The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 490 Educational Screen throughout the state such materials as 16nini sound lihns, pamphlets, clippings, visual aids and discussion guides. These materials are put up in packets, each containing enough material for a single forum or study group discussion. There are signs that a growing number of libraries and museums are becoming interested in audio-visual instructional materials as aids to adult education enterprises. Many of them are sponsoring pilot programs in their communities. A very impressive list was published in the Adult Education Journal, January 1946 issue. American Library Association To assist libraries with the problems of establishing and developing film services, the American Library Association has recently established a film advisory service. Mrs. Patricia Blair, former Director of the Film Bureau, Cleveland Public Library, and for three years a member of the Board of Directors of the Educational Film Library Association, has been appointed advisor on Film Service through Libraries. Mrs. Blair will set up a clearing house of information on films. Film Council Another effort to which many adult leaders have attached considerable importance is the nation-wide consumer movement sponsored by the Film Council of America. A relatively new but strong organization, the Film Coimcil of America represents such diverse organizations as the Allied Non-Theatrical Film Association, the American Library Association, the Educational Film Library Association, the Equipment Manufacturers Council, the National Association of Visual Education Dealers, the National Education .Association's Department of AudioVisual Instruct on, and the National L^niversity Extension Association. Growing out of the wartime National Advisory Film Committee of the Office of W^ar Information, the Council represents a trend toward the establishment of closer relationships among film producers, distributors and users. Under the stimulation of the Council, local film councils have been organized in several score American communities. These serve as centers of information on instructional materials, work toward the solution of general community problems which handicap their use, and provide an opportunity for those ■\'ho know little or nothing about new materials to meet with those who do. The organization manual Speaking of films, states that the local film council "grows out of inter-club coo]3eration and functions essentially as an adult education activity." The Motion Picture as an Instrument A great deal of effort is going into the examination of the motion ]jicture as a potential instrument of great power in the education of the masses. For more than a year ati expanded program of research in film selection, evaluation, and utilization for adult groups has been under way at the Institute of Adult Education of Teachers College, Columbia University. The results of this research are being published from time to time in the Film Forum Rcz'iew. a quarterly publication of the Institute. Beginning with the 1947 Spring issue, an annotated guide to discussable films will be issued in sections. The first section lists films in the field of international relations ; later sections will include films on family-life problems, intergroup problems, and other areas of general interest. Across the country, experimental programs have also been held in which the film has played a prominent role. In each of them, there has been an effort to find the formula for successful use. One of the early successes was scored by the East and West Association, together with the Town Hall Workshops. Kathr\n Linden, Chairman of the Film Committee, reports their film forinn series in the Rcviezc, Fall, 1946 issue. In San Francisco, a variation of the same pattern was followed in film forums held by the Embarcadero .\rmy and Navy, YMCA. J. R. Bingham, Director of Association Films, wrote in the Summer 1946 issue of the Rei'iezc that such forums had been conducted fmce each week as a regular program feature since 1944. Adult Leaders Learn From ex])eriences of this kind, adult leaders are learning some things about the management of learning materials. Robertson Sillars made some pertinent comments in the Adult Education Journal for October 1946. Under the title. "Means Are Not Ends," he v.rote. "Instruments do things and that fact holds an uncanny fascination for the specialist. He becomes a technician rather than an educator. Direction and purpose are lost in virtuosity. Communication is regularly and almost universally discussed as a thing in itself, without reference to what is communicated. To prevent our doing something of this sort, it is necessary ;il the outset to remind ourselves that materials are nothing but aids in the teaching and learning process." This a])proach is quite basic for adult leaders who ure learning how to manage the "stutT of experience." But after recognizing that the materials are the servants and not the masters, there still remains the question of how best to use them. William S. Vincent prepared a discussion leader's manual entitled "Foriun .Series on Citizenship" for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films to be used by the tieneral Federation of ^^'onlen's Clubs. In it he said, "One of the most powerful levelers in our culture is the film. Far more than the reading of books, a viewing of films can give the viewers a co'.nmon starting point, a common mind. .And from this point, discussion can lead in any direction that logic may indicate." Two other writers discussed the same point in the iilm J'oruin Reviei.^\ Summer Issue, 1946. Following a film forum experiment in Ottawa, J. Roby Kidd reported, "The leaders stated that the contribution of the films was in highlighting the basic facts related to the topic and in putting the audience in a 'mood for discussion.' One leader felt that the film was more effective than the discussion in motivating the audience to take some action following the forum." A large number of other practical suggestions for good use ha\e been presented by recognized authorities in the field of educational materials through a rAiI)licati(in of the lulucational Film Library Associa