Evening star., 1948-10-26
The DANGERS of Indoctrination

10 the Edltor OF The star:
I have been very much interested in the plan
Of the National Education Association to intro
duce into all the schools of the Nation 10
point program to teach our children to be "ef-
fective members Of one world" The teachers
OF our schools were in a three-day session in
Baltimore last week to get the details of this
plan. would like to know just what philoso-
ply Is involved In such teaching. Is it merely
to impress upon our children that modern In
ventions have so reduced distances that men Of
all lands live relatively closer to one another
now than they did and that the welfare of
any one nation affects the welfare of all? Is it
aimed at an eventual world federation or world
government? Does 1t mean to impress upon
our children that responsibility to the world
supersedes their responsibility to our own peo-
pie? Do its proponents believe that we should
share all that we have with the rest of the
world, even our secret defense weapons and the
products of our scientific research? And If 80,
will they try to make our children believe that,
too? Furthermore, by what right does the
National Education Association or any other
organization dictate that our children shall be
taught to be effective members of one world?
To my mind, this situation points up very
graphically the underlying weakness in our
the primary function of the school Is to teach
the child way of life that relegates the acqui-
sition of facts and skills to contributory posi-
ton only and that then undertakes on its own
initiative to indoctrnate all the children with
a certain philosophy of life, be it good or bad.
Facts and Skil1s Not Secondary.
I agree that children should emerge from
their school years as weH-integrated individ-
uals, practicing those habits or virtues that
decent people everywhere recognize as neces-
sary to live in harmony with oneself and ones
fellow man. But believe that the pupil in
properly conducted classroom will see for
himself that certain traits or attitudes are
necessary for him to acquire and practice
If he Is to get along with his classmates and
his teacher. He can come to this realization,
with teacher assistance, Of course, while he is
performing his normal function at school,
learning what his parents sent him there
to learn. I do not think that he need
be led into activity that is intended to teach
him cooperation, for instance and then,
In the process OF cooperating, learn whatever
facts he feels the need of to carry on that ac-
tivity In other words, do not agree that it Is
the principal function of the school to concen-
trate on teaching habits or attitudes of mind
and use the learning of facts and skills in q
contributory capacity to such teaching
Any attempt to set up predetermined reac-
tions or ways Of thinking for the pupil and
then build curriculum SO as to work toward
these goals is q perversion Of teaching; it is
indoctrination. If the goal of world citizenship
has merit (and am not arguing that it may
not), then it will stand out as the only possible
solution to the pupil after he has learned OBJ
jectivey the facts of world history and govern
0aYof tn nha ne
to teach the child to be an effective member Of
one world and then select the material we put
before him to lead him to that end Is putting
the cart before the horse. To all who fear that
more objective approach to teaching would
eliminate the fostering of q strong spirit of
Americanism and patriotism In our schools I
would say, II have enough confidence in the
ideals for which our country stands, in the
spirit Of its leaders from the beginning, and in
the rtghtness Of our form Of government to feel
sure that If a child Is taught history and gov
ernment thoroughly and honestly, 80 that he
catches its inherent spirit of freedom and not
Just its economic aspects, he will Of his own
accord prefer it to all other ideologies"
No Malicious Intent Detected.
There Is very real danger that an educa-
tional system such as ours, which considers
learning group living and "a way of life"
more important than learning facts and skills,
Is wide open to be abused should unscrupulous
persons desire to do so. 1t is possible for any
philosophy of life or government to be instilled
in our children, subtly to be sure. but thor
oughly, so that by the time they are grown
their basis for evaluating conditions could lead
them to make decisions entirely foreign to our
American way of life. This Is not even to sug-
gest that any such malicious intent exists any
where In our school setup but merely to say,
1T could happen here, couldn't it?"
MIRIAM r. SHERWIN.