The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

February, 1943 A science center in one of the Mc- Donough County schools. Page 47 Community Resources Pave the Way THK recent trend in education towards community study has led naturally to an enrichment of the environment through audio-visual aids. In addition to moving jiictures these aids are many and varied. They serve to bring the world into the classroom, and they pave the way for a better understanding of na- tional and international problems through a study of local resources. A five-year e-xperimental project in Rural School Supervision, sponsored by the National Committee on Rural Education, the Office of County Superintendent of Schools of McDonough County, and the Western Illinois State Teachers College of Macomb, Illinois, was begim in McDonough County in September. 1940, following a])proxiniately a year of research in the county. The following brief summary of one phase of the project will show how the schools in this par- ticular area are studying their communities. As one phase of the Rural School Supervisory Project being conducted in McDonough County, Miss Helen Elaine .Stenson, Su])ervisor. has taught an in- service course in Rural School Problems and an in- service Workshop Class in Rural Education for the rural teachers of the county. Through suggestions and materials presented to this group, many teachers have been encouraged to develop community studies having their origin in their own schoolrooms. Their purposes: To develop a better knowledge of the interdependence of the .school, the liome, and the community: to en- courage a deeper appreciation and sen.se of values of the resources in science, music, art, literature, social science, etc., which exist in every communitv; to dis- cover the resources available in the home. tJic school, and the community which contribute to the welfare and happiness of the local group, and in turn to the larger community of our .state, our nation, and the world; and to stimulate a feeling of cooperation and responsi- One county's complete working schedule for enriching a Social Studies project with audio-visual aids in rural areas. DOROTHY I. DIXON Junior High School, Macomb, Illinois bility between the different groups for the preservation and transmission of those democratic qualities which must be present in any generation if it is to pass on its cultural heritage to its children. In a mimeographed article on The Rural School and Its Community, written by Miss Stenson, and used by many of these teachers as a guide or outline for this studj', she writes: "Meaningful school experiences affect the child's out-of-school life and the Hfe of the coniniunity. We teacliers often talk of 'educating the public' and forget that it is a fifty-fifty proposition—that what we need is a mutual education of the public and the school so that we might better understand the resources of each in tliis job of educating children and adults. We need a frieiidly understanding that the home, community, and school are mutually interested in our children— each can best contribute its part when it 'fits in' with the other parts—so that each child's learning experi- ences will be ill harmony. We can let our community reach into the school to enrich the curriculum . . . Every community can contribute to the art, music, literature, social science, and science experiences of the school. We can let our school reach into the com- munity . . . Safety and health habits, good maiuiers and other social habits, a love of beauty, and an interest in wide reading will usually find some reflections in the home. Whether we wish it or not, the children interpret our schools to the public!" The ap]5roaches to the community study were almost as varied as the number of schools which participated. With .some teachers and pupils it had its origin in a "Thank.sgiving Unit," during which a .study was made of early homes, furniture, schools, etc., and the discus- sion of some of the things for which people in our