UM ■ a(€cC t^ ELLIS ARNALL ^\\a\ the People Want JAMES BRYANT CONANT The Principle of Equality WILLARD E. GOSLIN Education and the Conservation of Natural Resources WILLIAM F. RUSSELL How Education Can Work for Peace NORMAN VINCENT PEALE ' rhf Technic of Successful Living This maceria! comes to you through you! I iption ro ti .OHAL RES RVICE StrQtr OTHER^DDR ESSES by H. B Bruner, Bert Cholet, Stewart G. ColeTAIIison i5a vTs, l, G. Derthick, Roy E. Lorsen, Rehmus, Mabel Studebaker, Gill Robb Wilson FICIAL REPORT— 7949 CONV-ENTIONS AS/^Efi- f rancisco • St. Louis • Philadelphia • AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES EDUCATION LIBRARY OFFICIAL REPORT The American Association of School Administrators A Department of the National Education Association of the United States REGIONAL CONVENTIONS 1949 SAN FRANCISCO February 20-23 ST. LOUIS February 27-March 2 PHILADELPHIA March 27-30 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington 6, D.C. May 1949 SI .50 Per Copy PODCATION LIBRARY CONVENTION THEME Education and the General Welfare CONTENTS SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL SESSIONS SUNDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 20 Page In tlie Minds of Men — Cole 9 SUNDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 20 Standard Hour Concert 19 MONDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 21 The 1949 Yearbook — American School Buildings — Burscli .... 19 Introduction of Platform Guests — Goslin 21 What the Schools Are Doing about Education for Democracy — Rehmus .... 22 Education and the State of the Nation — Arnall 32 MONDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 21 California Hospitality Hour .^ 32 MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 21 I Education and the Conservation of Human Resources — Davis 32 ^ Education and the Conservation of Natural Resources — Goslin 32 TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22 Presentation of the Associated Exhibitors Scholarship for Graduate Study in School Administration — Chalet 33 Acceptance of the Associated Exhibitors Scholarship 33 Presentation of the American Education Award to Pearl A. ^^ Wanamaker — Cholet 3+ J Acceptance of the American Education Award — fVanamakcr 35 ^ WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23 ' Education's Stake in Aviation — Bruner 39 At Home in One World —If'Uson 39 Constitutional Amendment on Life Membership Dues — Demaree ... 39 ST. LOUIS GENERAL SESSIONS SUNDAY AFTERNOON. FEBRUARY 27 Man's Search for God (Pageant) 41 / 9.s-y ST. LOUIS GENERAL SESSIONS (Continued) SUNDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27 Page Webster Groves Public Schools A Cappella Choir 42 Introduction of Platform Guests — Goslin 43 Presentation of Honorary Life Membership to Harold A. Allan, Former Assistant Secretary for Business of the National Education Association — Hill 43 What the People Want — A mall 45 MONDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 28 The Convention Exhibit — C/iolei 53 The 1949 Yearbook — American School Buildings — White 56 Introduction of Platform Guests — Goslin 57 The Teacher's Role in Education for Democracy — Studebaker . 58 The Principle of Equality — Conant .... 64 MONDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 28 Missouri Hospitality Hour 73 MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 28 Vashon High School Choir 74 Introduction of Platform Guests — Simpson .... 74 Education and the Conservation of Human Resources — Dai'is 74 Education and the Conservation of Natural Resources — Goslin 84 TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 1 Presentation of the Associated Exhibitors Scholarship for Graduate Study in School Administration to Rayburn J. Fisher —Cholct 90 Acceptance of the Associated Exhibitors Scholarship — Fisher 91 Presentation of the American Education Award to Pearl A. Wanamaker — Cholet 92 Acceptance of the American Education Award 92 Sigmund Romberg and His Concert Orchestra and Soloists 93 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 2 Constitutional Amendment on Life Membership Dues — Falk 94 Education's Stake in Aviation — Bruncr .... 95 At Home in One World ^Wilson .... 105 Closing Ceremonies with Introduction of President-Elect John L. Bracken Ill PHILADELPHIA GENERAL SESSIONS SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 27 The Technic of Successful Living — Peale 115 PHILADELPHIA GENERAL SESSIONS (Continued) SUNDAY EVENING, MARCH 27 Pace All-Philadelphia Senior High School Chorus and Orchestra 125 Introduction of Platform Guests — Gosl'in . 125 How Education Can Work for Peace — Russell .... 125 MONDAY MORNING, MARCH 28 The Convention Exhibit — Cholct 137 The 1949 Yearbook — American School Buildings — Anderson .. 137 Introduction of Platform Guests — Goslin 140 Community Action for Democratic Education — Larsen 142 Implications for American Schools of Educational Recon- struction in Germany — Derthick . . . 151 MONDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 28 Pennsylvania Hospitality Hour 159 MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 28 Education and the Conservation of Human Resources — Davis 159 Education and the Conservation of Natural Resources — Goslin 159 Introduction of Platform Guests — Simpson ... 159 Presentation of Past President's Key to Willard E. GosWn—Tlirelkcld .. 160 TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 29 Presentation of the Associated Exhibitors Scholarship to Rayburn J. Fisher — Cholet 161 Presentation of the American Education Award to Pearl A. Wanamaker — Cholct 161 Sigmund Romberg and His Concert Orchestra and Soloists 161 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 30 Education's Stake in Aviation — Lemmel .... 162 At Home in One World — Wilson 162 Constitutional Amendment on Life Membership Dues — Kulp 162 OFFICIAL RECORDS Annual Report of the Executive Secretary 165 Summary of Executive Committee Meetings 176 Report of the Board of Tellers 182 Resolutions 186 Report of the Audit Committee 190 Certificate of List of Securities 191 The Constitution and Bylaws 193 Calendar of Meetings 198 Program of the San Francisco Regional Convention 202 Program of the St. Louis Regional Convention 208 Program of the Philadelphia Regional Convention 216 Discussion Group Topics 221 Yearbook Commissions 222 Index 223 OUR POLICY — The American Association of School Administrators endorses no individual or group of individuals or any sentiment expressed by any speaker or other participant in its programs, ex- cept by resolution or by motion approved by a vote of its members. OFFICERS, 1948-49 American Association of School Administrators President WiLLARD E. GosLiN, Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena, California First Vicepresident Herold C. Hunt, General Superintendent of Schools, Chicago, Illinois Second Vicepresident Alfred D. Simpson, Professor of Education, Harvard University', Cambridge, Massachusetts Executive Secretary Worth McClure, 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C. Executive Committee Irby B. Carruth, Superintendent of Schools, Waco, Texas HoBART M. Corning, Superintendent of Schools, Washington, D. C. George E. Roudebush, Superintendent of Schools, Columbus, Ohio Paul Loser, Superintendent of Schools, Trenton, New Jersey The President, First and Second Vicepresidents, ex officio February 30-23, 1949 Thewni>: ^EDVCATiQIV JtJVn THJE Gi^JVJEHAJL tVJEM.F'A FIRST GENERAL SESSION Vesper Service Sunday Afternoon, February 20 The First General Session of the Western Regional Convention of the American Association of School Administrators convened in the War Me- morial Opera House, San Francisco, California, on Sunday afternoon, February 20, at three-thirty o'clock. President Willard E. Goslin, Superin- tendent of Schools, Pasadena, California, presiding. TQRESIDENT GosLiN : One of the privileges of attendance at the meetings ■^ oi this Association is an opportunitj^ to hear some of the outstanding public-school music in America. We are to listen this afternoon to the A Cappella Choir of the City College of San Francisco, under the direction of Miss Flossita Badger. [See page 203 for complete program of music] IN THE MINDS OF MEN STEWART G. COLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PACIFIC COAST COUNCIL ON INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA President Goslin: In trying to develop a program for this conference, and for the series of conferences which are to be held across America in the next few weeks by the American Association of School Administrators, we have attempted to bring to the foreground an understanding that a meas- ure of education valid to the needs of our times is a requisite to the welfare of a free people. We have attempted in developing the general sessions in connection with these conferences to point our thinking in terms of at least three important areas having to do with our welfare as a people. We have attempted to develop a bit the thinking of the relationship between education and peace, between education and the maintenance and extension of democ- racy, between education and the conservation of human and natural resources. This afternoon we are attempting to develop our thinking a bit in the direction of the relationship of education to a world of peace. We are to listen to an interesting, able, courageous, hard-working American citizen. Stewart Cole has always had a part in education, and in recent years he has been more and more identified with the movement to consciously use educa- tion as an instrument for the improvement of human relations in our society. Stewart Cole started out as a rural school teacher in Saskatchewan, and has a wide experience in university teaching and lecturing. He has written extensively in the fields of education, sociolog>', and religion. He is now serving as executive director to the Pacific Coast Council on Intercultural Education, in which capacity he has established enviable working relation- ships with the school systems of this state, and others of this area. [91 10 American Association of School Administrators Stewart Cole will speak to us on the subject "In the Minds of Men." Mr, Cole: Mr. President, and Fellow Educators: A quarter-century ago H. G. Wells told his contemporaries, still stunned from the shock of world war, that "civilization is engaged in a race between education and catastrophe." At that time many of us thought the poet was exercising brash freedom, but intervening events have in large measure vindi- cated him as a prophet. A series of catastrophies has visited mankind. A long depression took its harrowing toll from the peoples of Europe and America. The blight of a still more hideous war withered the hopes of many nations and countless people around the world. The presentday ruthless greed of Russia for power directly contributes to a gathering gloom over the face of most of Europe. The collapse of China, through pitiless civil war, leaves Asia a prostrate portion of the earth. And what of America? General Omar Bradley, in his Armistice Day address last year, observed that, "We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living." And of condi- tions in the world, he said : "With the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." In our time it seems that a long dark night is settling down over mankind. There is "no place to hide." This is not the first time in the history of the world when such a shatter- ing cataclysm has occurred. Arnold J. Toynbee informs us that nineteen of twenty civilizations have gone to their death through war or internal con- flicts. With reckless disregard for human life, and with atomic bombs at its disposal, our civilization seems to be on the verge of mass suicide. "But," says To3'nbee, "we are not doomed to make history repeat itself. It is open to us through our own efforts to give history, in our case, some new and unprecedented turn. As human beings, we are endowed with this freedom of choice, and we cannot shufBe off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is up to us." It is up to us ! The leaders who rise out of the darkness of a people's despair are always those who offer genuine hope and show the way toward the dawn. Listen to the counsel of two great leaders in such times. Fresh in our memories are these vibrant words of Winston Churchill, spoken to his kinsmen when he took over the helm of government during England's darkest hour: "The Battle of France is over; the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island, or lose the war. Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves, that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealths last for a ■thousand years, men will still say 'this was their finest hour'." So, too, at the depth of the depression in 1932, we recall the deeply stir- ring voice of President Franklin D. Roosevelt saying to his fellow citizens : "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." And four years later, when the long shadow of a new war threatened the world, he lifted his people with these words : "To some generations, much San Francisco Convention 1 1 is given; of other generations, much is expected; this generation of Ameri- cans has a rendezvous with destinj'." In the depths of despair and war, these leaders found cause for hope and presented a bold program of action. No less today do the times call for bold programs and high leadership. Can we not, as educators, find in the events of this very hour the glowing rays of the dawn of a new tomorrow? Of the events I am about to recall to your minds each has its record of partial failure. Yet inherent in each is the creative force which, harnessed, can bring forth a better world. Only four short years ago, in this very room, the United Nations organi- zation was born, a pledge of the peoples of the world that they would work together to keep the peace. Although these nations suffer the consequences of hundreds of years of bad practices and broken faith, this organization and its accomplishments stand a gleaming hope that men can give up their foolish ways and that world civilization can go forward. Let us who are the United Nations support it with opportunity and time to prove itself. The bomb that fell on Hiroshima marked the opening of a new technologi- cal era. The power of nuclear energy can provide abundant food for starv- ing nations, bring new health to the sick, and make presentday luxuries the necessities of all men. You and I will help to decide whether nuclear energy will destroy our civilization, or help build the world of tomorrow. The European Recovery Program has been called by some "operation rat hole," though already its accomplishments are proving it another poten- tial of goodwill and peace for our times. Blessed with material bounty above other peoples, Americans are sharing food and clothing, seeds and raw mate- rials, tools and know-how with the needy of Europe. We are helping our world neighbors to restore productivity, rebuild self-respect, and set rolling the wheels of progress. The President's Committee on Civil Rights has presented for us a blue- print for better human relationships in every neighborhood in the land. The impact of its recommendations for housing, employment, education, and full citizenship, without distinction as to race, color, creed, or class, is arousing the nation to its democratic responsibility. There are those who see in these great events only the continuing evidences of man's failure. Others find in them endless horizons for social growth, WHiether individuals will yield to despair in this situation, or build their lives on faith in human progress, rests, as always, in the minds of men, and it is with the minds of men that educators are concerned. There is, therefore, no room for complacency among us in this conference of schoolmen. The civilization we seek to succor is still acutely unstable. We need fresh insights into our strenuous job. We need a philosophy of values commensurate with the demands of an age of atomic energ>' and of the United Nations, and one in which the small peoples of the world are rapidly coming of age. We need the combined resources of science and commf)n sense to help us grasp the real opportunities for educational leader- ship. We need modesty and the spirit of apprenticeship in application to our daily tasks. We ha\e these attitudes and skills. We need them in a greater 12 American Association of School Administrators degree of proficiencj' and on a higher level of professional service. This is the mandate of our times to us. This afternoon I w^ant to examine this command-to-action in one area of public-school responsibility. It is the responsibility for building "the de- fenses of peace." If peace is to be achieved in our time, it will come only as men learn to regard each other as brothers, I am reminded that today opens "Brotherhood Week" in this country. Of course, what we need is brother- hood weekly, daily, hourly, in all our human relationships — in the family, the community, the nation, and the world. Let us hope that the special activi- ties recognizing brotherhood throughout this week will contribute richly to the coming of the day of which Robert Burns wrote, "That man to man, the world o'er shall brothers be for a' that." Education for good human relationships is, therefore, our primary job. It is a job to be considered against the background of what the social sciences and ethics have to offer us about the nature of man and the characteristics of human society. For us, whose major task lies in our own communities, this means knowing the nature of our neighborhoods, of the American people, and of the values we cherish for the enrichment of democracy. In the light of such knowledge, a school program in human relationships may be reliably developed. Let us, therefore, examine America's human resources. The American people are in fact many peoples. They have come one, two, three— ten generations ago from the various sections of Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Dominion of Canada, and the islands of the seven seas to pursue their personal fortunes in this land of promise. These peoples brought their cultures with them in their languages, their religions, their family folkways, and their life interests and skills acquired in the old countries. As immi- grants, they cherished them in America. In fact, they were in their persons the embodiment of their old world cultures. Wherever they settled in this country they planted these habituated ways of living. The richness of their contributions to American life has been frequently recounted. This country developed an amazingly complicated pattern of human reb.tionships. The many transplanted old world cultures each made its de- mands upon every member of the group, demands which often fitted less well in the new environment than in the old. At the same time, other adjust- ments were essential between the interests, languages, religions, and folk- ways of these diverse groups interacting in everyday community living. The democratic endeavor to convert out of many transplanted peoples and cultures one America is well known to all of us. Many of the older immigrants — English, German, Irish, Scandinavian, and the like — lost their separate identity and merged into an American culture compounded of the values of many historic peoples. Israel Zangwell's idea of "the melting pot" vividly portrayed this social phenomenon. Human likenesses and social one- ness have become a powerful force in shaping our communities and the per- sonal fortunes of many individuals in this country. However, we must also take account of the widespread resistance of indi- viduals and groups to giving up their characteristic patterns of culture. Most American communities are not only a melting pot; they are also a tapestry San Francisco Convention 13 woven of many separate threads and colors. In some cases the resistance to change is self-motivated ; in others, the members of a group are not permitted to merge because of the pressure of stronger groups. Cultural differences are being perpetuated in every neighborhood in the land. They take a variety of forms and they serve a strange medley of purposes, some good and some not so good. Our community patterns of cultural differences have both horizontal and vertical aspects. Horizontally, across the community, w^e see racial, religious, and ethnic distinctions. We are familiar with Negro, native Indian, Oriental, Caucasian, and hybrid types of racial stock. We recognize Roman Catholic, Methodist, Unitarian, Salvation Army, Christian Science, Jew^ish, and many other religious groups. We observe many nationality groups retaining certain of their independent ways. This is particularly true of peoples from Eastern and Southern Europe, and from the Latin American countries. What of vertical differences in the local neighborhood ? These are not so manifestly clear, although it takes only a little critical observation to see the outlines of the structure. Here social and economic forces tend to classify persons and groups into a vertical hierarchy. Upper-class Americans enjoy socio-economic advantages not available to the middle class, and the latter possess certain opportunities denied the lower class. There is little doubt that there are decreasing opportunities for individuals and groups as one moves down the social scale. The most favored culture group in this hierarchy is frequently referred to as the Anglos. It includes those who possess the physical traits associated with light-skinned Caucasians, the religious traits characteristic of Protes- tant Christians, and the ethnic traits common to Anglo-Saxon people. Within this group are to be found upper, middle, and lower classes and various gradations between them. Non-Anglos may and usually do have their upper, middle, and lower classes. It is clear, nevertheless, that these minority groups usually occupy positions of lesser status than the Anglo-White-Protestant group. The order of priority follows a rather clearly defined principle. That principle is: the more the members of a group vary from the ethnic traditions of Anglos, from the religious values of Protestants, and from the physical traits of light- skinned Caucasians, the lower their status is in the community pattern. While the personal status of the members of minority groups is not fixed and absolute, as it is in "caste" societies, we all blush with shame when we consider how relatively immobile many of them still are because of the weight of social and economic pressures that would "keep them in their place." Under the caption. "One World," Time magazine recently printed an anecdote from the London weekly Tribune that illustrates to what ridiculous extremes a society can carry this status system. It described a station platform at Kantara, a wartime troop transit base on the Suez Canal. The station platform was lined with ten lavatories, marked respectively : Oflicers, European ; Officers, Asiatic ; Officers, Colored ; Warrant Officers and Sergeants, European; Warrant Officers and Ser- 14 American Association of School Administrators geants, Asiatic ; Warrant Officers and Sergeants, Colored ; Other Ranks, European; Other Ranks, Asiatic; Other Ranks, Colored; and, the last one, British WAC's, We don't always laugh at our own similar discriminations, although one of America's distinguished Negro poets, Countee Cullen, saw the humor in our ways when he wrote the following lines : She thinks that even up in heaven Her class lies late and snores, While poor black cherubs rise at seven To do celestial chores. Seriously, let us look at a few of the most difficult problems in our own status system. Negro-White tensions continue and are taking on new facets, because of the militant disposition that many colored people are acquiring. Strained relations between the so-called Anglos and their Mexican-Ameri- can neighbors are still disturbing. Our Caucasian sense of superiority to Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino-Americans is more obvious as we assume wider leadership in world aiifairs. Anti-Semitism is familiar to us. We ob- serve conflict between minority groups sharing adjoining neighborhoods — a phenomenon known as "scapegoating." Friction frequently occurs in local neighborhoods between the well-established residents and in-migrant mem- bers of the same Negro, Mexican, or other minority groups. There are others which any keen observer could document. What, then, shall we do, as educators, about our racial, religious, and cultural differences? There is nothing particularly reprehensible about a variety of races, religions, and nationality groups participating in com- munity life. Such differences have real value for the American way. Certain other differences are sources of growing concern to self-respecting members of democratic society. Wherever bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and segregation operate to keep certain peoples in subservient position, there are evils of the first order. If allowed to continue unchallenged, they would de- stroy both individual morality and social democracy. They pose some of the most persistent and perplexing issues in human relationships that confront educators. They are a frontier into which we must move in redefining our responsibilities to children, and to the cause of world peace. Let us now look at these frontiers of education. Education is not a tread- mill job. We are engaged in a professional undertaking that is twofold in nature. We are expected to pass on to pupils the culture that is American and we are supposed to help pupils to form judgments enabling them to pass on the American way of life. These offer superb opportunities for teach- ing, learning, and living at its best. The human relationship problems throughout America, which we have just been describing and in which our schools are involved, lay upon us the obligation to rethink our educational program. Speaking as one who has pioneered in this field for many years, I think we must guard lest we over- simplify this task. It is important to recognize that the human-relation problems existing in the community are carried into the school. Socially defined, pupils are San Francisco Convention 15 persons in particular culture groups, manifesting; in their daily behavior the traits to which they have been conditioned. Pupils are not a "clean slate" upon which the school writes. They come to school with the favors and fears, the hopes and despairs, the securities and instabilities, the myths and beliefs, and the values and standards, of their social backfjrounds written deep in the structure of their personalities. We can now see clearly the implications of the fact that pupils bear in their feelinj^s, beliefs, and behavior the qualities of culture that prevail in their respective homes and neighborhoods. For example, a child of White- Anglo-Protestant background may not only enter the school a free and happy youngster; but he may also enjoy an overdeveloped sense of self-esteem, just because he may be in a school geared to the way of living of the dominant culture group. A Negro pupil is not only dark colored, he may also labor in school under the hard fact that he finds his way somewhat darkly in a society controlled by white people. A Mexican-American girl may not only love rhythm and bright colors ; she may also bear in her nervous system the social inhibitions to which girls are frequently subjected in Mexican homes. A boy of Japanese background may be superior in personal character and studious in his lessons ; he may also carry in his heart the feeling that it is hopeless for him to aspire to be a doctor or an engineer because of the dis- crimination his people endure in America. A girl of Jewish background may look physically and act like any other Caucasian child, but she may also suffer feelings of rejection when the teacher accents certain sectarian values during the Christmas and Easter seasons. An old-stock American boy may be proud of a long family history in this country, but socio-economically he may also bear the marks of a somewhat starved personality, A teacher may be un- usually well informed for her job, but the very fact that she is a member of the middle class and is White, Anglo, and Protestant, may easily increase the school strain for children of other economic, racial, and religious groups. How^ever, another teacher of the same background may instinctively recog- nize that every child has a particular need for belonging and for respectful treatment. Edwin Markham has captured the spirit of this type of teacher in the last couplet of his quatrain: He drew a circle that shut me out — Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout, But Love and I had the wit to win; We drew a circle that took him in. If the situations we have been describing are representative of human rela- tionships in school and community, what is their significance for the school administrator in discharging his responsibility for building the defenses of peace in the minds of children? Certainly the problem cannot be ignored. It has at least four major aspects, and innumerable facets. These four aspects are: 1. The challenge arising out of the fact of human likenesses and differences in the classroom 2. The expansion of the concept of democratic citizenship in n multiciilture society 16 American Association of School Administrators 3. The charge upon educators to construct the defenses of peace in the minds of the coming generation 4. The outreach of the school to include the community in its program for better human relationships. Let us look briefly at each of these in turn : 1. What disposition should be made of the fact of cultural likenesses and differences in children? Shall we stress likenesses only, as educators have done traditionally in theory? Even if we could get it, do we want social uniformity in our boys and girls? Besides, can we eliminate differences in race, religion, and the social status system by disregarding these basic ele- ments in the community? On the other hand, shall we shift to the other extreme and lay our chief emphasis upon education for human differences? Would America become great and united if culture group autonomy were a major concern ? Obviously neither of these extremes is desirable. What the school does in meeting this paradox of likenesses and differences is impor- tant in resolving today's tensions in the school and in undergirding the foun- dations of world peace. This challenge to the administrator includes issues in social philosophy, teacher education, and classroom practice. 2. Does not the concept of democratic citizenship need to be expanded in the light of our increasing understanding of what it means to live well in a multiculture society? Should not individuals be qualified to function, not only as responsible citizens of American society, but also as intelligent mem- bers of their particular culture groups? If so, how shall we teach pupils loyalty to their country, pride in their own group, and respect for the mem- bers of other groups? What bearing does the problem of intergroup ten- sions have upon this subject? How shall we square precept and practice in teaching American ideals? Avoiding chauvinism, how shall these American ideals be directed to support the cause of international peace? These ques- tions point up the quandary in which educators find themselves when they consider an adequate meaning of the concept of citizenship for today. 3. How shall educators discharge their obligation to construct the de- fenses of world peace in the minds of the coming generation ? Conceived as basically a problem in education for human relationships, how can pupils be taught to recognize the common humanity and the innate equality of all races and peoples? Is not the clue to be found in the generally accepted prin- ciple that a good teacher begins with the child's experience-orbit of social understanding and leads him step by step outward to grasp the meaning and value of increasingly wide ranges of human reality? Since our children live every day in a pattern of social relationships which includes a diversity of races and peoples, is not this situation the natural starting point the school teacher needs to consider in education for world peace? If so, how is this to be done, and what are the successive stages by which the school moves on to build the sturdy framework of education for world-mindedness? 4. In what way does the school's program of education for human rela- tions on the home and world fronts relate itself to the people of the local community? Suppose the school does inaugurate a genuinely democratic pro- gram of education for pupils without including the community, is there not San Francisco Convention 17 danger that this kind of education of children will lose something of its power when they return to the community which still nourishes its preju- dices and practices discrimination? This problem is posed by a high-school senior, when she says, "What is wrong when kids can go around the school arm in arm, working and playing together, but as soon as we leave the school grounds and enter the street, we suddenly break step? The Ital- ians, the Negroes, and the rest of us separate and go our own ways." In such a situation, is there not danger of confirming pupils of the favored group in the community in social smugness, and of contributing a stronger sense of defeatism to its underprivileged children? Assuming that the only way that a school administrator can make his democratic program vital to \outh is to painstakingly build local public opinion in harmony with good school practices, he is still faced with the problem as to the steps that need to be taken. It is obvious that educators have not been too well prepared to carry on a program of education for good human relations. The major tools for plan- ning to deal with them have not been easily available. Teachers have not been oriented in such essential concepts as those of race, culture, dominant and minority groups, the social-status system, prejudice, discrimination, assimila- tion, pupils as persons-in-culture, and the like. This neglect is slowly being remedied. We now have some of the necessary resources in anthropology, social psychology, psychiatry, ethics, and other disciplines. However, they are still in the early stages of interpretation for educational use. For instance, the anthropologist is helping us to see that the particular way of living of a culture group is directly reflected in the personalities of members of that group. A White-Anglo-Protestant tends to reproduce in his behavior the favored characteristics of the dominant culture group. Like- wise, persons of minority groups tend to carry on certain traits of under- privileged peoples. The social psychologist explains how racial and cultural differences between groups give rise to tensions and conflict. The psychiatrist calls our attention to the fact that these tensions are picked up by very young children through their family and neighborhood associations. The interpre- ters of ethics and law are helping us to realize the significance of clearly related standards and values for the real business of living. Thus, scientists are providing school leaders with new insights into the social conditioning of pupils and into the particulars of education for better human relations. However, these particulars are still in the early stages of interpretation for educational use. Such scientific bases for the public-school program are indispensable for sound educational practice. They are now being tested in a number of pilot-light projects which deserve careful study. Two outstanding local school experiments are the Philadelphia Early Childhood Project, and the San Diego Project in Intercultural Education. In Philadelphia the experiment took the form of research into group attitudes of five- to seven-year-old children, and into the methods and mate- rials teachers may use to develop democratic attitudes. They found that unsocial behavior is already rooted in these children, and that prejudices and 18 American Association of School Administrators emotional blocks are impeding learning and the practice of good human rela- tions. In consequence, the directors of the program are developing technics for teachers and parents to use in cooperative work with children. The San Diego Project was conceived in an entirely different setting. It was designed to serve an entire school system in a city in which war conditions doubled the population and introduced serious problems in human relations. A director was appointed for the intercultural program of the schools, who worked with a steering committee under expert guidance. As the plan developed, teachers and administrators sought resource leaders to help them acquire a more realistic grasp of their unfolding jobs. Bit by bit they caught a new viewpoint which changed classroom practice, and was in- creasingly put into effect in curriculum revision. Teachers took forthright steps to enlist parents and citizens in this program for the enrichment of the democratic experience of children. Similar experiments are under way in inservice teacher education. A Center for Human Relations Studies has been established in association with the School of Education at New York University. Teachers College at Columbia University and the University of Chicago have laboratories in which teachers and administrators are equipping themselves with new tools for intergroup learning. Summer workshops for school leaders pro- vide regular inservice orientation in many of the institutions of higher learning across the continent. Two programs have been designed to effect improvement in the prac- tices of institutions concerned with the preservice education of teachers. They are a College Study in Intergroup Relations centering on the campus of Wayne University, and the College Project in Intercultural Education sponsored by the California State Department of Public Instruc- tion and the seven state colleges. The trend toward making education in human relations an integral part of public-school education is unmistakable. A wealth of publications is coming out of the above types of experimentation which will not only indicate this fact, but will also afford invaluable assistance to leaders who wish to bring school practices and curriculum abreast of human need. They will also implement education for world peace which is a cause of paramount consequence in human affairs today. Perhaps this is the frontier on which education will win for our civiliza- tion the race with catastrophe. Like a true statesman who rises in the dark hour of a people's despair to inspire his fellowmen, so the alert schoolman, realistically tackling the problem of education for human relations, finds himself leading children step by step into the dawn of a new and better day. Thank you. [Applause] SECOND GENERAL SESSION Sunday Evening, February 20 STANDARD HOUR CONCERT AT THIS session members of the American Association of School Adminis- ' trators and of the National Education Association were guests of the Standard Oil Company of California at its presentation of the "Standard Hour" radio broadcast — a concert by the San Francisco Symphony Orches- tra under the direction of Pierre Monteux. [See page 204 for program of music] THIRD GENERAL SESSION Monday Morning, February 21 [Bert Cholet, Brooklyn, New York, as president of the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association, extended greetings to the Association at the three regional conventions in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. For the text of Mr. Cholet's speech, see page 53.] THE 1949 YEARBOOK— AMERICAN SCHOOL BUILDINGS CHARLES BURSCH, ASSISTANT DIVISION CHIEF IN CHARGE OF SCHOOL PLANNING, STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA; MEMBER, YEARBOOK COMMISSION "jHjRESiDENT GosLiN : The American Association of School Administra- -'^tors has published twenty-seven yearbooks. The last one is on American school buildings. It comes to us at an opportune time. It promises to be one of the best of the series. One of our significant leaders in education in this state was a member of the commission which developed this yearbook. I want to introduce Charles Bursch, Assistant Division Chief in Charge of School Planning, State Department of Education, Sacramento, California, who will tell us about the Yearbook. I\Ir. Bursch. Mr. Bursch: Mr. President, Members of the Association: Before I do what I am going to do, I am going to do something else. I think I must have caught that from the previous speaker, and that is the desirability of calling your attention to at least one of the exhibits. The exhibit I have reference to is one that has been arranged by a committee consisting of Superintendent Clish, John Sexson, Vaughn Seidel, John Lyon Reid, architect, and myself. The exhibit is in Polk Hall, called the "Schools of Tomorrow." With all of the work and the money that the architects and the committee and the helpers of the committee have done, we hope that you will find the results of their effort worth a visit during the convention. [ 19 I 20 American Association of School Administrators I have heard lots of people when they start to make a few remarks tell how far they came to get to the meeting. I am here to say that in order to be here at this meeting, I traveled almost once around the world. I guess ,vou don't know how that could be true, when most of you know, or many of you know, that I live in Sacramento, which is less than one hundred miles from here, but the fact remains that in order to do the small part that I did on the Yearbook, it was necessary to travel that far. Mr. Goslin, I am here to present you with a book. I want you all to know that presenting a book, or giving it away, is nice work when you get it. Anj'one who made his way through college by selling books knows what I mean. It is my pleasure to make a project out of giving away this book, at least a ten-minute project. If this were an ordinary book, it would be ridiculous to make a project out of giving it away, but this is not an ordinary book. If you wanted to, you would have difficulty in refusing to accept this book ; that is, unless you have had at least two hundred years of firsthand contact and responsi- bility in connection with the school plant. Not one of the conservatively estimated two hundred years of that kind of contact represented on this Commission was lost in the process of producing this book. The experience of the Commission not only had two hundred years of length, but it has some breadth. The prestige of great universities and the scholarship of great uni- versities are represented on this j^earbook. The geographic spread and the multiplicity of duties represented in the office are represented. The great, heavy responsibility of superintendents of great cities is represented on this Commission, and perhaps most important of all, so far as the value of the book is concerned, the inescapable and all-embracing responsibility of the superintendents of the smaller districts was represented on the Commission. Now, this breadth is not only on the Commission, it is in the book itself. How do I know? Well, in all of my experience I never had to rewrite my best effort as often as I did to make it conform to the requirements of the entire Commission and I am here to testify that other members of the Com- mission had similar experience. Now, a commission producing an ordinary yearbook doesn't have at its disposal the organizing and executive skill of a Worth McClure ; it doesn't have at its disposal the editorial and book production competence, the patient and persistent skill of extracting manuscripts from already over- worked Commission members; or it doesn't have the knack of quickly welding manuscripts into one book. It doesn't have the service of a Dr. Hazel Davis to carry out those functions; nor, does the commission pro- ducing an ordinary yearbook have the benefit of working under the most pleasant slave driver I ever had the privilege to serve. I refer to Warren T. White, the chairman. This is not an ordinary book. Ordinary books are written by persons who can no longer resist the urge of self-expression, or must write in order to eat. This book, Mr. President, was written by persons upon whom fell the heavy and inescapable hand of the call for professional service. It called for aid in lifting one of the greatest present- day barriers to the quality of educational opportunity. I refer to the San Francisco Convention 21 insufficiency, and inadequacy, and obsolescence of the nation's school plant. This isn't the first time you have heard that in this meeting, or others. The proving ground for all super-salesmen is to sell refrigerators to the Eskimos. I suppose the lowest form of salesmanship is the one who has difficulty in selling them lard. Selling you, Mr. President, on the merit of this book, or any book, puts me in the class of selling lard to the Eskimos. I sincerely hope, however, that this comment will not make you feel that the contents of this book could be classed as lard. It gives me great pleasure, Mr. President, to express the appreciation of this entire Committee for the opportunity to work with you and with the Association in the preparation of this book. I am sure that the 1949 Yearbook will have some profit to the members of the Association. President Goslin : I am still enough of a schoolboy that I can never get accustomed to people saying they are going to give me something, and holding out on me for awhile. Seriously, on behalf of those of us here who are members of the Association, and all of us who are friends of education, I want to express my appreciation to Mr. Bursch for bringing along some- thing that is going to be exceedingly useful and timely. This book is going to improve the quality of environment for hundreds of thousands of school children of America. Those of us who have come to spend three or four days in this meeting have come to have a good time, extend our acquaintances, gain some new ideas, and heighten our understanding and dedication to education. We believe we have arranged a program that will have some of all of those opportunities in it. Those of us who heard the talk yesterday afternoon, and heard the magnificent music of the evening, I know, felt that we had been lifted a bit. We have had called to our attention already the many aids in the direction of making our work more practical and useful. We have had an opportunity to study the exhibits, and the opportunity to give attention to the development of this book, and other work of the Association. INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS President Goslin : In order that we may have an opportunity of extend- ing our acquaintances, and giving us an opportunity to express appre- ciation to significant groups who join with us in this cooperative enterprise of American education, it is now my privilege to identify our guests of the morning. I have said time and time again in recent years that I doubt if there is emerging in America any other organization or movement as significant in relation to the long-run welfare of public education as the movement of the parent-teacher organization. We are particularly privileged here, this morning, to have a number of the state and national representatives of that organization covering this Western regional of ours on the platform as our guests. I know that you will want to join with me here in welcoming these women who take time from their homes and their lives to join us 22 American Association of School Administrators and others in surrounding the j^outh of our nation with those opportunities and facilities that are good for childhood. Will the representatives of the national and state associations of parents and teachers please stand, and let those of us who are directly connected with the workaday business of education express our appreciation to you for coming here and being with us this morning. [Applause] I have often wondered why anyone would seek or accept membership on the board of education. It frequently is a kind of one-way proposition. You are apt to get plenty of criticism for the things which the superin- tendent, or others, don't do quite right, and a meager measure of praise for the things which }^ou, and all the others in the organization, do right. On the other hand, I doubt if in all of the context of American life opportunity for creative civic service reaches the height that is presented in an oppor- tunity for membership on a board of education in America. I repeat : I doubt if there is another opportunity in American life, where an individual can give of his time and service, that offers such a potential to contribute to the welfare of our communities, our nation, its institutions, and ideals. While we don't have an extensive representation in terms of numbers of state and national organizations of board members, the fact that Mrs. Porter of the California organization and of the national organization of school board members, is on the platform gives those of us who are workers in the field of education an opportunity to express our appreciation for the work of the citizens who join us as members of boards of education. Mrs. Porter. [Applause] I commented Saturday afternoon when we were opening the exhibits, that one of the privileges of citizenship in America is the fact that this nation has alwaA's kept the door of opportunity open to its sons and daughters. I believe that is particularly true of the great teaching profession in this country, and it is a significant privilege to me this morning to introduce Mabel Studebaker, who is a biology teacher in the Erie, Pennsylvania, High School — you see, Mabel, I have still forgotten which high school it is, but I know the town and state — who, by serving her fellow-teachers, and serving the cause of education, has been recognized and made the presi- dent of the greatest organization of teachers that the world has ever known. Mabel, will you stand, and let us express our appreciation for your coming? [Applause] Irwin Dan is also an officer of the National Education Association, but in this state he is much more than that ; he is president of the California Teachers Association. Will you stand, Irwin? [Applause] WHAT THE SCHOOLS ARE DOING ABOUT EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY PAUL REHMUS, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PORTLAND, OREGON President Goslin: This morning we are here to consider specifically the relations of education to the maintenance and extension of democracy for the American people, and the peoples of the world. In a number of San Francisco Convention 23 SAN FRANCISCO CAL L- B U LLETIN Ellis Arnall, IVillard E. Goslin, and Paul Rehmus these programs we have attempted to bring together you people associated with education, and frequently, also, people outside of organized education itself. This morning we have a member of our Association, an able indi- vidual in American education, to tell us what the schools are doing to strengthen and extend democracy for the American people. I know of no individual in this country who has finer personal and professional qualities with which to represent us and the basic ideals of democracy, and to sharpen our understanding of the place of the schools in this area. It is a privilege for me to present my associate, Paul Rehmus, Superintendent of Schools, Portland, Oregon. Mr. Rehmus: Honored Guests, Friends, and Professional Associates: Only a fool will question the fact that our nation, with the rest of the world, is in deep trouble today. Some will go back to 1929 for the answer. Others will attribute it to Hitler's unchallenged march into the Rhineland. Some will blame it on Japan's march into Manchuria. Others will bring it closer home and attribute it to the fact that only 47,000,000, out of the 92,000,000 eligible, voted in the last election. Some will say that the present state of affairs could not be avoided on the basis of Stuart Chase's reasoning that "History is a seamless process, in which many causes produce many effects, which are in turn causes for more effects, world without end." Regardless of the reasons, none of us deny that human freedom is threatened by regimented statism. All of us sense the fact that the world is torn between two systems, one devoted to the maximum possible freedom and satisfactions for all individuals; the other, subordinating individual freedom and opportunity to the interests of the state. We all know that democracy and the police state have neither common purposes nor methods. 24 American Association of School Administrators nor aspirations. In today's struggle, no free man, no free institution can be neutral. We sense again just as we did in the pre-Hitlerian days that survival in today's challenge to freedom, and to every institution which we hold dear, is infinitely more than that involved in opposing ideologies. Intuitively, we know that all of us if we are to survive, and that means if we are to retain the civil liberties we consider valuable, must be joined in a common profession — that of democratic citizenship. The hopeful slogans of yesteryear, "to make the world safe for democracy," and "one world or none," have neither made the world safe nor produced one world. Today's critical world events and tomorrow's promise of world citizen- ship have caused educators to take another look at this elusive, hard-to- define thing called democracy, and more particularly the democratic process, and what the schools can do to advance it. In charting our path, no thinking person in this fourth year of the atomic age can fail to realize the difficulties that lie ahead. To teach the meaning of citizenship and liberty to American youth in a world as confused as ours is a baffling and complicated task. Part of our trouble exists in the fact that we live in the days of supersonic missiles, but we think in terms of the bow and arrow. Of course, there are some fundamentals that were true two thousand years ago, and are still valid today. The concepts of justice, and mercy, and kind- ness, and love, are ideals of democracy and of American life just as much in 1949 as in the days of the Master Teacher. But we know that ideals cannot be acquired merely by precept, or that Americanism can be under- stood by reading about the structure of government. Human motives and human relations are not changed by edict, arbitrary law, or sudden act. They respond, if at all, only to the slow and gradual process of reeducation. That is why education for citizenship today has become such a terribly im- portant task. Our task is infinitely greater than just making people literate. It is a task so complex that adults of our generation have found the problems of life too great for them to solve in their generation, so they have turned to education in the hope that the next generation will better be able to cope with them. When we ask ourselves what we are doing about the teaching of democ- racy, we force ourselves into the position of defining it. President Conant says that American democracy is in part a fact, in part a dream, and the latter is as important as the former. David Lilienthal said recently that the atomic bomb is not the greatest danger to democracy and the world today. He said it is the destructive tendency of the human mind to run to violent extremes. It is the state of mind which insists there is only one answer, that regards those who differ as enemies forthwith to be destroyed by force or cunning. We all vary in our interpretation of democracy. Every man hears a different drumbeat. Perhaps the strength of democracy lies in its diversity. There is no cloying unanimity about it. The meaning of democracy is infinitely varied as it should be. But if we are to know and retain its infinite variety, we must pin down our goals with clarity. We can agree that democracy is more than the Lincolnian concept of "government of the people; by the people; and for the people," It is much more than that. Specifically, it San Francisco Convention 25 is a way of life which exalts the Individual; which emphasizes his human worth regardless of economic status, political convictions, or racial origin. It places unbounded faith in group action in arriving at the solution of common problems. It is a way of life which stresses the solution of difficult problems by intelligence, honest effort, and compromise, rather than force. It encourages the use of the scientific method in the solution of problems. It exposes demagoguery and charlatanism in its many ugly forms. It is con- cerned with the sum total of human relationships. The contrast between democracy and what is not, is crystallized by Arthur Koestler in Darkness at Noon. Said he: "There are only two concepts of human ethics, and they are at opposite poles. One of them is Christian and human, declares the individual to be sacrosanct and asserts that the rules of arithmetic are not to be applied to human units. The other starts from the basic prin- ciple that a collective aim justifies all means and not only allows, but demands, that the individual should in every way be subordinated and sacrificed to the community." This definition of democracy, though abstract, will, I believe, receive your support. I reemphasize a fundamental fact, namely, that a set of common beliefs is essential for the health and vigor of a free society, and that set of beliefs can be quite simple and still be adequate. The war has underlined the fact that the strongest loyalties are often to small groups of men, bound together by common experiences and common loyalties. What we mean by democracy is illustrated better for some people by action rather than by words. We must remember, too, that what we have here in America and what we believe in is not our handiwork alone. It did not spring full grown from the rich soil of a new world. What we are describing here Is the fruit of centuries of striving and sacrifice and the ceaseless surging struggle of men everywhere to be, and remain, free. In addition, democracy has during our national history been a vital thing, and each generation of Americans has guarded, nurtured, and continually refreshed it. We have plenty of historical evidence that the life stream of democracy has been kept full and strong only through an alert, informed, and active citizenry — beginning always with the youth in our schools. Often, in the past, schools have lagged behind in clarifying social goals — • particularly In the area of controversy, that thorny wilderness where there has been no charted path. However, in the present struggle of ideologies — the battle for the minds and loyalties of the world's people — school leaders in this country have been in front of the battle lines. The record of achieve- inent is almost incredible. For a decade or more educational statesmen have hammered away at a persistent premise of democratic survival — that security is never a blueprint, but a frame of mind In which people need be Instructed and to which they must be conditioned. The necessary spiritual undergirding to cope with the powerful forces confronting democracy has been described for a decade. Long before it occurred to the mass of the people to question why a challenge to our way of life existed, school leaders were pointing out both the conflict and the aggressors. The educators of this country for fifteen years have pointed out a dozen broad roads to the 26 American Association of School Administrators problem of teaching democratic citizenship. The schools have been on a tremendous offensive to make democracy real to our youth and our teachers. The evidence is startling and overwhelming. Let me be specific. Back in 1935 the United States Office of Education published its first significant bulletin entitled Education for Democracy. A radio program started in 1937, and continuing for thirteen weeks, entitled Lei Freedom Ring evoked 60,000 letters. In 1941, the Office of Education produced another successful volume Voices of Democracy which received nation- wide distribution in the schools. In 1939, the Educational Policies Com- mission carefully studied education in ninety schools in twenty-seven states and published its findings in the monumental volume Learning the JVays of Democracy. Three other studies in successive years by the same com- mission were collected and published in Policies for Education in American Democracy. Every department within the NEA has at some time within the last ten years given attention to preparation for citizenship. The Depart- ment of Elementary School Principals devoted its yearbook for 1943 to this matter under the title ElcTJientary Schools, The Front Line of De- mocracy. At least three volumes of the American Association of School Administrators have been devoted to civic education. The most penetrating of these was the 1947 volume entitled Schools for a New World. The National Association of Secondary-School Principals, and the National Council for the Social Studies have fed a constant series of books into the schools. Some of these titles you will recognize: Problems in American Life, Democracy versus Dictatorship, Politics in Action, and The American Standard of Living. Economic Roads for American De/noc- racy , one of the publications of the Consumer Education Study sponsored by the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, gives a sound understanding of the free enterprise system and of competing economic theories. The National Education Association and allied groups have been aggressively alert to the challenge before us, and have spearheaded action to inform pupils and teachers on the pressing problems of democracy. But this is only one of the areas in which the problem has received atten- tion. State departments of education and almost all sixty-seven education groups which cut across state lines have made contributions in the field of democratic citizenship. The Volker Study in Detroit, now in its fourth year, is finding new and startling facts about the civic attitudes of young people in elementary schools and high schools. This material is available at small cost. A brand-new civic education project just begun at Cambridge under Henry Holmes is concerned with a whole array of problems, the answers to which will help gird youth for better citizenship. This project is already financed to the extent of $150,000, and has a superior staff of research experts formulating the guiding principles. Connecticut is just rounding out a ten-year civic program in which personal responsibility for making democracy work is the goal. This state has also widely distributed a list of characteristics that describe a good citizen. In Michigan, since 1935 "the one overarching objective of the state's curriculum program," accord- ing to its superintendent of public instruction, has been citizenship training. San Francisco Convention 27 As early as 1934, the Michifjan Education Planniii}; Commission bej^an its work. 'I'hc report School Patterns for Citizenship Training/, published in 1947 by the University of Michigan, is an outstanding contribution to better school practices in developing effective citizenship. In Minnesota, an all-out effort in the rural schools is being made by the state superin- tendent of public instruction to strengthen the teaching of citizenship in one-room country schools and consolidated districts. The preceding review is only a part of the whole saga of support of democratic ideals and concepts in our public schools. Many significant meetings on the problem of educating youth for democracy have been held, such as the Washington meeting in March 1948, which included educators from sixteen states. The effectiveness of the Zeal for American Democracy program of the United States Office of Education was the focal point of discussion. A series of recommendations regarding the use of periodicals on government, what civic facts should be taught to pupils, and the more effective development of advisory councils to develop demo- cratic understanding came out of this meeting. Cooperation of schools with the American Legion Citizenship Program, especially that phase known as the Boys and Girls State, has been in operation now for fourteen years, and is conducted in forty-six states. It has been a powerful means of exercising democratic action by young people under adult leadership. Cooperation with the American Legion in the Boys Forum of National Government which brings high-school juniors annually to Washington, national oratorical contests on the United States Constitution culminating in scholarships and medals to thousands of students annually, increased observance of flag education, citizenship schools for the foreign born, observance of Constitution Week, Bill of Rights Day, "I Am an American I^ay" — all these are actively promoted in our public schools. In the last three annual meetings of the National Council for the Social Studies (in which history and civics teachers predominate) the major topics of dis- cussion have centered around the question of what democracy is, and what can be done to bring its full meaning to larger numbers of students in our schools. In the state of Washington, "World Citizenship Based upon Democratic Ideals" is required in every senior history course. The Four Freedoms and Unesco and its meaning have been widely interpreted all over the country through the inauguration of such plans as United Nations Week and American Education Week. For many years student-body projects culminating in assembly programs and graduation exercises have had American democracy as the basic theme. One of the fine examples of student cooperation is the two-year-old Northwest International Relations Organization dedicated to the achievement of a permanent peace. This group has carried its view to civic organizations in both Seattle and Portland through competent student speakers. A model United Nations Assembly is planned for this June. In New Jersey, a State Guide for the Teaching of History of the United States has been distributed to all schools. This guide analyzes American democracy and compares it with other forms of government. The New 28 American Association of School Administrators Jersey Department of Education also supplies elementary schools with a bulletin on Developing Social Confidence in a Democracy Through Social Studies. New York State provides all schools with an outline on American history which stresses democratic freedoms. Virginia lists many ways in which children may practice democratic living in their daily school activities. Michigan provides sound films entitled Learning Democracy Through School Community Projects. These films are distributed by the Visual Aid Center at Ann Arbor. The Chicago schools have an active lay school committee which has prepared units of study on such questions as "How can I become a loyal, intelligent participating citizen in my democracy?" and, "How does democracy rate in the light of other ideologies such as communism, fascism, and socialism?" Nebraska, through an idea sub- mitted by Robert G. Simmons, Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, has developed a program of study and practice in county government which includes the study of political parties, the tax structure of the state, county organization, and state history. This state also provides all teachers with monthly pamphlets on Learning the Ways of the United Nations for use in civics classes. Oregon requires all its teachers on every level to complete courses in the History of the State and Oregon Law in the first year of residence. Wisconsin schools have a statewide program from kindergarten through high school which makes young people awake to their part as citizens of the republic. It is an outstanding program because the outline of government is challenged at every point by sets of questions which raise and emphasize the cooperative functions of traffic officers, firemen, and governmental officials. This unique grass roots approach progresses from simple understandings on the primary grade level to rela- tionships of the world's people, their geography, government, and economic systems. It ends up with special emphasis on the American way. Wisconsin leads the way in a state plan of coordinated citizenship education. Cin- cinnati has the finest large city outline on "how to deal with controversial issues" in the country. Note these trenchant words from this outline : "Society is constantly changing. Under the democratic system, this change evolves gradually through open discussion and frequent expressions of the will of the people. If gradual change is not permitted, change then comes by periodic revolution. Any democracy, if it is to remain a democracy, must expect, anticipate, and welcome orderly political, social, and economic change. Controversial issues are inherent in social change. It should be emphasized that most of the subjectmatter of the school curriculum is made up of the eternal verities and involves no controversial issues. Con- troversial issues or problems are, therefore, a small but essential part of the school curriculum. They are of special importance because they are the kind of issues and problems for which each child in a democracy must, as he approaches maturity, help find the best possible solution. This is one of the most important abilities of an American citizen." A parallel statement of rights and duties under the American form of government is published in a booklet Knoiu Your America and dis- tributed by the Indianapolis schools. New York City high schools all have San Francisco Convention 29 prepared units for class use on the strength of democratic government over all other systems. Within the past two months, the Christian Science Monitor has run a series of twenty-two articles on the "Teaching of Democracy in \he Public Schools." It is a stirring and gratifying affirmation of many of the facts which I have just presented. On all fronts, there is an awakening that democracy is not an empty term, but is reflected in countless ways through growth of understanding and racial tolerance, through increased rights for minorities, and through recognition of the inalienable privilege of all people to the decencies, comforts, and privileges of the country. The schools are not only in the front lines in teaching democracy, they are continually on the offensive. Elmo Roper, distinguished news analyst, has also recently completed a survey of the attitudes of American youth. He has raised the question as to whether young people are cynical about democracy, have lost their faith in the American way, and are crassly materialistic. The answers to these questions should partly determine whether the program of teaching democ- racy in the schools in the last fifteen years has been successful. His find- ings are emphatic and are conclusive. He asked a cross section of 2000 young people if they wanted to see a continuation of the same system of private ownership of business that we now have, or whether they would rather see the government gradually take over the control of basic industries, or whether they would like to see the government go the whole way and own all industries. To this question, 7 percent replied that they did not want to answer. The remainder divided themselves up like this: 2 percent said they would like to see a complete change in the present system. Fifteen percent agreed that they would like to have the government take over control of certain industries vital to national welfare. The overwhelming body of opinion was opposed to any such government action. Seventy-five percent of the youth of America agreed with the young garage mechanic from Oswego, Oregon, who said: "We've gotten along fairly well the way we are, I'd say. I think the government had a right to take over business when I was a kid during the depression. And then, too, the gov- ernment does own a lot of businesses such as the mail. But private owner- ship is O.K. with me, unless of course they get to be a trust. Private enter- prise built the country, and it made a good job of it." That's how the young people of America feel about government control in business. Mr. Roper also asked a cross section of American youth other pertinent questions regarding values in life and what values they considered most important. He put some questions to them which contrasted their economic and personal freedoms. Two economic rights which youth had listed as important were the right to earn more than $5000 a \ear, if they can, and the right to change jobs at will. The question was put to them squarely: If they had to make a choice between the right to make $5000 a year and to change jobs at will and between the loss of certain personal liberties, such as the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to vote and the right to jury trial, which would they give up first? The young people 30 American Association of School Administrators of America looked over the list and unhesitatingly said that if they had to choose they would give up the right to earn $5000 a year. Forty-seven percent of them said that they would relinquish this right first. Another 15 percent said they would give up the right to change jobs first. So we find that 62 percent of the young people would give up their economic rights before any others. Only 20 percent stated that they would give up one of the personal freedoms first. We then have a fairly direct evidence that the young people who have gone through the schools of this country would willingly give up high potential incomes before they would see then- liberties lost. The young people were asked which of the freedoms on the list they would be the least willing to give up, if they had to give up one. In other words, which of these freedoms would they hold the most dear. Far down on the bottom of the list of the most precious freedoms were the same economic rights. In the opinion of the young people, economic rights are the first to be given up, and the last to be kept. The right to vote stood high on the list of rights to be retained. Eight percent of the young people agreed that the right to vote would be the last freedom they would be willing to give up. But top honors were shared by two of our long- cherished civil liberties. One-third of America's young people agreed that freedom of religion was the last thing they would give up. A mailing clerk in New York City epitomized it when he said: "The dominant influence in a man's life and the key to his happiness is his religion. If there is to he any future, he must tie it in with his religion." At the top of the list, however, the freedom held most precious by more than 35 percent of the youth was the freedom of speech. A young man in Oklahoma summarized it this way: "Freedom of speech is the most desirable of all freedoms or rights. I can get along on less than $5000 if I have to, and I can practice my religion privately, but the right to vote is meaningless without free- dom of speech and discussion." It is evident that personal freedoms and rights run pretty deep in the thinking and beliefs of the younger generation. We have several pieces of evidence which add up to a direct answer about our way of life and about the future of democracy as j'oung people look at it. These young people would like to make $5000 a piece on the average. They would like to choose their jobs or leave them, and they have an abiding faith in the free enterprise system, but they are even more convinced that man cannot live by bread alone. The original basis on which our Republic was founded, namely, a positive belief in the personal human freedoms which constitute everything that we consider valuable in democracy, is never questioned by them. When they have to make a choice they choose human rights without equivocation. When the test is made, young people inevitably choose the path of human rights. Mr. Roper concludes his summary on the attitudes of young people with a statement that he has canvassed the attitudes of Americans for fifteen years. Every survey during that period has shown that the young people of America seem to understand and to know clearly what their San Francisco Convention 31 most important rights arc. There is little evidence to support the charge that the young people are cynical about them. On the contrary, there is an abundance of evidence to indicate that the young people of this gen- eration arc not only less cynical than others in the past, but have a greater faith in the future of democracy than ever before. In summary, this is what I have tried to say. A free nation's decisions are slow in the making. No one knows for certain on what day of what month of what year a people makes up its mind. The slow growth toward group decision is the slow growth of conviction in many individual minds and hearts. A people's most fundamental decisions are not made in the councils of state. They are made at the village market, at the PTA meeting, at the session of the union, at the Grange hall, at the county fair. Few major decisions of statesmen have any power until the voice of a free people is clearly heard. Only then can statesmen write the will of the people. Similarly, democracy is many things to many people. Some people are very clear about it. Others are inarticulate. To some people, democracy is economic. To others, it is social. To still other groups, it is moral. To some, it is a strength they cannot understand ; to others, it is a dream they cannot express. Democracy is all of these and even more. It is organic. It is a growing, living, developing thing. It is more than the sum total of our institutions and our present way of life. It is a social faith which is constantly expand- ing in response to the struggles of free men everywhere. In this evolution, I have tried to point out that the schools have not been remiss. I have tried to say that in thousands of classrooms everywhere teachers and students together from kindergarten through college are daily defining democracy. In schools, as well as in the everj'day lives of 140,000,000 Americans, the refining, clarifying process is going on con- stantly. Democracy will never be delimited or circumscribed. And this is as it should be. Most of us would like to pin it down, but we shall never be able to do that. As Justice Cardozo once said, "We seek for certainty, but the quest for it is futile. We shall never reach the solid land of fixed and settled rules. Like the voyagers in Browning's 'Paracelsus,' 'The real heaven is always beyond.' " As the years have gone by, those of us who have looked for certainty have had to become reconciled to uncertainty, because we have grown to see it as inevitable. I repeat, this is as it should be, for the process of democracy on its highest level is not final discovery, but creation. As old principles that have served their time and day expire and new principles are born, we may reach the eventual goal of all men of goodwill. If we persist, particularly if we persist in the proper indoc- trination of our youth, we may reach the perfect state which Stephen Vincent Benet described just before his death when he said: "Our Earth is but a small star in a great universe. Yet of it wc can make, if we choose, a planet un\exed by war, untroubled by hunger or fear, undivided by senseless distinctions of race, color, or theor>-. Grant us that courage and foreseeing to begin this task today that our children and our children's children may be proud of the name of men." Thank you. [Applause] 32 American Association of School Administrators EDUCATION AND THE STATE OF THE NATION ELLIS ARNALL, FORMER GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA; PRESIDENT, SOCIETY OF INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS [Mr. Arnall spoke at both the San Francisco and St. Louis regional conventions. For text of his address, see page 45.] CALIFORNIA HOSPITALITY HOUR Monday Afternoon, February 21 Members and friends in attendance at the convention were guests of the California Teachers Association and the California Association of School Administrators at a Hospitality Hour in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Monday afternoon from four o'clock to six. Here a happy oppor- tunity was afforded to greet old friends and to make new ones. FOURTH GENERAL SESSION Monday Evening, February 21 [At all three of the regional conventions the Monday evening program was devoted to "Education and Conservation" — "The Conservation of Human Resources" being handled by Allison Davis of the University of Chicago, "Natural Resources" by President Willard E. Goslin. For the text of Mr. Davis's speech, see page 74, Mr. Goslin's, page 84. The program at San Francisco included music by the Festival Chorus, Symphony Orchestra, and A Cappella Choir of the San Francisco State College. For selections, see page 205.] Presidents of state associations of classroom teachers and presidents of state associations of school administrators were breakfast guests of AASA, Feb- ruary 21, 1949, at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco. MELG«R STUDIOS. SAN FRANCISCO FIFTH GENERAL SESSION Tues(iay Evening, February 22 Program by the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association PRESENTATION OF THE ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS SCHOLARSHIP FOR GRADUATE STUDY IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BKRT CHOLET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION [At San Francisco Mr. Cholet made the presentation in absentia to Rayburn J. Fisher, Graduate Student, Teachers College, Columbia University; Former Superintendent of Schools, Anniston, Alabama. At St. Louis and Philadelphia the presentation was made in person. For text of Mr. Cholet's remarks, see page 90.] CHAIRMAN Cholet: We regret that because of his many duties Mr. Fisher could not be present at this meeting. I am going to ask President Goslin to accept the award for Mr. Fisher. President Goslin, it is my great honor and privilege as president of the Associated Exhibitors to present to you on their behalf the first Scholarship for Graduate Study in School Administration, established by the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association. We know that the recipient will carry forward the torch and the spirit which it represents. ACCEPTANCE OF THE ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS SCHOLARSHIP President Goslin : Mr. Cholet, you had some difficulty finding an opportunity to present this scholarship ; you don't know, yet, how much. Rayburn Fisher is all the way across America, and couldn't be here tonight, as you say, and for some reason or other, the doorman mistook me for a musician. I didn't have my card, and I thought for a while he wasn't going to let me in. Seriously, I think this marks the milestone in the development of leader- ship in American education. I know of no privilege that has come to me (and there have been many during the year) that has exceeded this oppor- tunity to represent not only Rayburn Fisher, but to represent the school men and women of America, and to accept from you this scholarship for advanced training in school administration. I think there is one other point about Rayburn Fisher that our listeners will want to know. He is engaged in this advanced study with the specific commitment to a continuation of his work in school administration on the job in some American community or communities. I think it becomes in- creasingly clear that we are going to need to encourage the development [33] 34 American Association of School Administrators of leaders in American education. I would hope, Mr. Cholet, that this very significant contribution on the part of the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association might mark just a beginning of a series of developments in this field. Looking forward toward the fulfilment of that hope, I repeat, it is a privilege to represent Rayburn Fisher here tonight, and to represent the members of the American Association of School Ad- ministrators, and others in education, and to accept this scholarship Avhich will have so much to do with the advancement of the ability of one young American, and set such a splendid precedent which we hope will be followed in the years to come. Thank you so much. [Applause] PRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATION AWARD TO PEARL A. WANAMAKER Chairman Cholet: On a wall of the National Education Association offices in Washington, there hangs a bronze plaque. It is a permanent record and monument to those individuals whose names are meritoriously inscribed on it. Each year we of the Associated Exhibitors add another name. I refer to the plaque indicating those worthy contributors to world culture who have been accorded the American Education Award of the Associated Exhibitors. This year is a banner year. The first Award was accorded to James W. Crabtree in 1928. We are, therefore, celebrating the twentieth anniversary and embarking on the third decade of the Award. It is most fitting at this time to ponder on the true meaning of the American Education Award. The bylaws governing it simply read, and I quote, "In recognition of outstanding contribution made in the broad field of education." The directors of the Associated Exhibitors have not sought to confine the Award to any one field of formal education, but have instead interpreted the words, "the broad field of education," to mean anyone contributing in an outstanding degree to the education and uplift of the masses of our population. The years have been too few for us to touch upon the many fields in which creditable endeavor has advanced the interest of all mankind. We have been able to include general education, higher education, science, sports, inspira- tion to the handicapped, business, the plastic arts, and a few other fields. I assure you that this year the choice of the recipient of the Award embraces the very backbone of our educational structure. The individual named is a great person in her own right. Most of you in this auditorium remember her address in Atlantic City on Sunday evening, March 2, 1947. Her titles are many, her fine accomplishments in the broad field of education unnumbered. The recipient of the American Education Award for 1949 was selected for two principal reasons. The first is for the great person that she is, and for her personal accomplishments; the second is because in our belief she is the outstanding champion of the classroom teacher in the United States, and perhaps in the world. We cherish this opportunity to salute both. It is my pleasure to ask Mrs. Pearl A. Wanamaker to please come to the rostrum. San Francisco Convention 35 [Mr. Cholet read the words inscribed on the Award. For text, see page 37.] Chairman Cholet: Mrs. Wanamaker, it is more than a pleasure, it is my sincere privilege to accord you this Award. ACCEPTANCE OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATION AWARD PEARL A. wanamaker, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON Mrs. Wanamaker: Mr. Cholet, Mr. Goslin, and Friends: I am at a loss for words to adequately express to the Associated Exhibitors my deep appreciation in being selected for this honor. It is with great humility that I accept. However, in accepting this high honor 1 regard it as a tribute not to me alone but to the men and women of our profession in my own state, and in our nation. I am fully mindful that without the splendid cooperation of our citizens, fathers and mothers, members of state legislatures, gover- nors, and above all classroom teachers, in developing an effective educational program for our boys and girls, this recognition could not have been accorded to me today. I pause, too, to include my father and mother, pioneers of the Pacific Northwest, who came to America because they believed in America as a symbol of freedom, the democratic way of life for which no sacrifice could be too great. From earliest childhood we learned in this home the privileges and the responsibilities of being an American. Our America is more than a country. It is the spirit of truth and loyalty and devotion to the ideals and principles of free men. It is its people, the thousands and millions who face issues frankly and honestly, and Avho by their actions determine the direction of our persons and our institutions. It is a rich and thrilling democratic experience, which harvests its bound- less gifts from the courage and tolerance and responsibilities invested in its development. America is the spirit and the hearts of its men and women, dedicated ever to the upbuilding of our nation, which by its examples and accomplish- ments will help build a better world. The purposes of public education parallel the underlying objectives of our way of life. We must continue to emphasize the rights of all indi- viduals to equal educational opportunities so that they may be qualified, participating citizens in home and community life. Problems of family and neighborhood living, expanded to include international understandings and functions, must form the core of school experiences. Education must commence with the formative years of a child's life, the preschool and kindergarten levels, and extend upwards through the elementary, high and vocational schools, the junior college, college and university. Contents of courses and classroom experiences must be well selected and well taught. Specific provisions must be included in every school to safeguard the health and safety of boys and girls. Every young American must be skilled in basic 36 American Association of School Administrators operations with letters, numbers, and words, and, more important, he must possess the democratic disciplines, the ability to use thought and reason in all of his personal, vocational, and civic relationships. The great vista of atomic power lies before us; the school must prepare the nation's people for the social and industrial changes which this new-found force brings. Both the structure and the results of American education can be no better than the leadership which is provided. This forceful and compelling chal- lenge should inspire every superintendent of schools in these critical days to dedicate himself to the accomplishment of purposes of high and distin- guished order. The statesman is always guided by vision and courage, and by his ability to lead and inspire his fellow men. May America produce many true educational statesmen, both in this and in succeeding generations. Our America can remain safe just so long as it has people who are willing to give generously of their talents and abilities without thought of mere material recompense. This principle established and developed our country, from the first explorations until this day in 1949. Sacrifice and service have almost without exception characterized our great leaders in all fields of endeavor, including public education. The greatness of a teacher or an administrator cannot be measured by his position, his tenure of office, the amount of salary he is paid, nor the number of degrees he possesses. Rather, it is his own code of ethical and intellectual values in working with and for his fellow men and the degree to which he gives himself to the achievement of these purposes that determine the lasting worth of his services. True and abiding faith in the way of America is still the mark of the great teacher. The inspiration of a Horace Mann can bring encouragement and stimula- tion to every teacher. A trained lawyer who could have amassed a fortune in that field, Horace Mann, a hundred years ago, devoted a lifetime of service to the establishment of form and direction to our nation's schools. This man by his statesmanship, by his own generous sacrifices, by his vision and integrity made lasting contributions to free public education. Few political or military heroes can be compared with this man of faith. We should point with equal pride to the devoted loyalty to duty of the thousands of self-sacrificing and conscientious members within our profession who work daily in one-room schoolhouses, in townships and consolidated districts, in classrooms of great cities, and in principals' and superintendents' offices throughout the country. Greatness in educational service is not con- fined by city, county, or state boundaries, nor can it be measured other than through the examples and inspiration which it permeates. The spirit of the pioneer is still the spirit underlying the progress of democracy. Our free public schools have the further obligation of instilling within all pupils, at all levels, this grave responsibility of service to fellow men. Youth who are guided by these ideals will provide the leadership and the substantial citizenry of the decades ahead. The free public school has existed in America for over three centuries, and the instilling within youth of the spirit of patriotic and purposeful service has always remained a basic purpose. To miARL A. WANAMAKHR Supcrintcndenl of Puhlic Instniction of the Slale of Wasliingloii IS PRESENTIiD The American I Education Award for i 949 Madonna ol tlie classroom. Exemplary American Woman, Contributor, Builder. Beloved wife, understanding mother, director of an accomplished career. Symbol of the hope and the devotion of all those blessed women who lead little children. Champion of the loyal classroom teacher perennially influencing for good the parade of life. Woman of stature great enough to walk with the great, compassionate enough to shield the less gifted. Woman of wholesome personality, personifier of the best ambitions of American girlhood. Artist with human clay, your culture, vitality, and cordiality ever irradiates small beings who seek with tiny hands for orientation. Leader of mankind, uplifted through your gifts. Only a woman could serve as you have served. The above is ihe wordincj on the illuminated manuscript presented to Pearl A. Wana- maker by ihe Associated Exhibitors oj the National Education Association. 38 American Association of School Administrators We are living in serious times. The world must decide upon the way of life which is to guide its many nations. Our country accepts education as basic to the democratic freedoms. The preservation of our lives and institu- tions depends upon the strength and success of our public schools in their service to children and adults. In times of crisis, democracy respects the values of public education, and the degree to which schools and school services are supported and strengthened will determine largely the future of freedom and liberty. In today's crisis, educational and lay leaders in communities throughout the nation are facing grave issues in the support and conduct of minimum school services. Consistent with our tradition of local control of public education, every community must make formal provisions for the mainte- nance of good schools. The people of every school district, the shareholders in free schools, must keep themselves informed on the purposes, needs, and programs of education, and provide adequate moral and financial support to convert accepted understandings into positive and effective action. Educational statesmen can assist community groups in their understanding of the role of education. Continued leadership will be reflected in adequate community support. Communities banded together on well-organized state- wide and nationwide bases will be able to strengthen legal and moral provisions relating to schools. The way of democracy is the way of representative government. Edu- cational leaders in long-term school planning must develop sound programs if educational opportunities are to be continued for all j^outh on an un- interrupted, thoroughly effective basis. Every school system and every state should make authentic studies which reveal trends and needs of schools and colleges for the quarter-century ahead. Today we have critical problems throughout the country in obtaining trained teachers and adequate school buildings to meet even the minimum need. Increases in the nation's population bring resulting demands for broad- ened educational services. Only by mobilizing all of our educational resources under skilled and enlightened leaders and by establishing sound working relationships with the people and the legislative representatives of the commonwealth can laws be enacted which will guarantee to every child his democratic birthright of free and equal educational opportunity. Our unsolved problems in education, as well as in other branches of American life, are many. An organized and unified front, based upon principles which are fair and equitable, is our only method of achievement. The pioneer faced the frontier wilds of the Appalachians and the Missouri Valley and the Far West with determination and vision. The frontier of American democracy in the institution of the free public school demands equally courageous men and women for its leadership. Those of us who are in such positions can make no compromises where the welfare of our children and our free society is at stake. The battle lines must be drawn and our fight waged relentlessly against those interests and ways of life counter to democratic rights and privileges. The board of strategy which draws and carries forward to reality a legis- San Francisco Convention 39 lative or a community program for the permanent betterment of schools is more important to the strengthening of democracy than is the board of strategy in a military campaign. Our sword is truth. Our power is in- terpretation. Our education is for universal and enduring peace and freedom of all peoples. Democracy exists in the minds and actions of free men and women, and their contributions are transmitted to succeeding generations and to the basic institutions of their society. The true leader is a giver, not a receiver; he looks forward, not backward ; he is a man of ideals and principles and convictions; he is guided by intelligence and reason. It is well to remember the truly spoken words of Joaquin Miller in his poem "Peter Cooper" using a translation of an ancient Sanskrit : "For all you can hold in your cold dead hand is what you have given away." Thank you. [Applause] j\Ir. Cholet: Our program of entertainment, to which we have all looked forward for many weeks, is about to begin. [With Edward Arnold, motion picture actor, as master of ceremonies, a program of entertainment featuring the Socony Male Chorus was pre- sented.] SIXTH GENERAL SESSION Wednesday Morning, February 23 [At all three regional conventions the Wednesday General Session was devoted to "Air-Age Education," H. B. Bruner, superintendent of schools, Minneapolis, Minnesota, speaking to the topic "Education's Stake in Aviation," and Gill Robb Wilson, aviation editor, New York Herald- Tribune, discussing "At Home in One World." For text of Mr. Bruner's address, see page 95; Mr, Wilson's, page 105.] CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON LIFE MEMBERSHIP DUES [Paul H. Demaree, principal and district superintendent, Anaheim Union High School, Anaheim, California, as a member of the Association's Planning Committee, presented an amendment to the constitution, on the table from the Atlantic City Convention in 1948, raising life membership dues from $100 to $200. The amendment was adopted by unanimous vote. For text of the amendment, see page 94.] February 37- March 2, 1949 ^r .(f<«j«- mim"-^' Thc»me: EOi/CATM0^JV AlVn THE 0mE.\EHAL IVEt^FARE FIRST GENERAL SESSION Dramatic Vesper Service Sun Jay Afternoon, February 27 The First General Session of the Midwestern Regional Convention of the American Association of School Administrators convened in the Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis. Missouri, on Sunday afternoon, March 27, at four o'clock, President JVillard E. Goslin, Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena, California, presiding. MAN'S SEARCH FOR GOD Pageant Presented by the St. Louis Board of Education through the Students of the Public Elementary Schools, High Schools, and Teachers Colleges PRESIDENT Goslin : This presentation is developed and presented as a religious service ; therefore, will you carefully refrain from applause at any point durinfj the service. At the end of the service the curtains will be drawn. Will you remain seated until after we have had the benediction. The development of this presentation for the afternoon has involved the participation of the elementary schools, the high schools, and the colleges of the city of St. Louis. It has involved the cooperation of members of the stafiF from all parts of the school system. It is with some regret that I find that I cannot indicate to you many of the individuals who have participated. However, there is one we know you will want to see and hear. Dr. Florence Mary Fitch is an author of great influence. Among her works are the books entitled One God and Their Search for God. Many of the ideas for this afternoon's service have been drawn from these books, and we want you to see Dr. Fitch and to hear her for a moment. Florence IVIary Fitch : Thank you, Mr. Goslin. I want only to ex- press my appreciation and joy in being here this afternoon and my deep sense of gratitude to those who with so much love and devotion have taken the written word and made it, for all of us, a living thing. Thank you. President Goslin : I hope each individual in this audience will catch the significance of what is about to take place here. The public-school sys- tem of a great American city, through the cooperation of its stafT, its ele- mentary, secondary, and college units, is gathered here this Sunday after- noon to present Man's Search for God. We will now see and hear Man's Search for God, as presented by the St. Louis Public School System. [Presentation of vesper service, Man's Search for God.] f 41 1 SECOND GENERAL SESSION Sunday Evening, February 27 "[^RESIDENT Goslin: This is the second of a series of three great confer- ■^ ences which this Association is holding across America this month and next. We had a splendid week together in San Francisco, ending on Wednes- day. I know you will agree with me that we had a magnificent beginning this afternoon, with a program that was beautiful and powerful in all regards. I hope that we can build onto that beginning during the next three days. In trying to think through and arrange a program for this series of meet- ings, we attempted to identify the relationship of education to at least three of the great problems facing mankind today. We believe that one of the responsibilities resting upon the shoulders of every man, woman, and child in life is to try to contribute his bit toward moving our world to an era of peace, and, believing that the fabric of that peace must be woven by the people of the world with the constructive tools at their disposal, and believing that education is in the forefront of those constructive forces at the disposal of the people, we invite you to condition your thinking tonight in the direction of the relationship and the contribution which education can make to a world of peace. In the succeeding days we shall ask you to consider the relationship of education to the maintenance and extension of our freedom and democracy, to the conservation of our resources, both human and natural, and then, finally — so far as the general sessions are concerned — we will conclude with an attempt to identify the relationship which you have with one of the great transitions of our time, the Air Age. Interspersed with these general sessions will be a series of discussion groups to which all of us will find our way and in which hundreds of us will have a direct part. We invite you to participate regularly with us through to four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. If you do that, we believe that we will be able to repeat the enthusiasm and the spirit which we were able to initiate in San Francisco a week ago. I have been asked to remind you that after this general session you will need your badge for entrance to general sessions. Marriage certificates won't be necessary, but it would be desirable, because wives can enter on husbands' badges, but only one wife to a customer. [Laughter] WEBSTER GROVES PUBLIC SCHOOLS A CAPPELLA CHOIR One of the great privileges which I have had in life, and in this pro- fession, was the opportunity to be superintendent of schools in the lovely community of Webster Groves, Missouri, for a long period of years. I guess I have never heard a better high-school choir any place in America. When we were planning this program, we thought we would like to have them sing for you. Their being here is a very special part of my home- [42] St. Louis Convention 43 coming. I wish to present the A Cappella Choir of Webster Groves High School, under the direction of Miss Esther Replogle. Their music will help set the climate for our thinking about education and peace. INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS We are to be honored and encouraged by the presence of a distinguished group of platform guests in the general sessions of this conference. Tonight we have the chief school officials of this city, county, and state, the members of the Executive and Resolutions Committees of the American Association of School Administrators, the past presidents of the Association, the presi- dents and secretaries of allied organizations who are working with us on the problems of education, and members of the Educational Policies Com- mission who are in attendance at this conference. I want to ask them to rise. I know you will want to join me in extending our appreciation to them. Will the group rise, please? [Applause] We have an additional group of guests tonight, and I should like to identify them bv name and ask them to stand as individuals and remain standing until all have been introduced. These guests are from abroad, and are here in America studying our educational program, our institutions, our nation, and are with us in this conference for a few days. I wish to introduce Dr. Hermann Schnell of Austria, Dr. Wilhelm Zochling of Austria, Dr. Gertrude Betsch of Germany, Dr. Johanna Lederer of Germany, Miss Elisabeth Winkelmann of Germany, Ernest Huettl of Germany, Dr. V. Phllipp Reinhardt of Germany, Dr. Suesskand of Germany, Mr. Gerhardt Wienecke of Germany. Will you ioin me in telling these people how much we appreciate their being here? [Applause] I am very much encouraged that our foreign friends could recognize my pronunciation of their names. [Laughter] I have trouble enough with the Smiths and Jones and Baptists. PRESENTATION OF HONORARY LIFE ^MEMBERSHIP TO HAROLD A. ALLAN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR BUSINESS, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION HENRY H. HILL, PRESIDENT, GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE; PAST PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION President Goslin : I think we have a very delightful experience ahead of us in the next few minutes. I would like to tell you something about the strength and ability of Henry Hill as a leader in American education. Even more, I would like to tell you about him as a person, but I'm afraid we must forego that. Henry Hill, president of George Peabody College, and a past president of this Association, will now represent us and make a pre- sentation to Harold A. Allan. Mr. Hill: President Goslin, Distinguished Guests, Members of the Association, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am going to ask Willard Goslin to 44 American Association of School Administrators EUGENE TAYLOR, ST. LOUIS Harold A. Allan receives Honorary Life Alember- ship in A ASA from Past President Henry H. Hill escort our honor guest of the evening, Harold A. Allan, up to the rostrum here, so I may present him with the Association's honorary life membership. [Applause] Harold A. Allan, whom the Association honors this evening, was for- merly the assistant secretary in charge of business of the National Education Association. He is a native of Maine, serving as deputy superintendent of education before he came to the National Education Association in 1922, where he has served with ability and devotion for twenty-six years. After graduating from Bates College, he pursued graduate work at Harvard. I must interpolate something here. That's what the script says, but I've always thought those were "weasel" words — "pursued graduate work." It doesn't say whether he caught it or not. [Laughter] In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I assume Mr. Allan caught up with the graduate work and passed. We of the American Association of School Administrators have known Harold best at our winter meetings, where he has managed the exhibits and the exhibitors, the spectators and even the superintendents with wisdom and success, exhibiting in rare degree the sagacity of a son of Maine coupled with the friendly camaraderie of an ante-bellum southern planter. That is quite a combination. He enjoys our professional respect, our friendly esteem, and has won our top vote for storyteller. It isn't the right moment now, but sometime get St. Louis Convention 45 him to tell you his Salvation Army story. We salute him tonight as a gentleman, a scholar, and, as someone else has put it, a man who combines the finest qualities of both his Scotch ancestry and bourbon. [Laughter] After fifty-two conventions, we invite you, Harold, to spend more time on the golf course, to make more pars and lose fewer balls. There is no evidence, however, that he has ever lost one yet. We take a great deal of pleasure in presenting the honorary life member- ship of our Association to a great battler in the cause of America's children — Harold A. Allan. [Applause] Mr. Allan: President Goslin, and Henry: When you were small boys, and I was in college, I think that in my freshman year I had one outstand- ing ambition, and that was to win a letter. Finally, at the last of my junior year, I was able to wear a garment with a big "B" on it. I thought it was a personal achievement. But when I got back in the fall, I noticed what it was — a lot of the boys had been wearing sweaters with big "B's" on them. I thought the thing through. It wasn't a personal achievement, necessarily; it was simply a matter of teamwork, and I was only one of the team. I would like to accept this honorary membership in the American Asso- ciation of School Administrators with that same feeling, of its being the thrill of a lifetime that I had when I received my first varsity sweater, but at the same time with the feeling that it is only an emblem of teamwork. You, and scores of you in this audience and on the stage, and many who are not here, and the girls back in the office — we have all been members of the team. We have all done our best together to carry on with these great meetings of the AASA and the old Department of Superintendence. I thank you, and I assure you that I greatly appreciate the honor, and I thank the executives of the AASA, through you, for it. [Applause] WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT ELLIS ARNALL, former GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA; PRESIDENT, SOCIETY OF INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS Address Delivered at San Francisco and St. Louis President Goslin: It was only a few years ago when Ellis Arnall was described as the youngest governor of any state. Since then he has come to be known for more than his youth. We doubt if another public official in recent years has so clearly understood the relationship of the welfare of public education and the welfare of America and its institutions and ideals. Certainly, no American has stated them more clearly or stood up for them more vigorously. It is with more than a little pride, then, that we present Ellis Arnall, former governor of Georgia, a distinguished young man, recently named as president of the Society of Independent iVIotion Picture Producers, who will speak to us on the subject, "What the People Want." 1 think you are going to like this fellow. Ellis Arnall. 46 American Association of School Administrators Mr. Arnall: President Willard E. Goslin, Ladies and Gentlemen of the American Association of School Administrators, and Friends of Educa- tion : I am delighted to be here with you this evening in St. Louis, at this Regional Conference, which permits me to speak with you for a while about some things that, in my judgment, need the attention today of all the people in our great nation. You may not agree with some of the observations I shall make this evening. I speak merely as an individual. My remarks have no official back- ground, but I shall undertake to bring to your attention some observations and conclusions that require our considering. In a democracy it is not essen- tial that we agree ; the important thing is that we evaluate our ideas to the end that we can generate the sparks of truth. At the outset this evening, let's begin by thinking together for a few minutes about something we all know and upon which we will agree, and that is that we are living in a fast moving, rapidly changing, ever shrinking world. We are living in a period of time fraught with problems and chal- lenges, but the most interesting day and time in which to live since the beginning of the world. Were we tonight to take a history book and start on page 1, turning each page in rapid succession, I am certain that we would agree that there has never been a day as challenging or as interesting as this one in which we find ourselves. Wherever we look, we see change. There is never a dull moment. There is no chance today to become jaded or bored with living; there is too much happening. Especially do we see change in material things — speed, wherever we look. You know, sometimes we who live in the South — the Deep South — are referred to as being lethargic and slow-moving, and yet the other day I boarded an airplane in Atlanta for Birmingham, a distance of 175 miles, leaving Atlanta at 12 noon, and I arrived in Birmingham at 11:55 that morning! [Laughter] There is speed wherever you look. I am told by some of my scientist friends that they have now perfected a device that you carry in your pocket, and, without the aid of any sending instrument, you can hear any conversation that goes on within a radius of three miles around. Now, with that device, if it becomes commonplace, I suggest that we're going to change our way of living in this fast-moving world. [Laughter] Changes, wherever you look. As a matter of fact, we are hard put to keep up with just what is transpiring. We tune in our radio, we seize the next edition of our news- paper. We read where some event has transpired somewhere that is going to affect all this civilized world. All of this has a battering effect on your life, and on mine. We are trying so hard to keep up with what is transpiring that we have little opportunity to reflect upon those things that happened yesterday and yesteryear. Do we forget tonight — here at this meeting of school administrators from the central region of our nation — that not many months ago, not many years ago, your nation and mine, this great, common country that we love, was geared in an all-out effort to win a war? Some of you listening St. Louis Convention 47 to ine speak tonight were among those who proudly wore the uniform of our country, offering your bodies as living shields for our liberties. Do we forget tonight that not many months ago, not many years ago, some 300,000 young Americans of every race, color, and creed, from every state and every section of this common country of ours, had one thing in common — a common rendezvous with death? I like to believe that each and every one of us has thought that somehow, by the reason of the giving up of life itself, that which he held dear, he was making a contribution toward the idea of a better world, a braver world ; yes, a peaceful world, the world we want. I finished the governorship of my state two years ago under rather un- usual circumstances. [Laughter] It was my privilege to start out on a journey over this country of ours, to which I have devoted one week each month. It has carried me into each state of this nation, and it has permitted me to speak to groups in all walks of life, people of all shades of opinion, and everywhere I go, I know that the people want peace; and because they do want peace, we are concerned, we are apprehensive, we are fearful. Time will not permit tonight for me to delineate the shades of opinion, Interesting as they were, which I encountered on this journey. We do not agree in what we want. Our ambitions, our aspirations, our problems are the same, but among our people we do at times differ on what approach, what technic, what device, what program shall be adopted in attaining that which we want. There are those in your country and mine, for example, who still have within their thinking something of a trace of isolationism, but surely we know today that we do live in one world. We have always lived in one world, irrespective of how that world moves. We live in one world, not because man has conquered over time and distance and subjugated the air, but we live in one world simply because humankind is the same everx'where, and nowhere in this entire world can some men be free until everywhere all men are free. Isolationism will not solve the problems of peace, nor does the atomic bomb, that marvel of science that baffles the imagination, hold within it the key to the problem of perpetual peace. Let us know that peace cannot be predicated on fear. Still another school of thought, another segment of opinion, is the one that subscribes to the idea that we must convert our democracy into a military republic, barricading our shorelines, arming to the teeth, placing in charge of civilian affairs only professional soldiers. Surely, you know and I know that it is necessary that we maintain an adequate military establishment, but just as peace cannot be predicated on fear, neither can peace be predicated on force. Others in your country and mine believe that the day must come in this world when we will substitute logic and debate and reason for force and conflict — that the United Nations organization, with all its inherent weak- nesses, its ineffectual ity, does offer a pattern or plan upon which, with 48 American Association of School Administrators patience and forbearance, we can build, giving to that agency greater degrees of sovereignty until it practically measures up to our fondest ex- pectancies. Tonight I tell you school administrators and friends of education that I, as one American, know that we can have peace through a program of work- ing with other nations, with all of the obstacles demonstrated there, because I recognize that a nation is not an entity on the map that may be colored red, orange, green, or yellow — a nation is nothing more or less than an aggregate, a composite of all the people whose nation it is. When we speak of a nation's attitude, a nation's desire, a nation's ambitions, a nation's program, in common parlance we speak of the attitude of the people whose nation that may be. Likewise, every government is, to a greater or less degree, representa- tive of the people, be that government bad, good, or indifferent. Govern- ments and nations in this world are not inanimate objects. They pulsate with human blood. So, in our quest for peace, this security that the people want, we end where we knew we must end. We end with the human equation, the human element, the human ingredient, the hearts and minds of men. A man left his office when night came and was on his way home. He stopped in the corner drugstore to buy an evening paper. Seeing a jigsaw puzzle there, he bought a puzzle, remembering his young son, Johnnie, aged seven. When he arrived home, he was greeted by his wife. Little Johnnie, seeing the evening paper under his arm, said, "Daddy, read me the funnies." The father said, "Johnnie, I'm tired; you go off and play." But Johnnie said, "Daddy, read me the funnies." Well, of course, if you had a seven- year-old son like Mrs. Arnall and I, you would know how very persistent they can be when they say, "Daddy, read me the funnies." Then the father recalled the jigsaw puzzle. "Johnnie," he said, "I brought you a puzzle. You sit here in the living room and put it together, and when you have it all put together, I'll be back and read the paper." The little fellow went to work, and the father settled in his easy chair to read what had happened throughout the world that day. It seems he had scarcely read the headlines when Johnnie said, "Daddy, I put the puzzle together." His father asked him, "How did you do it so soon?" He said, "That was an intricate puzzle, with a picture of all the world on it ; how did you do it?" Johnnie said: "Daddy, I'll tell you. I got to looking at the puzzle. I saw on one side a picture of the world. Well, I don't know much about that, but on the other side there was a picture of a man. I put it here on this glass-topped table and looked up, and put the man together, and then the world was all right." Oh, my friends, in this day of cynicism and over-wisdom, when we know the answer to all the problems except pressing problems, it is high time that we recognize that if we are to have the peace the people want, the St. Louis Convention 49 attitudes, the hearts, the minds, and the heads must be brought into con- formance with the attitude of peace. It is increasingly obvious to you and me that it is impossible to segregate or separate international policies from our domestic affairs, because your nation and mine, which is great and strong and powerful, is being called upon to assist in the rehabilitation of a war-devastated world. Through ECA, the Marshall Plan, and other programs, we are measuring up to that responsibility. We recognize not only that such an approach to inter- national affairs is one of humanitarianism but that if the world collapses, we collapse with it. I am glad that your nation and mine recognizes its responsibility and is speaking out throughout the world for justice, righteousness, and good- will, but tonight I wish to tell you that the person who molds the hearts, the lives, the characters of the boys and girls — our citizens of tomorrow — that while we speak out for righteousness and justice and goodwill, for democracy throughout the world, we have got a job to do here at home in strengthening democracy, making it more democratic, more vigorous in truly installing justice and righteousness and goodwill at home. In a way, we must get our own house in order if we are to effectively speak out. Other nations, other peoples are quick to point out sham and hypocrisy if they exist here. Not many years ago a former Secretary of State of the United States, whom I admired very greatly, spoke out before the United Nations for free elections and votes. But while that great and good man was speaking out for the right of people to vote, at the same time a third of the people in his own state were denied the right to vote. We decry a system of colonialism and imperialism. I decry a system whereby voters, for example, who live in the South, are required to pay 39 percent more to ship the same merchandise the same distance, with the same weight, than those who live in the imperial domain that sometimes we refer to as the East. What I'm trying to say is, "Let's get our own house in order," and that is where you and I fit into this program. Each of us can, within the limits of our own influence, work to strengthen democracy, work for goodwill, for righteousness and justice in human relations. In this travel over the nation I found that, next to peace — next to the security that the people want, next to opportunity and freedom — they feel that it is essential that in a democracy we have an educated citizen. The people want a program of education that will be both realistic and demo- cratic. They want good schools, and feel that federal assistance through an equalization fund to economically depressed areas of the nation is essential to our welfare. I find the people are concerned when they know that in our great and powerful nation we spend only 1.5 percent of our national income for the education of our youth. Much progress has been made in recent years. I am familiar with no city school system, or independent school system, or county system that has not made greater effort for the cause of education. Congratulations, it 50 American Association of School Administrators seems to me, are in order to you men and women, to the National Education Association, to the agencies within the rank and file of the educational forces that have fought assiduously for education, adequate education, for our people. Well, what do the people want from education ? The answer is the same all over the United States. They want the schools and colleges to provide what the young people need in today's world. We need decently paid, decently treated teachers and administrators in our public-school systems. Until decentralization shall be adjusted to the economy of our country, it is imperative that the federal government recognize that every American, irrespective of where he or she may live, is entitled to adequate educational facilities. We need a realistically devised educational program. The war demonstrated the need for technological and vocational skills, but still we must realize that we must have a high degree of academic education, and the curricula in our schools must be adjusted so that we may turn out into today's world men and women fitted to cope with the conditions that they find. We face the danger in our school system of training too many experts, whose general knowledge is too limited to make them effective as citizens. Lawyers unschooled in semantics and history, atomic energy scientists untrained in politics, and engineers unschooled in economics hold a menace for the democracy of the future, for our demo- cratic idea requires an intelligent and informed citizenry to be effective, individual intelligence adequate to make decisions in a democracy. We believe that the people know best, but it is the responsibility of our society to see that education is unlimited to those who desire extra education. The people I have met recognize that we ought to develop fully the human resources in our democracy. We must also insist on health education ; we must deal realistically and intelligently with the problem of health on the one hand and disease on the other in our democracy. Do I astound you tonight when I tell you that I have found many counties in many states in which there is not a single doctor or nurse or dentist or clinic or hospital? Are you surprised when I tell you that I know one state in which thirty-two towns do not have within them a single dentist? Do you recognize that today — not tomorrow — we need 67,000 more doctors in America? Oh, we talk about this program or that program, but I want to say that I care not what program is adopted, I care not what you may call it — whether you call it socialized medicine or whether you adopt the program of the AMA — the need in your country and mine is not necessarily a program in the health field ; the need is for medical men, medical women, in hospitals and clinics. That is very necessary. We need a program of expansion for our medical colleges. We see deserving young Americans who have completed premedical education denied the right to enter a medical college because in your country and mine we have not kept step in expanding our medical facilities and educational establishments with the needs of our people. St. Louis Convention 51 Health and education are essential if we are to make this democracy the dynamic and challenging way of life and system which it can become. Next to health and education, I found throughout this country that the people want freedom. Yes, perhaps they value freedom ahead of all other activities next to peace itself, and they recognize that political freedom is not enough in a democracy, but it also means the freedom of opportunity for a man or woman to enter the economic world free from monopoly and cartels and combines, to make of themselves what they will as the American tradition and as the American heritage. To that end the people recognize the menace of a monopoly to our system of competitive free enterprise. The people want anti-trust laws enforced ; they want cartels and combines, monopolies and conspiracies uprooted. You know and I know that your son and my son are entitled, in this land — having education and health — to compete in business. That is the American tradition. The people want that tradition continued. And then, in your country and mine, the people know that government must ever remain responsive to their will and their welfare. The people know that while they gave their government many rights, they never gave the government the right to remain static or to do nothing. The people know that much of the talk about states rights is merely an expression whereby those who use that battlecry mean that they want nothing done. I believe in states rights. You believe in states rights. But every state right must be measured by state responsibility. States can become useful units of government. Local government can carry out functions near to the people, but federal government has a re- sponsibility— I hope it is not amiss of me to make this reference to our federal government tonight. I like the federal government. My kid brother wore the uniform of this country. My neighbor's boy died for it. I want to say that — as bad as the critics have tried to lead us to believe it is — it is the finest government in the world today. [Applause] The people want an end to the preaching of racial and religious hate in this country. While they suspect some minorities of unjustified sensitiveness, they are weary of their failure to adjust their problems upon the American pattern of freedom. The people want no special privileges for either minorities or majorities. In a democracy the only majority and the only minority we recognize are transitory belligerent majorities and minorities. The people want sectionalism eradicated. Everywhere I go in America on this journey, I find evidence that the people want one common countrv, with opportunity for every citizen in every section, with justice for all, with security for all, and with freedom to do, freedom to think, freedom to speak — yes, and freedom to dream. I know that the people of America won't go far in the ways of com- munism, totalitarianism, or authoritarianism — call it what you will. I know and you know that God so made the American people that we will never permit any one to tell us what to do. While communism, in certain lands, may appeal to those who have been brought up to respect a system of authoritarianism, I found in this journey over America that, other than a 52 American Association of School Administrators few "crackpots" on the one hand and a few quislings on the other, com- munism has no appeal to the people. The danger to our country that the people recognize is not from com- munism. The danger is that we will, through our lethargy and apathy, fail to make our democracy the vital, living thing that it deserves to be. Democracy is not a lazy man's way of government or of life. You have got to work at it, and the people know that there is nothing wrong in the world that a good dose of democracy won't cure. We want our free choice. We know the Constitution guarantees life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That happiness may ever elude us, and may ever deceive us, but it still remains for every man the full measure of his freedom. Mrs. Arnall enjoys French pastry very much, and whenever we dine at a restaurant, hotel, or club where they serve it, she always orders it. She never orders any particular kind. In each instance she insists that the waiter bring in a tray. She likes to look at each of those pastries very care- fully, meticulously, very painstakingly, trying to make up her mind which one to take. Sometimes I am embarrassed because it takes her so long to come to that decision. But after she has looked a long while, she always ends up by ordering a chocolate eclair. Now, if I ordered her a chocolate eclair, she wouldn't eat it. What chance has communism got in a country like that? [Laughter] We can have peace if we make it our concern, if we gear our faith to an old fashioned belief in the efficacy of work. This auditorium in which we have met tonight, every home in this city, every church, every school, stands as a tribute to men and women who had faith in the future. I tell you that in spite of what some of the radio commentators might try to lead you to believe, in spite of what some of the columnists might write, in spite of the messages of some of the prophets of doom, this old world will be here for a long, long while, and we can make it as pretty as a garden instead of the burned-out cinder that it could become. Everywhere I went in America, I found evidence that our people want this common country of ours to have opportunity for every citizen in every section, with justice for all, with security for all, and with freedom to do what we will to make our own dreams and live our own lives. They want to make their own dreams as different as they please from those dreamed by their neighbors. I tell you tonight it is no impossible situation, unattainable and unreal. It is a situation that is as durable as the granite of Vermont, as real as the golden valley of California, as commonplace as the courthouse square in Union, my home town, as imaginatively bold as Manhattan's towers. It is a changeless vision, a vision that their fathers and mothers before them saw as they wandered across the continent, clearing the forest, breaking the prairies with their plows from dawn to night. Not only they believed in the fact that freedom could be maintained and made complete, but they believed that they could have a free America in a free world. Our people do not believe that democracy must go on the defensive, must St. Louis Convention 53 contract its orbit, must make compromises. Let us then know, as the people know, that democracy is not an outgrown dream. It is a practical way of life. It is a way of life that Americans chose voluntarily; there is no reason why we should retreat from it ; there is every reason why we should encourafie it, not only here but elsewhere as well. So I tell you tonij2;ht that a democratic world will be a world of peace. Free men do not seek to enslave their fellows. They are too occupied by their conquests of the twin worlds of things and thoughts to desire other empires. The idea, then, of brotherhood among men, is not to be cast aside. It is forgotten only by those who have forgotten that man is the miracle of the universe and that the earth is distinguishable from the other planets circling throughout the atmosphere by the fact that the earth, our earth, is the home of humankind. Yes, we can have peace. We can attain the goals we want, if we have faith, and if we know that the only limitation on our realization of the problem is the limitation that we impose today. In this question of freedom and happiness, tranquility and peace, it is essential that education blaze the trail and hold high the torch to light the way. It will measure up to that responsibility. [Applause] President Goslin : This is a splendid audience for the first day of our conference. There will be a great program this year. We will begin with organ music at nine o'clock in the morning, and we'll expect you. Good night. THIRD GENERAL SESSION Monday Morning, February 28 THE CONVENTION EXHIBIT BERT CHOLET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION TH) RESIDENT GosLiN : School men and women all over America look ^ forward to the remarkable exhibits which are held in connection with meetings of this Association. I know we have an excellent one here which has been arranged for this conference in St. Louis. I wish to present at this time Bert Cholet, assistant vicepresident of the Higgins Company, and president of the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Associ- ation. Bert ! Mr. Cholet: Thank you. President Goslin. Members of the Executive Committee, Honored Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: The warm welcome which the Associated Exhibitors always receive from the American Association of School Administrators is returned with interest. A convention such as this thrives and increases only when 54 American Association of School Administrators EUGENE TAYLOR, ST. LOUIS A section of the St. Louis exhibit those who attend are mutually cordial, seek to contribute together to the fabric of our economic system, and profit by their experiences here. This convention is always an opportunity for us businessmen to learn more about the business of education. Some of the taxes derived from the productivity of our great nation are used for more education. More edu- cation is a vital necessity to expand that productivity and to pay more taxes to support more education. We are at a loss to know which comes first or which is of greater import. You may be assured that we businessmen in the educational field are always striving to expand the field of education. We might be accused of having a selfish motive, but the right answer to that is, "Of course we have; that is part of our expanding American economy." We constantly stress that American education and American prosperity complement each other and move forward together. There are many active trade organizations of concerns doing business in the educational field, and you may know of our efforts. I refer to the Associated Exhibitors and also to associations striving to increase the lot of education such as the National School Service Institute, the Related Arts Service, and numerous others. In these times we are sometimes confronted with attacks on American business, most of which emanate from the "cabbage soup and black bread" countries. Advertising is always a favorite subject of attack, both by those who would destroy our s^^stem and many so-called intellectuals who will write a book or an article on anything as long as they are paid for it. T remember discussing the best seller The Hucksters. As an advertising St. Louis Convention 55 man I was disappointed in its publication, because I knew the picture which it painted of the total field of advertising was so unfair, and then I realized that in the words, "the total field of advertising," lay the solution to all derogatory remarks and articles which attack phases of American life. When faced with a subtle suggestion or an outright criticism of a flaw in any phase of our American business life, I urge you to look at the com- plete picture. You'll decide — as I decided — that The Hucksters is to the total field of advertising what Forever Amber is to the total field of woman- hood, if you get what I mean, and I'm positive that you do. You will find that parallel is true of all criticisms of the various factors of American business when viewed in comparison with the entire field. You educators and we businessmen are naturally very proud of our interdependent American economy, which is the most perfect the world has produced to date. Constructive suggestions for improvement by our own people, with honest intent, are always desirable. The exhibits are an opportunity and, in fact, an obligation for the interchange of ideas. This great convention hall in which we meet in complete cordiality, under- standing, and mutual helpfulness is the embodiment of our American success and we are beholden to no one or nothing for it with the exception of our- selves and our American initiative. T am most happy to announce that each of the three exhibits are sell-outs, and that in Philadelphia over fifty exhibitors had to be turned away for lack of space. In St. Louis you have the opportunity to make personal contacts with 235 different exhibitors, some of whom have eight and ten spaces. There is an enormous personnel represented and a positively gigantic investment and numerous products for you to examine. Now it is my pleasure to extend to you, on behalf of the Associated Exhibitors, an invitation to attend the entertainment which we have ar- ranged in your honor on Tuesday evening, at 8:30 p.m. in this same auditorium. We recommend that you be in your seats by 8:30 sharp. We shall be greatly pleased to have you as our guests and we are extremely proud to announce as entertainers the glorious combination of Sigmund Romberg and Jarmila Novotna. If you do not happen to hold a reserved seat ticket — of which there can never be enough — please remember that the Associated Exhibitors always provide seats for all on presentation of your badge or membership card in the AASA or NEA. We sincerely look forward to welcoming you. Thank you. [Applause] President Goslin : Before Bert Cholet gets out of the wings, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to express particular appreciation to him and to his associates among the exhibitors for the added expense and hard work which they have gone to this year in cooperation with this Asso- ciation and its officers in arranging the exhibits in three different regional meetings. We had a splendid exhibit in San Francisco last week. If you had a chance to get a glimpse at this one, you'll know it is comparable in every way to the national exhibits we have had. A very promising one is arranged for Philadelphia. We are indeed appreciative to these men and their organi- zations for that kind of cooperation. 56 American Association of School Administrators THE 1949 YEARBOOK— AMERICAN SCHOOL BUILDINGS warren t. white, superintendent of schools, dallas, texas; chairman, yearbook commission President Goslin : The American Association of School Administra- tors has published twenty-seven yearbooks. The last one is on American school buildings. It comes to us at an opportune time. It promises to be one of the best in the series. Now, I don't think that this organization will ever get into the business of issuing "white papers," but I predict that this yearbook will become known as the "white book." If you haven't seen the book, j'ou'll know why after you see it and after I make this introduction. This fellow has more aliases than anybody I know in this business. Some folks call him "Warren," some folks call him "Travis," some folks call him "W. T.," and every superintendent of schools here knows that on occasion he is called other things. I want to introduce Warren Travis — "W. T." — White, superintendent of schools, Dallas, Texas, and chairman of the 1949 Yearbook Commission, who will tell us about the yearbook. Mr. White: President Goslin, and My Friends: I think that President Truman has used a descriptive epithet that any superintendent can under- stand. [Laughter] In 1947 President Henry Hill of the American Association of School Administrators asked the commission, which he appointed as the Yearbook Commission, to present a book on school buildings, equipment, and school sites. They were a grand bunch and their willingness to work many hours, in and out of meeting, enabled the Commission to produce the white book that President Goslin mentioned a moment ago. Only two of the members are here this morning, but I'd like to recognize them. W. D. McClurkin of Peabody College. Dean, where are you? Will you stand up, please? [Applause] And Paul Seagers, Indiana University, who is sitting over there too. [Applause] The other members couldn't be here. As consultant we had Dr. Hazel Davis of the Research Division of the NEA, and as our manager, housekeeper, good provider, and general as- sistant. Worth McClure. We hope that this book will be useful to administrators, school boards, and architects. I believe it will. It is written in nontechnical language, and we have tried to make it so that it will be useful not only today but in the years ahead, keeping it somewhat general but sufficiently specific that we would all know what we are trying to achieve. President Goslin, it is my very great pleasure to present this yearbook to you as the President of the American Association of School Adminis- trators. [Applause] President Goslin : I still think that it will come to be known as the "white book." Thanks to you, Warren White, and your commission for a St. Louis Cowkntion S7 very excellent job. The Association and the American people arc indebted to you for your help in connection with the dcvelopinent of the right kind of school buildings for the children of America. INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS President Goslin: As I indicated last night, wc have the encourage- ment during this series of rneetings of a distinguished and significant series of platform guests. I should like to attempt to recognize the contributions which the associates of certain groups here this morning are rendering to America and to its school system through the presentation of these indi- viduajs. AVe have here this morning representatives of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers at both the national and state levels. I want first to introduce the national president of the organization, and then ask her state presidents to stand with her, and then ask you to join with me in our appreciation as teachers and school men and women in America for the magnificent work which is being done for American children and youth by the more than five million members of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. Mrs. L. W. Hughes of Tennessee, the national president. Mrs. Hughes, will you stand, please. And now will the state presidents who are here with us and with Mrs. Hughes please stand in order that we may recognize this great organization and its work. [Applause] Thank you so much, ]\Irs. Hughes. Now, I have sometimes said — after a good many years in this business — that it is a little hard to tell why anyone would be willing to be a school board member in America. They are apt to get a steady stream of criticism and complaints, punctuated only rarely with some commendation for the contributions which they make to America and its school system. On the other hand, when one looks around an American community to try to identify^ an area of civic responsibility, an avenue through which an individual can contribute the most to the welfare of his community, his state, and his nation, I doubt if there can be identified in America an oppor- tunity for service that outranks the opportunity for laymen to serve as members of boards of education in this country as we are constituted at the present time. I want to introduce first J. Paul Elliott of the Los Angeles Board of Education, who has just been elected president of the National School Boards Association within the last few days in this city. Mr. Elliott, will you stand. [Applause] And then will the other national and state representatives of the School Board Association stand with Mr. Elliott, so that we, as school men and women, may pay our appreciation to them for the services which they render to American education. [Applause] Fm a little confused, and Fm not quite sure whether Fm all the way around on the guests this morning. Mabel Studebaker is to be introduced 58 American Association of School Administrators in a few minutes. If there are other officers of the National Education Association on the platform, will they stand with Miss Studebaker at the present time so that we may address our appreciation to the officers of the National Education Association, who serve all of us, including the members of this department. [Applause] Now I want to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce three individuals from Missouri and, through their introduction, to call attention to the very generous invitation which is extended to all of us to partici- pate in the "Hospitality Hour" in the Gold Room of the Jefferson Hotel from four to six this afternoon. We are to be the guests of the Missouri State Teachers Association and the Missouri Association of School Admin- istrators. I would like to ask L. G. Townsend to stand first, as president of the Missouri State Teachers Association, and I will ask Everett Keith, execu- tive secretary of the association, to stand with him. Then I would like to ask Frank Heagerty to stand, who is the president of the Missouri Association of School Administrators. These men and their associates in the two organizations will be our hosts this afternoon. I know that you will want to say thanks to them, but if you would like to express your appreciation now [Applause] Is there anyone who wants to be introduced who hasn't been introduced jTt? [Laughter] Hearing no one, we shall proceed. I think there is a lesson for all of us in the personnel assembled on this stage at the present time. We are here as parents, as school board members, as representatives of great religions, as teachers, as members of the National Education Association, as superintendents of schools, as members of the American Association of School Administrators, and the heads of great universities, all interested in democracy and education. We turn to one of our number to tell what American school teachers are doing for democracy. THE TEACHER'S ROLE IN EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY MABEL STUDEBAKER, SCIENCE TEACHER, ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA; PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION President Goslin: Mabel Studebaker is a high-school teacher in Erie, Pennsylvania. By virtue of the fact that she lives in a free nation, in view of the fact that she has served the children and youth of this country, in view of the fact that she has worked for and stood for the welfare of teachers in her community, in her state, in her nation ; in view of the fact that she has worked for the welfare of public education and has understood its relationship to the welfare of our scheme of things, Mabel Studebaker is president of the greatest organization of teachers of all time, and is there- fore, I think, particularly well qualified to represent us in our interests in education and to tell us what the schools of America are doing for them. Mabel Studebaker! [Applause] St. Louis Convention 59 Miss Studebaker: President Goslin, Honored Guests, Members of the American Association of School Administrators: It is thrilling to think that all over this country people are stopping to evaluate, to measure, and see how we can do a better job in the education of young people. We realize that they are the ones who will really be solving problems in the next few years, and how they do it today may influence very definitely how they will do it tomorrow. Whenever teachers and administrators gather together In a session such as this, discussion inevitably turns to one or another of the host of urgent problems they must solve together — the influx of new students, construction needs, finances and tax loads, the shortage of qualified teachers, desirable programs of teacher preparation, effective inservice training plans. I could name many more such problems; you are all well acquainted with them. But when we meet, we also spend some time looking beyond the individual and immediate concerns with which we are faced from day to day. We look to the over-all purpose of education. We ask ourselves : Are we meeting the needs of American youth ? And that question, of course, immediately suggests another one : What are the needs of American youth ? It is not my intention to explore all the needs of our youth. Instead, let me limit myself to a single vitally important area — the need to develop responsible, democratic citizenship. What is the teacher's job in civic education? We usually state teaching jobs in terms of objectives. We should have relatively little difficulty in agreeing on the objectives of civic education in America. I think there is general acceptance of these four goals of civic education as drawn up by the Educational Policies Commission in 1944: First, all youth need to understand the rights and duties of the citizen of a democratic society, and to be diligent and competent in the performance of their obligations as members of the community and citizens of the state and nation. Second, all youth need to understand the significance of the family for the individual and society, and the conditions conducive to successful family life. Third, all youth need to develop respect for other persons, to grow in their insight into ethical values and principles, and to be able to live and work cooperatively with others. Finally, all youth need to grow in their ability to think rationally, to ex- press their thoughts clearly, and to read and listen Avith understanding. We shall find it relatively easy, too, to agree upon the evidences of civic competence in American life. The degree of success in attaining our objectives is expressed in terms of civic attitudes and behavior. The long- term civic health of the United States is the final criterion against which to measure the civic work of the schools. For example, we can say that the extent to which qualified voters partici- pate in ordinary elections is one measure of the effectiveness of our program of civic education. Other evidences might include: — the incidence of juvenile delinquency and adult crime 60 American Association of School Administrators — the regularity with which taxes are paid, even though protested — the degree of support given to schools and education — the extent of intelligent use of our public libraries, our institutes, parks, and other public facilities — the degree of support given to such organizations as the Red Cross, Community Chest, and to the many other organizations, both public and private, that seek to promote human welfare at home and abroad — the degree of active concern in public affairs, in our local communities, in our states, and throughout our nation. Many other evidences of civic competence might be listed, but these are enough to indicate the type of criteria we use to evaluate civic behavior. So far, we have been considering the things on which there is fairly general agreement among educators — the main objectives of civic education, and a few of the measuring-sticks against which the effectiveness of civic education is determined. But it is in the area of method that disagreement arises among us. How should the classroom teacher seek to promote democratic efficiency — through what procedures can he develop in students a humanitarian spirit, attitudes of tolerance and respect toward other people and nations, a sense of personal responsibility for public affairs, the ability to think and act rationally? In other words, how can he help to improve the national score on each of the evidences of civic competence that we listed a moment ago? The methods that can be employed by the classroom teacher are largely determined by the kind of school in which he teaches. For sake of clarity, let me describe briefly three typical kinds of American schools: First, there is the routine school, most of whose procedures are determined by tradition. Things are taught because they always have been taught; things are not done because they are "just not done." This school proceeds on the assumption that an old custom is necessarily a good one. This school, like all others, wants to develop good citizens, but it argues that the best way to achieve the goal is to follow long-established traditions. In this school, the classroom teacher has no problems of method ; all prob- lems of procedure were solved for him long ago. Second, there is the imitative school, which is determined to depart from routine and to discard tradition. It looks to other schools that have broken away from traditional procedures, and tries to adopt as many as possible of the newer practices. Because it is imitative, it may make changes without really understanding why it is doing so — there may be little attempt made to adapt procedures to local community conditions or needs. The teacher in the imitative school, unless he is an exceptionally strong one, may find himself constantly swept into shifting, apparently purposeless, methods of teaching. He adopts diiiferent methods, not because experience has proved them to be productive of desirable outcomes, but because they are new and it is fashionable to use them. In this type of school, students, teachers, and administrators are frequently confused. Having lost sight of their goals, they wander blindly, although they may assure themselves con- stantly and loudly that they are on the one sure road to effective democracy. St. Louis Convention 61 Third, there is the constructive school. This school, like the imitative type, has discarded many of the older traditions of education. But there is this vast difference between the two : The constructive school knows why it is discardinfx parts of the traditional curriculum and some of the traditional methods. The constructive school operates on the standard of experimental success. It tries new methods because it feels that they may more readily help to achieve educational goals. If certain experimental procedures do not prove to be successful, they are not generally applied. The constructive school has a clear grasp of the goals of democratic edu- cation— it retains a sense of direction. It does not adopt a new procedure merely because others have done so ; nor does it drop traditional procedures just because they are old. In the constructive school, and the number of them is increasing, there is room for the imaginative, creative teacher. Teachers, administrators, and students work together in the development and administration of a curricu- lum that is intended to meet local community needs, but, at the same time, to prepare students for the broader responsibilities imposed by national citizenship and life in the world at large. What are some of the methods being used by constructively experimental schools to develop civic competency? One of the methods encourages students to do more than learn the correct answers. On the contrary, it stops short of teaching correct answers to civic problems. Instead, it teaches students, first, to seek solutions to problems through independent and group research; second, it teaches students to form independent but tentative judgments on the basis of the evidence they have at hand ; and third, it teaches students to assume the personal responsibilities dictated by the conclusions they reach. Definite action on a problem under discussion may be the result of the assumption of responsibility by students. Let me cite an example. In the weeks prior to the national elections of last November, the social studies classes in the high school of a Midwestern city had devoted a good deal of time to consideration of the right and obligation of voting. The student council organization of that school decided that this was a problem about which they should do something. The council accordingly launched into a doorbell-ringing campaign to induce qualified citizens of the community to register and vote. They enlisted the support of other influential community agencies in behalf of their campaign. Throughout this entire experience, the students of that high school were doing more than learning about civic competence ; they were practicing civic competence. Another method used by the constructive school to encourage the develop- ment of civic competency at an early age encourages students to express well-considered opinions. This emphasis in teaching is based on the assump- tion that what students think (I mean really think, not just guess or im- provise) can and should help to determine local, state, and national policy. Expression of student opinion is looked upon as another means of shifting the emphasis from thinking of the schooling years as preparation for citizen- >hip to thinking of the schooling years as participation in citizenship. 62 American Association of School Administrators Expressions of student opinion may be addressed to the school dean or principal, to the school board or other agents of the local community govern- ment, to newspapers and radio, to state and national officials. By way of example, again, let me quote from several letters written recently by junior and senior high-school students. These letters offer samples of student opinion on various national and international problems. On the question of the voting age, an Oklahoma student has this to say: "The voting age should be lowered to eighteen because the young people of this country are fully capable of choosing the right candidates for office when they reach this age. They are well informed on current affairs, and they are interested in governmental problems." A contrary opinion is expressed on the same question by a New York student : "I do not think that eighteen-year-old people should be allowed to vote. They lack the knowledge that comes only through experience. And they lack the proper facts. They are also easily influenced by their environ- ment, their families, and their friends. I do not say that all twenty-one-j'ear- old men and women are capable of voting wisely, but at least they have matured enough to realize the importance of voting. They have seen a little more of the world and can cast their ballots more intelligently than people who are only eighteen." Here are a few other comments from high-school students: A student in Kansas writes : "I firmly believe that those who oppose letting the Dean of Canterbury enter this country are showing a lack of confidence in our democracy. We must take care to guard our country's security, but we must also believe in our ability to hear all sides of a question without being influenced by a wrong point of view." From California comes this student letter: "If parents are interested in their sons and daughters, they will not let them read things that harm them. I think that comic books are an important cause of juvenile delinquency." From a student in Texas: "I think that the President should be made a senator-at-large at the expiration of his term in the White House. H the President is unable to accept this position, it should be offered to the Secre- tary of State. The latter official is well acquainted with many of the impor- tant issues, and could be very helpful to our national legislature." Whether we all agree with these student conclusions is another question. The point just now is the importance of developing the habit and the ability to derive opinions from the evidence. A good example of a schoohvide activity calculated to increase civic com- petence is found in the report of the student secretary of the World Relations Committee at McKinley High School in Honolulu. In her report, she writes: "The World Relations Committee of McKinley High School has under- taken a project to help the needy people in Europe and Asia. We are helping them by sending food and clothing to Europe through CARE. "The money is collected on a voluntary basis in attendance rooms. So far, we have sent through CARE $400 for food to orphanages in Greece and St. Louis Convention 63 Austria, and $400 throuf2;h Church World Service to Japan, China, and Korea. We have asked that this be used for food for children. "A movie showing the conditions and needs of Europe, The Seeds of Destiny, was also shown to the senior class by the World Relations Com- mittee, and to others at a nij2;ht showing sponsored by the senior class. Many students had not realized the conditions of Europe until they saw this picture. This project has met with enthusiasm from the students, and they know that they are doing their part to help needy people." A number of these activities, you may say, are successful because they concern spectacular events and problems so packed with emotion that they immediately challenge the interest of students. That is partly true. By what methods, you might well ask, does the teacher in the constructive school generate civic competency in the more humdrum aspects of civic life? Well, for one thing, he brings a firsthand knowledge about local commu- nity affairs to his classroom. A recent study completed at the University of Nebraska shows that the successful teacher in problems of democracy classes maintains active and close personal contacts with a number of civic groups in his community. Because the teacher is a part of the community, he can more readily vitalize its problems to make them more meaningful to students. He can bring the civic affairs of the community into the classroom by means of specific cases; through films, slides, and pictures; through student committee contacts with various community agencies; he can occasionally bring an alderman or some other public official or employee into the class- room or school. He can take the class out into the community so that stu- dents can see for themselves some of the things that they discuss in school. Insofar as possible, the constructive teacher looks for concrete cases and avoids trying to teach only by means of generalities or broad abstractions. The number of examples that could be offered of constructively experi- mental teaching aimed at producing civic competency is almost infinite. But it is important that we stop at this point to ask why this type of teaching is superior to that found in the routine and imitative schools, I think there are three important reasons : First, this type of teaching tends to avoid the dull, pedestrian now-you- read-now-you-answer-a-question method of instruction. Second, this type of teaching treats the student as an individual who is capable of independent thought and worthwhile suggestions. Third, this type of teaching affords the student opportunity for activity in projects wherein he can see that his activity is likely to produce desirable results. Coming back to the teacher again, I think it is apparent from the examples cited that constructively experimental teaching places great demands upon the teacher. In addition to those traits we commonly attribute to teachers, unusual qualities of imagination, creativeness, tolerance, and restraint are required. The last two qualities are particularly important to have when one is dealing with children or teen-agers. Sometimes teachers, in their zeal to instruct the young, become intolerant of student suggestions and behavior that fall short of their own notions 64 American Association of School Administrators about how the job should be done. Sometimes, too, teachers are tempted to dictate procedures and answers to students. To be successful, the teacher must tolerate some imperfections due to the immature judgments of students, and must avoid giving the students the feeling that the teacher is running the whole show. To achieve this delicate balance of restrained leadership is not an easy task. In summary, I should say that the teacher has a fourfold role in educating students for democracy: First, he must know where he is going — that is, he must know the ob- jectives of sound democratic education. Second, he must look for and help to promote evidences of civic compe- tence among his students. Third, he must do everything within his power to avoid the routine and the imitative in education. And, in this area, he can use a lot of intelligent assistance from school administrators. Fourth, he must adopt constructively experimental methods, being careful all the while not to substitute the method for the educational goal of civic competence. [Applause] THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY JAMES B. CONANT, PRESIDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS President Goslin : Someone sent me nine typewritten pages of material about James Conant. Now I think that, rather than try to tell you what was on the nine pages, I'd rather relate just an incident and give you my own observations about this man. President Conant was walking down the street with an associate one day in one of our American cities and passed a pet shop with an aquarium of little turtles out in front. He stopped and toyed with these turtles while his friend waited and then turned to his friend and said, "You know, I like those little animals. The turtle is the only one I know of who gets places by sticking his neck out." [Laughter] I think that is quite a characteristic of the individual who is to speak to us this morning. I think one of the most interesting things in the broad profession of edu- cation— if he will permit this comment — has been to watch this man over a period of a decade or more really discover American public education and become, perhaps, its strongest and most able supporter in this country. I doubt if you and I, as practicing superintendents and teachers in America, are associated with another individual in this nation who has more clearly understood — not only understood but gone and done something about it with his own associates, with the others in the teaching profession, and with the citizens of this country — American education and its relation- ship to the maintenance of a free people. I doubt if any citizen in this country outranks the president of Harvard University in that regard. It is a real privilege for me personally, and as President of this Associa- St. Louis Convention 65 tion, to present Dr. James B. Conant, who will speak of "The Principle of Equality." Dr. Conant. Dr. Conant: President Goslin, Ladies and Gentlemen: I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity of being here this morning. After those kind introductory words of your President, it may seem ungracious for me to challenge his accuracy as a raconteur; nevertheless, I do so. 1 think the story about the pet shop is apocryphal, but, like many myths, it has some basis. During the war one of the projects in the atomic bomb field had as its motto, "Behold the turtle — he makes progress only when b's neck is out," and it is quite true that I have used that story on apparently too many occasions. [Laughter] On one of those occasions when I used it, a friend of mine in the audience heard somebody say, "That's a good story for a college president to tell, because, like the turtle, if he makes a mistake, he is likely to find himself in the soup." [Laughter] The title for my remarks this morning I have chosen from Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. The author of the famous book of a century ago stated in the introduction that, "In running over the pages of our history, we shall scarcely find a single great event of the last seven hundred years that has not promoted equality of condition." And picking up the same thread a few paragraphs later he continues: "The gradual development of the principle of equality is, therefore, a providential fact. It has all the chief characteristics of such a fact: it is universal, it is lasting, it constantly eludes all human interference, and all events as well as all men contribute to its progress." "The principle of equality" — this phrase has overtones political, economic, social, and above all educational. It has been praised and damned, analyzed and ridiculed by countless writers and speakers in the one hundred years since de Tocqueville wrote. One can maintain that the system of American public schools rests on the premises implied in these few words. If so, the vast expansion of our public schools would lead to the conclusion that the princi- ple of equality has been in recent years, as in the 1830's, a cardinal principle of our national life. Yet one can maintain, though I should be the last to do so, that the whole course of American domestic history since the Civil War has been such as to negate this principle of equality. Between the two world wars it became fashionable in certain academic circles not to quarrel with the principle but to deny that the words in the order given had any meaning. It was said that such vague notions as might be implied by a literal reading were merely noble phrases devoid of content, or pious nonsense. I propose this morning to examine very briefly the history of the principle of equality in the last one hundred years. In so doing I shall confine my attention to the United States. And since my time is short and your patience limited, I need hardly say I cannot begin to do justice to the subject. I take it that a speaker before a convention is entitled to the equivalent of poetic license. That is to say, he may disclaim any idea of being judged by the accuracy of his remarks; he only hopes that his gross oversimplification of current fact or ancient history will be forgiven as a necessary consequence 66 American Association of School Administrators of the American addiction to public meetings and the desire to hear the spoken word. At all events, I am going to take great liberties with the record of the past ten decades. And in so doing I shall pass more than one value judgment. In particular, I shall deplore the lack of appeal to literate Americans of the principle of equality in this century. I shall likewise regret the overconcern of these same people with the philosophic presuppositions of jVIarx and Engels. In so doing I do not doubt that some among you will accuse me of being a nostalgic American radical of the Jelfersonian or Jacksonian breed. And any Marxists in this audience will feel that the validity of de Tocqueville's report of the embryonic United States evaporated with the coming of the steam engine to this continent and the disappearance of the frontier lands. In quickly reviewing what has happened to the principle of equality since the 1840's, one must put the impact of industrialism at the top of the list of those powerful forces which have to a greater or less degree obscured the American dream of the early nineteenth century. This is obvious. De Tocqueville declared that he came to America to discover what democ- racy was like when it developed without encumbrance from the past. He came to see how the principle of equality was operating "in that land," where, to use his own words, "the great experiment was to be made, by civilized man — the attempt to construct society on a new basis. It was to be here in the North America," he said, where, "for the first time," and again I use his words, "theories hitherto unknown or deemed impracticable were to exhibit a spectacle for which the world has not been prepared by the history of the past." Well, the world has had a full century of the exhibit. What has it made of it? What have we made of it? Would we still write of the United States in terms of an experiment in the application of the principle of equality? Or has time vitiated all de Tocqueville said? One could maintain that soon after the Frenchman's visit the United States ceased to be a land where the attempt to construct society on a new basis was in fact a possibility. One could say that in the period 1840-1870 the scene completely changed. In a sense Europe invaded America. The Industrial Revolution born in England came across the sea. Men and machines, new cultural patterns, and new technics overran a pioneer democ- racy. A civil war, in part a consequence of the emotional thrust of the prin- ciple of equality, prepared the way for the bloodless conquest of an agrarian republic by the forces of urbanization. America of the 1840's vanished as did the red men. The basic problems of an industrialized society became identical on both sides of the Atlantic. It was not de Tocqueville on democ- racy but Marx on the class struggle which became relevant to the problems of this land. I hardly need remind you that some such interpretation of American his- tory was popular in left-wing circles between the two world wars. Right- wing groups at that same period were no less impatient with the principle of equality. To them the attempt to prevent the growth of an aristocracy in this nation as envisaged by de Tocqueville had proved both impossible St. Louis Convention 67 and unwise. Impossible because stratification based on inheritance had been the process of historical evolution of all previous nations and was inevitable even in the United States. They disagreed with de Tocqueville when he said: "I do not think a single people can be quoted, since human society began to exist, which has, by its own free will and its own exertions, created an aristocracy within its own bosom. All the aristocracies of the Middle Ages were founded by military conquest ; the conqueror was the noble, the vanquished became the serf. . . . Communities," he admitted, "have ex- isted which were aristocratic from their earliest origin. . . . But a people," he maintained, "having taken its rise in civilization and a democracy, which should gradually . . . establish inequality of condition, until it arrived at inviolable privileges and exclusive castes, would be a novelty in the world; and," he continued, "nothing indicates that America is likely to be the first to furnish such an example." "Wrong," both the extreme left and right might have declared in the gay 'twenties; de Tocqueville should have taken his own chapter on the future of manufacturing more seriously. For he had said, speaking of the possibility of a "manufacturing aristocracy," "If ever a permanent inequality of condi- tion and aristocracy again penetrate into the world, it may be predicted that this is the gate by which they will enter." Twenty years ago the cleavage of opinion in the United States could be summarized as follows: Radicals with their eyes on Europe declared, "Strati- fication has come to America to stay ; the class struggle must be the basis for all our actions." The conservatives with their eyes likewise directed across the Atlantic, chiefly on England of the eighteenth century said, "Thank God we are on the road to being preserved from the leveling deg- radation of a democracy such as de Tocqueville saw and to some degree ad- mired." And they would quote from him to show that only in an aristocracy could learning and culture flourish. An aristocratic society at its best was the finest flower of civilization. Did not the author of Democracy in America himself say that, "almost all the nations which have exercised a powerful influence upon the destinies of the world have been governed by aristocratic institutions." Let's get on with the task of perfecting the American version of aristocracy while the stock market still soars ! Many a sincere young man of the 1920's so argued — perhaps some here among you may recall those far distant days ! A depression, a global war, and the final realization of the revolutionary nature of the Lenin-Stalin interpretation of Marx and Engels have brought us into a United States as diflferent from the mid-'twenties as from Andrew Jackson's day. Our problems are now global. We must lead the world or perish as a free nation. Few among you would probably contradict this statement though there are still powerful voices in America who say that all who echo such sentiments are in the pay of the British Foreign OflRce ! But whether we like it or not, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have for military purposes been narrowed to a stream. Whether we like it or not, a boom followed by a depression and an all-out war have brought sweeping changes in the climate of opinion ; both major political parties sponsor meas- 68 American Association of School Administrators ures for social welfare which were considered dangerously radical thirty years ago. In the educational field the principle of equality is taken for granted now — that is, as a principle. Quite properly it is interpreted to mean equality of opportunity, for any other type of equality in matters intellectual is im- possible to achieve even by the most skilful of teachers. I think an impartial historian will find that as regards education, at least, the period 1930-1950 marked a great resurgence of the American concept of democracy portrayed by the French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville, so long ago. I have spoken of the interpretation or analysis of the principle of equality. Admittedly a lot of nonsense has been spoken on this subject because of a failure to use words accurately and spell out what was in fact implied. In the first place, let me demolish the arguments of those who say the phrase has no real content. The way to do this is to start talking in what we now call operational terms. This is a new jargon but no invention. De Tocqueville knew perfectly well what he was talking about when he said, "Aristocratic institutions cannot subsist without laying down the inequality of men as a fundamental principle, legalizing it beforehand, and introducing it into the family as well as into society. . . ." Equal or unequal in what respects is, of course, the relevant question. That men are born different is a biologic fact — is that inequality or not? Children are unequal in a variety of skills — physical, mental, social, artistic. Is that something that could have been avoided? If so, would society have been better if the necessary steps were taken? If some of you were inclined to think that my excursion into intellec- tual history this morning was a long way from the subject of education, I trust those questions will assure you that I am at long last beginning to frame a target of interest to this group. Let me start my analysis by a consideration of political equality. Political equality or lack of it is something relatively easy to ascertain. A hundred years ago realization of equality of suffrage for all economic groups was a goal — that was one of the consequences of the principle de Tocqueville had in mind. We have gone a long way toward the goal of equality in political rights, but our failure to reach the goal for certain groups of citizens in certain states is a matter of violent political discussion at the very moment. At all events, it is easy to carry out an operation to determine in which cities and towns political equality, irrespective of color or creed, does and does not exist. We leave the field of politics and come to economics. Economic equality was never part of the American concept — at least not as I read the record. In Democracy in Jmerica, the author states that "America exhibits in her social state an extraordinary phenomenon. Men are there seen on a greater equality in point of fortune and intellect, or in other M^ords, more equal in their strength, than in any other country of the world, or in any age of which history has preserved the remembrance. . . , The last trace of hereditary ranks and distinction is destroyed." Yet he goes on to say: "I do not mean that there is any lack of wealthy individuals in the United States; I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on St. Louis Convention 69 the affections of men, and where a profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property. But wealth circulates with inconceivable rapidity, and experience shows that it is rare to find two succeeding generations in the full enjoyment of it." The emphasis should be on the word "circulate" in this quotation. Even so, has this statement any relation to the realities of the industrial America of our day? It was on this and related questions that the reformers of a generation ago divided. Those who answered in the negative in essence dis- carded the possibility of a uniquely American development of the principle of equality; they became in essence European radicals. I hardly need point out that even today there is a large measure of disagreement among the people of the United States on ways and means of achieving what is often referred to as "industrial democracy." I note the vast problems here — the problems inherent in a civilization that is heavily industrialized, and a nation that must be free. I note these problems and pass on to the field of education. Here we are on firmer ground, or should I change the metaphor and say calmer seas. For the educational implications of the principle of equality have been accepted by a majority of the American people throughout their history. The one exception, of course, as with political equality, was before 1860, Negro slavery; since then the problems bequeathed to posterity by the existence of that institution have continued to disturb us. However, in spite of the disquieting influence of social prejudice in many sections, the idea of equality of opportunity for all children irrespective of race, color, creed, or economic status of the parents has been widely accepted. Not only accepted but implemented by concrete action. You ladies and gentlemen are the leaders among those who have worked so well and faithfully to make this part of the American dream a reality. It is unnecessary for me to speak further on the theme of the American public school as the embodiment of the principle of equality to this audience! I say the educational implication of the principle has been widely accepted in this century in the United States. There have been dissenters, however, and there still are. I should like to conclude this address by examining some of the arguments of those who question the premise of equality of educa- tional opportunity. I am going to center my attention on the old heredity- environment controversy — the argument about nature and nurture. In so doing I shall be considering the impact of the development of the science of biology on the principle of equality. Time will not permit me to consider the equally important subject, the impact of sociology and anthropology on the same principle. Perhaps that is just as well, as I have said my say on that phase of the matter on more than one occasion. But lest my position be misunderstood today because of my emphasis on American history on the one hand and biolog>' on the other, I venture to insert a few words at this point about the relation of the social sciences to educational practice. If we believe in the principle of equality as it has traditionally been accepted by Americans, we must seek educational opportunity in a society of wide diversity and large economic differences; we must nevertheless strengthen those habits and customs which minimize social and economic differentiation. 70 American Association of School Administrators Our school problems need to be placed in the sociological framework of the particular community which each school serves. This requires speaking frankly of the stratified nature of our society. To my mind, there is no inconsistency in combining a dissection of the social order with an advocacy of policies which are aimed at making the stratification less visible and the entire situation far more fluid. In short, an educational philosophy must be part and parcel of a comprehensive social philosophy ; and the educator must use the methods and the concepts of modern social science which are but neutral tools to achieve his goals. With this parenthetical bow, so to speak, to sociology and anthropology, let me speak briefly about the oscillation of the pendulum in biology on this matter of environment versus heredity. Of course, those who already are emotionally committed to the educational implications of the American ver- sion of the principle of equality are always tempted to emphasize the signifi- cance of the environment. Indeed, we can say that the teaching profession as such is almost automatically biased in favor of the relative importance of learned responses as compared with inborn behavior patterns. Those who are aristocrats by temperament on the other hand eagerly seize on any evidence showing the importance of heredity. I suppose no one in this audience has failed to observe many cases where conversation about a supposedly scientific controversy — heredity versus environment — has betrayed at once the biases of the speakers. But before pursuing this question of the relation of the find- ings of the biologists to the philosophic premises of citizens or the practical work of educators, let me remind you of the scientific history in this area in the last fifty years. At the turn of the century, the importance of inheritance in determining the behavior of children and adults was freely granted. But about thirty years ago "the pendulum of theory in psychology made a violent and at that time most necessary swing away from a belief that inheritance was a mys- terious force alone determining many adult mental characters." I am quoting the words of a distinguished psychologist written in 1947 who then went on to say, "But now it seems almost certain, as is so often the case, this pendu- lum of theory had swung too far." He then quoted one of the leaders in the anti-instinct movement who in 1930 declared, "There is no such thing as inheritance of capacity, talent, temperament, mental conditions and char- acteristics." Against this flat statement of scarce twenty years ago, the presentday speaker must debate the evidence of current investigations which show how mistaken the assertion was. He concludes that probably "human nature is nine-tenths inborn." Such a statement taken out of context (and such statements always are) is a priceless boon to the opponents of the principle of equality. The believers in the principle had for twenty-five years been bolstering their faith with arguments from the extreme position of the anti-instinct psychologist. Now anyone who reads the current litera- ture of psychology and human biology is more likely to find apparent com- fort for the proponents of a hereditary aristocracy. Note, I said apparent, for my story can be summed up in the words, "when you start using ex- perimental evidence in philosophic arguments, watch your step!" St. Louis Convention 71 It is all very well for an academic and hij^hly judicious psycholop;ist, who summed up a recent symposium on heredity versus environment, to point with pride to the rapid change in theory in psychology'. He says: "It will come as a surprise to many psychologists that all five of the contributors to tliis symposium have emphasized the role of heredity. . . . Twenty-five years ago, the situation was quite different." Oscillations of a pendulum are fine for the advancement of science, but they may tend to make the observer a bit dizzy. Worse than this, if one attempts to tie practice to current theory, or as is far more usual, find arguments for practice from the arsenal of scientific theory, how much trouble is in store! But no more than is the just desert of all who fail to mark the lines that separate social philosophy from science; all who weave their arguments back and forth across this line do so at their peril ! Are the relative ratios of heredity and environment 9 to 1 or 1 to 9, or like good administrators shall we all here this morning compromise and call it 50-50? How does the decision affect our views about the kind of society we want in the United States, or what we should do as educators? At this point I think we would do well to turn back to William James's lectures on pragmatism of forty-two years ago. Or if you insist on being up to date, let us use the operational method of arguing which is derived from the same great philosophic source. Let us ask some hard-boiled ques- tions. What does it mean in terms of anything human beings can do about other human beings to say that heredity is responsible for 90 percent of behavior? I ask you to ponder on this question; turn it over carefully. If you do so, I believe you will find it extremely difficult if not impossible to formulate an answer. Substitute 10 percent for 90 percent and the effect remains the same. Part of the trouble lies in the word heredity which has popular overtones which make it fine for use in arguments about rival social philosophies, but unsuitable for operational analysis. Let us substitute "genetically determined factors" for the word "heredity"; let us substitute the phrase "an inbred strain of animals" or "inbred strains" for the "other human beings." Then we have the basis for an experimental program pro- vided we insert some words as to a certain "factor Y." The rephrased gen- eral question then is : What does it mean in terms of anything human beings can do about inbred strains of animals to say that genetically determined factors are responsible for 90 percent of the Y factor in behavior? This is a meaningful question. Asking such questions has led to many significant experiments. These experiments or their equivalent have been largely respon- sible for the swing of the pendulum to which I have referred — these and the work on twins. But please notice the substitutions I have made. Note the narrowing of the scope of the question by the insertion of the words "Y factor," and note that human beings are an inbred strain of animals. To use the words of the biologists, they are "homozygous" species of ani- mals. In short, none of us is genetically homogeneous but, on the contrary, we are in terms of genes a most heterogeneous bit of protoplasm ! As you have already suspected, I trust, I am trying to undermine your faith in arguments about practical human affairs based on loose reasoning 72 American Association of School Administrators which appears to be scientific. In fact, when anybody attempts to prove something to me as "scientific," I automatically put my hand on my watch. [Laughter] I do not believe there is a bit of scientific evidence that has ever been available which has relevance for the arguments between the proponents and the opponents of the principle of equality. Both sides have been and still are equally guilty of the modern form of dogmatism claiming to be scientific. With a few exceptions dealing with such obvious matters as real feeble- mindedness or certain physical characteristics, I doubt if the findings of genetics are as yet of much practical importance to those engaged in edu- cation. To be sure, the work on identical twins of the last twenty years has had surprising results from the point of view of those who had supposed that the environment was 100 percent determining. But suppose at some future date similar work and experiments with animals made it extremely likely that certain specific skills of high value to the American people were fixed in behavior patterns of the child at birth. Let us take as an example something of high practical value in our civilization, the ability to knock a home run with the bases full. What could we do about the situation? Being a heterozygcus group of animals it would be difficult if not impossible to predict this inborn pattern from any examination of the behavior pat- terns of the parents alone, and suitable intimate data for the grandparents and great grandparents would hardly be available. Therefore, one could hardly at birth decide whether or not for a given child professional baseball would be the best outlet for his talents. And before you can talk of breeding a race of baseball players, you would have to imagine a process of inbreeding quite contrary to social custom and extending over many generations, say at least three hundred years! Heredity means one thing to most of us when we are speaking generally, something very different to a geneticist speaking as a scientist. But how easy it is to let the two meanings fuse and overlap ! But let's leave the question of heredity as concerned with predicting something about offspring from a knowledge of the ancestors, and talk briefly about genetically determined factors versus environment. How practical is it to determine such factors in a newborn babe? One can imagine that some series of elaborate tests of a combined physi- ological and psychological nature could reveal to the trained observer of the newborn child the potential skills in the genetically determined behavior pattern. This would be of great importance to the educator, no doubt. One could then determine practically to what extent similar patterns in many individuals were modified by various types of training. In limited areas, the nature-nurture controversy might gradually acquire real meaning in edu- cational terms. But this is only pushing back to an early age exactly what we are trying to do today by means of tests of aptitudes. In short, the general- ized statement of the alleged nature-nurture controversy becomes on critical analysis nothing but a discussion of ways and means of determining aptitudes and developing them by appropriate education. The relevance to the debate between proponents of a hereditary aristocracy and a democracy has dis- St. Louis Convention 73 appeared! Genetics and psychology, however the pendulum of theory swings, can never provide solid ground for those who defend or attack the de Tocqueville eloquence concerning the principle of equality. Thus we are forced hack to those general but vague considerations which are the province of philosophy, not science. After a hundred years we find the principle of equality still debated in terms not different from those de Tocqueville used. It has survived the impact of industrialism though not without a difficult struggle, it has survived the rival ideologies of Karl Marx and Engels, and we find a consistent growth in the political and educational field. Even the extraordinary achievements of modern science, on careful analysis, are revealed as proving nothing one way or the other about the principle of equality as a guiding doctrine for the American people. Speaking in the coolest neutral terms, we can say that the principle has had a high survival value among the people of this country for a hundred years. It appears to work well in at least two areas ; rival doctrines of the right and left have failed to win any large number of adherents. Therefore, for many of us the principle still continues to be an article of faith as it was for the Americans of the first years of this republic — not blind faith, but a con- viction based on the examination of the rational consequences of the doctrine. We believe in it; we work to support it; we believe that it is a germinal principle, the potentialities of which are by no means yet exhausted. Perhaps it all comes down to something as simple as this. "We live in a democracy, whether you like it or not, and we educators like it and are bound to make it work I" Furthermore, we are permitted to do our part to make it work. [Applause] MISSOURI HOSPITALITY HOUR Monday Afternoon, February 28 Members and friends in attendance at the convention were entertained by the Missouri State Teachers Association and the Missouri Association of School Administrators at a Hospitality Hour in the Jefferson Hotel, Monday afternoon from four to six o'clock. Here old friendships were renewed and new ones formed. FOURTH GENERAL SESSION Monday Evening, February 28 VASHON HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR CHAIRMAN Simpson [Alfred D. Simpson, Professor of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts ; Second Vicepresident, American Association of School Administrators] : Members of the Associa- tion, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is my great pleasure at this time to intro- duce the Vashon High School Choir and the director, Ruth E. Greene. [For program of songs by the Choir, see page 212.] Chairman Simpson: As I listened to the choir, I couldn't help but think back over the years about these meetings and the wonderful music we have had and of the influence on our schools — probably not so much on many of our city schools, but certainly on the schools back in the country. INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS We have as platform guests tonight two groups of helpers and advisers of the American Association of School Administrators. I want to introduce them to you. In order that we separate not "the sheep from the goats" but so that we separate the two groups, I'm going to introduce one group first and ask the group to rise, and then the other. The first group is the Advisory Council of the American Association of School Administrators. Will the members of the Advisory Council please stand. [Applause] The Advisory Council is a good group, I can assure you. The only thing I have against this organization is that we have to get up very early to have breakfast with them, and that's against my bringing up. The next group is composed of the presidents of the state associations of school administrators. Will they please rise. [Applause] I am sure we appreciate having you here on the platform with us tonight. EDUCATION AND THE CONSERVATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES ALLISON DAVIS, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Address Delivered at San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia Chairman Simpson: This is the second stand of this particular show. We opened in San Francisco a week ago tonight and did an act there, and in a few weeks we'll be in Philadelphia, I couldn't give much of a preview of this program in San Francisco, because I had never heard it. I have now heard it, and I may be able to give you a little preview of the thing. This evening we are to hear two truly great Americans discuss some aspects of the problem of conservation from the educational angle, "Educa- [74] «^»iW:V fcUbtNL lAILUK, 51, UUi A section of the Monday evening audience at St. Louis tion and the Conservation of Human Resources" and "Education and the Conservation of Natural Resources" — the problems of humans and human life, or, as Herold Hunt would have me say, the flora and the fauna of American life. Resources, themselves, are static. They have to be tapped to be used. Conservation without the use of that which is conserved is of no value. Old Delight Ingles, so goes my family's story about a former neighbor of ours, went daily to the cellar in the fall to pick out potatoes for the day's meals. She alwa,vs picked out the specked ones in order to conserve the good ones until later in the winter. Each day there were new specked ones, and so, by this overprudent application, the Ingles family ate specked potatoes all winter. Delight belied her name. But this is not the note to be struck by our speakers tonight. They will tell us a vital, dynamic, and powerful story, the story of true conservation that can come only through education and use. We could not have anyone better qualified, better prepared in every way to talk to us on "Education and the Conservation of Human Resources" than Allison Davis. Allison Davis drew a little fire on the West Coast, and I wouldn't be surprised if he might draw a little more in this mid-country. It is my great pleasure to introduce to you Dr. Allison Davis, professor of education at the University of Chicago. Mr. Davis: The committee which is planning the 1950 White House Conference on Children has emphasized that one of the major wastes of the human resources of the United States is our failure to develop at all fully the potential mental ability of the 60 percent of our pupils who come from the lower socio-economic groups. Half the ability in this country goes down the drain, owing to (a) the failure of intelligence tests to measure [75] 76 American Association of School Administrators the real mental ability of the children from the lower socio-economic groups, and (b) the failure of the schools to recognize and train this ability. IMore than 60 percent of all children in this country are from families of working men. While a great part of the ability of these children will be lost to this nation, industry, business, and the armed services will be urgently needing more able people. This country cannot survive as the leading world power unless we learn how to discover, recruit, and train more of the brains in the lower-income groups. If we do not find more of the people with quick minds and native ability in the great reservoir of the lower-income groups in the United States (I am not talking of racial groups, but of income groups of all colors) we shall not be able to compete with the vast populations of western Europe and Asia. There is only one way to get the increasing number of highly skilled, white-collar, and administrative personnel we must have: If our society is to increase its strength, we need to recruit ability of all kinds from the lower socio-economic groups. When any nation stops this recruiting or slows it down through the failure to discover the able but poor children, and to develop their abilities, that nation starts to decline and die. There have been no exceptions to this rule in the history of modern nations. The same need that our society faces in respect to skilled workers, and which would become acute in another war, also exists in respect to white- collar workers, teachers, engineers, and executives. We have far from enough able people in any of these fields. To get them, we have to discover and train much more of the real ability which exists in the largest part of our population, namely the lower socio-economic group. To uncover this ability, we need an intelligence test which will identify real mental ability, or "mother wit," equally well for all socio-economic groups in our country. Recent research indicates that many slum children, who do poorly in school and on present intelligence tests, have higher real (or native) in- telligence than many individuals whose home training enables them to do well on school types of learning. Thus to measure real intelligence we need tests which will not be based primarily upon school training and school problems. The previous test-makers have felt that the quickest way to predict a person's chances for success in school or college was to test him with school- type problems — not with exactly the same problems which he had studied in school, but with problems very similar to school problems, and whose solution was greatly aided by school training. The result has been to make the tests useless for measuring real intelli- gence in the lower socio-economic groups. "Identical" twins have exactly the same hereditary (innate) intelligence. Yet on the present tests, as Pro- fessors Newman, Freeman, and Holzinger found at the University of Chicago some years ago, identical twins show a marked difference in their IQ's whenever one twin has been reared in a well-to-do home and his St. Louis Convention 77 identical twin has been reared in a working family. The tests always define the particular twin reared in the lower socio-economic group as "less intel- ligent." Hut in fact, their innate (hereditary) intelligence is exactly the same, we know! Thus the best scientific test has made it clear that the differences in schooling and social environment between the middle and lower socio- economic groups account for the difiference between their average IQ's on the present tests. Because these present tests are limited to school-type problems, they fail to tap many important kinds of mental ability. The present tests assume, in fact, a static American society, and a static school curriculum. They predict only those mental abilities which are necessary for success in the present narrow kinds of school subjects. The present types of intelligence tests have been geared to ("validated" with respect to) a school curriculum whose basic activities were set up many generations ago, a curriculum which is recognized by educators to be over- academic, trite, and virtually static. Modern civilization, however, by its very nature requires the constant development of abilities and types of skills far broader than those emphasized in any school. Our society is changing rapidly; we do not know, therefore, what kinds of mental skills may be required of the average American a decade ahead. The Army, for instance, had to demand a quite new pattern of abilities and skills of its infantry and "cavalry" during the last war. The public school, therefore, in a country which, like ours requires in- creasing productiveness, must aim to discover many kinds of talent in its pupils and to develop these different abilities by training. To aid in the search for a fair and broader test of intelligence, a group at the University of Chicago, under my chairmanship and with the advice of Dr. Ralph W. Tyler, dean of the Division of the Social Sciences, uni- versity- examiner, and formerly chief examiner. Armed Services Institute, have been carefully studying for the last five years the present intelligence tests, problem by problem. They have also experimented with pupils from the highest socio-economic levels, and with pupils from the lowest socio- economic groups, in order to learn how to measure real intelligence, apart from training. The results d.TC dramatic in many cases. First, Avith the help of Dr. Kenneth Eells, we studied ten of the most popular "group tests of intelligence." We found that in every one of these ten, which included the intelligence tests most widely used in public schools, a large proportion of the problems were answered correctly more often by pupils from the higher socio-economic groups than by those from the lowest income groups. On seven of the ten tests, more than 70 percent of the prob- lems showed the upper socio-economic group "superior." On four of the ten tests the higher socio-economic groups did better on 90 percent of the problems! Not one of these tests, moreover, included any problem on which the lower socio-economic group came out superior to the higher socio- economic group. This socio-economic bias in present intelligence tests may be illustrated by one problem which required the student to know the term "sonata" — a 78 American Association of School Administrators word which clearly will be heard more frequently in homes of the higher socio-economic groups. On this problem, 78 percent of the higher socio- economic group got the correct answer, but only 28 percent of the lower socio-economic group answered correctly ! Soon we began to experiment with various methods of removing this cultural bias from the present kinds of test questions. Our aim was to use only such words, grammatical constructions, and situations as were about equally common in the environments of all socio-economic groups. For, scientific standards require that, if we wish to measure real, native intelli- gence, it is absolutely essential that the environmental element (i.e., the training obtained by the child in the home or school on such problems) should be about the same for all socio-economic groups. That is to say, one must find problems on which all individuals taking the test have had ap- proximately the same amount of training and experience. Otherwise, one cannot measure real intelligence. First, with the advice and help of Professor Ernest A. Haggard, we ex- perimented by using quite familiar words and situations, while keeping the basic mental activity the same as in the original test problem. We worked on the main types of problems used in the present tests. These types are: Analogies, such as "Finger is to hand as toe is to what?" Opposite s, such as "What is the opposite of intelligent?" Similarities, such as "What word does not belong with the other? avocado — pomegranate — persimmon — broccoli" Then we expressed these same types of mental problems in more familiar words and experiences. In many cases, a startling increase in the intelligence rating of the lower socio-economic group resulted. One of the two most difficult types of verbal problems for the lower socio-economic group, on the present tests, had been analogies. We took a problem like this: A symphony is to a composer as a book is to what? ( ) paper ( ) sculptor ( ) author ( ) Jtiusician ( ) man and made it, A baker goes with bread, the same way that a carpenter goes with what? ( ) a saw ( ) a house ( ) a spoon ( ) a nail ( ) a man We then gave both socio-economic groups practice on similar problems, and offered a movie ticket for good work on both the old and the new prob- lems. Both groups had the same practice and the same promise of a reward. We actually found that our new problem, using fair and simple words, like "baker," "spoon," "nail," etc., was a tougher intellectual problem for both the high and the low socio-economic groups. Our problem was much more difficult for both groups, and therefore a better test of ability. In addition, we also found that there was no difference in the percent of the upper and lower socio-economic groups who answered our problem correctly. On the present-test problem, about "symphony," "composer," etc., 81 percent of the upper socio-economic group answered correctly, while only 52 percent of the lower group were correct. St. Louis Convention 79 We were able to remove the socio-economic bias in this type of problem, for 50 percent of each group answered our problem correctly. We found this same kind of improvement in the lower socio-economic group, whether we experimented with young children, or with those of high-school age; whether we tested white slum children, colored slum children, or foreign-background groups. The cultural bias in the present tests works in the same way for all colors, nationality groups, and ages. The hardest kind of intelligence-test problem has been the syllogism, such as : A is shorter than B B is shorter than C. Therefore what is correct? ( ) B is taller than C ( ) A is as tall as B or C ( ) A is shorter than C. The last choice, of course, is correct. We changed this type of problem, and gave the same practice and reward to both socio-economic levels on both problems. Our new problem read : Jim can hit harder than Bill. Bill can hit harder than Ted, so which is true? ( ) Ted can hit harder than Bill ( ) Bill can hit as hard as Jim and Ted ( ) Jim can hit harder than Ted. Of course, the last choice is correct. On the type of syllogism in the present tests, 67 percent of the higher socio-economic group but only 45 percent of the lower group got the cor- rect answer. On our problem, there was no significant difference between the percents correct in the two socio-economic groups. Yet we kept the basic mental problem in our version exactly the same as in the "standard" tests. To clinch our case — now that we knew how to remove the cultural bias from the present-test problems — we checked our work by seeing whether we could deliberately make a problem much harder for the lower socio- economic group — whether, that is, we could "prove" that the lower socio- economic group was "inferior" in intelligence. So we took a problem like this from the present tests: A person who by mistake hits another person should ( ) say he did not ( ) forget it ( ) say nolhitti/ ( ) leave ( ) beg pardon. To make this problem unfair to the lower socio-economic group by intro- ducing a verbal and cultural bias, Davis and Haggard made it read: A child who unintentionally injures another child should — ( ) deny it ( ) make amends ( ) flee ( ) be reticent ( ) ignore it. By thus using unfamiliar "literary" language, and making reading as well as vocabulary very important in the solution of our problem, we dis- criminated very severely against the lower socio-economic group. On the 80 American Association of School Administrators answers to the first problem, there was a difference between the two socio- economic groups of only 12 percent points. On the problem which we experimentally made less familiar to the lower socio-economic group, they came out 32 percent points below the upper socio-economic group. Yet the basic mental problem, apart from the language used, was the same in both questions. The difference between them was merely a verbal one, that between familiar Anglo-Saxon words, and fancy, "literary" words. Thus we demonstrated the familiar technic used by test-makers for making problems "harder," which is nothing more than a technic of re- sorting to obscure words and situations in order to get problems which will "weed out" a great many of the individuals "tested." But we now know that such test-problems employ an artifact to "weed out" the "smart" from the "dumb." They use chiefly those words, situations, pictures, and experiences which are much more familiar to individuals who have grown up in the middle and upper socio-economic groups. Thus the present tests measure the cultural and economic opportunities which the child or adult has had, not his real intelligence. We are not stopping with mere revisions of the types of problems in the present tests. Those types are too narrow; they do not cover enough of the basic mental abilities. For instance, the trick of recognizing oppos'ites or similarities is only one narrow aspect of intelligence. It can be learned by an average six- or seven-year-old in ten minutes, with a few examples. Yet the present tests give great weight to these two types. Therefore we cannot predict a person's total ability to solve real-life problems from these academic tests. Therefore, last year Mr. Robert D. Hess and I made a new kind of test of mental ability. The problems were taken from life experiences which are equally common in all groups in our population. We have tried this test in Chicago, and have found that the average native intelligence of all socio-economic groups of children is the same. On these problems, the children, aged six to eight, of unskilled and semi- skilled laborers have an average attainment equal to that of the children of professional groups. We find differences between individuals, but no differences between socio-economic groups. This new test measures reasoning, memory, observation, critical objec- tivity, and creativeness. It includes syllogisms, problems of logical classifica- tion, inductive reasoning, arithmetical reasoning, and problems of imagina- tive insight. We now know, therefore, that the superiority that is claimed for children of the higher socio-economic group by the older tests holds merely for the narrow problems of the present curriculum. The Chicago research has found that the "smartness" of children of the higher-income groups dis- appears as soon as the test-problems are not cut to the same mould as that used in school training. Even the simplest intellectual problems are failed by 90 percent of these children, when such problems have not been taught in school or home. More than 90 percent of seven-year-olds with high IQ's, from pro- St. Louis Convention 81 fessional and hifjh business families, failed this problem : A boy paid 6 cents for two pieces of candy together. One piece cost 5 times as much as the other piece. How much did each piece cost? Nearly 100 percent of ten-year-old children with high IQ's, from pro- fessional and high business families, failed this problem: Ten children were playing a game. There were four more boys than girls. How many boys were there? These children were "superior" on the kinds of arithmetic problems tlicy have been taught to solve in school, but helpless to reason out new types. Just as wc have been taught by our narrow academic culture to stereotype our intelligence-test problems, so also we have been led by scholastic culture to overrate reading as a means of developing mental processes. Reading is made the chief goal of the child's mental training in the first school years. Upon this basis he is usually segregated into one of the classroom's or the school's so-called homogeneous "ability groups." Through his early class- room experiences in learning to read, and through the accompanying prestige or stigma he meets in the classroom, the child's basic concept of his own mental adequacy is learned. Does reading deserve this high place in the first three or four years of schooling? My observations and interviews in nearly five hundred class- rooms in California, Illinois, and Michigan during the last four vears lead me to doubt that reading helps the young child learn to solve the more basic types of mental problems. In our schools, reading consists chiefly of learning to recognize written symbols, to pronounce them, and to para- phrase them. These trainings are carried on in the classroom day in and day out, year after year, and receive greatest emphasis from the teacher. Yet it seems clear to me that they stimulate only a very narrow range of thought-processes. AVe have only to look at the books used in the first three or four grades to recognize that the experiences symbolized are far more simple than those which the child has already met in his daily life. In the first grade, he learns to read "I see the boy" long after he has learned to speak and to think in complex-compound sentences, or to outwit his father or mother in family arguments, or to solve some problems in intelligence tests which his parents cannot solve! The same child who has to spend months learning to recognize those types of verbal symbols which give children most trouble — the symbols for abstract experiences, pronouns, and verbal auxiliaries — has already been speaking and understanding these same words in conversation for years! Now it is well and necessary for a six-year-old to learn to read the written symbols, "I see a cat" or "Mary went to Grandmother's house." He must learn to recognize the written symbols sooner or later. But scientists and teachers must not therefore conclude that this task should be the prime endeavor of his first years in school. He is in school primarily to learn how to think, to develop his reason, his insight, his invention, his imagination. The academic function of the school is to help the child learn how to solve a wide range of mental problems. Of how much value is reading in 82 American Association of School Administrators helping the ^-oung child learn to solve mental problems? In the simple stories which he reads and paraphrases, all the problems except those of vocabulary, word recognition, and syntax are solved for him by the writer. He learns a new and important concept only once in a blue moon from his primer; even then, he learns it chiefly by memory and by simple asso- ciation. In other words, there is little chance for the child to learn to recog- nize, to define, and to analyze problems in any exploratory or empirical way in reading; in his primer, he simply learns to decode someone's thoughts about a cat, or a grandmother, or a circus, or a trip to the country. One must recognize, therefore, that the experiences symbolized in the child's books usually do not interest him. The stories seem foolish to lower- class children because the experiences appear unreal, the words strange. To the middle-class child, the drive of seeking his parents' and teacher's approval is usually strong enough to keep him trying, but not strong enough to make him like reading. Since the stories are written chiefly to teach certain words, and are organized, therefore, around the repetition of these words, they make little sense as a view of reality to the middle-class child, either. Thus reading fails to give pupils any great skill in solving problems (a) because it limits its problems largely to purely verbal ones, and (b) because the materials now used in reading are felt by the pupil to have little im- portance in his life outside the school. As a result of our research on intel- ligence, we are convinced that reading teaches too little skill in problem solving (either of a rational, empirical, or inventive kind) to justify the first place it holds in the curriculum. Learning the skill of decoding written communication is important, but not so important for the development of mental ability as the pupil's analysis of his own experience, and his drawing of correct inferences from this analysis. How often does one observe cur- riculum activities which guide this kind of learning? The likelihood that the school will be able to discover units of discussion and study which will develop a wider range of mental problem-solving activities in pupils is greatly reduced, furthermore, by the practice of so- called homogeneous grouping. Nearly all such segregation of pupils into "fast" and "slow" groups is based upon their reading scores or intelligence- test scores. These scores in turn, as well as ratings by teachers, are strongly influenced by the socio-economic bias in the tests and in the fossilized cur- riculum. The result of this circular process of evaluating mental ability and achievement is that homogeneous grouping strengthens the socio-eco- nomic discrimination within the school, and maintains the narrow academic stereotyping of the curriculum. Homogeneous grouping really sets up different social and cultural groups within the school, and thus establishes different learning environments. Most middle socio-economic pupils are placed in the "faster" groups, while most lower socio-economic pupils are placed in the "slower" groups. Because selection of pupils is based upon reading scores and/or intelligence-test scores, many other abilities and problem-solving activities are not considered. The result is that most of the middle socio-economic group and most of the lower socio-economic group lose something. Segregated from each other. St. Louis Convention 83 unable therefore either to stimulate or to imitate each other, each group fails to learn well those problem-solving^ activities and insijj;hts in which the other group excels. Both groups lose more than they gain. Under no circumstances should teachers' ratings of the relative "success" of these two methods of grouping be accepted as of any use in measuring the results. Most teachers prefer homogeneous grouping, because by rota- tion of classes each teacher receives a chance to teach a "fast" and "suc- cessful" group. All our findings point to the same conclusion: The greatest need of education is for intensive research to discover the best curriculums for de- veloping children's basic mental activities; such activities, that is, as the analysis and organization of observed experiences, the drawing of inferences, the development of inventiveness. The present curriculums are stereotyped and arbitrary selections from a narrow area of middle-class culture. Aca- demic culture is one of the most conservative and ritualized aspects of human culture. Its formalization, its lack of functional connection with the daily problems of life, has given a bloodless, fossilized character to the class- room which all of us recognize. For over a generation, no basically new types of mental problems have been added to intelligence tests. For untold generations, we have been unable to think of anything to put into the cur- riculum which will be more helpful in building the basic mental development of young children than vocabulary-building, reading, spelling, and routine arithmetical memorizing. Even as we hear this, many of us will think it absurd to suppose that reading and arithmetic are not the best activities for teaching children to solve mental problems. Let us ask ourselves this simple question, however. What proportion of the basic mental problems met by children (and by adults for that matter) in their daily life can be solved by having a large standard vocabulary, or skill in reading, or skill in arithmetical processes? Do these trainings teach a human being correct habits of making inferences or of gaining insight about most of the difficult mental problems which he faces? Does one observe in more than one out of twenty public-school classrooms any activities which help children to learn how to reason, to analyze, to invent; or does one observe instead activities of memorizing, of learning symbols, of reading or listening to predigested solutions by other people, and of paraphrasing ("telling the meaning") of other people's words? Most observers would find the latter. A modern nation either continues to grow or begins slowly to decline. A nation begins to die at the brain, when it wastes or fails to develop the ability and skills of its masses. We need all the able people we can find. To find them, we must have a way to measure their real, innate intelligence, no matter how poor their environment has been. They have to be discovered in childhood, in their first years in school. That is why new tests of real, native intelligence are essential. A democracy is a place where ability is discovered and recruited in all groups, and given a fair chance to go to the top, for the benefit of the nation — of this nation, which is the last best hope of man. [Applause] 84 American Association of School Administrators EDUCATION AND THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES WILLARD E. GOSLIN, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PASADENA, CALI- FORNIA; PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS Address Delivered at San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia Chairman Simpson : Now, turning from the human side to the side of natural resources, we are going to hear from our own President of this Association, who feels this problem very, very deeply, and I'm sure he is going to make 3^ou feel it. He is going to talk to us on "Education and the Conservation of Natural Resources." Nobody needs to introduce this speaker to you people — a group of super- intendents of schools, and particularly in St. Louis — but I am going to introduce to you, however, the President of the American Association of School Administrators, the superintendent of schools at Pasadena, Cali- fornia, Willard Goslin. President Goslin : At the outset, I want to express my keen apprecia- tion to Allison Davis for carrying this program with me — last week in San Francisco, here tonight, and a month later in Philadelphia. Somehow or other in America, if we can find ways to conserve and use best the human resources of this nation, and to save and rebuild enough of the raw materials of America so that they will have something to work for, we will be all right. I would like to try to deal as vigorously as I can with the problem of natural resources and their relationship to the welfare of the people. I want to remind us, as members of the human race, as citizens of America, that if we could somehow or other — here, tonight — resolve all of the tensions that are abroad in the world ; if, in some way or other, we could dissolve the conflict between the great ideologies of the world ; if we could come within the limits of our own nation to wipe out the differ- ences between groups and interests in America ; in other words, if we could alleviate the stress and strain of the problems which confront mankind at the social and political levels, I submit that, as of tonight, we would still stand on the brink of disaster when we take the long view at the road we are traveling in America and around the world. I would like to remind us that in a little more than three centuries now, the earth's population has been multiplied five times. It has been doubled, approximately, within the last one hundred years. I submit to you that we are caught up, here in America and elsewhere, in the urge for reproduction, underwritten by ignorance and certain cultural mores of the world, which is leading us steadily to an unbridled increase in the population of this earth, including our own nation. All of which says that we are, steadily, day by day, year by year, increas- ing the number of hungry, gnawing stomachs that have got to crawl on the good earth for their nourishment. And at the same time, during the last century, particularly while we have doubled the population of the earth and more than doubled the population St. Louis Convention 85 of this nation, we have exploited and destroyed and cleaned the good earth's capacity to nourish us — more during that century than during all recorded history before that time. I wish you would come and go around the world with me tonight, and let me show you the great areas of Asia, where, during the history of man, the fields were covered by fertile topsoil and there was enough of the earth's growth in terms of grasses and for- est to hold moisture resources, where now the hillsides are barren, where the streams are dry excepting at flood time, and where the people live in poverty-stricken conditions, and where poverty and starvation is the way that the populations kept in balance with the capacity of the earth just to produce an opportunity to eke out a living. If that matches anyone's concept of the dignity of man as we have thought of it in the framework of freedom and democ- racy and the ethics of this part of the world, then I fail to under- stand it. Yet you can go and look where the great population centers of the world live, and find that most of the people are living but one step away from starvation. We can even call attention to the fact that in one great nation of this world, one of the relief agencies, in recent years, has doled out little parcels of rice small enough so that the people, if they died, would die close to the relief bases so it would be easy to pick them up the next morning or the next week. Yet we, here in America, in the last few years, have led ourselves to feel that maybe we could feed the world. I would like to remind us that we haven't even tried to feed the world, and it would be suicide if we did. At best, we picked out a few little spots of mankind here and there and sent them a little of our surplus along the line. If there is any answer to the problem which lies ahead of us, it lies in two directions. One is in the final stability of the earth's population, but the particular interest which I would like to develop tonight lies in the MOULIN STUDIOS, SAN FRANCISCO President JFillard E. Goslin 86 American Association of School Administrators direction of conserving and rebuilding the good earth's capacity to support those already with us. Now, we may argue in America that we have plenty, that we have a relatively thin population, that the soil is rich, the moisture is adequate, and that we have a lot of other things that add up to a good life. I'd like to remind you of the road we have traveled in America in the last hundred years. I'd like to do it by taking you on two quick walks across this country, one about a hundred years ago when the white man began to come in, in any appreciable numbers, and again tonight. A hundred years ago the white man began to pour in ofi the Atlantic; he found a reasonably fertile Atlantic coastal plain, fertile enough to grow his foodstuffs and have enough left over to send some back to the old country to start a balance of trade. When he moved over the Appalachians, he found there a magnificent stand of hardwood. When he dug into the hills of Pennsylvania, he found coal and oil waiting for him to start the Machine Age. Pushing still further inland, he went on to the great Midwestern area, the bread basket of the United States — the valleys of the Ohio, the Missis- sippi, the Missouri, and their tributaries, where we are meeting tonight, and where most of us live — and there he found a most remarkable expanse of land, well warmed and well watered, better than that he had ever found any place on the face of the earth. Then he came further west, to the Great Plains of the country, where conditions were good for growing grass — short grass, if you please, a little bunch of grass on top of the ground and a good root system under the ground. It was the root system that was important to America. Then he threaded his way to the Great Rockies, and through them to the Pacific coast, where he found great stands of timber on the hillsides, and where the land was so fertile that it would grow anything, with water on it. He took a couple of side trips on his way west. He took one through Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and found remarkable stands of Norway white pine. And one day when he was digging on the Mesabi Range, he found the great ore pocket out of which we have grown great as a nation, through our steel industry, and fought two great w^ars. Then he took a side trip to the Southland, and he found there the amaz- ingly fertile hillsides of what came to be known later as the cotton patch of America. I haven't said anything about the wild life, the rivers, the lakes, oil wells, and the other things that made up America — but that is a thumbnail sketch of what the white man began to take over in this country about a hundred years ago. I wish you would take the same walk with me tonight; I don't think you'd like it so well. I know the young people in America don't because they don't have anything like as good a chance for a decent standard of living as they had when you and I were their age. It is untight, unfair, and I submit that when somebody writes the history of this nation — the rape St. Louis Convention 87 of the raw materials of the North American continent by about three j^enera- tions of white men — it will go down in history as one of the great immorali- ties of all time. Somehow or other, this nation has to wake up. No generation has a right to use up its resources. The only thing that a generation has a right to use is the interest on its resources that are at their disposal. They have to turn over a bank account to the next generation equal to the one they inherited, or there is no future ahead of a great people. For one hundred years we have tried to see how fast we could race through the topsoil, the trees, the moisture, and the other resources that make up America. The Atlantic coastal plain has been denuded of fertility in great areas and abandoned outright and allowed to grow up to scrub timber. The Appalachian plateau has been so denuded of its trees that now the flood waters run the people out of the valleys spring after spring after spring. I know half the cowpaths in ten or a dozen of the great food-producing states that are in this immediate vicinity of America. I can take you again to thousands and tens of thousands of acres that have grown their last crop in my lifetime and yours, and generations to come after. I have lived a little more than half a lifetime, and yet I lived long enough ago that I could ride the plains of America day after day and hardly see an acre that had been plowed. Now I can scarcely find one that hasn't been plowed. And you remember ten years ago, when they battened down the doors and windows all the way back to the Atlantic coast in order to keep the dust of Kansas and the Dakotas out of their living rooms. They'll batten them down again, because the dust will blow again: there's no way to escape it, because of the way we have farmed in this country, and the lack of protection we have given the topsoil of America. Come with me and look at the forest regions of the Pacific coast, where we don't even take the trouble to cut the trees at the ground — ^we cut them off at the height where I am standing. The same thing happened in the state of Wisconsin, and the figures indicate that of the magnificent stand of timber that was there when the white man came, only one board foot in seven ever saw any use or purpose around America. And I can go on and on and on. This nation has developed a technological skill no people ever had at its disposal in all of civilization, and what has it used it for? For two reasons. One, to prolong life, which means that more foodstuffs had to be taken out of the good earth. What was the other use? We used it to multiply the rate at which we have used up the cotton, the trees, the oil, the moisture, in order to convert it into gadgets for your home and my home around America. We stand here and talk about trying to find an answer to some of the man-made problems, and at the same time, I repeat, we stand on the threshold of disaster for this nation and the remainder of the people around the world. We are trying our dead level best to see how quickly and how completely we can reduce America to a dust bin. 88 American Association of School Administrators I have heard predictions within the last two weeks that by the end of this century the population of the United States would reach at least 275,- 000,000 people. The pressure of the population is pushing us out into the desert to find a bucket of water. It is pushing us out into the cold tundras, any place where we can find enough heat to grow foodstuffs. What are our chances to succeed? Is it hopeless? It is at the rate we're going. Oh, you and I will shuffle off; we'll be able to live out our lifetime, in the main, but there will be more people of the next generation who will be hungry in America. There will be more children in America in the next generation who are like some of them in the South now, who have not had a decent diet on which to grow up to be the kind of a citizen that this nation demands if it is to carry the load that is on its shoulders. What have we done about it as school teachers in America? We have done next to nothing. We have got the notion that the business of education was to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. I have no particular objection to reading, writing, and arithmetic, but you can't save democracy with it, and neither can you feed the people of this nation or any place else. We must develop a program of education to come to grips with the problems that are gnawing away at the capacity of the men, women, and children of America and elsewhere in the world, to live a good life, or we lose the race. I submit that you can't legislate topsoil off the hillsides of America. I submit that you can't legislate moisture back into the ground when it is overrun in southern California. But I submit that there is one great, con- structive force at the disposal of mankind that he can always use to solve his problems whenever he wants to, and that is the force of education. We can educate a generation of American youth, from IVlanhattan out through the corn plains of Iowa, to the citrus groves of California, that, in the final analysis, what they have to eat, what they have to wear, what they have over their heads in the way of a roof, and what they have left over to run the institution with which you and I are connected would, in the final analysis, be produced by the labor in someone's hands as applied to the raw materials of America, in its topsoil, its forests and trees. I have lived on the banks of the Mississippi here for nearly twenty years, and day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the topsoil of America went past my doorstep, and every time some of it went past, a part of America's opportunity to live well went past. With all the enlightenment that we have, and all the psychological understanding that we have, we are still cutting the soft timber of America twice as fast as it is growing. We can't go on and hope to survive. We could survive if we would educate ; education could make the difference. It could hold off disaster long enough for us to recreate a capacity to develop new resources for the peoples of this nation. Here we are, as Allison Davis says, the last best chance of man to main- tain and flourish the freedoms which he cherishes. Ideals and freedoms always go out the window when the stomach is empty. The reason why I think this is somewhat of an affair a school teacher has to pick up is because in great sections of the world it is too late, but in St. Louis Convention 89 America we still have time. In spite of all our excesses, in spite of all the immoralities of two or three generations, there is still time in America, and the one force that can make a difference would be a program of education that would recognize the relationship of the basic raw materials of a nation — its topsoil, its moisture, its grain, its minerals — to the welfare of its people, and would use such areas as reading, writing, and arithmetic as avenues through which to develop a generation of American youth with a social consciousness necessary' to match the demands of our time with the dedication of purpose that would bring about not only the conservation of the human resources of America but, I repeat, they will come to naught unless somebody will match that conservation with the conservation in building enough of the natural resources of America so they can have a decent standard of living with which to support our ideals and our institu- tions. If you don't do anything else, as a result of listening to what I have said, will you read the book, Road to Survival? Or will you read Our Plundered Planet? And if you can read them, and sleep with them, or if you can read them and face the ten-year-olds in your school system the next morning without doing something about it, then you're tougher than I think you are. And so I conclude by repeating, we are caught up in an unbridled increase in the population of the earth, including our own nation. We have not developed the social consciousness that has led us to use our technological skill assiduously to save and rebuild our soil as we have used it to multiply the pace at which we have squandered it. I don't believe there is any force at our disposal to overcome those de- ficiencies excepting the force of education. That force won't be used by accident, but it could be used by an enlightened, determined corps of teach- ers in the American school system, led by their superintendents of schools. Thank you. [Applause] FIFTH GENERAL SESSION Tuesday Evening, March 1 Program by the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association PRESENTATION OF THE ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS SCHOLARSHIP FOR GRADUATE STUDY IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION TO RAYBURN J. FISHER BERT CHOLET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN Cholet: Ladies and Gentlemen: On behalf of the Associated Exhibitors it is a pleasure to welcome you here tonight and we hope that you will thoroughly enjoy the program and entertainment which we have prepared for you. I have a script before me which is calculated to introduce to you a new milestone along the path of our cordial relations. That new milestone is the Associated Exhibitors Scholarship for Graduate Study in School Ad- ministration. There is a spirit pervading this auditorium and all within it. It is the spirit of progressive idealism in the school administrators field. This fine spirit inherent in most of the high type individuals who become school ad- ministrators has been encouraged and augmented by an individual to a degree of which few of us are completely aware. I speak of Dr. S. D. Shank- land whose spirit of forthright idealism in American school administration shall always live on. S. D., our friend, everybody's friend, was always concerned about the future. He was concerned about the new generation of administrators and ever cautioning of the increasing responsibilities which would be theirs. The Associated Exhibitors in veneration of Doctor Shankland have established a Scholarship Fund for Graduate Study in School Administration. This year we have the honor of awarding the first check to a school administrator for advanced study. The fortunate candidate, Rayburn J. Fisher, former superintendent of schools of Anniston, Alabama, has been selected by a jury of members of the American Association of School Administrators. We members of the Associated Exhibitors are most happy to have you school administrators advise us how the fund which we have established may be best disposed of. Superintendent Fisher, chosen from a large field of likely applicants, is the embodiment of the very ideals and human qualities for which Dr. S. D. Shankland ceaselessly strove. In a letter announcing Superintendent Rayburn J. Fisher as the Scholarship winner, he was described by one of the jury, and I quote : "There is no school man more highly thought of in Alabama among [90] St. Louis Convention 91 schuol principals and city and county superintendents than Rayburn Fisher," end of quote. He is also a veteran, having served in the Navy during the last war. Will Superintendent Rayburn J. Fisher please come to the rostrum. Mr. Fisher, it is my great honor and privilege as president of the Asso- ciated Exhibitors to present to you on their behalf the first scholarship for Graduate Study in School Administration established by the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association and we know that you will carry forward the torch and the spirit which it represents. [Mr. Cholet handed Mr. Fisher a check.] ACCEPTANCE OF THE ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS SCHOLARSHIP RAYBURN J. FISHER, GRADUATE STUDENT, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA university; former superintendent of schools, ANNISTON, ALABAMA ]\Ir. Fisher: President Cholet, IV'Iembers of the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association, Fellow Members of the American Association of School Administrators, and Guests: The position of a super- intendent of schools in the United States is an exceedingly difficult one but it is a challenging one. That it is an exceedingly difficult position is seldom understood even by teachers and other school workers since few of them have ever felt the impact of a community on this office. The pressures on the superintendent of schools have been noticeably stepped up in recent years. This is due to the many special problems which have arisen in the war and postwar period. Inflation and increased enrol- ments in elementary schools are illustrations. It is also due to the stepping up of our cleavages along political, economic, racial, religious, and social lines. Even countries with homogeneous populations are divided. It is not surprising that the United States, with diverse cultural origins, is far from a like-minded nation. This factor greatly magnifies the difficulties of educational leadership, since the school is a social agency and seeks to serve the society which sup- ports it. Yet the people give school executives no clear mandate as to what they want their schools to do. They are too often confused and divided in this respect. Nearly everything which a school system attempts to do which appears to be right will be labeled wrong by some group. l^hese facts are mentioned in no spirit of pessimism as they affect ad- ministrative leadership in education. At the same time that such factors make the job of the superintendent of schools difficult, they also open a rich opportunity for dynamic leadership. In the words of Dr. John K. Norton: "The United States was never more hungry for creative leadership in education." The exercise of this leadership, however, calls for new conceptions as to the role of the superintendent of schools and what he does with his time. One of the means which leads to insight on this matter is graduate study. The Associated Exhibitors are rendering a great service to education when each year they make it possible for a member of the profession to engage in 92 American Association of School Administrators graduate study. However, the greatest service of this scholarship comes from the fact that an outstanding group of business executives signifies its faith in graduate study and redirects our attention to it. Mr. Cholet, with deep humility but great appreciation, I accept the first scholarship of the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Asso- ciation. I assure you and your organization that it is a real challenge to me. I sincerely hope that I will prove to be a worthy recipient of this award. [Applause] Mr. Cholet: I forecast that in the not-too-distant future Mr. Fisher will again stand on this rostrum to be present at another Scholarship pres- entation. He is starting a chain of Scholarship winners which will be both long and strong. PRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATION AWARD TO PEARL A. WANAMAKER BERT CHOLET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION [The program of the three regional conventions included the presentation of the American Education Award to Pearl A. Wanamaker, State Super- intendent of Public Instruction, Olympia, Washington. Mrs. Wanamaker received the Award at San Francisco and Philadelphia but was unable to attend the St. Louis convention. For the text of Mr. Cholet's presentation and Mrs. Wanamaker's acceptance, see pages 34 and 35. At St. Louis the award was accepted for Mrs. Wanamaker in absentia by President Willard E. Goslin.] Chairman Cholet: I am very sorry to announce that ]\Irs. Pearl Wanamaker sent a telegram which I shall have to read at this point: "Flu attack in San Francisco finally has me down. Deeply regret forced to cancel St. Louis trip. Looking forward to seeing you in Philadelphia." Mrs. Wanamaker had a deep chest cold in San Francisco, but she was good sport enough to come there and receive the Award, and I guess it was just a little bit too much. So we are going to ask President Goslin to accept the Award in absentia for Mrs. Pearl A. Wanamaker. President Goslin, it is more than a pleasure, it is a sincere privilege to present to you, on behalf of ]\lrs. Wanamaker, the American Education Award for 1949. [Applause] ACCEPTANCE OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATION AWARD President Goslin : I have sometimes said in recent years that I thought I had done a little of everything in American education, but I know now that I was mistaken. I have been mistaken a few times and taken for an individual or two who are widely known as Americans, but I take it that this is one instance where there would be no element of mistaken identity. [Laughter] But if I get out of this without picking up the nickname "Pearl," I'll be lucky. St. Louis Convention 93 [Laughter] I don't look like Pearl. [Laughter and applause] I don't speak like Pearl. 1 haven't made the contribution to American education — in many ways — that Pearl Wanamaker has made, but if I'm going to end up wearing skirts in American education, I guess I'd just as soon they would be Pearl W^anamaker's as anyone's I know of. [Applause and laughter] I had a nice visit with her in San Francisco last week. I can only reflect to you the quiet but deep excitement which she felt at having -her name added to the list of Crabtree, Damrosch, Helen Keller, Conant, and others who have received that Award over a period of years. I shan't try to say what Pearl would have said on this occasion. Rather would I like to remind us in a sentence or two that down through the ages mankind has always reached up for something better. A boy took a girl by the hand when spring came, and climbed a hill, and they dreamed about a better home to live in, a better school for their children, a better society of which to be a part, and out of that reaching for something better have come the great souls of all time, and within the limits of our own profession during my and your lifetime, no individual has reached higher in her home life, in her true representation of all that is fine in American education, than Pearl Wanamaker. Since she couldn't be here I am delighted that you asked me to represent her and receive this award. Thank you, so much. [Applause] SIGMUND ROMBERG AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA AND SOLOISTS Chairman Cholet : We will now ask that you be patient for approxi- mately two minutes while the orchestra assembles on the stage, and then we will return. Thank you. [Applause] And now it is the fond hope of the Associated Exhibitors that you will be thrilled by the entertainment we have prepared for you. We are pleased to turn the remainder of the evening over to a master composer and enter- tainer whose compositions have been sung or hummed and admired by everyone in this auditorium. The fine gentleman to whom I refer will be assisted by his complete concert orchestra and soloists of radio fame, in- cluding the Metropolitan Opera star, Jarmila Novotna. The Associated Exhibitors take real pleasure in bringing to you for this evening's entertainment none other than Sigmund Romberg. Thank you. [Applause] SIXTH GENERAL SESSION Wednesday Afternoon, March 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON LIFE MEMBERSHIP DUES PHILIP H. FALK, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, MADISON, WISCONSIN; MEMBER, AASA PLANNING COMMITTEE injRESiDENT GosLiN : Many of you will recall the Planning Committee -'^which was appointed during the administration of Henry Hill. It made certain reports and recommendations, most of which were approved by the members of the organization and the Executive Committee. Just to prove to you that the Committee didn't do a complete job — when we raised the annual dues of the Association, we forgot to do anything about the life membership dues. It is a little too profitable now to become a life member, and we want to see if we can't correct it. I want to present to you Phil Falk, superintendent of schools of Madison, Wisconsin, who will offer to you an amendment which we presented last week in San Francisco and which we will again present late this month in Philadelphia. Mr. Falk: President Goslin, Ladies and Gentlemen: This shift in dues on life membership involves a constitutional amendment, and the constitution requires that an amendment be read at one annual meeting and reread at the next annual meeting and voted. Now, to comply with this, a year ago at the Atlantic City meeting Super- intendent Claude Kulp, Ithaca, New York, read the following proposal, which was, as President Goslin has said, an effort to keep the ratio up to 20 to 1 between the life membership dues and the annual dues. The pro- posed amendment which Mr. Kulp read was as follows. Article III, Section 5. All members of the National Education Asso- ciation who are eligible to active membership in the American Association of School Administrators shall become life members of the Association upon the payment of a membership fee of $200, which may be made in ten equal annual payments, or upon securing a contribution of $250 to the Permanent Educational Research Fund, zvhich may be paid in five equal annual in- stalments. All such contributions and life membership fees shall become a part of the Permanent Educational Research Fund. Life members shall be exempt from the payment of all other membership fees in the American Association of School Administrators, and shall have all the rights and privileges of active members. Now, the only change in this section as I have read it from the old con- stitution is the change from $100 to $200. Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Planning Committee, I move the adoption of this amendment. President Goslin: Do I hear a second? [The motion was regularly seconded.] [94] St. Louis Convention 95 President Goslin: Do you understand the amendment? It is for the purpose of adjusting the life membership dues so that they are properly related to the annual dues. Is there discussion or a question from the floor? [The motion was put to a vote, and was carried.] President Goslin : We shall report the accumulated evidence in Philadelphia, EDUCATION'S STAKE IN AVIATION HERBERT R. BRUNER, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA Address Delivered at Son Francisco and St. Louis President Goslin : I turn now to the more creative part of this after- noon's program. I think you will find in it that we have built up to some- thing that is particularly vital and significant. We tried to think through an approach to these programs where education might be related to the general welfare of the people, building it around education's relationship to peace, the democracy, conservation. We tried to spot an area of influence, of change, of importance in modern life about which those of us who are school teachers in America must think and work and act. We felt that there was no area in modern life that so dramatizes, or perhaps has such deep-seated influence on, what is taking place and ought to take place in the lives of men and women as the development of trans- portation at the air-age level. The development of the airplane affects the life of every man, woman, and child in America, and it is our contention that it ought to affect their education, and so we have built this final program in that direction. I w^ant to first introduce here Herbert Bruner, superintendent of schools, Minne- apolis, Minnesota. Herbert Bruner, in common with a few other individuals around America, got started in Missouri. He was a superintendent of schools and then became known in educational circles around the world for his contribution to curriculum development while a member of the staff at Teachers College, Columbia University. In more recent years he has been superintendent of schools in Oklahoma City. It was with a very real sense of satisfaction and pride that we saw Herbert Bruner come to Minneapolis to continue to struggle with some of the things which we had tried to get started there. He has recently been elected a member of the Executive Coinmittec of this Association. I would like to present Herb Bruner, who is going to outline for us what the schools are doing in air-age education. Herb. Mr. Bruner: President Willard, Platform Guests and Ladies and Gentlemen: Ever since the first national aviation conference which was held in Oklahoma City about five years ago I have been praying that we might have Gill Robb Wilson in our educational meetings, for I consider him one of the greatest American citizens and patriots, and I am delighted that he has accepted our invitation to appear on all three of these conferences. 96 American Association of School Administrators Now, in praying that Gill Robb Wilson would come, I wasn't quite like little Freddie, who kept going to his father and mother for four long weeks and saying, "Daddy and IVIother, I want a little baby brother." His father said to him, "Wouldn't a little baby sister do?" The boy said, "No, I don't think so. Well, maybe so." After four weeks, nothing happened, except that he worried the life out of his parents. Finally his parents suggested that he take it up with the Lord. So, night after night, Freddie would say, "Now I lay me down to sleep. Please, Lord, give me a little baby brother or baby sister." Nothing happened after four more weeks, so he told his father he was going to quit praying. About six months later his father said, "Freddie, you know Mother went to the hospital yesterday. Wouldn't you like to go and see her?" The boy said, "Oh, Daddy, I certainly would!" They went to the hospital room, and there was the mother, just looking grand, and the place was full of flowers. The mother lifted up the cover on one side, and there was the finest little baby boy you ever saw. She asked her son, "Freddie, aren't you delighted?" Freddie said, "Yes." He went around to the other side of the bed and lifted up the coverlet, and there was a perfectly beautiful little baby girl. The father said, "Freddie, aren't you glad you started praying?" Freddie said, "Yes, Daddy, but aren't you glad I quit when I did ?" [Laughter] Well, I kept after them until we got Gill Robb to accept this invitation. I think my remarks would be a little bit more appropriate under the title of "Education's Stake in Aviation" rather than the title that I chose originally. Mankind, with tremendous force and finality, has been thrust suddenly into a new age born of materialism and scientific ingenuity. He stands at the crossroads of civilization with two products of scientific discovery in his hands — aviation and atomic energy. These two forces may become his servants in advancing civilization or mighty masters which can destroy him. The deciding factor is man himself. He alone can make the choice between peace and disintegration. He is confronted with the necessity of gauging the impact of technological development upon him, especially in aviation, and of charting an intelligent future course of action. So rapid has been the recent progress in aviation that yesterday's visionary is likely to be today's conservative, as has been pointed out by Bolte.^ The same idea is expressed by Earle: - "When, almost sixty years ago, Admiral Mahan published The Influence of Sea Power upon History, he told his story against a background of three centuries of European experience and of an even more remote past. No such long perspective is available to the historian of air power, since the history of military aircraft is compressed into less than half a century, and the story of air-borne weapons is restricted to the past three decades." In practically all nations, the man on the street now knows the terrifying ' Rolte, Charles G. "Winped Peace or Winjjed Death." The Nntinn. November IS, 1944. = Earle, Edward Mead. "The Influence of Air Power upon History." The Yale Review, Sumn>er Edition, 1946. St. Louis Convention 97 and ever-present menace of air-borne weapons in modern war. Recognizing the threat of aviation to survival, and recalling the staggering costs in human lives and materials in the last war, nations are seeking feverishly a formula which will offer every possible protection if war should come. They know they must defend themselves against air-borne methods of war. On the other hand, men are becoming more realistically aware of the latent possibilities for peace which are inherent in aviation. In a world suddenly transformed by aviation into a community, social and economic implications go deep. They reach into every aspect of domestic and foreign trade, into industry and business in all of their hundreds of ramifications, and into the health, travel, and recreation of our people. The emphasis which we have been forced to place on aviation develop- ment as the key to military power should be paralleled by equal attention to its social and economic applications for peacetime living. This alarming distortion of values is illustrated in the following statement of Bromfield.^ It is significant that the energies of a score or more of the world's greatest scientists were concentrated upon the development of atomic energy to create an engine of destruction rather than as an instrument for the liberation of man- kind from materialism, and to advance the goals of true civilization. It is sig- nificant that two billion dollars were appropriated overnight for the advancement of atomic research in the construction of a terrible instrument of destruction, although there is difficulty in the raising of money for peaceful exploitation of atomic energy or for research aimed at the extermination of such plagues of mankind as cancer, polio, or tuberculosis. Mr. Bromfield might well have added "or in raising money to Improve the quality and broaden the scope of education for all our people." Aviation could be the greatest boon to international understanding the world has ever known. In the United Nations assemblies, in diplomatic chambers and international conferences, and in other similarly important and pivotal assemblies where solutions to crucial and troublesome world problems are being sought, the acute need for international understanding is constantly apparent. A new and revolutionary policy of statecraft and diplomacy is demanded. The destinies of peoples, nations, regions, and continents are being held in delicate balance by the ebb and flow of under- standing which various representatives bring to these tense and critical settings. Although, technically, aviation has given neighbor status to peoples in all sections of the globe, it is a fact that until we can establish mutual understanding and confidence, our political arrangements may have no more value than the paper on which they are written. The necessary under- standing and confidence can be maintained only by aviation and education working together. Successful living in an interdependent world community Involves enor- mous and radical adjustments in the thoughts and actions of millions of people, not just the nation's representatives. For the first time in history it has become necessary for all peoples to act with the realization that we have one world, and that no longer may single nations live in Isolated * Bromfield, Louis. A Few Brass Tacks. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1946. 98 American Association of School Administrators security. For some peoples this means an abrupt shift from a relatively simple and primitive culture into an immensely complex and highly civilized society. For others, it involves the developing of concepts of democracy and freedom which vrill permit varying levels of literacy, economic security, and political maturity to develop side by side in peace. For some, it means both. Democracy requires a desirable standard of living for all the world's millions if it is to function effectively and genuinely. Widespread economic upheavals in war-scarred Europe, extreme poverty in India and China and other large areas of the world, together with the alarming amount of illiteracy in various undeveloped societies, present serious blocks to the achievement of a free world. In addition, men's minds need to be liberated from corrosive fears, suspicions, miseries, and ignorance so they may func- tion constructively. The central and immediate task confronting us is to eliminate such obstacles. From Aristophanes has come a message which the world needs sorely to heed : From the murmur and the subtlety of suspicion with which we vex one another, Give us rest. Make a new beginning; Mingle again the kindred of the nations in the alchemy of love, And with some finer essence of forbearance Temper our mind. The Marshall Plan is contributing materially to an economic restoration of Europe. Further implementation, however, is vitally needed through broader uses of scientific discoveries and industrial power and through the inculcation of deep moral and spiritual values which spring from mutual understanding. An expanded base of education will open gateways of understanding which can lead to both peace and economic security. Aviation offers the most promising hope for such education, in that it brings first, the speed and mechanical power to span great distances and overcome physical barriers in transporting passengers, cargo, and mail to any region of the globe, and second, it brings the educational experiences and humanizing influences needed to unite the world. This idea is contained in a wire received a few days ago from the United States Secretary of the Air Force, W. Stuart Symington: American air power consists not only of planes and pilots, of air fields, and bases, and a strong aviation industry, but of enlightened democratic citizenry that understands the full implications of air power, and how best to use it. Ameri- can air power, with the United States Air Force as a core of its strength, is dedicated to the promotion of international peace and to the strengthening of American policy toward the maintenance of peace. The Berlin air-lift is a notable example of the use of air power for such purposes. Education can make a distinctive contribution to the development of our air power, by stimulating young minds to an awareness of the implications of aviation. Concepts of geog- raphy, applications of science, customs of national life, and principles of defense developed during the centuries of surface travel and surface warfare have been profoundly altered by aeronautical science within the lifetime of most of us. To guarantee a future of progress, we must imderstand the significance of aviation in the age in which we live. St. Louis Convention 99 For the past six months it has been my privilege to represent the American Association of School Administrators and the National Education Association on the Industry' Advisory Panel of the Air Coordinating Com- mittee of the United States. My sole competence for this assignment is a deep interest in aviation and education. Although there has been only one meeting of this panel during that time, 1 have gained from it and from the individual members an appreciation of the stake which education has in aviation and the enormous role the two together can play in the im- provement of mankind. All of us know that the advancement of civilization has been dependent upon the growth of transportation since man discovered that animals could be taught to carry burdens, and that the wheel was an improvement over the sled. When one notes the impetus given to trade by the growth of sea transportation, following the discoveries of Columbus, he realizes the pivotal role which transportation plays in advancing the economic practices of man. The Westward Movement, with the opening of transcontinental railroads and the subsequent effects upon the economic prosperity of people in our own country, is known to practically every high-school student in the land. These points have been emphasized by the members of the Advisory Panel as they stress the role that aviation can and should play in the im- provement of civilization. I have learned from them, too, that we in educa- tion are not the only ones who are devoted to our work. The thinking of many of the Advisory Panel was expressed in the statement of Maxwell W. Balfour, President, Aeronautical Training Society: Vou know from your association with them that the airplane has captured the imagination of our youth more than any other one thing of its kind in the history of the country. There are thousands of grown up people who would rather starve to death in aviation than do anything else. That, in itself, is not a recommendation, but nevertheless we in this business may be classed among those who love their work for its own sake with financial gain a secondary objective. He continues by emphasizing the point that education should recognize aviation not so much as a trade but as a part of our modern way of life. I have noted also that members of this Advisory Panel are more clearly aware, than perhaps we in education are, of how deeply aviation cuts into the social and economic structure of our living. This is demonstrated by the following statements of Roy Reuther, assistant to the vicepresident, Airline Workers Department, United Automobile Workers of America, CIO: In looking over the proposed questions for discussion at the AASA area work- shops, my first reaction is to the lack of emphasis on the social and economic impact which the advances in aviation have had and will have on our twentieth century lives. Aviation education should educate individual citizens to enjoy a fuller life because of our progress in this field. May I say parenthetically that the list of original questions sent to Mr. Reuther has been revised so as to include more of the emphases he mentions. He continues with this statement: 100 American Association of School Administrators I should think . . . that the high-school level is not too early to introduce to young citizens the concepts of the tremendous potentials for peace and progress which reside in a rationally operated aviation industry coupled with a public educated to its full social values. Our Union's experience with the industry tends to underscore the fact that this industry both in peacetime and wartime is big enough and broad enough in its influences to constitute a public responsibility. Like power and mineral resources of the nation, the potential of this industry should certainly be thought of as a public trust and a public responsibility. The fluctuations in employment and in sales in this industry, for instance, present problems which can be intelligently handled in the public interest only through careful industrial planning. It is evident that not only is there a job for education and aviation to do jointly but that the leaders in the two fields are keenly aware of it. The question that is posed, therefore, is "What can and should be done?" Through the courtesy of the Executive Committee of the American Asso- ciation of School Administrators and our President, Willard E. Goslin, unparalleled opportunities for the two groups to appraise present conditions and to formulate policies and plans for future work have been set up for each of the three regional meetings for 1949. In each of the meetings, we have been given a place on the general session program, have had the privilege of setting up a sectional session, and — most important of all — we have the opportunity of conducting three to four sessions of a workshop on aviation education. The sectional session programs and the workshops will make especially significant contributions to the future of aviation education. This is guaranteed by the fact that those in charge of the planning have selected most crucial topics for discussion and have invited many of the country's ablest people in aviation and in education to partici- pate. I would urge the leaders of both the sectional session programs and the workshop groups to make not only complete reports of all their discussions but to formulate ways in which we in education and those in aviation may capitalize immediately upon the widespread interest that has been generated. For many years I have believed that if any civilization is to maintain and to improve its virility and efficiency, it must be deeply rooted in the best of the culture of its own time in order that better plans may be drawn for the future. To the teacher who subscribes to this principle, aviation is a godsend. Although it is true that presentday living reaches into many areas other than aviation (such as food; clothing; home, family, cultural and international relations; health and recreation; marketing; industry; agriculture ; and conservation — all of which must be studied and im- proved), in my judgment, aviation opens up, in the minds of more people, a far more fascinating avenue for the improvement of civilization than does any other. It has captivated the imaginations of practically all of the young people in our schools and holds for them native and desirable interests upon which we in education should build. Because of the challenge it holds for young and old alike, and because of its potential for enriching practically all areas of living on a worldwide scale, we in education and aviation have, I believe, an inescapable responsibility for developing a sound and compre- hensive program of aviation education. St. Louis Convention 101 It has already been noted that through the years the improvement of transportation and the advancement of civilization have been synchronous. Obviously, we in education have realized the importance of this fact, for the study of transportation has not been a stranger in the classrooms of our nation. As evidence of the latter, I shall refer first to a nationwide study of teaching and learning materials on transportation, and second, to the replies received from thirty-two cities in the country which were asked two months ago to send us statements of their teaching practices and learning experiences in aviation. Although the nationwide investigation is not as recent as we should like, being completed in 1941, it gives us a most representative and comprehensive picture of the place of transportation in education at that time. Some eighty- five thousand different pieces of teaching and learning materials were included in the study, from which some twelve hundred of the best were selected for careful analysis. This investigation revealed that transportation was considered at more grade levels in more different subject areas than any other single topic. Of the curriculum materials analyzed, it was found that transportation appeared in 53.3 percent of the business education materials, in 30.7 percent of the social studies materials, in 18.7 percent of the language arts materials, in 16.6 percent of the health materials, in 12 percent of the science materials, in 9 percent of the art materials, and in 1.3 percent of the industrial arts materials. It was surprising to find that only 12 percent of the science materials included transportation as a major topic. In the elementary grades, practically the entire treatment of transporta- tion was found in the field of social studies. It was concerned chiefly with the early history of transportation, with the development of roads and wheels, and with some of the effects of transportation upon the development of civilization. Unfortunately, the impact of the expansion of transporta- tion on industry and labor and on living and social conditions generally in our country was mentioned in comparatively few instances, but those materials which dealt with such areas contained some very promising ideas. In the junior high school it was discovered that transportation was in- cluded not only in social studies, but in business education, science, lan- guage arts, health, and industrial arts as well. The type of treatment was much the same as in the elementary grades except that it was not limited to the United States. More extensive consideration was given to railroads and such questions as who builds and operates railroads, what effect rail- roads have had on the population and settlement of the country, how they have tended to make the Union stronger, and, in an encouraging number of courses, how they have affected the farmer, the food supply, and industry. Rather extensive sections, too, were devoted to air transportation ; these included a discussion of pioneers in the invention of planes, the mapping of air routes over the world, and famous flights. In a number of the junior high school social studies materials the question of how transportation has increased economic interdependence was raised but not analyzed. 102 American Association of School Administrators A few of the materials were concerned with the vocational opportunities afforded by transportation, and cited figures on the number of people em- ployed in transportation. Transportation as a topic appeared with far less frequency in the senior high school than in the junior high school, except in the modern problems materials of the social studies. It is unfortunate that the curriculums in the senior high schools were found, in the main, to be so highly traditional and that therefore the youth of our country have had so little opportunity to study the great areas of human activity, one of which is transportation including aviation. I have emphasized the way in which our public schools have been con- sidering the whole area of transportation because I feel that this infor- mation reveals to us natural methods by which aviation education can be tied into present practices in the schools. In other words, many of our teachers are transportation-minded, but as will be noted from the summary of practices already made, they have not been treating adequately the social and economic implications of transportation. As a matter of fact, this nationwide study of transportation revealed that the treatment was predominantly subject-centered and historical, although some promising trends were noted. In the thirty-two replies received from inquiries sent to forty-three cities in December 1948, it was found that these trends have become practices in a number of elementary and secondary schools as far as air- age education is concerned. Three major developments have influenced aviation education in these communities: first, the almost universal appeal of aviation to pupils ; second, the expanding reservoir of aviation materials in textbooks, newspapers, magazines, and other current litera- ture, in audio-visual aids and in the community itself; and third, the stimu- lation and leadership provided by numerous agencies interested in aviation, such as the Air Coordinating Committee, the Civil Aeronautics Adminis- tration, the Civil Air Patrol, the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and other governmental agencies; airline and other commercial companies; and the United States Office of Education, the American Council on Education, the National Education Association, state departments of education, uni- versities and colleges, and other educational agencies. May I call attention at this point to the December 1948 issue of the National Elementary Principal which is devoted primarily to air-age education. The pioneering efforts of the Civil Aeronautics Administration in teacher education deserve a special word of praise. To the bewildered teacher and the air-age enthusiast alike, the Aviation Education Division of this organization has provided invaluable services in orienting the cur- riculum to aviation. Its workshops, institutes, and experiments — such as the Aviation Education Classroom Demonstration Project for the school year 1948 and 1949 sponsored jointly with the American Council on Educa- tion— have made available the talents of outstanding representatives in aviation and education. Laboratory experiences in developing instructional materials and demonstration flights have served to increase teacher interest St. Louis Convention 103 in aviation education. These teacher-education programs have given impetus to varied and extensive local projects in aviation education in many school systems throughout the country. During the eight years since the nationwide study was published, there has been increasing evidence also of the reorganization of elementary- and secondary-school programs and of the modification of teaching methods, generally. Areas of living, centers of interest and problems are serving as organizing media. Flexibility is being achieved through allocation of large blocks of time for curriculum enterprises. Pupil participation in planning and teaching experiences is being encouraged. New types of experiences are being provided which extend beyond the classroom into the wider com- munity and therefore contribute more life values to learning. Teaching and learning materials are being developed in the form of source units, guides, and teaching and learning aids, instead of courses of study. All of these changes, together with the universal interest in aviation developments, have made aviation a natural in the curriculum of the modern school. Some adults find it diflficult to realize that our young people are more closely oriented to the present than to the past, and that they have a deep interest in the future. The airplane is a part of their environment. They accept it in the same manner as their parents accepted the automobile. Today's pupils already know an amazing amount about aviation. Recently CAA and Stanford University made an analysis of questions asked by 4250 pupils representing all levels from kindergarten through junior high school. It was found that younger children are most likely to be interested in parts of the plane and what makes it fly. With in- creasing maturity, their interests broaden to include occupations in avia- tion, aerodynamics, navigation, meteorology, and recent developments in air- craft design and power plants. The typical air-age youngster is using a vocabulary that leaves teachers literally "up in the air." For example, not very long ago an art teacher was approached by an eight-year-old with a request for a picture of "the navy plane that has a Wright radial engine with an inverted wing." In another school, seven- and eight-year-old youngsters were observed reading the anemometer, forecasting the weather, and using such terminology as "alto-stratus clouds," "ailerons," and "amphibious," with considerable understanding. In more cases than not, we underestimate the understandings and abilities of children and youth, as illustrated by the story of the group of fourth- grade youngsters who were making model airplanes. The teacher had left the room for a few minutes, during which time the children had been busily at work on their planes. Finally, one of the boys looked up from his work and said, "Let's attach the landing gears to these planes before the old lady returns and makes us string beads." The "take ofi" for rich and exciting experiences sometimes results from such challenging questions as, "Why does the plane have wings? How does the pilot guide the plane? How high do planes fly? What makes the 104 American Association of School Administrators plane leave the ground ?" At other times, current events topics such as "operations haylift" furnish motivation. Sometimes it is the sharing of personal experiences about airplane trips, or visits to the airport, or the construction of model planes, that provide teaching clues. From such spon- taneous interest in aviation, pupils may be led into a variety of explora- tory enterprises through which they may gain skills in democratic living; in critical thinking; and in locating, organizing, and evaluating information. These integrated experiences, adapted to the various maturity levels and planned for maximum utilization of pupil interests, provide real and meaningful learnings and draw on many fields such as art, music, social studies, arithmetic, reading, and science, as well as man)' areas of human living outside of the old school program. The teacher's responsibility in implementing aviation understandings can- not be overemphasized. This means that, as children build their model air- planes and airports, as they demonstrate the theory of flight and the princi- ples of jet propulsion through simple laboratory experiments, as they read about the history and romance of flight, as they plot air routes and plan imaginary or make actual trips, as they visit the airport and airline ticket offices, the teacher should constantly seek ways of using these experiences and activities as a springboard for guiding pupils to realize the airplane's potentialities for improving the quality of living for people everywhere and to sense their responsibilities for achieving this goal. This was well stated by a teacher,* who defined the function of aviation education as follows: Possibly the outcome that is most desirable and most difficult of attainment is our young people's understanding of the significance of aviation in the world of today and tomorrow. We have succeeded reasonably well in dealing with the physical aspects of aviation, and we are developing an appreciation of com- petent workmanship and a spirit of cooperation in worthy projects. We need to promote among our boys and girls a greater realization of their responsibility in a world made anew by the miracle of aviation. The outlook for aviation education is bright indeed. First and foremost, we need to continue widespread experimentation in aviation education. Second, we should capitalize upon the rapidly increasing number of prom- ising practices in our schools. One of our chief problems is to make these practices more universal. This cannot be done until we, as educators, gain a far better grasp of the problems involved than we now have. The task confronting us today was well expressed by Mrs. Pearl Wanamaker when she was quoted in the January 11, 1948, issue of Parade, a Denver news supplement, as saying: We are the last generation of earthbound people, and our children are being taught by earthbound teachers. That is because most of our teachers have not had an opportunity to learn about the air. We must equip them for this responsi- bility. To develop the program required of schools in the age of aviation and atomic energy is difficult. To implement such a program, many of us ■* Ruth Rogers, Central High School, Oklahoma City, Okla. St. Louis Convention 105 will be compelled to shed traditions of years' standing, to make radical departures from the former organization of learning experiences, to intro- duce new and significant content with which we are now, in the main, unfamiliar, and to redefine our function in the learning situation and in human living. But the critical age of which we are a part requires a dynamic program of aviation embracing the knowledges and understandings of the past focused sharply upon presentday problems, so that we may live in a richer future. The educational program needed demands our soundest thinking. We in education must work hand in hand with the outstanding thinkers and doers in aviation, for in all truth we are on the threshold of a new social and economic frontier which offers more promising rewards in human happiness than all the geographical frontiers of history, [Applause] AT HOME IN ONE WORLD GILL ROBB WILSON, AVIATION EDITOR, NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE Address Delivered at San Francisco, St. Louis, Philadelphia President Goslin : I would like to suggest that when you get a day or two away from this afternoon's session, you look back and reflect on what this next man did to and for you in twenty-five or thirty minutes. I tried it on myself after listening to him in San Francisco. Gill Robb Wilson writes the syndicated column, "The Air World," for the Xew York Herahl-Trihuue. He probably knows more about the impact of the airplane on the social, economic, and political pattern of our times than any other citizen of this country. He has done nearly everything in aviation, from fl\'ing an airplane in World War I to organizing the Civil Air Patrol in 1942. He was a war correspondent and covered developments in the European, Mediterranean, African, Pacific, and other theaters. In 1946 he covered the atom bomb tests on Bikini. He has always shown a definite interest in education, and for several years was chairman of the Laymen's Educational Council of New Jersey. Gill Robb Wilson will speak on "At Home in One World." He has a powerful story to tell. I think you will like it. Gill Robb Wilson. Mr. Wilson: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: The aviation world, civil and military, was greatly complimented, and noticed with keen interest when this Association placed the subject "Air-Age Education" on the agenda of this annual meeting. That was not merely because it im- plied a compliment of interest in the airman's work. It was because it represented a definite step forward in the possibilities of preserving the peace of the world, actuating the creative minority of democracy so that down the \ears to come, the sovereignty of the free people may thereby be pre- served. We have made the last mistake we dare to make in evaluation of air power, whether it be military or civil. I was a youngster at Versailles when after the first world war, the states- men of the world were gathered, with civilization mobile in their hands, 106 American Association of School Administrators for whatever forming of it seemed wise and good to them. IVlr. Wilson of the United States, Mr. Clemenceau of France, Mr. Orlando of Italy, Mr. Lloyd George of England — all of those men had been educators at some point in their careers. They saw far, and they understood much. We went to them, a handful of American, French, and British boys, and we said : "We have been out on this Western front here for four to five years now, and we have had in our hands a certain tool that we believe must be evaluated in the formation of a new and a better world, for if it lacks evaluation, it may be brought to a point by some undemocratic power which will take away everything which has been here gained." These gentlemen, in rearranging the world and in setting up the minority governments, and all the measures they took, were quiet and patient with us, but, "After all, boj^s — tush, tush, this is a place for serious business. We are studying the destiny of civilization." We told them, "Yes, we understand, gentlemen, and we think we have a tool here." The proposal, of course, was to reestablish Germany industrially so that she could be a buffer between this rising revolutionary force in the East and the more stabilizing democracy of the West. One of the things that Germany wanted was the reestablishment of her aviation industry. We said "No" — this handful of airmen. "If you do that, you will have planted a seed which, within a decade, can grow into a shillelagh to destroy everything that you have set up." "But, boj^s, we're not talking about weapons. We're going to prevent any military resurgence. This is only for civil purposes." We said, "It's the same thing. Don't do it." Well, it was done. Within ten years — and I was working in Germany during some of that time, and M^atched it — an administration of a nation which a decade before had been completely innocuous to effect the peace or the democracy of the world had recreated itself on the basis of its air power. It owned more than 160 of the less than 300 combat type aircraft in the world. It had captured the imagination of the Italian people. It had taken away from our side the imagination of the Japanese people. It had formed the axis powers, and it was ready for the conquest of the world. And it made that conquest. The youngest member of my family lies somewhere on the floor of the Indian Ocean. Members of your families are scattered in graves all over the face of this earth. From the skies on every front, I watched the finest youth of the world go plunging down to pay for the lack of evaluation of a force that had been born. You'd think that would have been enough, and jet we came to the day of that second world war when a handful of lads on Bataan (where I have been, too) were pleading for something in the air. These things are hard to learn. That is why we have to come to you with our problems, rather than depend upon our ability to serve them at the political and the diplomatic levels. That is why the aviation world wants someone here from its number to talk to you, because you are the power. St. Louis Convention 107 Now, we still haven't apparently learned. Much of the trouble that has presently engajjed us, which has caused the Berlin "airlift" and phenomena of that nature, and political unrest around the world, stems from the same lack of evaluation of these modern forces. There was about as much rhyme and reason for Yalta and Teheran and Potsdam and the eventual necessity for the use of the atomic bomb as there was for the original cause of the war itself. Air power, before we had invited the Soviet Union into the war and promised them all that was promised for participation against Japan, had left a Japanese army of five million men standing helpless, unable to take a single American life, and, on the other hand, we had not called upon them to surrender any of their own lives, but only their arms. Lack of evaluation of their air pow^r, failure to understand the thing that had happened in the world once more, created the diplomatic and the political moves, the peace of the world was again sold down the river, and I saw experienced American officers and civilian commissions sitting out on battle fronts shedding tears because they knew what had been done to the immediate future of civilization. Now, when a man has to sit in the trenches of one war and cry about the potential of a third war, it's time somebody started doing some thinking. Today, over in Paris, and continuously in London and elsewhere, the Security Council of the L^^nited Nations has been debating as to what shall be done about the Ruhr, about the Saar, about the division of the zones of Germany. We are presently debating somewhat as to what we should do in China. Even today, at the diplomatic and political levels, no single voice has ever suggested that if you deliver the sovereignty of the German skies into the custody of the United Nations, you needn't worry about what you do with the Ruhr, the Saar, or any other single problem that has to do with a conquered country, for if you take away the sovereignty of the skies of any nation on the face of the world today, it is militarily impotent. So here we are, not at home in one world. So do you wonder that, in the face of these statements, we of the air come to you, not asking you to create a vocational classification, not asking you to educate mechanics and pilots, or weathermen or navigators, but on the theory that inspiration comes from the top down, asking you to move air-age education to an evaluation of these forces, so that the thin edge of the world peace which is presently being held by the American airplane shall continue to be held until the fever of materialism goes out of that creative minority that has burned in the East and is replaced — as it was in the case of the French Revolution and in the case of the American Revolution — with sound reasoning, so that peace shall prevail continuously on this earth, as it can prevail. Now I would like to tell you a little something about the tools. Some of you came here in airplanes and will return in them, but you must under- stand that we are not yet in the kindergarten stage of the Air Age. If, when you go to your hotel this afternoon, you will purchase a newspaper, you will 108 American Association of School Administrators see that an airplane has just landed after circling the world nonstop. The other day an airplane crossed this continent in the announced time of three hours and forty-five minutes from the West to the East coast. I think it is significant that we didn't think enough of that record to have the chap report in when he arrived over Washington. He fiddled around up there in the air for fifteen or sixteen minutes before he reported that he was there, so he didn't cross the continent in three hours and forty-five minutes. He crossed it in three hours and a half, and if he had been in a hurry he could have done it in three hours — or what will you? I think I might say to you that we are presently flying experimental air- craft with pilots in them, and controlling them, at speeds of close to 2000 miles an hour. And, within the decade, those experimental speeds in the military field will have moved into the commercial airlines of the world. Within this decade we will be bringing the East and the West coasts into one business day, so that all the trading between the stock market of New York and the stock market of San Francisco — which has always been a great American problem — can be transacted in one single day. You will live to fly — in the tenure of your present life — intercontinentally between St. Louis, London, or wheresoever your work takes you, in a matter of from four to six or eight hours, and that will be normal routine. We are moving today in experiments with certain rockets. We are doing that in order to have a propulsion from the ground. The rocket of today will be the airport of tomorrow. From that rocket will be launched the aircraft which, propelled by a ram-jet engine, will move at any speed desired, up to 10,000 miles an hour or whatever seems practical to keep you from having too much of a headache in traveling or getting there before you leave home. [Laughter] Fundamentally, there are no limits. Mathematically, we are now travel- ing between the planets. Space ships, once but a dream, are now operating at limits which have much that they will tell us within a very few years. Vessels that move in the spaces are already in process of practical experiment. So, when you are thinking of the Air Age, I wouldn't want to have you stop with an airplane that moves up close to the sonic barrier, or that moves at speeds that merely join the continents, but I would have you think of the airplane which brings you practically as close together with all the world as you presently are with the person beside whom you are sitting. Now, that is important. You have always chosen your neighborhood. You have chosen the town where you wanted to live. You have chosen your state, perhaps. The Air Age will give you no choice. You're going to live with everybody — the black and the brown and the white, yellow, Moham- medan, Christian, Jew, Gentile, the sixty-four goodwill religions that are around this earth — and you're going to live with them so closely that you will feel them, you will smell them, and they will be a part of you. Now, how do you like that? Well, you're not going to like it, at least to begin with, but you'll have to condition your world to it. And I believe that if you start now to condition your world to it, before very long you will come to like it, even as I have, and the world will be your campus. St. Louis Convention 109 I'd like to tell you a little something about that world, if I might, for just a moment. You know, a life in the air develops in you an adamant faith in God and in humanity. I couldn't stand here today and tell you about the music of the stars, about the testimony of the voices that speak to a man. It would be foolish for me to attempt to convey the mysticism, the conviction that comes out of the vastness of knowing the world and its patterns of stars and its oceans and its continents like you know the palm of your hand. It would be almost impossible for me to convey to you that which comes out of the experiences in the air world, just as something, I suspect, must come from the cloister to the father or to the sister who has devoted his or her life there, or which must come into the heart of a mother as she watches her children, or a father as he looks upon his family. There are no atheists among aviators, and there are none who do not have an unquenchable faith that it is the Divine Image that is on man, that man is a spiritual creature. I have been out with the people in the back country of Australia, and I have been up the Amazon with the people who blow the poison darts, and I have been out with the natives in places like New Guinea, and I have been with the Kurds in Africa, and I have seen man in all of his stages, as primitive as he gets, away back in the Stone Age still. I have never seen man in any condition that I didn't recognize in him a spiritual creature. That means much, because when this Air Age comes of age, and when we are able to bring into propinquity — practically and in volume — that which we are doing only fragmentarily today, it will be good to know that the potentialities of humanity, as one brotherhood recog- nizing one brotherhood, exist. When I was a little boy my grandmother used to read stories to me out of the Bible, and I remember one in which the Master said to some chap who visited him, or who had done some exemplary thing, "I have not found such great faith as this; no, not in Israel." I guess the chap must have been a "foreigner." Well, you know, I had a little experience like that in a lot of different ways. I was out one time with a great Senegalese whom I had first met when he picked me up on the field of battle and dragged me out of a cracked-up airplane and into his dugout. He was a member of the Foreign Legion. Being from Senegal he was, of course, a Mohammedan. Many months afterward I visited him down on the shores of Africa. One evening he asked me if I wanted to go out and take a walk, and I replied in the affirmative, and we went down the road for several miles. At last we turned off into a field along the side of the road, and there was a row of graves. He stood and looked at them for a moment, and then we went out in the field by the side of this row of graves. The Mohammedans bury their dead along the road so that when Gabriel blows his trumpet, they'll get up and there will be the road, and they won't get lost, and the gates of para- dise won't be shut before they get in there. We went off in the field and my friend took off his kepi, his hat, and 110 American Association of School Administrators started pulling seeds from the tops of the weeds. I took off my hat and started filling it, also. When the hats were full, he came back and started sprinkling these seeds on the graves. About halfway in the process I started to do the same thing. He turned to me and said, "Do you believe?" I said, "If you believe, so do I, for I believe in you." He said that was good, and we continued. When we had finished, I said to him, "What does this mean?" He said: "Well, the birds will come down and eat the seeds and carry them up into the air. The spirit of my friends will come into the seeds, and for that little while they will have their freedom." I said, "That is good." He asked me, "What do you do?" I thought a moment and then I said: "We do it a little differently. Instead of the seeds, we use the whole flower. When our loved ones pass from this life, we put the flower in their hands. We cover the place where they lie with the flower, and the wind comes and takes the fragrance from the flower, blows it here and blows it there, and if the spirit of our friend wishes, it may come into the fragrance, and it, too, has freedom." "Oh," he said, "that's more freedom. That's more freedom than we have. When I go home, I tell my people we will do it that way now, too." So if you ever happen to travel down in the land of Senegal and see a black boy laid out with a camellia or a gardenia in his hand, you will know that it means exactly that same type of respect and affection and yearning with which you are familiar back home. I was out one time with a black man in New Guinea. I was the first white man he had ever seen. I knew he was a chief, because he had a fifteen-foot coil of bird of paradise feathers that I judged to be worth about a million and a half dollars on the San Francisco market. The feathers were all he wore. I said many things to him in sign language. Finally, he took from my hand a package of chocolate, which we used to wrap in very heavy paper so that it would remain fresh, or at least not spoil down in the tropics. He looked at it questioningly. It would have taken an ax to have chopped it in two. I pointed to my mouth, signifying that it was good to eat. This chieftain, who was the head of many thousands of these Stone Age people still up there in the Orange Mountains (which were labeled on my map as head-hunter country), stood there, and on my assurance, and without questioning whether it might be good or whether it might be poison, he sank his teeth into that wax paper, although it took more than my teeth and jaws could have accomplished. He stood there with his arms folded and struggled with that piece of chocolate. Every once in a while a little taste of the chocolate would come through the tropical covering with which it was covered, and I could see his face light up. Finally he had eaten it all, paper, chocolate, and all, and he nodded his head in approbation. The chap who was with me thought this was funny, but as I looked at this black man and realized what an act of faith that had taken, I St. Louis Convention wondered not about his capacity to be my brother but about my capacity to be his brother. Now, maybe that gives you some idea of the vastness of the inspiration and knowledge that you will be required to plant in those who are coming up, because in one way or another they, in their time, will come to be as much at home in the air world as are those of us who have been privileged to go out and pioneer in it in the initial stages. Evaluation of this force is your responsibility. It is a greater responsi- bility- than is borne by those of us who have created the force. Sometimes we regret how far we have gone in the creation of it, because of its vast potential for good or evil. Our only recourse is to come back and lay it in your hands — not to tell you how to do it but to tell you that from our personal experience, the end result has been faith in God and man, and that we believe that you can take it and use it as a tool for the im- plementation of the concept with which you are impregnated as free men in a democratic world. The creative minority set on the horizon of time can bring about the potentials of an age that is more golden than Pericles could ever have dreamed of. We believe that you will see and understand and that you will no longer suspect that we are trying to sell you something, nor to change your curriculum, nor to give you a format of education that is different, but only to give you a tool by which j'ou can interpret the arts and the sciences, until others have the opportunity, as we have — whose business has been the conquest of the sky — to see that man truly is little lower than the angels, and that he is crowned with honor and glory, when the divisions and the separations and the isolations and tragedies of time and space and the manacles which kept him in solitary confinement in various areas of the world are taken away. I am happy to have had the opportunity to share with you, for a little while, the potential of joining your job and my job in order that this one world can become a place of tranquility and of peace and of confidence. We look forward to the day when the "Three R's" shall no longer be reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic but right, 'rong, and reason of which the human mind is capable. You are the harbinger of those days, and for the privilege of bringing a little bit of our story, our plea to you, that world which I represent — the world of aviation — is eternally grateful. Thank you. [Prolonged applause] n CLOSING CEREMONIES WITH INTRODUCTIQ!^. OF PRESIDENT-ELECT JOHN L. HRACKEN^'''' President Gosi.in : It is a great privilege to be connected with the American Association of School Administrators in an>- capacity. .^It is a rare one to have the opportunity to serve as President. I would lil^eto ask John Hracken, superintendent of schools at Chnton, Missouri, to come over here and stand by me for a moment, so you can see him, and then sav a word to you so that you can hear him, so that you will be sure to 112 American Association of School Administrators recognize him around the nation during the next year while he is serving as President of the American Association of School Administrators. John. [Applause] President-Elect Bracken : Thank you very much, Willard, for your kind words of introduction. I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you people who are here, for just about one minute. First, let me say, Willard, now that you are more than midway in the course of the three great regional conferences which will climax your administrative year, this has been a year of discovering new sources. It has been one of gathering new strength, and it has been a year of achieving substantial progress. We, here at home, are proud of you, especially. We are proud of you and of what you have done, and we wish you godspeed. In this brief moment of this important and interesting program I wish to say to you who are here — and through you to the others of our group — how pleased we are that you have been here. We hope that you have enjoyed your stay, and we hope that you have profited from our con- ference. We want you to come again. We thank you for what you have said, and we thank you for what you have enabled us to hear. We feel better because you have been with us. We hope that you will come again. For more than twenty-five years I have been a member of this Asso- ciation. Always, I have taken pride in the Association because of its membership, because of its policies, its ideals, and its progress. Occasionally I have been designated — as you have been — to perform minor tasks for the Association. Each has provided opportunity for growth. It has given an opportunity for sharpened insight and for a broadening and deepening series of friendships. If, at any time, the balance had been struck, I would have been found to be indebted to our great Association. This is especially true now that you have entrusted me with a share in the direction of our Association affairs. I am appreciative of the honor, and I am humbly grateful for your action. I have an inkling of the work to be done. In no way do I underestimate its responsible character. Furthermore, I know the fine, open records of the great leaders who have held this position, but, no matter how able, they would have been powerless without your cooperation, your support, and your confidence. Both of right and necessity I request your cooperation and I request your support, so that in the months ahead I shall come to deservje, vour confidence. I pledge to you my best efforts in the year to come, and in all the time which will be vouchsafed to me in the future for which we build together. [Applause] PrAsident Goslin: I have referred more than once in recent years to the "fact that from my point of view as an individual citizen of this nation I am in the midst of a magnificent experience as a school teacher in a free land. At no point in that experience has there come as much satis- faction as came to me when you gave me both the opportunity and the St. Louis Convention 113 responsibility of trying to serve America and its school system through the leadership of this organization, and the least that I can do is to reflect to those of you here my personal and professional appreciation for the many privileges which I have had, especially for the warmth of your friendship and cooperation, for the very much expanded ring of friends and acquaintances which I now have in America, and to say to you here in the Midwest — where I know more of you than elsewhere — that these four days here have been particularly satisfying, and I want you to know it. I would like to extend an even greater measure of appreciation to those here for this meeting for the contributions which you have made in making this conference a success. You have been generous in your comments, in saying that it was good. If it has been good, I would just like to remind you that a conference or a speech or a discussion is no better than the audience, the listeners, the participants make it. So if this has been a great conference — and we believe it has — then we are indebted to you for your enthusiastic participation and your attendance here. I hope each of us can go home with a sense of well-being, with a sense of appreciation for an opportunity to belong to and be a part of an organiza- tion and a great force in American life that can express itself as we have seen it expressed here in the past four days. It is with an upsurge of satis- faction, tinged with more than a little regret, that I declare this conference ended. 30,i»49 rhvmv: EaUCATiOIM h ill I I'lliill illllllHl HENEHAL V^ELFiVHE ill ^* i ■ *■• FIRST GENERAL SESSION Vesper Service Sunday Afternoon, March 27 The First General Session of the Eastern Regional Convention of the American Association of School Administrators convened in Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon, March 27, at three forty-five o'clock. President Willard E. Goslin, Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena, California, presiding. PRESIDENT Goslin : We are pleased to present the Baltimore and Ohio Glee Club under the direction of Dr. James Allen Dash. [See page 217 for musical program.] THE TECHNIC OF SUCCESSFUL LIVING NORMAN VINCENT PEALE, MINISTER, MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, NEW YORK, NEW YORK President Goslin: A1 Simpson and I have been helping to run this road show across America for the last month or six weeks, and we have been vying with each other in connection with some short pithy introduc- tions. We just had a good laugh behind the curtains which I think we ought to share with you. We considered the possibility of introducing the speaker by saying, "Peal, Peale." He thought it was a good joke — better than you apparently — but some of my advisers got me aside and said, "Now, I think you had better do better than that." Norman Vincent Peale is an author, radio personality, and a great preacher. Dr. Peale has made an interesting approach to the solution of the personal problems of individuals through the combined mediums of religion and psychiatry. School people will be interested to know that he operates psychiatric clinics in connection with his church, and that there are four psychiatrists and a psychologist on his staff. Norman \'incent Peale is pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church, the oldest Protestant church in America, located at Fifth Avenue and 29th Street, in New York City. He will speak to us on the subject, "The Technic of Successful Living." Dr. Peale. Dr. Peale: Dr. Goslin, Ladies and Gentlemen: Referring to the matter of introductions, may I say that some time ago I was in the city of Pittsburgh. I am not bragging about it ; I am merely stating a fact. I had gone there to address a trade association at its evening banquet. There were about 1500 men in the ballroom of the William Penn Hotel, and the chairman of this meeting, while an outstanding businessman of the city of Pittsburgh, left something to be desired as a master of public assemblies; in fact, he was a most extraordinarily ner\'ous man, probably the most extraordinarily nervous man I think I have encountered in a [115] 116 American Association of School Administrators long while. He was quite the contrary from the presiding officer whom we have this afternoon. This man shook like an aspen leaf. His face was drained of all color. He constantly moistened his lips and once when his fingers touched against mine, they were very icy. I am a sort of pseudo-student of the phenomena of human nature, and I studied him with interest and I said to him, "I am sorry to observe that you are so nervous. It must make you feel very unhappy." "Oh," he replied, "do I impress you as being nervous?" "Well," I said, "I just saw a few faint symptoms of that." "Well," said he, "if you think I am nervous now, you should have seen me about six weeks ago." "Why," I asked, "were you worse off six weeks ago than you are now?" "Oh," he replied, "the improvement has been considerable." "Well," I asked, "to what do you owe this remarkable betterment of your condition ?" "Well," he said, "I read your latest book, and it helped me no end." Now, I regret the indelicacy of bringing in a book at this point, but in order to finish this story, I must mention it, if you will excuse me. The title of the book is A Guide to Confident Living, and it deals with the simple procedures and technics whereby one can overcome worry, fear, anxiety, and tension. As I say, I regret to mention it at this point. It does sound as if I were bringing in a plug, and I certainly do not mean that, but tomorrow you can buy it downtown for $2.75 at the book stores. [Laughter] Well, when he said this, I was impressed. He said, "I read your book and it has made me what I am." [Laughter] I thought that this was a rather doubtful compliment, but I was not prepared for the way in which he introduced me a moment or two later. When he rose, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this speaker tonight has done me no end of good ; as a matter of fact, this speaker really saved rhy life for about two months ago I had a nervous breakdown and as a result of that I could not sleep nights ; in fact, I did not have a single night's sleep for two months, but I finally bought our speaker's book, I took it to bed with me, and before I had read three pages, I was sound asleep." [Laughter] You can see by these feeble remarks that there are differences in introduc- tions. I am highly honored to speak here this afternoon before this distinguished body of school administrators, and I appreciate the warm- hearted reception which I have had here thus far. It is quite unlike an introduction or reception which I received some time ago when I was in a certain Eastern city. I had gone there to address the annual banquet of the state bankers' association. I arrived at the hotel where this banquet was to be held about an hour late. I went to my room and, as the occasion required, dressed myself in a tuxedo. Thus attired, I descended in the elevator to find that all of the bankers had gone into the dining hall save one stray banker whom I encountered in the elevator. This banker, I am sad to relate, unlike most members of his profession, had obviously been Phii.adei.phia Convention 117 communing with spirits which were decidedly not religious spirits. I assure you he was wavering rather unsteadily on his feet. He fixed a thin, watery eye on me, and looked me over speculatively. Apparently he did not take me for a clergyman, for in an intimate sort of way, he said, "Hello, there, buddy." It was not a form of address to which I was usually accustomed but I answered in kind, and for a moment there ensued a conversation which might roughly be described as jocular. Finally, becoming a little more confidential, he said, "Where are you going tonight, buddy?" "Well," I replied, "I am going in to the banquet of the bankers' asso- ciation. Where are you going?" "Oh," he said, with ill-concealed disgust, "I suppose I will have to go in there, also, but I don't want to, because it won't be any good." "Why," I asked, "won't it be any good?" "Oh," he replied, "they have got some preacher from New York to speak in there tonight." [Laughter] I said, "You don't mean it!" He said, "It's a positive fact!" [Laughter] "Well," I said, "why on earth have they a preacher to speak to the bankers' association ?" He said, "You've got me, buddy, unless it must be they are running out of money." [Laughter] This rather took the wind out of my sails, but I said to him, "Well, I guess I'll go on in anyway. There's nothing else to do around here." He said, "No, there isn't, I guess I'll go in, too, but," he reiterated, "it won't be any good." I said, "Brother, you don't know the half of it. I know it won't be any good," and we agreed it wouldn't be any good. We separated. I went my way and he went his, and you should have seen the embarrassment on his face when I rose up to speak, but he listened to me and when the speech was over, I was standing at the head table shaking hands with such people as came over to greet me. I saw him coming. He was now in his right mind, and had a shy and embarrassed smile on his face. I could see he hated to come up and speak to me but I liked him ; he proved he was a dead-game sport. He put out his hand and he said, "Put 'er there, buddy. We were both right, weren't we?" [Laughter] Since this time I have labored under no illusions as to my oratorical prowess, and it is with a deep-seated inferiority complex that I address you this afternoon. I have looked over the program for the week, and I see that you are going to be addressed by some of the most distinguished and intellectual persons before the American public today. I also observe that for the most part, these ladies and gentlemen are going to speak on the great and con- trary theme of the hour, namely, how to get a better world. Now, I should like to announce that I am wholeheartedly in favor of a better world, for unless we get a better world and get it quite soon, we 118 American Association of School Administrators are likely to end up with no world whatever. Yet it occurred to me one day to wonder if perhaps it wouldn't be a good thing if somebody would address himself to the topic: How can the individual live in the world we now have, pending the arrival of this better world for which we struggle? I am no cynic nor skeptic, but obviously it will be a few months at least, before this perfect world for which we all labor comes into being. Meanwhile there is nothing for us to do but to go on living. Now, there is one fact from which there is no escape — as long as you are alive, you have to live. This I recognize may not fill you with any burning enthusiasm but there is nothing you can do about it. As long as you are alive, it is evident that you have got to live. Now I have been sitting up here, looking over this audience, and as far as I can see from where I sit or now stand, even'body in this auditorium at this precise moment is alive. Of course, I recognize that appearances are often deceiving, but that is the way it appears from here. Now, having said that, it is also a fact that some people in this auditorium are far more alive than others. This is a sophisticated generation and it is the mark of a sophisticated man to dissemble ; that is, he does not allow himself to show upon his face the inner frustrations and defeats of his life. Particularly is that true of such an assembly as this, made up of distinguished school administrators. Yet, anybody who knows anything about human nature knows that, by the law of averages, there are people in this audience this afternoon who are haunted by fear, who are dogged by worry, who are torn by inner conflict and frustration. They find it difficult to get along with other people and, what is more pathetic, very difficult to get along with themselves. Now, nobody under such circumstances has a very happy time living. On the contrary, there are some people in this audience today who are very much alive. They have overcome their fears, pondered their Avorries, resolved their conflict. They get along with people and they have what is even more wonderful, a glorious time getting along with themselves. Such a person is alive to his finger tips. Now, you may wonder why a man would stand before such a distinguished audience and address himself to this question. The answer is, we know what goes on in people's minds, and you people, speaking respectfully, are very important to this country, and it would seem to me that you and the teachers who work under you, before you do a single other thing, have got to solve the problem of the, control and autonomy of your own self. I do not, for the life of me, see how we are ever going to solve the great domestic and international problems of this hour until we can solve our own personal problems. Now, in my church in New York, as has been stated, we have five psychiatrists on the stafiF. I don't want you to get any false idea as to the intellectual capacity of my congregation, by reason of this fact. [Laughter] You, of course, know what a psychiatrist is. He is not a man who deals with pathological problems, but a scientist who helps to keep normal people normal. I realize that the psychiatrists are sort of queer, and yet PuiLADEi.iMnA Convention 119 I have great respect for them. I don't bow and scrape before them, but they are very helpful in our work. We have joined the twin sciences of psychiatr>' and religion to help human nature. Psychiatry analyzes and diagnoses why a man does what he does, and that is one of the greatest wisdoms that anybody can ever acquire. Do you know wh\^ you do what you do? Well, if you do, you arc healthy; if you don't, you are not healthy, and after the psychiatrist has thus enlightened a person, by the therapy of faith and prayer, and the other technics of the Christian faith, we heal personality. Hut, having said all that about a psychiatrist, I still return to the fact that the basic thing about psychiatr}', the basic thing about the psychiatrist even as about the minister, is that he relieves psychiatric tension. They had a convention of the American Psychiatric Association not long ago in the Hotel Pennsylvania, which they have recently changed to the Statler, and for four days the leading psychiatrists of the country milled around the lobby of that hotel. There were 4000 of them. Across the street from the Pennsylvania Hotel there is the Pennsylvania Station, around which fly thousands of pigeons. One of these pigeons, in some strange manner, got off the beam and got into the lobby of the Pennsylvania Hotel and flew around there for two or three days, and for two days it is said that this pigeon flew around the lobby of the hotel before any psychia- trist in the place would admit to any other psychiatrist that he saw a pigeon flying around. [Laughter] But these are grave men with a penetrative insight into human nature. In the psychiatric clinic which we have conducted for two years now, we have made some interesting studies of human nature. We have discovered, first, that the usual age of people who have emotional difficulties is between twent}' and forty. After you have arrived at forty, if you have lived that long, you have developed a philosophy of life. We have also discovered that the greater part of those who come to counsel with us, or whom we counsel with, are men. We have discovered that the greatest problems affecting these men today, and women, too, are as follows: (1) tension, (2) worry, (3) guilt, (4) depression, (5) marital difficulty. Now, there is also another problem growing out of the thought of the depression. This has convinced us that especially among the highly organized group, and I do not mean the union now, I mean people who are highly organized personally, there is the tendency to depression and discourage- ment. We have today the problem of people who are thinking negatively as against positively. Isn't it a fact that a person creates the world that he lives in according to the way he thinks? Some people seem to have the idea that if you changed the circumstances in which you live, that you would better your conditions. Well, sometimes you do, but, by and large, a man's world is not made by outer circumstances and conditions half so much as it is made up of what goes on in his mind. The wisest man of ancient Rome, so some historians tell us. was Marcus Aurelius, whose books and meditations form one of the greatest 120 American Association of School Administrators bequests of antiquity to the present time. Marcus Aurelius said that a man's life is what his thoughts make of him. The wisest man who ever lived in the United States of America, some people say, was Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I am not prepared to dispute it. Emerson said : "A man is what he thinks about all day long." One of the most famous psychologists of our time makes the assertion that there is a deep tendency in human nature to become like that which, over a long period of time, you imagine yourself to be, and the wisest of all books, the Bible, says that as a man thinketh in his heart and in his subconscious mind, so is he. We become precisely what we think we are — what we think, we are. You can think yourself into success or you can think yourself into failure; you can think yourself into health, or you can think yourself into sickness, and, what is even more tragic, the body politic can think itself into another war if it is minded to. You can do anything with your thoughts. You can think negatively, and just as certainly as I stand at this rostrum this afternoon, you will get a negative result because you surround yourself with negative conditions. You create an atmosphere in which every nega- tive thing can take root and grow. You make your circumstances, surround- ings, and conditions negative because you are negative yourself. On the contrary, if you think positively, think in terms of faith, you create a condition in which positive ideas and technic can develop. This may sound to you like new thought or some kind of metaphysics, but what has that got to do with it? It is a fact and as I go up and down the United States today, I am convinced that this is the greatest generation of negative thinkers we ever had in this country, and you have to fight hard to resist it at all times. If I were to stand up here this afternoon and say: "I'm awfully sorry about it, I'm terribly sorry, but we are going to have another war and there is no way to get around it so we had better get at it and get it over with," I am sure a lot of people even in this enlightened audience would say, "I'm awfully sorry, too, but I guess he's right." And as long as we think that way about it, we are thinking negatively. One of my great friends is a great American, Captain Eddie Ricken- backer. Rickenbacker somehow has always fascinated me. He is a daredevil in flesh and blood, for one thing. He is a living personification of a small boy's dream. He is a great American. When the roll of American heroes has finally been written, it may begin with Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, but high on the list will be the name of Rickenbacker. He is a curious fellow, sort of a mystic. He also has a sort of clairvoyant under- standing. He is a philosopher. One day he told me — this is rather irrelevant, but it always fascinates me — he told me one day that our usual idea about death is all wrong. He said that it is a mistake to picture death as an old man with whiskers and a scythe. He said he has been close up to death and he knows what death looks like. Death is a beautiful woman with limpid pools for her eyes. He doesn't want to follow her until he must, but when he does, he will not be too much afraid of her because she has limpid pools for eyes. Philadelphia Convention 121 AV^ell, I go along with Rickenbacker on most things but this "limpid pools" business is too much for me, and yet, at the same time, it is rather comforting and 1 wouldn't be a bit surprised if it is nearer the truth than our usual conception of death. He asked me one day, "Do you believe in the psycho-kinetics in the Bible?" I said, "I have read the Bible from cover to cover but I never saw anything about psycho-kinetics in the Bible." Then he said, "You don't read the right kind of Bible." "Will you explain," I said, "what there is, if anything, in the Bible about psycho-kinetics?" He said: "I will elucidate. Years ago, I was driving a racing car in Indianapolis. I was coming down the home stretch at a high rate of speed. I was holding the wheel of my car with my hand, not rigidly, but loosely, as you should hold any responsibility, and with the sensitive feel of my fingers I became aware of possible danger in the mechanism. Traveling at the high rate of speed at which I was going, I knew it would spell disaster, perhaps even death. For a moment a thin tremor of fear crossed my mind, but only for a moment, for I lifted up my mind to you know Whom, and," he said, "there is a stream of power flowing across the universe far greater than any other form of power, and I set up the antenna of my faith. I made contact with this flow of power. I affirmed its presence. I yielded myself to it. Then the most amazing thing happened to me. I could literally feel power being channeled down into me. It came flushing into me. washing away all my fear, then I had a most amazing sense of exaltation, and I was swept up with such power as I had never felt before. I knew in that moment that no matter what happened, I could bring that machine in, not by the power of my hands, but by the power of my mind. It is an astonishing demonstration of the power of the mind over material things, over conditions, over circumstances. That is the law of psycho-kinetics." "Well," I asked, "where do you find it in the Bible?" He said, "The Bible is filled with it, for does it not say: 'If you have faith even as a grain of mustard seed, and you shall say to this mountain and that great rock-like obstruction that towers impenetrably in your pathway, "Be ye removed and be ye cast into the sea out of sight, swallowed up," and shall not doubt in your heart, but shall believe that what you say shall come to pass, you shall have what >()u will need'?" "Now," he said, "I have discovered all my life that if you think disaster, you tend to create disaster; if you think failure, you tend to create failure." One of the wisest things ever said is a verse in the Bible where it makes this statement, "That which I have greatly feared has come upon me." That is true of an individual. You greatly fear over a long time, and you take to >our bosom the thing you fear. You let the American people fear the breakdown of their economic order, you let the American people fear that their institutions are no longer sound, you let the American people fear that the world has to be in competitive war, and the devilish fact is that that is what we would tend to bring upon ourselves; therefore, the great 122 American Association of School Administrators necessity of this hour is to make ourselves mentally and emotionally and intellectually and spiritually healthy by means of a resurgence of the old faith be it Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish — it makes no difference. There was one more thing I wanted to say, but I will not take up much more time here. I look over this crowd here this afternoon, and I say I feel sorry for you. You may say you don't want my sympathy, but you deserve it. I suppose many of you here are suffering with the great malady of this hour. I can't see you out there, j'ou are so far away, but you have got it, poor souls — and what is the great malady? Well, it is tension, t-e-n-s-i-o-n. This is the most nervous, high-strung generation we have ever had in this country. We don't go in, in this country, much for patron saints, but we have them. We have one. The patron saint of Britain is St. George. The patron saint of the Irish is St. Patrick. The patron saint of America is St. Vitus — nervous tension, high-strung ! Some time ago in a certain Midwestern state I made a speech one night to about a thousand business and professional men, bankers, lawyers, ministers — everybody. I arrived there a little late, got into my seat along- side of the chairman who, it later developed, was a doctor, a physician. He is one of the queerest gentlemen I have ever met in my life, a whimsical soul if there ever was one. He didn't show any enthusiasm when he saw me, and looked at me with an impassive look, so I gave him an impassive look. I didn't warm up ; neither did he. Finally he turned to me and looked me up one side and down the other from head to foot and he said, "You are a preacher, aren't you?" "Yes," I said, "how do you know?" He said, "You look like one." I turned to him, and looked him up one side and down the other from head to foot and I said, "You are a doctor, aren't you?" "Yes, how do you know?" I said, "You smell like one." [Laughter] When we got this settled, we became fast friends. Then he waved his hand toward the group of a thousand business and professional men, and he said, "Did you ever in all your life see such a pathetic crowd of people?" I said, "What's the matter with them?" He said, "They are on the way out. Thev are fast becoming extinct." "Why," I said, "do you say that?" "Why," he said, "don't you remember that great pre-historic beast known as the dinosaur that used to roam this country?" "I never met one face to face," I said, "but I have read about them." He said, "Why did the dinosaur become extinct?" "Because," I said, "he couldn't adjust to his changing climate." He said : "That is exactly right, and it is for the same reason that these modern American business and professional men are going to become extinct. They cannot adjust either to the changing and increasing high tempo of American life. Wh}-^, when I began my practice people broke down in their seventies, then in their sixties, now in their fifties and even in their forties. Wh)', I have established it as a truism that in this day Philadelphia Convention 123 if you can get a business and professional man into his forties, you have a fair chance to get him through his sixties." Then he looked at me and said, "How old are jou, brother?" [Laughter] Well, I told him — it was too bad. He said, "Don't you know at this present moment that there is already a generation of widows, and don't you know that half the money of the country right at the present time is in the hands of widows?" I said, "Vou wouldn't mind introducing me to half a dozen or so of them?" He replied: "You are too flippant. You do not appreciate the importance of this situation. I suppose in the church you are preaching against sin, or aren't you?" I said, "You are dead right. That is still the greatest problem in this country." He said: "There are too many preaching against sin, but I will give you a little advice from an old doctor and I won't charge j'ou for it. You ought to go around the country preaching not only to get people converted, but also to get their nerves converted because if you ever expect to build anything in the way of a new social structure in this countr)'^, you have got to get the kind of people to build it who have a little peace in their minds and who are not flying to pieces emotionally and nervously." I said: "Doctor, begging j^our pardon, this is your job, not mine. You are a guardian of the public health, not I. I am only the preacher, and therefore not supposed to know anything about that — your society." "Yes," he said, "I know. That is a fact, but unfortunately, my friend, we have never j^et been able to develop an instrument of sufficient sharp- ness, nor the dexterity and skill with which to use it, whereby we can go into the tangled ramifications of a man's mind, and operate for that which causes tension, namely, a diseased idea. Unfortunately, you cannot cut an idea with a knife, nor can you drive to the disease center a pill, or a therapeutic of any kind. It is the kind of thoughts men think that makes them sick, by and large." He quoted Dr. George Crile, of Cleveland, one of the most famous physicians in the country, who said that the three great maladies of modern man are fear, anger (meaning resentment), and guilt. You will notice that the first letters of those three words form the one little word f-a-g — fear, anger, guilt — fag — the depletion of energy, the drawing up of a final power, the breakdown, the inability to grapple with problems, the retreat of the personality before the issue. He said, "Now, my friend, there is no doctor in the United States who can cure these maladies." "Isn't that a pity," I said. "You mean to say there is nobody who handles this alchemy?" We sat silent a moment and then he said, "There is just one doctor, just one." He raised his hand, the long slender hand of a surgeon, and he said, "What a healer He is, what alchemy in His fingers, what genius in the 124 American Association of School Administrators method, what penetrating insight in His understanding, what healing when this Physician puts His hand upon the brain of a man torn with worry and anxiety. He alone has the ability to heal human nerves. He is the most scientific healer among us all, and," he said to me, "j^our function is not merely to deal in theology or philosophy, or metaphysics, or the technic of public worship ; you are a physician of the human soul, cooperating with a physician of the mind and the body and it is your duty wherever you get an opportunity to stand among and before the leaders of American thought to say to them before they begin the process of grappling with the issues of the hour — to tell them," said he, "from an old doctor who has served humanity for a long time, that that healthiest and most fundamental thing that they can do is to get into minds, however they get it, that thing which is described in Philippians 3." There you have it right there — bells ringing, bells ringing, schedules to meet, hurry, hurry, hurry. Is it a funeral march of American business and professional men to the grave? I have got to hurry myself to catch a train. Some day, it may come soon, we are going to get sufficient control of ourselves, of what the old doctor says will come upon us, as the greatest healing potion of all, the peace in God which passeth all understanding. This, in my humble opinion, in my experience, is a fundamental in the technic of successful living. [Applause] Members of A ASA Advisory Council and Executive Committee at luncheon, Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, March 27. SECOND GENERAL SESSION Sunday Evening, March 27 ALL-PHILADELPHIA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA PRESIDENT Goslin: One of the privileges of attendance at conventions of this Association is an opportunity to hear some of the great public- school music which has been developed in the school systems of this country. Tonight we are to hear the All-Philadelphia Senior High School Chorus and Orchestra, and the brilliant young pianist from the elementary schools here in the city — six-year-old Susan Lois Schwartz. The orchestra will open the program and will be conducted by Mr. Louis G. Wersen, director of the Division of Music Education, Philadelphia Public Schools. Mr. Wersen. [See page 217 for musical program.] We are indebted to the entire Philadelphia Public School System, but particularly to Mr. Wersen and the members of his orchestra and chorus and to Susan Lois Schwartz for the magnificent music we have heard. INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS President Goslin : I needn't call your attention to the fact that we have as our platform guests tonight the presidents and secretaries of allied organizations who are working with us in the field of education, members of the Resolutions Committee of this Association, and members of the Educational Policies Commission. I want to ask the representatives of those groups who are on the platform now to rise, and then I want to ask you to join me in expressing our appreciation for their presence. [Applause] We have three guests to whom we would like to give particular recogni- tion. They are foreign teacher friends who are in our country as the guests of the National Education Association. I want to introduce Miss Lotte Beran of Austria. [Applause] Mr. Kotaro Shinozaki from Japan. [Applause] Mr. Ryuzo Matsumine also from Japan. [Applause] We have had a very interesting and significant number of foreign guests at each of the conferences, and it has been a privilege to have them with us. HOW EDUCATION CAN WORK FOR PEACE WILLIAM F. RUSSELL, PRESIDENT, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK President Goslin: I know that each and every individual here shares the regret of the chairman of this meeting and all of us who have worked to prepare for this conference in knowing that President Eisenhower is ill and unable to be with us this evening. Worth McClure and I had an opportunity to visit with him in Washington some ten days ago and he had looked forward to being here this evening with considerable en- [125] 126 American Association of School Administrators thusiasm because it is one of the very, very few engagements that he had retained after picking up another assignment with our government. We hope that he is able to be out of his home and on the job at a very early date, but we understand that he is quite ill at this time. I want to take just a moment or two to tell you a bit about how we went about developing the general sessions for these conferences. If you have noticed your program, they are devoted to the general theme, "Education and the General Welfare." This is one of the points at which the President of the Association is humored a bit by the Executive Secretary and his staff, and by the Executive Committee of the organization. It happens to be our contention that the general welfare of our people and all people could be served if we could find a way to use the great con- structive forces at our disposal to underwrite at least three phases of our welfare: (a) if we could be assured of an opportunity to live our lives in a world of peace, (b) if we could be assured of an opportunity to live our lives in a nation dedicated to the maintenance and extension of democracy and freedom for our people, and (c) if we could retain and restore enough of the basic natural resources of our country, topsoil, and moisture, in order that we and those who come after us might have the raw materials out of which to fashion at least the standards of living which we now have — it is our contention that out of a combination of those three things, peace, freedom, raw materials with which to work, that the people could have anything they want if they are willing to work for it. It is also our belief that education represents perhaps the greatest con- structive tool at the disposal of a free people with which to find the solu- tion to the problems that gnaw away at their general welfare, and so we have taken three of the general sessions of this conference and the other conferences, and devoted one of the sessions to each of these three areas : peace, democracy, conservation of resources. We have arranged this program tonight in order to invite your thinking about the relationship of education and peace. William F. Russell was surrounded in his youth with some of the finest of American education. His experience in the field has been rich and varied. He has probably had a wider contact with education around the world than any individual among us. His study, his travels, and his work have brought him into firsthand contact with the world and its problems and its educational programs. It will be a privilege to have Dr. William F. Russell, President of Teachers College, Columbia University, direct our thinking upon the subject, "How Education Can Work for Peace." President Russell. Mr. Russell: Mr. President, on behalf of the General I want to express to you his deep regret that he could not be here tonight. He had it arranged so that if the weather were good enough for flying he would be here throughout the whole session, and if it were foggy, he would be here for twenty-five minutes and then, at the last moment, he was stricken ill ; in fact, he has been ill all this week and he has such a deep interest in public education and such a profound respect for the work of the teachers and for the superintendents of schools, that he wanted particularly to Philadelphia Convention 127 express to you his regret. I would like also to tell you of my great pleasure in having the opportunity to work under his leadership. He is a great man of peace as he was of war, and he holds not only my profound and sincere respect but also my deep affection. He is a wonderful man. li my voice appears husky it may not be the microphone. It is that I still have not recovered from the emotion of those children singing and playing before us. I cannot hear wonderful work of that kind without my- self becoming a little bit overcome. I know that Mozart played at that age, but I never thought that I would ever hear anybody else play at that age with all that skill and artistry. When the boys and girls, under able leadership, can get together and play in a team, why can't we all get together and play in a team and solve these basic problems that your President laid before you? Why can't we all, if we get together, bend education to the cause of peace? "Wars begin in the minds of men," runs the preamble to Unesco, and "hence it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be con- structed." If it is in the mind, education is involved. If it is education, then it is partly a problem for schools and other agencies for learning. There- fore it follows that war and peace, to some extent at least, result from new and better work on the part of teachers and other workers in the field of education, who help to form the minds of men. Many people believe that peace is a possible goal for education, a goal difficult and remote, but one which might be reached, provided all teachers could learn to work together in the same way, down the same track. But when we come to define that track, determine a terminus and destination, and devise a common way of work, then thoughts begin to waver and wobble. There is fog on the tracks. We agree neither upon the intermediate stages of the trip nor upon the means and methods of reach- ing them. It is strange that we teachers should be so clear as to what we want to do in the long run and so confident of our ability to do it and, at the same time, be so divided and confused as to how we should work. For confused, we undoubtedly are. For illustration I cite a list of suggestions for peace made within the last year, by teachers, administrators, citizens, individually and in various organizations and associations : To hold a World-Peace Day To hold a World-Peace Week To encourage children of various nations to write to each other To send foreign teachers to the United States and American teachers abroad To prepare textbooks on goodwill To show films on peace To prepare programs for general assemblies in schools on international relations To eliminate war from textbooks To glorify the heroes of peace, rather than heroes of war To develop a single history textbook for all the world To eliminate from textbooks statements derogatory to other nations To eliminate such songs as "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" and "Over There" To collect pencils, paper, charts, and maps to send to devastated areas To order and ship food packages To send children's literature and school libraries 128 American Association of School Administrators To beam radio programs to schools of other lands To retrain teachers to teach world-mindedness To send missionaries to propagate Christianity, which alone of the religions of the world can bring peace To teach Americanism to the rest of the world To teach democracy to the rest of the world To teach all people everywhere to think To teach the United Nations with particular reference to Unesco To develop international schools with teachers and pupils from many lands To conduct international seminars for teachers and also for members of the lay public To change education so as to foster international goodwill To beam radio programs to all the world To eradicate illiteracy in Haiti To hold summer international youth camps To assist scientists to hold international meetings To write a comprehensive history of World War II. These complex and diverse suggestions for education for peace are derived from such general premises as the following: that war has its roots in ignorance; that narrow, nationalistic ideas flourish where there is lack of understanding of other people; that jingoism can grow where the free flow of ideas is blocked ; or that since warlike attitudes and martial desires can be taught in the school, so international goodwill can be a direct object for class instruction. But we need a more precise, comprehensive, and, if you will, statesmanlike analysis. We need something to bite on. Working from these vague premises, it is only natural that we reach vague conclusions, and the result is a vague program, which is likely to have vague results. What I should like to have you do with me this evening is to attack this program from a fresh point of view. Let us forget for the moment the question of war and peace in general and the universal means of avoiding the one and of achiev- ing the other. Let us leave out the Crusades or any holy war. Let us forget the Revolutionary War, the Indian Wars, the Civil War, and the Spanish- American War, and confine our attention only to the two world wars that we have passed through in our lifetime. Then let us try to find out how the Kaiser and Hitler, how Hirohito and Tojo, modified or used education for war. Then we can see whether or not the end of peace might be served by the elimination or reversal of these processes. Then, by this process, we may arrive at a clearer understanding of the ways in which education has been or may be used to bolster wars of the type of World War I and World War II, all to the end that we may be able to propose a clearer and simpler and more statesmanlike program of education for peace. The questions then are : ( 1 ) How did the Germans and Japanese within our lifetime make use of education in the preparation for and prosecution of war? (2) How might this process be reversed in the interest of peace? (3) What is the proper program of education to follow to eliminate this kind of war? In order to understand how the Germans and Japanese prostituted education to the cause of war, it is necessary for us first to have quite clear Philadelphia Convention 129 in our minds the basic philosophy of government and life of these countries. We must recall that to the Germans and Japanese the individual human being was nothing. He lived and had his being only as a member of a supreme State. When Hitler stood on that platform high above the huge stadium at Nuremberg, he did not see thousands of individual persons before him each with a swastika on his upstretched arm. Those thousands of arms thrust high were not the arms of free individuals such as you and me. They represented the mass of the German people. Just as the number "85" on the front of a Ford does not mean 85 individual horsepowers that you can count and divide and see, so the many millions of Germans, the many millions of Japanese, were not individual children of God — each different, each a distinct human personality — but a conglomerate mass. To count them one by one gave a measure of how much fire power they would provide, how many rations were needed, how many rounds of ammunition to issue. In their minds neither war nor any other idea would begin. Ideas would arise only in the minds of the few around the leader, thence to be transmitted to the minds of the many and to be followed by them. So the leader, the emperor or the fuhrer, had merely to control the means of transmitting the ideas that had begun in their minds so that the masses of the people would accept them and follow. That is why in both Germany and Japan central authorities controlled the radio, the police, the press, and all agencies of social control. That is why educational au- thority was centralized in the state. At one time the universities of Germany had been quite free and independent of political control. Long ago Germany's schools had been in the control of the locality, particularly of local parishes and congrega- tions. Even in the time of the Kaiser each state had had its own minister of education and had held control of its schools, although Prussia was beginning to dominate by virtue of its size and power. But Hitler put all educational administration under a central ministry. The whole school system took its orders from Berlin and that meant, of course, from the Nazi leaders. These Nazis took control of every phase of education : financ- ing; teacher training, selection, promotion; curriculum and life of the school ; enforcement of compulsory attendance ; methods of teaching and life of the school ; pupil selection, promotion, and assignments. This highly centralized and controlled system of education became a powerful agency by which the few could control the minds of the many. Japan, on the other hand, had no tradition of local control to correct. Early after the opening of the islands to Western so-called culture, they had adopted the structure of the French school system with the German spirit. This French structure, fixed under Napoleon, one of the great dictators of history, was highly centralized and gave complete central control of who was to teach, how he was to be trained, what he was to teach, and in what spirit. France had been less concerned about control of who was to be taught, the building, and equipment ; but in Japan, just as in Germany, orders went down from the top and were uniformly followed. It is important for the success of a dictator, one who wants the ideas 130 American Association of School Administrators in his mind to be adopted by the minds of the many, to have these people follow him without variation. It was to the development of the habit of unquestioned obedience that the schools of Germany and Japan were dedicated. "Theirs not to reason why; theirs not to make reply; theirs but to do or die," marks the spirit of these schools. There you found memoriter teaching, recitations, repetition, and discipline, with the result not merely the orderly conduct in public, taking one's turn at the box office, waiting in line for the bus, first come, first served, characteristic of the British, but the subservient follow-the-leader, never-think-for-yourself attitude on the part of most of the people all of the time, characteristic of the Germans and Japanese. Japan buttressed this discipline of the people, this following type of education, with a state religion with the emperor a living god, which had been synthetically created out of a decadent religion followed by a few people at the time when Commodore Perry, a modern Pandora, opened this Oriental box. I was surprised, when I visited Japan, that I could find no separate courses in history and civics, and upon inquiry I was told that they were included in religious instruction. Japanese children learned, and became habituated to follow, a religious code of ethics, which was a set of rules regulating family relationships which extended upwards to include similar relationships with government officials and with the Emperor. Here was a perfect method of control of the minds and actions of the people in the direction of national policy. The schools were a perfect agency for transmitting to the people what- ever ideas entered Hirohito's or Tojo's head, whether of war or peace. Synthetic religion had no similar development in Germany, but it seems that there were beginnings; for as Hitler grew in power there developed tendencies toward a form of fuhrer worship. Mussolini thought of him- self as a god; and if we wish to peer briefly behind the Iron Curtain we know that the glass walls of Lenin's tomb and the constant adulation of Stalin make it appear that a state religion as an agency of social control has not been entirely confined to Japan. Furthermore, long before the time of Hitler, pursuant to their policy of supremacy of the state and immolation of the individual in that state, the Germans had put the parent to one side whenever the child entered school. Fathers and mothers had no say in the education of their children and, except for stated ceremonial occasions, they were permitted neither to enter the school, to criticize the teacher, nor to offer a suggestion or com- plaint. The child was taught that loyalty to country was greater than loyalty to family. Child was turned against parent, and brother against brother. The kindly sentiments of the fireside vanished before the fierce discipline of a government teacher, and attitudes learned at the mother's knee lost their force against the will of the fuhrer. In Japan no such conflict emerged, since child, brother, sister, parent, governor were equally slaves of the all-highest. But in Japan as in Germany the parent was excluded from the school, nor could he make suggestions as to the education of his child. In addition, both in Germany and Japan, teachers were servants of the Philadelphia Convention 131 State, government functionaries in their posts to do the bidding of their masters, recruited by the State, trained in government institutions at government expense, paid, promoted, retired, and pensioned by that same State — with h'ttlc initiative and discretion — theirs to serve as an instrument of the policy of the nation, or perhaps better put, the policy of little cliques of tyrants who in each land had come to power. Teachers had no right of self-direction nor membership in association with their fellows. They were servants to do the dictates of their masters. And where to find these masters? Germany for a long time had been accustomed to a double-track system of education, poor schools for the poor, paid schools for the rich, the one short, the other long, the one simple, the other fancy, the one terminal, preparing for moderate posts in life, the other preparatory to the university and the high technical schools. In the one you learned (lernen) ; in the other you studied (studiern) ; in the one you were taught by a lehrer ; in the other by a professor. Between the lehrer and the professor lay a vast social distinction. The one would not dine with the other; nor did they meet. One was trained in a low-class normal school ; the other had the privileges of the university. They differed in pay, class, and in public esteem. From the schools for the rich, the potential leaders — leaders trained apart from the people, thinking them- selves above, more capable, and better endowed than the masses. Such leaders must be found by a tyrant who washes to control his people, make them think as he does, even if he wants to make war. Here then we have a picture of the educational side of German and Japanese society that forced the world to war in 1914 and again in 1939. These wars did not begin in the minds of men in general or in the minds of very many men, but rather in the minds of a few men who had gained this terrific power over the minds of the many. Part of this power lay in the control of education. When you see a society in which ( 1 ) control of what is taught, how it is taught, and who does the teaching is centralized in one spot ; (2) in which the great mass of the people learn invariably to obey ; (3) in which there is state religion with a living god; (4) in which children are removed from their parents and parents have no say in the education of their children; (5) in which teachers are government functionaries; and (6) in which a small part of the population is given special opportunities and grows up apart from and out of sympathy with the mass of the people — then I say "Beware." Here is a society which is a danger to the peace of the world. Here is where they can put the teaching of war in the classrooms, where they can build up an iron curtain to keep out visitors and ideas, and so develop provincialism and jingoism, characteristics of a true country of the blind. We have now made an analysis of the ways in which education was used to promote these recent wars in Germany and Japan. Now let us see if by elimination, modification, or reversal of these processes, education can be turned to the cause of peace. Of course we should take the mote out of our own eye before we take the beam out of somebody else's. Properly, we should try to apply this theory to ourselves right here in the United States. But it is hard for one to assess himself, it is difficult to take one's own pulse, so let 132 American Association of School Administrators us make application, not to ourselves, but to someone else. Fortunatel}'-, two situations outside of our own land exist where we have both the opportunity and the power to create a new social order and to bend education for peace. We Americans in our occupation of Germany and Japan find ourselves masters of a large part of each of these countries and we are puzzled and perplexed about what to do. General MacArthur in Tokyo and General Clay in Berlin are military governors, and under them are military govern- ments supported by American armed force and by American money. Our problem both in Germany and Japan is obviously to keep order ; second, to put these people on their economic feet, so that we do not have to feed them; and, more importantly, to get out and leave them alone just as soon as it is safe for us to do so. But when will it be safe? When can we safely set the Germans and Japanese free ? I have been asked this question over and over again this year after two trips to Germany. We Americans believe that it will not be safe to set the Germans free until we are certain that they will not again plunge the world into war. Our policy in Germany has been directed to that purpose. The Morgenthau suggestion for making the Germans an agricultural people was based upon the theory that this would prevent Germany from going to war. The breakup of armament production and severe control of many other industries were actuated by the same purpose. Whatever we do in the line of economic and political control, we Americans have believed for a long time that one major problem is the reeducation and de-Nazification of the Germans. Some have suggested that we send American teachers ; others, that German students and teachers come to the U.S.A. ; some think that we should pluck the seeds of war from their textbooks ; some, that we should teach democracy. People ask me: Are the Germans still Nazis? Are they developing democratic ideas? How is our reeducation program working? And most of these ques- tioners, I fear, are thinking in terms of the vague and confused ideas about the relation of education to war and peace commonly held. For it can be seen that the problem of reeducating the Germans or, better put, the problem of helping the Germans to make such changes in their government, social life, and education that they in time will become safe to set free, according to our analysis, is a much bigger problem than changing a few textbooks, or teaching a few university classes, or sending a few teachers or pupils over here or there for visit and study, or establishing free flow of information. According to our analysis what has to be done is (1) develop local control, initiative, and sense of responsibility, (2) break up the academic lock-step and substitute free and modern teaching, (3) stifle all tendencies toward synthetic religious attitudes about living leaders, (4) establish cooperation between home and school, (5) develop freedom of teaching and the free teacher, willing and able to accept his responsibilities, and (6) establish a single-track system of education with differentiation of educational opportunity according to ability and zeal, not according to social status, wealth, or political ideas. It is a very difficult problem and one that may take a long time fully to solve, but a substantial start is being made. To change a system of highly centralized control into one of local initia- Philadelphia Cox\'ention 133 tive, power, and responsibility is no easy task. We in the United States when we framed the Constitution were able to guard local control in our Constitution and reserve great powers to the states and localities, but we must remember that we had already had 167 years of experience in local self-government. In fact, the period from the inauguration of George Wash- ington as first President of the United States up to tonight is a full decade shorter than the period from the landing on Plymouth Rock to 1789. So it may take a long time to develop in Germany any sense of local control. Last spring, when we talked about this problem in Germany, I was told that it was exceedingly difScult to enlist any interest by local people in a community project. The people simply would not turn out. If the roof leaked in the schoolhouse, they would write to the minister of education. If some strangers came to town who needed help, a petition for aid would be sent to the central authorities. In one town in Bavaria, there was a head of an elementary school, a head of a secondary school, and a head of a vocational school, each of whom had lived in that town for as much as a score of years and yet they had never met. Each followed orders from a different section of a central authority. But AMG resolved to find out whether or not community organizations were possible in postwar Germany. Ralph Gallagher, now supervising principal of the Bound Brook, New Jersey, schools, was sent to Germany to see what he could do to stimulate local interest. He chose for pilot tests five towns in Bavaria, apparently an unfavorable situation. Under three months of his skilled leadership these five toAvns developed community councils with a great deal of variation in the schools and an enormous and enthusias- tic local interest. And now Dr. Grace has brought into his headquarters at Nuremberg for training twenty-five selected AMG oflficers, each of whom after a period of preparation will try to organize five communities within the next three months. It appears that it is quite possible to develop com- munity councils and local boards of education in Germany; and once they get going and community interest is aroused, then the higher officials and the lawmaking bodies can begin with profit to change school law and to develop a system of local controls. It is not a question of talk about democ- racy (which word, by the way, the Russians use more frequently than we do), nor of talk about the education for Americanism — rather it is to arouse the parents and friends of the local schools to do their part. The change from formal disciplinary memoriter methods of teaching to new education is on its way: first, stimulated by workshops for the staffs of teacher-training institutions, in particular through a special insti- tute that is being set up this summer; second, by sending selected members of such staffs to the U.S.A. for extended study; and third, by demonstration in a number of American schools that have been organized for the education of the children of Americans resident in Germany, most of whom are mem- bers of the American Military Government. Visits by German teachers to these schools and participation in workshops and other plans for the training of teachers in service will begin to infiltrate the German schools with new and modern practices, and I am confident that significant changes will follow. 134 American Association of School Administrators So far as the question of synthetic reh'gion is concerned, I know that you would be interested in an extended discussion of the religious problem in Germany. I have conferred with a good many officers whose main task it is to work on the problem of religious affairs, but time to deal with this problem would be inappropriate in a talk of this kind. Suffice it to say that, curiously enough, the same centralized control and the same absence of local initiative and effort that we found in education have been characteristic of the organ- ized religious life of Germany. Higher authorities, both Catholic and Protes- tant, used to make their pronouncements, but relatively little happened on the local level, and religious affairs officers in AMG tell me that, through the development of local committees and local workers, there is a big strengthen- ing of religion in Germany right now, and this, of course, will stop any tendencies toward a synthetic religion. School laws and administrative practices are being modified, gradually to be sure, to make parent participation more useful. Teachers are being encouraged to participate in voluntary associations. The single-track system is a part of the school law of each of the five American states, even to the extent of common and joint training of prospective elementary and second- ary teachers, a thing unheard of in prewar Germany. Some of this develop- ment is only on paper ; some of the legal changes are still being debated ; but the move toward a common school sj'stem for all children, with differ- entiation according to ability, purpose, and capability of hard work is defi- nitely on the way to realization. Now you have before you the nub of the problem of the reeducation of the Germans. You will note that I have said little about de-Nazification, reorganization of textbooks, teaching of international goodwill, or of the other ideas of education for peace that have been commonly advanced. I have made no mention of the office that Unesco has opened in Stuttgart, which announces that it is there to assist in the reeducation of the Germans, and I fear from what I have read in the newspapers that the purpose of this office is to assist in textbook reorganization, interchange of persons, free flow of information, and other activities supposedly basic to education for peace upon which that agency has thus far embarked. But it seems to me that, worthy as these objectives are, they are not basic to the reeducation of the Nazis for peace. If this analysis of mine is correct, if I have accurately judged the situation, then you can see that education for peace — by my limi- tation, education to avert that kind of world war which we have just gone through twice — is identical with education for liberty. If we study the Declaration of Independence, the early state constitu- tions, the Constitution of the United States as amended, the Federalist Papers, and the writings of the Fathers, we can see that the American dream was of a society and government in which the minds of the few could not control the minds of the many. The Fathers had lived under tyranny. When they spoke of government dedicated to liberty and equality, they meant a government opposed to tyranny and privilege. Jefferson said, "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility to any form of tyranny over the mind and purpose of man." The Fathers foresaw that however wise the people might be, however careful in the selection of leaders, sooner or later they Philadelphia Convention 135 inij2:ht choose for office a potential tyrant. This is why they introduced the system of checks and balances, why they stressed local control, why they devised delaying; procedures, that a possible Hitler or Tojo niif^ht not be able permanently to capture the minds of the people. They wanted no mass of blind followers, following the blind. So, education was not mentioned in the Constitution. It was included in few of the original state constitutions. In general, the control of schools was left in the hands of the parents and persons close to home. Many of the early presidents proposed a federal system of schools, federally supported, but the people of the United States, unconsciously perhaps, never acted upon these suggestions, fearful of poten- tial tyranny over the minds of the many. In early America, even if there were formal and disciplinary methods within the schools, there was such a free population, so many were facing the novelties of this new society and of this wilderness, there was so much inventiveness and individuality on the parts of individual citizens, that the superimposition of a European, formal, memoriter method of teaching had relatively little effect. But certainly it is in America, beyond any other country in the world, that new education had its start and that new and progressive methods of teaching are being fol- lowed. Certainly on the American scene, teachers have been individuals, not part of any state police force. They have initiative, they take responsibility, and never have they followed the orders of any one minister of education. One weak spot is the private school. Private schools were early absorbed in a common system of public schools, and now in the twentieth century the sec- ondary school that used to be reserved for the few is as much a school for the mass of the people as only the early elementary schools once were. The private school, run for pay for the children of the wealthy, is diminishing in impor- tance so far as the training of our leaders is concerned. We have always been a God-fearing people and religion has played an important role in the govern- ment and life. We have developed a government truly of the people, actually for the people, and in fact run by the people. It was made for the good of all, and while we have had wars for a variety of reasons, no one can say that World War I or World War II was caused by this liberty-loving Ameri- can people. If then \ou propose to bend education for peace in our own land it is identical with the strengthening of the forces of liberty and in checking the trend toward tyranny. And if we wish to play our part in developing such liberty everywhere, among all peoples of the world, our task is also clear. It is education for liberty in all of its forms. I happen to be working through the World Organization of the Teaching Profession, an organization set up under the inspiration of the National Education Association of the United States, but operated by an executive committee composed of a Canadian, an Englishman, a Scot, an Ulsterman, a Swiss, and a Chinese. We are devoting this organization to the cause of education for peace and we are proposing to our constituent associations, now consisting of the most im- portant teachers associations in each of twenty-two countries, to use the organized work of teachers In their voluntary associations for the kind of program for peace that I have outlined to you tonight — the development of local control, the introduction of modern methods of teaching, the strength- 136 American Association of School Administrators ening of religion, cooperation of home and school, the development of the free teacher, and the single-track system of education. This is no easy task, but it is one worthy of the major efforts on the part of free teachers, and I have every confidence that, difficult as the task may be, we are going to make a dent on it and have success. I also think that Unesco — the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations — the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Interna- tional Bureau of Education, and other organizations devoted to peace through education should seriously consider whether or not their efforts should be redirected to a better and more promising line of activity than in the past. Such programs as interchange of persons, free flow of information, direct teaching of international understanding and goodwill, and research will be of little avail unless the basic considerations of educational adminis- tration, organization, and management here sketched are first considered and solved. Only then can such great organizations use substantial sums of money at their disposal in profitable directions. It is to be regretted that owing to limitations of time it has been impossible to document the points of this analysis as completely as would be desirable. Each point that has been made is capable of elaboration and illustration. Relatively little has been said about the Japanese problem. Almost every- thing could apply equally well to Soviet Russia today. I hope that you will consider this analysis with care, determine whether or not the six major avenues of education for peace that I have sketched are worthy of consider- ation, add others to them if you think wise, eliminate or combine some of them ; but by this process of thought arrive at a clearer understanding of the true relation of education to peace or war, that is, to the kind of war that has troubled us within our lifetime. Then there may be an end to the wobble and waver in our thoughts. Then we may reach agreement upon a wise and practical and statesmanlike plan of action for the relating of edu- cation to peace, for the elimination of war as a means of the settlement of international disputes. Then the time will come when we — teachers, parents, principals, superintendents of schools, board members, citizens, legislators, governors, of all the world — may join unitedly in a vast and mighty and practical program of education for peace and liberty — ^worthy of the major efforts by us all from now on. [Applause] President Goslin : Just one moment, please. A suggestion has come forward that we send from this audience a telegram to General Eisenhower expressing our goodwill and hope that he is recovered at an early date. Would you like to do it? [Applause] We will represent you as well as we can in sending the word. The next general session is tomorrow morning. There will be an organ prelude at nine o'clock and the program is to start promptly at nine-thirty. We are adjourned. THIRD GENERAL SESSION Monday Morning, March 28 THE CONVENTION EXHIBIT BERT CHOLET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION [Mr. Cholet extended greetings at the three regional conventions in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. For text of his remarks, see page 53.] THE 1949 YY.AR'^OOYL— AMERICAN SCHOOL BUILDINGS HOMER W. ANDERSON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS; MEMBER, YEARBOOK COMMISSION President Goslin : The American Association of School Administrators has published twenty-seven yearbooks. The last one is on school buildings. It comes at a particularly good time. We think this Commission has done an excellent job and that their work is, in turn, going to influence the nature and quality of housing of literally millions of school children in the years that lie ahead. I want to introduce Homer W. Anderson, a member of the yearbook commission which developed the work of America?! School Buildings and who will tell us a bit about it. Mr. Anderson: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: At the break- fast table next to where I ate my breakfast this morning, I heard this very significant remark. There were four men at the table and one of them said, "Well, the Yearbook is going to be dn\" So they are not here this morning. Now, the yearbook I am presenting is a very unusual book. It is white. I have never seen a yearbook that was white before, hut you see we had a chairman, Warren White, superintendent of schools of Dallas, so we couldn't do anything but make it white. The Yearbook Commission started out all right, but we had two casualties on the way. There were five superintendents of schools, one architect, and two college professors, and miscellaneous experts. Two of the superintendents became college professors during their term of office as Commissioners of the Yearbook. Outside of that, we had no other casualties. In the face of unprecedented school building needs in the United States, the Twenty-Seventh Yearbook on American School Buildinqs is an unusually timely publication. For this we can thank President Henry H. Hill who selected the topic and appointed the commission in 1947. The aim of the Yearbook is to help boards of education, school superintendents, and architects solve the problem of providing America's children with adequate and effective housing accommodations. It should be a valuable [137] 138 American Association of School Administrators guide in the task of formulating the policies which determine the character of the school plant. It presents the best known technics for planning schools to meet the needs of the educational program, for providing for the safety of children, for economies in construction, maintenance and operation, and for relating the cost of school buildings to the financial ability of the community. The Yearbook should be of tremendous value to everyone having any responsibility or any interest whatsoever in the community's schools, its playgrounds, and the diversified activities and facilities needed for the education of its children. As a guide and work of reference, school board members, superin- tendents, principals, teachers, laymen, architects, and engineers who may participate in the formulation of policies and the preparation of educational and architectural specifications and plans will find the book of great service. I should like to list briefly a number of important issues with which, because of their importance, the Yearbook treats in some detail. 1. In planning a school building program, many preliminary studies must be made. Since school buildings are never built for the past, or even for the present, but always for the future, educational and community trends must be given careful consideration. Many excellent school practices have become established trends in education. These must be recognized in planning a building program or a new building. I need only to call your attention to the definite trend towards smaller classes and larger classrooms; to the extension of education to include nursery schools, kindergartens, junior or community colleges, and adult education ; to the elimination of basements ; to the new functional design of buildings and their consequent architectural simplicity. Trends in the community are likewise important. Cities change. They grow, the population shifts, neighborhoods change in character, business districts and manufacturing areas encroach on residential districts. Careful planning for the future cannot escape the study and acceptance of the firm trends in education and community development. 2. Basic educational and organizational policies must be formulated. The Yearbook points out important policies which must form the basis for planning school plants. For instance, shall education in music and art, in health and physical education, and in the vocations be provided? Policies which define the scope of the instructional program determine the character of the building. What shall be the organization of the schools? Which is the best for any given communit^^ — the 8-4, the 7-3-3, the 7-3-3-2, or the 7-4-4 plan of organization ? Shall the school plant make provisions for community uses, recreational facilities, camping, and summer play- ground programs? Basic educational and organizational policies are determined by each local community in the United States. Since this grave responsibility is so vested, it behooves every American community to base its education on the best policies within its power to determine. 3. A master plan of the ultimate future school plant is necessary if economy and educational effectiveness are to result from future building Philadelphia Convention 139 programs. The Yearbook contends that no steps in any building program should be undertaken before the total future plant needed by the school community has been determined. Such a master plan lays the foundations for an economic, educationally sound school plant by a long-range plan for all the schools needed within the school community's boundaries. It will avoid the mistakes of too many buildings often located by pressure instead of by scientific methods. Such mistakes are often experienced when school plants have grown up without the benefit of a master plan. 4. The school plant must fit the needs of the educational program. This means school sites, classrooms, laboratories, shops, the auditorium, the play- room, the library, the office unit, and auxiliary service, in fact everything which goes into the building program must be justified on the basis of its functional values in the achievement of the educational program. Many schools are wasteful and inefficient because they have not been planned to fit the program and the students involved in its operation. Not only should each unit be carefully planned, but the various parts of the building must be correctly assembled to form a functional whole. The work of functional planning correctly done determines whether a school will be built or just another building. 5. The school plant must be safe, sanitary, and cheerful. The Yearbook devotes two or three chapters to these topics. You will find excellent suggestions on safety and sanitation. An entire chapter is devoted to light- ing and color to make the classroom cheerful, easy on the eyes, and a stimulant to the growth of children. 6. The school building must be economical. The Yearbook points out that economy in school buildings can be effected by judicious choice of material u'^ed in construction, by elimination of waste space, by holding ceiling heights to a minimum, by designing flat-top roofs instead of pitched roof«, eliminating basements, and by employing simple exterior design. The Yearbook Commission was unable to find at this time any significant differences in the cost of one or two story buildings. Where adequate sites cannot be secured, two story buildings, of course, conserve valuable land for the playgrounds. 7. Many buildings should be rehabilitated rather than replaced. Build- ings which are correctly located and which can be made safe, sanitary, pleasant, and economical to maintain and operate should be improved by a sound program of rehabilitation. Examples are given of such programs. The Yearbook offers many suggestions of what may be done in any commu- nity to rehabilitate buildings which have been used twenty, thirty, or even forty years. To make such a building safer it may be necessary to relocate the heating plant outside of the building. Some floors need to be sanded, refinishcd, relaid ; others should be covered with linoleum or asphalt tile. Entire buildings can be made cheerful and pleasant by modernizing the artificial lighting equipment, by painting walls and all woodwork in light pastel shades, and replacing blackboards with green chalkboards and light colored bulletin boards. 8. An important aspect of any building program is the policy employed 140 American Association of School Administrators in financing a community's largest single expenditure. The Yearbook points out, of course, that the cheapest way of financing school buildings is by the pay-as-you-go method. However, most communities have built up needs which require too great an expenditure to employ this method. Many cities are also facing large expansion in school enrolment due both to general growth in population and to the birth rate. The Yearbook, therefore, recommends consideration of a sensible borrow- ing program, not to exceed twenty years in duration. Bonds should be serial bonds paid off at the rate of one-twentieth each j'ear. This is a sound policy since school buildings will be used at least twice as long as the longest term of the bonds. The cost of the plant is shared by present and future taxpayers and beneficiaries. It should be mentioned that at this moment school districts are disposing of school bonds at quite favorable rates of interest. 9. The responsibility for successfully engaging in school building plan- ning and construction rests with the board of education and the super- intendent of schools. The board should exercise its usual function of policy making. It must study and adopt those policies which are basic to good school programs and sound planning in its community. It should delegate to the superintendent of schools such duties and powers for which he as the professionally trained administrator should be held responsible. The responsibility of the board and the superintendent extends to the duty of evaluating their own competence in the scientific aspects of the functional planning of the basic master plan and the buildings to be built, and to emplo}^ expert services when, in their considered opinion, the need for such service exists. The board is responsible too for the selection of com- petent architectural and engineering services, for securing legal advice on bond sales, contracts, and the acquisition of sites. Chapter XIX lists the major steps in a building program. It reveals in a striking manner the details for which a board of education and the superintendent and his staff are responsible. The Commission does not pretend that all problems which arise in build- ing schools have been answered within the covers of the Yearbook. A chapter is therefore devoted to "Unanswered Questions." Then, too, "Selected References" and "Suggested Sources of Information" are included for those who may wish to study the problem beyond the scope of the Yearbook. As a representative of the 1949 Commission, I humbly present the Twenty-Seventh Yearbook of the AASA on American school buildings with the hope that it will help us build better schools. [Applause] INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS President Goslin: I should like to recognize John W. Lewis, super- intendent of the Baltimore schools, who is on the stage. Mr. Lewis is a member of the 1949 Yearbook Commission. Thank you. [Applause] I want to spend a moment identifying for you the very significant group of platform guests this morning. In the first place I want to call on David H. Philadelphia Convention 141 Stewart, President of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, to stand and remain standing; while I make a little announcement for the two of us. [See Pennsylvania Hospitality Hour, paj^e 159.] Now, I hear the superintendents of schools ask themselves seriously and sometimes facetiously why we wanted to be superintendents of schools, but on occasion I ask myself why does one want to be a member of the board of education. On the other hand, when you begin to think through the fact that most of us in American life have thought out some areas in which to serve our community, our nation, and our society, I think there has been a growing understanding that perhaps no other civic opportunity can match the opportunity and responsibility of membership on a board of education in America, and so I should like particularly to recognize the very great contribution which has been made to our nation and to education in this country by the unselfish and distinguished service of literally thou- sands of our citizens who have served with us in the cause of education and as members of the boards of education in this country. I should like in connection with this statement to introduce Mr. Winston ]]. Keck, of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and Mr. Arthur J. Crowley, a past-president of the National School Boards Associa- tion, and ask them to stand. Will you tell the members of the boards of education through these two representatives of our appreciation of their services to American education. [Applause] I think really one of the exciting and thoroughly productive experiences which we have had in connection with this series of conferences across America, has been the very excellent relationships and the fine spirit of cooperation between the Association and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. We have had, under the leadership of E. T. McSwain, whom I saw come in a moment ago, two very excellent discussion groups, one at San Francisco and another in St. Louis, and the third one is scheduled for this afternoon. In addition we have had with us throughout each of the other two conferences, and have also with us for this conference, very splendid representation of the national and state oflRcers of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and we have here this morning the state presidents from a number of the states in this area of America, led by Mrs. A. J. Nicely, a vicepresident of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. I understand that the Congresses represented here this morning have enrolled more than two million members. I have heard a number of times in recent years doubt expressed whether there is another organiza- tion on the American scene with anything like the potential for good, par- ticularly as it relates to child welfare and the development of education, as the parent-teacher association with its program in this country. It is a privilege and a very real source of encouragement to have such a significant representation of the leaders in this movement as our guests this morning. I shall ask them to stand and will you express our appreciation to them. [Applause] 142 American Association of School Administrators COMMUNITY ACTION FOR DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION ROY E. LARSEN, PRESIDENT, TIME, INCORPORATED, NEW YORK, NEW YORK President Goslin : You will recall our comments last night about the development of the general sessions for this series of conferences that we are trying to lay emphasis on the relationship between education and the general welfare of our people. We invited }'our thinking last night to the general theme of "Education and World Peace." We move this morning to a consideration of the relationship of educa- tion to the maintenance and extension of democracy and freedom in Amer- ican life. In America, public education has represented an expression of the people about the development of their children and the welfare of their institutions and ideas. Public education in our land cannot rise above the level of interest, understanding, and concern of the rank and file of our citizens. We have brought to this platform this morning a layman who has demonstrated many times his interest in education and his awareness of the relationship of the public schools to the maintenance and extension of our American heritage. Roy E. Larsen, president of Time, Incor- porated, will discuss "Community Action for Democratic Education." Mr. Larsen! Mr. Larsen : Mr. President, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentle- men : I appreciate the honor of speaking before this important meeting of educators. I think the most useful message that I, as a layman, can bring to you today is this: I should like to confirm the impression many of you must have that busy laymen — businessmen, publishers, labor leaders, lawyers — are be- coming deeply interested in the problems, needs, and programs of the public schools of our country. It is true that I must base this confirmation on my own personal observations. But, in the past two years, I have made many opportunities to talk with neighbors in my own community, friends in other cities, business friends in New York, about our public schools. All of you here know what is right about our public schools and what is wrong with them. I do not pretend to know, but I am trying to find out. The important thing is that I am meeting more and more laymen who are also trying to find out. The thing that interests me about many of the people who are taking an interest for the first time in the public schools is that they are the kind of people who, traditionally, have been involved with the responsibility for our voluntary institutions — our hospitals, our libraries, and welfare organiza- tions; who have been called to trusteeships of endowed universities and private schools. The thing that strikes me is that they are not people who are interested in public education primarily because they have children in the public schools. Most of them have not. If they have children of school age, they are more apt to be in private schools. So I sense here an interest that transcends a personal involvement — an interest that potentially may Philadelphia Convention 143 extend beyond that of the usual candidates for membership in the many excellent parent-teacher associations, and suggests some excellent new candi- dates for election or appointment to boards of education. For the most part, this interest is a latent interest, a troubled interest. But it is a potentially powerful interest which only lacks some catalytic agent or real crisis or emergency to spark it into action. It troubles these people, for example, that there are not more candidates for the teaching profession among the intelligent members of the up-coming generation, just as it has troubled all of you. These people feel that the teaching profession should be one of the great callings in our country, and that leads them to the realization that the responsibility of our teachers today is perhaps the greatest in the country. I find only one parallel in all the history of our country for what may develop from this present concern of our citizens for their public schools. One hundred and twenty-five years ago, the gap between the promise of a free school system in the United States and the reality was so great that it was obvious that, unless something was done, there would be no public- school system. It was in these circumstances that, starting in one town in Massachusetts, a great citizen movement developed which brought our public schools from a struggling, puny, early ideal of some of our founding fathers into a recognized and important part of our democratic system. Countless laymen became genuinely excited about the prospect of building up a great free public-school system. The American Lyceum, an organization formed in 1826, led this tremendous upsurge in public activity. Within two years of the Lyceum's founding, more than fifty societies had been organ- ized. In 1831 a national lyceum was formed and a year later it was reported that there were, in addition to numerous state and county lyceums, nine hundred such institutions throughout the United States. How many citi- zens altogether were actively engaged in this great uprising is not recorded but, in Salem, Massachusetts, there were twelve hundred members of a local lyceum! Contemporaneously, a thirty-seven-year-old lawyer named Horace Mann began to take an active interest in the public affairs of his state of ]\Iassa- chusetts. Later, when the interest of the thousands of citizens in their schools was on the wane, the crusading influence of Horace Mann provided the stimulus for progress in educational methods and content. Before his death, this one citizen lawyer-turned-educator had vindicated his own dying advice: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." Thus, an inspired public interest came to the rescue of the sickly public schools of this nation, and an inspired individual breathed integrity and purpose into them. On this foundation, say the authors of The School in the American Social Order : "The closing decades of the nineteenth century wit- nessed the beginnings of an educational system which was truly phenomenal. It is no exaggeration to say that no other nation in the world has ever developed an educational system so extensive and so freely open to its vouth. . . ." 144 American Association of School Administrators But public interest did not grow with the school system. Instead, the interest of the citizenry in their schools began to lag, and gradually died out. At the height of the earlier public interest, provisions had been made for citizen representation in the affairs of the schools. Enthusiastic laymen had been drawn into the work of local and state boards of education. They took a strong initiative in speaking and working for the schools in municipal government, in state legislatures, and in Congress. With the waning of widespread public interest, however, as the American Lyceum was dying out, the citizen tended to delegate his responsibility for the affairs of the schools to his elected officials, his board of education and school administrators. Fewer and fewer citizens concerned themselves with the plans and operations of their own schools and the all-important place of the public schools in the community and the nation. This unfortunate apathy, coming at a time when the schools most needed support, was to aggravate the astounding development that has taken place in the American public-school system since the turn of the century. Enrolments, costs, needs, and requirements have changed and expanded so rapidly in response to the speed of the development of our age that the histories have not been able to keep pace with them. Contemporary reports on these changes have been outdated soon after they have been published. Much of this veritable revolution has taken place in my adult lifetime. If it is true, as some educators say, that day-to-day practice in many public schools is fifty years behind what leading educators have found to be best; and if it is further true that the public is twenty-five years behind the day-to-day practice, no wonder that so many of my contemporaries are confused ! No wonder that your facilities are, for the most part, outmoded, and that your budgets are so hard to meet ! To the increase of ninety times in secondary-school enrolments (against a population increase of three times) from the turn of the century to the beginning of World War II, must be added the inflation brought on by the war. The result is a situation in our public schools without parallel of any kind, anywhere, at any time. Today, the layman who asks for a picture of the U. S. public-school system will find that national standards or national statistics are very nearly meaningless. Indicative, however, is the fact that we are spending but 1.5 percent of our present national income for public education; that four million students across the land are receiving an obsolete education; that wartime tests found ten million illiterates in this most powerful, richest country in the world. No need to tell the layman that teachers' salaries are out of line with the new standards of income developed in this country for its productive workers. He must retreat in dismay from the national picture and look at his own state and community for comparisons. He may find that his state has some five thousand school districts or that it has fewer than one hundred. He may find that the money for current operating expenses per pupil is one-quarter that available in another state, or that the value of school prop- Philadelphia Convention 145 erty per pupil in liis state is but one-seveiuh of what it is in another. He may find, if he looks hopefully toward federal aid, that the methods of dis- tributing school funds in his state are hopelessly antiquated and unfair. In fact, he will find conditions summed up by an outstanding journalist as a veritable crisis. As I see it, it is a crisis far more serious than the crisis of a century ago. Mr. Benjamin Fine, education editor of the Neiu York Times, writes : One hundred and fifty years ago the United States might have prospered willi- out free education for all. Then we were a simple, agrarian land, with com- parati\ely easy decisions to make. But now, witii the rapid stiides in our sci' ntitic and technological development, with the undreamed-of media of mass communi- rati'^n at our command, with our word leadership at stake ... it is difficult lO fulfill our role unless we are fully informed and deeply conscious of our obliga- tions. It is in the light of this speed of development of our age that the problem of the schools assumes paramount importance. The problem of the schools is an urgent matter — as urgent as any we now face as a nation. One thing is sure: the troubled layman will reach the conclusion very quickly that the public schools are face to face with conditions which the school superintendent cannot remedy alone, nor the board of education, nor the local parent-teacher association, if there is one. These are basic conditions which can be solved only by an aroused citizenry. The national and the state situations are, of course, only summings-up, or worse still, averages of the conditions in the individual communities. But, coming back to the national scene and, in the light of today's world crisis, ree.xamining the basic elements and promises of our democracy, the aroused layman makes two rediscoveries: first, that free education and equality of educational opportunity constitute one of the greatest promises — perhaps the greatest promise — and most meaningful expression of our democracy. The G.I. "Hill of Rights" and the astounding enrolments under it of millions of new adult Americans have created a pressure for the ful- filment of the promise of equality of educational opportunity which will reverberate for the rest of your lifetime and mine; and it will bring about changes in public education now long overdue. These pressures are not arising only from idealism. They spring from good, sound, hard-headed considerations, too: from the intense desire to give one's children the best education possible ; from the desire to produce an intelligent, literate electorate, and educated, trained workmen. Businessmen have learned — and have seen confirmed in an excellent study by Dr. Harold Clark of Columbia University, made for the United States Chamber of Commerce — that a direct relation exists between educa- tion and dollar sales, county by county, throughout the United States. It is argued by some that machines are doing away with the need for trained workers. The contrary is the reality. Modern machines are requiring more skilled and more trained workers. Any business or labor statistics for any industrial state will confirm that fact. What a powerful combination of forces in this country when progressive business and labor leaders join 146 American Association of School Administrators with G.I. parents for the same end — to improve both the quantity and the quality of education in their communities! The parents of a generation ago, for the most part, were not high-school graduates. The parents of today, for the most part, are. A generation ago, there were less than one million parents who had any college education. Today, there are nearly seven million parents who have had college education. A generation ago, few boys or girls in the lower in- come groups were economically able to have a college education, even if they were well qualified for it. Today, college education for qualified youngsters is much less a problem of economics. There are millions of high- school- or college-educated parents who are determined that their young- sters are going to get a public-school education which will qualify them either for college or, if unqualified for higher education, an education which will make their children, nevertheless, responsible educated citizens. So, you have in your communities a new generation of parents who are taking few things for granted. They were graduates, not so long ago, of your schools. I cannot conceive, from what I know of them in connection with other affairs, of their being as apathetic about their public schools as their parents were before them. Already, we are seeing the vanguard of this new generation in action. We are seeing the effect, on local councils and state legislatures, of the public interest which is developing in public edu- cation. We are seeing the start of larger school appropriations and as a result, for one thing, higher pay for teachers. These manifestations of growing public interest and concern are coming through the normal channels, but some feel that the effect is neither effec- tive enough nor quick enough to meet the needs of their communities. Just two years ago, two young housewives in Arlington, Virginia, put their heads together over the backyard fence to figure out why the Arling- ton schools had no kindergarten and why school closed at noon for their first-graders. They were intelligent young women. They went to the office of the NEA in Washington and found that other communities did have public kindergartens and did have schools that kept open later than noon. The young husbands of these young mothers became interested and took a look at Arlington's school system. They found that, while three new schools had been built, overcrowding was still acute in Arlington. Arling- ton, it is true, had had a wartime boom in population. But they found the school system archaically substandard, the school board appointed by a one-party state machine. The Arlington Citizens Committee for School Improvement was started. In these two short years it has grown to fourteen hundred members. They have been directly responsible for voting two bond issues for construction and upgrading of teachers' salaries. They changed the school board from an appointive to an elected board which, by their sights, was a better arrangement for their community, after a battle which went all the way to the state supreme court. In the nearby state of Delaware, a joung du Pont executive agreed to serve as a substitute for his wife on a parent-teacher committee to investi- gate teachers' salaries in Wilmington. The young man soon found himself s Philadelphia Convention 147 deep in the affairs of the public education of Delaware. The lay committee he formed included 150 representatives of the state's leading civic organiza- tions. It has rewritten the state's school laws in laymen's language, has published descriptions of every school plant in the state, has held forums, and initiated petitions and resolutions on behalf of the schools. It is credited with bringing about an increase in teachers' salaries and with making public-school issues a major issue in the last campaign for the governor- hip. Such cases of action by citizens independent of the established authorities are the exception. They will not be the exception in the near future where "educational slum" conditions continue to exist and where the established authorities are unable or unwilling to change the over-all condition or any important phase of the school work. What is not the exception today is the growing number of school ad- ministrators who are capturing the interest of their communities through well-thought-out and well-directed plans for responsible participation of laymen in the development of the public-school program. One of the most effective efforts I have encountered is the program worked out by the New York State Education Department on Community Participation in Educa- tional Planning. It suggested a postwar survey by the community's leading businessmen of the near future development of their town, wnth emphasis on the inevitable requirements of the growing school population. This simple, straight-forward method of involving a town's business leaders in a school study proved effective in most of the communities in which it was em- ployed. The secret is obvious: such a program engages the business or professional man in an extension of his own business activity; it offers an easy adaptation of his experience to the problems of the schools. The manual outlining the plan sent to the school administrators carried one particular suggestion with regard to the kind of laymen who should be drawn into responsible public-school activity. This suggestion is one which I venture, as a businessman, to endorse. It is this: "Choose busy people — they are usu- ally the most able laymen in your community." Recently I have been privileged to receive the new booklet put out by the Metropolitan School Study Council, called Public Action for Powerful Schools. This, it seems to me, is a veritable bible on how educators can involve busy citizens in a community in the affairs of its schools. It seems to me that, were its suggestions followed, surely no citizen with any pub- lic interest, any community spirit at all, could fail to be made aware of the fine opportunities for an important service to his community — a service which inevitably would benefit himself. But you know better than I how these things are done. You also know that effective, widespread community participation on behalf of the public schools is still more theory than fact. You have tried in the past — and doubtless have been discouraged by the results — to engage effective, re- sponsible citizen-group support. I urge you now to try again. And I base this plea on the new circumstances existing today — new in that they date back no more than a few years. I am sure the Metropolitan School Study 148 American Associatiox of School Administrators Council has discovered that fact in its successful efforts to bring the laymen of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut into the work of their schools. And I am sure the New England School Development Council is making a similar discovery about the receptivity of laymen to its invitations to join in the schools' work. Dr. John L. Miller, the superintendent of schools at Great Neck, Long Island, has proved it there. In Great Neck, groups of citizens, representative of the entire community and its organizations in the community, have brought good results, both tangible and intangible, in their community action for democratic education. These groups have been active only a few years. And, as one very tangible result of their activities, the schools of Great Neck have available to them more than double their previous funds. Dr. Julius Warren, superintendent of schools in University City, Mis- souri, has proved the same thing. And I know there are other instances of which I do not happen to have direct knowledge. Some of you may be thinking that these examples deal too exclusively with more prosperous communities, and would not apply to the poorer com- munities. It is true that the citizens of higher income communities, once aroused to the problem of their schools, are apt to show more initiative in working for improved education. But this is not and need not always be the case. The effective committee for Kentucky is an outstanding case in point: Some of the remarkable improvements it has brought about in Kentucky's public schools have been achieved in the poorer communities. These growing instances prove, I believe, that this is a time when, de- spite discouraging experience of the past, you can enrol the best citizens of your community as partners in your enterprise. It is a time when you can revitalize an existing PTA organization by encouraging an extension of their interests to basic problems of the school. If the present members can- not or will not assume such added responsibility, perhaps others can be brought in who can and will. The chamber of commerce and local union headquarters, other business and fraternal organizations, are today suscep- tible to a sincere invitation to partnership. Now is the time to redouble the efforts you are making to enrol the interest of these citizens — and not just as advisers and temporary consultants, but as full-fledged partners. Now is the time to give them more responsibility, to foster their understanding, to develop all the cooperative resources in your community necessary to meet the promise of American public education. Over the last several decades, all of us have felt the pull of forces cal- culated to give us an impersonal approach to our world. We have been under great pressure to think of "historical forces," "economic man," the impersonal and depersonalized "isms" of Marx, Spengler, and the col- lectivists and totalitarian-minded generally. Individual men and women — and children — have tended to become the forgotten people of our modern account of our world. Our schools, because they are extremely sensitive to social climates, have particularly felt the confusing and often dispiriting effects of these impersonal and anti-personal ideas. Men of goodwill in our age are engaged in a great struggle to re- Philadelphia Convention 149 capture the sense of each man's individual worth, and with it, of the worthwhilcness of each individual effort. All of us, in our communities, must recover our sense of the importance of people — the source of each community's true assets, and of the true assets of this great nation. It is a fact that we tend to underestimate the influence of local groups in the solution of the larger problems. We tend to underestimate the in- fluence of small groups or, for that matter, the influence of even one de- termined and resourceful citizen. Certainly the need is very great for all Americans to recover a sense of personal participation in the basic decisions of our national life. The indi- vidual very much needs to recover a sense of the value of his personal par- ticipation in our democracy. Our public schools offer him a unique op- portunity to recover this sense of participation. More than that, the layman who is brought into a close working partnership with the public schools will discover new enthusiasms for the American system itself. Sixty years ago, Andrew Carnegie wrote: "The free common school system of the land is probably, after all, the greatest single power in the unifying process which is producing the new American race." His words should apply as well today ; certainly the need for unification of the American people has not been lessened. For too many years, you, the educators, have had to hold the line for American public education with minimum support from the public. It is you who, time after time in this nation's education history, have advanced the ball — advanced it farther down the field than any nation's education has ever gone before. I am but one layman who has taken literally an urgent invitation from you to be concerned about the problems of public education. It happens that the particular invitation which snared my in- terest came from the head of one of the richest of our privately endowed schools — from President James Conant of Harvard, who said, not long ago: I believe our system of public education in this country is one of the unique features of the society we have developed on this continent. ... If the leading citizens of this country would spend a tenth of the time and effort on the vital problems [of public education! that they spend on hospitals or the discussion of foreign policy ... I cannot help believing the future of this democracy would be more secure. . . . [for] how our system of public education operates will affect not only the attitudes of our citizens, our future voters, but also the whole complex fabric of human relations in the days ahead. Again, I urge you, in your communities, to extend a personal invitation to your busy professional and business neighbors to participate in your ad- ministrative problems. Your prestige among the American people is high. You possess a vast store of goodwill. This is the time to set your goals high — to call upon the most gifted citizens in your community to become your full partners in putting those goals "over the top." You as school administrators and we as laymen can together forge a partnership that will justify your planning boldly. Twice before in this nation, plans as bold and as relatively difficult to fulfil were blueprinted and carried through. Both times, the triumphs of public education were achieved by the 150 American Association of School Administrators same means: through the creation of a deep bond of interest between lay- men and the public schools, through their joining forces in community action to achieve a great purpose for the public schools. We know our main goal — to evoke a public support for the public schools which will achieve new standards throughout our public-school system. Not merely new standards of physical excellence — in buildings, equipment, and financing — but new standards, also, of teaching personnel, of intel- lectual and moral excellence. Our goal is a public education, based on such standards, which w^ill accommodate all American youth; which will far exceed the merely minimum needs of public education ; and which will be free for a long time to come from the fear of crisis. Now, once again, the need for our partnership as school administrators and laymen is very great. And once again, I am sure we can join together in community action that will act as a powerful lever to raise the whole level of public education. We can make our public schools far better instru- ments for guaranteeing equality of opportunity to American youth. And, by so raising our schools onto a new plane of performance, we will cer- tainly help to raise the level of our whole national life. This is a very large goal. But it is an achievable goal. And its achievement will enlist deeper loj^alties to our democracy at home, and give it an impregnable first line of defense everj'where among freedom-loving people abroad. [Applause] President Goslin : One of the most encouraging things in American education in recent years has been an expanding circle of interested and able laymen such as Roy Larsen, who have devoted a significant por- tion of their time and energy to the welfare of the public schools of this country. I know you join with me in expressing our appreciation to Mr. Larsen for being here with us today. [Applause] I want to remind you that beginning tonight and thereafter you will need a badge or a reasonable facsimile thereof in order to get into this business. So don't forget the exhibits and the Registration Booth, which is in the hall immediately below us. I also want to remind you again of what Bert Cholet said about the program tomorrow evening. It will be in this hall. Some are confused about the other building in town known as the Arena. I want to tell you, after having a preview of Romberg and his show in St. Louis, it is really quite a show so be sure you get this one on your schedule for tomorrow night. When she walks out, you will know what Romberg means when he says that he can tell a good voice when he sees it. I should like to recognize Mabel Studebaker, one of Pennsyhania's daughters, President of the National Education Association, who has come onto the platform since we started. Mabel, will you stand up? [Applause] Mabel has been a good sport. She has trooped with us across America, all the way from the Pacific to the banks of the Delaware, or whatever it is you call this open stream that goes past this city. As nearly as I can tell, I have done all the things that Worth McClure Philadelphia Convention 151 and his staff say I am supposed to do at this stage. Incidentally, most of us who are connected with this organization and who have wandered around America, know that I have frequently said that one of the great hazards of a superintendency is that there is only one in a community. It is a sort of lonesome business, but, on the other hand, to those of us who are re- moved at some distance from the actual headquarters workings of this organization, I should like to say, as another working member of the group, that it has been a long time since I have had an experience (and I don't know that I have ever had one) that was as satisfying as having a year of connection with the team that really runs this organization through Worth McClure's office, and the stafif of five or six very able and devoted young women who spend days and weeks and a lot of overtime, trying to help you and me in our business, and I am recognizing for all of us that we are so far away from that central point that in the main we don't know it. I should like to have you permit me to say to Worth and his group a word of appreciation for the contribution which they make. [Applause] IIVIPLICATIONS FOR AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF EDUCA- TIONAL RECONSTRUCTION IN GERMANY L. G. DERTHICK, CHIEF, EDUCATION BRANCH, E&CR DIVISION, OFFICE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT, MUNICH, GERMANY (ON LEAVE OF AB- SENCE, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE) President Goslin : Lawrence G. Derthick, the superintendent of schools of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is one of the able young school men in this countr}\ He is on leave from Chattanooga at the present time and is in charge of the Division of Education and Religious Affairs, Office of Mili- tary Government in Bavaria. Lawrence is back in this country for a few days and is here this morning to speak to us. I have had an opportunity to hear some of the very splendid narratives which he has given from time to time about his experiences in Germany, and I know that we have a very special treat in store for us now in this opportunity to listen to Lawrence Derthick tell us about the "Im- plications for American Schools of Educational Reconstruction in Ger- many." Lawrence G. Derthick! Mr. Derthick: I have just come from Munich, the birthplace of the in- famous Nazi party, to this wonderful City of Brotherly Love. In the Air Age my trip has been made in a hop and a skip and a jump — the hop on a plane and the skip in my heart as I thought of, maybe, having to jump in the ocean. The people of Munich, and all their fellow-countrymen, in many ways are as like you and me as they are near us in one world. In other respects they are far away in thought and spirit — as different as are old clothes and broken cities from this brightly lighted streamlined land of plenty, only nineteen hours or so away. In a time when man can encircle the globe nonstop in ninety-four hours, and when such a feat is viewed not as a blessing but as a grim reminder, I shall tell you how we have sought to magnify our 152 American Association of School Administrators likenesses and reconcile our differences with German colleagues working at educational reconstruction. Implications for American schools are to be found in these experiences. The great differences which exist in ideas and wa^^s of life as between ourselves and the Germans account in part for the discouraging stories you have heard about our efforts to democratize the German schools. I am sorry to tell you there is probably a basis of facts for almost every one of these pessimistic reports. It is true that extremely undemocratic practices prevail. Only approximately 12 percent of the German children are admitted to a secondary education ; less than 6 percent finish. These intellectually elite are separated from the common folks at the age of ten when class dis- tinctions are sharply emphasized. It is true that their training is almost exclusively academic and quite unrelated to the world of people and afifairs. It is true that the masses of the children have only a one-sided trade or craft training program after elementary school. It is also true in all schools that there has been a conspicuous lack of training for the respon- sibilities of citizenship. Moreover, there are all too many Germans who are hostile or who do not wish any change. Very typical were the words of the man in Munich when he heard about the announcement of free tuition in all secondary schools. "What shall we do," he cried, "Now everyone will get a high- school education and who will do the common work?" Another, a key figure, voiced the alarm of many to this new deal for j^outh when he said : "Our secondary schools are schools for the gifted and must be that. . . . If they (the Americans) would increase the number (of secondary-school pupils), they would get an academic proletariat (which) could become the dj^namite of the world. . . ." Such remarks are not the occasional outbursts of eccentric individuals; they reflect the views of a host of leaders. There are other extremely bleak conditions confronting educational re- construction in Germany, all with their implications. There is the whole terrible lesson for us to learn of what happens when hatreds are engendered for other people, within and without the nation. But this would be a speech in itself whereas now I want to tell you of a brighter side of the story. First, I shall speak of implications which are suggested to us by certain features in the old German school system. implications from the old GERMAN SYSTEM We have been very critical of the lack of equal educational opportunities in the old German system. To correct these conditions is a fundamental ob- jective of educational reconstruction. We want to see general education for the masses lifted to substantially higher levels, so that the common people may have adequate training for forming sound judgments and for effective participation in good citizenship and the good life. But these efforts have caused us to reflect soberly on the failures to obtain equal educational op- portunities in our own country. As we contend for a program which will give all German children a chance, we are ashamed of the vast differences Philadelphia Convention 153 in educational opportunities among our several states. We know that thou- sands of American youngsters are dropping out of school each month, despite free tuition and textbooks; some, because the schools have failed to adapt their ofierings to the needs of all young people; some, because of a lack of money to keep up with the demands of modern high-school life; and others, simply because the schools are unable to help them solve their emo- tional and mental problems. Sometimes we feel we could serve in Ger- many in better faith if only our own house were in order. We are impressed with the German thoroughness, attained in part by a flexible schedule. Instead of teaching such a subject as French five periods per week for say two years, as we commonly do, the German program, by permitting the foreign language class to meet two or three hours a week, spreads the teaching over a period of as much as five or six years. The result is that the eighteen-year-old student can usually read and speak some French. In Germany another method for achieving thoroughness is to spend more time on fewer topics. Recently, we saw the American contrast at its worst through the eyes of an extremely able German superintendent, one of those sent over to study and observe our methods. His impressions of American schools are generally favorable but he put his finger on what he believes is one of our weak spots. He told us about a class he visited in which the subjectmatter treated covered everything from current topics to ancient Egypt and included a selection on the life of the Jewish people in the time of Christ. For good measure several unrelated three-minute student reports were added. There was no interpretation or evaluation of these materials. The period ended and the pupils abruptly left the room in the midst of viewing one of several films used. Here, in an American school, the German superintendent saw at its worst our tendency, so con- trary to the German practice, of trying to cover too much territory too quickly. He acknowledged that this class, according to his general observations, was by no means a typical situation, but he used this "worst" example simply to spotlight the criticism. We think there is something to be learned from a school system which has done such an effective job in developing skills and appreciations in the arts and crafts. It is generally considered that in these areas people make greater progress when there is more leisure time, yet in Germany today where so much time is required simply in making a bare living, these in- terests are flourishing. IMPROVEMENT BY FINDING AND SPREADING BEST PRACTICES A school system is poor indeed which doesn't have hidden behind certain classroom walls or tucked away in the technics of some of its best teachers, inspiring examples of the kind of instruction which we covet for all chil- dren. What is needed is to discover and spread these best practices. That it works in Germany to improve instruction is to us extremely significant. Many of you are undoubtedly familiar with the work of the Metropolitan 154 American Association of School Administrators School Council, which has helped thousands of teachers in the New York area to share and multiply on a wider scale their best practices. Dr. Paul Mort with his contagious enthusiasm encouraged us to give this plan a trial in Bavaria and he sent over last fall Ralph Gallagher of New Jersey to help us initiate the project. We began in four demonstration counties and sifted out the best practices of the current year. The results were astonish- ing. Ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you if these best practices which we discovered in just four counties of this confused and battered country were only spread to all classrooms, the task of democratizing the German school system would be very nearly accomplished. I wish there were time to tell you all about these examples of the good teacher at work in Bavaria. We found ample evidence that the best teach- ers are sensitive to the special needs of their children. These teachers are concerned with the negative influences of home and community in a time of black marketing and false standards. They are seeking to counteract the bad, and to encourage the development of positive ideals, as they organize instruction. They are trying to bring cheer to children who suffer from inadequate food, clothing, housing, and broken homes. One teacher, after citing his eighth-grade class of forty-five children, seventeen of whose fathers are either dead, missing, or still prisoners of war, told of his efforts to mix in happy incidents daily. Another in this melancholy land told how each child was stimulated with a zeal for re- porting a daily experience in making life more pleasant for someone else. A home economics teacher explained how she had helped her girls with unique ways for making old and well worn materials attractive again. One described a class of youngsters, ". . . who were fresh, rude, arrogant, untruthful, and wild. Their interest centered on the street and its dubious people. The number of absences from school was alarming. . . ." This teacher, instead of blaming the children, looked to the causes. The prob- lem was solved by a successful plan for pupil participation in government. "Attendance is good now," the teacher states, "and the pupils show con- fidence and respect." Our collection of best practices is shot through with these records of how teachers are utilizing experiences for promoting growth in good citizen- ship. To us such practices are much more significant than the excellent examples we found of good teaching technics in health, or reading, or spelling, or composition, or in any other subject area. The very lack of instructional materials has stimulated the most original work. Pupils and teachers have shown great creative ability in making clever devices to use in science laboratory demonstrations ; in the absence of copy paper, they have as individuals memorized parts of needed material so that collectively they could put the record together as needed ; without formal safety education lessons, they have studied traffic situations on busy streets and corners and have themselves charted ways to avoid safety hazards. Some of our best examples are those in which the teacher has planned the effective integration of subjectmatter through large units of work, and by utilizing life situations, and so I say the inspiration of find- Philadelphia Convention 155 ing what this best practice approach is in improving instruction under the conditions of Occupied Germany stimulates us to make a better use of that method here at home. DEMOCRATIC APPROACH INVITES SUCCESS Earlier I acknowledged the bleak side of our problem. I spoke of a school system which has neglected the masses of opposition, distrust, and hostility. Small wonder at the outset that some of us, while recognizing the merits of democracy for improving American schools, speculated rather hopelessly at times on whether the radical changes needed in Germany could be achieved without orders and decrees. Now most of all I am anxious to tell you of our discovery that even under such conditions the democratic way works best. Only the democratic approach has been effective in turning opposition into understanding and genuine cooperation. Applied to the situation in Bavaria this simply means that the emphasis was shifted from the objec- tives of military government to the needs of Bavarian children in today's world. Bavarian teachers were encouraged to take stock of the needs of their own children and their own country in the light of current problems at home and abroad. They were assisted in finding out how other coun- tries are attempting to meet these needs through education. They accepted the responsibility for working out their own plan of action. This was when the change began. Thereupon, we were welcomed as advisers who would assist but who would not dominate. We have helped create conditions for democratic action but the fruits thereof are German achievements, and they know it. These first fruits have the form of blueprints for democratiz- ing the Ba\arian school system. They are prepared according to a German pattern, but happily they are in harmony with educational goals and prac- tices universally accepted today in freedom-loving countries. In these plans of theirs they have the pride that comes from productive creative efforts and from this springs a great zeal for progress. This, in a nutshell, is the transformation wrought by the democratic approach. We are about to see one of the most interesting next steps take place. Plans are in the making for a broad-scale demonstration of the new ideas and practices by utilizing all the schools in a typical county school sys- tem. We are extremely proud of our Bavarian colleagues in this en- deavor because they have arranged that the teachers, parents, lay leaders, children, and any others concerned shall participate in the planning as well as the application. We are happy to see the new program pass from the blueprint stage to the action stage and we are pleased to be invited to help in the capacity of full partners. You know of General Clay's great ability but you may not know of his strong convictions about the winning ways of democracy. Last month Gen- eral Clay especially commended our governor in Bavaria, Murray D. Van Wagoner, himself a fine example of the democratic spirit, because of Van Wagoner's leadership in promoting educational reconstruction on a sound basis. This is what the General said : 156 American Association of School Administrators The importance of employing methods of suggestion, persuasion, and guidance in securing the necessary adjustments in the German educational system cannot be overestimated. No occupying force ever has been able to effect enduring changes in the fields of education and culture by order or decree. This program is one which must be built on a solid foundation. These words from General Clay are very promising for the future of the democratic approach. USING THE INTELLIGENCE OF ALL Despite all handicaps and the fact that we are only at the very beginning in a job which may require many years, the possibilities for success are definitely discernible insofar as we have effectively tried the democratic way. I shall tell you of another aspect of the work in Germany which has strengthened our resolve to do a better job in America of releasing all the potential forces and resources for democratic action in our own schools. It is a new experience for most Germans to identify and solve problems by pooling the intelligence of all the people concerned. German school administrators and teachers on different levels have not been accustomed to come together to discuss problems of mutual interest, even though they may live and work in the same city or county. Last night Dean Russell told you of one of our experiences in which a superintendent of schools and a high-school principal who had worked and lived together in the same community for thirty-three years had met each other for the first time in one of our meetings. Often I have asked a county superintendent about the superintendent in the next county. Just as often he says, "You know, I never have met him." Neither have pupils or parents and other lay citizens worked together in this way to identify school or community problems and to work out solutions. The Germans have a saying: A lies gute kommt von oben, everything good comes from above ; and this is well illustrated by the prevalent concept of school administration in Germany. We have assisted in arrangements whereby representative teachers and other educational leaders from all Bavaria might come together and draw upon the intelligence of all to solve problems. Much of this work has been done in a formerly Nazi-owned mansion converted into a curriculum work- shop on beautiful Starnberger Lake in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. There, successive groups have lived and worked together in periodic sessions for constructive planning. If I could take you with me today into a typical German meeting, you would soon notice that members of the group are not expected to ask ques- tions; instead the chairman asks the people literally to "take a position" in regard to the issue under consideration. What usually follows is not a discussion in the American sense of the word at all, but rather a series of speeches. At first our teacher committees had the same difficulties; their meetings tended toward speeches by each committee member. But as they have worked together they have gradually learned to give and take freely and to solve their problems through the effective use of combined intelli- gence. They have grown under the stimulation of exchanging the best of Philadelphia Convention 157 old and new ideas and they have strengthened their new bonds around the conference table, in recreational activities, and around the dining table too. Here, in this atmosphere, American and German educators have truly found the ways of friendship. I shall long remember one evening after supper at the workshop. During the day Dr. Fremont P. Wirth of Pea- body College had been advising a hard-working committee which is plan- ning for the first introduction of social studies into the German schools. Incidentally, the German language heretofore has not had a word or expression to denote social studies. On this night, Dr. Wirth suggested that they move a piano to a place where all might gather around and sing. This they did and when they came to the end of that very perfect day, one of them said, "Dr. Wirth, if you'd stay around, we'd learn to sing again." Similar results in achieving understanding and programs for progress on German initiative by pooling intelligence have been attained in other ways. Dr. Gallagher, as a part of his work last fall, demonstrated in four pilot communities what could happen when lay participation groups were organ- ized to use local initiative in the study of school and other community problems. This was indeed a novel idea in a section where the thinking had previously been done at the top level. In these groups, representing all walks of life, the teachers learned that good public relations are a two-way street; on one side, they provide for the channeling of information about education to the public. On the other side, they provide for tapping the resources in the public mind. The parents and lay citizens learned that with information and with united strength, they could get things done. As one said of the new approach, "Now we have a group organization that will enable us to work out our own prob- lems." I was particularly touched by a newspaper article, reporting on one of our earlier meetings, in which the following comment was included: . . . This showed how it is possible to clear misunderstandings through an exchange of opinions in all public questions, whereby each one's opinion is respected though it need not be adopted as one's own. We are only ashamed of the fact that this possibility had to be shown to us through a representative of military government. . . . AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW These are some of the experiences which make us very hopeful for the success of educational reconstruction in Germany. Especially is this so when we take the long-time view and recognize that democracy cannot be forced upon a people, nor can it take root hastily. It must develop gradually through practice and through a growing appreciation of its blessings and responsibilities. We are encouraged by the increasing number of Germans who understand and believe in democracy and who will work for it. There is a foundation upon which to build because there are Germans who for a hundred years and more have fought for the democratization of their school system. We are charmed by the eager, friendly German children and we enjoy working with their teachers. We appreciate more than ever how much the German stock has enriched our own country. We are willing to forget what the worst Germans have done, for we believe 158 American Association of School Administrators that the best of them can be helped to bring out the best in them until we shall some day, given time, see democratic goals attained for Germany. FOR AMERICAN SCHOOLS And let us not forget the implications for American schools! If in Germany, under occupation conditions, these democratic practices can work so well, why shouldn't we do a better job for ourselves ? Perhaps the machinery of your school system is so perfectly set up that the "best practices" are promoted and each faculty member has his share in the shaping of school policies. Maybe it was your school system which so greatly impressed the superintendent of Munich schools last fall. He was astonished to see American boys and girls, just kids, assume a major role and improve on the plans of the faculty for interpreting their school and its program and its methods to their foreign visitors. Very likely where j^ou live the powerful forces of the two-way street in public relations are released, and the whole town is talking about the good things which they all under- stand and want for their children in their schools. Possibly, your people benefit fully by the interchange of ideas with other sj'stems and countries. Nevertheless, I have known certain school systems in America where there was much to be desired in releasing the full forces of democratic action by pupils, teachers, parents, and other citizens. In these places our visiting German educators may be disappointed and confused at seeing how great a gap sometimes exists between American democratic ideals and actual school practice. I can never again be satisfied with halfway measures in any of these relationships. We have not even begun to fight with the full forces of democracy to develop our precious human resources. I want to hear more of our boys and girls say what one former misfit said, "Seems like I like to go to school better all the time." And I want them to say that because for them school has become the life and life is the school. I hope our teachers will be glad to teach in Chattanooga because they feel that their own creative powers have made their schools the very best. I would like to think that our citizens will be more proud of their public schools than they are of Lookout Mountain or even the Chattanooga Choo Choo, because they have done the building. In short, I want to see our people do these great things together the democratic way, because of what it will do to them, to me, for our country, and for the world. [Applause] President Goslin : I want to remind you of the discussion groups which start this afternoon and continue through tomorrow and Wednesday morning. They will be just as good as your participation makes them and they have been mighty good across America thus far. Don't forget the reception in the rear of this room at four o'clock. I remind you that it is now eleven-fifteen. We planned it so you could have a little time to do the things you want to do. I suspect Bert Cholet and his crew will be glad to see vou downstairs for a while. PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITALITY HOUR Monday Afternoon, March 28 Members and friends in attendance at the convention were entertained li\ the Pennsylvania State Education Association at a Hospitality Hour in the Philadelphia Convention Hall, Monday afternoon from four to six o'clock. In announcing the Hospitality Hour at the morning session just preceding, President GosHn said : "I want to call on one of our platform guests this morning to stand and remain standing while I make a little announcement for the two of us — David H. Stewart, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. The Pennsylvania State Edu- cation Association is to be our host at a reception at four o'clock in the other end of this room. We are indebted to you, Mr. Stewart, and to your Association for the very splendid hospitality which you have extended throughout this convention and which we have a special opportunity of experiencing this afternoon. Remember, four o'clock in this room." [Ap- plause] FOURTH GENERAL SESSION Monday Evening, March 28 [At all three of the regional conventions the Monday evening program was devoted to "Education and Conservation" — "The Conservation of Human Resources" being handled by Allison Davis of the University of Chicago, "Natural Resources" by President Willard E. Goslin. For the text of Mr. Davis's speech, see page 74; Mr. Goslin's, page 84. The pro- gram at Philadelphia included music by the All-Philadelphia Senior High School Band and the All-Philadelphia Junior High School Chorus. For selections, see page 219.] INTRODUCTION OF PLATFORM GUESTS Chairman Simpson [Alfred D. Simpson, Professor of Education, Har- vard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts ; Second Vicepresident, Amer- ican Association of School Administrators] : As is the custom at many of these general sessions, we have platform guests here this evening whom I should like to introduce to you. I should like to introduce first an individual, Dr. Hans Krajewski, distinguished architect from Bremen, Germany, who is here under the auspices of the American Military Government for a tour of Ameiican sch()«)ls. and I expect that many of you people will see him in the course of his visit. We have two groups that mean much to this Association. We are not going to introduce them individually. I am going to ask these groups to stand, and I know you will want to welcome them here as our guests. [159] 160 American Association of School Administrators First, the Advisory Council of the American Association of School Ad- ministrators. We are very glad to have the members of the Advisory Council with us and we know what a real significant help they are to the work of the Association. [Applause] We are very glad also to have the presidents of state associations of school administrators here. [Applause] PRESENTATION OF PAST PRESIDENT'S KEY TO WILLARD E. GOSLIN a. l. threlkeld, superintendent of schools, montclair, new jersey Chairman Simpson: There is one other matter, not on the printed pro- gram, which I am sure you are all going to enjoy and you'll all be very much pleased about. I am going to introduce to you the gentleman who will present the Past President's Key to our great and good friend, the Presi- dent of this Association, Willard Goslin. I am going to introduce a Past President of our Association to present the Past President's Key, no other than Al Threlkeld, superintendent of schools in Montclair, New Jersey. I would like to say that in addition to the fact that he is Past President of the Association he is also a native of Missouri like Willard Goslin and Harry Truman. You might almost say that this is a Missouri night. Al Threlkeld. Mr. Threlkeld: While you are naming presidents from Missouri j'ou might name the president-elect of this Association. It is indeed a great pleasure to me to have the honor, Willard, of pre- senting to you this Past Presidents's Key. Your creative, courageous, dynamic leadership over the years has been appreciated by us all. We need its continuance and bespeak it. In other words, this event does not enter you upon the pages of Who's Through in America. [Applause] President Goslin: Thank you very much, Al Threlkeld. We used to say that there is nothing as certain as death and taxes, and I would like to add there is nothing as certain as a past president. Seriously, I would do less than be honest with either you or myself if I didn't try to tell you in a word how much I appreciate the opportunity to try to serve this Associa- tion and American education by working in and through and for this organization. I have frequently said that I guess I have had more fun being a school teacher in this country than anyone else who is a teacher and I could come pretty close to proving it. I have done a little of everything in American education, I have had a magnificent experience. The only thing I know that tops the opportunity of being a teacher in this country is the opportunity of being a citizen of this country, a nation of free people. The privilege which you gave me to be President of the American Associa- tion of School Administrators is easily the thing that I have treasured most. I shall carry the key with a great deal of pride and enthusiasm. Thank you. [Applause] FIFTH GENERAL SESSION Tuesday Evening, March 29 Prograf/i by the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association PRESENTATION OF THE ASSOCIATED EXHIBITORS SCHOLARSHIP TO RAYBURN J. FISHER [For text of the presentation by President Bert Cholet of the Associated Exhibitors and Mr. Fisher's acceptance, see pages 90 and 91.] STANDARD PHOTO SERVICE CO PRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATION AWARD TO PEARL A. WANAMAKER [For text of the presentation by President Bert Cholet of the Associated Exhibitors and Mrs. Wanamaker's acceptance, see pages 34 and 35.] SIGMUND ROMBERG AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA AND SOLOISTS [The concert presented at St. Louis was repeated at Philadelphia. See page 93.] [161] SIXTH GENERAL SESSION Wednesday Afternoon, March 30 [At all three regional conventions the Wednesday General Session was devoted to "Air-Age Education," H. B. Bruner, superintendent of schools, Minneapolis, Minnesota, speaking to the topic "Education's Stake in Avia- tion" and Gill Robb Wilson, aviation editor. New York Herald-Tribune, discussing "At Home in One World." Because Mr. Bruner was unable to attend the Philadelphia convention, his place on the program was filled by William H. Lemmel, superintendent of schools, Baltimore, Maryland. For text of Mr. Bruner's address, see page 95; Mr. Wilson's, page 105.] CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON LIFE MEMBERSHIP DUES [Claude L. Kulp, superintendent of schools, Ithaca, New York, as a member of the Association's Planning Committee, presented an amendment to the constitution, on the table from the Atlantic City Convention in 1948, raising life membership dues from $100 to $200. The amendment was adopted by unanimous vote. For text of the amendment, see page 94.] [162] Official Records ANNUAL REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY To the President, Executive Committee, and Members: In accordance with tlie provisions of the constitution the annual report of the activities of the American Association of School Administrators is presented herevv'ith. It covers the period from January 1, 1948, to Decem- ber 31, 1948. Association Finances. The Association closed the year 1948 with a General Fund overdraft of $6361.54, on the NEA books. The balance one year a^o was $9472.94, while two years ago it was $15,432.81. The 1948 overdraft was due in part to increased operating costs including printing, yearbook commissions' travel, additional personnel to serve expanded ac- tivities, and salary increments. It was also due in part to the fact that funds deposited with NEA for our account were not received in time to be credited to the fiscal year 1948. These deposits represented mainly advance collections of 1949 dues at the higher rate. Had they b^en credited to 1948 there would have been no overdraft. The statement of receipts and expenditures which follows covers the calendar year 1948: GENERAL FUND Total receipts for 1948 per NEA records $ 87,111.23 NEA balance January 1, 1948 9,472.94 Grand total $ 96,584.17 Total expenditures per NEA records 102,945.71 Overdraft with NEA December 31, 1948 $ 6,361.54 The Association's principal source of revenue is from membership dues. Membership by states for 1943-1948 is shown in the table on page 167. The all-time high of 6625 members attained during 1948 was due in large part to the efforts of many hundreds of Association members who wrote personal letters to professionally-minded administrators inviting them to become affiliated with their national organization. This effort resulted in a gain of 1355 new members as of March 15, 1948. The second considerable source of income is the profit from the exhibits at the national meetings. This is divided equally between the American Association of School Administrators and the National Education Associa- tion on the basis of a long-standing agreement. The active work of organ- izing and managing the exhibit is done by the NEA Business Division. Revenues derived by AASA from exhibits during recent years are as follows: 1939— Cleveland $20,293.10 1940 — St. Louis 1 8,900.98 1941— Atlantic City 22,666.62 1942 — San Francisco 13,349.96 1943 — No meeting 1944 — Regional Conferences 10,991.17 1945 — No meeting [165] 166 American Association of School Administrators 1946 — Regional Conferences 13,764.45 1947— Atlantic City 22,793.30 1948— Atlantic City 27,881.50 Permanent Educational Research Fund. The idea of a permanent fund which should yield an annual income to finance important studies in education on a nationwide basis dates back to the Boston convention in 1928 when it was voted to appoint a committee to make plans for creating such a fund. Receipts from the life memberships during 1948 amounted to $1555.00. The principal amount of the fund now totals $35,244.72. Since the establishment of the fund, the average annual income rate from investment has decreased. For example, U. S. Treasury Savings Bonds, Series G, now pay 2^2 percent interest which may be compared with an average income rate of slightly over 5 percent when the fund was first established. The Board of Trustees of the National Education Association reports assets in the investment account to the credit of the AASA Permanent Educational Research Fund on December 31, 1947, as follows: Far Value Book Value U. S. Treasury 2/^% Bonds due 1955-60 $ 150.00 $ 150.00 U. S. Treasury 2^% Bonds due 1956-59 3,000.00 3,092.28 U. S. Treasurv 2^% Defense Bonds, Series G, due December 1953 6,000.00 6,000.00 U. S. Treasury 2^% Defense Bonds, Series G, due November 1954 500.00 500.00 U. S. War Savings 2^4% Bonds, Series G, due September 1955 400.00 400.00 U. S. Savings Bond 2^^%, Series G, due April 1957 500.00 500.00 U. S. Savings Bonds 2^%, Series G, due Jan- uary 1958 3,000.00 3,000.00 U. S. Savings Bonds, 2^^%, Series G, due April 1959 2,800.00 2,800.00 U. S. Savings Bonds, 2^/^^, Series G, due De- cember 1960 ' 3,000.00 3,000.00 U. S. Savings Bond, Series F, due May 1957 . 100.00 74.00 U. S. Savings Bond, Series F, due January 1958 100.00 74.00 U. S. Savings Bond, Series F, due June 1958. . . 100.00 74.00 U. S. Savings Bonds, Series F, due September 1959 300.00 222.00 Newport News City Street Improvement and Sewerage Construction Bonds, 5,^^%, due 1950 11,000.00 11,285.00 Port of New York Authority, 3% Bonds, due 1976 2,000.00 2,017.50 City of New York Corporate Stock, 3 % , due 1 980 500.00 498.75 Cash on hand 1,557.19 Total $35,244.72 Official Records 167 MKMHERSHIP BY STATES FOR THE YEARS 1943-1948 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS State 1943 No con- vention 1944 Regional meetings 1945 No con- vention 1946 Regional meetings 1947 Atlantic City 1948 Atlantic City 48 34 27 254 .S7 57 17 65 24 45 13 270 95 79 76 35 36 17 55 150 175 88 34 119 22 41 4 25 206 19 319 50 15 175 41 27 274 29 29 14 30 191 23 21 51 34 36 102 n 1 1 85 38 37 244 73 94 26 73 30 150 27 483 140 128 180 52 38 28 77 202 334 120 43 223 22 52 4 39 276 21 414 89 20 253 72 53 391 40 71 22 55 275 30 28 76 141 53 184 14 3 80 33 47 246 65 75 21 63 26 78 20 321 115 90 113 44 39 26 61 180 249 104 37 169 19 50 4 30 237 18 365 72 15 226 53 40 319 37 51 21 48 230 25 51 72 84 50 139 15 2 1 83 33 50 264 80 109 28 78 34 123 18 468 147 130 254 57 41 33 77 202 370 116 48 247 20 59 4 47 293 22 475 98 15 286 lis 48 403 39 92 26 58 321 35 56 81 87 60 180 20 82 34 43 282 72 119 28 86 31 99 17 366 145 108 141 50 45 29 91 224 341 106 57 218 18 49 5 37 338 29 525 92 19 310 73 39 466 44 62 20 65 326 36 59 83 86 53 158 19 2 1 1 15 2 1 5 1 1 1 2 3 84 Arizona 60 45 (^alilorniu 302 82 130 Delaware 34 District of Columbia Florida 93 36 Georcia 88 22 480 153 Iowa 123 Kansas 155 Kentucky 57 Louisiana 47 33 Marvland 108 245 342 149 Mississinoi 55 218 Montana 28 Nebraska 56 7 New Hampshire 45 362 50 553 North Carolina 107 North Dakota 31 Ohio 348 Oklahoma 114 Oregon 57 515 Rhode Island 49 97 South Dakota 30 81 Texas 378 52 Vermont 56 106 97 Wisconsin 70 134 23 1 1 1 Brazil 11 14 11 12 1 15 Canal Zone 1 1 Hawaii 3 3 3 2 8 1 1 3 2 1 Philinnine Islands 1 1 1 2 5 Puerto Rico 4 3 2 3 Total 3.680 5.644 4.593 6.053 5.860 6.625 Note: The count includes 6.41 1 members who paid dues for the year 1948, 20 honorary members, and 194 life or twenty-five-year members. 168 American Association of School Administrators Educational Research Service. During the calendar year 1948 the Educational Research Service acquired more than 100 new subscribers, making a total of 766 as of December 31. This gain was achieved in spite of the increase in the annual subscription fee from $25 to $35, which be- came effective September 1, 1947. The Educational Research Service is a cooperative project of the Ameri- can Association of School Administrators and the Research Division of the National Education Association. It has been in operation since 1923, pro- viding on a systematic basis information of practical administrative value to the city and state school systems, colleges and universities, educational organizations, and other state and national agencies which subscribe to the Service. During 1948 hundreds of letters requesting assistance on many types of administrative problems were answered. In responding to these requests, the Service makes use of the files of the Information Section and the Library of the NEA Research Division, consults agencies of the federal government, and sometimes circulates brief questionnaires to obtain data which are not available otherwise. Often special memorandums and bibliographies are prepared to meet the needs of individual subscribers. An extensive loan col- lection of materials on many phases of education is maintained, together with a file of questionnaire studies made by school systems, organizations, and individuals throughout the country. In addition to assistance on individual problems, subscribers to the Edu- cational Research Service receive each year ten to twelve circulars showing practice in city school systems with respect to current educational problems, summarizing articles on education which appear in lay periodicals, and reporting upon questionnaire studies prepared during the year. During 1948 the following circulars were issued: 1. Salaries of Employees Engaged in Operation and Maintenance of Buildings in 133 School Systems in Cities over 30,000 in Population, 1946-47 2. 5, 7, and 10. Education in Lay Magazines 3. Status of School Housing, 1947-48, in 220 School Systems in Cities over 30,000 in Population 4. School Expense Compared with Combined City and School Expense, 1945 and 1946 6. Maternity-Leave Provisions in 157 School Systems in Cities over 30,000 in Population 8. Questionnaire Studies Completed — Bibliography No. 19, 1947-48 9. Teachers* Salary Schedules in 72 School Systems in Cities over 100,000 in Population, 1948-49 11. Enrolment, Professional Staff, and Expenditures in 135 School Systems, 1947-48 and 1948-49. Dozens of other publications are sent subscribers annually. Included are all AASA publications, yearbooks and bulletins of several major NEA departments, reports and releases of the Research Division and special com- mittees of the NEA, and selected materials published bv outside agencies. A checklist and inquiry recently sent subscribers resulted in some perti- nent suggestions for the improvement and expansion of ERS services. Offici.al Records 169 Among these was a request for data on school systems in the smaller popula- tion groups. Altho it is more difficult to obtain from small cities information which can be presented in tabular form, attempts will be made to include such data whenever practicable in future studies. For example, a 1949 circular will include reports on teachers' salary schedules in cities beginning with 2500 in population. EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE SUBSCRIBERS AND INCOME FROM SUBSCRIPTIONS Year Number of subscribers Cash receipts from subscribers 1 2 3 1924 40 131 177 213 245 271 323 338 324 319 346 359 369 408 445 445 468 483 489 558 598 656 668 658 766 $ 525.00 2,555.00 3,325.00 5,790.00 6,225.00 6,362.00 8,112.50 8,100.00 7,443.75 7,514.58 8,496.75 8,714.56 9,254.17 9,887.82 10,800.44 10,460.42 11 ,662.50 11,888.75 11,968.75 13,145.93 13,973.75 14.710.00 15,782.50 17,599.50 23,187.50 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 The 1948 National Convention. The official program and general session addresses were printed in last year's Official Report and therefore require no special mention. First Regional Conventions in Peacetime. The Association held regional conferences during each of the years 1944 and 1946 because of wartime restrictions on travel and the limitations of hotel facilities. The idea gained such favor, however, that the 1946 Planning Committee in- cluded a recommendation, which received the endorsement of the members at the 1947 national convention, for regional meetings at least once every three years. Thorough canvass of hotel and auditorium facilities revealed the fact that the only city which could house and provide auditorium facili- ties for a national convention in 1949 was Atlantic City. In order to avoid returning there for a third consecutive convention, the Executive Commit- tee determined to hold regional conventions and selected San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia as host cities. Plans, centering around the theme "Education and the General Welfare," were prepared by President Willard E. Goslin for programs approaching national conventions in stature includ- ing outstanding speakers and commercial exhibits together with other activi- ties which had heretofore been conducted only at national conventions. 170 American Association of School Administrators Special emphasis was given to discussion groups, topics for which were selected after a nationwide canvass of the Advisory Council of the Associa- tion, the presidents of state associations of school administrators, and com- mittees and commissions of the Association. Because 99 discussion groups were thus made possible, special emphasis was given to the encouragement of new participants. In consequence of this policy, 528 of the 633 scheduled participants in discussion groups were members who had not participated in either the 1947 or 1948 programs. Hotel reservations during 1948 and other expressions of interest indicated that the attendance at the 1949 regional conventions would total considerably more than that of any previous national meeting. Election of Second Vicepresident and Member of the Executive Committee by Mail. At its April 1948 meeting the Executive Committee voted to use mail ballots for the election of Second Vicepresident and Mem- ber of the Executive Committee in a manner similar to that for the election of President, with the express understanding that those elected in these ballots would be the legal holders of the offices for the respective terms. During the war years when no conventions were held, vacancies were filled by the Executive Committee but it was the Committee's belief that to elect these officers by mail would afford the widest possible opportunity for the expression of the will of the members. The Second Meeting of State Presidents. Some forty-three presi- dents of state associations of school administrators met at the call of Presi- dent Willard E. Goslin in Chicago on September 26 and 27. The increased representation as well as the spirit of the meeting reflected both the strengthening of the idea of state associations of school administrators and the desire of superintendents throughout the country to participate in pro- fessional activities on a national basis. Thus the number one recommenda- tion of the 1946 Planning Committee, which was for closer relationships between state organizations and AASA, appears to have been especially timely. The financing of these conferences of state presidents is shared equally by the state associations and AASA. The Decentralized Membership Campaign. At the September conference of presidents it was agreed to promote an active campaign for bringing professionally-minded school administrators into both the state and national associations. For the promotion of AASA memberships special chairmen were appointed by the state presidents to work directly with the Executive Secretary of AASA. As a result of their efforts 824 new members had been enrolled by February 11, 1949. Like that of the previous year, this membership effort was conducted principally on the basis of personal invitations. Yearbooks. The 1948 yearbook. The Expanding Role of Education, was received with favorable acclaim by reviewers and professional maga- zines and its usefulness is further attested by the fact that a second printing has become necessary. Official Records 171 The 1949 yearbook, /American School Buildings, is now in the hands of the printer and will be mailed to members on February 1. Because of the special timeliness of this yearbook and the numerous inquiries that have been received about it, an order has been placed for the printing of 20,000 copies. This is the largest first edition which the Association has ever pub- lished. The school planning exhibit sponsored by the 1949 Yearbook Com- mission was a special feature of the 1948 convention. Public relations for schools is the theme of the 1950 yearbook now being prepared by the commission which was appointed by President Herold C. Hunt. This commission held two meetings in 1948. It is apparent that it will develop a new approach to school relationships with the public and that the yearbook content will not be merely a rehash of previous publica- tions in this field. Special emphasis is being given to practical approaches as well as to fundamental philosophy. President Willard E. Goslin, in consultation with the Executive Com- mittee, selected education for the conservation of natural resources as the topic for the 1951 yearbook. He appointed Superintendent Kenneth E. Oberholtzer as chairman. Great care is being exercised in the selection of the personnel of the commission, scheduled to hold its first meeting early in June 1949. It is believed that this yearbook will be far-reaching in its influence upon American education and will be one of the most timely the Association has published. The list of members of the yearbook commissions will be found on page 222. YEARBOOKS OF THE ASSOCIATION Year 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 193S 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 Title The Status of the Superintendent The Elementary School Curriculum Research in Constructing the Elementary School Curriculum. The Nation at Work on the Public School Curriculum The Junior High School Curriculum The Development of the High School Curriculum The .Articulation of the I'nits of American Education The Superintendent Surveys Supervision Five Unifying Factors in American Education Character Education FMucational leadership Critical Problems in School Administration Social Change and Education The Social Studies Curriculum Improvement of Education: Its Interpretation for Democracy Youth Education Today Schools in Small Communities Safety Education Education for Family Life Health in Schools Schools and Manpower — Today and Tomorrow Reprint of 1942 Yearbook Morale for a Free World Paths to Better Schools School Boards in Action .-. . . Schools for a New World The Expanding Role of Education Number Cash sales of copies all yearbooks printed for the year 3,200 $ 142.45 4.500 1.364.13 11.000 4.707,65 16.000 8.467.94 11 ,000 8.844.57 10.000 9,830.58 11 .000 7.842.51 11.348 10.603.43 11.572 8.375.87 12.000 10,053.94 8.000 4.922.85 7.000 5.021.13 9.000 7.844.99 14,000 9.128.17 9.000 6.965.99 11 .000 6.789.56 9.000 5,483.96 11 .000 8,894.92 9.000 7,411 29 12.000 9.563 43 9.500 5.816.95 2.000 8.000 5,359.19 9.000 5,554.53 12.000 10,104.69 10.000 12.459.39 10.000 14.315.32 172 American Association of School Administrators Launching the Cooperative Project on the Superintendency. Following appointment of a special subcommittee by President Herold C, Hunt in 1947, a special document was prepared outlining the project for the further professionalization of the superintendency of schools, which had been called for by the 1946 Planning Committee and endorsed by the membership at the 1947 convention. According to this document a pro- gram of action was to follow exploration and research with a general effort for improvement of standards — of preparation, of eligibility and certification, of working relationships, of salary, tenure, and retirement. Tentative proposals for new and better standards were to be tested and reformulated by lay and professional groups and made effective by coopera- tive and lay-professional teamwork. The project was presented to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, which responded with a grant sufficient to cover five exploratory conferences of school administrators. The special assignment of these conferences was twofold : They were to define the major problems of superintendents of schools today. They were also to suggest courses of action to be taken in the direction of meeting the needs thus outlined. The National Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Conference of County Superintendents accepted co-sponsor- ship of these regional conferences. In the absence of a director, a Steering Committee was appointed com- posed of E. B. Norton, Executive Secretary of the National Council of Chief State School Officers, Howard A. Dawson, Executive Secretary of the National Conference of County Superintendents, and Worth McClure, Executive Secretary of the American Association of School Administrators. Frank W. Hubbard, NEA Research Director, served as a consultant to the Steering Committee. Paul Hanna was added to the Kellogg Foundation staff on a temporary basis. Soon after the first exploratory conference had been held, however. Dr. Hanna accepted an assignment in the Philippine Islands and it was not possible to fill his place satisfactorily. Thereafter Hugh B. Masters, Educational Director of the Foundation, served as liaison con- sultant. As Executive Secretary of the National Council of Chief State School Officers, Dr. Edgar Fuller took Dr. Norton's place in December. The Steering Committee planned the agenda for the first conference, formulated the list of superintendents to be invited to each of the five conferences, and outlined advance communications to conference members for their orientation. At the conclusion of each of the first four conferences the agenda and the preliminary plans were reviewed by the Steering Com- mittee and the representative of the Foundation. In addition, each confer- ence made revisions in its own agenda so that it was in some respects unique. The dates and locations of the five conferences, together with the names of the moderators, were set as follows: December 13-15, Chicago, Newell D. McCombs, moderator; February 16-18, San Francisco, John S. Carroll, moderator; April 5-7, Fort Worth, John L. Bracken, moderator; April 25-27, New York City, Finis Engleman, moderator; April 28-30, Atlanta, Austin R. Meadows, moderator. The invitational membership list prepared by the Steering Committee Official Records 173 for each conference included the state superintendent, one county superin- tendent, and one city superintendent from each state, together with the superintendent of the host city. The findings of the Chicago conference, which was the only one held during the year 1948, were of such importance as to justify the belief that the year of preliminary exploration will be of great value in planning specific next steps for what promises to be an extended program of great significance to American education. Closer Affiliation with the National Council of Chief State School Officers. Following approval by the Executive Committees of the National Council, the National Education Association, and the American Association of School Administrators, the National Council of Chief State School Officers has accepted an invitation to house its offices in the National Education Association building. The Council has secured foundation grants underwriting the appointment of an Executive Secretary and clerical staff so that the Council, always an influential body, may function more effectively in educational matters at the national level. While members of the National Council are also members of the Ameri- can Association of School Administrators, and the Executive Secretaries of both organizations work together in close cooperation, it is the belief of the Executive Committees of both organizations that there may be considerable advantage in the retention of its own identity by the Council. Growth of Nonurban Administration. The rapid spread of the redistricting or reorganization movement, which means the merging of numerous small districts into administrative units of larger area, has spot- lighted the importance of competent administrative leadership in non- urban areas. Many of the reorganized districts approach in size and re- sources those of good-sized cities, but the problems are fixed in a totally different setting, often presenting a wider range of environmental conditions than those to be found in cities. It is becoming clear that nonurban adminis- tration is one of the growing edges of American education and that out of the community concept of administrative leadership much will be learned that will be of great value to urban as well as nonurban communities. The county superintendency has become in many states a position of important educational leadership, and the National Conference of County Superin- tendents, which meets annually, has been rendering valuable service as a clearinghouse for the exchange of professional thinking. It is important that the American Association of School Administrators keep in close touch with superintendents in all these nonurban fields in order that unity of administrative thought and effort may be maintained for the benefit of all. Assistant Secretaryship. In order to keep the Association in close touch with administrators in all fields and to extend the services of the Association, the E_xecutive Committee meeting in October 1948 has in- structed the Executive Secretary to prepare the 1949 expenditure budget to provide for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary who shall be an 174 American Association of School Administrators individual qualified by professional preparation and administrative experi- ence. It is to be hoped that the revenues of the Association will make this appointment possible in 1949. The Educational Policies Commission. Reorganization of the Edu- cational Policies Commission by joint action of the Executive Committees of the National Education Association and the American Association of School Administrators was reported in the 1948 Official Report. Pursuant to this reorganization the two Executive Committees elected Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry H. Hill, and William Jansen to membership on the Commission. They will take office on January 1, 1949, filling vacancies arising from the expiration of the terms of previous members. Pamphlet Publications. Pursuant to previous announcements, manu- scripts were prepared for two pamphlet publications. The first of these publications, both of which will appear in 1949, will deal with the selection of the superintendent of schools and the second will be a brief handbook which is intended to assist in orienting school board members to the scope and character of their responsibilities. The Associated Exhibitors Scholarship. Award was made to Ray- burn J. Fisher of the first graduate scholarship in school administration presented by the Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Asso- ciation in memory of S. D. Shankland. Selection was made by a committee composed of David E. Weglein, Charles H. Lake, and John W. Stude- baker from among individuals recommended by leading universities. The scholarship carries with it a stipend of not less than $1000 for one year's study. Mr. Fisher is an ex-serviceman who expects to devote his life to school administration. He was nominated by the University of Alabama. Life Membership Amendment. As provided by the constitution the amendment to Article III, Section 5, of the constitution, increasing the life membership fee from $100 to $200, was presented at the Atlantic City Convention. The balance of Section 5 would remain unchanged ac- cording to the amendment. Presentation was made on behalf of the 1946 Planning Committee by committee member Claude L. Kulp. Under the constitutional provision, this amendment will be voted upon by nienibrrs in attendance at the 1949 annual meetings. New Horizons. The year 1948 has seen the Association establish new beachheads and make further advancement toward the goals established by the 1946 Planning Committee. Peacetime regional meetings have been scheduled. The establishment of strong state associations of school adminis- trators has been effectively encouraged and it is evident that the morale of school administrators has been promoted thereby. Although the annual dues have been doubled, it seems evident that there will be no serious loss of membership. The project for further professionalization of the super- intendency has been launched under favorable auspices. Contacts with county superintendents, other nonurban administrators, and chief state Official Records 175 school officers have been greatly strengthened. The Association's influence in lay circles has been extended. It is more apparent than ever that the Association is growing beyond the stage when conventions and yearbooks were its main contributions and that new demands for service are bringing new opportunities. With the addition of a professionally qualified assistant, it is believed that 1949 should lay the foundation for further growth in both professional and numerical strength. Acknowledgments. I desire to express appreciation to President Herold C. Hunt whose term expired March 15, 1948, to President Willard E. Goslin who succeeded him, and to those who served as members of the Executive Committee during 1948. Their leadership and vision have made this a good year. I thank them for their unfailing helpfulness and sympa- thetic understanding. I desire also to record my special gratitude to the members of the AASA office staff for their loyal devotion to the Asso- ciation, their understanding of what its activities should mean to human beings in thousands of American communities, and their cheerful accept- ance of difficulties arising from extension of services during the days when the recruiting of competent office help in the city of Washington has not been easy. Respectfully submitted, Worth McClure, Executive Secretary. 176 American Association of School Administrators SUMMARY OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS April 24-25, 1948, National Education Association Building, Washington, D. C. Present were: Willard E. Goslin, Minneapolis, Minnesota, President; Herold C. Hunt, Chicago, Illinois, First Vice- president ; Alfred D. Simpson, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Second Vice- president ; Hobart M. Corning, Washington, D. C, George E. Roude- bush, Columbus, Ohio, Paul Loser, Trenton, New Jersey, and Irby B. Carruth, Waco, Texas, members ; Worth McClure, Executive Secretary, Mrs. Gladys Harlow West, Chief Clerk; and Harold A. Allan, Business Manager of the National Education Association. The Executive Secretary reported that he had secured tentative reserva- tions in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Atlantic City for a national con- vention of the Association in 1950. The Executive Secretary also submitted a written report on the current activities of the Association. This report appeared on pages 203-211 of the 1948 Official Report. The Executive Committee took the following action: Approved the minutes of the previous meeting. Voted to hold a breakfast in honor of President Goslin on Tuesday, July 8, at the Cleveland convention of the National Education Association, and to request Past President Charles H. Lake to act as toastmaster. Authorized Past President Hunt and the Executive Secretary to present a request for funds for the conduct of the cooperative project on the super- intendenc}' of schools to several foundations if necessary. Requested that Secretary McClure confer with Secretary Paul Crabtree of the Associated Exhibitors regarding the method of selecting the candi- date for the Associated Exhibitors Graduate Scholarship in School Admin- istration. Authorized Secretary McClure to arrange for a conference of presi- dents of state associations of school administrators September 26-27, 1948. Voted to hold regional conventions in 1949 at San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, final dates to be arranged by the President and the Executive Secretary, and an exhibit to be held in each city in the event a preliminary canvass of exhibitors appeared to warrant it. Created the office of Assistant Secretary of the Association to be filled at the earliest possible time that the budget would permit. Authorized Secretary McClure to say to President John H. Bosshart of the National Council of Chief State School Officers that the Executive Committee views with gratification the pending establishment of the Council's offices under the same roof with AASA, that the Executive Committee respects wholeheartedly the desire of the Council to retain its own identity, and stands ready to discuss financial arrangements in the event they should become necessary at some future time. Offfciai, REcORDf; 177 Approved the recommendation of the Executive Secretary for the issu- ance of additional publications of the pamphlet type, starting with publi- cations on selecting the superintendent of schools and hints for school board members. Adopted the following preliminary budget for 1948 subject to revision in October in view of anticipated revenues: Balance January 1, 1948 $ 9,472.94 Receipts for the calendar year 1948 110,190.00 Total to account for $1 19,662.94 Less expenditures for 1948 110,190.00 Probable balance December 31, 1948 $ 9,472.94 Elected two representatives on the Commission on Cooperation in Teacher Education, as follows: three-year term, Superintendent Charles D. Lutz, of Gary, Indiana; one-year e.x officio representative from the Executive Committee, Superintendent George E. Roudebush of Columbus, Ohio. Voted to send three representatives to a conference on the preservice education of teachers, sponsored by the National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards, at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, June 30-July 3. Requested Mr. Simpson and the Executive Secretary to explore the matter of special student membership as requested by Daniel R. Davies and Richard C. Lonsdale. Authorized co-sponsorship with Michigan State College of the Flying Classroom tour for educational leaders June 27-July 4, 1948, on the same terms as those agreed upon for the previous year, including the express stipulation that AASA shall be held free and clear of all financial liability and that the project shall be in no way associated with commercial exploitation. Heard a report of the fourth meeting of the United States National Commission for Unesco held in Washington, D. C, February 17-18, 1948, submitted by Superintendent Ivan C. Nicholas, Ladue, Missouri, who attended by request as an observer in the absence of Association repre- sentative Herold C. Hunt. Made the following appointments to fill vacancies on the Advisory Council with terms expiring March 15, 1951 : California County Superintendent Walter G. Martin, Fresno Superintendent William R. Odell, Oakland Florida Edgar L. Morphet, State Department of Education, Tallahassee Illinois District Superintendent John C. DeLaurenti, Highland Superintendent Earl H. Hanson, Rock Island Louisiana Parish Superintendent Clark L. Barrow, Baton Rouge Maine Superintendent Joseph A. Leonard, Old Town Minnesota Superintendent O. E. Domian, St. Louis Park Nevada Superintendent C. M. Luce, Elko New Mexico Superintendent John Milne, .Albuquerque North Carolina Superintendent L. E. Spikes, Burlington 178 American Association of School Administrators Ohio Superintendent Paul C. Bunn, Youngstown Superintendent Harold S. Vincent, Canton Oklahoma Superintendent George D. Hann, Ardmore Oregon D. A. Emerson, State Director of School Administration and Secondary Education, Salem Pennsylvania Superintendent C. Herman Grose, Erie Superintendent G. Arthur Stetson, West Chester Utah E. Allen Bateman, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Salt Lake City Vermont Superintendent Lyman W. Bole, Springfield Wyoming Superintendent Jesse L. Goins, Cheyenne Voted to choose education for the conservation of natural resources as the field of study for the 1951 yearbook. Voted to carry on the work of the Resolutions Committee by mail and to submit the resolutions to Association members for mail ballot in view of the fact that the holding of regional conventions in 1949 woyld pre- clude the presentation of resolutions in the usual manner. Voted for the same reason to use mail ballots for the election of Second Vicepresident and Member of the Executive Committee in a manner similar to that for the election of President, with the express understanding that those elected in these ballots would be the legal holders of the offices for the respective terms. Appointed Mr. Simpson, Mr. Corning, and Secretary McClure to represent the Executive Committee in conferences with representatives of the Hoover Commission on the reorganization of the executive branch of the government. Voted to hold the next meeting in Washington October 10 and 11, 1948. Adjourned at 12:20 P. M. on April 25. October 10-11, 1948, National Education Association Building, Washington, D. G. Present were: Willard E. Goslin, Pasadena, Cali- fornia, President; Herold C. Hunt, Chicago, Illinois, First Vicepresident; Alfred D. Simpson, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Second Vicepresident ; Hobart M. Corning, Washington, D. C, George E. Roudebush, Columbus, Ohio, Paul Loser, Trenton, New Jersey, and Irby B. Carruth, Waco, Texas, members; Worth IVIcClure, Executive Secretary, and Mrs. Gladys Harlow West, Chief Clerk. The Executive Committee took the following action: Approved the minutes of the previous meeting. Approved the Executive Secretary's recommendation that the salaries of all eligible employees be adjusted to bring them into line with the July action of the NEA Executive Committee which provided a flat increase of $330 for permanent roll employees and proportionate adjustments for those not on the permanent roll, effective September 1, 1948. Approved the Executive Secretary's recommendation for the adoption of the new classification of employees previously adopted by the NEA Executive Committee in July 1948 and the reclassification of AASA em- ployees according to the new scale. Official Records 170 Approved the revised budget for the calendar year 1948, summarized as follows: Balance January 1, 1948 $ 9,472.94 Estimated receipts for calendar year 1948 110,590.00 Total to account for $120,062.94 Less estimated expenditures for calendar year 1948 110,590.00 Probable balance December 31, 1948 $ 9,472.94 Heard the Executive Secretary's report that, following a canvass of twenty-two university schools of education, Rayburn J. Fisher, superin- tendent of schools, Anniston, Alabama, had been chosen as the first recipient of the Associated Exhibitors Graduate Scholarship in School Administra- tion by the following committee of three: David E. Weglcin, former super- intendent of schools, Baltimore, Maryland, chairman; Charles H. Lake, consultant, Board of Education, Cleveland, Ohio ; John W. Studebaker, United States Commissioner of Education. Voted to invite Harold A. Allan to attend the 1949 regional conven- tions as a guest at the Association's expense and to serve in an advisory capacity in connection with the exhibits. Voted to elect Harold A. Allan to Honorary Life Membership in the Association. Heard the Executive Secretary's report that Atlantic City would un- doubtedly be the only city able to guarantee a sufficient number of sleeping rooms and adequate auditorium facilities for a national convention in 1950. Heard Harold A. Allan, assistant secretary for business of the National Education Association, review the outlook for commercial exhibits at the 1949 regional conventions in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, and predict that there would probably be no difficulty in selling all the exhibit space. Voted to invite the Association of California Public School Superin- tendents to display at San Francisco the "Schools of Tomorrow" exhibit developed for the California state meeting in cooperation with the California Institute of Architects. Heard the reports of President Goslin and Secretary McClurc on the meeting of presidents of state associations of school administrators in Chicago September 26-27, 1942%, due September 1955, each in the denomination of $100.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial numbers: C-1924840-G; C-1924841-G; C-1924842-G; C- 1924843-G 400.00 1 U. S. Savings Bond, Series G, 2>^%, due April 1957, in the denomi- nation of $500.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial number: D-1800332-G 500.00 1 U. S. Savings Bond, Series F, due May 1957, in the denomination of $100.00, accrual, bearing the following serial number: C-1389704-F 100.00 1 U. S. Savings Bond, Series F, due January 1958, in the denomination of $100.00, accrual, bearing the following serial number: C-1528442-F . 100.00 3 U. S. Savings Bonds, Series G, 2^^%, due January 1958, each in the denomination of $1,000.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial numbers: M-4303189-G; M-4303190-G; M-4303191-G 3,000.00 1 U. S. Savings Bond, Series F, due June 1958, in the denomination of $100.00, accrual, bearing the following serial number: C-1561731-F 100.00 2 U. S. Savings Bonds, Series G, 2^%, due April 1959, in the denomi- nation of $1,000.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial numbers: M-5583745-G; M-5583746-G 2,000.00 1 U. S. Savings Bond, Series G, 2J^%, due April 1959, in the denomi- nation of $500.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial num- ber: D-2605108-G 500.00 3 U. S. Savings Bonds, Series G, 2J^%, due April 1959, in the denomi- nation of $100.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial num- bers: C-4731093-G; C-4731094-G; C-4731095-G 300.00 3 U. S. Savings Bonds, Series F, due September 1959, each in the de- nomination of $100.00, accrual, bearing the following serial numbers: C-1639415-F; C-1639416-F; C-1639417-F 300.00 3 U. S. Savings Bonds, Series G, 2^/2%, due December 1960, each in the denomination of $1,000.00, without coupons, bearing the following serial numbers: M-6672669-G; M-6672670-G; M-6672671-G 3,000.00 WiLLARD E. GiVENS, Executive Secretary, for Chairman, Board of Trustees, National Education Association of the United States Karl H. Berns, Assistant Secretary for Business, National Education Association of the United States THE CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS The American Association of School Administrators A Department of the National Education Association of the United States As Awendcd at Netc Orleans, Louisiana, February 1957; at Atlantic City, New Jersey, February 1948; and at the Regional Conventions in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, February and March 1949 CONSTITUTION Article I — Name The name of this Association shall be the American Association of School Administrators, a department of the National Education Association of the United States. Article II — Object The object of this Association shall be to maintain and elevate the pro- fessional and ethical standards of the teaching profession in general and its administrative and supervisory service in particular, and to promote activ- ities which will look toward the accomplishment of the following objec- tives: to assist its members to understand the development of American culture in its relationship to education; to assist its members to develop an understanding of the fields, services, and responsibilities of education; to achieve a unified professional strength for the improvement of education; and to place before the public the facts and viewpoints which will lead to an intelligent appreciation of the work of the schools. Article III — Membership Section 1. Memberships in the American Association of School Admin- istrators shall consist of active, associate, life, and honorary. Section 2. All persons shall be eligible to active membership who are members of the National Education Association, and who are engaged in supervisory and administrative positions — namely, state, county, and city superintendents, and associate, assistant, and deputy state, county, and city superintendents, and supervisory and administrative officers in city and county school systems exercising the functions of associate, assistant, or deputy superintendents; all state and national officers of educational admin- istration; the heads of teacher-training institutions, colleges, and universities having departments or colleges of education, the heads of these departments or colleges of education, and professors of school administration or super- vision in these institutions. Section 3. All members of the National Education Association who are [ l'>3 1 194 American Association of School Administrators actively engaged in any phase of school work may become associate mem- bers of this Association by paying the regular membership fee, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of this Association except the right to vote and hold office. Section 4. All members of the National Education Association who have been engaged in supervisory or administrative positions as defined in Section 2 of this article, and who have retired from such service, may have the privilege of honorary membership in this Association upon recommen- dation of the Executive Committee. Section 5. All members of the National Education Association who are eligible to active membership in the American Association of School Admin- istrators shall become life members of the Association-upon the payment of a membership fee of $200, which may be made in ten equal annual pay- ments, or upon securing a contribution of $250 to the Permanent Educa- tional Research Fund, which may be paid in five equal annual installments. All such contributions and life membership fees shall become a part of the Permanent Educational Research Fund. Life members shall be exempt from the payment of all other membership fees in the American Association of School Administrators, and shall have all the rights and privileges of active members. Section 6. The Executive Committee shall have power to pass upon the credentials of all applicants for membership, in accordance with the pro- visions of the preceding sections of this article. Article IV — Officers Section 1. The officers of this Association shall be a President, a First Vicepresident (who shall be the retiring President), a Second Vicepresident, an Executive Secretary, and four members of the Executive Committee who, with the other officers of this Association, with the exception of the Execu- tive Secretary, shall constitute the Executive Committee. Section 2. The President and Vicepresidents shall hold office for the period of one year, from March IS following their election. Section 3. The Executive Secretary shall be selected by the Executive Committee for an indefinite period. Section 4. Members of the Executive Committee shall hold office for four years, commencing March IS following the date of election, one mem- ber retiring each year. At the first election the member receiving the largest number of votes shall serve for a term of four years and the others for three, two, and one years, respectively, according to the number of votes received. Article V — Election of Officers Section 1. The election of the President shall be conducted by mailing an annual preferential ballot to all active members of the Association. The primary preferential ballot shall call for three nominations, designated as Constitution and Bylaws 195 first, second, and third choices. The names of the five persons receiving the highest number of votes in this primary preferential ballot shall be submitted in a final preferential ballot, on which active members shall again indicate their first, second, and third choices. The primary ballot shall be mailed on or before October 1 and returned not later than midnight of October 21. The final ballot shall be mailed not later than December 1 and returned not later than midnight of December 21. The person who receives the preferential plurality in the final ballot shall be declared elected by the Executive Committee. On or before February 1 the Board of Tellers shall officially certify and announce the results of the election. Section 2. The procedure for the election of officers other than the President shall be as follows: Nominations shall be made from the floor at the conclusion of the general session held on the morning of the third day of the annual meeting. Section 3. Method of balloting — The membership cards issued by the Executive Secretary of the .\ssociation to the members shall be provided with a detachable stub, to be exchanged for a ballot. Suitable places for the balloting shall be provided and announced in the official program. One of the ballot boxes shall be at the main entrance to the auditorium in which the general sessions are held. The ballot boxes shall be open for voting from 11 a. m. until 6 p. m. on the fourth day of the annual meeting. Those candidates receiving the highest number of votes for the respective offices shall be considered the choice of the Association, and declared elected. Section 4. Announcement of the results of balloting — At the last regular business session, the President shall call for the report of the Executive Secretary, announcing the result of the ballot cast for the several officers of the Association. In case of a tie vote, the Executive Committee shall cast lots to determine the successful candidate. Section 5. The Board of Tellers, the Executive Committee, and the Executive Secretary shall be in charge of the entire procedure of balloting for all officers. Article VI — Standing Committees The standing committees of this Association shall consist of a Resolutions Committee, an .Audit Committee, and a Board of Tellers of three members. Other committees may be authorized by the Executive Committee or the Association from time to time. Article VII — Annual Meeting The annual meeting of this .Association shall be held at such time and place or places as shall be determined by the Executive Committee of the Association. 196 American Association of School Administrators Article VIII — -Amendments This Constitution may be altered or amended at any annual meeting by two-thirds vote of the active members present, the proposed amendment having been submitted in writing at the previous annual meeting. BYLAWS Article I — Duties of Officers Section 1. It shall be the duty of the President to preside or to arrange for presiding officers at all meetings and in conjunction with the Executive Committee to prepare programs for the annual meeting of the Association ; to appoint all committees not otherwise provided for. He shall be chairman and a member of the Executive Committee, and shall call meetings of this Committee whenever he deems it necessary, or whenever he is requested so to do by a majority of the members of the Committee. He shall perform all other duties appertaining to his office. Section 2. In the absence of the President, the Vicepresidents shall preside in turn. In case of vacancy in the office of President, the Second Vicepresident shall at once succeed to the office of President. Section 3. The Executive Secretary shall keep a complete and accurate record of the proceedings of all meetings of the Association and all meetings of the Executive Committee; shall conduct the business of the Association as provided by the Constitution and Bylaws; and in all matters not defi- nitely prescribed therein be under the direction of the Executive Commit- tee, and in the absence of direction by the Executive Committee, shall be under the direction of the President. He shall receive all moneys due the Association and transmit them monthly to the Executive Secretary of the National Education Association; shall countersign all bills approved for payment by the Executive Committee or by the President in the interval between meetings of the Executive Committee. He shall have his records present at all meetings of the Association and Executive Committee. He shall keep a list of members of the Association and shall revise said list annually. He shall be Secretary of the Executive Committee and custodian of all property of the Association. He shall give such bond as may be re- quired by the Executive Committee. He shall submit an annual report to the Executive Committee at each annual meeting. At the expiration of his term of office he shall turn over to his successor in office all money, books, and property of the Association. He shall serve during the pleasure of the Executive Committee. Article II — Duties of Committees Section 1. The Executive Committee shall assist the President in ar- ranging the annual program. It shall fix the place of the annual meeting. Constitution and Hvi.aws 197 It shall select an Executive Secretary for an indefinite term and fix his salary. It shall authorize the appointment of special commissions for investiga- tion and research. It shall determine the amount of money to be expended in such investigations, but in no case shall it incur debt. It shall determine what departments of the National Education Association and what other educational organizations shall be invited to hold meetings with this Asso- ciation. Skction 2. The Resolutions and Audit Committees and the Board of Tellers shall be appointed by the President and shall make their reports at the next annual meeting succeeding their appointment. Article III — Dues The dues of this Association shall be $10 per year for both active and asso- ciate members, and shall be paid annually to the Executive Secretary. Article IV — Vacancies All vacancies occurring in any office other than that of President shall be filled by the Executive Committee. Article V — Rules of Order Robert's Rules of Order shall govern in all business meetings of this Asso- ciation. Article VI — Amendments These Bylaws may be amended at any annual meeting of this Association by a majority vote of the members present, the amendment having been submitted in writing at the previous annual meeting. 198 American Association of School Administrators CALENDAR OF MEETINGS Historical Note — At the meeting of the National Teachers' Association in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, August 1865, the state and city superintend- ents present decided to form an organization, to be composed exclusively of those engaged in supervisory work in the schools. This group agreed to meet in Washington, D. C, in February 1866, at which time the work of organizing was completed. The new organization was called the National Association of School Superintendents. Nine states and twenty cities were represented. The National Association of School Superintendents became the Depart- ment of School Superintendence of the National Education^/ Association at a convention held at Cleveland, Ohio, August 1870. In 1907 a new act of incorporation which had been passed by Congress and approved by the President of the United States was accepted and adopted by the summer meeting of the parent association at Los Angeles, California. According to one of the provisions of this new act, the name was changed to the Department of Superintendence of the National Educa- tion Association. Following an amendment to the bylaws of the National Education Asso- ciation at Des Moines, Iowa, in July 1921, the Department of Superin- tendence was reorganized under a new constitution of its own, with a full-time executive secretary. The 1937 convention at New Orleans adopted a new constitution chang- ing the name from the Department of Superintendence to the American Association of School Administrators, a department of the National Edu- cation Association of the United States. Wartime necessity brought to an end the long and unbroken series of great national conventions which for more than a generation had served as a rallying point and clearinghouse of school administration. The 1943 convention was canceled at the request of the Office of Defense Transpor- tation. In 1944 five regional conferences were substituted. Regional con- ferences were again planned for 1945 but at the last moment they were canceled by government directive. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS, 1865-1870 1865 HARRISBURG, PA. (Organization) 1868— NASHVILLE. TENN.. AuKust August Emerson E. White, President BiRDSEY Grant Northrop, Chairman Daniel Stevenson. Vicepresident L. Van Bokkelen, Secretary ^- J^3:!»."°*;'"i"''' S"'"''^a'">' 1866- WASHINGTON. D. C, February ''''""^f "vv Julklf^' pSent INDIANAPOLIS, IND., August Emerson E. White. Vicepresident Birdsey Grant Northrop, President L. Van Bokkelen, Secretary Charles R. Coburn, Vicepresident 1870 -WASHINGTON, D. C, March L. Van Bokkelen, Secretary James P. Wickersham, President S. S. .Ashley, Vicepresident 1867— No meeting W. R. Creery, Secretary Calendar of Meetings 199 DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCL\TION, 1870-1907 1871 — 1872- 1873- 1874- 187S- 1876- 1877 1878 1879 1880- 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 ST. LOUIS, MO., AuRUsi \V. 1). IIknklf.. rresidont \V. M. Colby, Viropresidrnt Warrf.n Johnson. Secretary BOSTON, MASS.. August John Hancock. Tresident A. P. Marble, Secretary ELMIRA, N. Y.. .XuKust William T. Harris, President John W. Page, Vicepresident A. P. Marble, Secretary ■W.XSHINT.TON. D. C. January DETROIT, MICH.. .\uRUst J. H. HiNKORi). President Allen .\rmstronc.. Secretary ^\V\S1I1XGT0\. D. C January MiNXK.APOLIS. MINN.. AuRust J. Ormond Wilson. President A. Abernethy. Vicepresident R, W .Stevenson, Secretary -B.^LTIMORE, MD., July Charles S. Smart, President A Pickett, Vicepresident Horace S. Tarbell. Secretary -WASHINGTON, D. C. March LOriSVILLK. KV.. August WASHINGTON. D. C December Charles S. Smart, President Horace S. Tarbell, Secretary —No MeelinR -W\SH1NGT0N, D. C, February PHILADELPHIA, PA.. July Tames P. Wickersiiam. President James H. Smart. Vicepresident R. W. Stevenson, Secretary -W^SHINGTON, D. C. February CH.WTAl'QUA, N. V., July M. A. Newell, President N. A. Calkins. Vicepresident S. A. Baer, Secretary NEW YORK, N. Y.. February ATLANTA, G.^.. July A. P. Marble, President N. A. Calkins. Vicepresident Samuel Findley, Secretary -WASHINGTON. D. C. March SAR.\TOGA SPRINGS, N. Y., July W. H. Ruffner, President N. A. Calkins, Vicepresident Henry S. Jones. Secretary WASHINGTON. D. C, February SAR.\TOGA SPRINGS, N. Y.. July N. A. Calkins. President Horace S. Tarbell, Vicepresident Henry S. Jones. Secretary WXSHINGTON, D. C, February MADISON. WIS., July B. L. BtiTciiER. President D. F. DeWolf. Vicepresident Henry R. .Sanford. Secretary NEW ORLEANS. LA., February S^R.^TOGA SPRINGS, N. Y., July I.EROY D. Brown, President W. O. Rogers, Secretary WASHINGTON. D. C. February TOPEKA, KANS.. July Warren Easton. President A. P. Stone, Vicepresident Charles C. Davidson. .Secretary WASHINGTON, D. C. March CHICAGO, ILL.. July Charles S. Young. President N. C. Doi'cllERTV, Vicepresident Ch\rles C. Davidson. Secretary -WASHINGTON. D. C February SAN FRANCISCO. CALIF.. July N. C. Doi'GllKRTV. President Henry A. Wise, Vicepresident W. R. Thicpen, Secretary WASHINGTON, D. C, February NASHVILLE, TENN., July Fred M. Campbell, President Charles C. Davidson. Vicepresident W. R. Thicpen, Secretary NEW' YORK, N. Y., February Andrew S. Draper, President J. A. B. LovETT, Vicepresident L. W. Day. Secretary PHILADELPHIA, PA.. February Andrew S. Draper. President J. A. B. Lovett, Vicepresident L. W. Day, .Secretary -BROOKLYN, N. Y., February Henry Sabis, President Virgil G. Curtis, Vicepresident L. W. Day, Secretary -BOSTON, M.ASS., February Edward Brooks. President John E. Bradley, Vicepresident J. H. Phillips, Secretary -RICHMOND, VA., February D L. Kiehle, President Warren Easton, Vicepresident Frederick Treudley, Secretary -CLEVELAND, OHIO. February William H. Maxwell, President Oscar T. Corson, Vicepresident James M. Carlisle, Secretary -JACKSONVILLE, FLA.. February Lewis H. Jones, President J H Phillips, Vicepresident Robert E. Denfield, Secretary -INDIANAPOLIS, IND.. February C B Gilbert, President A B Blodoett, Vicepresident Lawton B. ?:vans. Secretary CHATTANOOGA, TENN. February Nathan C. Schaeffer. President Frank B. Cooper. Vicepresident William L. Steele, Secretary -COLUMBUS. OHIO. February Edgar H. Mark. President Gforge H. Conley. Vicepresident James H. Van Sickle, Secretary -CHICAGO, ILL., February Augustus S. Downing. President G R Glenn, Vicepresident Charles M. Jordan, Secretary 1901— CHICAGO. ILL., February Lorenzo D. Harvey. President \rthur K. Whitcomb, \ icepresident Frank B. Cooper. Secretary CHICAGO. ILL.. February G R. Glenn. President Henry P. Emerson, Vicepresident John W. Dietrich. Secretary CINCINNATI, OHIO. February Charles M. Jordan. President Clarence F. Carroll. Vicepresident J. N. Wilkinson, Secretary 1904— ATLANTA. GA.. February Hfnry p. Emerson. President Edwin B. Cox. Vicepresident John H. Hinfmon. .^^ecretary MILWAUKEE, WIS., February 1;dwin G. Coolev, President Lawton B. Evans, Vicepresident Evangeline E. Whitney, Secretary LOULSVILLE. KV.. February John W. Carr. President I. H. Phillips, \icepresident Ella C. Sullivan. Secretary CHICAGO. ILL.. February W. W. Stetson. President H. H. Seerley, \icepresident I U. Harris, Secretary 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898- 1899- 1900 1902- 1903- 1905 1906 1907 200 American Association of School Administrators DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, 1907-1937 1908— WASHINGTON, D. C, February Frank B. Cooper, President Stratton D. Brooks, Vicepresident George B. Cook, Secretary 1909— CHICAGO, ILL., February William H. Elson, President David B. Johnson, Vicepresident A. C. Nelson, Secretary 1910— INDIANAPOLIS, IND., March Stratton D. Brooks, President Wales C. Martindale, Vicepresident John F. Keating, Secretary 1911— MOBILE, ALA.. February William M. Davidson, President J. A. Shawan, Vicepresident Arthur D. Call, Secretary 1912— ST. LOUIS, MO., February Charles E. Chai>sey, President O. J. Kern, Vicepresident Harlan Updegraff, Secretary 1913— PHILADELPHIA. PA., February Franklyn B. Dyer, President Samuel Hamilton, Vicepresident Burr W. Torreyson, Secretary 1914— RICHMOND, VA., February Ben Blewett, President W. E. Ranger, Vicepresident Anna E. Logan, Secretary 1915— CINCINNATI, OHIO, February Henry Snyder. President Paul W. Horn, Vicepresident Mrs. Ellor C. Ripley, Secretary 1916— DETROIT. MICH., February M. P. Shawkey, President Lawton B. Evans. Vicepresident E. C. Warriner, Secretary 1917— KANSAS CITY. MO., February John D. Shoop. President Fred L. Keeler, Vicepresident Margaret T. Maguire, Secretary 1918- -ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., February Thomas E. Finegan. President A. A. McDonald, Vicepresident LiDA Lee Tall, Secretary 1919— CHICAGO, ILL.. February Ernest C. Hartwell, President David B. Corson, Vicepresident Marie Gugle, Secretary 1920— CLEVELAND, OHIO, February E. U. Graff, President D. J. Kelly. Vicepresident Charl Ormond Williams, Secretary 1921— ATLANTIC CITY. N. J.. February Calvin N. Kendall, President Ernest A. Smith, Vicepresident Belle M. Ryan, Secretary 1922— CHICAGO, ILL.. February Robinson G. Jones, President Will C. Wood. Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1923— CLEVELAND, OHIO, February John H. Beveridge, President Frank W. Ballou, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1924— CHICAGO, ILL., February Payson Smith, President M. G. Clark, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1925- CINCINNATI, OHIO, February William McAndrew, President John J. Maddox, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1926— WASHINGTON, D. C, February Frank W. Ballou, President E. E. Lewis, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 192 7— DALLAS, TEXAS, February Randall J. Condon, President David A. Ward. Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1928— BOSTON, MASS., February Joseph M. Gwinn, President Frank D. Boynton, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1929— CLEVELAND. OHIO, February Frank D. Boynton, President Frank G. Pickell, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1930— ATLANTIC CITY. N. J., February Frank Cody, President Norman R. Crozier, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1931— DETROIT, MICH.. February Norman R. Crozier, President Daniel S. Kealey, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1932— WASHINGTON, D. C. February Edwin C. Broome. President George C. Bush, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland. Secretary 1933— MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., February Milton C. Potter. President George Melcher, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland. Secretary 1934— CLEVELAND, OHIO, February Paul C. Stetson, President David E. Weglein, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 193S— ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., February E. E. Oberholtzer, President A. J. Stoddard, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1936— ST. LOUIS, MO., February A. J. Stoddard, President A. L. Threlkeld, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1937— NEW ORLEANS. LA.. February A. L. Threlkeld, President Jesse H. Mason. Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary F Calendar of Meetings 201 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS A Department of the National Education Association of the United States, 1937- 1938 -ATLANTIC CITY. N. J., February C. B. Glenn, President J. \V. Ramsey, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1939- CLEVELAND. OHIO. February John A. Sexson. President Paul T. Rankin. \"icepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1940— ST. LOUIS. MO.. February Ben G. Graham. President Homer \V. Anderson. Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland. Secretary 1941— .\TLANTIC CITY. N. J.. February Carroll R. Reed. President Hobart M. Corning. Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland. Secretary 1942— SAN FRANCISCO. CALIF.. February \V. Howard Pillsblry. President Worth McClvre. Vicepresident Sherwood U. Shankland, Secretary 1943— ST. LOITS, MO.. February Canceled at request oj Office of De- fense Transportation Homer \V. .Anderson. President Charles H. Lake. Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1944— REGIONAL CONFERENCES Seattle, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Kansas City Worth McClure, President W. Frank Warren, Vicepresident Sherwood I). Shankland, Secretary 1945— REGIONAL CONFERENCES PirmiiiR/iam, Chicago, Denver, \ew York — Canceled by government direc- tive N. L. Encelhardt, President W. Frank Warren, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1946— REGIONAL CONFERENCES Kansas City, Atlanta, Xew York, Chicago Charles L. Lake, President W. Frank Warren, Vicepresident Sherwood D. Shankland, Secretary 1947— ATLANTIC CITY. N. J.. March Henry H. Hill, President W. Frank Warren, Vicepresident Worth McClure, Secretary 1948— ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., February Herold C. Hunt, President .Alfred D. Simpson, Vicepresident Worth McClure, Secretary 1949— REGIONAL CONVENTIONS San Francisco, St. Louis, Philadelphia Willard E. Goslin, President Alfred D. Simpson, Vicepresident Worth McClure, Secretary SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL PROGRAM THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS A Department of the National Education Association of the United States OUR POLICY The American Association of School Administrators endorses no individual or group of individuals or any sentiment expressed by any speaker or other participant in its programs, except by resolution or by motion approved by a vote of its members. ^ \ SATURDAY Feb. 19 2:00 P. M. Exhibit Hall Main Arena Civic Auditorium CONVENTION THEME— Education and the General Welfare CEREMONIAL OPENING OF THE EXHIBITS Presiding, Willard E. Goslin, Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena. Calif.; Presi- dent, American Association of School Administrators Organ Fanfare— Dr. D. Sterling Wheelwright Address of Welcome— Herbert C. Clish, Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco, Calif. j Response— Bert Cholet, Brooklyn, X. Y.; President, Associated Exhibitors of the National Education Association The Con.i'ention Exhibits The exhibits of books, educational tools, and school equipment at the AASA conventions are generally recognized as most valu- able and helpful. They provide opportunity for the administrator to examine the many things that are offered for use in his schools, to gain new ideas, to make helpful comparisons, and to discuss uses and applications with technical and professional experts. This year's convention exhibits are most elaborate and colorful. More than 350 firms are domon.^^trating their products and activities in over 700 exhibit booths in the three convention cities — San Francisco. St. Louis, and Philadelphia. Few, if any, trade shows or exhibits outside the educational world are more extensive or have as many different participants. The cooperation of the firms and organizations represented and of the officers of the Associated Exhibitors is recognized with api)reciation by all who attend the conventions. [202 ] F San Francisco General Program 203 FIRST GENERAL SESSION— VESPER SERVICE Educntion nnd Peace Presiding, Willard E. Goslin, Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena, Calif.; Presi- dent. American Association of School Administrators Organ Prelude (3:00-3:30 P. M.)— Dr. Wendell Otey Invocation MUSI6AL PRESENTAT/OJV Giiy Golleqe of San Francisco A Cappell.\ Choir — Flossita Badger, Director Velma Webster, Soprano Soloist All Men Now Sing. Christmas Magnificat for 1793 Bach Adoramus Te Christe Palestrina Rise Up Shepherd Negro Spiritual arr. by Ringwald Trio Ave Maria Bach-Gounod Joan Welton. Soprano Marie Joan Campbell, Harpist Christine Di Sibio, Violinist In the Minds of Men Stewart G. Cole, Executive Director, Pacific Coast Council on Intercultural Education, Los Angeles. Calif. The Choir America, the Beautiful Choral transcription — Peery The Lord Bless You and Keep You Peter Lutkin The Star-Spangled Banner — Choir and Audience Benediction Organ Postlude Platform Gtiests: Herbert C. Clish. Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco, Calif.; Roy E. Simpson, State Superintendent of Public In.struction. Sacra- mento. Calif.; Executive Committee. Resolutions Coniinittoc, and Pa.st Presidents of the Association; Presidents and Secretaries of Allied Organi- zations; Educational Policies Commi.-age 221. 2:30 P. M. GOSLIN DAVIS WANAMAKER CHOLET SIMPSON 220 American Association of School Administrators TUESDAY March 29 8:S0 P. M. Arena Convention Hall FIFTH GENERAL SESSION Program Presented by the Associated Exhibitors Presiding, Bert Cholet, Brooklyn, N. Y.; President, Associated Exhibitors, NEA Organ Prelude (8:00-8:30 P. M.)— William Martin Klaiss Presentation of Assoclated Exhibitors Scholarship for Graduate Study in School Administration — Bert Cholet, President of the Associated Exhibitors Recipient — Raybum J. Fisher, Graduate Student, Teachers College, Colum- bia Universit}' ; Superintendent of Schools, Anniston, Ala., on leave Presentation of the American Education Award for 1949 — Mr. Cholet Acceptance — Mrs. Pearl A. Wanamaker, State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, Olympia, Wash. Entertainment Sigmund Romberg and His Concert Orchestra and Soloists ADMISSION — This evening members of the AASA and NEA will he giie/its of > the Associated Exhibitors. General admission by membership badge of the AASA * or NEA. Reserved section tickets distributed by member companies of the Asso- j dated Exhibitors. ' Wednesday — Joint Sessions Schoolmen's Week of the University of Pennsylvania Schoolmen's Week of the University of Pennsylvania will be in ses- sion Wednesday through Saturday, March 30-April 2. Those attending are cordially invited to the Wednesday sessions of AASA. Likewise AASA and NEA members are invited to remain over for the School- men's Week meetings and the exhibit in the Palestra. Schoolmen's Week programs available at AASA Registration Desk, Convention Hall. DISCUSSION GROUPS WEDNESDAY Morning discussion groups. For list of discussion group topics see page 221. 10:00 A. M. WEDNESDAY March 30 2:30 P. M. Arena Convention Hall SIXTH GENERAL SESSION Air- Age Education Presiding, Willard E. Goslin, President of the Association Organ Prelude (2:00-2:30 P. M.)— William Martin Klaiss Invocation — Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen, Beth Sholom Congregation, Philadelphia Constitutional Amendment on Life Membership — Claude L. Kulp, Superintend- ent of Schools, Ithaca, N. Y.; Member, Planning Committee Education and Aviation : What Schools Are Doing H. B. Bruner, Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis, Minn. At Home in One World Gill Robb Wilson, Aviation Editor, New York Herald-Tribune Platform Gtiests: Audit Committee, Planning Committee, Board of Tellers, Newly elected officers DISCUSSION GROUP TOPICS San Francisco, St. Louis, and Philadelphia Planning the Plant To Fit the Educational Program How Can We Organize the High School Curriculum To Serve the Life Problems of Youth ? New Developments in Inservice Education The Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools What Are the Prospects of Federal Aid to Education? Problems of School District Reorganization Involving Urban, Suburban, and Rural Territory What Technics Shall the Superintendent Use in Working with Groups? Education and Aviation What Is the Responsibility of School Administrators for Leadership in Parent-Teacher Education ? How May Adults Participate in Planning Educational Programs? New Trends in Building Materials and Design What Does the Superintendent Need To Know about Child Growth and Development ? New Trends in Salary Scheduling Pertinent Problems in School Transportation The Human Element in Personnel Practice Camping Education and the Extended School Year What Are the Fundamental Issues Involved in Released Time for Re- ligious Education? The Challenge of Unesco to the Public Schools Adapting the Tax Structure to the Needs of Education Federal-State-Local Relationships in Education Parental and Preschool Education A City Staf^ Studies and Interprets Its School Plant Needs How Can We Educate for the Conservation of Natural Resources? Does America Need a New Terminal School for Youth? The Future of Tenure and Retirement Adapting Building Plans to Program Needs Cooperative Project on School Records and Reports Problems and Policies in Intergroup Education Can Teaching Service Be Evaluated? Public Relations Problems and Practices How Should Practices Be Changed To Meet Individual Needs — Elemen- tary, Secondary? Do We Need a New Program of Teacher Education? The County Superintendent's Job under a Reorganized School System [221 ] American Association of School Administrators Yearbook Commissions School Buildings — 1949 Yearbook W. T. White, Chairman, Superintendent of Schools Dallas, Texas Homer W. Anderson, Superintendent of Schools Newton, Mass. Charles W. Bursch, Assistant Division Chief in charge of School Planning, State Department of Education. . Sacramento, Calif Paul L. Essert, Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University New York, N. Y. Hay L. Hamon. Chief, School Housing Section, U. S. Office of Education, Federal Security Agency Washington, D. C. T. C. Holy, Director, Bureau of Educational Research, College of Education, Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio John W. Lewis, Assistant Superintendent assigned to Business Affairs. Department of Education Baltimore, Md. W. D. McClurkin, Professor of School Administration, George Peabody College for Teachers Nashville, Tenn. Paul W. Seagers, Assistant Professor of Education, Indiana University Bloomington, Ind. Howard Dwight Smith. Architect, Ohio State University. Columbus, Ohio PubUc Relations — 1950 Yearbook Paul J. Misner, Chairman, Superintendent of Schools Glencoe, 111. Lowell Pierce Goodrich (Deceased), Chairman until March 29, 1949, Superintendent of Schools Milwaukee, Wis. Arthur F. Corey, State Executive Secretary, California Teachers Association San Francisco, Calif. James Winfred Edgar, Superintendent of Schools Austin, Texas Evan E. Evans, Superintendent of Schools .' . . Winfield, Kans. Calvin Grieder, Professor of School Administration, University of Colorado Boulder, Colo. William Jansen, Superintendent, New York City Schools. .Brooklyn, N. Y. James E. Pe.ase, District Superintendent of Schools La Grange, 111. W. W. Theisen. Superintendent of Schools Pro Tern Milwaukee, Wis. 1\Irs. Pe-^rl a. Wanamaker, State Superintendent of . Public Instruction Olympia, Wash. Conservation of Natural Resources — 1951 Yearbook Kenneth E. Oberholtzer, Chairman, Superintendent of Schools Denver, Colo. H. H. Bennett. Chief, Soil Conservation Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture Washington, D. C. Oscar L. Chapman, Under Secretary of the Interior Washington, D. C. Jay N. Darling Des Moines, Iowa Earle E. Emerson. Superintendent of Schools Cromwell, Okla. John E. Ivey. Jr.. Director. Regional Council for Education Atlanta, Ga. William H. Lemmel, Superintendent of Schools Baltimore, Md. Roy E. Simpson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sacramento, Calif. W. Virgil Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Seattle, Wash. [ 222 ] INDEX Air-age education (Wilson), 105 Allan, Harold A., Presentation of hon- orary life memhership to, 43 Amendment on life memhership dues, Constitutional ( Demaree) , 39 ; (Falk), 94; (Kulp), 162 American Education Award — Presenta- tion to Pearl A. Wanamaker, 34, 92, 161; Acceptance of the Award (Wanamaker), 35, 161; (Goslin), 92; Manuscript of the Award, 37 Anderson, Homer W., 137 Arnall, Ellis, 32, 45 Arnold, Edward, 39 Audit Committee, Report of the, 190 Aviation, Education's stake in (Bruner), 95 Badger, Flossita, 9 Bracken, John L., Ill Bruner, Herbert B., 95 Bursch, Charles, 19 California hospitality hour, 32 Cholet, Bert, 19, 33,' 53, 90, 92, 137, 161 Closing ceremonies with introduction of president-elect John L. Bracken, 111 Cole, Stewart G., 9 Conant, James B., 64 Conservation of human resources, Edu- cation and the (Davis), 74 Conservation of natural resources, Edu- cation and the (Goslin), 84 Constitution and bylaws, The, 193 Davis, Allison, 74 Demaree, Paul H., 39 Democracy, The teacher's role in edu- cation for f Studebaker), 58 Democracy, What the schools are doing about education for (Rehmus), 22 Deinocratic education. Community ac- tion for (Larsen), 142 Derthick, L. G., 151 Discussion group topics, 221 Education and the state of the nation (Arnall), 32 Eisenhower, Dwight 1^., 125 Equality, The principle of (Conant), 64 Executive Committee meetings. Sum- mary of, 176 Exhibit, The Convention (Cholet), 19, 53. 137 Exhibitors scholarship, Associated — See Scholarship Falk. Philip H., 94 Fisher, Rayburn J., 33, 90, 91, 161 Fitch, Florence Mary, 41 (Germany, Implications for American schools of educational reconstruction in (Derthick), 151 Goslin, Willard E., 33, 84, 92, 160 Hill, Henry H., 43 Honorary life membership to Harold A. Allan, Presentation of (Hill), 43 Hospitality hour — California, 32; Mis- souri, 73; Pennsylvania, 159 Human resources, Education and the conservation of (Davis), 74 Kulp, Claude L., 162 Larsen, Roy E., 142 Lemmel, VVilliam H., 162 Life membership amendment — See Amendment Living, The technic of successful (Peale), 115 Meetings, Calendar of, 198 Membership by states for the years 1943-1948, 166 Missouri hospitality hour, 73 Monteux, Pierre, 19 Natural resources, Education and the conservation of (Goslin), 84 Officers, 1948-49, 7 Official records, 163 Pageant, Man's Search for God, 41 Past president's key to Willard E. Goslin, Presentation of (Threlkeld), 160 Peace, How education can work for (Russell), 125 Peale, Norman Vincent, 115 Pennsylvania hospitality hour. 159 People want, What the (Arnall), 45 Philadelphia Senior High School chorus and orchestra, All-, 125 Platform guests, Introduction of, 21. 43. 57, 74, 125, 140, 159 Program of regional conventions — San Francisco, 202; St. Louis, 208; Phila- delphia, 216 Rehmus, Paul, 22 Replogle, Esther, 43 Report of the Executive Secretary, An- nual, 16^ Resolutions, 186 Romberg and his concert orchestra and soloists, Sigmund, 93 Russell, William F., 125 [ 223 ] 224 American Association of School Administrators San Francisco, A cappella choir of the City College of, 9 San Francisco State College, Music by, 32 Scholarship for graduate study in school administration. Associated Exhibitors — Presentation to Rayburn J. Fisher, 33, 90, 161 ; Acceptance of the Scholar- ship (Goslin), 33; (Fisher), 91, 161 Schwartz, Susan Lois, 125 Secretary, Annual report of the Execu- tive, 165 Securities, Certificate of list of, 191 Simpson, Alfred D., 74 Socony Male Chorus, 39 Standard Hour concert, 19 Studebaker, Mabel, 58 Teacher's role in education for de- mocracy. The (Studebaker), 58 Tellers, Report of the Board of, 182 Threlkeld, A. L., 160 Vashon High School choir, 74 Wanamaker, Pearl A., 34, 35, 37, 92, 161 Webster Groves public schools a cap- pella choir, 42 Wersen, Louis G., 125 White, Warren T., 56 Wilson, Gill Robb, 105 Yearbook, American School Buildings, The 1949 (Bursch), 19; (White). 56; (Anderson), 137 Yearbook commissions, 222 Date Due 1 1 i 85 3 1262 04042 1116 EDUCATION LIBRARY