Another and equally difficult problem concerns curriculum. Patterned after the French middle school and lycée, the curriculum is rigid. With a minor exception, all pupils are required to take the same subjects in junior and senior high school. As a result, the failure rate of students is excessive, sometimes running up to 40 percent of a class. It is recognized that rigid curriculums and high retardation go together, but the retardation can hardly be diminished until the curriculum acquires some degree of flexibility, that is, unless there is some attempt to match more elective subjects, still to be provided, with the capacities and preferences of students. of students. The Ministry is also eager to One factor in favor of desired functional change in Turkish secondary schools is the enthusiastic attitude of practically all Turks toward America and Americans. There probably are numerous reasons why the Turkish people like Americans, but it is not necessary at this point to analyze them. They exist; that is sufficient. Despite the fact that Turkish secondary schools for years have mirrored the traditional French lycée, there is increasing belief that exchange of educational personnel between Turkey and the United States will point the way to improvements in Turkish schools. A number of American educational special ists have visited Turkey in an attempt to understand better the school program there, and practically all of them have consulted with officials of the Turkish Ministry of Education and other school personnel. This has resulted in greater American underwhole, however, the majority of teachers standing of Turkish schools and greater A third general problem relates to teaching methods. The writer visited 99 schools in many cities in Turkey and sat in on hundreds of classes in the subjects offered. He observed classes taught by the methods that might be termed functional, demonstration, or workshop. Sometimes classes were divided into small groups with selected students serving as teacher's helpers; on occasion students performed demonstrations, or served as chairmen for the class. On the lectured from the book and used little variety in teaching method. Consequently, the spotlight frequently focused on the teacher rather than on the student. A reason for this condition may be that high school teachbe that high school teachers are prepared in the University of Ankara or the University of Istanbul without ever having had an adequate course in methods or practice-experience in teaching under an experienced teacher. Because of the sameness of teaching method in a great many classes, students were frequently stimulated to memorization of facts rather than active learning. The Ministry of Education in Turkey is well aware of these and other pressing problems in secondary education. And it is determined to do something about them as soon as it can. That is why Resat Tardu, former Undersecretary of the National Ministry, and his successor Osman Faruk Verimer desire to establish a close working relationship with American educators. By visits to schools in this country and study of educational conditions here, Turkish high school principals and teachers may be able to develop their own suggestions for diversifying the curriculums, enriching teaching methods, increasing high school enrollment, and decreasing the failure rate Turkish understanding of American schools. The Turkish educators, like the Turkish ahead. One sees in the eyes of the Turkish high school students a seriousness of purpose that is thrilling. They want education. The majority of teachers are as devoted a group as one may find anywhere. They too want an education for youth. The parents are equally devoted to the idea of education. for their children. Many of them are members of PTA's and actively engage in seeking adequate educational services for youth. There is no question that Turkish secondary education has a long way to go. That's true of many American high schools, too. But a first long step toward a better kind of high school has been taken with the initial visit of the team of ten Turkish high school principals and teachers to America. Next year more will come. In 1955 the Ministry of Education plans to begin some pilot secondary schools in which newer curriculums, newer teaching methods, newer teaching materials can be tested, accepted, retested, or discarded. Meanwhile, Turkey and America, thousands of miles apart, nourish an educational partnership that promises great things in the years ahead. Pupil Transportation (Continued from page 71) board should employ on the basis of his recommendations. Second, there must be defensible standards for the position of school bus driver. Obviously, they cannot be so high as to rule out almost all probable applicants. They should be as high as they can be set to make the supply meet the demand. Less than one-third of the States now require an annual or more frequent physical examination of school bus drivers and probably few local units require it when the State does not. This kind of requirement, which certainly would constitute one kind of safeguard for the pupils, is not likely to affect very much the supply of school bus drivers. A third step in providing reliable school bus drivers is giving them essential training, which does not necessarily mean formal courses of training. It is obvious that the driver must know State and local laws, regulations, and ordinances which are related to his work. He must also know his responsibilities and what his relationships with pupils, parents, and school authorities are to be. It is also obvious that if he is to gain such knowledge without years of experience there must be some systematic method of providing it. There has been great activity in at least half of the States in the last 10 years in organizing school bus driver training activities. It is a recognized need, and they are moving as rapidly as possible. Finally, there must be constructive supervision of school bus drivers. This has been almost nonexistent in thousands of local units. States can help with effective leadership, but here again the chief responsibility falls ultimately on the local unit. "The Ideals We Live By"* School *Life Official Journal of the Office of Education U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE "Ideals, the system of values by which men live, are of supreme importance in the life of the individual and in the life of the nation. Ideals are practical. Woven into the personality structure of the individual citizen, they give him a map of life, a sense of direction, a standard by which he may judge his inner impulses and his overt behavior. The terms of human association, the worth and dignity and respect men accord one another, the sense of justice they entertain, their willingness to cooperate and sacrifice for the common good-all these are rooted in and grow out of the ideals that lie at the base of a particular way of life. "But ideals do more than give the individual a guide to his own personal behavior, they do more than define the terms upon which he will meet and mingle and work with others; they equip the individual citizen with a measure of men and institutions, a measure he can apply to those seeking positions of leadership, to proposals of public policy, to the workings of the whole complex pattern of social arrangements and institutions. "For the individual, then, it is his system of values that gives life meaning, that equips him for effective and fruitful living in home and community, that makes it possible for him to share in the work of improving conditions under which men live in his own society and throughout the world. "Ideals are no less important in the life of a society than they are in the lives of the individuals composing it. A society is possible only because the individuals that form it have a common sense of reality and are bound together by common loyalties. It is this body of core values, this wide community of ideas and ideals that gives a society its basic pattern, that holds it together and prevents it from becoming a mere aggregation of individuals without purpose and without goal. "More important still, systems of social relationships attain the status of social institutions only when they are accepted as being in conformity with the essential value premises of society. In other words, social institutionsthe family, the community, the church, the state, the economy, the school-are merely the carriers and implementers of the ideals which men entertain. "All this is but to say that it is the ideals that men live by that determine the quality of their individual lives and of the civilization they achieve. Ideals are the measure of a man and they are the measure of a civilization." *Except from Education for American Citizenship, the ThirtySecond Yearbook of the American Association of School Administrators, 1201 16th St. NW., Washington 6, D. C., 1954. $5. Published each month of the school year, October through June To order SCHOOL LIFE send your check or money order (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 subscription price of $1.25. Yearly fee to countries in which the frank of the U. S. Government is not recognized is $1.75. 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. (September 19, 1952.) Contents of this publication are not copyrighted, and items contained herein may be reprinted "to promote the cause of education." Citation of SCHOOL LIFE, official periodical of the U. S. Office of Education, as the source, will be appreciated. The opinions and points of view expressed in articles by guest authors do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Office of Education. THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION was established in 1867 "for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.' SCHOOL LIFE is indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, and in Education Index.... .(Single copy price of SCHOOL LIFE-15 cents) M ORE than a million young Americans in the 48 States, the District of Columbia, and Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico took part in the 1953-54 Voice of Democracy contest. This is the third consecutive year in which the total number of entries from the Nation's public, private, and parochial high schools has passed the million mark. In this contest there are no losers. All the contestants gain by the experience of considering their democratic form of government and defining the ideals on which this country was founded. All the schools and communities, all the States and Territories, and the Nation as a whole profit by the participation of these young people. The contest was begun 7 years ago. It was designed to encourage high school boys and girls in the study of their government and the expression of its philosophy, and to further the use of radio and television broadcasting for such expression. Since the contest began, approximately 5 million students have taken part. In addition to the 5 million contestants, many other students have been stimulated by the contest to think about the meaning of freedom, to clarify their ideas, and to recognize their part in government. They have thus acquired a deeper appreciation of democracy. Four contestants, a girl and three boys, received tangible awards as in the past. These four were chosen the national win Volume 36, Number 6 ners. Each contestant submitted a 5-minute speech on the subject "I Speak for Democracy." What the winners said has been judged best at the classroom, school, community, State, and national level. As one of the prizes all the winners received a free trip to Washington, D. C., where they were guests of the cosponsors -the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters, the Radio-Electronics-Television Manufacturers Association, and the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce. At the special awards luncheon in Washington, Dr. Samuel Miller Brownell, United States Commissioner of Education, presided. The Honorable Charles E. Potter, United States Senator from Michigan, presented the awards. Each winner received a $500 scholarship, a trophy and certificate of merit, and a television set. While the students were in Washington, they visited the White House, where they were received by President Eisenhower, the Congress, and the Supreme Court. The 1954 national award winners were Elizabeth E. Evans, 16-year-old junior at the John R. Buchtel High School, Akron, Ohio; Philip M. McCoy, 16-year-old junior at the Argentine High School, Kansas City, Kans.; Joseph H. Gerdes, Jr., 17year-old senior at Catholic High School, Harrisburg, Pa.; and Joel H. Cyprus, 17-year-old senior at the Senior High School, Wichita Falls, Tex. 81 Judges in the contest were: Richard L. Bowditch, President, Chamber of Commerce of the United States; Dwight Clark, Jr., National Winner, 1951-52 Voice of Democracy Contest; William A. Early, Presi dent, National Education Association; Honorable Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Speaker, United States House of Representatives; Glen McDaniel, President, Radio-Electronics-Television Manufacturers Association; Judge Justin Miller, Chairman of the Board and General Counsel, National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters: on in the eyes of an Ohio farmer surveying his acres of corn and potatoes and pasture and in the brilliant gold of hundreds of acres of wheat stretching across the flat miles of Kansas in the milling of cattle in the stockyards of Chicago-in the precision of an assembly line in an automobile factory in Detroit-and in the perpetual red glow of the nocturnal skylines of Pittsburgh and Birmingham and Gary. They live on in the voice of a young Jewish boy saying the sacred words from the Torah: "Hear O Israel: the Lord our Thomas F. O'Neil, President, Mutual Broad- God, the Lord is One. Thou shalt love the casting System; Honorable Ivy Baker Priest, Treasurer of the United States; Ed Sullivan, Master of Ceremonies, CBS television show "Toast of the Town"; Honorable Harold E. Talbott, Secretary of the U. S. Air Force; Mrs. Charles W. Tobey; and Mrs. Charles L. Williams, President, National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers. The winning speeches are quoted below. Elizabeth E. Evans, John R. Buchtel High School, Akron, Ohio AM AN AMERICAN. Listen to my words, Fascist, Communist. Listen well, for my country is a strong country, and my message is a strong message. I am an American, and I speak for democracy. My ancestors have left their blood on the green at Lexington and the snow at Valley Forge on the walls of Fort Sumter and the fields at Gettysburg-on the waters of the River Marne and in the shadows of the Argonne Forest-on the beachheads of Salerno and Normandy and the sands of Okinawa on the bare, bleak hills called Pork Chop and Old Baldy and Heartbreak Ridge. A million and more of my countrymen have died for freedom. For my country is their eternal monument. They live on in the laughter of a small boy as he watches a circus clown's antics and in the sweet, delicious coldness of the first bit of peppermint ice cream on the Fourth of July-in the little tenseness of a baseball crowd as the umpire calls, "batter up!"—and in the high school band's rendition of "Stars and Stripes Forever" in the Memorial Day parade-in the clear, sharp ring of a school bell on a fall morning and in the triumph of a 6-year-old as he reads aloud for the first time. They live Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might," and in the voice of a Catholic girl praying: "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee * *,”—and in the voice of a Protestant boy singing "A mighty Fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing An American named Carl Sandburg wrote these words: * * * * "I know a Jew fishcrier down on Maxwell Street-With a voice like a north wind blowing over corn stubble in January His face is that of a man terribly glad to be selling fish, Terribly glad that God made fish, and customers to whom he may call his wares from a pushcart.” There is a voice in the soul of every human being that cries out to be free. America has answered that voice. America has offered freedom and opportunity such as no land before her has ever known, to a Jew fishcrier down on Maxwell Street with the face of a man terribly glad to be selling fish. She had given him the right to own his pushcart, to sell his herring on Maxwell Street-she has given him an education for his children, and a tremendous faith in the nation that has made these things his. Multiply that fishcrier by 160,000,000 160,000,000 mechanics and farmers and housewives and coal miners and truck drivers and chemists and lawyers and plumbers and priests—all glad, terribly glad to be what they are, terribly glad to be free to work and eat and sleep and speak and love and pray and live as they desire, as they believe! And those 160,000,000 Americansthose 160,000,000 free Americans have more roast beef and mashed potatoes-the yield of American labor and land; more automobiles and telephones, more safety razors and bathtubs, more orlon sweaters and aureomycin, the fruits of American ini tiative and enterprise; more public schools and life insurance policies, the symbols of American security and faith in the future; more laughter and song-than any other people on earth! This is my answer, Fascist, Communist! Show me a country greater than our country, show me a people more energetic, creative, progressive-bigger-hearted and happier than our people, not until then will I consider your way of life. For I am an American, and I speak for democracy. Joseph H. Gerdes, Jr., Harrisburg Catholic High School, ABRAHAM LINCOLN uttered more than a mere phrase at Gettysburg, when he spoke those now famous words, "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." For, every loyal American recognizes that phrase as Lincoln's definition of Democracy. When he said, "of the people," Lincoln meant that people have the right to govern themselves. In other words, he meant that democratic governments come out "of the people." It is this principle which has made America the "Citadel of Freedom," a place where men willingly cooperate with the law and where the law itself is felt to be in the classic words of Justice Holmes, "the witness and external deposit of our moral life." In America, thank God, we are "citizens," not "subjects." So, the essence of the American Republic is a recognition of the dignity of manhood in all men. In its foundation this government was an act of supreme confidence in man, a concession, such as never before had been given to human dignity. Its creation was, indeed, a bold experiment, the bravest political act recorded in history. In fact, liberty had never really been understood until it was caught up in a human embrace and embodied in a great and abiding nation. In the second portion of his definition Lincoln said, "by the people." It was the conviction of the Founding Fathers that all power comes from the Creator through the people, and their desire to safeguard the exercise of that power, not directly by the people in their confused and scattered individualism, but through representatives seated in calm thought and timely research. (Continued on page 92) |