The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

November, 1943 Page 333 One of the Junior Ked Cross projects. two or tlirec times a year, it may be better to buy it. Compare the rental price, for the use }ou wish to make of it over two or three years, with the purchase price, and if there is not much difference and you have a good storage place and facilities for keeping the fihn in con- dition, then buy the ])rint: otherwise, better go on renting and let the film distributor take care of it. Many schools have their own collection of lantern slides, and many more are now starting collections of the 2" X 2" kodachrome slides. In fact, a growing number of schools now own their own cameras for making these small slides, and are making the pictures that exactly fit into their courses of study. Slides are splendid aids—-many teachers feel that nothing can re- place them for detailed study. .And do not forget the excellent student-made slides that children enjoy and profit by so greatly. It is a grand opportunity for cor- relation of art and other subjects. Intere-st in visual aids is a little like a disease in the way it spreads and spreads when a school once starts on an enthusiastic program. New sources open until it liecomes necessary to pick and choose, but by that time your teachers will have developed high pow- ers of evaluation. Integration into Curriculum -A. supreme necessity is to divorce in the students' minds the idea of study from entertainment. All too soon when a film is announced, students immediately e.xclaim, "Picture Show!" Here frequently the prin- cipal is to blame. .\ teacher may have a picture for a specific unit. The principal says. "This is an excellent picture. We will show it to the entire school." Right then is violated the first principle of integration of aids into the curriculum. If you buy a set of supplemen- tary readers for a particular grade, you do not imme- diately say to all grades. "These are excellent read- ers. I think that all the students should read tiiem now.'" One suggestion is just as logical as the other. Do not show a film to all just because you have it in the building. If a film is ordered for a special class, use it for the jnirpose for which it was ordered. Do not misunderstand—there is a place for the use of pictures for the entire school, but that should not be confused with a special class aid. For assembly pro- grams, a good film or set of slides is frequently an ex- cellent device and has much educational value. But these should not be confused with aids planned to clarify and enrich a particular unit. Student-Made posters for conservation campaign. Teacher Training Perceptual aids are valuable—more valuable than most of us realize—but they lose their efficiency in the hands of an untrained, careless, or lazy teacher. One of our greatest handicaps in wider and more efficient use of aids has been the lack of teachers who have had training in the use of visual-sensory aids. Our teacher-training institutions have done a very poor job in that field during the past twenty years. Many have said that specific classes in audio-visual aids are unnecessary since "every methods class should be a training field." Theoretically that is true, although many flaws can be pointed out in that argument; but the fact reiiiains that it has not been done. This is a big field, with many technical phases of which our teaching personnel of today are completely unaware— I mean the facilities of our institutions of higher learn- ing. Summer school classes are doing a good piece of work but they are insufficient to train all in-service and pre-service teachers. Study classes in a school systeiu, teachers' meetings, extension classes, or indi- vidual study help solve the problem, but it takes time; however, teachers must be given some assistance if you expect satisfactor\- returns for the money spent on aids. You must realize at the start that visual aids are not tools for a lazy teacher. Efficient use of any aids requires careful preparation, skillful use, and adequate check-uj). \\'ithout these, much of the value is lost. Also, please do not try to force the use of the aids upon a teacher not interested. You may get a perfunctory use. it is true: but the actual values derived may be discredited or completely lost. One enthusiastic, well-trained teacher may be the leaven that will lighten the whole loaf, but sometimes it takes time. Interest in this field is contagious and therein lies our final salvation. Do not lose sight of the resources of your commun- ity. Enlist the interest of business organizations through trips to their places of business; acquaint the city officials with the work of the school and ask them to explain features of the city government; make a film of school activities and invite the public to see it —even more, offer to show it to service clubs, church groups or business organizations that might not come to the school building to see it. Anything that gives true information about the work of the school strength- ens the ties Ijetween the school and the public and makes the work of the school more efficient. Audio- (Coiicluded on page 336)