The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 386 The Educational Screen [jris: J2iis.xatiiXE in ^ l/iiuaL lJn±t%uation A Monthly Digest ETTA SCHNEroER RESS. Editor New York University Film Library STATUS AND TRENDS Education Raises Its Sights —Earl Selby— Coronet, 14: 79, September, 1943. By bringing our children new and enriched experiences, sharp- ening their acumen, and enlarging their imagination, the author finds that visual education is fulfilling the aims of John Dewey who forty years ago wrote, "I believe that schools must present life—life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the neighborhood or on the playground." It is the con- stant emphasis upon reality that makes visual education im- portant. In light of the efficacy of visual aids, proved by countless school experiments and now by Army and Navy training in- structors, the question is raised: why are only one out of every nine American schools using visual aids ? "The answer lies partly in the jumbo-jumbo traditionalism of American educa- tion, partly in difficulty of access, partly in the history of visual aids." In the first World War the Army discovered the amazing ability of motion pictures to train soldiers and because of the preposterous claims advanced for films at that time, the schools were disappointed when they came to use them. Gradually, however, visual aids gained a foothold in more and more schools as a saner approach developed. The author sees the future of visual education laden with potentialities. "After this war . . . the last ditch of the traditionalists in education will be crossed, then equipment will cost less and school systems will have little difficulty in obtaining it." Movies in the Postwar World: Dr. Walter W. Pettit, Director, N. Y. School of Social Work, Columbia Uui- versity— New Monies 18:4 October, 1943. Among the broad constructive factors that can be shown through films are: the inherent worth of the individual. The recognition of other cultures as having a place in the civiliza- tion and the essential quality of racial tolerance. ADMINISTRATION Seeing Is Believing —Dorothea Pellett— Kansas Teacher, Sep- tember, 1943, p. 32. A description of the work of the Visual .\ids Center in serv- ing the teachers of Topeka. In the Center, located at one of the city schools, there are displays of materials and facilities for showing films to which teachers may bring their classes. Where desired, the teacher may borrow the materials. Selec- tion of materials is carried on by the assistant director with the aid of a teachers' committee. This committee also helps to keep teachers informed of suitable materials for their own needs. There is a workroom and material storeroom connected with the Center, where new materials are made and repairs carried out. MUSEUMS Valentine Museum Goes to Schools —Naomi E. Gooch and Virginia McK. Claiborne, Valentine Museum, Richmond, Va. — Virginia Journal of Education, 37:103 November, 1943. A description for the teachers of Virginia of the free loan service provided by the state museum. Sturdy boxes containing realia, mounted pictures and related printed material are shipped by express to schools within the state. Among the exhibits are those dealing with state history, people in other lands and American history and geography. Exhibits are based on the Richmond elementary curriculum, but primary and secondary students sometimes find them useful. UTILIZATION Visual Aids in Industrial Training —Management Research Division, National Industrial Conference Board, Inc., 247 Park Avenue, New York, 1943. (Studies in Personnel Policy, No. 49) 60 pp. This study was made to survey the extent to which visual aids are being used in accelerating the training and re-training of war workers, and to provide a basis for future planning in the use of these materials. The report is available in limited quantities and provides the result of a questionnaire—supplemented by some visitation—of 239 companies. Plant administrators, employees and visual edu- cators were consulted. It first summarizes briefly the research findings and trends in the use of pictures in education. Then follows a sketch of the use of visual aids in industry, including production. The research findings with respect to current use in industrial training reveal that 148 (62%) of the firms reporting use visual aids and nine more are planning to do so. All Technical Colleges questioned reported such use. It was found that the decision to use visual aids is not influenced to any appreciable extent by the number of employees. Such use is a comparatively new practice dating usually since the war speed-up. Sound films and sound slidefilms are used most frequently, probably because these are supposed to be the most efltective but more likely because materials are most plentiful in these media. There is a trend toward the combined production— and use—of a sound motion picture and a silent filmstrip. Here are some figures on projectors owned by 128 companies: 166 silent film projectors, 342 sound, 65 filmstrip, 696 sound filmstrip. Materials are most frequently purchased and some- times borrowed, rented or produced. The remainder of the bulletin is devoted to specific sug- gestions on utilization and administration of visual aids as as- sistance to those firms which want specific guidance for future planning. The World Ahead: Films May Have Big Role in Retrain- ing Service Men for Industry —Emmet Crozier— Nciv York Herald Tribune, November 28, 1943. A feature article describing to the public the great strides made in industrial training at war plants and in schools and induction centers, through the use of the films produced by the U. S. Ofiice of Education and others. Of the 30,000 prints made of the first 48 titles from that ofiice, for example, 10,000 went to the Army and Navy, 10,000 to industrial plants, and 10,000 to schools. Surveys show that the films hold the attention of students and enable them to 'grasp essential facts and develop understanding' more quickly than is the case in ordinary in- struction. Less scrap is produced by film-trained students. Free Films Speed Civilian War Training— Milton M. Enzer, Deputy Director, Office of War Training, N. Y. State War Council—.Vra- York Stat'C Education, 31 :38 October, 1943. The Council maintains an Ofiice of War Training (353 Broadway, Albany 7, N.Y.) which distributes instructional films for school and community use in the state. This agency has already produced three films and issues a catalog and hand- book free. One film, "Care for Children of Working Mothers" is nearing completion and will be available soon. It was I produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Child Develop- 1 ment and Parent Education of the N.Y. State Department of Education and appproved by the chairman of the N.Y. State War Council's Child Care Committee, the N.Y. State Nursery (Concluded on page 401)