THE AMERICAN TEACHER

[Music] la [Applause] characteristic of America is her vast system of public schools offering education to the children of all her citizens regardless of race or social class upon these Public Schools elementary and secondary Falls the task of educating the majority of Americans all but the fraction who go to college will get no further education than that which the public school provides but though many a US Community has put up as imposing a school building as local resources will allow most citizens are shockingly indifferent or complacent about the quality of Education their community provid for its young people great little plant we have here don't you think cost the community a cool quarter of a million Mighty impressive from the outside ever visited any of the classes in there why no I what kind of teachers have you got inside that's what really counts why hello Junior hello Daddy ignored or taken for granted by many the public school teacher must work long hours and often endure considerable nervous strain in the practice of his or her profession those interclass debates take a lot of extra work don't they if it were just the debates I wouldn't mind but look I'm teaching five sections of English advising the editor of the school paper and directing the senior class production of Romeo and Juliet yet those who teach do so less for monetary reward than for the Deep satisfaction offered by the opportunity to mold the minds and characters of the young devoted for almost a 100 years to advancing the interests of the teaching profession in America is the National Education Association whose membership includes 386,000 Elementary and high school teachers from its headquarters in Washington DC the Nea keeps watch over the nation's schools promoting legislation to elevate the teachers position sponsoring many of the forward movements in US education Nea brings out yearbooks which offer Advanced thought on curriculum making an educational procedure in its dealings with press and public alike Nea stands always for promoting an attitude of respect toward a hardworking and often harassed professional teachers should be as highly skilled as doctors lawyers or Engineers we are fighting to get and to keep such teachers in our Public Schools like members of the other learned professions teachers must obtain a higher education and receive special training in order to acquire the skill their work demands State normal schools and teachers colleges within universities offer to those who have chosen teaching both the inspiration of classical Theory and the example of contemporary practice in the ancient art of Education though today's emphasis in instructing teachers as upon the scientific principles of psychology all good teachers know that their methods are as unique and personal as any other artists [Music] yesterday's education in the US was typified by the proverbial Little Red Schoolhouse most communities had but one room and a single teacher with which to educate their assorted progeny a pupil learned his multiplication tables as his father and grandfather had before him through endless classroom drills [Music] by the same process he learned the key dates of history as well as difficult words and geography oron the drill formula was simple but monotonous and the pupil's marks were more apt to measure the strength of his memory than his standing missfits who could not adapt to this rigid educational system received prompt chastisement long at Columbia University was a major educational theorist of our time Professor William herd Kilpatrick we are trying to help the child learn to face actuality and on this basis build his ideas his character his sense of self-reliance of how to live and work with others in a word we are equipping the child to face his future by learning to face intelligently his immediate present spreading gradually from a few Advanced experimental schools to the public schools Progressive education has aimed primarily at replacing the secondhand experience of book learning with the firsthand experience of Life Learning by doing learning how to deal with practical everyday problems children are encouraged to formulate their thoughts even before they can read little little things I don't know if they see do not but they look sort of like the see goes all into the such subjects as spelling and reading are made not something abstract but a means of clarifying the child's experience good some butter and some sugar and some flour and some milk and S eggs and she rolled out some nice little cakes then she sprinkled each cake with some of the poppy seeds that she had brought from the old country when the nice little cakes for baking he spit out the and the bed important device of progressive education is the project a lesson in working together for first graders one day it may be a lunch project first step for these tiniest moopets involves reading as individuals are assigned to get the various items of food buying at the store involves arithmetic and a practical knowledge of money then comes the serious business of cooperating with each other and preparing lunch this youngster is learning that butter is made from cream he knew that Cream came from a cow from this one day's project an actual handling food May spring another day's discussion or a further project perhaps about the farm for these tots even waiting to begin to eat is a lesson in self-restraint for 9year olds managing the school store is an advanced exercise in Practical business for 12 to 14year Old project buses run daily to inspect the everyday World outside studying airplanes and their operation will enable the student to coordinate various subjects is studying from manual training to commercial geography thus Progressive education teaches by going straight to the facts of Mankind's daily life and showing children how to observe them and draw logical conclusions from [Music] them Chief critic of the school's new teaching philosophy was the late Dr William C Bagley of Columbia University similar theories caused a softening of the fiber of Greek education 2500 years ago and doubtless played a part in the decadence of Greek civilization Progressive education has its virtues but it also has its dangers and among Layman not a few parents have found severe practical faults in Progressive education now hold on Miss Fox it's all very well to teach my boy to faint pretty pictures and Bill birdhouses but he doesn't even know his multiplication tables but in its defense speaks the man more responsible than anyone else for these teaching tactics America's famed educator and philosopher professor John Dewey the world is moving at a tremendous rate no one knows where we must prepare our children not for the work world of the past not for our world but for their world the world of the future not only Progressive education but all other theories of how best to instruct the young are the Deep concern of the United States Office of Education headed by Dr John W studabaker whose aim is to improve the quality of schooling offered in our democracy also in the nation's capital the uned States Chamber of Commerce is lending its resources to Aid in the battle to raise American educational standards its lecturers are bringing to hundreds of local Chamber of Commerce groups the realization that public money spent on better schooling more than repays its cost in dividends to business and the community for statistical evidence shows that Superior education means Superior purchasing power in those States in which educational standards are lowest economic standards show the least tendency to rise poor schooling deprives people of Economic Opportunity and perpetuates poverty which in a vicious circle prevents Improvement of the community's educational standards proper education could turn hundreds of thousands of children today growing up in poverty into productive citizens contributing to the nation's economic and cultural [Music] well-being certain Progressive communities able to pay for the best in education have shown conclusively how a First Rate teacher May develop in her pupils the gift for thinking as well as a knowledge of the fact of course there's no chance of getting the atomic energy plan adopted you never could get all the nations to agree on it why do you think so oh everybody knows that and who do you mean by everybody why people that's what people say does this remind anyone about the formation of our federal government after the American Revolution a lot of people said the states could never agree on a constitution but some people thought they could and they finally did so when everybody says a thing that usually means not everybody but somebody I see what you mean then before we believe anything shouldn't we always ask ourselves first what evidence do I have that this is true just what people say is never enough to drive home the fact that good teachers are more vital today than at any time in the nation's history Dr James B Conan president of Harvard University has been addressing Community groups across the land our system of public education in the United States is one of the unique features of the free Society we have developed on this continent the uniqueness of our American System lies in its flexibility and its Democratic Spirit as contrasted with systems of universal education which have grown up in European countries we may speak of it as uniquely Democratic in its nature our public schools are ladders of opportunity the the nation cannot afford to leave undiscovered and undeveloped our greatest source of wealth the talent of each new generation today with International problems demanding of all our citizens that wide Horizon on the world which a sound education alone can give there are opportunities as never before for the gifted teacher who knows how to train the young to Grapple intelligently with their destiny oh 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