Education by Radio (1937)

VOL. 7 APRIL 1937 No. A EDUCATION BY RADIO is published monthly by THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION BY RADIO S. Howard Evans, secretary One Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. Committee Members and Organizations They Represent Arthur G. Crane, chairman, president. University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, National Association oj State Universities. James E. Cummings, department of education, Na¬ tional Catholic Welfare Conference, 1312 Massa¬ chusetts Avenue, Washington, D. C., National Catholic Educational Association. J. O. Keller, assistant to the president, in charge of extension, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pennsylvania, National University Extension Asso¬ ciation. Harold B. McCarty, program director, state broad¬ casting station WHA, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, National Association of Edu¬ cational Broadcasters. Charles A. Robinson, S. J., St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, The Jesuit Educational Asso¬ ciation. Agnes Samuelson, state superintendent of public in¬ struction, Des Moines, Iowa, National Council of State Superintendents. Willis A. Sutton, superintendent of schools, Atlanta, Georgia, National Education Association. H. J. Umberger, vicechairman, Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, Manhattan, Kansas, Association oj Land-Grant Colleges and Universities. George F. Zook, president. American Council on Edu¬ cation, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C., American Council on Education. MEMBER educational PRESS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA At the university of southern ^ CALIFORNIA the activities of the various schools and colleges on the campus have been cor¬ related with the work of a radio staff. Musical programs, interviews, lectures, and dramatic pre¬ sentations bring the various departments to the public. The present organization was set up in 1932. By actual participation in writing, announc¬ ing, and in operating equipment, as well as in pro¬ ducing programs, students secure knowledge of radio which they can gain in no other way while in school. • The first Indiana radio clinic was held at the Indiana State Teachers Col¬ lege, Terre Haute, on February 13. The purpose of the clinic was to bring together representatives of high schools, colleges, radio stations, and others interested in educational radio broadcasts to con¬ sider mutual problems. Similar meetings might welt be inaugurated in other localities and should not fail to foster a closer cooperation for the most effective use of the radio as an educational device. • Radio at the New Orleans Convention The discussion of radio at the meetings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association held recently at New Orleans, Louisiana, was restricted to a single session of that great convention. That session was very significant, however, because it was the third of a series of meetings for the consideration of a public relations program for schools. The first meeting consid¬ ered the question, “What Is the Public?” The subject of the second was, “Technics by which the Relations of School and Public May Be Clarified.” To give radio special consideration in such a series was important recognition. Dr. Arthur G. Crane, president of the University of Wyoming and chairman of the National Committee on Education by Radio, pre¬ sided over the section on radio. He was assisted by a panel consisting of: William Dow Boutwell, director of the Educational Radio Proj¬ ect, U. S. Office of Education; I. Keith Tyler of the Bureau of Edu¬ cational Research, The Ohio State University; Judith Waller and Franklin Dunham of the National Broadcasting Company; and Ed¬ ward R. Murrow of the Columbia Broadcasting System. A. Helen Anderson, chairman of the series of public relations meetings, had prepared the following questions for the consideration of the radio session : [1] What essentials have educators failed to consider in prepar¬ ing radio broadcasts? [2] What is the place of the student forum in radio? [3] Are educational programs, designed as propaganda, justifi¬ able? To these questions Dr. Crane added two more: [4] Can programs of school business be made good publicity? [ 5 ] Can broadcasts of instruction to the classrooms be made help¬ ful in establishing good public relationships? These questions created a framework broad enough for the admis¬ sion of discussion on many general problems. They also opened the way for a pertinent and detailed recital of experiences which schools have had in the use of broadcasting. After lengthy discussion, in which many people participated, it was agreed that radio has tremendous possibilities as a medium of acquainting the public with the schools. It was emphasized particu¬ larly that the picture of school work should be given realistically. This might be done in two ways: [ 1 ] by programs designed for class¬ room use but listened to by parents, and [2] by programs put on by the schools and designed specifically for parents. There can be little doubt that the most penetrating and entertain¬ ing contribution to the discussion was made by Mr. Boutwell. Dis¬ claiming all personal responsibility for statements made, he under¬ took to define some of the terms of educational broadcasting in ac¬ cordance with the facts as they must appear to a disinterested but analytical observer. His remarks were so challenging that they are quoted at length: GW. RICHARDSON of the Canadian • Broadcasting Corporation has made what seems to be the best study to date on the legal status of broadcasting in Canada. It appeared under the title, “A Survey of Canadian Broadcast¬ ing Legislation,” in the Canadian Bar Review for February 1937. He concludes that while broad¬ casting is a business, it falls for obvious reasons within the public service type of organization. To lay the basis for discussion I propose to present some definitions of the terms and names which I presume will be dealt with during the afternoon. I propose to define radio station, wavelength, school, publicity, public relations, and similar terms. In offering these definitions I have tried to put them as a man from Mars might do. I ask you to consider these definitions not as coming from me as a member of the staff of the Office of Education, not as from a friend and associate of all the members of this panel. This is an attempt to attain an objective view of what we are about to discuss. Here are the tentative definitions of the man from Mars who is oblivious to the loyalties, emotions, and attitudes of humans; [ 14]