The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

December, 1942 Page 385 that are God's." A visual lesson, and the greatest lesson on civil government that has ever been taught. ■'Where is the Kingdom of Heaven?" He set a child in their midst, and said. "Except ye become as a little child ye can in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven." \'isual images were His teaching materials. "Consider the lilies of the field." "Not a sparrow falleth." "A sower went forth to sow." "A man planted a vineyard." And the highest reward He offered was a visual cul- mination. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall SHE God." I have not been able to find any lesson, taught by this Master Teacher which was not based on sens<- teaching. I'"()rtunately the teachings of the masters were re- corded and preserved through the dark ages, but luifortunately the scrolls or books containing the teach- ings of the masters too often became the basis for mere memory learning and not the source from which the learner could obtain help in his creative and intellectual thinking. Creative thinking cannot be done with mem- ory learning. Teachers should not be merely conveyors to transfer the words of the textbook into the memory of the would-be learner. "1 want to know a lot of things. With cin-iosity Tm cursed. But teacher says tiiat I must get my education first." Books in abundance should be at the disposal of the learner. They should be a luiich sought after source to supplement the natural curiosity of the child, stimu- lated by the understanding teacher. Since the beginning of the Renaissance period the (jutstanding leaders in pedagogics have endeavored to reduce the importance of tlie text books in favor of more experimental learning. Let us listen to a few of them : Montaignk: "It is tlie custom of schoolmasters to be eternally thundering in their pupils' ears as if they were pouring into a funnel, while the pui)ils' business is only to repeat what their masters have said." I"r.\ncis Bacon : "Turn away from the shallow springs of natural science, and draw from the unfathomable and ever freshly flowing foundation of creation. Live in nature with active senses." CoMF.xius: "For it is certain that tlicre is nothing in the understanding which has not been previously in the sense; and consequently, to e.xercise the senses carefully in dis- criminating tlie dififerences of natural objects is to lay the foundation of all wisdom." .loHX Locke: "Unless I have seen it with my own eyes and perceived it with my own understanding I am as void of knowledge and as much in the darkness as before," Rousseau ; "The period of childhood should be devoted to physical development and the training of the senses. The abuse of books is destructive to knowledge." Pestalozzi : "The man who has only word wisdom is less susceptible to the truth than a savage," Froebel: "The task of education is to assist natural develop- ment toward its destined end," Joii.v Dewey: "The image is the greatest instrument of instruction. If nine-tenths of the energy at present directed toward making the child learn certain things were spent in seeing to it that the child was forming proper images, the work of instruction would be indefinitely facilitated." Thoughtful and progressive teachers have always found help in the use of such visual aids as were avail- able. Among these are the blackboard, bulletin board, models, maps, drawings, natural specimen and sand- table. Photography with its multiplicity of pictures was added to the above list near the clo.se of the past cen- tury and today beautiful and appropriate pictures are available everywhere. Many years ago Glenn Frank, in his New York World column, prophesied: "I suspect that the next great step in the intellec- tual development of the race will depend upon our reading less and looking at pictures more." Early in this century the mazda bulb was discovered and found suitable for illumination in the slide lantern. This made the stereopticon available for classroom use. Previously it was used for illustrated lectures. At the same time the stereograph, which had been a source of i)leasure in the home, was found helpful in bringing correct imagery to the child in school. Until 1915 visual aids were used only at the option of classroom teachers and often they were frowned upon by ad- ministrators. The "Moving Picture" was first displayed to the amazed public toward the close of the "gay nineties." For some twenty years it was commercialized only for entertainment. By 1915 it had found its wa\- into some school auditoriums and then school authorities and ad- ministrators began to awake to the possibilities of "Bringing the World to the Classroom." ]3y 1924 there was enough interest in this type of presenting subject matter that Dr. Frank Freeman of Chictigo University was authorized by a research de- ])artment of the N. E. A. to investigate its value by comparative tests, and $10,000.00 was set aside for this purpose. The results of these investigations are set forth in Dr. Freeman's book "Visual Education." While the tests made by Dr. Freeman proved the worth of the moving picture, they also proved the value of the demonstration, stereograph, lantern slide and other visual aids. Within five or six years of the publication of "Visual Education" the talking picture had been added to the silent picture and the educational films had been re- duced from 35mm to 16min width. This was a great help to the schools as the 16mm projectors were much cheaper and easier to handle and the 16mm film is made only on the non-inflammable material. Preceding the work of Dr. Freeman. Dr. J, J. Weber had written his Doctor's thesis at Columbia University (published in 1922 by The EDUCATJO^^^L Screen), the first thesis in this field, entitled "Comparative Ef- fectiveness of Some Visual Aids in Seventh Grade Instruction." Dr. Weber later wrote "Picture Values in Education," with the same publisher, based on his researches at the University of Kansas. The general impression that any teacher can use visual aids was soon dispelled. In fact the abuse of visual aids was very apparent and discouraging to school administrators. It became necessary to set up courses in the teacher training institutions—courses which would not only convince the teacher of the value of using visual aids but help him to select and use properly the visual aid which would best meet the need of each specific problem. Within the last 12 years such courses have been established in some 200 teacher training schools. Visual Education is still in its in- fancv and it does not yet appear what it will be.