The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

dents who know next to nothing of the world beyond the Rhine where three-fourths of humanity lives. Great areas of information must be taken into the content of education. Even secondaryschool students must be given world-orientation. Most schools are not dealing competently with the Western Hemisphere and its peoples. Why? For the same reason that a horse-and-buggy generation saw little of the landscape of America. The old "read, tell, talk and test" education never gets around to the vast job before it! Generation after generation of young people reach adulthood with skimpy knowledge of the people who share the world with them. Good educational films can vastly extend the radius of all education. The minds of America's children must not be tethered by the short rope of textbook-education supplemented here and there by a few poorly designed films and other visual aids. Education in church and school has its vested interests. Resistance to change is one of the occupational diseases of churchmen and schoolmen. Old ideas give way slowly, but the future will validate the educational film and within a decade or two its permanence, importance, and utility will be taken for granted. — WSH. Visual Aids for Missionaries The use of audio-visual material by the missionaries is growing rapidly, and the Audio-Visual Aids Overseas (AVAO) committee of the Foreign Missions Council was organized in 1945 to help missionaries and mission boards plan and develop audio-visual materials for the use of overseas missionary personnel. The work of the AVAO has emerged from the "formation" stage in the past few months by the sending of a deputation on a 90-day world-wide survey of the audio-visual and radio needs of the principal missionary fields. Heading the delegation, which left New York by air on January 28th, is Dr. S. Franklin Mack, chairman of the AVAO committee on radio of the P'oreign Missions Conference. Associated with him are Nicklaus Hageman, radio engineer of long experience, and the Rev. Everett C. Parker, executive of the Joint Radio Committee of five of the larger denominations. This competent deputation will survey what is being done, and explore the utilization possibilities of both radio and visual aids. It will confer with such leaders as Dr. Arthur O. Rinden, head of audio-visual development for the National Christian Council of China, the Rev. H. C. Ferger, of North India, whose photography is well known, and the Rev. Ralph C. Horteling of Pugnanur, India. AVith the findings and recommendations of this committee before it, the Foreign Missions Conference will, no doubt, urge the joint action of missionary boards in planning and developing the specialized audio-visual materials needed by the missionaries and the leaders of the younger churches in manv lands. Criteria for Children's Material Formulations of criteria for the evaluation of audio-visual materials are not plentiful. Most of them are tentative, their authors feeling that somewhere some other group or individual would have the time and insight to develop comprehensive and final criteria. In the seminar on "The Utilization of AudioVisual Materials With Children," a sub-group under the leadership of Miss Florence Stansbury, of the Board of Education of the Northern Baptist Convention, developed the following criteria: l.What is the quality of the art work? 2. If it is biblical material, is it true to the biblical story? 3. Can the material be integrated with the curriculum? 4. Is it appropriate for the age level for which it is to be used? This includes both content and length. 5. Will it lead to further learning experiences? 6. If people figure in the film, is the interpretation of their personalities true to the idea which we want to present about them? 7. Is the content accurate? 8. Is the purpose developed in the film or material clear and consistent? 9. If it deals with racial or cultural relationships, does it carry an attitude of appreciation for the contributions of the groups presented? These are all good questions for the teacher or leader to raise as materials are selected for immediate use or for purchase for the audio-visual library. If three or four are answered in the negative, nonuse and non-purchase are probably indicated. What criteria have you been ap|)lying? Do you consider the above helpful and adequate? Music Films The 12-minute sound film in black and white, Handel (from R.F.A. through your bookstore), makes friends with pupils and teachers whenever it is used in church or school. As the film opens, Handel is old and blind. He recalls his childhood : his love for music, the opposition of his father, and the benefaction of a kind man. The story is simple and interwoven are some of the great Handel themes. This useful film needs many companions, and producers wishing to create films of worth would do well to consider the presentation of other great musicians in the general pattern of this film. The 9-minute film. Music in the Wind, produced^ by the National Film Board of Canada and distributed by Sterling Films Inc. (1186 Broadway, N.Y. 1) concerns itself with the pipe organ. After a few sequences to orient the audience on the history of the pipe organ, the film shows the craftsmen of a modern factory making the various parts of the organ, tuning the pipes, and assembling the whole instrument for testing. Interesting shots of a master of this wonderful instrument playing Bach's well-known "Toccata and Fugue" concludes the film. Children will enjoy these two films. These filins will give information and deepen appreciation. ]?oth 128 EducaHonal Screen