The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

LITERATURE SKVr.^ ^W. ISUAI IXSTRUCTION ETTA SCHNEIDER RESS, Editor BOOKS AND BULLETINS • Children and Music— 1948 Membership Service Bulletin of the Association for Childhood Education, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington 6, D.C. 32 pp. $.50. Here is a bulletin on music that will bring courage and satisfaction to every teacher and parent. It states a heartening philosophy of music education, emphasizes the importance of children as producers of music, and describes many varieties of musical experiences that contribute to the development of children two to twelve years of age. The bulletin is based on four major assumptions: That children are naturally musical beings and respond to expressive sounds, even in infancy; That many varieties of musical experiences can be provided children at school; That in providing these experiences we are not training children to be musicians or performers, but are contributing to their total development; That teachers who know little about music can set an environment and supply the materials and equipment that stimulate children to experiment with rhythm, sound, and movement. "A well-conceived program of music for children," says James Mursell, Professor of Education, Teachers College. Columbia University, New York, who has contributed the statement of philosophy, "may look like play. It may look inconsequential, unsystematic, trivial . . . But in fact it is not trivial at all because it brings music to children as it should be brought— in terms of their own life concerns and interests and doings." Among the authors represented in the bulletin are Helen Christiansen, Director of the Nursery School, University of California, Los Angeles; Beatrice Landeck, Director of Music Education, Mills School. New York; and Helen L. Schwin, Supervisor of Elementary Music, Public Schools, Cleveland. Bibliographies of books for teachers and children and lists of recorded materials are included. • Films in Instruction: the Teacher's Manual, Part II.— N. H. Rosenthal. Robertson & Mullen, Ltd., Melbourne, Australia. 1947. 69 pp. Background information for the teacher presented in a clear, concise style. This book follows the volume, "Films: Their Use and Misuse", by the same author. American films and American research studies are cited to prove that educational films and filmstrips have merit. The volume then indicates the sources and types of films and equipment for teachers of Australia. • The American Way of Life — David Carson, Glasgow. Scottish Educational Film Assn., 2 Newton Place, Glasgow, Scotland. 1947. 34 pp. Research Publication No. 2. A series of SO filmstrips, issued by the Coordinator of Inter-American Aflfairs and l)y the Office of War Information, served as the basis for an interesting experiment on the effectiveness of filmstrips. Schools used in the study were located in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, and in 7 rural areas. The teacher committee in charge of the experiment prepared an appraisal form for each title, and these were filled out by some 405 elementary and 919 secondary classes, representing about 40,000 Scottish children. 132 Among other attributes, the filmstrips served to supplement concepts about the United States and its people which formerly only Hollywood movies had furnished. The teachers found that there is still a place in the curriculum for still pictures, and they established constructive ideas for the production of new filmstrips. For example. they found many of the strips to be too long, that there was propaganda where only facts were needed, that human interest and especially the life of children could have been added. In one instance. "Cowboy on the Range", the teachers had access to a motion picture and a filnistrip on the same subject. Under experimental conditions, the teachers found that both media had possibilities for education. Filmstrips were used as direct teaching aids, and for background. With respect to commentary, both use of captions and a written commentary were recommended.. The best length was found to be about 60 frames or less. Most of the others were too long. Throughout this very interesting report, there are mentioned areas for further research. The methods used and the findings should be of great value to .American teachers. UTILIZATION • An AudioVisual Demonstration Center in the MakingSister .Ailecn, O.S.B., \'illa Madonna Academy. Covington, Kentucky. Audio-Visual Guide. 14:7. December, 1947. Report of the program used during .\udioVisual Education Week, upon request of the Department of Secondary Teachers. N.E.A. One day vvas set aside for each department, and on that day priority for equipment was given to the teachers in that department. As an outcome of the intensive use of audio-visual materials, the teachers became more audio-visual conscious, and realized, also, that they had been using many types of audio-visual material before. They realized that these materials are not ends in themselves but means of providing vicarious experience. The article concludes with a list of the materials used in the Demonstration Center, and the methods of use. Subjects included English, mathematics, languages, religion, and social sciences. • Movies vs. Reading — Adeline Claff Richardson and Gertrude Hjorth Smith, Los Angeles, Calif. The Clearing House, 22:15, Sept. 1947. A study designed to compare education through motion pictures and education through reading at the Lafayette Jr. High School and the Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles. The teachers selected three Disney color films on health education, and the study was conducted in science classes. Malaria, Tuberculosis ajid Hookworm were the film titles. These paralleled the contents of three health pamphlets of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Both pamphlets and films were meant for the general laymen and were of general instructional value. Two matched groups were used; there was no attempt at teaching and no discussion. The students were exposed either to the film or the pamphlet and tests given. There was a (Continued on page 134) Educational Screen