, Georgia, U el W. Lamkin 1930 Columbus, Ohio, E. Ruth Pyrtle 1931 Los Angeles, California, Carroll G. Pearse 1932 Atlantic City, Nezv Jersey, Thomas E. Finegan 1933 Chicago, Illinois, Rose A. Pesta 1934 Washington, D. C., Frank W . Ballou 1935 Denver, Colorado, Willis A. Sutton 1936 Portland, Oregon, C. A. Howard 1937 Detroit, Michigan, Edgar G. Doudna 1938 Nezv York City, Willard E. Givens [ 126 ] TENTH ANNUAL LIFE MEMBERSHIP DINNER T. D. MARTIN, DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIA¬ TION, WASHINGTON, D. C. npHE tenth N.E.A. Life Membership Dinner was held in the Grand ^ Ballroom of the Hotel Astor, New York City, Monday evening, June 27. There were 328 Life Members and their friends present. The music for the occasion was furnished by a Salon Group of thirty-six students from the New York City High School of Music and Art, under the direction of Alexander Richter. The dramatic high light of the dinner program was the presentation of a Life Membership in the National Education Association to Virginia Sappington, an eighteen-year-old teacher of the Piety Hill Rural School, Chetopa, Kansas. Last spring Miss Sappington saved the lives of her twenty pupils by having them lie in a ditch while a tornado swept across the Kan¬ sas plains demolishing the schoolhouse. Brief addresses were presented on the subject “The Meaning of Life Membership” — “To the Association” by President Woodruff; “To the Profession” by Dr. J. W. Crabtree, secretary emeritus; “To the Classroom Teacher” by Daisy Lord, past-president of the Department of Classroom Teachers; “To a Teacher on Capitol Hill” by the Honorable Noah Mason, a Life Member of the Association and a member of the United States Con¬ gress from Illinois. Summaries of the addresses by President Woodruff, Dr. Crabtree, and Congressman Mason follow. THE ASSOCIATION CAROLINE S. WOODRUFF, PRINCIPAL, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, CASTLETON, VT. ; PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION I am glad to have been invited to open this program of the Tenth Life Membership Dinner. This is the fireside, the family gathering where we meet to break bread together, the one occasion during the week when we can be very personal, very intimate, and in these few minutes may I say some things that might be ill-fitting elsewhere. First a word of the man who made this family of life members possible, Dr. James W. Crabtree. It was my privilege not many weeks ago to sit at a banquet in Cincinnati given by the life members of the state of Ohio on his birthday. This has become an annual event, a significant tribute paid to Dr. Crabtree by his home state, and we hail him as the father of Life Member¬ ship in this Association. And now tonight I want to give public recognition to teachers, those to whom we owe much of whatever success we may have had in the teaching profession, believing that this personal allusion will strike a responsive chord in the experience of each of you. [127] 128 National Education Association Let me mention three teachers, for they are types and stand out clearly in my mind. Are you recognizing them with me ? My first teacher we have as a guest tonight, one in whose lap I have sat as she taught me to read — Cornelia Cushing Carpenter. She wore a buff dress, with little blackbirds all over it, and I remember how I liked to get close to her and touch them to see if they would fly. She gave me the tools to work with, my first ones, and I hold her and all first teachers in deep reverence. Another made a lasting impression upon me in my early adolescence. A Dartmouth College student, who taught a year at my home, now Judge Dunklee of the Supreme Court of Colorado, in Denver, led me to discover within myself power unrealized. To him and all those who enable us to find ourselves we owe a debt of eternal gratitude. Last, let me name an inspiring leader, a profound scholar, a deep thinker, Dr. Charles E. Putney, for many years the principal of that old New England Academy at St. Johnsbury, Vermont. For four years he made Latin a living thing for me ; the Latin may have faded somewhat but the intangible things he gave, as I sat day after day in his classroom, will endure. He roused an ambition within me to be forever advancing, to be never dissatisfied but forever unsatisfied, always pushing forward to something better than is today. I hold this teacher and such as he in deepest reverence. These three, the first teachers, those who gave us tools to work with, those who wakened within ourselves consciousness of power, and those who stimulated worthy ambition, will never be forgotten. This great Association with its quarter of a million members is made up of teachers, and tonight as the official representative of this parent group I would glorify the name “teacher.” May we feel the mighty trust that is ours! ANOTHER TEACHER HEROINE J. W. CRABTREE, SECRETARY EMERITUS, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. This is the pleasure of a lifetime. I am to present the Life Membership award to a young teacher who has recently taken her place among the heroines of the century. There are few of us at this banquet who readily recall that terrible bliz¬ zard which swept over the west just fifty years ago last January, and the tributes that were paid Miss Minnie Freeman of Nebraska whose quick judgment and bravery enabled her to take the pupils of her school to a place of safety, tho freezing her own hands and feet in doing so. The whole nation rated her as one of the greatest heroines of that day. Funds were provided by a generous public to assist her in continuing her education. We have another such character in beautiful eighteen-year-old Virginia Sappington of Kansas, who last March in a most precarious situation saved the lives of all the children of the Piety Hill County School. One of the worst tornadoes of years was approaching. She saw it com¬ ing. She knew the meaning of that dark funnel-shaped neck reaching from the black clouds above to the ground below — zigzagging from side to side. Life Membership Dinner 129 It was coming straight for the building. She knew intuitively that lives were at stake. She knew she had only seconds to decide on a plan of action. All at once her countenance lighted and she became another Joan of Arc in leadership and in action. In one second her quickened judgment told her what to do, and how to do it. In the next, she was directing and leading her school down the road to a place of safety. Just before that vicious tornado struck the school building, and just before the timbers were going high into the air, came her orders to the children to at once throw them¬ selves face downward into a ditch at the side of the road. All obeyed, and there they lay, stretched out in the drenching rain, pounded by hail stones, with bolts of lightning shooting across the sky above. They had run with their teacher only about an eighth of a mile, but far enough to escape dis¬ aster. They were safe. In a few moments it was over, and the children were up and moving back towards the debris where the school building had stood only a few minutes before. The frenzied fear disappeared from their faces as they turned to the teacher who had saved them from a horrible death. Gratefulness beamed on their faces. How appreciative were the parents as their children came trudging home, mud-bespattered as they were! But the homes of eight had gone with the wind. Their parents, however, had found safety in cyclone caves. These eight children went to Miss Sappington’s home. All were now safe — their parents happy — and their teacher a heroine for all time. Miss Sappington thinks God must have directed her mind. Now, Miss Sappington, in the name of the National Education Asso¬ ciation, with the authority vested in me by its president, and under the inspiration of this occasion, may I present to you this award symbolic of the highest honor in the power of this Association to bestow — the certificate of Honorary Life Membership in the largest organized body of educators in the world — which will admit you to all the rights and privileges and give to you official entree into all the activities of the National Education Asso¬ ciation of the United States for the rest of your life. The Association is honored by your acceptance. May you be guided in all your undertakings in the future by that same Divine Hand which has guided you in your mar¬ velous service up to this time. A TEACHER’S VIEWPOINT OF EDUCATION FROM CAPI¬ TOL HILL — Abstract HONORABLE NOAH M. MASON, MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM ILLINOIS Capitol Hill is a vantage point from which one can gain a bird’s-eye view of the various problems that confront our national government. It is one hill from which a person can get a pretty fair view of the whole nation and the issues that affect the nation’s welfare. Having been a school teacher for over thirty years, naturally I brought to Capitol Hill a school teacher’s viewpoint. 130 National Education Association When Congress appropriates $70,000,000 to build one battleship that will take four years to build, and that will become obsolete a few years after it is launched, the school teacher part of me cannot help wondering how many modern school buildings that money would build ; how much badly- needed school equipment that money would provide ; how many schools that money would operate, and for how many years. When Congress appropriates one billion dollars each year as a defense fund against imaginary enemies from without — possible but not probable enemies — the school teacher part of me cannot help wondering how much better it would be if Congress would take one-tenth of that amount (the amount called for in the Harrison-Black-Fletcher Bill last year) and set it aside as a defense fund against real enemies within — such as ignorance, disease, crime, poverty, and the many isms that trouble us today. A little over a year and a half ago President Roosevelt appointed an Ad¬ visory Committee on Education. This Advisory Committee was composed of outstanding leaders in the various fields of knowledge including the edu¬ cational field. The very character and standing of the members of the Com¬ mittee guaranteed that the task assigned to them would be well done. That Committee has completed its work, and has made its report to the Congress. I say without hesitation that the report is one of the most comprehensive reports ever made in the field of education in the United States. I have studied the report of the President’s Advisory Committee on Edu¬ cation. I have gone over the provisions of the Harrison-Thomas-Fletcher Bill very carefully. Neither in the report nor in the bill can I find what the opponents of the program claim is to be found there, namely : 1. Dangerous precedents that would be established, tending to centralize control over education 2. A violation of constitutional provisions concerning the relationship between government and religion. I do find that the report and the bill recognize presentday actualities that exist in the various states, and accept those actualities. All legislation is the result of compromise. If and when a bill for federal aid for schools is passed by Congress, it is bound to be a compromise bill. Legislation by its very nature is a give-and-take proposition. There is a real battle in the offing before Uncle Sam can be persuaded to assume his fair share of the educational load. Therefore, the teachers of America should present a united front if they want to convince “doubting Thomases” on Capitol Hill that such legislation should be passed. What are you going to do about it? Rational Council of Education H I S Tk0 R I C A L NOTE The national council of education was organized in 1880, growing oat of a paper read by Thomas W . Bic knell before the Department of Superintendence. The active membership of the Council consists of 60 members chosen by the Council; 60 chosen by the Board of Directors of the Association ; and three chosen by each of the Departments of the Asso¬ ciation. For constitution and bylaws, see proceedings, 1906: 608-11. The officers of the Council for the year 1937-38 are: president, L. A. Pechstein, Dean, Teachers College, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; vicepresident, E. G. Doudna, Secretary, Board of Normal School Regents, Madison, Wis.; secretary, Margaret Kiely, Dean of Women, Queens College, Flushing, N. Y .; executive committee: A. L. Threlkeld, Superintendent of Schools, Montclair, RT. J. (term ex¬ pires 1939) ; Mrs. Edith B. Joynes, Principal, Washington-Gatewood Schools, Norfolk, Va. ( term expires 1939 ) ; H. V. Holloway, State Super¬ intendent of Public Instruction, Dover, Del. (term expires 1940). The Council meets twice each year, once in February and once in June. Facts relating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier volumes of proceedings as follows: 1880: 90- 94 1882: 77- 87 1884 :Pt. 1 11:1- 1885 :405-551 1886:259-331 1887 :255-328 188 8:251-321 1889 :345-440 1890 :287-364 1891:275-378 1892:745-806 189 3:925 1894 -.593-678 189 5:430-509 67 1896:393-470 1897 :317-583 189 8:489-588 1899:380-529 1900:297-364 1901:349-499 1902 :306-408 190 3:301-376 1904 :3 3 3-377 1905:271-340 1906 :607-623 1907:329-454 1908 -.313-500 1909:331-435 1910:307-375 1911:331-476 1912:499-605 191 3:355-424 1914 :293-404 1915 -.527-627 1916:195-287 1917 :129-219 1918 :135-149 1919:675-739 1920 :107-190 1921:269-368 1922:349-574 192 3:425-551 1924 :350-428 1925 :266-336 1926 :281-327 1927:247-292 192 8:221-262 1929:229-274 1930:199-245 1931:275-311 1932:221-257 19 33:225-266 1934:229-262 1935:225-248 1936:137-154 1937:153-170 [ 132 ] FIRST SESSION IMPLEMENTING DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES AND PER¬ FECTING DEMOCRATIC TECHNICS THRU THE AMERI¬ CAN PUBLIC SCHOOL Participants : John A. Sexson, Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena, Calif. ; and President, American Association of School Administrators, Leader A. L. Threlkeld, Superintendent of Schools, Montclair, N. J. Alonzo F. Myers, New York University, New York, N. Y. Edgar G. Doudna, Secretary, Board of Regents of Normal Schools, Madison, Wis. Joseph H. Saunders, Superintendent of Schools, Newport News, Va. Albert M. Shaw, Past-President, N. E. A. Department of Classroom Teachers, Los Angeles, Calif. Mrs. Ruth Runyan, President, Cincinnati Teachers Association, Public Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio Emily Tarbell, President, N. E. A. Department of Classroom Teach¬ ers, Syracuse, N. Y. Willis A. Sutton, Superintendent of Schools, Atlanta, Ga. Harry S. Gauders, School of Education, Syracuse University, Syra¬ cuse, N. Y. Statement of Theses and Abstract of Introductory Comments by John A. Sexson 1 I. Education and the problem of democratic processes and technics: 1. Democracy will not work automatically. It rests upon a moral imperative that human life has a value in itself. Unremitting insistence upon this value and the development of this moral sense are an obligation of all who teach and lead in democracy. 2. Education, to be serviceable to democracy, must cherish and inculcate its moral values, disseminate knowledge necessary to its functioning, spread information relevant to its institutions and economy, and keep alive the creative and sustaining spirit without which the letter is dead. 3. Education does not arrogate to itself the solution of the specific problems of democracy or does it claim the competence or the sole power, legal or spiritual, to do so. It does propose to preserve and spread knowledge appropriate to the solution of specific problems, instil the disciplines essential to the acquisition of knowledge, describe the points of view from which problems are discussed, set forth the assumptions and imperatives on which solutions depend, and illustrate in the classroom the spirit and procedure in which knowledge and reason are applied in coping with the adjustments of society. It illustrates in miniature, apart from the tempers and distempers of the political arena, the processes of enlightenment and discussion by which matured decisions are reached. In so doing it acts not as a mere branch of government, but as one profession among many engaged by 1 The writer in formulating these theses and issues has drawn freely from the pronouncements of the Educational Policies Commission, often using verbatim quotations from its publications. He, therefore, acknowledges gratefully his indebtedness to Charles A. Beard, William G. Carr, and others. [ 133 ] 134 National Education Association government. It stands behind, exemplifies, and aids in sustaining all the processes of government and society. II. What are democratic processes ? What is the democratic way of living? 1. The continuous manifestation of broad humanitarianism, an interest in the other fellow, a feeling of responsibility for others less fortunate than oneself. The promotion of the general welfare. 2. The possession and exercise of certain inalienable rights — respect for oneself and for one’s moral rights and feelings. Here reside free speech; unhampered access to the facts, the ballot, religious liberty, impartial justice; equal protection of the laws; and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 3. The assent of the majority in matters of social control and the participation of all concerned in arriving at important decisions. The consent of the governed. 4. The reliance upon peaceful and orderly methods of settling controversial ques¬ tions in all areas of one’s life ranging from those of the home, the school, and the community up thru and including international affairs. The appeal to reason and the use of intelligence. 5. The utilization of human happiness as a basis for judging the effectiveness of social policy and social action. The pursuit of happiness. III. What are the obvious characteristics of an institution wherein democratic processes and technics are applicable? 1. There can be no utilization of the devices of autocracy even under the excuse of expediency or efficiency. 2. Rivalry may not be employed to produce interest or effort. 3. Personal advancement must be properly balanced with group advancement. 4. Intolerance, fear, suspicion, and insecurity must be eliminated. 5. A sense of “belonging” — of appreciated contributing of one’s worth, of one’s importance to welfare, progress, and success — must be inculcated. 6. Individual personality must be preserved by recognition of differences and divergence of need. To provoke the discussion of these principles and their application to school and to administration, the following issues have been phrased : Issue I — A major function of the chief administrative officer is to see that the poli¬ cies evolved by the use of democratic processes and the application of democratic technics on the part of the teachers are made effective with respect to all children. Issue II — Since the chief administrative officer secures his position, derives his status, and receives his directions from the board of education, he cannot, in fact, operate fully in accord with the best concept of democratic processes and technics or satisfactorily represent the total interest and welfare of teachers. Issue III — The legal provisions governing the structure and administration of public education in most states are not consonant with our developing concept of the best democratic organization for the effective functioning of our schools. In too many instances, the necessity for grounding administration firmly in instruction is ignored. Issue IV — A board of education elected by the people to represent them in the conduct of school affairs must be governed in its action in formulating policies, especially in such matters as expenditures, by the wishes of the electorate and cannot, therefore, participate with the staff on a wholly democratic basis in policy-making activities. Issue V — Agencies such as boards of education and administrative officers, if they function in accord with truly democratic processes, must confine their activities to relatively insignificant details, leaving almost wholly to effective teachers the respon¬ sibility for determining not only method, content, and purpose in education but structure, organization, and policy as well. Issue VI — The well-recognized principle of separating our public schools from other agencies and units of government and granting to boards of education and National Council of Education 135 administrative officers a degree of autonomy not enjoyed by those directing other governmental services, indicates that the founders of our democracy realized that persons concerned with education have contacts with society and powers over indi¬ viduals that are different from, and wider reaching in, consequence than those assigned to other boards, commissions, and officers. This fact implies peculiar duties, special responsibilities, and unique functions for these boards and officers. The effective functioning of our public school system demands a clearer recognition of these unique functions and relationships and the evolving of administrative technics consonant both with the implications of autonomy and with the equally but not exclusive importance of the structure, organization, and function of the school itself. Issue VII — Sound structure, adequate organization, and effective administration not destructive of the ideals and spirit of democracy, not interfering with the full application of democratic processes or the full utilization of democratic technics by teachers or pupils are necessary and desirable for the proper functioning of public education. The value of services rendered in evolving such services and the wages paid by society for such services should be determined by the same factors that control in comparable situations within the society and not by gross com¬ parisons with wages paid for dissimilar services involving quite different capabilities. Democracy will not work automatically, but must utilize a variety of co¬ operative agencies by which may be evolved technics conducive to the opera¬ tion of democratic processes. Present practice, however good, is not to be wholly defended. The current social and economic up-surge demands new action. The function of education as a service agency in a democracy is no more a question of establishing its relation to other agencies of service than it is of showing example. Schools should lead other agencies in sound demo¬ cratic practice. The democratic way of living involves a sensitivity to the individual, a genuine willingness to see and to be the other person. We are in danger of repeating the time-honored abstractions concerning democracy, forgetful that traditional principles must be made applicable in the life of today’s school and in the routine of our daily situations. The foundations of demo¬ cratic institutions rest on the consent of the governed, a fundamental prin¬ ciple, the frequent disregard of which in school administration is deeply resented by teachers. Administrative programs often fail because of a forget¬ fulness of democratic principles, sometimes because of ignorance of the importance of the principles, but seldom thru malicious intent. The school, in its relation to the home and other agencies, must remember that not all homes are democratic and that the school may, in its processes, be leading the way thru a new experience. Democratic administration implies that the leaders, the principals of our school systems, shall inspire policies to be democratically arrived at, accept¬ ing as their major responsibility the administration of these policies. Superin¬ tendents should voice their opinions while important issues are still open. Once decisions are made, not much interest remains in their discussion. Democratic procedures in policy making are not, however, always popular. The business of evolving policies by the democratic process is more difficult than that of administering them. It is important to note that teachers are not jealous of administrative rights but do, often for the sake of justice, resent their being ignored in the making of policies. 136 National Education Association A discussion of the peculiar duties, special responsibilities, and unusual functions of schoolboards and officers draws our attention to the whole busi¬ ness of understanding organized education. We suffer from ignorance of what constitutes a good school. If educational leadership does not conceive the school in broad terms, it depreciates itself by a lack of social under¬ standing. Busying itself with small tasks, seeing everything in small dimen¬ sions, administration tends to lower public respect for organized education and for its leaders and teachers. Current interest in discussions dealing with comparisons of compensation of teachers and administrators highlights extreme angles of the situation. Basic values should be established prior to discussions of relative scales. We need, and must pay for, the services of educators who will direct for the democratic group a workable plan of instruction. The salaries of such edu¬ cators should be adjusted to the natural factors influencing their service. Proposals that classroom teachers and administrators shall receive identical salaries are countered by the fact that no such policy prevails in any other service group. It would seem that the school need not go out of its way to innovate changes in this direction. Abstract of Remarks by A. L. Threlkeld Democracy in school administration must in the final analysis pervade the spirit of the personnel of the school system, regardless of what structure is set up for effecting democracy. A superintendent who is determined to have his way will make that fact clear and will defeat the purposes of democracy no matter what kind of administrative structure is in effect. On the other hand, a superintendent who really means to be democratic will be so and the spirit of democracy will pervade the school system with which he is associated even tho no extensive definite structural set-up for the func¬ tion of democracy is in effect. The importance of structure is not to be minimized. Structure should be of the kind that is most conducive to the expression of the spirit of democracy, but above all the spirit must be there. The ideal is to have both structure and function harmonize in order to effect a democratic organization. We may challenge the alleged inability of the superintendent to exercise with reasonable fulness a democratic administration even granting the diffi¬ culty of setting up a structure consistent with democratic practices. It is the spirit of democracy rather than the structure of the organization that counts. There are no defects in the structure of educational organizations strong enough to hinder democratic progress if we have the spirit of democracy. It is important that we sense the relationship of the teaching staff to the ad¬ ministrative. Teachers are responsible in their own right for contributions to the development of democratic technics. Lacking the essential love of the democratic spirit, teachers must share with superintendents the faults of a non-democratic regime. W e need essentially the spirit of democracy, defined as that way of life which survives the freest possible discussion. National Council of Education 137 Abstract of Remarks by Alonzo F. Myers We hear a lot of talk about education and democracy but there is one thing common to both education and democracy which is little discussed but which is fundamental. It is the quality of sheer honesty. Education, and particularly public education, if it is to justify the time, the energy, the pains, and the money expended upon it, must attempt to give both young and old people an honest picture of the world which has been, which is, and which may be. It is impossible to bring an honest picture of the world under any organization of life which is authoritarian. That is why democracy alone is the only system which permits an honest education. The National Edu¬ cation Association is meeting here in New York at a time when both edu¬ cation and democracy are threatened by dictators abroad and at home. “Hitlerism” in Germany makes an honest presentation of the world utterly impossible. “Hagueism” in New Jersey makes an honest presentation of the world and of conditions in Jersey City and New Jersey utterly im¬ possible. Two things can be done in this convention which could be far-reaching in maintaining education and democracy in America. In my opinion, Presi¬ dent Roosevelt could make clear precisely where he stands in relation to Mayor Hague of Jersey City. Second, the National Education Association should take action now to prepare for use in every public school in America a study of what dictatorship as represented by Mayor Hague means. I hope that both the National Education Association and the President will be consistent, honest, educational, and democratic. It is just as bad for the members of the N.E.A. to give tacit approval by their silences as it is for President Roosevelt to do so. Abstract of Remarks by E. G. Doudna Democracy will not work automatically. Talk does seem to bring about results of a kind. Today two-thirds of the world is ruled by dictators. Teachers in the classrooms of Europe tell the people of Europe what they are to think. It is said that democracy never has worked. We are in our third revolution, our first term in democracy having carried us from Wash¬ ington to Jackson, our second from Jackson to the present day, and now we seem to be breaking away and moving forward — to what? We are living under the influence of group opinion and mass pressure. The individ¬ ual voice is lost. Our curriculums are being fashioned by legislation. Wis¬ consin may be cited as having passed twenty-six laws affecting subjects of the public school curriculum. School calendars, dotted with special holidays, reflect the interests of special groups. We have arrogated the control of education, yet we resent the minor interferences of parents. It is our duty to sensitize the great body of the people to feel their own rights, and as individual parents and teachers of education to resist the mass influence 138 National Education Association of pressure groups. We should seek to develop the leadership of interested people. Democracy will survive only if it retains its individualism as a force opposed to group pressure. Abstract of Remarks by Joseph H. Saunders We may be in some disagreement with certain current conceptions of “democracy” which to some of us indicate “Sovietism” designed to make us Russians and not Americans. Distinctions may be made between pure democracy and representative democracy. Under our American system we select representatives to whom we give power to develop policies and to administer them. In this system there are definite implications for school administration. Our discussion of free speech and free press threatens to go far afield. There may be a place for limitation. The “free speech” of a Nazi leader in terming every Jew an enemy to the United States may be questioned as a right. “Human happiness” is a relative term and should be clearly so interpreted. Abstract of Remarks by Albert Al. Shaw Teacher participation in school administration in various forms has come to be an established policy. The most successful administrators seem to be those who have availed themselves of its many advantages. Those adminis¬ trators who use it most seem to like it best. Its main purpose and advantage is to improve the morale of the staff and to increase the efficiency of the school system thereby rendering better service to the children and to the patrons of the schools. Teacher participation relieves the administration from many time-con¬ suming, routine details which can be handled very acceptably by the teach¬ ers. It inspires a democratic feeling of mutual confidence and understand¬ ing between teachers and the administrative staff which strengthens the general morale and inspires teachers to their best effort. The higher training of teachers nowadays includes expert training in school administration, economics, social studies, and other specialized sub¬ jects which fits them to make valuable suggestions for promoting effectively the executive routine of the schools. Such participation is reciprocal in its action, a good rule which works two ways. It is at the same time an ex¬ cellent means of developing teacher growth in service, and this, in turn, strongly tends toward improving the professional ideals and the educational standards of the schools. My interest in and experience with teacher participation gives me firm belief that it promotes these desirable outcomes. National Council of Education 139 Abstract of Remarks by Mrs. Ruth Runyan The truly democratic approach to a solution of the problem of school administration, as it actually exists, involves the coordination of the welfare and opinions of teachers, administrators, and the lay public. The association president must, then, in presenting the viewpoint of the teachers, seek to adjust it to the prevailing opinions of other groups in the interest of the democratic process, even while planning to revise adverse opinions thru additional information and persuasion. All educational problems must be considered eventually in relation to the various viewpoints of the staff and in relation to the resources, needs, and sentiments of the community. Here the administrative staff, the superin¬ tendent, and the board of education have an indispensable function in the operation of the democratic process. Obstacles to success are the usual ones in a democracy — intolerance, selfishness, and greed for control. Genuine progress comes only thru cooperative thinking and by common consent of these overlapping groups and must include in its technic unselfish, honest leadership and consistent salesmanship. Such progress demands a public-spirited, independent board of educa¬ tion ; a superintendent with social intelligence, professional enthusiasm, and absolute integrity; and teachers with a combination of vision and common sense. Democracy must depend for its success, as always, on the strength of each link in the chain. Abstract of Remarks by Emily Tarbell A major obstacle in the path of educational progress is the fact that democracy is too often preached in an atmosphere of autocracy. As teachers we advocate free speech, but do not actually encourage it among ourselves or in our classrooms. Wholesome differences of opinion should be stimulated among children and between children and teachers. Young teachers espe¬ cially need the encouragement and assurance that original, honest self-ex¬ pression is desirable and welcome. Democratic progress demands that teach¬ ers in our classrooms shall teach as they preach. Abstract of Remarks by JVillis A. Sutton Our most fundamental responsibility is the implementing of democracy. W e may well give attention to the development of human types which may be counted upon to cooperate in the democratic way of living. A Ph.D. dissertation, for instance, might study “Societal Relations and the Produc¬ tion of Type Personalities.” Social injustice somewhere gives power to “un¬ social savior.” The Ku Klux Klan was revived because of “conditions.” We must study these conditions — good and bad. Heflins and Huey Longs do not develop overnight. What kind of conditions produced Horace Mann? 140 National Education Association We spend our energy too often on little issues, incidentals such as minor conflicts between instruction and administration, while the great stream of democracy awaits implementing. Our zeal for the teacher’s share in the development of democracy must permeate thru to the sixth grade, or below, where we may ask the great question, Who is fit to teach school? Teacher¬ training institutions must safeguard their admissions. Promising teachers are in the making somewhere — and frequently in our public schools — and the processes of democracy should be set in motion thru the entire organiza¬ tion from nursery school thru the university. Great teachers are the basic values in the educational whole. They are worth as much, or more, than administrators. Salaries for the best teachers equal to those enjoyed by the best administrators is a fair proposal. Abstract of Remarks by Harry S. Ganders Two patterns of organization are in popular use. Some authorities ad¬ vocate the following steps in setting up an educational scheme : ( 1 ) deter¬ mination of objectives, (2) setting up of organization, and (3) selection of personnel. There are others who would change this order to : ( 1 ) deter¬ mination of objectives, (2) selection of personnel, and (3) setting up of organization. The more widely practiced is pattern 1, designed (a) to define the func¬ tion of the organization in terms of the job to be done, (b) to plan the kind of organization needed to fulfil the accepted function, and (c) to select the people who are to staff the organization. This pattern is simple, direct, efficient, and authoritarian. The second pattern of organization likewise defines its function first, but then proceeds to the selection of the group of workers best fitted to perform that function. With the staff lined up in relation to the task before it, the type of organization is then formulated. This second pattern is equally simple, direct, and efficient, but centers its strength on the human factor in efficiency and is probably conducive to a more varied and more vigorous development. Under this scheme staff mem¬ bers can make more important contributions to the service that the institu¬ tion is trying to render. The second type of school organization is recom¬ mended as an implement of democracy. Summary of Discussions by John A. Sexson The structure of educational organization is no guarantee of democratic administration ; neither is it an excuse for the lack of it. The essential con¬ tribution of the personnel of an organization is the thought value it im¬ parts. In a democratic school the philosophy of the teaching group is vital and its opinions are often very valuable. The rising dominance of well-directed group opinion will, it is hoped, counteract in a wholesome manner the imposed will of a few too powerful National Council of Education 141 leaders. Undemocratic practices in classrooms and in administrative offices are often cited as examples of efficiency and unfortunately often serve to impede and endanger the progress of democratic procedures. Consideration of the nature of pure democracy and of representative democracy may influence planning for democratic administration. Democracy is a cooperative enterprise. It cannot make a scapegoat of any one person or of a group of persons. All who are to profit must share in its respon¬ sibilities. Supervision and administration are integral parts of the education scheme. Instruction has its inherent place and will not supersede its companion functions. Education is the great common task. Everyone’s opinion is prob¬ ably worth something in the fulfilment of the task. Cooperation is not an automatic force. It has its own technics and procedures and must be studied as one of the arts and sciences of living. Professional leadership will develop from the organization of democratic agencies. Society is the expression of many forces operating within it. De¬ sired outcomes may be planned thru the interaction of new forces and new influences. Autocratic organizations in education may seem to be our heri¬ tage. They are autocratic by custom and not by the voluntary choice or design of their leaders. We must beware of the evils of institutionalism. In the interest of democracy we must change the direction of many long accepted forces and the character of much that is traditional in influence. SECOND SESSION REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON EDUCA¬ TION AND IMPENDING LEGISLATION Participants : George F. Zook, President, American Council on Education, Wash¬ ington, D. C., Leader Jesse Newlon, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. Margaret Kiely, Dean, Queens College, Flushing, N. Y. Georgia W. Aiken, President, Ohio Southwestern Teachers Associa¬ tion, Cincinnati, Ohio H. B. Allman, Superintendent of Schools, Muncie, Ind. Uel W. Lamkin, Northwestern Missouri State Teachers College, Maryville, Mo. Frank P. Graham, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C. Edmund deS. Brunner, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. Statement of Theses and Abstract of Introductory Comments by George F. Zook I. . . . the federal government must to an increasing extent provide financial assistance for the educational enterprises of the states and localities, in order that opportunities may be greater and especially in order that they may be more equitably distributed. 142 National Education Association II. The major portion of all federal aid for education should be granted as a general fund for the current support of elementary and secondary education. III. The major portion of federal aid for education should at all times be granted on a basis that tends to lessen inequalities of opportunity among states and within states. IV. Federal grants for special educational purposes may properly be used to bring about attention to educational matters of special national concern and thus to improve the educational programs conducted under state and local auspices. . . . V. The general principle of cooperation between the federal government and the states, without coercion by either party, should dominate legislation providing for federal grants. . . .1 The question no longer is whether or not the federal government shall give assistance to local communities, but is now concerned wholly with the method and character of that assistance. Inequalities of opportunity among the states can be remedied in no other way than by federal support. At the present time the poorest states have the largest number of children attend¬ ing school and are making the greatest effort to maintain a reasonable level of opportunity. The inequalities of educational opportunity that characterize the edu¬ cational system today challenge American statesmanship. Education can be made a force to equalize the condition of men. For most of the children the opportunity for anything more than a modicum of meager, formal educa¬ tion is largely conditioned by place of birth. The proposed general aid will be expended ineffectively in many cases in the absence of general improvement in the quality of teaching and in the organization and administration of schools. By some other method than by the specification of standards in federal statutes, and consequently by large federal supervision over funds, these improvements must be brought about. Certain special funds for the improved preparation of teachers and other educational personnel, for the construction of school buildings for facilitation of a desirable reorganization of attendance and administrative units, and for the administration of state departments of education are recommended primarily as methods of securing essential improvements necessary for the effective expenditure of the proposed general aid. The grants for elementary and secondary education would provide in part for the special needs for educational service for adults. For some years, however, these grants will be absorbed by the needs of children and youth. Special federal grants should be provided for educational service to adults. The organization of education within the states must, in some measure, determine whether all federal aid should be granted in a single fund. If all types of educational institutions, from the kindergarten to the university, were under the unified supervision of one state board of education in every state, it might be feasible to grant all aid for education in a single fund to be controlled and distributed within the states by these unified boards of education. This form of organization does not exist in any state. Under the 1 Report of the Advisory Committee on Education, p. 40-42. National Council of Education 143 circumstances, it will not be possible, even if desirable, to provide federal aid by means of a single federal aid fund. Federal relations to education should be reviewed under specially constituted and appropriate auspices at intervals of not more than ten ‘years. Abstract of Remarks by Jesse H. Newlon Since the most authentic research has shown that it is beyond the economic capacity of many of the states of the nation to provide adequate educational facilities for their people without federal assistance, and since education is basic to the perpetuation of democracy and the full realization of the possi¬ bilities of American life, it is clear that both the local and national welfare demand greatly increased federal participation in the support of education. The first thesis presented by Dr. Zook, then, is amply supported by the facts in the situation. The second and third theses are also sound in holding that the greatest need is for support for elementary and secondary education, and that federal funds must be employed to equalize the burden of financial support of edu¬ cation as between the states, and to equalize the educational opportunities provided by the states. The fourth and fifth theses raise issues of profound importance. The report of the Committee lays down the principle that federal aid should not involve federal control of education, but the actual recommendations do not seem to accord with this principle in certain very important respects. It may be that federal support without federal control is impossible. But every state in the Union has developed a going system of education. Federal funds may be safely entrusted to these state systems of education without strings, other than the necessary provisions for auditing to insure that federal appropriations for education are used for the purpose intended, and to insure that there is no discrimination because of color or for any other reason. Beyond that, federal control is not necessary. In one other recommendation not touched upon in Dr. Zook’s theses, this report proposes a clear break in our long-established educational tra¬ dition and policy. It is recommended that, at the discretion of the states, federal funds be made available for the support of education in private and parochial schools. Federal aid for education is essential. Without it democracy’s schools and democracy itself will be endangered. The Advisory Committee has performed a public service of fundamental importance in making this need clear and in crystallizing public support in favor of an extended program of federal participation in the support of education at all levels. But the Committee is fishing in troubled waters — is taking a dangerous step — when it proposes so much of federal control and proposes federal aid for education in private and parochial schools. 144 National Education Association Abstract of Remarks by Margaret Kiely Granting that the major portion of federal aid for education should be granted as a general fund for the current support of elementary and second¬ ary education, the question may be raised and the hope expressed that as these federal funds become available, some consideration may be given to the possibility of other extensions of aid, downward to the support of nursery and kindergarten education and upward to the encouragement of our colleges and universities. Such extensions of aid are not to be advocated at this time. The recommendation of the Committee, as stated in the report, is thoroly approved. In opposition to the Committee’s report, proposals have been made that federal aid for education be limited to public schools. The following state¬ ments from the report warrant particular consideration : The major portion of federal aid for education should at all times be granted on a basis that tends to lessen inequalities of opportunity among states and within states. The federal government should record its purpose explicitly but broadly leaving to the states wide discretion and flexibility in the administration of the federal grants. In order that local administration and local responsibility may be maintained, all federal action should reserve explicitly to state and local auspices the general administration of schools. Federal grants should be used to build up and to strengthen existing educational agencies and institutions so far as they are able to serve important needs and not to establish competing agencies and institutions. . . . For purposes of federal aid distribution, the states should be responsible for determining which schools are public. Consideration should be given to the fact that large numbers of children receive instruction in non-public schools and that maintenance of schools under non-public auspices results in a significant reduction in public expense. Attention should be centered on the main purpose of the reason for federal support of education — to lessen inequalities of opportunity. The relation of “schooling” to educational opportunity is obvious. The dependence of the child upon the parent for this schooling is equally obvious. The parent has the right to select the type of school which he believes best serves the needs of his child and should not be penalized by the federal government for exer¬ cising this right so long as the school selected meets the requirements laid down by the state for the safeguarding of the educational rights of the child and of the community. In the ultimate taxation of the general public for the purpose of equalizing the educational opportunities of children, the federal government will penalize parents who exercise their rights of free choice of school if, in the distribution of the funds raised by taxation, limitations as to children recipients are laid down. Federal aid is now offered to children and should not be denied them because of circumstances controlled by their adult superiors. It is hoped that the Committee’s recommendations will be adhered to and that the states “shall be responsible for determining what schools are public.” Abstract of Remarks by Uel W. Lamkin In recommending that the major portion of federal aid should be granted as a general fund for the current support of elementary and secondary edu- National Council of Education 145 cation, the Committee indicates the desirability of leaving to state and local jurisdiction a necessary flexibility in the development of programs suited to local conditions and advises against any specification of particular phases of elementary and secondary education to be supported from such a fund. Our fears of federal control would seem, from a reading of the report, to have some basis. The provision that federal grants be made available only to such states as establish adequate and effective systems to provide prompt and adequate reports may offer a question to some thinkers. The auditing of the federal fund accounts by the United States Office of Education will, as the Committee points out, undoubtedly prove to be the major safeguard in connection with the expenditure of the proposed grants. However, it is pointed out that the requirement of reports from the states is a matter not susceptible to enforcement thru a federal auditing process. The final recommendation of the Committee on this point gives authority to the United States Office of Education to suspend payments to any state after notice and hearing, during any period in which the state fails to main¬ tain an adequate administrative agency or fails to make required reports with reasonable promptness. It is probable that if the Committee’s report is studied carefully, our fears of centralized power and control will be allayed. As to the question of a limitation of funds to public schools, the point may be advanced that it should be the state’s right to spend federal money as it spends its own money and that, therefore, to the states should be reserved the right to determine what schools are public. A bstract of Remarks by Frank P. Graham Equal educational opportunity of the children who are to be citizens of both the states and the nation is the main responsibility of our constitutional republic of states and people. The main support of public education will continue to be by the states and localities. Provision for local and state con¬ trol is expressly written in the federal bill with the freedom and autonomy of the localities and states preserved as now in the selection of teachers and curriculum, the management of textbooks, school buses, health service, and the entire administration of the schools. The two main principles for the distribution of the federal funds will be equitable distribution between the races and democratic distribution among the states according to the economic ability of the states and the number of children per adult population. The basis for these principles is the fact that in the states of the least economic ability the people pay the highest tax rate for the education of their children which is on the lowest plane in the nation. A large proportion of the children who in their non-productive years are supported and educated by rural people become in their economically crea¬ tive years the producers in the vital industries and the citizens of the urban communities. Therefore, the quality of the education in these rural areas is a matter of vital concern to the industries, the cities, and the people of 146 National Education Association the whole country. Economic inability and educational overload coincide in the same rural and sectional areas to fix educational inequality and to im¬ pair the foundations of our national democracy. Just as within the states, children in rural localities can have a fairer educational opportunity only thru aid to the localities, so children in the rural states can have a more equal educational opportunity only thru federal aid to the states. With democracy in retreat in many parts of the world, may America give a lift to the democratic hopes of the forgotten millions in all parts of the world. This may be accomplished, by a new declaration for equitable and democratic federal aid to public education under state control which will give the children in all the states a more equal opportunity. Abstract of Remarks by Edmund deS. Brunner The story of the rise of finance-capitalism and the surge of industrial development of the last century resulting from inequalities is familiar to many of us. Per capita wealth and income varies manifold between the richest and the poorest states. Despite the fact that most of the poorer states are putting forth more effort in proportion to their resources than most of the richer states, there are huge variations in the value of the educational output, and even within states a comparable situation exists. Also, differences in the age distribution of our population are part of the story. Many of our rural states have twice as many children for every 1000 adults as some of our most urbanized and wealthy states. This spread is likely to increase rather than the reverse because of trends in the birth-rate. The cities of America are no longer producing enough children to main¬ tain their population at the present level. Rural America is, more than ever, the seed-bed of the nation. When it asks for federal aid to education it asks for simple justice. It bears, rears, feeds, clothes, and educates as well as it can, these children who from seventeen to twenty-two years of age turn city¬ ward, there to spend the productive, working years of their lives. This is a net gain to the cities, wholly measured, and a net and largely unrequited loss to rural America. But it is not only on the basis of simple justice that the sociologist rests his plea for federal aid toward equalizing educational opportunity. It is in behalf of the city and the nation that he also speaks, for a highly dispro¬ portionate share of the blood for the renewing of the urban population comes now from districts which are known as the six problem areas of America. Not only have these areas a disproportionate share of the children, but straitened economic circumstances compel some of them to migrate or die. It is the most handicapped then who surge into the cities. There demon¬ strably they lower the quality of goods sold and the profits of stores, con¬ tribute to crime, disproportionately increase the relief rolls for, again demon¬ strably, the less the educational opportunity the greater the chance of draw¬ ing a relief check. Not simple justice alone, but also self-interest dictates the wisdom of the wealthier, more urban states working for federal aid to education. Cities National Council of Education 147 are safeguarding jealously the purity of their milk and food supplies. Is not the time over-due when they will pay some attention to the sources of their human supply? The proposals of the President’s Advisory Committee on Education are but modest in the face of the need. The eventual achievement of equality of educational opportunity in this land will mightily help to guarantee that our national destiny will be that of a free people, freed and kept free by truth. Summary of Discussion by George F. Zook The discussion to which this conference has given its attention indicates an apparently unanimous approval of the proposal for federal support of education. There is to be noted, likewise, an apparently general acceptance of the fact that federal support of education must carry some measure of control. The nature and extent of this control constitutes the crux of the question. That federal control of education be held to an absolute minimum is undoubtedly the recommendation of the group participating in this con¬ ference. As to the assertion relative to aid for non-public schools, the Committee has treated the question as a minor issue. Let it be made clear at once that the Committee has made no recommendation relative to aid for private schools. It has made certain recommendations which give the states the liberty to use federal funds, as well as their own funds, to assist children in attending schools, whether public or private, just as at the present time the building of a sidewalk facilitates the passage of attendants at school, some to public and some to private schools. The opinion of the United States Supreme Court in the Louisiana case involving the purchase of text¬ books for children in private as well as in public schools is in point. An action had been brought to invalidate the purchase of such books on the ground that the supplying of textbooks constituted support of denominational schools. In its decision the Court entered into this discussion very carefully and unani¬ mously rendered an opinion that the purchase of such books for the children in private schools in no way constituted the support of the schools themselves. In other words, the children and the state were the beneficiaries and not the particular schools. It seems clear that the precedent set down in the Louisiana decision applies not only to the purchase of textbooks but to transportation and other services which may be made available equally to children in private as well as public schools. . 148 National Education Association SECRETARY’S MINUTES New York City Sunday, June 26, 1938 First General Session The annual meeting of the National Council of Education was called to order at 9:35 A.M. on Sunday, June 26, 1938, at the Hotel Pennsylvania, President Louis A. Pechstein, presiding. The attendance at the morning session totaled approximately ninety. The discussion for the first general session was devoted to the topic, “Implementing Democratic Processes and Perfecting Democratic Technics thru the American Public School.” John A. Sexson, superintendent of schools, Pasadena, California, and president of the American Association of School Administrators, formally presented three groups of prepared theses, with the statement of seven issues evolved from the theses. A summary of Dr. Sexson’s comments, offered in amplification of the printed theses, is presented in the preceding pages together with abstracts of the contributions to the discussion. At the close of the prepared addresses a brief general discussion was conducted from the floor. The first session of the meeting adjourned at 12:15 P.M. Luncheon Meeting A meeting of our officers, Executive Committee, and Committee on Membership of the National Council of Education was held during the lunch hour following the close of the first session on Sunday, June 26, 1938, at 12:30 P. M., in the Hotel Pennsylvania. A full attendance was present as follows: President Louis A. Pech¬ stein; Vicepresident E. G. Doudna; Secretary Margaret Kiely; members of the executive committee — A. L. Threlkeld, H. V. Holloway, and Mrs. Edith B. Joynes; members of the Committee on Membership — Caroline S. Woodruff, Joseph H. Saunders, W. C. Bagley, Mrs. Inez J. Lewis, and Kate V. Wofford. President Pechstein presided at the luncheon and introduced questions of policy governing the conduct of the National Council meetings. The discussion centered about such questions as the day and hour of the conference, the number of sessions, the character of the programs — issues which have come to be very important, especially in the light of the difficulties attending the former meeting. A general agreement was reached that the Council meetings should be narrowed to one full day of two general sessions, and that the Council hold strictly to its function as a service agency acting in an advisory capacity to the National Education Association and working closely with the Educational Policies Commission. The action of Presi¬ dent Pechstein and the executive board in scheduling the current meeting for two sessions on Sunday was ratified by vote of the group. As chairman of the Committee on Membership, President Pechstein discussed existing vacancies in the various divisions of the Council, reporting progress made thru his personal efforts with state organizations and with other affiliated National Education Association groups who, under the constitution, are entitled to repre¬ sentation on the Council. A discussion of the situation indicated a very encouraging prospect for member¬ ship. Thru the active interest of the president, afforded largely thru correspondence with member groups, the rolls have been generally invigorated by the naming of representatives to the Council from groups in danger of inactivity and loss of interest. By vote of the business board, the president was requested to proceed with the task which he had undertaken so generously and efficiently in the rebuilding of the membership group. As chairman of the Committee, he was further empowered to lead in the formulation of a plan by which nominations to the Council will be offered to the general membership for approval prior to the mid-winter meeting. National Council of Education 149 After a discussion of general plans for the February meeting, the board em¬ powered the officers of the Council to draw up proposals for the Cleveland program, voting to recommend that these proposals be placed before the general membership, probably by mail, and that the officers be guided in their final planning by the reactions of the members. The president was authorized to report the recommendation of our Executive Committee and the Committee on Membership to the business meeting of the general body of the Council scheduled to follow the afternoon conference. The meeting adjourned at 1:10 P.M. Business Meeting The regular business meeting of the National Council of Education was called to order following the close of the second session at 4:25 P. M. on Sunday, June 26, 1938, in the Hotel Pennsylvania. Forty-one members attended this meeting. President Pechstein reported the proceedings of the noon conference of our officers, Executive Committee, and Committee on Membership (see earlier report). The following proposals were voted on by the Council: 1. That the Membership Committee proceed under the direction of the president to the end that representation assigned to state organizations and to other member organizations affiliated with the National Education Association be completed at the earliest possible date. 2. That the Membership Committee take under immediate consideration the filling of the vacancy now existent in the ranks reserved to the choice of the Council ; in this connection the recommendation of the Executive Committee, authorizing the Membership Committee to draw up a panel of candidates to be circularized among the Council members and voted upon by them, be approved, and the report of this project be given at the February meeting. 3. That the Executive Committee prepare for the approval of the general membership a program for the February meeting and in submitting its proposals shall also place before the Council such questions as may warrant consideration or decision by the general body. 4. That the Council record its grateful appreciation of the service rendered by the several speakers who so ably contributed to the success of this annual meeting. The business meeting, and with it the annual meeting, adjourned at 5:15 P.M. Second General Session The second session of the annual meeting was called to order at 1 :50 P.M. on Sunday, June 26, 1938, President Louis A. Pechstein, presiding. The attendance at this session was approximately ninety. The discussion for the afternoon session was directed to the “Report of the Advisory Committee on Education and Impending Legislation.” George F. Zook, president of the American Council on Education, acting as leader, opened the meeting with a review of certain selected statements culled from the report. A summary of Dr. Zook’s comments upon these several statements appear in the preceding pages. Following Dr. Zook’s presentation of the topic, the discussion was taken up by invited participants. Abstracts of these contributions to the discussion are also printed in the preceding pages. Following the prepared addresses, a discus¬ sion of the report was conducted by the general group present. The second session adjourned at 4:25 P.M. Departments of the « Association INTRODUCTION The growth of departments in the Association began in 1870 when the American Normal School Association became the Department of Normal Schools (now the American Association of Teachers Colleges ), and the National Association of School Superintendents became the De¬ partment of Superintendence ( now the American Association of School A dministrators ) . Another great forward step was taken in 1921 when departments were given larger independence and responsibility. This led to the establish¬ ment of fees by the stronger departments , to the selection of an executive secretary by the Department of Superintendence, and later to the selection of full-time secretaries by several other departments. There are now twenty-four departments. Information regarding their organization may be found in the historical note at the beginning of the section devoted to the department in question. The list of departments with the years of organisation is as follows: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR HEALTH, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, AND RECREATION . 1894 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS . 1870 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS COLLEGES . 1870 AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION . 1930 ADULT EDUCATION . 1921 ART EDUCATION . 1933 BUSINESS EDUCATION . 1892 CLASSROOM TEACHERS . 1914 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS . 1921 HOME ECONOMICS . 1930 KINDERGARTEN-PRIMARY EDUCATION . 1884 LIP READING . 1926 music education . 1884 RURAL EDUCATION . 1907 SCIENCE INSTRUCTION . 1895 SECONDARY EDUCATION . 1886 SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS . 1886 SPECIAL EDUCATION . 1930 SUPERVISORS AND DIRECTORS OF INSTRUCTION . 1929 VISUAL INSTRUCTION . 1923 VOCATIONAL EDUCATION . 1875 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEANS OF WOMEN . 1918 NATIONAL COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATIVE WOMEN IN EDUCATION. . . 1932 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES . 1925 I 152 ] 5. American ^Association for Health, Thy sic a l Education, and T^ecreation HISTORICAL NOTE The AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR HEALTH, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, AND recreation is the result of a merger of the American Physical Educa¬ tion Association and the Department of School Health and Physical Edu¬ cation of the National Education Association in 1937. The Department of School Health and Physical Education had its beginning as the De¬ partment of Child Study, created at the Asbury Park meeting held in 1894. In 1911 the name was changed to the Department of Child Hygiene. See proceedings 1911: 870. At the Denver meeting in 1895 there was created the Department of Physical Education which, in 1923, became the Department of Physical and Health Education. In July 1924 the De¬ partment of Child Hygiene was merged zvith the Department of Physical and Health Education under the name of the Department of School Health and Physical Education. See proceedings 1924: 96. The Ameri¬ can Physical Education Association was officially founded in 1885 under the name of the American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education. In 1903 the name zvas changed to the American Physical Edu¬ cation Association. In 1896 the Association began the publication of its official organ, the American physical education review. In 1930 the name of the publication was changed to the journal of health and physical education, and in the same year the publication of the re¬ search quarterly zms begun. The officers of the Department for the year 1938-39 are: president, E. W. Cozens, University of California at Eos Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.; president-elect, Margaret Bell, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.; secretary-treasurer, N. P. Neilson, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W ., Washington, D. C.; editor, E. D. Mitchell, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.; member- at-large on governing board, C. E. Turner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. ( term expires 1941 ). The Department holds its annual national meeting in April. In addi¬ tion to the national organization of the Association, there are six regional district organizations — the Eastern, Midwestern, Central, Southern, Northwestern, and Southwestern — each of which holds an annual con¬ vention, with the exception of the district in which the national meeting is held. This district holds its meeting jointly zvith the national organization. Facts relating to this Department are found in proceedings as follozvs : 1894:40 1895 -.944-950 189 6:893-936 1897:970-915 189 8:929-958 1899 :1064-1096 1900 -.582-591 1901 :500-539 1902:702-738 190 3:753-816 1904: :7 37 -802 190 5:707-754 1907 -.905-924 1908:907-964 1909:719-744 1910 -.873-920 1911:869-904 1912 -.1095-1140 191 3:637-666 1914 -.663-682 1915:941-970 1916:751-782 1917 :491-520 1918:323-338 1919:303-314 1920 :311-322 1921:377-398 [154] 1922 :591-682 192 3:568-744 1924:439-637 1925 :577-597 1926:601-624 1927 :5 6 1-582 192 8:545-568 1929:543-558 1930:501-528 1931:541-560 1932:455-466 19 33:463-476 1934:461-468 1935:429-438 19 36:321-332 1937:357-374 ATLANTA MEETING 1TN the following pages appear abstracts of the papers delivered at the general sessions of the national convention of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation in Atlanta, Georgia, April 20-23, 1938. Many of these papers and also many of those given at the sec¬ tion meetings will be published in full in the Journal of Health and Physical Education. THE CHALLENGE OF TEACHING WILLARD E. GIVENS, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSO¬ CIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. The situation in which youth finds itself today offers a great challenge to teaching. This problem involves both science and philosophy. Science provides facts and tells us what is. Philosophy establishes values and indi¬ cates what ought to be in the light of these values. Our population is becoming increasingly adult. Youth is moving to the cities. Children of the lower economic levels will dominate the next genera¬ tion. We have 30 percent fewer youth employed today than there were in 1930. Too many youth plan to enter the professions. Young people’s pay today is pitiful. Considering all of our youth between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four in the nation, four million are in school and five million are idle. Having now dealt with the science of this problem which presents the facts, let us turn to the philosophy which indicates what ought to be. The decreasing proportion of youth to adults will release money now spent for education which ought to be used for one of three purposes : ( 1 ) to bring the right kind of an educational program to the five million out of school and not at work; (2) to improve the quality of instruction now being offered those who are in school; or (3) to relieve the tax burden. Our curriculum should be changed so as to reflect the life needs of youth. Occupational clinics should be established to help determine what each youth should prepare for in light of national employment possibilities. We are challenged to develop more enlightened citizens. Since 35 to 45 percent of our youth are planning to go into the professions we must help develop more demands in the service field. This country needs thousands more of well-trained teachers. We need thousands of recreational leaders for playgrounds not yet developed. We are challenged to develop right attitudes among our young people toward dignity of labor and the value of skill. Our educational program should be broadened and enriched so that we could give worthwhile edu¬ cational activities to all youth until they are twenty or twenty-one years of age. As youth themselves see it, the youth problem is largely a matter of economic security. It seems to me, as apparently as it seems to them, that [155] 156 National Education Association the most pressing problems involving the need for the most vigorous social action fall into three general areas as follows : Employment — For five million youth in America, this means getting a job. For another five million it means a wage that will provide both an acceptable standard of living and an opportunity to provide for future years. Education — For large numbers who have been forced out of school for economic reasons this means creation of a less fictitious equality of opportunity and for many others, who are still in school, it means an educational program that is more clearly in harmony with their interests and needs. Recreation — For millions of young people in America this calls for an awakening on the part of communities to the social as well as the personal values, of helpful and satisfying recreation and a determination to develop leisure-time programs which will not only absorb energies that often lead to delinquent behavior but which will add something valuable to the spiritual and cultural status of those who participate in them. Real democracy demands an equality of opportunity which will give each youth a fair start in life. We are challenged to see that democracy does this; it is our business to help each individual succeed. In the last analysis the challenge is, “What can the individual teacher do for the individual youth?’’ The spark of power is in him. It belongs to him. It is our business as teachers to search it out and fan it into flame. Why let it smoulder and die? WHAT PRICE PROGRESS? C. H. MC CLOY, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA The history of the progressive development of the philosophy of physical education is a fascinating subject to any philosophically-minded person. For the sake of simplification, I shall divide the objectives of physical education roughly into four types according to their primary emphases. 1. Education of the physical 2. Education in terms of increased skills of performance 3. Education in terms of the betterment of character and personality 4. Education in terms of an improved cultural status. Unfortunately some writers have seemed to imply that there is an incom¬ patibility between some of these major classes of objectives. This has often resulted in heated controversy. From the beginnings of the recorded his¬ tory of physical education to about 1913, physical education was physical education. There was no controversy over education of the physical versus education thru the physical. Content varied from age to age, but this type of emphasis was still the common one thirty years ago. Professor Thorndike provided the educational catalyzer that changed much of this. In 1913, he published the first educational psychology that made sense to most physical educators. We saw increasingly greater edu¬ cational possibilities in our work, and responded to them, as a movement, with enthusiasm. Some of us strove the more valiantly to crusade for an education that was primarily physical. Some sought primarily to prepare for the increased amount of leisure that was coming upon us. Some tried to combat the physically disintegrating forces of our civilization, and stressed Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 157 better body mechanics. A few stressed character education and the develop¬ ment of personality. At first, these multiple objectives arose as expansions of the program of education of the physical. More recently they have in many places become a cult of their own, and education of the physical body itself has been more and more neglected. Let us turn to a consideration of certain facts. 1. All recent competent biological and psychological thinking has stressed the fact that the human animal is one united, integrated organism. 2. There are certain prerequisites that must be met, such as strength and endurance, physical and mental health, and certain attitudes and habits. 3. To elicit a superior performance, one needs a mastery of technics. 4. Good teaching demands active teacher participation and leadership in the organizing and teaching situation, and much active coaching of the best type. 5. We may speak of two general arrangements of functions in educa¬ tion — the horizontal and the vertical. The horizontal ones are such charac¬ teristics as good citizenship, character, personality, general culture, and perhaps health. The vertical ones are those peculiar to a given discipline. We hear much of the need for integration, but I believe that this should be largely in the horizontal fields, not in the vertical. I believe that it is time to take stock of the peculiar and individual con¬ tributions of physical education and to give a great deal more attention to them than we have seemed to do recently. 6. To most of the educated folk, each subject has its own cultural con¬ tribution, and the thoughtful teacher should attempt to inculcate in his stu¬ dents the culture peculiarly belonging to his subject. The cultural aspects of physical education are not the same as those in other fields, but they are as real as they are unique. 7. We must not only decide what we are going to teach, but we must teach it as well as we can, keeping our instruction geared to the poten¬ tialities and present abilities of our pupils. If as teachers we raise the levels of the masses until they approach the upper limitations of the individuals themselves, we shall have done our bit to improve the status of our people. What price progress in physical education ? I think the answer is that we must study our own field, and for the most part stay within it. A good body, adequate strength, physiological organic vigor, and a well-poised, graceful body are as important objectives today as they ever were. But to this we must add the development of adequate skills in many activities. We must add to our technics of character educa¬ tion within the limitations of our field. We must learn to appreciate the culture inherent in our own field and those of health education and the many branches of recreation, and to endeavor at all times to inculcate them. And finally, those of us who are physical educators must grow with our expanding field. We must examine every positive contribution from other fields. But in the last analysis, we must think thru those contributions which 158 National Education Association only physical education and its very closely allied fields can make, and give them the preferred right of way. Education of the physical? Education thru the physical? We need to forget this division which smacks too much of the old body-mind dualism. We cannot separate them and have an adequate physical education of the whole organism, for only as we perfect the instrument do we obtain a truly artistic performance. EXPERIMENTAL VENTURES IN A SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAM DOROTHY B. NYSWANDER, COMMITTEE ON NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH DEVELOPMENT, ASTORIA, N. Y. There is very little to be said about the objectives or underlying philosophy of the school health program that is revolutionary or even new. A serpent of doubt, however, lurks in this garden of perfection. At present there is hardly one phase of the program that has not been subjected to criticism by professional groups, lay groups, or administrators. Either the program is not understood, or its results are not demonstrable, or analyses reveal inde¬ fensible weaknesses. Do we need to do some serious overhauling of this pro¬ gram which looks so well on paper but whose satisfactory operation is far from a reality? For your consideration and critical comment I should like to present a progress report of such study now under way in New York City. It has been in operation now for one and one-half years. As originally planned it is a four-year program. During the first year the study staff worked only in one large elementary school. The school principal and the sixty-one teachers cooperated with the study staff in analyzing and attempt¬ ing to solve the many administrative problems found in that school. The use of records, the use of the time of the physician and nurse within the school, the means of relating the teacher’s activities in her health work to those of the medical and nursing staff, the integration of health facts coming from private physicians, dentists, and clinics — all were questioned as to their value in achieving the desired result of aiding the individual child. Each administrative procedure was followed thru to see if it had proved success¬ ful in reaching this objective. In this way, we were able to find specific casual factors of weak links. Then new procedures were substituted to see if they might prove more successful. The second year of work has seen an expansion of the program. Six more elementary schools and one junior high school have been added. The study staff has expanded too. It now includes a full-time pediatrician-consultant, a public health nurse consultant, and a health and physical education con¬ sultant. The work of the second year of study consists for the most part of field work by the three consultants who are searching for solutions to the problems pertaining to their own professional contributions to the school health program. Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 159 During the third year the study staff plans to complete two manuals : one a manual for school physicians emphasizing the educational as well as the technical aspects of their work ; the other a handbook for school nurses. During this third year the work of studying teacher knowledges and in¬ terests in the health program will continue. The third year calls, too, for the beginning of continuing in-service education programs for staff nurses and staff physicians of the entire city. The materials developed during the first two years in the experimental schools will be used in small discussion groups in each health center district. It is difficult to plan ahead for the work of the fourth year because each problem to be solved grows out of some preceding problem. If some of you, while following the plans of the study as I outlined them for the next two years, share with me some serious doubts as to their eventuation, more satis¬ fying materials perhaps may be found in some of the elements of procedures which are outcomes of the first year and a half of our work. The first procedure is not a new one. It postulates the formation of a joint advisory committee for the school health program of the city with a lay member as chairman. This committee is charged with the responsibility of developing policies cooperatively and then interpreting these policies to their respective groups. The second procedure states that within the depart¬ ment or departments administering the school health program there should be an actively functioning committee of all the directors or consultants charged with any phase of the work. The third procedure is that of the necessity of forming a committee on school health procedures within each school. The fourth procedure concerns the work of the physician in the school. Not only must methods be used by which he secures more detailed health history for each child in order to aid him in his judgments of health status, but he must be sensitive to the child’s home conditions in order that individualized planning for the care of the child may be made. The fifth procedure deals with the duties of the school nurse. Increased efficiency in functioning will come thru more systematic planning of the work to be done in each school, the development of informative complete records, and the minimizing of non-productive routines. The sixth procedure states that the teacher’s participation in the health service program works to the advantage of physician, nurse, and child. The seventh procedure is based on our ex¬ periments in in-service staff education. These ventures have led us to con¬ clude that supervisors of teachers, nurses, and physicians must adopt newer methods in directing and educating their respective personnel. The final procedure is made up of administrative parts. First, we have reason to believe that a more careful health examination of entering children, and awareness by the physician and nurse of the importance of this first conference with the parent contribute to more effective action by the parent than is evidenced later. Second, that the utilization of the services of the private physician in examining entering children should be encouraged when possible. Third, that the administrative personnel make continuing check studies a$ to the way the school health program is functioning. 160 National Education Association EDUCATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL O. C. CARMICHAEL, CHANCELLOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN. There has never been a time in the history of America when there was greater confusion and divergence of view about what education is or should be. No doubt this diversity represents a healthy state. There is surely an unusual amount of effort being put forth, but for want of analysis it some¬ times appears a hopeless jumble of ideas and purposes. Amidst all this confusion there is one common element discernible. Pro¬ viding more adequately for the individual is clearly the aim in the variety of experiments and plans now in operation. This emphasis had its beginning two hundred years ago when Rousseau declared that individual development was the purpose of education. This is the philosophical background from which the interest in physical and health education sprang. I should like to consider certain fundamental objectives in the physical and health education program of the American school system that seem to me, as a layman, to be of great importance. There are three great national problems the solution of which depends to a large extent upon this group and the educational interests which it represents, at least so far as education can solve them. The first of these problems is that of physical health and well-being. There are two fundamental reasons for conditions subjecting both youth and adults to greater health hazards. In 1850, 15 percent of the American population was urban, while now the figure is nearly 60 percent. In crowded areas infectious diseases spread more rapidly than in rural sections. Doubtless a large proportion of the defects of children could be removed or prevented. Why, then, has the practice of health not kept pace with knowledge? It is due to a lack of public sentiment. The task of the physical and health educator is more than merely giving instruction to the youth who attend his classes. If he is to minister to the individual properly he must know the home background. Clearly related to the problem of health is that of safety. No one has a better opportunity to stress safety and the importance of the proper attitude toward the matter of precaution than the physical educator. It must be clear from the above how vast is your opportunity as educators if you accept some responsibility in these matters. The view of education as the most effective development of the individual, for the physical educator, comprehends these larger aims and purposes, for the individual’s welfare is bound up in their achievement. The second of the national problems to which I refer is that of emotional health. I am well aware that this problem is rooted in sociological conditions that cannot be reached merely by education. On the other hand, there is much that education could do to improve the situation. The physical edu¬ cator and recreational leader have perhaps more opportunity to make a con¬ tribution at this point than the teachers of other school subjects. Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 161 Basic to emotional well-being are three elements: (a) a sense of belonging, (b) a sense of being accepted, and (c) a sense of being needed. In all or¬ ganized activity these three elements can be supplied. In play activities the development of emotional control, of intellectual conceptions and judgments, and the strengthening of such qualities of char¬ acter as honesty, generosity, modesty, fairness, and loyalty in social contacts should be the aim. These qualities are essential to the emotional stability and well-being of the individual. The third general problem to which I would call your attention is that of leisure and its proper use. Great cultures can arise only when there is freedom and leisure, but crime often grows from the same soil. Every leader of youth should bear in mind this significant fact and recognize that prepara¬ tion for the use of leisure is one of the inescapable responsibilities of educa¬ tion. The physical educator and recreational leader have an opportunity to make a real contribution to the solution of the leisure-time problem if they will be guided by the long view of individual needs. A stimulating, creative, and active form of recreation is the great need of youth and age. Recreational leaders of youth have a responsibility for the development of appreciation of what constitutes the proper use of leisure. OUR DEBT TO DEMOCRACY A. F. HARMAN, PRESIDENT, ALABAMA COLLEGE, MONTEVALLO, ALA. If the word “democracy” is on every tongue, if it glares forth from every printed page, it is not due solely to the fact that we live in a topsy-turvy world. Since those brilliant days in ancient Athens, democracy, whether as a philosophy of government or as a way of life, has met with challenge at every inch of its progress. Surely, we of America cannot be so obtuse as to regard indifferently the existing conflict between the democratic and the totalitarian states of the world. Since the very beginnings of civilization, government and education have been outstanding and dominant influences upon human character and con¬ duct. That these influences have failed to satisfy the cravings of humanity is too obvious to require comment. To admit the defects and failures of our American democracy is not to entertain for even a passing moment the thought of substituting for it a dictatorship of any kind. For the purposes of this hour, faith in democracy as the chief hope of a hectic and sorry world is taken for granted. The conclusions toward which we are heading are predicated, at least in part, upon the unintelligent exercise of citizenship in America. Whether with respect to the locality, to the state, or to the nation, our total attitude to law and order is certainly not conducive to the best results from govern¬ ment. We may well consider whether the failures of such democratic gov¬ ernment as we have in America are chargeable to the constituted authorities or to an unintelligent and inactive citizenship. In such a democracy as ours it is an obligation of citizenship to understand the purposes and the opera¬ tions of government. 162 National Education Association There is a hope — a chief and unfailing hope — for democracy ! That hope is education! We cannot think of our debt to democracy intelligently or conclusively unless we shall have weighed well all the finer meanings and the far-reaching influences of education as a part of the democratic ideal. Here in “the blessed land of room enough,” wide disagreement prevails among students and scholars as to education. Out of all our confusion and uncertainty, however, arises the well- grounded hope in the democratic ideal which is concerned with the educa¬ tion of all its people at every level, from the lowest school to the highest. A democracy fails in proportion as the people who live under it fail to live according to its tenets. Our debt to democracy shall be paid only if we who are professionally and officially engaged in education in America shall realize and accept responsi¬ bility for leadership in the struggle of democracy for supremacy. If we are to prove worthy and able leaders in the struggle, we must possess more than mere knowledge. We must be good citizens as well as good educators. The fact that you here are engaged in a highly specialized field of human endeavor provides no escape for you from our debt to democracy. Yours is the duty to sublimate the beauty of the human body and to develop its strength and endurance not so much for the athletic contest as for the highest ethical and civic purposes. You will assist in the payment of our debt to de¬ mocracy only in proportion as you accept responsibility for leadership in education in this larger sense of the term. ACCIDENTS AND THE NATIONAL HEALTH HERBERT J. STACK, NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL, CHICAGO, ILL. Why this sudden flurry of interest in safety education and accident pre¬ vention? Can we justify our belief that safety training must of necessity form a part of every child’s education? Is physical education the proper channel thru which we should direct our efforts? Accidents in our national life — Let me quote from some reliable statistics which have been assembled. According to National Safety Council estimates, in Accident Facts, 1936-1937 , “the accident toll in our country during the last year approximated 105,000 deaths and over 10,000,000 injuries.” In one year, the loss of life from accidents was, therefore, about one-third of the total loss of American soldiers in all wars in which our country has been engaged, back as far as the French and Indian wars. In view of these staggering facts the need for immediate action is only too obvious. America, like other democracies, tends to move slowly, but once awakened to its needs, it moves fast. Governors are calling confer¬ ences, legislatures are passing laws requiring the teaching of safety, new regulations are being enacted for greater safety on street and highway as well as in industries and transportation, and courts are tightening up on traffic violators. The growing interest in safety education in our schools is, therefore, just a reflection of the widespread desire that something be done about reduc- Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 163 ■ ing preventable accidents. The American people realize that in the long run the best solution of many of our safety problems lies in a more thoro education of all the people. They are, therefore, calling upon the schools to help. The camel’s share of the burden for organization and supervision of safety instruction has fallen on health and physical educators. The best safety programs in states and cities can be found, as a rule, under the leadership of these departments. This is to be expected, for when superintendents of schools are called upon by boards of education and by committees to promote greater safety in the schools, they have generally called upon physical edu¬ cation departments to organize preventive measures. In our discussion we should keep one thing in mind. It is impossible for physical education teachers per se to carry on all safety activities. It will be best to organize the work along two fronts. First , to give instruction and to provide supervision in certain phases of safety — for example, in athletics, in swimming, and in the gymnasium. This is the direct work of physical education. Second , to organize programs and supervise activities to be car¬ ried on in other departments — for example, driver training, school patrols, home safety in household arts. In this case, physical education acts as a coordinator. Street and highway safety — The automobile, while it has brought us con¬ venience, pleasure, and recreation, has also brought serious accident prob¬ lems — problems which require the efforts of every agency to provide solu¬ tions. It is the responsibility of the school to give and to encourage the formation of good safety habits and attitudes. Much already has been ac¬ complished. While adult accidents have increased sharply, those of children have shown but a slight increase. The schools should continue the work they are doing and should enlarge on certain activities. There are many states and cities without definite pro¬ grams, and there is altogether too much hit-or-miss teaching of safety. In the high-school field, the shift is from pedestrian to driver accidents. In view of this fact, motor vehicle authorities are beginning to view all young drivers with alarm. Most of the authorities have wisely decided that education should be given a trial before taking the automobile away from young people. In some states — notably New Hampshire, Delaware, In¬ diana, and New Jersey — driver education activities are well advanced. This work in driver education is obviously closely associated with health and physical education. Much of the subjectmatter concerns the physical con¬ dition as well as the personality of the driver, his attitudes, habits, and skills. Drowning accidents — There is no field of safety in which results are more apparent than in the prevention of water accidents. From 1913 to 1935, according to United States Mortality Statistics, drowning accidents have steadily decreased, in spite of the fact that the use of the water for bathing and for water craft has shown a steady increase. Yet there is much that can be done to provide better and safer swimming facilities in our towns and cities. 164 National Education Association School building accidents — In the average school building, 35 percent of the accidents occur in the gymnasium. This is of immediate concern to physi¬ cal educators. Much has been said in the past few years about gymnasium accidents. Frank Lloyd, in Safety in Physical Education in Secondary Schools, states that many accidents are due to faulty equipment controls. Most of these conditions are to a certain degree within our control. Athletics and recreation — From the very nature of sports and recreational activities we will always find accidents. As I observe the work of coaches and physical educators in recent years there has been a striking improve¬ ment in the attitude of coaches toward the safety of players over the at¬ titude one or two decades ago. Yet there is much that can be done to improve the safety of boys and girls in sports today. There are many other phases of safety that should be included in our school programs. Health and safety are basic in the school curriculum. The sad part of the accident situation is that of the huge total of ten million accidents, at least 50 percent were entirely preventable. This does not mean just a program of traffic safety alone, but a program of well-balanced, all-round safety activities. And the job of developing this program lies in the hands of health and physical educators. SECRETARY’S REPORT E. D. MITCHELL, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR, MICH. The year 1937-38 has for a number of reasons been memorable in the history of our Department. Perhaps the most outstanding event was the consummation last June of our merger with the Department of Health and Physical Education, and the start of our new life as the American Association for Health and Physical Education — a department of the Na¬ tional Education Association. The reorganization of our constitution and the development of new align¬ ments of formerly existing activities has occupied the time and thought of several committees during the past twelve months. The revised constitution, prepared under the able chairmanship of C. L. Brownell, was approved by the legislative council in Atlanta, and is published in the June 1938 issue of the Jour?ial of Health and Physical Education. Among the important changes made were the following: 1. The Department’s name was changed to the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation — a department of the National Education Association. (The word “Recreation” was added to the title by council vote, April 1938.) 2. Three divisions — Health Education, Physical Education, and Recreation — were created to coordinate the work of the sections. 3. The chairmen of the three divisions will act as vicepresidents of the Depart¬ ment, and will serve as members of our Executive Committee. 4. The office of executive secretary-treasurer of the Department has been created, and the duties of this office defined. This officer will replace the former secretary- editor on the Executive Committee. Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 165 5. The basis for council representation of state associations has been changed, to allow for adequate representation of states having more than five hundred members in the Department. Temporary division chairmen were appointed by President McCloy last summer as follows: Health Education, Mrs. Edna W. Bailey, University of California; Physical Education, F. W. Cozens, University of California at Los Angeles; and Recreation, F. S. Lloyd, New York University. These chairmen during the year have set up successfully functioning division coun¬ cils. The following new division chairmen have been elected by the division councils for 1938-39: Health Education, Dorothy Nyswander, Astoria, N. Y. ; Physical Education, Grover W. Mueller, public schools, Philadel¬ phia; and Recreation, Frank S. Lloyd, New York University. Officers were elected by the council for the coming year as follows : presi¬ dent, N. P. Neilson, Stanford University; president-elect, Margaret Bell, University of Michigan; member-at-large on governing board for 1938- 41, C. E. Turner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Neilson was also selected as executive secretary-treasurer, to take office September 1, and F. W. Cozens of the University of California at Los Angeles was elected to succeed him as president for the unexpired term. E. D. Mitchell was re¬ appointed as editor, retiring from his secretarial duties September 1. As many of our members know, James E. Rogers, director of the National Physical Education Service of the National Recreation Association, has since 1930 also acted as volunteer chairman of field service for our Depart¬ ment. Last summer, the Recreation Association asked President McCloy to release Mr. Rogers from his responsibilities in connection with our De¬ partment in order that he might be free to devote his full time to the National Physical Education Field Service. Mr. Rogers is continuing to work for physical education legislation and to assist the state associations in their work, and will also continue his news page in the Journal of Health and Physical Education. In appreciation for the valuable services rendered by Mr. Rogers during his connection with our group, the governing board voted to present him with a Department key. Eight outstanding leaders in our profession were given the Honor Award of the Department this year upon the recommendation of the Honor Awards Committee under the chairmanship of John Brown, Jr., as follows: V. K. Brown, Chicago Park District; Helen W. Hazelton, Purdue University; Hiram A. Jones, New York State Education Department; Guy S. Low- man, University of Wisconsin; Thomas N. Metcalf, University of Chi¬ cago; Alfreda Mosscrop, Vassar College; Josephine L. Rathbone, Teachers College, Columbia University; and Seward C. Staley, University of Illi¬ nois. The Department key was also presented to the retiring president, C. H. McCloy. In addition to the various council actions previously noted, a number of important motions were passed at the meetings of this body in Atlanta. The minutes of these meetings have been mimeographed, and are available to all interested members of the Department, 166 National Education Association The council also passed a motion that the rebates to state associations should be continued on the basis of twenty-five cents per new member, provided that the total membership of the state association was greater than it had been for the previous year. The selection of Atlantic City was ap¬ proved as the location for the annual convention in 1941. San Francisco and Chicago had already been selected at previous meetings as the sites for the 1939 and 1940 meetings. Reports were received from the Department’s many active committees. Our annual convention at Atlanta was one of the most successful in our history. J. Lewis Cook and his local committees made every effort to see that our delegates were comfortable and contented. We also feel grateful to the Program Committee and our hard working section chairmen for their fine contribution to the success of the convention. The growth of the Department in expanding interests has been paralleled by its rapid growth in size and strength. During the past year the member¬ ship has increased from the previous record figure of 8442 to 9406. Income from all sources increased from $28,866.60 in 1936 to $33,139.82 in 1937, with a profit for the year of $1824.37, which has encouraged the Finance Committee to set up a $35,000 budget for the coming fiscal year of 1938-39. The past year has been an unusual one in the demands it has made upon the time and thought of our officers. Their ability, interest, and unflagging energy have brought the Department thru this strenuous period of read¬ justment. Special praise should go to President C. H. McCloy for his wise and tactful leadership, his efficient grasp of the details of management, and his unfailing adherence to the high objective of a unified professional or¬ ganization. The American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation will remember with gratitude his part during its year of re¬ organization. Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 167 NEW YORK CITY MEETING In the following pages appear abstracts of the papers delivered at the meetings of the Department in connection with the annual convention of the National Education Association, New York City, June 26-30, 1938. Several of these papers and those not available for abstracting in the Pro¬ ceedings will be published in full in the Journal of Health and Physical Education. PROBLEMS IN THE PROMOTION AND ORGANIZATION OF RECREATION IN THE RURAL AREAS ROBERT A. POLSON, DEPARTMENT OF RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, COR¬ NELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y. The traditional antipathy of rural people to recreation no longer exists as an insurmountable hurdle for the development of constructive leisure¬ time programs. The rural people of America are now in a receptive mood for recreational experiences, and the field lies open if there is leadership wise enough to properly guide its development. The general desire is for a very broad program that includes the many phases of recreation. The rural community has, of course, always been interested in competitive athletics, outdoor sports, and social parties. But more and more it is including in its repertoire folk art activities in music, dramatics, dancing, and handicrafts. To meet this expansion, three major problems must be solved. First is the need for well-trained leadership — both professional leaders who will act as teachers and stimulators and volunteer leaders who will direct specific activities. Second is the need for more adequate outdoor and indoor facili¬ ties. Correlated wdth this is the frequent necessity for making existing facili¬ ties available to the people that need them. Third is the need for those in charge of the program to adhere to improved methods in program planning, based upon an appreciation of the community needs and interests, and to see that the public and private promotion agencies coordinate their activities to serve the rural community rather than impose themselves upon it. THE SCHOOL AS A RECREATIONAL CENTER FOR RURAL AREAS EDMUND DE S. BRUNNER, PROFESSOR OF RURAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, N. Y. This discussion considers as rural the open country and the “service sta¬ tion” villages that are the primary centers for their outlying rural terri¬ tory. The recreational problems and possibilities from the school point of view differ in these two situations. The small, open country school with one or two overworked and often inexperienced teachers, and with a small one- or two-room antique, uncom¬ fortable building, can do little. But that little includes constructive use 168 National Education Association of the recess period and the making of the building available for social and farm groups. In such situations county field days often help to introduce the recreational emphasis. In open country consolidated schools and in village schools much more is possible. Drama and music work on either a credit or non-credit basis is increasing and the activities resulting make many contributions to the social life of the community. School hobby clubs are not only recreational for the children but are creating interest among the parents. Some schools have a community night on Fridays, starting with a supper and running a varied educational, recreational, and athletic program for the following three hours or more. Others content themselves by making their facilities available to responsible local organizations. There is increasing cooperation of the schools with other agencies, espe¬ cially some of the new federal organizations, in putting on a broadly rec¬ reational and cultural program. There is an amazing revival of interest in such matters all over the nation and the schools are part of the trend. A COUNTY RECREATION COMMISSION PROGRAM CHARLES B. CRANFORD, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, WESTCHESTER COUNTY RECREATION COMMISSION, WHITE PLAINS, N. Y. The Westchester Recreation Commission helps communities to help themselves, and its success lies in its ability to make organizations and ac¬ tivities independent of it. The program is divided into five general groups of services. They are as follows : 1. Field service to some 52 local villages, towns, and cities. Also serving some 60 to 70 small communities having only a few houses and sometimes a store or post office. 2. Administrative departments in athletics, arts and crafts, camps and outings, music, dramatics, and community centers. 3. The administration of a county center where a great variety of events are held that are of interest to people from every section of the county. 4. Cooperation with, and many times the development of, affiliated organizations such as the Arts and Crafts Guild, Chamber Music Society, Drama Association, Children’s Theater Guild, Little Opera Company, and Trails Association. 5. Cooperation with other county departments and civic organizations. Community “X” — with a population of less than 5000 — developed a pro¬ gram. This community illustrates the procedure followed in establishing a year-round program. Community “X” first had a committee, then a legal commission which received the support of the village board, the board of education, then a lay recreation-education council was organized as an ad¬ visory body to the commission. The council contributed not only advice, but money, materials, and labor to expand the program of this small com¬ munity. People are participating in the planning and execution of this pro¬ gram. The County Commission helped community “X” with expert advice, training its leaders, providing camps for its children, providing a county Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 169 center where its people can enjoy meeting people from other sections of the county, by demonstrating new activities, and in numerous other ways. The following problems of recreation were emphasized : 1. Many people have a narrow conception of recreation. 2. Education and recreation must become more deeply rooted in the community. 3. We need to perform a marriage between education and recreation to provide a leisure program for youth and adults who are not in school. 4. Schools must educate for leisure as well as for labor. 5. Education and recreation must become more closely related to the community life in which they function and with workers in other community service fields. 6. Budgets can be balanced and taxes reduced by weighing qualitatively and quantitatively the public services, one against the other, and making appropriations in accordance with the value of these services to the people. 7. Qualified leaders are needed who can lead the people to the riches of human experience and can develop a program that will truly meet the needs and desires of the people. Good recreation is good education, and good education is good recreation. I hope these two will join hands and travel together, making for rich oppor¬ tunities for good living, for all people regardless of race, creed, color, age, or financial status. FUNCTIONS OF THE HEALTH TEACHER LILLIAN B. DAVIS, SCIENTIST AND EDUCATOR, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BALTIMORE, MD. Habits are necessary but they must be controlled by a thinking individual. We should aim to develop thinking individuals who will base their behavior on scientific reasons, and will use their judgment and knowledge in living a full and happy life. Healthful living does not consist of an accumulation of health habits, but depends upon the acceptance of intelligent reasons as guides or rules of conduct. This being true, health knowledge and health instruction must bear a large part of the responsibility for healthy living. The classroom teacher is the most important person in the program of health education. Health teaching cannot be trusted to correlation or inte¬ gration. It must have a definite time allotment. The amount of time and its distribution are two problems that need serious consideration. There are no specific or unusual technics for health instruction. The prin¬ ciples and methods of general education are entirely applicable to health education. Courses of study should be organized around life experiences and not subjectmatter topics. By the completion of the elementary grades, all pupils should have received a complete, balanced, unified course of health instruction. Good health lessons demand that the teacher possess a full, rich back¬ ground of scientific information, that she provide much concrete material for the pupils, and that she provide for many kinds of learning. Knowledge in and of itself does not necessarily influence conduct. It must serve some drive before it will truly function. But knowledge is one tool in the program of 170 National Education Association health education, and the classroom teacher has the power to make this tool sharp and polished. FUNCTIONS OF THE NURSE— A PROBLEM IN SCHOOL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION MARIE SWANSON, STATE SUPERVISOR OF SCHOOL NURSING, STATE EDUCA¬ TION DEPARTMENT, ALBANY, N. Y. The initial problem of school administration in relation to provision of nursing service is still unsolved by schools attended by more than fourteen million of the twenty-six million pupils in the public elementary and high schools of the country. Fifty-four percent have no nursing service; another five million, or 19 percent, have some in name or actuality; while seven million are provided with a moderately reasonable amount of service. Tho there is a nice unanimity of opinion as to the purpose of the nurse in the schools — in the words of the White House Conference, “To help in the avoidance of preventable diseases and the development and maintenance of healthy bodies and minds,” there is more variety of opinion regarding her functions. There has been a shift of emphasis from the nurse doing things to and for the child to a real educational process of stimulating him and his parents to desire and obtain the best of health service. Each of the many changes in social work, public health, and methods of education, while relieving the nurse of some old responsibilities, has usually brought her new and often more difficult ones requiring a better scientific background and broader preparation in the fields of health and education. It is an administrative responsibility to choose such nurses and to ensure their continuous growth and development while in service (as the processes of change are continuous). Provision of a well-informed director to de¬ termine the “what” and “when” of the nurse’s activities and of good and adequate nursing supervision to assist the nurse in improving the “how” of her methods of functioning have proven effective for this purpose. FUNCTIONS OF THE NUTRITIONIST IN SCHOOL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION HARRIET STONE, SUPERVISOR OF NUTRITION, NEWARK, N. J. With the development of school health programs, the need for bringing people with specialized training into the school system became apparent. The nutritionist is one of the more recent additions to the school health staff. The importance of nutrition to health and to health protection is not a new discovery, but the recognition on the part of administrators that the schools have a definite responsibility for nutritional improvement is one of the newer concepts of education. When schools recognize and assume responsibility for education in nutri¬ tion and for improvement in the nutritional condition of children and teachers there must be someone within the system to guide and direct efforts Health, Physical Education, and Recreation 171 to this end. The nutritionist in the public school system should be consultant, guide, and teacher in this special field for the rest of the education staff. She should be a member of the curriculum committee and should be responsible for development of curriculum materials in nutrition. She must observe and evaluate nutrition teaching on the various grade levels and must do demonstration teaching when necessary. She must be able to teach and to interpret nutritional needs to parents, teachers, principals, supervisors, school nurses, and social workers. She must lead in selection and evaluation