See and hear : the journal on audio-visual learning (1945)

skillfully directed along the old channels of prejudice by consum- mate propagandists, of which there is no present shortage. And so. al- though the provincial mind is igno- rant, its most trying characteristic is its resolute unwillingness to learn, to evaluate, or to appreciate. Fortunately, the provincial mind is made and not bom. If it were born, the case would be a hofjeless one. and teachers would not be re- quired to worr\ about means to com- bat it. To say that it is made b to say it is a human creation and to give some hope that we can do some- thing about it. There are many social institutions which participate in the formation of attitudes and be- liefs in children, but the public school was established and is main- tained in our societv in the belief that it is of great potential power in the formation of beliefs and atti- tudes of children, and thus ultimate- ly of all of society. It seeins difficult to deny that in our time -u-e must make the school a vehicle of enlight- enment about cultural diversitv and the problems which are related to it. We must stop creating pToi-incial minds which cannot see farther than the nearest frontier. From an earl\ age children must hai'e vizid experi- ence with the ways of life of other people, and they must hai-e the knowledge which will enable them to understand that essentially men are alike and that in the long I'iew differences are largely superficial and accidental. But mere information is only a necessarv condition; it is not a suffi- cient one. \Ve must also bring up children with a predisposition to face social as well as other problems on the basis of inquirv. discussion, and intelligent action. It takes a long time to create an enlightened mind- it takes infinite skill and infinite pa- tience. People are not "naturally" disposed to inquire into both sides of a problem, to collect and evaluate evidence •dispassionateK. and to for- mulate a course of action on the basis of this procedure. These are highly refined and complex proce- dures which it has taken the race a long time to evolve. It takes a life- time to learn them, and childhood is not too earh a time to start. The issue, then, seeins clear. .\s school people we must be concerned vsith giving children knowledge and with helping them develop habits involved in inquirv, discussion, and action based on thought. These hab- its and techniques are the deadly enemies of the provincial mind. .\s the accompanv ing illustration pwints out, they constitute the most power- ful forces we have in combatting prejudice, fear, hate, and violence. Books and other printed material have always been the most common tools of the teacher, and books are indeed a powerful means of propa- gating knovsledge and of enabling us to share vicariously in the experi- ences of other people. But the past few decades have seen the steady growth of another medium of com- munication, which there is reason to believe may be far more powerful in its effects than printed material. This medium is the motion picture and its near relative, the filmstrip. The motion picture is almost ideallv suited to the first of the two objectives discussed above. .\t the present time most of us are still un- able to have first hand contact with the people of other cultures because foreign travel is exjiensive and time- consuming. But vs-ith the motion picture, the world can literally be brought into the classroom. We can associate with people the world around in their daily lives: we can worship with them; we can see their industries, their arts; and even more important, we can share in their val- ues and their aspirations, their tri- umphs and their defeats. The motion picture can also dram- atize far more v ividly than the printed page the compelling nation- al and international social problems which face us as a jjeople todav. .A. well-made film, skillfullv used, can stimulate discussion, investigation, and thought to a degree impossible to achieve with anv other mechum. Thus by the wise use of motion pic- tures and filmstrips we can give chil- dren, at a very earlv age, the oppor- tunity to discuss problems of inter- group and intercultural relations and begin to develop the attitudes of tolerance, objectivitv, and svm- pathy which are so badly needed. Because the motion picture is so powerful in its effects, it is potential- Iv a great weapon for either good or evil. Dejjending on how it is made and used, it can be prostituted to the uses of those who wish to app>eal to the old prejudices and the old hates, or it can be used as a means to in- augurate a new era of tolerance, un- derstanding, and cooperation. To those vvho make motion piamies and to those v*ho use them in the education of children, the challenge is great.