The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-12-07

4NOn hiiOW tnCiC diC ooifiC W i'
will quarrel with all this, who viii
insist that the role of education is t.
present the truth, and moral and SO
cial judgments are taboo. They will
challenge with especial bitterness m,
contention that these judgments mus
be taught with some emotional convic
ton yet Bertrand Russell says: "Nt
man can be a good teacher unless he
has feelings of warm affection toward
his pupils and genuine desire tt
impart to them what he himself BE
LIEVES to be of value. This is MOI
the attitude of the propaganda. Tc
the propaganda his pupils are poten
tial soldiers in an army. They are to
serve purposes that lie outside theiI
own lives, not in the sense in which
every generous purpose transcends
self, but in the sense of ministering
to unjust privilege or to despotic
power"
| This point has come UP previously
in my experience. One morning dur
ing a university convocation in which
DR.. Melby, Dr. Renne and l had joint
ly urged more ardent and enthusi
astic-we did not mean hysterical-
teaching of democracy, questioner
| in the audience promptly challenged
us: by what right did we establish
our concept of democracy as the true
one, that we should be permitted to
preach it earnestly to students? The
questioner said he had son, and
wouldn't want that son taught democ-
racy by us, because he-our question
er-might not agree with our defini-
ton. Now | have studied over that
question, but l have decided that it
is sophistry. 1t is conceivable that
the sons concept of democracy might
agree neither with ours nor with his
fathers; but he must be given SOME
more apt to work on it and think
about it if the teaching is dynamic.
To the ivory-tower scholar who
would wash his hands and say, What
is democracy? What is truth?' we
can only answer, eve do not know,
perhaps; but in the words of Miekle-
john, the purpose Of all teaching is
to express the cultural authority of
the group by which the teaching is
given. The society wills that
the pupil shall be, in terms of it's in
tentions, a good member-rather than
a bad one-of the social order.
Education is the agent of a social,
cultural intention. 1t has authority.
Without such authority, teaching does
not exist at ALL
1t is one thing to say that there is
no absolute truth, that there is no
absolute democracy; it is another to
say that no THEORY of truth or de-
can be held, and taught And
if the school is the agency of our dem
ocratic culture, its primary aim must
be the development of good citizens
in a democratic community their com
petence in certain vocational field |
is secondary Good mechanics, good
insurance statesmen will not preserve
the democratic faith; good CITIZENS |
will. We must have more good citi- |
zens than good anything and |
and community must be
their first concern.
That is the essential import of all |
the current debate over general as
opposed to special education And
to conclude this discussion of it, l
want to quote one of the most sig
lificant sentences of the Harvard re-
port. 1t is a warning:
General education will fail in the
schools unless it extends to the COM
nunity."
Montana is tagging behind in this
general education movement, both in
and in extension to the
A start has been made in reform of
and secondary school cur
icula to relate the teaching more
closely to the Montana community and
he social requirements of citizenship;
tut general adoption of the new study
Inits may be long delayed-probab
y because of excessive pupil loads
nd inadequate materials which now
landicap and discourage our teachers.
A start could have been made this
ear on an experimental program in ;
eneral education at the state univer
ity, as recommended by special cur
iculum committee after months of
tudy, of the nationwide movement;
ut the faculty of this Missoula insti-
ltion killed it. In my opinion that
Tas short-sighted decision and
ope it will be reconsidered. Presi-
ent Mccain has recently pointed out
/ speech that the general educa-
on movement is an outgrowth of the
act that approximately half of the
Iudents enrolling in American col
ges never reach the junior year, and
is now recognized that there is ;
eeded, in high school and the first Z
yo years of college, a more adequate
for leading effective adult
yes. A survey cited by Mr.. Mccain
dictated that this mortality rate was
ven higher in institutions in the :
ocky Mountain area, averaging II
er cent Not only, he emphasized.
pes this represent an appalling waste
our educational resources; it also z
rs an attendant harmful effect upon
lie personality and character of the 8
,uth who fail.
Mr.. Mccain pointed out that Mon 8
ma already is sending more than 25 3
n cent of its college enrollees out s
de the state, whereas the national 2
'erage is 10 per cent; we rank six