Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

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Here to Stay — Sponsored Material; A FEW semesters ago, newspapers all over the country carried the announcement that the Association of School Administrators had issued a bulletin on selecting and using sponsored materials for classroom use. This press release highlighted a problem which has been present in the schools of our country for some time now — that of using sponsored materials in the classroom. For the past twentyfive years trade associations, unions, government institutions, industrial businesses, and professional associations have been interested in getting information 'o the teachers and the students in the classroom, often looking upon the classroom as a price to sell their own products or ideas. As more and more of this free material was made available to schools, many administrators and teachers began to question the motives behind its distribution. They became more selective, and without doubt much of this material found its way into the waste basket. Forward-looking people in industry and business began to realize that a great deal of effort, time, and money were being wasted in this campaign to enter the classroom. They realized also that the effort was causing a resentment on the part of educators and thus building a poor relationship between the schools and the organizations which issued the material. Many educators were skeptical. Why should outside agencies be so interested in developing material for the schools, and at considerable expense, too? The obvious answer is that they have something to sell. That is of course true, but any attempt to build good will by performing some public service also involves selling. Blatant advertising may have been common in sponsored materials a decade ago but today there is a definite trend away from such advertising. There will always be a few agencies that will try improper advertising, but it is now easy to screen out this material or direct the reader's attention to its purpose. Some agencies, like the American Iron and Steel Institute, decided to find out whether there was a legitimate place for industry-produced materials in the classroom. After three years of study, they discovered that educators would welcome such contributions but that there were certain conditions to be observed regarding content and mode of presentation. A summary of this study was made available in a bulletin entitled "Editration and Industry Cooperate." Forward-looking industrial organizations, service associations, and labor unions realize that the school cannot become a place for propaganda and that they have a responsibility to assist education on a high plane. They recognize that the school is an important factor in developing an effective citizenry for our country. As our society has become more complex, the need for an enriched school program has been evident to almost everybody, including big business. The schools influence the attitudes, understandings, skills, and appreciations of the growing generation and this is important to every segment of our culture — in d u s t r i a I , commercial, professional, laboring, political, etc. The future labor leader, worker, manager, owner, social leader, congressman, all get their start in schools. Hence the use of materials which give accurate information on our institutions, organizations, businesses, and industries is important; if made available by sponsors, so much the better. However, as more and more of this sponsored material began to find its way into the schools, many educators realized that some type of screening would have to be done. Practically all schools have criteria for the selection of regular textbooks and librarv books but few have set up any standards for tl evaluation of these materials whic were available from industry f( the asking. National teacher orga; izations became interested in tl problem. The Association for Si pervision and Curriculum Deve opment issued a pamphlet "Usir Free Material in tlie Classroorr. and two years later the .Assotiatic of School Administrators issued similai' i)ulletin. Ihese two pu lications highli.s^lned the proble: of industry-sponsored material j the schools and pointed out tl need for criteria for evaluating ar selecting these materials. The question of whether tl schools should use materials whi( are sponsored by various groups i our society is no longer an issue, has been answered in the affirm tive by both teachers and admini trators. It is, of course, recognize that materials must be selectf with great care because the schO' cannot become a place in whi( commercial agencies can sell the wares. Nevertheless, the model school needs all kinds of teachir material as it deals with many vit and complex problems, and son of these materials are not obtai able through the usual channels. The job of the school is to d velop an effective and participatii citizen for our society— one wl understands our history and our f ture. Young people must learn n^ only how to choose jobs and eai livings, but must also learn som thing about the problems of oi culture. To help them do this, tl teacher needs not only the usu textbooks, films, radio, and T' but he must make use of ever thing the community can supp as a laboratory for learning. Tl community can supply resourj people, places to visit, and writte materials of many kinds. Tl proper selection of these learn ii tools and experiences is an impc tant part of the educational proce 86 EdScreen & AV Guide — February, 19^