The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

WILLIAM S. HOCKMAN. Editor, 1616 Marlowe Avenue. Lalcewood 7. Ohio Making the Use of Visual Aids Effective in the Local Church WHILE the factors in few local church situations will be the same, the general principles which underlay the effective utilization of visual aids in the local church will vary but little. The following statement of principles, together with their minimal elaboration and illustration, may serve as a guide and yardstick for the leaders of local churches. 1. Visual aids should be used to further the present on-going program of the church. The church has a constellation of purposes, and the objectives for the use of visual aids will be inside and not outside this cluster of purposes. The utilization of visual materials will be by the present leadership of the church. No separate "visual program" will be set up. The church will use visual materials and methods to help accomplish the purposes of its present program. 2. Visual materials should be considered as supplementary materials and not displace present materials. Visual materials should be considered as a part of the total materials used by the church, and visual methods should be thought of as a part of the total methodology of the church. The wise church will not suddenly install "the visual method" in either church or school. Visual materials should not displace good non-visual materials. 3. All visual aids should be used for definite purposes. The user must know what specific objective he is trying to achieve. He must have a clear-cut conception of what he is trying to bring about, and ought to understand the peculiar contribution which the visual aid can make. Visual aids should not be used to cure a sick situation in the church school, the young people's work, or even rescue the midweek prayer meeting. 4. The local church should not solo in either methodology or materials. All the visual media should be used and all the techniques of utilization should be included. The media and the method will be selected on the basis of the age of the group, the facilities, the equipment available, and the objective to be reached. Every now and then some church goes overboard for some one visual media — flannelgraphs, kodachrome slides, opaque materials, stereopticon slides, but more often they "fall" for the prima donna, the sound motion picture. All the visual aids have their distinct advantages and disadvantages when considered from certain angles. 5. Visual aids must not be expected to pay their way. The cost of materials and the maintenance of equipment should be an item in the general educational budget. Visual materials do cost more — more than many churches expect when they start out. Using too many films will up the budget. In the long run, the cost of visual materials and equipment must be met as the cost of other educational materials and equipment is met in your church. Special plans tend to break down and run into hidden snags. Advance planning and coordination between morning and evening groups can cut down the cost of high-rental films. 6. Extensive familiarity with visual resources is fundamental to the effective use of visual aids in the local church. This is one of the most frequently neglected principles. Some one person or committee must be charged with the responsibility of becoming familiar with resources and, to some extent, with specific materials. This means gathering the principal catalogues and filing the denominational lists. It means attending previews; going to other churches to see materials which they are using; reading magazines; and keeping in touch with your local rental library or visual educational dealer. There is no shortcut here. Some one person, or group of persons, is needed in every church to The projected visual aids: miniature (2 x 2) slide, opaque material, the silent film, the sound film, the stereopticon (354 X 4) slide, and the filmstrip. These, together with the various non-projected visual aids, will be employed in the effective supplementation and enrichment of the total program of the local church. February, 1948 81