New Britain herald., 1918-02-20

 it's stamp of approval upon certain acts and disapproves other: the former continue to function in our be- havior while the latter drop out and are lost. Thus does experience con- trol our attitudes and control our motives and acts. Furthermore ex- periences result in habits and give rise to Judgment and standards of values and these are transmitted from race to individual Experience is continuous, one leads to another. They are the connecting links between the
 old and new. Many of the ex- perlenccs which go to make up the soclal process are purely accidental Without conscious purpose. Inasmuch as they do not possess any permanent value, are not typical and cannot serve to guide others, they are value less. Who will separate the valuable and typical experiences from the trl-' vial and irrelevent? Who will heip each generation? Can society, busy With the interests of the moment stop to consider the best ways and means to attain and conserve it's own pro- gress? The agency that performs this task is education. Education develops, produces. prevents and selects those changes which shall maintain pro-
 
 grCSSiVe social order.
 "AS we have already learned at our previous meetings, two factors arc involved in education, those unOr- ganized factors such as home, neigh borhood, church, vocation, etc, and the orga niZed or specialized institution the school through which agency all that society has accomplished is put at the disposal of future generations. Society, expressing itself through the former, thus determines what the educational aim shall be. It is for education to discover the social aim and then to realize this aim in the experiences of it's pupils.
 Education must fit the individual to become participant in the ever changing social process of which he is a part; education must make his aim to be participation in the social process which is constantly in the course of reconstruction. It is to the interest of society, therefore, to have all pupils raised to the greatest pos- SibIo efficiency.
 Most probably education acquired by an individual cannot be transmit ted through physical inheritance to his descendants. The skill gained in weaving a rug or paintil ; a picture cannot be inherited: it ends with the person who has gained it. He can, however, teach the technique of weaving or painting to others, he may himself be such a wonderful weaver or painter that others, in- spired by his weaving or painting, may try to emulate him. Thus may one person have profound effect n0t only upon other individuals in his environment, but through them cause the widest notifications in future generations From the standpoint oe eCiuc1 ton, then, it is very desirable that such changes be brought about since they can be transmitted from individual to individual through so- cial contact
 Were society entirely static, the problem of education would be en- tirely solved, for then the individual could be trained to fit into the so- cial scheme and left there perfectly adjusted to his environment. But the world moves ever on. Societys aim changes. Education must recog- nize the movements of society. It must be open-minded. By means C. surveys and other tests 1t must seek to ascertain the results of existing forms of education and experiment with new methods. Education must constantly restate it's aim which must be in terms of present social needs. It must give real every-d day expert ences: it must. give something definite to do here and now. gro do this" Dewey says, means to make each one of our schools an embryonic community life, active with types of occupations that reflect the life of the larger society, and permeated tn rou ghout with the spirit of art, history and science. When the school introduces and trains each child of society into membership with providing him with theinstruments of effective self-directionv we shall have the deepest and best guarantee of aA larger society which is worthy, lovely and harmonious'