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Published each month of the school year, October through June. To order SCHOOL LIFE send your check, money order, or a dollar bill (no stamps) with your subscription request to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. SCHOOL LIFE service comes to you at a school-year subscription price of $1.00. Yearly fee to countries in which the frank of the U. S. Government is not recognized is $1.50. A discount of 25 percent is allowed on orders for 100 copies or more sent to one address within the United States. Printing of SCHOOL LIFE has been approved by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.

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p. 78

Schools

That Serve the

People

AN

by Rae Lee Morris, Principal, Andrew Jackson Elementary School, Pasadena, California

N ATTACHMENT to the local community has long been a distinguished characteristic of many civilizations. Jack Benny with his many remarks about his native Waukegan strikes an answering chord in the hearts of all transplanted Californians. We all recognize it. Perhaps there has never been such unity in communities centering about elementary schools as during the periods of War Book rationings. If a school which put out over 15,000 War Book Fours could have kept that small army of citizens coming to and through its doors in peace time, becoming thereby a great community center, who can say what great awakening of interest in matters educational might not have resulted? And what a good feeling we who issued the rationing books had in knowing that we were really "serving the people"!

The 1947 Yearbook of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development says, “A modern community is more than the sum total of the families that live in it. It is the sum total of all the influences of the community-the family, the church, the school, the picture show, the industrial plant, the saloon, the smoke, the noise. The school is an agency supported

by society for the improvement of the life of its members. The individual cannot escape the impact of the community in which he lives."

Sometimes this impact carries a tragic face! Mary begged the school clerk not to put on her records that she was living in a substandard housing project! Why does a community permit a grocery store to become the popular hang-out for a group of teen-agers? And why are we who work in the field of education so fearful of feeling "righteous indignation" at some of the things that are dead wrong in the very communities in which we work? Can it be that we do remember that "faith without works" has no value and that upon our admission of something wrong, we'd need to "stir our boots" and do something constructive about it?

This article by Rae Lee Morris was writ-
ten to show ways of implementing what
the National Conference of Professors
of Educational Administration has
set forth as characteristics of the com-
munity school. (See "Sixteen Charac-
teristics of the Community School” in
SCHOOL LIFE, November 1948.) The
writer was a graduate student at Clare-
mont Graduate School, Claremont,
Calif., and wrote the "implementa-
tion" article as a term paper. Her
class was under the direction of Hollis
P. Allen, director of the Graduate
School of Education at Claremont Col-
lege, who prepared the Hoover Com-
mission Task Force Report on Educa-
tion in the Federal Government. (See
also article, "Emerging Programs for
Improving Educational Leadership in
American Education," by Dr. John
Lund, Specialist in the Education of
School Administrators, in SCHOOL
LIFE, November 1949.)

What fun we had a long time ago in Ohio testing the seed corn for germination! There was seed corn to the right, to the left, before, and behind-but we were actually contributing to the welfare of the community farmers and we felt a warmth inside that came from knowing we belonged to the adult community and were making a worth-while contribution to the neighborhood directly through the school.

Soon our school is to be visited by those who think they will follow the career of teaching; young people take the places of or work beside civic leaders 1 day a year; women's clubs invite young women to their meetings yet I submit in all kindness but with considerable warmth that these are all too faint stirrings of the desire to have youth share in community enterprises!

Because the elementary school is right where the people are, there is no institution so admirably fitted to lead in the establishment of a better community. And we have taken a few faltering steps in this direction! We are beginning to give parents a wee chance to participate in the school program. Having learned that children are more susceptible to respiratory infections during their sixes-and-sevens, mothers have been invited to come into the classrooms to spend the lunch hour with children who brought a lunch from home, thus avoiding the chance of chilling while eating out-ofdoors. We do have school trips which cut across the daily schedule. Only last month it was my pleasure to go with a second-grade class which had been studying about City Helpers on a tour through the Pasadena City Post Office, and with three fourthgrade classes learning about California to the San Gabriel Mission. We do urge parents of small children to celebrate birthdays at school the last half-hour of the school day. But the tradition of the three R's remains profound and one cannot help but know that in more than one home there is a strong feeling that "what was good enough for me" should be the order of the present day.

An outstanding example of community work has been going on in one of the elementary schools in our city for the past 2 or 3 Situated in the eastern end years. of the city, it has had a phenomenal growth and now numbers over 1,000 in enrollment. There was great need for a community center in this district of many trailer houses, and through the leadership of the school, the Parent-Teacher Association, the local press, the principal's affiliations with service clubs, there has been erected an $85,000 Character Education Center at a total cost of only $20,000 because of the great amount of labor contributed by parents and members of the community.

A survey has been proposed to find out what has happened to the children who have gone through the city schools. It is intended to be a two-way survey-to find out what these one-time students are working

"I LOVE YOUNGSTERS, teachers, all my fellow workers, and parents, and I wouldn't change my job for any other," writes the author of this article, Rae Lee Morris. A native Ohioan, she had teaching and administrative experience in Ohio, Nebraska, and Massachusetts before she established residence in California 23 years ago. She "attended schools hither and yon"— Kent State Normal (Ohio), Maryville College (Tennessee), Wooster College (Ohio), and holds a B. S. in Education, magna cum laude, from the University of Southern California, 1932, and M. A. in Speech, 1934, from the same university.

at for a living and to find out from them how they think their educational opportunities could have been improved. What a wonderful opportunity this will give teachers a legitimate reason for visiting in the homes of the community! But suppose one finds harsh or bitter or even unjust criticism. Will the visitors be able to maintain equanimity in the face of this? Unless they can, the survey would be a hindrance to public relations regardless of the values in the garnered facts. How wonderful it would be if all could respond to unkindness as did the gracious lady from Maine who always replied to any hint of unpleasantness about a person, "Well, of course, that's not just the way I see them!" May we who

visit as teachers be sure to "see" individuals in the right way!

First, the school plant, itself, needs to be planned for a dual purpose if it is to serve the community. It must be adequate for the work and play life of the children with whom it will be associated for most of the hours of the day, and it must provide for easy and accessible use by the members of the community. Unless it is so planned, the head of the individual school becomes somewhat of a tyrant in striving to see that the educational program

At the AASA

AT THE Atlantic City convention of the American Association of School Administrators February 25-March 2, visit the Office of Education exhibit, Space E-39 and E-41, Atlantic City Auditorium. The latest Office of Education publications will be on display and the major theme of the exhibit will be "Atomic Energy Education."

of the school is not disrupted. In schools where the kindergarten room is the only place large enough for group meetings, there is grave danger that the kindergarten activities will be curtailed (it's nothing short of tragic when the best boat Tom ever made of blocks has to be torn down before he's had a chance to give his pals a ride in it because there's to be a meeting) unless careful weighing of values is constantly going on.

Each and every elementary school needs a small auditorium equipped with curtains and stage, a cafeteria, a clinic, and a gencral-purpose room where committees might meet, character groups assemble, and music classes gather. At night, how admirable such a room would be for arts and crafts classes, for forum discussions, or for planning groups of the community. With these facilities the school could function as a recreational and civic center for such activities as would be enjoyable and profitable for all the people. Are the school grounds of your elementary building open to the families on Saturday or Sunday? Do you have places attractive enough where families might come for picnic suppers and use playground apparatus? Does it have quiet spots reserved for mothers with their babes and small fry, with specialized areas for young children up to 8 or 9 years of age, and still other areas for those in early teens? Surely we need protection for school boards in the use of school facilities, but what a glorious moment it would be if with a pair of gigantic shears labeled on one handle Freedom and on the other Common Sense we might make a mighty slash across the sticky bands of Red Tape which has placed so many restrictions on the easy use of public school property.

Some forward-looking communities are having a new adventure with outdoor camping on school grounds. Agricultural projects in crops and animal husbandry are in operation throughout the year in many schools. One city school at the present time is raising kids on the school grounds so that they may be sent when grown with a shipload of goats to Japan through the Heifers for Relief Program.

When the school leadership has worked so closely with the people of the school community that they feel it is they, themselves, who have discovered the local needs, then will come the action to change those things which need attention. Following action, a very important part of learning must be carried forward by educational leadership-the (Continued on page 77)

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T

HE OBSERVANCE of an International Theater Month in March 1950 was decided upon at the Theater Group Meeting of the Second National Conference on UNESCO held in Cleveland last spring. The plan envisages theater groups throughout the country producing during March 1950 a play, pageant, skit, dance, or music program on the general theme of world peace through international understanding or portraying the life and customs of another nation.

In its long history, the theater has time and again been a motivating force in shaping the minds of men and arousing them to action. This is one of its fundamental prerogatives. This project will focus through the concerted effort of theaters all over America the attention of the American people on the fact that man can live with man, and nation with nation. This is a big work of social education, but what better and more provocative medium than the theater?

To achieve the greatest effect from such a project the impetus must come from within each producing unit, and the details worked out individually depending on the particular locality and audience of the theater group. There are, however, some inherent generalities which can be adapted to the individual

case.

Primarily, International Theater Month offers an opportunity for the school theater to reinforce its position as a means of social

by Donald Marye, Portland Civic Theater

education. It provides an occasion to prove again that Theater is a reflection of the art of living, a great "school of life."

The situation is an ideal one for enlisting the activities of the entire school, using the talents and faculties of the various departments in itself a small demonstration of what can be accomplished on a universal scale by a world imbued with the ideals of harmonious cooperation. Arguments usually advanced against such school undertakings general apathy, ranging from passive disinterest to active disapproval; departmental jealousies; lack of time; overwork; inadequate conditions are very similar to arguments used against world cooperation. Similarly, parallel arguments can be used in refutation: Granted the premise that a spirit of international trust and cooperation go far

SCHOOL LIFE presents this article in cooperation with the UNESCO Relations staff, Department of State, in an endeavor to stimulate international understanding through the school, colMr. lege, and community theater. Donald Marye, the author, received a B. A. in drama from Carnegie Institute of Technology. He has been directing community theaters since 1927. In Portland, Oreg., Mr. Marye heads the Civic Theater School and gives courses on theater for the Portland Extension Center of the Oregon State System of Higher Education. He organized the Junior Civic Theater and is now interested in establishing a theater for children. At present he is in New York City on leave of absence from the Portland Civic Theater.

towards healing the ills of the world; granted that knowledge dissipates fear; granted that no man or nation lives aloneso any project that serves as a practical demonstration of these patent truths in content and in execution merits and indeed commands whole-hearted, unprejudiced, and enthusiastic support. Ideal, yes; visionary, no. The art departments, science and history, physical education and domestic science, literature and language departments, all can be integrated either actively or as background for a thoroughly unified presentation in observance of International Theater Month.

The choice of vehicle is of paramount importance. A play, pageant, or assembly which will bring to the audience and, in the case of the schools particularly, the actor, a wider background of the social, economic, philosophic, and psychological attributes of a foreign land; a play which concerns itself with the true meaning of the brotherhood of man and freedom from the fears which haunt the world; a play which treats of the universal rights of men to dignity, respect, and happiness through mutual cooperation-these will be appropriate for observ ing International Theater Month. Because of royalty limitations such obviously suitable plays as Abe Lincoln in Illinois, In Time To Come, Thunder Rock, Skin of Our Teeth, or E-mc,2 are unavailable to many schools with limited or no budget resources. (Continued on page 78)

In-Service Training Program for Teachers

From the Other American Republics

by Thomas E. Cotner, Specialist, Exchange of Students, Teachers, and Professors

IN 1944, the Office of Education, Federal Security Agency, established an inservice training program for teachers from the other American Republics. This program has been carried on in cooperation with the Department of State and under a project of the Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation. It is one of a number of in-service training projects in special fields sponsored by 24 Government agencies which are members of the Interdepartmental Committee. Since this program of practical training and observation for teachers was initiated by the Office of Education, 29 teachers have come to the United States from 14 different LatinAmerican nations. They have come for periods of 6 months or longer for specialized training in such critical fields as rural education, vocational guidance, agricultural education, nursery-kindergarten education, industrial and manual arts, home economics, the organization and administration of elementary and secondary schools, the education of the blind, the teaching of English as a second language, and others. An attempt will be made in this article to indicate the nature of this fellowship program for teachers and, in a measure, to evaluate the results of the program and the contributions made by these teachers upon returning to their own countries.

The Program

These fellowships are of an intern-training type, involving consultation with specialists in the fields represented, visitation and observation of selected schools, school systems, and special projects, and occasionally, actual enrollment in university classes. The fellowship period is normally spent in the following manner:

When the teacher arrives in Washington, D. C., he is given a period of 2 to 4 weeks for general orientation. This consists of varying periods of enrollment at the Washington Orientation Center in Wilson Teachers College, depending upon need, to strengthen his English language ability and

THIS PROGRESS REPORT on the In-Service Training Program for Teachers from the Other American Republics should be of particular interest to the many administrators and teachers in the United States who. have cooperated with the Office of Education in this and other programs of teacher exchange. During 1949-50 this In-Service Training Program for teachers will be extended on a world-wide basis. Those who would be interested in having teachers from other lands visit in their schools and communities are invited to wite to the Division of International Educational Relations, Office of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington 25, D. C.

to acquaint him in a general way with the cultural life and social customs of this coun

try. The trainee also is given orientation by members of the Office staff in the general organizational pattern of education in the United States. Through consultations with one supervising specialist in his field and with others in supporting fields, he is informed of the background of his problem in the United States, and through combined suggestions, after the needs and interests of the teacher have been fully ascertained, a program is planned for him. Lectures, conferences, exhibits, and suitable reading materials are arranged for him. Appointments with personnel in related fields in other governmental and private agencies are made for the teacher.

The orientation period is followed by approximately 4 to 5 months of practical internship which is usually divided into two periods. These assignments involving observation, visitation, and consultation are made to different localities or sections of the United States in order that the teachers may receive a broad educational experience and that they may bring to a larger number of teachers in this country a more intimate knowledge of the educational organization and problems of the other American republics. Areas where conditions are most comparable to those in the teacher's own country are stressed in planning itineraries.

Trainees visit elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, State Departments of Education, educational broadcasting stations, and various special projects depending upon fields of interest.

At the conclusion of the fellowship, teacher interns return to Washington for a 2-week summing-up period where experiences are discussed with advisers and conclusions reached on what might be done in the particular field of the trainee when he or she goes home. The trainee then prepares a comprehensive final report, outlining the results of his observations, commenting on points of particular importance, and concluding usually with specific suggestions for improvement or a program to be put into effect in his field in his home country.

Qualifications of Applicants Applicants are carefully selected for these grants and must be:

A bona fide citizen of one of the American Republics other than the United States and a citizen of the country from which he is applying;

In possession of a certificate of medical examination issued by a licensed physician within 60 days of the date of application, describing the applicant's physical condition and stating that he is free from any communicable disease or disability that would interfere with the proper pursuit of study and internship or the performance of any activity incident to a fellowship.

Able to speak, read, write, and understand the English language;

Of good moral character and must possess intellectual ability and suitable personal qualities;

Qualified in accordance with the requirements of the country of which he is a citizen to teach, with at least 3 continuous years of successful full-time teaching experience;

An employee, in a professional position, of an educational agency that includes or makes provision for the special branch of education in its responsibilities. There

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