Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

1922-y4 Year of 'Firsts 'Better^ and 'More In Visual Education by Paul Saettler "The Educational Screen is not the official organ of anything or anybody. It is published to give American educators, and every American who believes education important, the thing that they have needed ever since the so-called "visual movement" started— namely a magazine devoted to the educational cause, rather than commercial and propagandist; a magazine written and produced exclusively by those whose scholarly training, experience and reputation qualify them to discuss educational matters." —Editorial, Educational Screen, Vol. 1, January, 1922. J. HE foregoing words of Nelson L. Greene, founder and first editor of Educational Screen, reflected exceptional courage and independence as well as high professional ideals. Visual education was then receiving inadequate financial support. Educators relied almost completely upon national advertisers as a source for their film because it was free. Manufactiurers of visual equipment and producers of films and other visual materials exerted considerable pressure for the endorsement of their products. While there was a genuine need for a professional journal in visual education, from a practical point of view there seemed to be little hope of successfully competing with existing commercially sponsored magazines. Events proved, however, that Educational Screen came into being at an opportune time. Many developments in American education during the early twenties provided provocative grist for this new publication. It was an era of an expanding school curriculum matched by sweeping changes in educational methodology. Instructional technology also began to exert a greater impact upon the classroom. Following World War I, interest in the educational film spread rapidly. By 1922, the watershed year of visual education, several agencies were engaged in the production of educational films; universities and colleges began to sponsor educational film research; professional educational organizations were established to study and develop the educational film; and distributing centers for educational films were organized by museums, state departments of education, city school systems, and universities and colleges. It seems fitting, in this fortieth anniversary issue of Educational Screen, to take a retrospective look at some of the significant developments in visual education recorded in its pages during its foimding year: • Will H. Hays, postmaster general in the Harding administration, was appointed president of the newly formed Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. • Will H. Hays addressed the general assembly of the National Education Association at its Boston meeting in July, 1922. Hays promised the full cooperation of the MPPDA in working with the educators in the development of visual education; he also promised funds for research, sought cooperation of educators in improving theatrical motion pictures, and pointed out that there was a need for better organization of those educators interested in visual education. • The budding visual education movement was given significant impetus at the 1922 NEA meeting in Boston. There, Dudley Grant Hayes, president of the Academy of Visual Instruction and director of visual education for the Chicago Public Schools, and Ernest L. Crandall, director of lectures and visual instruction 24 Educational Screen and Audiovisual Guide — January, 1962