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T h e Martin G. Brumbaugh Lectures in Education Fourth Series
EDUCATION AND T H E STATE
Education and the State edited by
FREDERICK C. GRUBER Associate Professor of Education University of Pennsylvania
GREENWOOD PRESS, PUBLISHERS WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT
L i b r a r y of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Gruber, Frederick Charles, 1903Education and the s t a t e .
ed.
Reprint of the I960 ed. vrtiich was published by U n i v e r s i t y of Pennsylvania Press, P h i l a d e l p h i a , and issued i n the Uth s e r . of the Martin G. Brumbaugh l e c t u r e s i n education. Includes b i b l i o g r a p h i e s . CONTENTS: B r i c e , E. W. Education i n the new f r e e s o c i e t i e s . — N i c h o l s , R. F. Mass education i n America.—Kvaraceus, W. C. The delinquent i n school and c o u r t , [etc.] 1. Education and state—United S t a t e s . I. Title. II. Series: The Martin G. Brumbaugh l e c t u r e s i n education ; l+th s e r . [LC89.G76 1977] J70.19'0973 77-665 ISBN 0-8371-9U91-1
©
1960 by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
All rights reserved Originally published in 1960 by University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia Reprinted with the permission of University of Pennsylvania Press Reprinted in 1977 by Greenwood Press, Inc. Library of Congress catalog card number 77-665 ISBN 0-8371-9491-1 Printed in the United States of America
The Martin G. Brumbaugh Lectures in Education T h e Martin G. Brumbaugh Lectures in Education were begun in the summer of 1956 to provide an opportunity for the general public and the educators of the greater Philadelphia area to join the students of the University of Pennsylvania in hearing lectures by distinguished scholars who represent some of the academic disciplines which form the foundation for current American educational theory and practice. Previous Brumbaugh Lecturers have been: 1956
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
J. Donald Butler, Princeton Theological Seminary August B. Hollingshead, Yale University J. W. Tilton, Yale University Thomas Woody, University of Pennsylvania 1957
THE EMERGENCE OF THE MODERN
MIND
Ethel J. Alpenfels, New York University Abraham Edel, The City College of New York Perry Miller, Harvard University Conway Zirkle, University of Pennsylvania 1958
ASPECTS OF VALUE
John L. Childs, Columbia University Thomas A. Cowan, Rutgers University Elizabeth F. Flower, University of Pennsylvania Philip P. Wiener, The City College of New York T h e present volume, Education and the State, makes the fourth series of addresses available to the general public. 5
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T h a n k s is hereby given to authors and publishers for permission to quote from their published works and to all who have contributed to the success of the series. Martin G. Brumbaugh (1862-1930) was the first Professor of Pedagogy at the University of Pennsylvania, occupying the chair from 1895 to 1905.
CONTENTS Page T h e Martin G. Brumbaugh Lectures in Education
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T h e 1959 Brumbaugh Lecturers
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Editor's Preface
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Education in the New Free Societies by Edward W. Brice
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Mass Education in America by Roy F. Nichols
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T h e Delinquent in School and Court by William C. Kvaraceus
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Citizenship Responsibility of the Public School by James E. Russell
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The 1959 Brumbaugh Lecturers E D W A R D W A R N E R BRXCE is specialist in Fundamental and Literacy Education in the U. S. Office of Education. Before receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, he served as president of Clinton Junior College, Rock Hill, South Carolina and afterwards as dean and professor of education at South Carolina State College at Orangeburg. For the past seven years he has been on foreign assignments for the U . S. State Department and the International Cooperation Administration. He served as public affairs officer and attaché at the American embassy in Monrovia, Liberia and as chief educational adviser to the governments of Liberia and Nepal. W I L L I A M C. KVARACEUS is professor of education at Boston University. After taking his doctorate at Harvard University he served as administrator and director of research- in schools in Massachusetts and New Jersey. During 1952 he served as lecturer and as adviser to the Ministry of Education in Turkey. T h e next year he was a member of the staff of the U. S. Senate Subcommittee investigating juvenile delinquency. He has just completed a three year research project on prediction of juvenile delinquency sponsored by the U. S. Office of Education. During 1958-59 he served as director of the Juvenile Delinquency Project of the National Education Association. Among his publications are Juvenile Delinquency and the School, The Community and the Delinquent, Delinquent Behavior: Principles and Practices, and, as co-author, Delinquent Behavior, Culture and the Individual. R O Y F . N I C H O L S is professor of history, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and vice provost at the 9
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University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University where he served as instructor in history. He has been visiting professor at Cambridge University and at Columbia University. Among his numerous publications are The Democratic Machine (1850-54), Advance Agents of American Destiny, and Growth of American Democracy (with his wife, Jeannette P. Nichols). He received the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1949 for his book The Disruption of American Democracy. J A M E S E. R U S S E L L is secretary of the Educational Policies Commission at the National Education Association and the American Association of School Administrators. After receiving his Ph.D. from Columbia University, he held professorships in political science at Johns Hopkins and in education at Columbia Universities. He served as senior staff assistant to the Deputy Commander of U. S. Naval Forces during the second world war, and as deputy administrator of the Citizenship Education Project of Teachers College, Columbia University. He is editor of National Policies for Education, Health and Social Services for Doubleday and Company.
Editor's Preface " W e hold these truths to be self evident—that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. T h a t to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. " W e the People of the United States . . . do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." T h u s in less than a hundred words the founding fathers set forth the principles of American democracy. Basic to this faith is the belief that all men are equal in the possession of certain God-given rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and that since these natural rights are inalienable, having been bestowed by the Creator, they cannot rightly be taken or given away by man. Furthermore, governments are social contracts entered into by free men to "secure," that is to safeguard these natural rights. Therefore "we the people," by common consent lay down fundamental objectives, principles, and procedures for governing ourselves as an American nation and to "effect" our "safety and happiness." Democracy, then, requires a "common good," recognized, understood, and agreed to by all citizens, who are dedicated to its furtherance and to the limitation of its corresponding "common evil." Democracy is not merely a set of principles. It is a way of life. It requires commitment and participation. Democracy must be lived in order to be learned. It must be lived in the classroom, in business, in politics, in social situations. It is based upon the supreme worth and freedom of each individual without regard to race or creed, and with this freedom goes a corre11
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sponding responsibility. T h i s "great American dream," says Brice, "is our most exportable item. T h i s is the most compelling force in the struggle for the hearts and minds of the uncommitted masses of the world." O n the other hand, the "res publica" which we, as an American people, have established requires the selection of representative leaders with special abilities and skills to carry out the common will of the people. As Russell points out, the individual citizen submits to the direction of his leaders who are in turn subject to the laws of the land. But, significantly different f r o m totalitarian governments no matter how benign or efficient, the laws and leadership in a democracy represent the will and the choice of the people. These laws grow from the ideals and the customs or mores of the people. In a society such as ours, there is much chance for individual and g r o u p variation within the n o r m or pattern set by the majority group. As Kvaraceus points out, deviations from these accepted patterns constitute norm-violations with which society must deal through its schools, courts, a n d other social agencies. H e suggests f u r t h e r that a close scrutiny of the individual and g r o u p standards of the norm-violator will yield valuable information on which to base curative and preventive measures. American democracy, then, is a complex and delicate structure, and is of slow growth. Its ways are often circuitous and bungling, b u t it has outlasted all others and is now the oldest continuous form of government in the Western World. In this connection Russell points o u t that American schools can flexibly adapt to social change without concerning themselves about changes in the political structure, whereas the rigidity of the French system of education may be a necessary balance to the changes in the structure of the government of France.
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T h e perpetuation and improvement of democracy depends upon the active, intelligent participation of all citizens. This fact as Nichols so well points out was recognized by the early colonists who set u p systems of schools in which the fundamentals of communication were taught so that we might have a literate and informed citizenry and so that trade could flourish. Economic well being and literacy are two essentials of the soil in which a healthy democracy will flourish. This fact is amply illustrated in Brice's essay which maintains that democracy cannot be built against a background of mass illiteracy. " T h e great menace to stability," he remarks, "is not communism or nationalism, but ignorance and poverty." "Political liberation," he continues, "is a formidable event for education." He explains that approximately 65% of the population in the new democracies is functionally or totally illiterate and that the education of the remaining 35% turns out an unproductive white collar elite. New countries, he believes, need to develop the skills of all the people. They need to develop productive citizens. T h e r e must be a rethinking and reorganization of education with the help of international agencies and foreign universities. T h e need for teacher training and technical education is most acute. T h e way in which American education has adjusted to meet the needs of an expanding and changing society serves as an appropriate model. T h e tremendous increase of American population, due to a considerable extent to immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, created problems of citizenship training and assimilation. Industrialization, urbanization, the development and sometimes exploitation of natural resources, and the development of technology effected widespread social and economic changes. Our comparatively recent rise to world leadership de-
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mands political k n o w l e d g e and skill far greater than was required a century ago. T h e public school has felt the impact of these social changes. P u b l i c education as an " e x p a n d i n g concept," as N i c h o l s shows, has w o n wide acceptance since the last quarter of the last century. T h e c o m m o n school has been extended d o w n w a r d to include the kindergarten and the nursery school, and upward to include the secondary school, the vocational school, and the college. School populations have increased enormously. N e w subjects and activities have been added to the c u r r i c u l u m to provide for varying interests, abilities, and vocational aims. T e a c h i n g methods, organization, administration, and architecture have been modified to meet new conditions. " W e the P e o p l e " of A m e r i c a have embarked upon one of the greatest enterprises ever conceived by civilized m a n : — t h e education of all of America's children at public expense, for there is a well f o u n d e d belief that the c o m m o n school is the bulwark of democracy. T h e public school, then, is the chief integrating, citizenship-building agency in America to-day. It is a m o n g the foremost institutions for bringi n g about the " c o m m o n g o o d " w h i c h is the will of the A m e r i c a n people. From the foregoing discussion we may conclude that p u b l i c education in the U n i t e d States should be regarded not so m u c h as a privilege, b u t as an obligation, for it is necessary for each g r o w i n g citizen to possess the body of k n o w l e d g e beliefs, and skills needed by active participants in democratic living. A s the Supreme C o u r t of N e w H a m p s h i r e declared: " T h e primary purpose of the maintenance of the comm o n school system is the promotion of the general intelligence of the people constituting the body politic and thereby to increase the usefulness and efficiency of the citizens, u p o n w h i c h the government of society depends.
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T r u e schooling furnished by the state is not so much a right granted to pupils as a duty imposed upon them for the public good." 1 But we may well ask: in its attempt to be all things to all men, is the public school attempting too much. Kvaraceus believes that "the school must remain an institution whose primary function is teaching and learning." H e suggests that the school, the court and all other community agencies should describe their functions more neatly. He further maintains that although the school will need the enabling services of psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, social case workers and the like, the assistance of these specialists should be sought only as they concern the chief function of the school. Nichols suggests a number of pertinent questions: In our attempt to educate all are we neglecting education for leadership? Does mass education mean a leveling down of standards? How are the increasing costs of public education to be met? Regarding the first two, he intimates that methods of instruction, selection, and organization must and can be found to provide for the discovery and development of individual abilities within the framework of general education for all. T o the last he advocates the adoption of a Declaration of Dedication to American Public Education, concluding: " W e therefore citizens of the United States of America appealing to the supreme J u d g e of the world for the rectitude of our intentions do, in the N a m e and by the authority of all our good neighbors, solemnly publish and declare that these United States have and should ever maintain independent and untrammeled educational systems, free from all subversive motivation and totalitarian restraint. And for the support of this 1
Fogg vs Board of Education of Littleton, 82A173, 76 N. H. 296.
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Declaration, with a firm reliance on the guidance of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our courage, our intelligence and sufficient tax money." Russell's essay, in substance, poses the question: Are we teaching the fundamentals?" H e suggests that the traditional " T h r e e R ' s , " while essential as tools are not nearly so important in to-day's world as the big " C " of Citizenship. H e declares that citizenship in the United States refers to public rather than private affairs. In contrast he cites studies which show that the common concept of good citizenship in the schools is orderliness and good manners, and in the community—charity. H e recommends that the school curriculum be pared down to make room for the real business at hand, the purpose for which the public establishes its schools: to develop the kind of citizen who is informed and appreciative of the principles of American democracy, and is dedicated to its perpetuation and improvement. " I t is u p to the school to provide that wealth of learning which will meet the needs of individuals and simultaneously the civic needs of the society." As a political scientist he is aware that we are now engaged in a war of ideologies and he maintains that the school which is, "after all, the p u b l i c " must fulfill its public responsibility, for "there will be no room for individual interest if the society itself dies." At Gettysburg, in the dark days of the Civil War, Lincoln reminded his hearers that they were engaged in a great civil war to test whether a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal could long endure. W e are now engaged in a great global conflict, testing whether this nation and this ideal can survive. If the American people no longer believe in it, democracy as we know it will die without the firing of even a
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pistol shot. If we believe in it and all it implies, if we understand that the will and welfare of the state and of its individual citizens are one in a unique sense, if we are willing to maintain, at its highest point of efficiency, a common school dedicated to the building of unity of democratic action against a background of individual freedom and happiness, no amount of nuclear warfare can destroy it. FREDERICK C .
Philadelphia,
1959
GRUBER
EDUCATION AND T H E STATE
Education in the New Free Societies EDWARD W A R N E R
BRICE
T h e r e is certainly no subject of more importance to the future of the free world and our way of life than "Education in the New Free Societies." Now, at the beginning of the "Space Age," approximately fifty percent of the adults in the world are illiterate. An additional fifteen percent must be considered functionally illiterate or unable to perform at the level of ability normally reached at the end of four or more years of schooling. What is even more disturbing is that the education provided in most developing countries for the remaining thirty-five percent has been of a kind which too often tends to produce an unproductive white collar class, a social elite enclosed within the narrow bounds of its own interests. For many new nations of the world the need for economic and social progress today is urgent. Yet, low standards of living, deficient diets, widespread disease and general lack of skills limit the energies of millions of people in these newly developing countries. At the base of all these conditions is lack of technical knowledge—knowledge about such matters as better ways to raise more food, to prevent disease and to increase industrial production. T h e political liberation of the countries of Africa, South and Southeast Asia is perhaps, for education, one of the most formidable events of the twentieth century. This liberation has released in each country a very strong feeling of national identity. There is an overwhelming sense of 21
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patriotism a n d p r i d e in the recognition of the people's right to self-determination. In the peaceful a n d sometimes violent struggle for national sovereignty t h e r e has been created an awareness of m a n y problems and weaknesses which are i n h e r e n t in the m a i n t e n a n c e of political i n d e p e n d e n c e . Each n a t i o n in Africa and Asia which is considered a m o n ? the new free societies has gained its own f r e e d o m in the past twelve years, a n d is t h e r e f o r e striving zealously a n d jealously to keep that freedom. However, the menaces which face these countries f r o m w i t h o u t are perhaps n o t so great a threat to their security as the weaknesses and shortcomings within. T h e leaders in all these countries, regardless of their political ideologies, recognize that in the process of socialpolitical-economic change, e d u c a t i o n — b o t h formal and informal—takes on a d o m i n a n t role. Consequently, in each country the local, political, economic and educational leaders are busy d e t e r m i n i n g the present and f u t u r e school a n d c o m m u n i t y programs for their youth. T h e type of programs being developed are likewise d e t e r m i n i n g , in very great part, the f u t u r e direction of their way of life. In the new free societies such as India, Ceylon, N e p a l , B u r m a , Pakistan, G h a n a , Libya a n d m a n y others t h e r e seem to be certain basic assumptions which are c o m m o n l y accepted. It is generally believed that the basic resources of the c o u n t r y are the energy, character and skill of its people. Little can be d o n e with material resources u n t i l these basic resources are b r o u g h t to a level of d e v e l o p m e n t w h e r e skills and motivations are sufficient and basic attitudes are a p p r o p r i a t e to carry t h r o u g h a n d to m a i n t a i n economic a n d political change. A l t h o u g h this f u n d a m e n t a l assumption takes various expressions in each country, in practical terms it means (1) stress u p o n the availability of educational o p p o r t u n i t y ; (2) the d e v e l o p m e n t of an e d u c a t i o n a l system responsive to the needs of t h e people; and (3) t h e creation of programs designed to stimulate individual a n d
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group initiative and harness them to the needs of the people. Another area of general agreement is that education has a direct relationship to economic development. No country can develop its natural resources without trained professionals in the field of agriculture, engineering and science. A country must look to its own educational system to produce these skilled workers on a long-term basis. An extension of this belief, not easily accepted by some countries, is that sufficient political stability cannot be achieved without a corps of well trained public administrators and leaders in government. Before going into a brief descriptive analysis of some of the education programs and activities in the new free societies, a short assessment of educational problems in these developing countries might be helpful. At the beginning of this presentation I mentioned the serious problem of illiteracy in these countries. T h e overwhelming evidence clearly points to the supreme importance of expanding educational opportunity at all levels in order to meet the revolution of rising expectations. In every country skill and experience in the field of modern educational administration are as scarce as they are in modern public administration and business management. Yet, building a system of adult education, elementary and secondary schools, universities, vocational, and technical schools is an immense administrative task. T h e r e are few trained administrators, teachers and supervisors to start with, and little plant or equipment. T h e supply of professionally trained teachers is inadequate. Teachers' pay is so low that the profession does not attract or retain qualified personnel. University faculties usually consist of part-time professors paid on an hourly basis. T h i s is not conducive to research, nor does it foster student-teacher conferences. Instruction is usually by the lecture method. From the elementary teacher to the college
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professor, teachers u s u a l l y h o l d m o r e than o n e j o b in o r d e r to m a k e a living; a n d u n f o r t u n a t e l y the better p a y i n g of the two or three j o b s the teacher h o l d s is u s u a l l y o u t s i d e the t e a c h i n g field. In only a few c o u n t r i e s is c o m p r e h e n s i v e long-range e d u c a t i o n a l p l a n n i n g b e i n g d o n e . In m a n y c o u n t r i e s freq u e n t changes in the Ministry of E d u c a t i o n tend to introd u c e feelings of instability a n d insecurity which u n d e r m i n e morale and prevent desirable continuity. T h e r e is a l a m e n t a b l e lack of t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l s in all of the c o u n t r i e s . In m a n y cases, the M i n i s t r i e s of E d u c a t i o n c a n n o t a f f o r d to create, r e p r o d u c e , a n d d i s t r i b u t e these materials. In m o s t d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s the k i n d of e d u c a t i o n which is p r o v i d e d d o e s not p r e p a r e p r o d u c t i v e citizens. F o r e x a m p l e , s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t i o n is o f t e n strictly college p r e p a r a t o r y in s p i t e of the fact that most of the students will t e r m i n a t e their e d u c a t i o n at the s e c o n d a r y level. Perh a p s of even g r e a t e r i m p o r t a n c e to the U n i t e d States is that the kind of e d u c a t i o n p r o v i d e d has a direct b e a r i n g o n the political c o u r s e the d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s will take. In virtually all of the new free societies t h e r e is a need f o r d e v e l o p i n g facility with a s e c o n d l a n g u a g e if the indiv i d u a l is to progress far in school. In the m a j o r i t y of situations the second l a n g u a g e will b e E n g l i s h . Present inadeq u a t e p r o g r a m s of s e c o n d l a n g u a g e i n s t r u c t i o n leave the s t u d e n t p o o r l y p r e p a r e d to use the s u p p l e m e n t a r y l e a r n i n g m a t e r i a l s u s u a l l y a v a i l a b l e only in a f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e . In most cases the school systems are centrally c o n t r o l l e d a n d financed. T h i s results in a u n i f o r m i t y of c u r r i c u l a that does not relate to the n e e d s of p a r t i c u l a r areas, the c a r e e r o b j e c t i v e s of the i n d i v i d u a l s , n o r to the a b i l i t i e s of the p u p i l s . A s has h a p p e n e d , or is a b o u t to h a p p e n , to most of the p e o p l e s of these new c o u n t r i e s , they a r e at the critical turni n g p o i n t in their history. T h e y h a v e e m e r g e d f r o m peri-
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ods of varying length mainly under European colonial rule and stand now on the threshold or have entered upon the great adventure of political independence. Thus, in all these areas a new era is being ushered in, an era marked by the native population's assumption of rights and responsibilities in determining their own future. What perhaps is most significant about the old era which is coming to an end is that it brought these new countries into bold contact with modern western cultures, that is, the western way of life. Indeed, it is not a secret that most of these cultures coming into contact with the dynamics of modern western culture have been, to put it mildly, greatly affected by it. T h e future of education in these new societies is by no means a cloudless one. What many of these countries have learned is that independence or autonomy, per se, does not solve fundamental economic and social problems. T h e rising tide of nationalism does not necessarily carry along with it the mechanisms designed to meet the rising expectations of the people. T h e impact of change is so sudden and great that many of the leaders are bewildered by the contents of the Pandora's box which they have opened. T h e problems emerging under this impact, such as the growth and rise of an uprooted and dislocated proletariat, the pressures of steadily increasing population, the insistent demands for more educational facilities, dissatisfaction with the existing social and political order, the substi tion and introduction of new and conflicting value systems, establish conditions which make the future of education seem bleak in many areas. T h e fact that the societies are now free has not eliminated these problems. T h e s e problems continue to exist and must be taken into consideration in any attempt to understand education in this vast and complex area. In a short paper of this kind, there is a tendency to oversimplify and to generalize in terms not acceptable to the student or scholar. Yet, it is to be realized that with a sub-
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ject so broad one can only paint with the broad brush of generalizations, limited description and examination. Therefore, during the second half of this presentation I would like to devote some space to a brief description of programs and activities in several of the new countries in order to show how they are approaching their educational problems. Today most of these countries are receiving assistance from the United States Government and other agencies such as the United Nations and UNESCO in the development of their education programs. As of March 1959 there existed technical cooperation programs between the United States and more than sixty other countries and territories. Forty-five of these countries have asked for and received American technical help in developing their school systems and their methods of education. In the main, these programs seek to assist these countries to meet the challenge presented by a high illiteracy rate, lack of skills, lack of teachers,' lack of buildins:O and teachingO facilities,7 lack of sound curricula, poor methods and practice and inadequate administration and supervision. In many parts of Africa and Asia the demand for education has outstripped all native resources. Parents, told that they must provide a school house first, have finished the building by their own self-help activities. But the buildings stand empty. As one African educator pointed out, " T h e great menace to stability is not communism or nationalism, but ignorance and poverty." In Ethiopia—less than 150,000 of 3.5 million school age children are in school. In Tunis—Over half the population is under 20 years of age: 43% are under fifteen years. 23,000 children are added to the population yearly, in one of the world's highest birth records. In Cambodia—The n u m b e r of children attending pri-
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mary schools has increased from 32,000 in 1946 to 350,000 in 1956—well over 1,000%. In Taiwan—Elementary school enrollment has increased 55% since 1950. T w o and even three shifts a day in primary school are necessary to provide for its increasing population of 3.5% per year. In Laos—30,000 children were turned away from schools last September; there were 561 schools without a teacher. In some cases where demands of parents were most insistent, totally unqualified people were put in charge of the schools. In the Philippines—Ten percent of school age children never start school and 72% who do start do not finish the 6th grade. T h e Philippine population is young and rapidly increasing. More than half the population are less than 17 years of age. In India—The nation is endeavoring to raise the 195556 goal of providing elementary education for 51% of the children 6-11 years of age to a goal for 1960 of providing for 56-65% of the children within that age range. This is part of the Government of India's second Five Year Plan which acknowledges the dependence of national progress upon educational development. In Libya—There are no Libyan teachers in the upper or lower secondary schools; all are recruited from foreign countries. T h e r e is no secondary nor teacher training school in the povince of Fezzan. T h e r e are approximately 400,000 unemployed and 43 percent of the entire population is under 15 years of age. Yet, the educational authorities supported a law requiring an A.B. degree for all secondary school teachers including lower secondary, and, wanting only the highest standards, opposed a temporary program of training secondary teachers for practical courses and extension programs.
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In the Sudan—Secondary school graduates are still req u i r e d to complete the C a m b r i d g e certificate, demonstrating adequacy of p r e p a r a t i o n for college. For most students, f u r t h e r education r e m a i n s an impossible goal; they are c o n f r o n t e d with the u r g e n t need for employable skills which their secondary school curr i c u l u m fails to offer. All except one c o u n t r y in Africa, in which the U n i t e d States G o v e r n m e n t has an education activity, have at least one project in which teacher education is the primary objective. Ethiopia has two—one in C o m m u n i t y E d u c a t i o n f o r R u r a l T e a c h e r s , and one in Expansion and Improvem e n t of Pre-service, Extension, a n d In-service Education of Teachers. Libya has two projects primarily in teacher education, a n d two in university and vocational education. T h e r e are projects in Morocco a n d T u n i s i a for the preparation of r u r a l teachers t h r o u g h p a r t i c i p a n t t r a i n i n g in the U n i t e d States. I n the N e a r East—Iran, Iraq, a n d J o r d a n have projects primarily concerned with teacher education. I r a n is making a strong a t t e m p t to improve its N a t i o n a l T e a c h e r s College. J o r d a n has a m a j o r project in teacher education as well as provision for teacher p r e p a r a t i o n a m o n g the objectives of three o t h e r projects—in Vocational Education, Agricultural Education, and in E x p a n d e d Educational Facilities, which includes assistance to two teachers colleges. In South Asia—Afghanistan, N e p a l and India have projects with m a j o r emphasis on teacher education. All of the Far East countries with the exception of the Philippines have U. S. G o v e r n m e n t aided projects in which the primary objective is the p r e p a r a t i o n of teachers. As of D e c e m b e r 31, 1958 there were 79 university contracts in operation financed by the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Cooperation A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ; 32 or 40 percent were listed in t h e field of education. Eight of the university contracts in
EDUCATION
IN THE NEW FREE SOCIETIES
29
education are directly related to the field of general teacher education; twelve provide vocational teacher training; five are in specific subject areas; and seven are multi-purpose and include an education specialist to work with university teams in several such areas as agriculture, engineering, public health, business administration, and home economics. A second major contribution which Americans are making to education in the new free societies is the provision of opportunities for participants from the free countries and territories to study in the United States or some third country. In 1958, 759, or about 14 percent of the 5,305 participants sent to the United States studied in the field of education. In addition, 123 participants were provided for under university contracts. Participants included teachers of all types and levels, including college and university, inspectors, supervisors, Ministry of Education, and other administrative personnel, and present and appointed members of teacher training staffs. In assisting these developing countries the United States has found T h i r d Country Training a valuable extension of technical cooperation programs. In 1958 a total of 1,746 foreign nationals received training under such sponsorship in T h i r d Countries. T h e training was for one month or longer. Among the large centers for International Cooperation Administration Third Country Training are Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the American University at Beirut in Lebanon. Some of these centers serve United Nations, Colombo plan and other agencies as well. We cannot describe here the promising practices both in pre-service and in-service education of teachers which are underway in many of these countries. Increasing numbers of publications are also being produced in many countries summarizing their programs, such as " T h e Sixth Mileston-Education in the Philippines"; "Education in Nepal—Report of the Education Planning Commission";
30
EDUCATION AND THE STATE
"Upgrading Teachers in Jordan Through In-Service Training and Summer Schools"; "Rural Education in Bolivia"; and "Guatemala and the United States Cooperate to Improve Education." Documentary films such as "Tetes Ensemble" of Haiti; "Escuela Pedro Molina," the rural teacher training program of Guatemala, and "Community Schools of Taiwan" illustrate functional programs in the training of rural teachers. While programs generally run the gamut of educational problems in developing countries, foremost among project efforts are those in teacher education, vocational agriculture and trade and industrial education, home economics and leadership training through the participant program, pre-service and in-service education. Rapidly rising in importance is the area of English language training; it is important because of the new and broader avenues of knowledge and information which become available in the English language and also because it helps these countries understand the American way of life. T h e examples which are given here will describe some of the accomplishments of educational programs in the new free societies of the world. Teacher
Education
Programs around the world aim at building and strengthening indigenous institutions through developing curricula, increasing facilities, developing and providing instructional materials, upgrading faculties and increasing enrollment. Goals are accomplished through new or expanded pre-service and in-service training programs. Teacher education programs are operated with direct hire technicians and by contracts with American universities. For some countries the International Cooperation Administration's effort was the first organized teacher education program. Jordan, for instance, had no teacher educa-
EDUCATION IN THE NEW FREE SOCIETIES
31
tion facilities prior to the inception of the United States Operations Mission in 1952. Today she has four teacher training institutions and teacher training classes in two other schools offering instruction to over four hundred full-time students. In-service education classes train yearly about four hundred additional teachers who have had no prior professional teacher training, and a summer school program for teachers has grown from a ten-day session catering to two hundred teachers to a full six weeks' session for five hundred teachers. Jordan is even now expanding her physical facilities to permit increased enrollment and in addition has admitted day students for the first time. In Iran, the International Cooperation Administration's education program has expanded rapidly and soundly. In 1952, only 17,000 teachers were available to cope with a school population of about five million. Today over 40,000 teachers are serving the country and over seventy percent of these have received summer school training through the assistance provided by International Cooperation Administration. T h e National Teachers College in Tehran, the only teacher training institution of college rank, has been upgraded in curricular offerings and staff. Demonstration or laboratory school facilities for the twenty-two normal schools in the ten Provinces of Iran have been developed at the request of the Iranian Government and through this medium newer educational practices are taught. Nigeria is receiving assistance in teacher education from the International Cooperation Administration through the provisions of a contract with Ohio University. Ten staff members are engaged in training the instructors of elementary teacher training colleges. .This project, serving about one hundred college instructors, is assisting the Ministry of Education to upgrade its instruction, develop new
32
EDUCATION
AND THE
STATE
materials, train commercial teachers and improve the general teaching environment. T h i r t e e n weeks are spent at a center of instruction and then the O h i o University team goes out to the colleges for the next thirteen weeks where they work closely with the instructors in their classrooms. O n e of the most striking examples of education program achievements in the Asia and Far East area is f o u n d in the results of the regional teacher training program involving T h a i l a n d and Laos. By this program teacher training facilities in T h a i l a n d are made available to trainees from Laos which has completely inadequate facilities for training teachers. D u r i n g the first year of operation, thirty Laotian teachers were trained in T h a i facilities. D u r i n g the current year, eighty-three Laotian prospective teachers are in training in T h a i l a n d . In reviewing the success of the program at the end of the first year, Laotian and T h a i Ministry of Education officials were so pleased with the program that they commenced discussion of possibilities of a cultural treaty between the two countries to cover all aspects of educational exchanges. Prior to this project, organized with International Cooperation Administration assistance, no cooperative activity between the two Ministries had ever been carried out. Not only is an impact being made on the critical teacher shortage in the region, b u t a definite contribution toward improved inter-country relationships has been made by the project. T h e Southeast Asian Regional English Project is another well-received activity in this area. It is working toward the development of English as a common bond of technical and high-level communication in the region. T e a c h e r training schools have been built and are being operated with International Cooperation Administration assistance in Laos and Cambodia where only highly academic French Ecoles Normales existed previously with graduating classes of ten to twelve students per year. T h e
EDUCATION IN T H E NEW F R E E SOCIETIES
33
new institutions will graduate one hundred teachers each year. Large-scale technical education programs have been developed in the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan and India to help these countries meet critical manpower shortages. Hundreds of Asian educators have been trained in the United States for technical and professional responsibilities in their home countries through International Cooperation Administration's participant training programs. Elementary
Education
About 80 percent of the people in the new free societies of Africa and Asia live in villages outside of the commercial economies. They lead a subsistence kind of life, produce relatively little for the commercial market and have very little buying power. T h e need for elementary education in all of these areas is of paramount importance. Many of the countries cannot yet enforce compulsory schooling for a fixed period. T h e shortage of teachers and lack of educational facilities make compulsory education practically impossible. A considerable proportion of the children who enter school, particularly in rural areas, do not remain long enough to ensure permanent functional literacy. Nearly all countries emphasize the limited value of brief periods of schooling and the intolerable waste of educational resources when children drop out after one or two years of school. In India, for example, "it will be admitted that even four years of schooling is hardly adequate to give permanent literacy and any short period is a national wastage." 1 While statistical data would reveal the extent to which primary education has progressed in these countries it needs to be supplemented by reference to legislative and administrative action taken by the public authorities. Nearly all of the countries have passed some kind of compulsory education law and the expansion of primary edu-
34
EDUCATION AND T H E
STATE
cation opportunities has been included in all of the economic development schemes undertaken so far. T h e r e has been an increase in primary school enrollment both absolutely and relatively in the world's school age population. Careful planning for the extension of primary education has perhaps been the most significant development in the past five years; for example, Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaya, Pakistan and the majority of the African territories have education plans either on a separate basis or as a part of overall national plans for economic and social development. Burma and India have attempted the experimental introduction of compulsory education in selected areas. Ghana and Pakistan have attempted to bring universal compulsory education closer through the abolition of all fees in the primary schools. T h e increased emphasis on primary education may be illustrated by citing a few growth statistics from a few of the countries. In Indonesia, for example, the n u m b e r of primary schools increased from 18,091 before the war to 31,802 in 1953-54, and the corresponding increase in enrollment f r o m 2,021,990 in 1939-40 to 6,624,159, more than tripled, in 1953-54. T h e r e is still, however, far to go, since the total school population, 6 to 12 years of age, has been roughly estimated as 10,962,000. In Iran the enrollment and n u m b e r of schools show a remarkable increase since 1947. Related to the estimated child population 5-14 years old, the primary enrollment ratio for the 1950-54 period is two and a half times higher than for the 1935-40 period. In Laos it is estimated that the overall increase since 1932 is more than five-fold. It may be concluded that thought the average enrollment in primary schools is still low in all of the countries being considered, encouraging progress was made d u r i n g the last decade. T h e growth in primary school enrollment is having its impact on the secondary school program.
EDUCATION
Secondary
IN T H E NEW F R E E SOCIETIES
35
Education
T h e line of demarcation between primary and secondary education is not always clear in the new free societies. In this presentation it is assumed that secondary education includes all types of schools above the primary education level and below the level of higher education as is understood in each country. In all of the countries the duration of the secondary school period is equal to or shorter than the primary schooling period. T h e most common systems of organization are 8 + 4, 6 + 6, or 5 - f 7 years, making a total duration of 12 years of schooling below the higher education level. In one or two countries there are other variations peculiar and unique within the countries. In 1954-55 the percentage of secondary school enrollment in the total school enrollment varied from about an average of 50 percent in the African territories to 10 percent in a few of the countries of South Asia. It can be fairly readily established, as a general rule, that countries where education is relatively under-developed will have a smaller proportion of their school-age population enrolled in secondary schools. Another fact of some significance is that there is a relationship between the size of the secondary school enrollment and the number of girls who share in educational opportunities at all levels of educational development. In all of the countries the proportion of girls enrolled in secondary schools is far less than satisfactory. It seems clear that in the past five years secondary school enrollments, taking general and technical together, show a tendency to rise more rapidly, proportionately, than primary school enrollments. T h e democratization of education in the several countries seems to be one of the chief factors in such growth. Another factor added to this is the general, strong demand for trained personnel needed in carrying out the various economic development plans. T h e new educational climate has had the natural effect
36
EDUCATION AND THE
STATE
of causing educational authorities to re-examine the aims, f o r m a n d c o n t e n t of secondary education. It would appear that d u r i n g the last five years the following aspects have received the most a t t e n t i o n : (a) simplification of passage f r o m the p r i m a r y to the secondary school; (b) differentiation of the c u r r i c u l u m to meet the new national requirements; (c) modifications in the examinations a n d certificate r e q u i r e m e n t s ; (d) increased emphasis u p o n technical a n d vocational education. It is in h e l p i n g these new free societies to develop their secondary school programs that such organizations as the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Cooperation A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , UNESCO, I L O , a n d m a n y others have perhaps been able to make their most effective c o n t r i b u t i o n s in the field of technical assistance. Higher
Education
Passing finally to h i g h e r education, we find that countries with the highest literacy rates invariably have the best higher e d u c a t i o n systems. All countries being studied in this report have some kind of h i g h e r education program. I n certain of the countries the h i g h e r education p r o g r a m has been m o r e firmly planted a n d receives m o r e in the way of s u p p o r t than e i t h e r p r i m a r y or secondary education. D u r i n g the period of 1954-59 there was a m a r k e d g r o w t h in e n r o l l m e n t in all h i g h e r education programs in all of the countries. P a r t of this growth may be a t t r i b u t e d to the university contract programs which have been established u n d e r agreements between American universities a n d foreign universities. T h e U n i t e d States G o v e r n m e n t has encouraged a n d supported American universities in aiding the foreign institutions in s t r e n g t h e n i n g technical education and extension services in fields related to economic development. M o r e t h a n 300 universities, colleges, a n d technical schools are b e i n g aided in t h e i r d e v e l o p m e n t t h r o u g h eighty I n t e r n a t i o n a l Co-
EDUCATION
IN THE NEW FREE SOCIETIES
37
operation Administration contracts with American universities. In one instance Bangkok Technical Institute, started in 1952 and supplied with advisers by Wayne State University of Detroit, has expanded until today it has 4,000 students. Fifteen foreign universities are being aided to establish schools of public administration and business management. In Nepal under a University of Oregon contract training has been provided for 2,300 teachers and 407 new primary schools have been opened. These are only some of the major features of educational developments in the field of higher education. Adult
Education
Adults in all of the countries, from illiterate to welleducated, are seeking self-improvement. T h i s increased knowledge is the avenue to many things—greater efficiency in their jobs or means of livelihood, greater economic security, the chance to participate in civic affairs and to improve their living conditions. In some countries adult education is part of the formal education program, and adults are instructed in personal health and hygiene, child care, better agricultural practices, or vocational work. In others it is organized as a separate program of "mass education," "social education," or "fundamental education." In others, the adults often come to school with children and study along with them. In many countries today the school is becoming the center of the entire movement for local community betterment, a role it has often had in the United States. T h e Community School Program of Taiwan is an excellent example of this kind of development. Voluntary
Foreign
Aid
Agencies
Foundations such as the Asia Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, a number of missionary organizations, and other nongovernmental
38
EDUCATION
A N D TIIF.
STATF.
organizations make valuable contributions to the development of education and technology in Southeast Asian and African countries by assisting universities and other institutions, by maintaining schools at various levels (missionary organizations), and by providing funds for the university training of citizens of Southeast Asian countries. T h e oldest of the foundations is the Rockefeller Foundation, well-known in Southeast Asia because of its work in the field of public health. Whereas the Ford Foundation maintains programs only in Burma and Indonesia, the Asia Foundation has offices in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In Indonesia, among other activities, the Ford Foundation supports such programs as the training of English language teachers and of teachers for technical schools, and university to university programs which bring American professors to Indonesian universities and Indonesian graduate students to the United States. University contract programs have been signed with the University of Indonesia in Djakarta and its Agricultural Faculty in Bogor, with Gadjah Mada University in Jogjakarta, and with Nommensen University in Medan. T h e National Lutheran Council in New York City is the supporting organization in the United States for Nommensen University, while the University of Indonesia has a contract with the University of California, and Gadjah Mada with the University of Wisconsin. T h e Dunwoody Institute provides advisors for the technical teachers training program in Bandung. Of long standing, going back in some instances a hundred years or more, are the programs of the various churches engaged in missionary activities. T h e Protestant mission societies are gradually adjusting to the new political climate in Southeast Asia and actively encourage the development of independent churches to whom they transfer the control of the institutions that they have built u p in the past. T h e missionaries become fraternal workers
EDUCATION IN T H E N E W F R E E SOCIETIES
39
and advisers to the national churches, and national churches continue to receive financial aid from the mission society abroad. T h e most recent example of such a voluntary "nationalization" of mission property is the decision of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. to give all its property in Thailand to the Church of Christ in Thailand. T h i s includes churches, hospitals, and schools. Finally, by the way of summary, a few of the significant trends which are indicated by observations and reports may be cited. T h e r e seems, in most of the countries, to be a trend toward long-term and continuing programs of teacher education with a planned sequence of study followed by supervised teaching. Another trend seems to be the development of a legal basis of in-service education through national legislation providing finances for the upgrading of teachers and certificates for satisfactory completion of requirements. Nepal, Guatemala, Korea, and Iran are examples of countries in which a long-range legislative program has supported professional programs for upgrading teachers. A third trend seems to be a consistent, planned effort to reduce the disparity between rural and urban opportunities for education through expanded teacher education. Nepal has developed mobile normal schools which reach out to the untrained teachers in the most inaccessible parts of the country. Liberia is building a rural normal school in the bush country of the Western Province for teachers of the new community schools built cooperatively by the local people. Iran has pioneered in developing tribal normal schools. Increasingly, stress is being placed on a functional type of teacher preparation which will equip teachers with the understanding and skills to help their communities improve their standards of living. T h e rural normal of Debra Berhan of Ethiopia and the participation by normal school
40
EDUCATION AND THE
STATE
students in Afghanistan in programs of C o m m u n i t y Development are illustrations of this trend. A n u m b e r of countries are initiating or expanding training facilities for secondary school teachers in order to be better prepared for the tremendous demand resulting from the growing n u m b e r of elementary school graduates. India and Nepal are among the nations whose teacher education programs comprehend several steps of the educational ladder from primary and secondary to adult. T h i s long term planning of opportunity all along the educational ladder with consideration for the broad base of literacy and primary education and with increasing opportunity for the most able to continue in middle school, secondary and higher education, is a trend of considerable significance. Another trend is toward the decentralization of programs —away from the practice of giving only one favored institution a disproportionate a m o u n t of aid and thereby defeating its purpose as a demonstration—toward developing pilot projects in several parts of the nation with larger reliance on local initiative and self-help activities appropriate to each region. Iran has a program for each ostan; Libya, Ethiopia, Korea and others have area or regional centers. During recent years I have had an opportunity to visit many of these countries and study some of their educational problems. It was in Africa and Asia, the lands of contrasts, that I saw their jungles and deserts, their hot Gangetic plains, their granite mountains, their indescribable beauty, their cruelty, their ruthlessness, and I glimpsed their great wealth and unbelievable possibilities. But especially I saw the people. Indians, Nepalese, Jordanians, Lebanese, Liberians and Ghanians, whose educational awakening and advancement will have such a bearing u p o n the f u t u r e of the world. I was told over and over again about their complete acceptance of two principles which are
EDUCATION
IN T H E N E W F R E E SOCIETIES
41
fundamental in American education. T h e first principle is the acceptance of the unique moral worth of every individual regardless of color, race or creed. People emerging from colonialism are more keenly sensitive to this than citizens of other countries who tend to take much for granted. These emerging people know what domination and discrimination mean; they can judge whether their individual interests and potentialities are being safeguarded, whether they are respected in meetings and invited to share in decision making. Secondly, they understand that an atmosphere of individual freedom with responsibility must prevail for the spirit of inquiry to thrive. This freedom cannot be limited to a science laboratory; it must permeate all areas of intellectual life. It is crucially important that teachers and students recognize the difference between freedom and license and between freedom and totalitarianism. Therefore in the new free societies the great American dream becomes our most exportable item. This is the most compelling force in the struggle for the hearts and minds of the uncommitted masses of the world and this is in the realm of the spirit. Americans, inexperienced in working with the peoples of the newly developing nations are apt to doubt this. Yet, the development of America was inspired by such a dream which has held and still holds hope and promise for mankind. " T h e American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."
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STATE
" N o , the American dream that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of merely material plenty, though that has doubtless counted heavily. It has been much more than that. It has been a dream of being able to grow to the fullest development as man and woman unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had been developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple h u m a n being of any and every class. A n d that dream has been realized more fully in actual life here than anywhere else, though very imperfectly even a m o n g ourselves." " T h a t d r e a m was not the product of a solitary thinker. It evolved from the hearts and burdened souls of many millions who have come to us from all nations." 2 T h a t dream strikes a responsive chord in all human hearts longing for freedom and for equal access to opportunity for their children if not for themselves. It helps them understand what they have not been able to comprehend before, that it is more than material or military advantage which prompts American citizens to tax themselves so heavily to help other people struggling for freedom and for the better things of life. " I f we hastened after the pot of gold, we also saw the rainbow itself, and felt that it promised, as of old, a hope for m a n k i n d . " 2 T h e fulfillment of the dream in this modern age will mean sharing our benefits not only with those who seek our shores, but by carrying them to the people in all parts of the world. A r n o l d T o y n b e e says: " O u r age will be remembered, not for its horrifying crimes or its astonishing inventions, but because it is
EDUCATION IN THE NEW FREE SOCIETIES
43
the first generation since the dawn of history in which mankind dared to believe it practical to make the benefits of civilization available to the whole human race." If from the story of the American dream and from our assistance, both material and professional, we can instill in the teachers of teachers in the new free societies of the world confidence that they too, with individual freedom and dignity can extend to an ever increasing majority the opportunities and privileges once enjoyed by a minority— If by our assistance we can give them the courage to attempt that which otherwise they would not have attempted— If by our providing satisfying experiences and observations of the power of people in cooperative action to improve their lives, they are inspired to discover and develop the dormant human resources in their communities and to respect the moral worth of every individual— If by our own faith and enthusiasm they see the significance of the role of the teacher in their nation's progress— We shall consider it our privilege to have shared with them the spirit which has inspired America and is still holding hope for mankind.
NOTES 1 Ministry of Education, India. Progress of Education in India, New Delhi, 1953. ' J a m e s Truslow Adams, Epic of America, pp. 415-416, 428.
1947-52,
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Arab States Conference on F re nnd Compulsory Education. Cairo: December, 1954-January, 1955. Four volumes. Processed (Report of the Lebanese delegation). Barton, T . Education in the Gold Coast. London: Nelson, 1954, 26 pp. Ghana Education Department Annual Report, 1955. Accra, Government Printing Dcpaiinicnt. Benham, Frederic. Tlf Colombo Plan and Other Essays. London: 195G, pp. 1-26.
Bilodcau. C. "Compulsory Education in Cambodia, Laos and Viet-Nam." Paris: I NESCO, 1954, 160 pp. Broun, William N. The United States and India and Pakistan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953, 308 pp. Brown, William N. India, Pakistan, Ceylon. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1951, 1950, 234 pp. Burma, Ministry of Education. Primary Education Act, 1950. Rangoon: 1950. . Education in Burma Before and After Independence. Rangoon: Government P r i n t i n g and Stationery, 1953. 22 pp. Buss, Claude A. The Far East; A History of Recent and Contemporary International Relations in East Asia. New York: T h e Macmillan Company, 1955, 733 pp. Ceylon, Department of Education. Administration Report of the Director of Education, Colombo: Government Press. Clark, Victor. Compulsory Education in Iraq. Paris: UNESCO, 1951, 76 pp. (Studies on Compulsory Education, IV) DeSilva, S. F. Compulsory Education in Ceylon. Colombo: Ministry of Education, 1952, 53 pp. Dickson, A. G. "Mass Education in Togoland." African Affairs, London: v. 49, April 1950, 136-150. Ekrami, Abbas. A Program for the Improvement of Elementary Education in Iran. University of Michigan doctoral dissertation, 1953. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1953, 443 pp. (Publication No. 7224) Ethiopia Ministry of Education. Yearbook E.C., 1951-53, Addis Ababa: 1954. Gold Coast Education Department. Progress in Education in the Gold Coast. Accra: Government Printing Department, 1953. 20 pp. Gt. Britain Colonial Office. Annual Report on the Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone. 1949. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1950, 67 pp. Griffiths, V. L. An Experiment in Education. London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1953. 160 pp. Howes, H. W. Schools of the Nation. Colombo: Government Press, 1951, 37 pp. International Cooperation Administration. ICA Work in Food and Agriculture, Washington: International Cooperation Administration, March 1959. Processed. . Participants in Technical Cooperation, Washington: March 1959. . Technical Cooperation in Education. Washington: March 1956. . ICA—What It Is, What It Does. Washington: International Coop-
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IN THE NEW F R E E
SOCIETIES
45
eration Administration, U. S. Department of State, Publication 6803, Economic Cooperation Series 51, U. S. Government Printing Office, April 1959. . World-Wide Review of Education Programs; ICA Program Review for 1959-60 Submissions. Washington: International Cooperation Administration, October 8, 1958. Processed. International Labor Office, Washington Branch. Partners for Progress; ILO's Technical Assistance Program. Washington: 1958. Iraq Embassy (USA), Cultural Attache. Education in Iraq. Washington: 1957, 48 pp. Liberia Department of Public Instruction. Annual Reports 1952-56, Monrovia. Linton, Ralph, ed. Most of the World; T h e Peoples of Africa, Latin America, and the East Today. New York: Columbia University Press, 1949, 917 pp. Matthews, R . D. and Akrawi, M. Education in the Arab Countries of the Near East. Washington: American Council on Education, 1949, 584 pp. Morehouse, Ward. Educational and Cultural Activities on Asia; An Account of Recent developments in the United States. New York: T h e Asia Society, October 1958. Morrison, J . C., et al. A Foundation Program for Financing Public Schools in the Philippines. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 195S, 261 pp. National Teachers Association. Education in Liberia. Monrovia: 1954, 152 pp. Nepal, College of Education. Manual for Training Teachers. Kathmandu: Bureau of Publications, College of Education, 1956, 64 pp. Nepal, National Education Planning Commission. Education in Nepal. Bureau of Publications, College of Education, 1956, 259 pp. Nepal, Ministry of Education. The Five-Year Plan for Education in Nepal. Kathmandu: Bureau of Publications, College of Education, 1957, 39 pp. Owivedu, P. A. Some Reflection on Education in the Gold Coast. Cape Coast: Abotar Printing Press, 1955, 48 pp. Philippines, Bureau of Public Schools. Republic Acts Affecting Education, Bulletins Nos. 23 & 366, 1954. Manila. Philippines, UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. Six Community Schools of the Philippines. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1954. 130 pp. Pye, Lucien. "Communication Pattern and the Problem of Representative Government in Non-Western Societies," Public Opinion Quarterly. Spring, 1956. Thailand, Ministry of Education. Curriculum for the Primary Teachers Training Course. Bangkok: 1952, 7 pp. Thailand. "Promulgation of the National Education Plan." Government Gazette, Vol. 68, No. 38, June 19, 1951. Thayer, Philip Warren, ed. Southeast Asia in the Coming World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1953, 306 pp. United Nations, Technical Assistance Committee. Annual Report of the Technical Assistance Board for 1956. New York: 1957.
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UNESCO. East and West: Towards Mutual Understanding. Paris: 1959. UNESCO. Mission to Burma. Report, Paris: 1952, 91 p p . (UNESCO Educational Missions, No. III.) UNESCO. Mission to Libya. R e p o r t , Paris: 1953, 88 p p . (UNESCO Educational Missions, No. V.) UNESCO. Mission to the Philippines. R e p o r t , Paris: 1950, 74 p p . (UNESCO Educational Missions) UNESCO, U. S. National Commission for UNESCO. An American View. Washington: U. S. G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g Office, September 1956. U. S. National Commission for UNESCO. Educational Problems in Asia and the Study of Asia in American Education; W o r k Papers for the Sixth National Conference, Washington: 1957. U. S. National Commission for UNESCO. Turn East Toward Asia, Sixth National Conference R e p o r t . W a s h i n g t o n : 1958. U. S. D e p a r t m e n t of H e a l t h , Education, a n d Welfare. Annual Report on the Technical Assistance Program in Education, 1957-5S. Washington: 1958. U. S. Office of I n t e r n a t i o n a l T r a d e . Liberia—Summary of Basic Information. I n t e r n a t i o n a l Reference Service. W a s h i n g t o n : Bureau of Foreign a n d Domestic Commerce, v. 7, no. 32, J u n e , 1950. 8 pp. United Kingdom of Libya, Official Gazette. Law No. 5 of 1952, The Education Law, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 18, 1953, pp. 16-19. W i l b u r , Donald N. Iran: Past and Present, 3rd ed., Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955, 276 pp. Wigny, Pierre. A Ten Year Plan for the Economic and Social Development of the Belgian Congo. New York: Belgian G o v e r n m e n t I n f o r m a t i o n Center, 1950. 72 p p . (Art, life a n d science in Belgium, no. 10)
Mass Education in America ROY
F.
NICHOLS
Statistics can be frightening. T h e times that try men's souls are oft by them foretold. If those in the educational world fail to heed their message at this particular time, they do so at the nations peril. Here are some samples from a book of statistics. In the year 1929, there were in the primary schools of the United States, 23 million children. In the secondary schools there were 4 million and in institutions of higher learning, 1 million. Now the statisticians tell us that in 1965 there will be 34 million children in the primary schools, 12 million in the secondary schools, and in 1970, 6 million in the colleges and universities. At the present time, as there are only 32 million in the primary schools, we must therefore prepare in 6 years for 2 million more. In the secondary schools there are 8 million so therefore in the next 6 years we must be ready to receive 4 million more. Finally as there are only 3 million in the colleges and universities, at the present time, by 1970 we must be prepared for double that number. Meeting these needs of course will cost money. In 1929 public grade school education cost 2 billion dollars. In 1959, thirty years later, this same grade school education costs 11 billion. What it will cost in 1970 not even the statisticians dare prophesy, or at least if they do, their prophecies have not been included in the books of their sacred writings. State spending, in general, for all public services, we are told, in 1946 was 7 billion dollars annually. In 1957, it was 24 billion; in eleven years, it increased in 47
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a ratio of 7 to 24. Higher public education in 1946, cost 400 million. In 1957, we are advised, that same instruction cost 2 billion dollars, an increase of five times in eleven years. We now have in the public schools 1 million, 300 thousand teachers of whom 92 thousand, it is believed, are teaching with the full knowledge of the authorities that they do not have the standard qualifications. T h i s number, who well might be called operating under sub-standard qualifications, is an increase of 4 % over the previous year. Worse, we are 140 thousand teachers short. T h e n to cap the climax, between now and 1970, it is going to be necessary to spend at least 3 billion dollars on classrooms alone. From these figures we can see something, understand something of what faces us, if we are even to maintain the standards which we have labored so long to perfect. Numbers! Dollars! These probabilities provide the nation with a tremendous problem. Anybody who is engaged in educational planning whether he be interested in a primary school in a country village or in a great university, has stalking before him and behind him and beside him always this dark spectre of numbers. Where are we going to p u t the bodies? W h o will take care of the souls and the brains? Now in order to give some attention to the possibilities of the solution of this problem, it is appropriate to consult the pages of history, starting with an historical truism, namely, that one of the strongest determining factors in any contemporary situation is the weight of the traditions which support it. Present judgments are frequently almost wholly shaped by the past even though those who make the judgments believe themselves to be free agents. T h e r e fore, it is appropriate to point out that those who are called upon to deal with the problems of mass education, particularly in the shape which they seem to be assuming, will be in large part guided by the so-called dead hand of the past. T h i s so-called dead hand of the past will be, in fact,
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very much alive, for the historian, at least, knows that there is no such thing as the dead past. In fact the past is frequently more alive than the present and more influential than any set of purely contemporary factors. Such a situation provides what, of course, no historian will admit he needs, namely, justification for going back a little before he goes forward. Alice, of Wonderland fame, in Looking Glass Land, found that in order to go ahead, she had to go back. So, therefore, let us go back in time and examine the educational precepts which shaped the first efforts on these shores made in the English Colonies. We, therefore, must refer first to the English Heritage. T h i s English educational heritage was for many years dominated, and still is to a certain extent, by the leadership of two great institutions, the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. They were created long before the Reformation and were established upon royal ecclesiastical foundations. They were influenced not only by the support of the Crown but by the management of the Church and there was a very close association—in fact there was almost a lack of distinction between these two elements. In the two great institutions certain sons of the upper classes were taught to be leaders in Church and State. In other words, the primary function of the educational system from which the American system grew was the creation of leadership. Men were to be brought to maturity and provided with superior knowledge and endowment so that they could lead not only in what might be called secular but also in moral concerns. When the Reformation came there was no particular change in motivation. There was just more mental activity, greater controversy, and quite an extensive quarrel over how to induce the process of learning or in an older phrase, over pedagogical method. Both Church and State realized that one of the essential concerns common to them both was the teaching function. Youth had to be initiated into
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the mysteries of life. T h e y must learn about the "here" and the "hereafter." But there were two types of pedagogical method. T h e one was liturgical, where there was teaching by example. T h e other was preaching, teaching by precept. And a good deal of the controversy which developed in post-Reformation times was whether the liturgical or the preaching function should predominate. Of course since there was a difference of opinion there had to be argument, and wherever there is argument there is generally an attempt to resort to authority. In the course of debate it is a source of strength to quote authority. Lawyers delight in that, so do teachers. Consequently what happened was that as these arguments developed there was a constant reference to authority. And of course the great authority was the Scriptures. These must be read. And so at the time when the first English colonial activities developed, there was an intense interest, particularly on the part of a number of those who came over here, in reading the Scriptures. Individuals not only wanted to read the Bible for their own inspiration, but they also sometimes took rather a keen delight in controversy. If they had to listen to a good deal of preaching, they thought it might be a good idea to check up on the preachers occasionally. Consequently this reading function became a very important part in the lives of many people, particularly those who came to New England. Many of them also brought with them a knowledge of the British University tradition and cherished the concept of an educated leadership. In the early days of English colonial activities one of the first thoughts on the part of many of those who founded the colonies was to provide adequate means of providing the people with what are now often called tool courses. T h e r e developed from that naturally a sense that there must be organization in instruction. So education very early was established on two levels, the highest and the lowest. T h e lowest, of course, was the Dame school
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where the little children sat on long benches and were hovered over by a dame with a horn book. T h e children gained from this instruction some knowledge of the alphabet and a capacity to read the Bible. On the other hand, at the same time, there were ambitions for transplating the university idea. This ambition is one of the amazing things in this whole educational concept growing in the colonies. On these distant shores, where there was hardly enough food available to keep the colonists alive, where there were dangers from Indians, and where human life was very insecure—these hardy pioneers almost immediately began to think about universities. Virginia thought about it first but did nothing for the time being. Massachusetts came along shortly thereafter and Harvard was the result. Thus, from the very beginning, we find this concept of the necessity of educational institutions of both low and high degrees. T h a t tradition has been at work on these shores since the 17th century. And back of that went European traditions which were much older. T h e whole weight of this great tradition is now behind us pushing us on to maintain the great goals of general education. From an examination of the history of American education, it can be discovered that step by step the people have developed an ever greater sense of educational responsibility. T h e emphasis has been from the beginning upon the idea that the children should be given the necessary knowledge to enable them to understand life and its problems. They have also been presumed to be schooled in motivation, so that they not only know what there is in the universe but how to behave in it and how to behave in a fashion best designed not only for the greater glory of God but for the improvement of mankind, to enable the individual to gain for himself that degree of satisfaction which comes from a sense of accomplishment. These ideas planted so very early have been goals toward which Ameri-
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cans have advanced steadily ever since. T h e y have passed through several stages. After the colonial period and those early post-Reformation years had passed, educational ideas were further developed in the classic decades of the late 18th century when man began to rejoice in a new sense of reason, and when such philosophers as Franklin and Jefferson and such men of action as George Washington had faith to believe that mankind was rational. In this Age of Reason, therefore, the education of reason became the goal because man must be taught not only the nature of the universe, but the nature of his mind, the mind of man, which according to Locke, started out so simply as an empty sheet, a tabula rasa, upon which experience would draw the pattern which men would follow. Therefore, the school teacher was most important, for he must see that the proper things were written on that empty sheet which was in the child's brain case. If the child learned to use his reason and early saw the desirability of rational conduct he would conduct his affairs according to reason. And so many of the men of this generation did. T h e great illustration of this enlightened behavior was the process of the American Revolution which was all worked out in neat documents. O n e of the glories of that event was the fact that the forefathers loved to write and that they wrote so beautifully—their work is comprised of about 20 documents, beginning with the Articles of Association, coming on through the Declaration of Independence down to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. T h e s e were documents put in masterly language that could be understood and followed. So consequently they provided a text-book in political behavior which it is to be hoped can still be read. T h e citizens hear of it often enough, do they understand it? After the f o u n d i n g of the new nation, the fathers and their successors perfected a mechanism of government
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which became known as democracy. And education played an extraordinarily important role in it. T h e citizens of the new republic continued the primary schools. Gradually, but only after a struggle, these schools became free, because it took a number of people a long time to realize that they should pay for someone else's children, yet it was a lesson early learned and very faithfully followed. Almost at the same time there began to be a feeling that the 3 R's were not enough. After all there was more to life than just reading, and writing, and calculating. Children needed a sense of society and how could one get a sense of society just by repeating the alphabet and some verses which would indicate a knowledge of words. There must also be some sense of the nature of the universe. So history and natural science or natural philosophy as it was called began to be taught. But the days were not long enough nor the weeks sufficiently abundant to have this all done in small country day schools that were in session only for a short time during the year. So the idea of the secondary school was developed, first in the form of private academies but later as public high schools. Then, interestingly enough, dawned the consciousness that the original private denominational colleges were not enough to take care of the needs of higher education, this was the responsibility of the state. As far back as 1787 when the Northwest Ordinance was promulgated this legislation not only provided for a whole new system of states to be carved from the western territory, but it also provided for a series of state educational systems. T h e state universities, to be sure were first advocated in North Carolina and Virginia, but they were developed to their greatest extent in the western communities that were to become states, when the great state universities of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and many others were founded as public institutions. T h e great idea became ever more generally accepted that the state in effect was responsible
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not only to provide primary education b u t secondary as well, and if youth would, there should also be free higher education for them. It eventually was conceded in certain states that this should be provided for them more or less at public expense. These early citizens likewise developed the interesting concept that there might be something more to teaching than Mark Hopkins sitting on the end of a log. It might be a little better if Mark Hopkins knew something about teaching. So consequently as there was consistent need for more and more teachers, the idea of teacher training came in and the public normal school appeared, also in the 1830's. Professional schools were even older. At first it is true the prevailing idea had been that if a boy wanted to be a lawyer or doctor all he had to do was go and sit with another lawyer or doctor and watch his mistakes, hope to avoid them later and come out with a license. T h a t was perhaps too much like an apprenticeship and so consequently authorities began to think in terms of more formal education and medical, law, and many other professional schools developed. T o cap the climax, another great discovery was made, and that was that the next generation might be better off if its mothers knew something. T h i s was an idea which had been scoffed at for many years. W o m e n had their functions b u t they were not intellectual. T h e n in the 19th century came the birth of the great idea of women's education and it has flowered ever since in great luxuriousness in this country. Likewise about the same time came the idea of graduate schools, to provide training in research. T h e educated should not only learn to do things b u t learn how to find things. Graduate schools were founded to teach students how to solve puzzles, how to do research, how to make discoveries. So as society expanded in the 19th century these various steps followed one another in regular fashion a n d each one added something to what had gone before to
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mark the great road. Interestingly enough in spite of the suggestions of George Washington and the efforts of some other statesmen the republic has never developed any national educational system. And that of course is a source of strength. Each community has been free to experiment and try out its ideas. As this educational variety developed, the great social changes marking the 19th century put new responsibilities upon educators. Most challenging was the melting pot, fired by the great hoard of people who came from foreign shores and brought with them strange tongues and strange customs. T h e question was, could they fit into a great society such as that of America in its own terms, in other words could they learn the processes of democracy? This question placed upon the schools the great problem of Americanization. T h e n too cities flourished. Large concentrations of people came together; there were more and more aggregations of population, and schools had to be built and organized much different from the red school house, something which was even different from the old local city school. Great municipal school systems had to be invented. At the same time there came a fundamental change in the family. T h e family in the early years was a miniature society. If there were 13 children, a mother and father, 3 grandparents, and a couple of maiden aunts, the child was socialized. T h e r e was no doubt about that. Children could not grow up in such a household and not realize that there were other people around and that they had better take thought about how to get along with them. T h e family had been an educational institution, a factory, a hospital, dwelling in a house of many uses. But by the 20th century, particularly in the cities it had got to the point where its units were getting smaller and smaller until that great product of 19th century American productivity emerged, the only child. T h e only child produced a problem. T h e
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school was presumed not only to educate the child b u t to socialize him because it was in the school that he became aware that there were others to be considered besides his mother and father and the pet dog. T h e whole question of socializing the child was complicated by the fact that in the 20th century it became necessary particularly in war time for so many homes to be broken up, either for reasons of patriotism or incompatibility. And educators were faced with the problem of the child who is the product of a broken home. T h e y were and are called upon to do their part in solving the problem of juvenile delinquency. T h u s in the course of this development the schools have changed their responsibilities, new ones are ever thrust upon them by society. So what has happened? T h e old idea that the school is just a place to learn something and recite it back, a place of drill and discipline has given way. As the nation has become more complex our psychologists have become more perceptive and discovered that rote learning was bad for the child, that it was stifling his initiative, that he was no longer free to realize his potential and that consequently the school was hindering rather than helping him. Therefore there must be a new education which would bring the child out not drive him in; he must have an opportunity to express himself and to follow his bent. T h e trouble was that so many of those bents were very much twisted and an unhappy result was that teachers frequently found it difficult to follow the curves and the intricacies of these twistings and turnings. As a matter of fact, in some instances, there were unsympathetic persons who came to the conclusion that education was drifting towards anarchy and that instead of having what might be called educated children we were having undisciplined individualists. T h e r e is no space here to enter this controversy except in so far as to say that it exists and discolors the minds of many people when they come to face the question of the mass and what is to be done about it.
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Great crowds of people have come. T h e cities have arisen. There has been a change in family life. T h e homogeneous society of the self-sufficient family has given away. There has been a burden placed upon the schools which some people say is an almost impossible one. Consequently there is developing a newer new education. What this newest new education will be is hard to say, but perhaps the best answer yet given is "cut out the baloney and face the facts." T h a t is a very good educational motto, for people sometimes when they attempt to face the facts get further along than if they just sit back and talk about them. This then is the tradition, a tradition of three hundred years of efforts, and of three hundred years of demonstrated capacity to cope with change. Our educators have always shown that capacity and they will continue to do so. But they must labor under conditions of unusual hardship. In the first place they must face taxation. These figures, which have been cited, show what is going to be called for in the way of increased taxes. T h e r e are occasionally staggering projects, and some people wonder if the money is always well spent. There are a good many people who today say, "Cut out all these frills. Let's get down to real vocational professional training. Give children something they can use and let them talk about things somewhere else." Education should be strictly professional and vocational. At this particular time there are certain kinds of anti-intellectualism which question whether or not the educational system is doing a job. T h e n there is another great problem which is very much to the fore in the minds of many, the great problem of where are we going to get the teachers? How are we going to inspire them with the zeal for dealing with these difficult problems if they have to carry around with them a sense of not being properly rewarded? Also we are confronted with the question of where they are going to be trained. How are we going to train teachers? Schools of
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Education, normal schools, graduate schools are all working on this but sometimes they don't see eye to eye and are not in very close agreement. T h e r e needs to be a greater community of interest. T h e n too what is society educating its children for? T h e r e are various controversies going on at the present time as to what the objectives of education should be. What kind of a society is projected? Some say take the gifted child and pay most attention to him. Or at least separate him from those who are not so gifted. By being associated with those less gifted he is held back while at the same time his less gifted fellows are not brought forward. And so there are those who would create an elite in the school systems and devote considerably more attention to them or at least keep them in different compartments and work with them along different lines. T h e n there is the great problem of segregation, integration and the like—that is a matter which is concerned to many people and will take the best brains of the nation's educational and political leaders to solve. But these leaders can't solve it alone. It can only be solved by the united efforts of all in the communities. Another type of problem arises from concern about certain types of population which seem to be coming more and more to the fore at least in the titles of current best sellers. A great deal is heard about organization men and about hidden persuaders and status seekers. T h e r e is a great deal of concern about conformity, a fear that we are trying to mold people into a solid mass of those who think alike and behave alike in their gray flannel suits. T h e r e is a great deal to be concerned about, and the question is what can the schools do about it? Are they now training to conformity? Or are they still maintaining that spirit which was so prevalent in the early days when Americans were perhaps more than they now seem to be, living in a free and experimental society in which the curious, the enterprising, and the creative were those who bore away
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the palms of leadership. Those turned out today seem to some to be conformists motivated by prejudices, irresponsible, verbal, superficial, adept at getting by. Many would agree that the nation's citizens are wasting money and efforts, they are creating a system so big that it takes u p all available energies just to run it. T o solve these problems of the times and of the statisticians more than ever we need academic freedom. We need better communication between schools and society, there is too much separation—too many schoolmen talk a language that the man on the street can't understand, and which some of their colleagues can't either. We need a program which carries on the cultural tradition. We need more sense of history, so that society can understand the tradition which guides it. T h i s we can understand only if we study it. We need a program which alerts, trains, and refines the intellectual process, which teaches responsibility and which defines and makes life meaningful. T h i s latter of course is the most grave challenge which education has ever met: T h e need to give the student a useful sense of values. Society needs this sense of values, this capacity to know what is desirable and what is undesirable, and what are the imperatives behind them. Above all there is needed in the schools a capacity for teaching a sense of social responsibility. Some fear statism and federal control. This should probably be the least of our worries, because we are so big that nobody could run us educationally from any central bureau. We are a federal system and always have been. W e realized more than 150 years ago that we had to divide governmental functions u p and develop a system of checks and balances. National control of education is nowhere in sight even if Washington lends a little money. We may take the money, be thankful and later pay it back. Education is and will continue to be a community problem. And that is the point which should be particularly stressed.
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Education has existed in thousands of communities since the day of the district school. T h e nation has dedicated the control of education to the locality, and the battles for it must be fought out there, the taxes for it must be raised there, its policies must be determined there. We all live in communities, we are all voters, most of us are taxpayers. We, therefore, all have an opportunity to say our say even if we think some of the local políticos don't always listen too carefully. Education is a community problem. T h e communities shape our education and it is in the communities where we live, and work, and exert our influence that the problem will be solved. If the mass is a menace, if we are confronted by conformity and fear, if we fear the spectre of indoctrination, now is the time for a new affirmation of liberty, a new declaration which will once again proclaim independence. And what is more appropriate than that we should issue one here in Philadelphia. I do not pretend to be a Thomas Jefferson, but I present a declaration of independence for the readers' most careful consideration. May it inspire constructive action. "We hold these truths to be self evident, that since all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights among which are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, they are therefore entitled to an education that will enable them to understand the value of these rights and to protect themselves in their enjoyment. T o insure this education we the citizens of the myriad communities which make up these United States hold it to be our duty to support a free, independent and experimentally minded group of educators in order that our children may never develop into a group of conforming and fearful organization men and women forever seeking status and security. Rather may our same children enjoy among the peoples of the earth, the free and enlightened station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God and our own great tradition entitle them.
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"We therefore citizens of the United States of America appealing to the supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions do, in the Name and by the authority of all our good neighbors, solemnly publish and declare that these United States have and should ever maintain independent and untrammeled educational systems, free from all subversive motivation and totalitarian restraint. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the guidance of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our courage, our intelligence and sufficient tax money."
The Delinquent in School and Court WILLIAM
C.
KVARACEUS
T h e common school and the juvenile court both represent relatively new social innovations. Universal educational opportunity through the secondary school level only recently emerged from dream to reality during the period between the last two world wars (in 1910 only 35 percent of the seventeen-year-olds were in school; in 1959 70 percent of the same age group were enrolled in school); juvenile courts were finally established in all states in 1951 with the enactment of appropriate legislation in Wyoming —52 years after the appearance of the first juvenile court act in the Illinois state statutes. As new social institutions, the common school and the juvenile court system suffer the usual growing pains; as new adaptations they have been the target of public and professional attack and criticism. (Old shoes always fit better than new ones.) And like any new institution both need constant re-evaluation, reinforcement and remodeling in order to accommodate to the fast-changing and complex social situation and in order to handle the fast-increasing number of students and clientele who have been crowding court and class-room in recent years. Compulsory education and the juvenile court operation, each, in its own way, provides a process to develop new and improved behavior or to modify and change old and undesirable ways of behaving for the betterment of self and society as found in the ideal of the responsible members of the community. Both agencies insure for every 63
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child the opportunity, with a t t e n d a n t responsibilities, for f u l l physical, mental, and moral development. But it must be openly acknowledged, if improvements are to be forthcoming, that both schools and courts f r e q u e n t l y fail to achieve their lofty goals. J u d g i n g solely f r o m the recidivism rates of youngsters who appear in court a n d the rates of school leaving: one is forced to conclude that the b a t t i n g averages are not high and that m u c h m o r e can be d o n e O O to assist the norm-violators through b e t t e r schools and t h r o u g h better courts. Ten
Imperatives
for Immediate
Local
Action
If the c o m m o n school and the j u v e n i l e court are to fulfill the promise f o u n d in the m a j o r objectives a n d purposes for which they were created, they will need to give i m m e d i a t e attention to the following ten imperatives. T h e s e suggestions do not constitute a standardized 10 p o i n t prescription or recipe to be followed by all courts a n d all schools that come in contact with d e l i n q u e n t s and predelinquents. Actually there is n o clear-cut concept of the role a n d responsibility of the p u b l i c school a n d the juvenile court in this country. T h e r e are m a n y different kinds of courts and many different kinds of school that can be f o u n d in the fifty U n i t e d States a n d in t h e thousands of local counties and communities. T h e local school a n d the local children's court may differ b o t h in n a t u r e and in quality. For example, according to the National Probation and Parole Association there are m o r e t h a n 3000 juvenile courts operating in this country. B u t these courts differ markedly f r o m the standpoint of law, the jurisdiction which they have u n d e r law, the procedures u n d e r which they function, and the competencies of the personnel who carry o u t the functions of the court. Similarly there is a great diversity a m o n g A m e r i c a n high schools as t h e recent Conant report 1 testifies. H e n c e it may be hazardous a n d misleading to infer exactly w h a t all j u v e n i l e courts
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and all high schools should do to improve the quality of their services to the norm violators. Much depends upon the nature and quality of the local institutions; much also depends upon the kinds of norm violators that sit in a particular classroom or stand before a judge in a particular juvenile court. In sifting through my experience with school and court operations to help the delinquent youngster against the background of this past year's study of the delinquency phenomenon as summarized in two NEA reports, 2 Delinquent Behavior: 1. Culture and the Individual and 2. Principles and Practices, now being issued from the press, I would offer the following ten points for consideration by all schools and courts on a contingency basis,—"if the shoe fits"—but with the strong conviction that they will represent popular "lasts" and serviceable "models" for years to come. 1. Maintaining primary and unique functions. Both school and court today suffer acutely from institutional schizophrenia. This is due to a long succession of anxietyproducing ambivalences. T h e juvenile court has been attempting since its inception to resolve the following basic issues: Should it function as a legal entity or as a social agency? How can it retain the respect of the legal profession and still rally the active support of the professionals in the behavioral sciences? In seeking to understand, protect and treat the norm-violator, how can it avoid jeopardizing the rights of individuals? How can it help and befriend the delinquent personality and at the same time protect the community? While some of these issues appear to be resolved academically, as when papers are read at conferences or when panel discussion are held at national meetings of school and court officials, they have yet to be resolved in practice. T h e common school, especially at the secondary level, likewise faces a number of institutional-splitting conflicts:
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Shall it retain and work with the reluctant and recalcitrant norm-violating learner or should he be separated from school? Should the school establish special classes and special centers for the emotionally disturbed and socially maladjusted or should these youngsters be retained in the regular schools and classes? In brief, the school, as it faces the problems of the norm-violator, must decide whether it will take on some of the features of a hospital or even of a convenient respository for many of the community's more serious behavior problems. T h e current mood is "to throw the rascals out." In taking such strong action, the school may suffer from a deep-seated feeling of guilt for having absconded from its major responsibility to the child in need of help and for having exposed him to inclement social elements in the open community. T o answer the dilemmas posed by these issues, the school must remain an institution whose primary function is teaching and learning and the juvenile court must reestablish itself as a legal and judicial—but not impersonal —agency. T h i s does not mean the school and court will not do case work nor consult with psychological and psychiatric resources. I n fact the good school and the good court will incorporate such aids as auxiliary services. Hence the more effective juvenile court judge will have access to case work via his trained probation staff just as the more effective classroom teacher will have at his disposal the services of guidance worker, school psychologist, school social worker, remedial reading specialist, school doctor and nurse. But all these services are enabling and are not central to the school's and court's primary function. T h e y enable the judge to adjudicate with d u e regard to individual welfare and to community safety; they enable the teacher to instruct the young norm-violating student with greater efficiency. T h e s e auxiliary services represent peripheral services and conditions that make it possible for school and court to achieve their m a j o r purposes particu-
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larly when confronted by the more serious and difficult adjustment and learning problems of the delinquent. There is real cause for concern when both institutions— school and court—attempt to cure their schizophrenic ailment by turning into omnibus institutions—becoming all things to all clients. There are current movements for public schools to take on custodial and training functions, as when they assume responsibility for uneducable children who can never learn to read or when they assume feeding responsibilities with the malnourished and neglected or when they move in the direction of 24-hour care for the emotionally disturbed or socially maladjusted. These services can be better established and performed under auspices other than those of the common school. They tend to deflect the school from its primary and unique function: teaching and learning. In recent years I have seen developed under the aegis of the juvenile courts the following types of services geared to the delinquent child: psychological testing, vocational counseling and guidance services, remedial instruction in reading and other basic skills, instruction in leisure time pursuits, and even formal courses for parents of delinquents on "How to bring up your children." All these functions are better established and performed by agencies outside the court system. If these trends continue, we shall soon find ourselves in a terrible Alice in Wonderland misadventure—a social bedlam that will cost these new agencies the community support they now enjoy. T h e school must remain a place for learning; the juvenile court must remain a place where social objectives of rehabilitation and help are assured the young norm-violators in accordance with legal rule and procedural form that equates the rights of the individual and the rights of the community. 2. Preservation of a positive and diagnostic point of view. T h e present-day community feeling toward the delinquent and his family is filled with fear, hate, hostility.
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and rejection. T h i s can be seen in the "get tough" policy, in the hue and cry for the scalps and slates of the young "hoods" and "vandals." In the popular trend back to punishment and expulsion of the norm-violator, the focus of school and court on causes, treatment and rehabilitation can readily be lost. Courts and schools must continue to regard the young law violator as a special individual needing help and understanding. T h e y must be careful to approach the delinquent though non-adversary proceedings in which the court exercises "the power of the State to act in behalf of the child as a wise parent would" and the school plays its role "in loco parentis." Both agencies must believe and operate on the JudaicChristian (and therapeutic) principle of the worth and prestige of every human personality and with the firm conviction that there is no such thing as human rubbish. It is significant to note that a number of prominent jurists and other officials3 are calling loudly for stronger and harsher methods for dealing with the young law violators and that there is a beginning tendency in some courts as in Arizona, Florida and Georgia to open up juvenile court proceedings and records to the press in keeping with the public mood to strike back at the offending and offensive delinquent. Equally ominous is the report made last month by the Director of the NEA Project on Working Conditions of the Teaching Profession. 4 In this survey 45 percent of the classroom teachers and 48 percent of the principals urged that unwilling and unable students be ousted from the regular classrooms and that some other provisions be made for them. If the climate of school and court changes to a negative, punitive and hostile mood, as seems likely, the quality of relationship thus engendered between agency workers and the law violators will sabotage their rehabilitation potential. Neither school nor court should accede to
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the demand for an early return to a system of punishments as the basic and essential "treatment" to be followed with all delinquents. Neither instruction nor therapy can flourish in any agency that smells of hate and hostility. Schools and especially the courts need to know what the nature of the youngster's norm violations are. But these are only surface symptoms of underlying conditions in the personal makeup, in home and family life, in neighborhood or in the youngster's effective reference group. With every youngster who breaks serious rules and regulations school and court must seek out the $64,000 answers to the diagnostic questions: "Why?" and "How?" and "What is the meaning of this behavior to the individual?" Unless some clue to these key questions are forth coming in the case of every delinquent neither school nor court will discharge its responsibilities to the youngsters or to the community. 3. Insuring good personal equipment and competencies Neither on the part of school and court functionaries. school nor court can rise above the high-water mark set by the quality of its personnel. If norm-violating youth are to be helped, they must be assured of the highest quality of professional personnel who themselves have been given a clean bill of health. It is true that the sick frequently attract the sick. Those adults who work closely with delinquents in schools and courts must show emotional maturity and an honest desire to work with young people. The teacher, judge, or probation officer who is unable to cope with his own social and emotional problems represents a bad risk for dealing with the delinquent as does the adult worker whose basic motivations for staying in the business will not stand close inspection. It is the rare individual who can, without special training and experience, look upon a youngster who has committed a serious crime such as grand larceny, assault, vandalism, or rape with professional objectivity. Even well-trained professionals in
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schools and courts can become personally involved either through over-identification with the delinquent or through retaliatory and rejecting attitudes. What is needed is the worker who knows himself—his strengths, his weaknesses and his inner motivations—and who chooses to enter and stay in the youth business because he wants to work closely with young people, even those whose behavior is hard-totake, often threatening, and seldom rewarding. Those who are elected to work closely with the persisting and serious norm-violators in school and court need to be carefully screened via psychiatric and psychological interview; while on the j o b they should have easy access to supporting therapy to enable them to maintain their mental health and balance on a j o b that is mined with emotional hazards. T h e j o b pressures from outside as well as inside the professions that deal with the delinquent and his family today, are such as to threaten the mental and emotional well being of the most stout-hearted and devoted worker. T o indicate that school and court operatives must also be professionally trained is to speak in platitudes. But the need must be constantly reiterated in the light of the frequent and flagrant violation of this principle. So long as any citizen who lacks legal training can be elected or appointed to sit as a juvenile court judge, so long as legallytrained judges lack sufficient knowledge of the sciences of human behavior to be able and willing to use professional advice of experts concerning the meaning, causes, and treatment of delinquent behavior; so long as probation officers lack adequate social work training with experience in dealing with delinquents and their families, the rights to an adequate court with competent personnel to help the individual delinquent will be violated by the very agency that has been established to insure his well-being. A parallel comment can be made, of course, for the selection of teachers and other special school personnel. 4. Equating size and efficiency in the operation of school
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and court units. Geography of residence is a strong determ i n e r of the kind and quality of school and court service that will be accessible to the child who shows the need for h e l p t h r o u g h his norm-violating behavior. In Dr. J a m e s B. C o n a n t ' s study of the A m e r i c a n secondary school it has been noted that many p u b l i c high schools are too small to offer an a d e q u a t e school p r o g r a m except at e x o r b i t a n t cost. T h e same m u s t also be said of m a n y j u v e n i l e courts. A substantial n u m b e r of courts in m a n y states d o n o t have sufficient business to m a i n t a i n an a d e q u a t e staff even o n a part-time basis—if such could be p r o c u r e d . D e p e n d i n g u p o n conditions in each state, j u v e n i l e courts—separate a n d a p a r t f r o m o t h e r c o u r t s — s h o u l d be established o n a county, district, or regional basis with d u e consideration to size of child p o p u l a t i o n in the geographic u n i t . T h e child and a d u l t p o p u l a t i o n s h o u l d be large e n o u g h to supp o r t a full-time j u d g e with the requisite auxiliary services. T h e t r e n d to organization of o n e specialized j u v e n i l e c o u r t f u n c t i o n i n g o n a state-wide basis as in U t a h a n d m o r e recently in C o n n e c t i c u t a n d R h o d e Island merits close study as a solution to the inefficient a n d economically u n s o u n d smaller c o u r t units. T h e r e is little excuse for the continuance of the m u l t i p l e a n d m i n u t e c o u r t units as in the Comm o n w e a l t h of Massachusetts where m o r e t h a n 70 j u v e n i l e courts with part-time justices m a n a g e whatever delinq u e n c y comes to their a t t e n t i o n on a marginal-duty basis. Most of these courts are j u v e n i l e courts in n a m e only. T h e y will fail to provide the full protection f o r rights of c h i l d r e n a n d parents a n d at the same time enable the c o u r t properly to discharge its functions. E l i m i n a t i o n of the small, part-time a n d n o n f u n c t i o n i n g j u v e n i l e court u n i t s by a redistricting process and the establishment of the j u v e n i l e c o u r t as a c o u r t of s u p e r i o r jurisdiction should have a high priority in this list of imperatives f o r local action. T h i s discussion should n o t imply s u p p o r t f o r sheer big-
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ness cither in court or school organization. Bigness that breeds anonymous and impersonal relationships as found so often in the very large city high schools also creates serious problems. T h e N E A report on Teacher Opinion on Pupil Behavior1 indicated that the problems of delinquency and discipline were heaviest within the largest schools with the largest enrollments. Schools can be too large just as they can be too small. 5. Focusing on the neighborhood and the culture as well as on the individual. In the N E A interdisciplinary study, Delinquent Behavior: Culture and the Individual, the thesis is developed that a majority of all norm-violators (perhaps as many as 75 percent) represent culturally determined delinquents and that only a minority (perhaps as few as 25 percent) represent d e l i n q u e n t behavior involving serious pathology stemming mainly from forces under the skin. If the facts show this to be true as I believe they will, the exclusive treatment route followed by most schools and courts in helping the delinquent on a one-to-one counseling or therapy basis will fail to change most youngsters since this approach seldom takes note of the underlying and determining forces in the culture and subculture which generate norm-violating behavior as a way of life. In addition to the psychological and psychiatric help that is extended via counseling and therapy, schools and courts must include among their treatment procedures a greater emphasis on methods for changing and improving the way of life in the youngster's milieu and neighborhood that generates much of the delinquency problem especially in the larger urban centers. T h e midling success rate of court and c o m m u n i t y clinics in affecting permanent change or improvement in the behavioral patterns of the delinq u e n t and the perennial complaint that, even when improvements are seen, the rehabilitated youngster is not long in responding to street-corner pressures and style of living as found in lower-class culture 6 should spur school
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and court to try new approaches to help the large number of delinquents who with their parents appear to be immune and even allergic to the clinical methods. Can the school and court change the way of life as found in street-corner subculture? Can these two agencies through their own resources and with the collaboration of other community agencies and organizations establish new concerns and a more law-abiding way of life? T h e school, when it succeeds through the regular school program in establishing new and improved patterns of behavior of large masses of children, can help change the way of life or the culture. T h e court, though not a treatment agency per se, needs to give some thought to the expansion of its probation service by including two types of workers, one functioning on a case-service basis and the other on a group or neighborhood level. It should be the concern of the community and court to see that the norm-violators whose behavioral difficulties stem mainly from forces within the psyche are taken on for treatment; at the same time the court should see to it that the delinquency generating neighborhood and community are also taken on for a cure. In addition to placing the delinquent on probation, the court can and should place the neighborhood on probation. Notable efforts7 in this direction have been reported in the operation of the Illinois Youth Commission's program of neighborhood organization through its Division of Community Services and in the work of local city youth Boards and Commissions in New York City and in Washington, D. C. If any great inroads are made in containing the rapidly expanding number of norm violations, it will be through greater emphasis on school and court efforts to change the way of life particularly of the lower-class community in the direction of a law-abiding citizenry. 6. Reestablishing and reaffirming of individual responsibility in school and court. There is a strong convic-
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tion in some q u a r t e r s that the juvenile court and, to some extent, the school in their unreserved c o m m i t m e n t to a philosophy a n d practice involving u n d e r s t a n d i n g , sympathy, and t r e a t m e n t have inadvertently erred on the side of protecting or shielding the youngster f r o m the consequences of his norm-violating behavior. In e x p l a i n i n g away the child's maladaptive behavior in home, school and comm u n i t y the i n f e r e n c e of personal liability on the part of the n o r m violator may have been appreciably weakened in recent years. If so, school a n d court must b e n d every effort to remedy and reinforce the a t t i t u d e and knowledge of personal responsibility for one's actions a n d behavior. O n e i m m e d i a t e step in this direction can be taken by e l i m i n a t i n g the d e b a t a b l e practice of h a n d l i n g m a n y cases referred to the court on an "unofficial" basis. W h e n an a p p r e h e n d e d n o r m violator has been r e f e r r e d to the juvenile court today, he may be dealt with "officially" o r "unofficially." T h e s e methods 8 are sometimes r e f e r r e d to as judicial or non-judicial cases. Official or judicial cases include those that are placed on the official court c a l e n d a r f o r a d j u d i c a t i o n by court officials t h r o u g h the filing of certain legal papers initiating court action. Unofficial or non-judicial cases include those youngsters whose n a m e s and deeds are not placed on the official court calendar, b u t which are " a d j u s t e d " by the judge, p r o b a t i o n officer or o t h e r court official. I n 1957 (the last year for which data are c u r r e n t l y available) 603,000 cases were seen in the courts a c c o r d i n g to facts gathered f r o m a n a t i o n a l sampling 9 of j u v e n i l e courts. Of this total, 289,000 or 48 percent were h e a r d officially; the r e m a i n d e r , 314,000 or 52 percent were disposed of in an unofficial or non-judicial m a n n e r . I n o t h e r words, slightly m o r e t h a n half of the cases which c o m e i n t o the juvenile courts of the n a t i o n are c u r r e n t l y being h e a r d by the judicial agency in a non-judicial m a n n e r . R e c o m m e n d e d j u v e n i l e c o u r t philosophy a n d practice
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have moved away from legal routine and formalized concept of adult-like responsibility and criminal court processes in the direction of informal humanized justice involving understanding, sympathy, and individual help. But with the unofficially handled cases there is now introduced a variant type of informal informal-hearing. The high incidence of the informal informal-hearing in which the situation is "adjusted"—at least for the time being—weakens the juvenile court and at the same time confuses the norm-violator's image of the court authority representing "the law" and tends to minimize the seriousness of infraction, no matter how minor it may be. It also means that the incipient delinquent must prove his right and his need for help from the court by repeating or engaging in serious offenses. The norm-violator must step up his violating behavior in order to get into the juvenile court. In fact there are very few official first offenders. Most officially heard cases have a string of prior offenses which were heard unofficially. The strong trend to hear more than half the cases in a non-judicial manner represents a basic weakness in current juvenile court practice; at the same time the watered-down legal treatment tones down the sense of responsibility for law-violating behavior on the part of the youngster himself. If the trend continues the juvenile court could eliminate itself. Two other points bear mention concerning the widespread practice of hearing court cases unofficially. The proportion of unofficially handled cases is much higher in the larger urban centers than in courts found in smaller communities. A number of implications may be drawn. This may reflect a crowded court calendar in which the judge is overrun by the heavy stream of referrals and hence is forced to allow other staff members to dispose of minor violations; on the other hand it may be indicative of the fact that big city court workers being better trained are entrusted with more responsibilities in an effort to maxi-
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mize the use of their superior skills and experience; or it may reflect the simple fact that many more cases of lesser significance to the individual are referred to courts in the more heavily populated areas where the community tolerance level is low and anonymity rate remains high in contrast to the situation in the rural where the reverse is more likely to be true. T h e second observation pertains to the courts own lack of faith in its official processes. T o give preference to nonjudicial disposition or adjustment as against official recording admits to an implicit lack of confidence or even disapproval of the very agency of which the court workers are a part and which they are sworn to administer. If the institution of the juvenile court fails in this test period, it will not be the result of any attacks from without; rather it will be because of weakness from within. If as Roscoe Pound has reportedly stated, the creation of the juvenile court represents the most significant landmark in the advance of criminal procedure since the Magna Charta, there is much to be preserved and much to be lost in the modern agency of the children's courts. 7. Privacy
or publicity
in juvenile
court hearing.
There
is a loud hue and cry outside the juvenile court to publish and publicly to brand the juvenile delinquent. J. Edgar Hoover has lead the hunt to flush out of the privacy of the juvenile court hearings the identities of the legal normviolators. Writing in the Law Enforcement Bulletin he has made the rousing appeal: "Publication of names as well as crimes for public scrutiny, releases of past records to appropriate law enforcement officials, and fingerprinting for future identification are all necessary procedures in the war on flagrant violators, regardless of age. Local police and citizens have a right to know the identities of the potential threats to public order within their communities." 10 This strong appeal of the "right to know" and the complaint of "secrecy" within the juvenile court operation
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has already cracked the juvenile court philosophy and practice of privacy and protection in several states as well as in a number of large urban centers. While it is true that a small minority of middle-class delinquents may be deterred by the threat of public exposure via the press and other media, the large majority of norm-violators may actually be encouraged to compete for press notices by increasing the tempo and seriousness of their rule-breaking. T h e r e is some concrete evidence available that infers that many delinquents regard "getting your name in the paper" as prestige and status building within their primary reference group, the street corner gang, especially when their exploits are "jazzed u p " via the T a b l o i d story. T o yield to current demands to break through the secrecy curtain of the juvenile court by publishing names of youthful law violators will not serve the functions of the court although it may prove highly functional to the adult community looking for an "appropriate" hate object or scapegoat. However this point of view does not infer that the public should be kept in the dark concerning the amount, kind, and place of youthful crime in the community. O n the contrary, and as I shall expand later, the court should work closely with all mass media to inform the citizens of the nature and extent of the local delinquency problem through periodic and annual reports. However to utilize mass media in the early Colonial tradition of the Scarlet Letter would result in irreparable damage to many individuals, to the court, and to the community itself. 8. Strengthening school and court partnership. School and court operating in isolation or apart from other community agencies can have little effect on the prevention and control of norm-violating behavior. T h e y cannot go it alone or even together. Delinquency does not emanate from forces operating in schools or courts. (This is not to deny some school involvement in precipitating or even causing the delinquencies of a small segment of youth.)
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However working in close partnership with other community agencies and organizations—home, church, recreation, child guidance clinic, child and family welfare agencies—school and court can have a powerful and pervasive impact on youth in difficulty. In recent years the magic word in delinquency has been "team-work." A better term is to be found in the concept of partnership. T e a m work too often involves the spirit and the practice of extreme rivalry and competition. T h i s frequently spills over when organizations seek out and compete for clientele, for funds, for volunteer workers and for prestige. Partnership on the other hand involves mutual goals and reciprocal or supplementary effort to achieve the common aims. Included in this concept of partnership should be the delinquent himself and his family. T h e community must avoid "teaming up o n " delinquents and their parents; they should be included in the preventive and rehabilitative process as worthy partners. T h e r e is an implicit dependency in the operation of every organization and agency in view of its limited and unitary function. Schools and courts are no exception to this principle. Partnership means mutual sharing of information; it means coordination of effort in child study and treatment. T h i s will not happen by chance. It requires planning, organization and communication on a community-wide basis. School and court must play a central role in this process. 9. Insuring strong community participation in school and court endeavor. Schools and courts belong to the people. Like every other agency they are dependent on the lay citizen for support, development and effective functioning. In recent years many schools have invited parents and lay citizens to cooperate in defining the aims and objectives of the school agency and to help evaluate its operation. Similarly some courts have endeavored to improve their operation by establishing advisory committees. A notable attempt to develop strong community participa-
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tion in court work involving all the major community interests and points of view can be seen in the activities of the Marion County Juvenile Court in Indianapolis.11 Today an advisory committee of approximately 50 members representing organized labor, the press, business clubs, minority and religious groups, women's organizations, the American Legion, service and professional groups, and public officials, assists the juvenile court in many ways: by interpreting the court's program to the public; by assisting in the formulation of policy; by procuring competent personnel; by improving standards of service; by developing special programs such as arts and crafts at the juvenile detention center; by procuring adequate office space and supplies; by improving the court's relationships with other agencies; and by establishing an adequate salary schedule for court employees. It is significant to note in the Report on the National Conference on Juvenile Delinquency that the group of experts concerned with Juvenile Courts and Probation Services listed the citizen's advisory committee as a number one need to insure the successful attainment of court goals.12 Even more commonplace, the citizen advisory committees for better schools which have sprung up in many large and small communities are performing functions which strengthen the effects of the school program with the norm-conforming students as well as with the normviolating members of the classroom. 10. Interpreting school and court role and responsibility to the community. It is not enough to set up an advisory committee to assist the juvenile court and the school to study and improve their over-all operation. School and court personnel must plan and conduct a continuous campaign to inform and interpret their procedures as well to present the facts giving the local delinquency story. This will demand a systematic maintenance of school and court records on those community factors which relate closely to
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n o r m violations. W i d e r dissemination of the carefully prepared a n n u a l report, periodic and a n n u a l meetings w i t h professional and lay groups on problems and needs of children and y o u n g people, sharing evidences of the school and court efforts to achieve higher standards of performance, and the d e v e l o p m e n t of cooperative evaluation techn i q u e s to appraise school and court operations need to be encouraged in an effort to advance c o m m u n i t y understanding of the goals, needs and operation of these two key agencies. Schools and court must also learn to use all mass m e d i a . In d o i n g so they w i l l need to reaffirm their faith and trust in their o w n data and in those whose j o b it is to c o m m u n i cate via press, radio, T V . T h e press should be invited to attend school and court sessions, b u t , as stated earlier, should refrain f r o m disclosing the identities of the youngsters w h o are involved in norm-violating behavior. A l t h o u g h it may appear that the press may serve as an additional pressure and threat to those w h o c o n d u c t school o r hear court cases, it should be r e m e m b e r e d that an i n f o r m e d press can only m e a n a better i n f o r m e d p u b l i c . Since the general p u b l i c is concerned and since it cannot participate in j u v e n i l e court sessions, it can be served best by the usual mass media. Schools and courts can be r e i n f o r c e d and strengthened only w h e n the p u b l i c has the facts. T h e j u v e n i l e court and the schools w i l l only be as good as the p u b l i c demands or as bad as the p u b l i c allows. Summary
Statement
T h i s discussion has been agency oriented. It has f o c u s e d on ten imperatives that involve i m p r o v i n g the basic services of school and court to the norm-violating youngster. C a r e has b e e n taken to avoid the inference that school a n d court, i n d e p e n d e n t l y or together, can make any a p p r e c i a b l e gains in the solution of the c o m m u n i t y ' s d e l i n q u e n c y problem. D e l i n q u e n c y must b e c o m e everybody's business; pro-
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grams aimed at prevention and control will demand that everyone—not just the judge, teacher and probation officer—must get into the act. In a coordinated and manysided attack on what is a complex and many-sided problem, the juvenile court through the creative processes of law and the schools through the dynamics of the educational method can do much to release community energies to enable the norm violator to help himself. Only the delinquent can solve the delinquency problem. But he will need the help and support of good schools and good courts working in partnership with all other organizations and agencies.
NOTES ' J a m e s B. Conant. The American High School Today, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1959. 140 pp. * William C. Kvaraceus and Walter B. Miller et al. Delinquent Behavior: Culture and the individual, Washington, D. C., National Education Association, 1959. 147 pp. William C. Kvaraceus and William E. Ulrich et al. Delinquent Behavior: Principles and Practices, Washington, D. C., National Education Association, in press. ' T h e public utterances of Judge Samuel S. Liebowitz and J. Edgar Hoover are representative of this point of view. Hoover writing in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 1 (February, 1957), 26. stated: "Are we to stand idly by while fierce young hoodlums—too often and too long harbored under the glossy misnomer of juvenile delinquents—roam our streets and desecrate our communities? If we do, America might well witness a resurgence of the brutal criminality and mobsterism of a past era. "Gang-style ferocity—once the evil domain of hardened adult criminals— now centers chiefly in cliques of teen-age brigands. T h e i r individual and gang exploits rival the savagery of the veteran desperadoes of bygone days. Recent happenings in juvenile crime shatter the illusion that soft-hearted molly-coddling is the answer to this problem." See also the Liebowitz testimony before the U. S. Senate Subcommittee to investigate Juvenile Delinquency of the Senate Committee of the Judiciary, New York Hearings of February 12, 1959. 4 Reported by Kenneth R. Brown at the Annual Meeting of the N.E.A. St. Louis, Mo., July 1, 1959. • National Education Association, Research Division. "Teacher Opinion on Pupil Behavior, 1955-56," Research Bulletin 34 (April, 1956), 51-107. O p . cit., p. 50-56.
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* T h e term "lower class" as used here refers to a system of behavior and concerns, in o t h e r woi\:v to cultural svstrnis a n d not c-conomic groupings as conventionally defined. See Waiter B. Miller. "Lower Class C u l t u r e as a Genera tins; Milieu t.i G a n g I K " w e i i c v " fount» I o< So,- in I hsws 14 (April, 1959) and the NEA report, Delinquent Behavior: Culture and the Irtclh'UlK'tl, CI: i is b'-' * Edward P. H.jpper. " P u t t i n g Neighborhoods on Probation," Federal Probi (v -pII35), ) .%. \:c!;r •*, C ! : j p -,rs 7-9. •;-uile c.-.n : v.* i.'s. /