The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

October, 1951 Page 231 The Talking Picture in Education As England Sees It"" WE are living in a mechanical age. Is full advantage being taken of new inventions for educational purposes, or do our educationalists shut their eyes to these inventions? Some there are who refuse to see any good in them because, for instance, they heard a talking picture in the days of its infancy, and have refused to listen to another since. They might just as reasonably still ride in stage coaches because the first train ran over Mr. Huskisson. But the recent Exhibition of Mechanical Aids to learning did, it is believed, make many converts. The Power of the Cinema Xo one can fail to realize the enormous hold the cinema had on children three years ago, nor can one fail to realize that that hold had been tightened a hundred-fold by the introduction of the talking film, as is proved by the box office receipts of cinemas throughout the country. That the British public are interested in talking pictures which are not solely of the entertainment type, is proved by the great success achieved by a theatre in London which has recently devoted its entire programme to topical and current events gathered from the whole world. This is in reality a weekly illustrated journal, but with the additional advantage of the actual voice of the various speakers and the actual voice of the events portrayed. As the talking picture is such a great medium of entertainment, surely it is not beyond the powers of our educationists to adapt it to their own needs. Nothing, of course, can ever take the place of the personal influence of the gifted teacher in a classroom. Mechanical aids to education can never supplant the teacher, but they can supplement his eflForts, for the principal aim of the science of teaching is to discover how the child can derive the fullest measure of knowledge from the lessons taught him, and understand their inner meaning with the greatest ease. He is already accustomed to seeing and hearing a sound film, and, therefore, should be all the more receptive of an educational film. Every Subject Treated on Sound Film With the coming of the talking picture, such a vast new field in the world of education is opened ♦Reprinted from the British magazine Education. up as staggers the imagination. There is really no subject in which it cannot be utilized. There are already in existence several silent films of surgeons performing operations ; hitherto only a very limited number of students could be sufficiently close to the patient to see every movement of the surgeon's hand, but by means of the talking picture not only can every movement be seen by thousands of students, but the surgeon can be heard explaining in his own voice every stage of the operation. In the field of Civics it is now possible for every child in the land to meet on the screen, if not in flesh, all the members of the Government who may describe in simple language the functions of their various departments, and give some idea of how complicated a machine the Government of a great country really is. In geography children may be taken round the world by men and women who have visited far distant countries of the earth and can, therefore, give an eye witness description of the places, the peoples and the customs. In science, in history, in economics — but why go on? Anyone with vision and imagination must see how great are the possibilities. One great advantage that the talking picture has over the silent film is that the child's attention is riveted by the addition of sound as it was never riveted before. The Chinese have a proverb that one seeing is worth a thousand tellings, but when the two are combined the most lasting impression possible is obtained. By means of the talking picture, the leading personalities and teachers of the world, whose audiences were of necessity limited, can now be brought face to face with millions. Their individualities and all their mannerisms of action and speech are portrayed with the utmost fidelity. From them teachers will themselves gain inspiration and wil) have a valuable aid to their teaching efforts, for their pupils will receive a far more vivid, and, therefore, a far more lasting impression from the living voice of a talking picture than from the dead word of a printed book. (Continued on pane 246)