The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 254 The Educational Screen such propaganda is to know how to recognize it and how to deal with it. A public opinion, continuously ex- pressed thru the channels by which it can be heard by those who produce the films, is the only control of screen fare desired in a free country. The safeguard- ing of the right of free-expression of the screen rests not only on the industry it- self but on the millions of people who comprise the great movie-going public. The Movies As a New Educational Tool —by Muriel T. Bain, Muskingum Col- lege, New Concord, O.— Educational Method, 18:362-6 April, 1939 Skillful guidance in selection of films from many angles through the school program is preferable to a single course in photoplay appreciation. Teachers of dramatics, English, geography and science found current films pertinent to their sub- jects and worthy of discussion. The work of developing movie discrimination can begin in the elementary school, and could well be extended to include the parents. Using New Educational Tools — by Edgar Dale, Ohio State University— Educational Method, 18:347-52 April, 1939 Some of the questions which chal- lenge the teacher as the result of the development of movies, radio, and news- papers as means of communications of ideas and understanding. How can these be used to increase our understanding of reality? How can they be used for the spread of scientific knowledge? How can they be used to reconstruct many out- moded stereotypes? How can they be used so that they will promote, not stultify thinking? An Experimental Course in Cinema Ap- preciation—by Sherman P. Lawton, Stephens College, Columbia, Mo. — English Journal (College Edition) 28:230-2 Mar., 1939 In a course in English composition, written papers, oral performances, out- side readings, and dramatizations were based on current films with interesting results. Other References Artists of the Movies— Theatre Arts Monthly, 23 :424-8 June, 1939 Liberty Bells in Hollywood— Christian Century, 56:310 March 8, 1939. Medicine in the Movies—Hygeia, 17: 486-9 June, 1939. Artists' Point of View: Films for De- mocracy—by R. M. Pearson, Forum, 101:175 March, 1939 Hollywood Waves the Flag—by Frank S. Nugent, Nation, April 8, 1939 Clinics in Crime—by B. J. Thompson, Commonweal, 29:686-7 April 14, 1939 One Man's Meat: Hollywood's Stand- ard of Living—by E. B. White,, Harper, 179:217-9 July, 1939 Cinema Censorship—by V. F. Calverton, Current History, 50:47 March, 1939 Motion Picture Reviews Science Motion Picture Reviews — by H. Emmett Brown, Chairman of Com- mittee— School Science and Mathema- tics, monthly Social Science Motion Picture Reviews —by Robert B. Nixon, Wayne, Penn.— Social Studies, monthly Music Motion Picture Reviews —Music Educators' Review, monthly Films for Teaching Occupations — Occupations Magazine, monthly Motion Picture Review — Nation's Schools, monthly. New Catalogs and Source Lists Catalog of Films for Classroom Use— Selected and classified by the Advisory Committee on the Use of Motion Pic- tures in Education — Teaching Film Custodians, Inc., 25 West 43rd St., New York, N. Y. Includes short sub- jects released by Hollywood producing companies under limited conditions for school use. 50c. Films on Human Relations—Edited and distributed by the Commission on Human Relations, Progressive Educa- tion Association, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, N. Y. C. Excerpts from feature films which have been used with success in course on human relations under the direction of Dr. Alice V. Keliher. Available to schools under limited con- ditions. Catalog, volume I — Association of School Film Libraries, 9 Rockefeller Plaza, N. Y. C. Lists films which may be obtained through the Association. Exclusive rights to March of Time re- leases, available only to members of the Association. Films of the Pacific Area —Compiled and edited by the American Council Institute of Pacific Relations, Inc. Published by American Film Center, Inc., 30 Rockefeller Plaza, N. Y. C. 25c, 1939. A listing of 16mm. films and their sources on the many islands and countries located in the Pacific region, including Alaska, China, Dutch East Indies, Mexico, Nicaragua, Siberia, etc. Film List of Motion Pictures in Sports for Women—Compiled by the Motion Picture Committee, National Section on Women's Athletics, American Ass'n. for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, N.E.A. Valuable because it is an evaluated listing, with specific recommendations for teaching. Motion Pictures at the New York World's Fair, 1939—Department of Feature Publicity, A''. Y. World's Fair. Mimeographed. See also the reviews of many of the films contained in this compilation in Film Survey for June. July, August, 1939 (Film Audiences for Democracy, 342 Madison Avenue, N. Y. C.) and TAC Magazine (Theatre Arts Committee, 132 West 43rd St., N. Y. C.) July, 1939. Book Reviews An Alternative for Revolution and War —by Albert E. Osborne, 124 pages, cloth $1.25. The Educational Screen, Chicago, 1939 This volume, which has just appeared, is by a veteran in the educational field who sees visual education in the large, a thing of vast possibilities which are little recognized as yet. It is a poten- tial world force, not a mere classroom device. It is the open road, if rightly understood, to a "more humanity-cen- tered" education, to a world-wide inter- national understanding which is the one hope for ultimate banishment of war. The book is the resultant of years of thought and study, of thousands of inter- views with teachers, principals, superin- tendents, scholars, of consultation with outstanding thinkers of our day. The Introduction is by Dr. John R. Patterson, former Professor of Education, New York University. Various theses in its pages carry the endorsement of some of the most eminent names in America. It opens with the "tragic need for bigger men and women" with a world environment instead of a local horizon; the power of pictures to achieve this on the premise that the world is innately good; the need for psychology and psychiatry, for more nature study, more liuman geography, more knowledge of folkways, more incentive to action for the common good. It is earnest and thought-provoking argument for higher goals in education, valuable reading for teachers, principals, superintendents, school boards, and curriculum commit- tees. It will rouse wholesome reflection on H. G. Well's dictum, that "the future is a race between education and catas- trophe." N.L.G. The Audio Visual Handbook —by Ells- worth C. Dent. Published by the So- ciety for Visual Education, 100 E. Ohio Street, Chicago. 111. 212 pages, cloth bound. Price $1.50. The new 1939 revised edition (third) of this work, by the same author and publisher, is a notable addition to the literature of the field. It is an able, sound, practical presentation of essential infor- mation valuable to any teacher active in visual instruction. It shows a fine dis- tribution of emphasis on all visual aids, their characteristic values and special techniques in the teaching procedure. After an introductory chapter on the present status of the field, its experience, experiment and activity in industry and school, the book gets down to cases. Chapter II treats individually the black- board, school journey, plays and pageants, models, museums, maps and graphs, sand table, photographs, opaque projector, stereographs, slides, filmslides, silent films, and others. Then, a chapter on sound aids, phonograph, radio, recordings, sound systems; another on audio-visual aids, sound filmslide, sound motion picture, and television. Chapter V treats the organ- ization of an audio-visual service and the final chapter gives sources of in- formation, materials and equipment. N.L.G.