FREEDOM AND HEALTH BASIS OF NEW EDUCATION
Follette, Fola La
Freedom and Health Basis of New Education Report of International Conference For 1927, Locarno, Switzerland. By FOLA LA FOLLETTE LOCARNO, Switzerland, August 15. —The Fourth International...
...Lucy L. W. Wilson, who is principal of the S. Philadelphia High School for Girls, visited Russia...
...Meaning of Freedom THE central theme of the more formal lectures of the program has been "The True Meaning of Freedom in Education...
...The Dalton Plan, the work of Dr...
...The next number of the quarterly magazine will contain a report of the Locarno Conference with resumes of the principal lectures...
...Education is not merely a problem of schools, it is also a problem of homes, for education goes on in the home...
...Dr...
...In such a crowded program no one individual could possibly follow all that was going on...
...Glockl's thrilling account of how, out of the abject misery that prevailed there after the war, a new city had been born, and a complete reorganization of the whole educational system achieved...
...Punishments are worse than useless in dealing with compulsions which have their roots in the unconscious...
...You will wonder how we have been able to do so much in so short a time...
...it cannot be divorced from the home...
...On the whole, however, it was pretty generally accepted that freedom for the child in modern education did not mean a wholesale or unintelligent toleration of his narrowly egoistic and harmful activities at the expense, for instance, of his own health or the well-being of his child associates...
...Carle-ton Washburne at Winnetka, Dr...
...Wilson dryly remarked, was a wholesome aid to critical observation...
...We carried on educational propaganda through parents' associations and teachers' associations...
...General Group...
...Glockl's vivid talk on the comprehensive reorganization of the whole educational system in Vienna and Austria, one realizes how inevitably fundamental changes in the general mass education of any country are bound up with the social and economic ideas of a people...
...Science or Art ONE MARKED difference of approach was evidenced in nearly all the meetings between those who conceive of education as a potentially exact science and those who consider it primarily as an art where there must always be great individual variation and no fixed laws or rules...
...New Ways of Art Teaching...
...Experimental Schools...
...Wilson's talk was illustrated by lantern slides made from photographs which she had taken, and as the hall was dark for a part of the lecture it was impossible to take complete notes...
...Examinations are forbidden except for the bourgeoisie and aristocracy who wish to enter the higher schools...
...In any of these instances punishment is useless...
...But Vienna is not another Venice, Vienna has become a new city, a living city, a worker's living cityt It isn't all done, but we are on the way...
...Individual Methods...
...Ovide Decroly of the University of Brussels went so far as to declare that the programming of school curriculums by the specialists and the official educational inspectors was the greatest barrier to the development of'modern schools, and above all the greatest danger to the children...
...VIII...
...However, so impressed was this able educator from the conservative city of Philadelphia, that after this conference she is returning to Russia to continue her study of the educational work there...
...But from my point of view these smaller discussion groups were the most vital and interesting part of the conference...
...Lucy Wilson's account of the educational program in Russia, and Dr...
...You cannot separate living conditions from school conditions in a constructive program of education...
...However, in the expression of these diversified and occasionally conflicting views, one fact stood out in all the discussion...
...After the war Vienna was in misery...
...Every problem of life is a social, problem and demands a developed social feeling...
...After a year of study they transplanted the parts of the scheme which they thought best suited the Russian situation...
...D. Intelligence Tests...
...Health examinations and free medical care are the fundamental basis of our education program—that is the starting point...
...Glockl...
...These new buildings which provide good home conditions are of enormous importance to children...
...you must find out the reason why he does not eat—you must use your art...
...This is the way they are working in Austria and Russia...
...A. Education of Children Under Twelve...
...The emphasis continues to be placed on the limited academic achievement of the child rather than on the totality of his life in all its varied aspects...
...His first phrase wins his audience and they listen spellbound as he proceeds: "Here we speak different languages, but an idea unites us—the idea of faith in youth—the youth that is being prepared for'a time which we ourselves do not know...
...After listening to Dr...
...Monsieur Bovet, who presided over the conference, and who speaks four languages more fluently and easily than most of us speak one, was an ardent advocate of the adoption of Esperanto as the official medium for translation...
...The two movements must go forward together...
...The education of the youth of a country depends on the social values and the vision of the adults who control and direct the educational system of a country...
...Imagine a vital and vigorous man who, though he has reached middle^years, seems the very incarnation of youth...
...The people must understand the aims of the leaders if the leaders are to carry out a constructive program...
...Education is the bridge between the leaders and the people...
...Theoretical research went on side by side with practical experimentation...
...This is a brief and far from adequate statement of the approach to the understanding and teaching of the child which is being used by Dr...
...Alfred Adler of Vienna discussed the problem child and developed his thesis of the feeling of inferiority in its relation to education...
...After a lecture was given in one Language it was translated into two others...
...This is certainly a far cry from the not so ancient doe-trine of spare the rod and spoil the child...
...III...
...Rugg's presentation of the Lincoln School technics, Miss Flora Cooke's account of the work at the Francis Parker School, Miss Seed's talk on the Manumit School, and Miss Stott's talk on the City and Country School awakened lively questioning and discussion...
...Any one who is interested in following their activities should write to the New Education Fellowship office at 11 Tavistock Square, London W. C. 1, for literature...
...They didn't have to support a phantom...
...It was an inspiring experience to witness the genuine international feeling which pervaded this gathering of people of different races and nationalities, with their diverse religions, traditions and languages...
...The following is a brief summary of the extraordinarily interesting account she gave: "We are separated from Russia by language, and by political, economic and religious views...
...Or he may strive for superiority by being over-good, over-obedient, or he may lose courage to strive at all and may not go on in life, in love or in work...
...When they wanted to individualize their education they sent experts over the world to study what was happening elsewhere...
...The old order is being challenged...
...But he is a Viennese, and wit and geniality are his birthright...
...We realized that criticism of the old schools was not enough...
...2." Children shall know what work means...
...Today in Vienna one hundred thousand people have the opportunity to live in good dwellings...
...Austria's Marvelous Progress ANOTHER outstanding feature of the Conference from my point of view was the exhibition ofthe work of Viennese school children and the talk on the Austrian Education program given by Dr...
...From these reports they found out what value this tool had for them and adapted and took what fitted...
...These two views are of course not irreconcilable, but the emphasis is different...
...Children shall have an understanding of human relations...
...But that it did mean organizing the environnjbnt to fit the child's rather than the adult's needs...
...Even among the more conservative there is an uneasy feeling that the traditional education of the past no longer meets the needs of the rapidly changing world in which we live...
...He speaks rapidly, as if his ideas easily formulated themselves into words...
...AU the problems are varied...
...In this field the contribution of the Germans and the Swiss was outstanding...
...We have failed in our generation—the future lies with children...
...She went entirely on her own initiative, not on the invitation of the Russian Government...
...Membership in the organization is open to all and payment of one guinea (twenty-one shillings) includes dues and a year's subscription to their English publication, The New Era...
...And our work is supported regardless of the various political differences of parents and teachers...
...In spite of the amazing skill with which this was done the method in* volved such an expenditure of time and energy that it was decided that at the next conference, which is to be held in Denmark, there would be only one translation and this in Esperanto...
...V. The New Teaching of History...
...Adler's teachers who work in the fr linics of Vienna...
...He believes that we all haVJTa feeling of inferiority, and that the striving to overcome this is the motive force of our effort...
...We are not in the realm of science...
...He maintains that the programs of schools should be based on the fundamental needs of the children's lives—the needs about which their lives revolve—the needs of food, shelter and clothing, in order that the child may have a clear understanding of his environment...
...And that within the limitations of this environment the child should be given the greatest possible freedom to follow his owa urge to experience, to experiment, and to discover for himself the meaning of work, the world of nature and of human relations...
...No one who participated in this conference could fail to be impressed with the great desirability of a common language in a world where international communication and understanding are becoming so increasingly imperative...
...Russia Omits Examination^ AYEAR AGO Dr...
...we are in the realm of human mistakes...
...There were, of course, some who timidly limited their interpretation of "freedom in education" to an interest in the discovery and application of more flexible and effective methods for carrying out more or less academic programs...
...The war had demonstrated the uselessness of an empty idealism...
...Co-education...
...even a fiuvnt command of the language in which he spoke would not permit of an accurate report of his presentation of the work that has gone on and is going on in Vienna...
...The following list of subjects presented for discussion gives an idea of the diversified aspects of present day education which were dealt with: I. The New Psychology in Education...
...Where these imperatives exist there inevitably develops a tendency tu measure the educational experiment by what the children are ultimately able to achieve in academic subjects...
...It was therefore with amazement that I listened to Dr...
...Local Geology...
...This striving to overcome the feeling of inferiority may express itself on the useful side of life or on the useless side...
...Some might protest, he said, that this was a materialistic point of view, but-we must not forget that the earth is the source of our lives and that the most idealistic structure will fall if it hasn't a solid- foundation...
...A. The Psychological Freeing of the Teacher...
...Eight years ago this organization started with a small group of individuals who believed that the New Education offered the most fundamental approach to constructive internationalism...
...If the atmosphere is free and the children are habituated to it they themselves find from within the best methods...
...They decided that probably the Dalton plan fitted as well as anything for their high schools...
...There was great interest among European educators in the American educational experiments...
...Others challenged the old academic goal completely and placed the emphasis entirely on the inner freeing of the child and the release of his individual creative capacities in every aspect of life...
...Freedom is not enough—in a democracy there must be education for responsibility...
...The method of teaching may be changed, some additional activities may be added to the program, but the goal remains for the most part the same...
...The Fourth International Conference of the New Education Fellowship ended today...
...The New Education Fellowship maintains three separate offices located in England, Switzerland and Germany, which serve as centers for drawing together teachers and parents who are interested in the development of progressive education...
...But we are united to Russia by our attitude toward the child in the view that education is the one holy cause...
...We need new men, cleverer and abler than we are...
...So rapidly has the interest grown that this year over a thousand individuals, representing forty different countries, assembled at Locarno for a two weeks conference...
...B. The Problem Child...
...If a child does not eat, never ask what to do...
...We had a constructive plan for new schools...
...Youth must furnish them...
...C. Mental Hygiene...
...What we need above all is to know and to understand the world in which we live...
...We can only prepare the way of opportunity for youth...
...Whereas Signora Bosch-etti Alberti, who is considered one of the most remarkable teachers in Switzerland, says: "In-, terest for work is the great force that you see in the free classes...
...There are parents' associations and adult education forms an important part of tfie program...
...People thought that Vienna was going to be a dead city where people would come to visit the ruins of the glories of the past, that Vienna would be another Venice...
...In a brief article it is of course impossible to give a detailed account of the work of the New Education Fellowship, or even to note the many vital and suggestive discussions which made participation in this conference so stimulating and worth while...
...There are courage and grace in dealing with his subject—¦ for it is a complex and subtle task to discuss what has come out of wa> and revolution before an European audience...
...A child may strive for superiority by being what we adults term "bad" or "naughty"— his energies may, through the fault of unintelligent early training, be turned toward the useless*" side...
...Each t child has a way of development which belongs to him—a law of development which has its own way and its own rate...
...Inferiority Problem THE New Psychology group" attracted the largest audience...
...Teaching," he said, "is not only a science, but an art...
...This is the basis for all activities and educational programs that follow...
...The next conference will afford an interesting experiment as to how much initiative modern educators will have in making Esperanto meet this need...
...The Russians have a program of education which looks to the psycho-physical moulding of a new generation where creative self-activity may work co-operatively in a socialized environment...
...All members of the Fellowship are urged to master Esperanto in the next two years as a preparation for the International Conference in Denmark...
...And mistakes can be corrected only by understanding them, by recognition of error, by going back over the false path and seeing what happened and how it happened...
...Her guide while she was there was a member of the bourgeoisie and violently anti-Bolshevik in her sympathies...
...Thus often by careful study, by understanding, by using your art as a teacher, the child may be brought back to a new start and the striving for superiority turned to the useful side of life...
...Our program includes construction of buildings where housing conditions are healthy and agreeable...
...They gave this to the head masters of schools and asked them to try it out and report...
...They were not interested in criticising—-they were interested in studying all methods and taking from each whatever would yield the most constructive results in Russia...
...Except where a social upheaval has brought about a complete reorganization of the entire school system, as in Austria and Russia, one is impressed with the fact that in every country really free experimentation in state-maintained schools is being constantly inhibited by obligatory examinations and the necessity of preparing children for college...
...Accounts of experimental work in different parts of the world...
...It also publishes three magazines in English, German and French respectively, which serve to keep members in touch with current ideas and methods in the modern educational field throughout the world...
...else is adapted to the health of the child...
...We threw the bureaucracy overboard...
...Everywhere in the educational world there is a healthy unrest and questioning...
...In 1921 I visited Vienna, which then seemed, a stricken city bereft of all hope for the future...
...IJverythinn...
...This, as Dr...
...Program of Special Groups IN ADDITION to the more or less theoretical analysis of the meaning of freedom, there were special study groups which dealt with the actual work that was going on in the schools of various countries...
...Therefore adult education, the education of parents and teachers is an inevitable corollary to any fundamental changes in the education of youth...
...This educational propaganda has awakened the interest of parents and teachers so that these associations transcend political parties...
...B. Education of Children Over Twelve...
...Their educational program has three main tenets: 1. Children shall kpow nature...
...He is a great orator, in the finest sense of the word, endowed with the power of constructive ideas living and vivid...
...VII...
...Punishment Useless DR...
...This gave parents an opportunity to see what was actually being done...
...They have Creches in the country during the summer and also near the factories...
...PFISTER of Zurich gave an a>.->unt of his work with children and emphasized the necessity for understanding of the unconscious motivations of children...
...But the talk supplemented by the visual testimony of the pictures made it seem even more incredible than before that a country which is carrying out such an intelligent constructive program of mass education should still be placed by the United States in the category of unrecognizable governments...
...There are no rules for solution...
...The vague nature of the subject led to some rather rambling and futile metaphysical discussion...
...The Russians believe that every child needs both city and country and that it is the business of the state to provide the opportunity for both to all children...
...Esperanto Language Next Conference AT THE Locarno conference the discussions were carried on in three different languages, English, German and French...
...Glockl spoke in German—and my German is rusty from lack of practice...
...If the teacher is doubtful whether a child should enter the next group she gives a collective test...
...Carleton Washburne urges teachers to co-operate and work for scientific methods of research in order that education may come out of the realm of opinion and philosophy into the realm of science...
...Instead of examinations several times a year the children give an outline of their work and the teachers do the same...
Vol. 19 • September 1927 • No. 9
