No. 4028 July 22, 1940 PROCEEDINGS of the SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE on ADULT EDUCATION AUSTIN, TEXAS APRIL 18, 19, 20, 1940 Sponsored by THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS In Cooperation with THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ADULT EDUCATION and the TEXAS FEDERATED AGENCIES FOR ADULT EDUCATION PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN Publications of The University of Texas PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE E. J. MATHEWS A. SCHAFFER D. CONEY B. SMITH J. T. PATTERSON J. W. SPIES A. C. WRIGHT General Publications J. T. PATTERSON R. H. GRIFFITH LOUISE BAREKMAN A. SCHAFFER FREDERIC DUNCALF E.G. SMITH FREDERICK EBY G. W. STUMBERG Administrative Publications E. J. MATHEWS B. MCLAURIN C. F. ARROWOOD B. C. SCHMIDT S. A. MACCORKLE C. D. SIMMONS The University publishes bulletins four times a month, so numbered that the first two digits of the number show the year of issue and the last two the position in the yearly series. (For example, No. 4001 is the first publication of the year 1940.) These bulletins comprise the official publica­tions of the University, publications on humanistic and scientific subjects, and bulletins issued from time to time by various divisions of the University. The following bureaus and divisions distribute publications issued by them; communications concerning publications in these fields should be addressed to The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, care of the bureau or division issuing the publication: Bureau of Business Research, Bureau of Economic Geology, Bureau of Engineering Research, Bureau of Industrial Chemistry, Bureau of Public School Extracurricular Activities, and Division of Extension. Communications concerning all other publications of the University should be addressed to University Publications, The University of Texas. Additional copies of this publication may be procured from the UniveTSity Publications, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas at 10 cents per copy THE UNlVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS ~~;r. No. 4028: July 22, 1940 PROCEEDINGS of the SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE on ADULT EDUCATION AUSTIN, TEXAS APRIL 18, 19, 20, 1940 Sponsored by THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS In Cooperation with THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ADULT EDUCATION and the TEXAS FEDERATED AGENCIES FOR ADULT EDUCATION PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY FOUR TIMES A MONTH AND ENTERED AS SECOND·CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT AUSTIN, TEXAS, UNDER THE ACT OF AUGUST 24, 1912 The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are eNential to the preservation of a free govern­ment. Sam Houston Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of Democracy,and while guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge, and the only security which freemen desire. Mirabeau B. Lamar CONFERENCE COMMITTEES For Conference Program: T. H. Shelby, Chairman Mildred Horton C. W. Huser Mrs. Joseph W. Perkins Oscar A. Ullrich Mrs. Joe A. W essendorff L.A. Woods For Conference Exhibits: L. C. Procter, Chairman Charles Cyrus Bess Heflin For Conference Publicity: Jesse Kellam, Chairman Alfred Melinger For Conference Arrangements: Terrell Trimble, Chairman H. S. Williams F. L. Winship For Conference Registration: Aline Lathrop, Chairman Irma Dean Fowler Ethel L. Parker For Conference Reporting: F. Bowen Evans, Chairman For the American Auociation Adult Education: For the Department of Adult Educa­cation, NEA: George C. Mann, Los Angeles M. S. Robertson, New Orleans For the Education Division, WPA: L. R. Alderman, Washington Mrs. Sylvia D. Mariner, New Orleans For the Civilian Conservation Corps: L. W. Rogers, San Antonio For the States in the Region to Be Served: Arkansas: Walter R. Horschler, Little Rock W. E. Phipps, Little Rock A. M. Harding, Fayetteville Louisiana: Ellen LeNoir, Baton Rouge John Zimmerman, New Orleans New Mexico: Thomas V. Calkins, Albuquerque J. T. Reid, Albuquerque Oklahoma: Erti!; Sasseen, Oklahoma City Herbert H. Scott, Norman Texas: for T. H. Shelby, Austin Oscar A. Ullrich, Georgetown Morse A. Cartwright, New York C. W. Huser, San Antonio Elmer Scott, Dallas PRESIDING OFFICERS 0. A. Ullrich Jack Shelton C. M. Evans Edmund Heinsohn Mrs. Joseph W. Perkins Mrs. E. H. Becker Herbert H. Scott George Hester M. S. Robertson Elmer Scott CONTENTS I PAGE Addresses of Welcome__ ____ ___ __ __________________________ ___ __ Terrell Trimble 9 A. L. Brandon Response to Welcome__ ________ __ ___________ __ _________ _________ _____ __]. T. Reid Purposes of the Conference_______________________ ______ __ ___ B. F. Pittenger 9 12 13 II How Adult Education May Assist in the Solution of Eco­nomic Self-Sufficiency__ ________ ____ _____ _____ ___ __ __ __ __H. P. Drought 22 Symposium: Problems of Economic Self-Sufficiency The Latin·American____________________________ _________ __ _______ E. D. Salinas The Negro______________ __ ______ ______ _ ____ __ ___________ Jfobert L. Sutherland The Tenant Farmer___ _____________ __ _________ _____ __________________ C. A. Wiley Labor and lndustry____ __ ____ ___ ___ _____ ___ ____ ___ __ ____ ____ Paul E. Spruill Jobs for Youth__________ ______ __ ____ _______ _____ _____ _ ________ _W. P. Davidson 28 30 32 34 35 III How Adult Education May Assist in the Solution of Prob­lems of Family Life____________________________________Mildred Horton 37 Symposium: Problems of Family Life Education Physical Home Improvements____________ __ ____ _______ Mary A. Mason Intra-Family Relationships and Responsibilities___ __ ____ _____ _ ___________________________ _____ ___ __ _ _____ _________________________Bernice Moore Family Budgetary Problems___ _ ____ __ ____ __ _____fennie S. Wilmot Health and Safety_________ __ ____ __ ____ ____ ___ ____Virginia Sharborough Recreation and Leisure____ __ ___ ___ __ ____ __________fohn H. Zimmerman 46 47 49 50 52 IV Responsibilities of Adult Education for Better Citizenship___ _ --------------------------------------------------------------------------L. W. Rogers Symposium: Problems of Better Citizenship Intelligent and Active Participation in Government____ ___ _ ---------------------­----------­--­---------------------------------­Norris A. Hiett 55 62 Contents PAGE Propaganda Analysis-A Means of Better Understanding Americanism ____________________________________________________ W. E. Gettys 64 Recognition of Factors of Community Welfare__________________ ________________________________________________________________ _ George 0. Clough 67 The Youth Problem____________________________________ ___________]. C. Kellam 68 Citizenship and Problems of Foreign-Born Groups____________ ------------------------------------------------------------------0. Douglas Weeks 68 v The Meaning of a Liberal Education in a Democracy____________ --------------------------------------------------------------------8 omer P. Rainey 71 The Need for Adult Education____________________________L. R. Alderman 83 VI Community Organization for Adult Education________________________ ___ _ _______________ _______________________________________ Herbert C. Hunsaker 89 Problems of Integrating the Programs of Social Service Agencies and lnstitutions____________________ Herbert C. Hunsaker 98 Discussion: Community Organization____ Elmer Scott, Chairman 104 VII Conference Summary__________________________________Robert L. Sutherland 118 VIII Report of the Resolutions Committee__________________________________ 129 Partial List of Those in Attendance at the Conference________________ 130 PREF'ACE The Southwest Regional Conference, cons1stmg of representa­tives from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, was held in Austin, Texas, on April 18, 19, 20, 1940. The meet­ing, first of its kind to be held in the Southwest, was attended by more than two hundred persons representing some thirty different types of educational, governmental, and civic organizations. The Extension Division of The University of Texas sponsored the conference in cooperation with the American Association for Adult Education and the Texas Federated Agencies for Adult Edu­cation. The general theme of the program was "Education for Democratic Living." The present report, which has entailed much patient editing and revising, was prepared in response to the many demands for a printed account of the conference proceedings. It was found possi­ble to include only reports of the general sessions; however, the verbal reports of the sectional chairmen are given as they were presented in the symposium sessions, so that a virtually complete record is provided. Without the fine services of Mr. C. W. Huser and his staff of the State W.P.A. educational program and of Dean Ullrich, Chair­man of the Texas Federated Council on Adult Education, this pro­gram plan, set-up, and execution could hardly have been realized. Thanks is due to those who so ably and whole-heartedly partici­pated in the program from this and the other four states. I owe a personal debt of gratitude to Dean Pittenger and Mr. Brandon, who so ably came to my rescue when I was disabled and could not perform my duties in connection with the program. Members of the Extension Division Staff rendered invaluable service as they always do. Committee members without exception did yoeman service in their several capacities. Special thanks are due Mr. Bowen Evans of the State W.P.A. education staff for much hard work involved in summarizing and "boiling down" the addresses to a point where it was possible to publish the proceedings. The stated purpose of the conference was to "challenge our thinking" with respect to adult education as it is related to cer­tain aspects of the contemporary social, economic, and political The University of Texas Publication scene. That purpose was realized, for the conference did present such a challenge. This report of the conference is presented in the sincere hope that it will serve to extend that challenge. T. H. SHELBY, Dean, Division of Extension The University of Texas ADDRESSES OF WELCOME TERRELL TRIMBI,E, First Assistant State Superintendent, Texas State Departm.ent of Education It is my great pleasure, on behalf of the State Department of Education and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to welcome this assembly of people interested in adult education. It is unfortunate that the State Superintendent was called out of town at this time because he was anxious to have the privilege of wel­coming you people from Texas and the states of the Southwest to this conference. When I found that the State Superintendent would not be in town, I immediately tried to learn something about the scope of adult education in this State and in this region. I found that we have some 150,000 people, exclusive of the Civilian Conservation Corps, who are in adult education classes of the State; and the more I investigated, the more convinced I became that adult edu­cation is doing a great deal for Texas people. It is the privilege of the State Department of Education to wel­come the vistors from Arkansas, from Louisiana, from New Mex­ico, from Oklahoma, and from Texas. May I assure you that we in the State Department of Education are keenly conscious of the need for further development of this program, and may I assure you people in Texas of the utmost cooperation in this matter. May I extend a personal welcome to Dr. Alderman and other high officials who have come from a great distance. A. L. BRANDON, Director of Public Relations, The University of Texas I assure you that the entire program is not to have so many changes as we are starting out with. You notice that Dean Pittenger is scheduled to say a word of welcome on behalf of The University of Texas. You are to have the privilege of hearing Dean Pittenger at a later time on a slightly different subject. This change is made necessary because of the illness of the Dean of the Extension Division of the University, Dean Shelby-known to most of you people. Dean Shelby has asked me to express his personal regrets at his inability to be present here this morning. As some of you know, he spent a great deal of time in planning and working with other officials in making this first Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education possible. Of course, what is being done is a mat­ter of deep concern to him, and he is exceedingly sorry that he cannot be with you this morning. A few years ago I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Al Smith, when he was a candidate for President, speak up in Oklahoma City; and he started his address by saying, "Friends of Oklahoma and neighboring states, and don't ask me to name them." The Southwest Region is a great area; but I suppose we could not cover any other geographical area in the entire United States with so few states. Some of you saw a few years ago a motion picture entitled "Convention City." One of the amusing incidents in that motion picture was the arrival of delegates at Atlantic City. There was a great sign of welcome facing all the people. The convention lasted three days and they kept revising the sign of welcome and first one convention and then another saw it. The incident that I especially remember was one in which Frank McHugh participated. He was a bit inebriated, and toward the end of the last session, he arose to nominate John Jones of Denver for an office. The chairman said, "There is no John Jones of Denver who is a mem­ber of this body." McHugh said, "Yes, he is in that office. I know that John Jones is a member of this body." There was a little huddle of the opposition on the platform, and finally the chairman spoke, "We are sorry, but you are mistaken." McHugh said, "Well, isn't this the meeting of the Amalgamated Tin Workers?" The chairman said, "No, this is a meeting of the Tire Manufacturers of the United States." McHugh said, "I've been in the wrong conven­tion for three days!" We have three conventions going on in Austin this week-end sponsored by The University of Texas. This one, and one on Texas Folklore, and another, a national meeting of the Deans of the Schools of Business Administration. This is a meeting of the South­west Regional Conference on Adult Education. If any of you are in the wrong meeting, now is the time to leave. There is only one thing that The University of Texas values more than being a host, and that is retaining its honor. We had originally planned to pay all the hotel bills, and buy banquet tickets for all, but the officials thought that that would be a pretty bad precedent to establish, and we thought we would let you pay it. Anyway, this question of honor came up. We will let you pay your hotel bills, but that is all you are going to pay. We are going to pay for everything else, and we are going to have a good time. I have been told (I think I heard Dr. Alderman say this in Washington) that adult education is the fastest growing education in the United States. Since I have been in Texas, I thought The University of Texas was the fastest growing education in the United States; but we are willing, at least for the week-end, to say that adult education is not only the fastest growing education in the United States, but probably also the most important. I want to say a few words to you who have come from other states. The University of Texas has its main office here in Austin, with 11,000 students on the campus a few blocks north of the Driskill Hotel. We also have a College of Mines and Metallurgy in the extreme western part of the State at El Paso. We have a College of Medicine at Galveston. We have an observatory in the Davis Mountains in West Texas. We have an Extension Division that literally covers the State; and it is the Extension Division of the University that is largely responsible for the University's interest in this conference. The University of Texas Extension Division has arranged an exhibit outside, and I am not going to take time to tell you what they are doing; but I welcome you to take time some time during the conference to look at the charts. I want to say that, while this conference is being held at the Driskill Hotel, we want you to feel as though your other home is out on the campus. We have some things out there that we believe you would be interested in seeing; and if at any time you have an open moment on your schedule, we hope you will take the opportunity of coming out and seeing what a few million dollars of oil money will really do in the making of a college campus. We feel very proud of the physical equipment and the work that is being done by the members of our faculty and research depart­ments. Above all, we want you to feel that The University of Texas today is glad that you are here, and for this week-end, regardless of what state you come from, this is your university and your community. Mr. Mayor Miller is not here, but being a citizen of Austin, I think I should say also that the City of Austin and the State of Texas welcome you. RESPONSE TO WELCOME J. T. REID, Director of the Extension Division, University of New Mexico We who come from other states to this conference are delighted to receive the welcome that we have had this morning and that we have had prior to this meeting in the handshakes and the good fellowship that we feel here. I think Texas is well known throughout the country for its hospitality and its cordiality, but there is something more signifi­cant to me in the fact that we should be welcomed to a meeting of this kind at this time. I was thinking that if this meeting were almost anywhere else in the world, we could not receive such official welcome. We are getting this morning the welcome of the officials-those in authority-those leaders who shape opinion and action in this community and this State. If our meeting this morn­ing were in Germany or Italy or other countries of the world, we could not have such an invitation; but here we can sit down at our tables and talk about our problems with an open, free mind. To me, that is the essential key of this welcome-that we may come together, not only from Texas, but from any part of this nation, and meet together around the table or in the conference room and discuss our problems openly and freely, calling a spade a spade about this new work of adult education. The one thing I would point out with respect to this is that we, as workers in this field, must not choke the freeness of the program. If we are not hampered by official operation, or criticism, or restriction, then we, as workers in this program, should not restrict the rest of those who are working in it. Discussion should be open-minded, should be tentative. We should realize that what we are trying to do is to find the truth about this new, scientific program of adult education. Nobody knows all about adult education; certainly not in the sense that we know a great deal about other phases of education. The field of administrative education and of elementary education have been studied for years and years and years, and we have built up a great volume of knowledge and information about those types of education. Adult education has not congealed or crystallized to the point that anybody says he has all the knowledge and facts about adult education. I hope it continues that way. Certainly we can find our facts, we can find methods or procedures, we can find the direction; but, what is the truth ir. San Antonio is not the truth in Dallas. What is the truth in Texas is not the truth in Arkansas, and so on. I am not so sure but that this applies also to secondary education; hut certainly it applies to adult education. What we want to do is to keep our minds free and open on this whole procedure, and our welcome gives us that privilege here this morning. Let us keep that privilege, and he frank and open and critical in wh&t we all do and say. I am sure that I can speak for all of the delegates and visitors at this conference in saying that I appreciate the welcomes we have received from the people of Austin, from The University of Texas, from the Texas Federated Agencies for Adult Education here in the State, and from all others that have anything to do with this program. We feel that welcome, and I am sure you will join with me in saying that we shall use that welcome to the best advantage. PURPOSES OF THE CONFERENCE B. F. PI'ITENGER, Dean of the School of Education, The University of Texas As your program indicates, it was originally planned that this speech he made by Dean T. H. Shelby of the Extension Division of the University, who worked so hard in planning and organiz­ing this conference. When Dean Shelby became ill and when, day before yesterday, I was called upon to serve as a pinch-hitter, my first thought was to secure Dean Shelby's notes and act as a voice for Dean Shelby. However, I decided that such a procedure would hardly he fair to Dean Shelby, or to the subject, or to the speaker, or to the conference; and that the best thing that I could do would he to discuss the subject in my own way as well as I can. Please understand that I have not had any connection with planning and setting up the conference; and, as a result, I have had to draw pretty largely on my imagination in trying to determine what Dean Shelby would have set up as the purposes of the conference. I would like, in the course of my talk, to raise about four questions. These are largely, perhaps, questions that a professor like myself is likely to ask himself; and perhaps these questions are on a plane that is entirely below that of persons who have worked in adult education enterprises as long as you have. The first question that I have been asking myself is, "What is adult education?" In doing a little reading and some reflecting I have tried to formulate a definition of adult education. That may seem like a rather silly and unimportant question at the outset. Adult education is education for adults, and we shall suppose that every one of you knows what education is, and everyone knows an adult when he sees one; and so, on the principle that two plus two equals four, we have a definition of adult education. But I suspect that the matter is not as simple as all that. While per­haps there is not very much question about what an adult may be, there is a great deal of question about what education may be when used in this sense. Every experience that an adult encoun­ters in the course of his natural life is an educative experience; and, accepting the challenge of John Dewey that education is life, and that life is educative, adult education would simply be con­tacts with life, and would be too large to talk intelligently about. We have something of a similar problem raised when we talk about education for children. In fact, it was in this field that Dewey introduced his basic idea that education is life; and, from that point of view, everything that provides experience for the child is educative. Nevertheless, when we talk about the educa­tion of children, we usually mean something more restricted and limited than that. We have to have something more restricted and limited. When we talk about childhood education, we talk about it in terms of premeditated and organized experience supplied for educative purposes, through the home and the school. When we talk of adult education, we are likewise talking about the premedi­tated and organized accumulation of useful experiences. There are, however, at least two differences between adult education and childhood education. The first difference is that, in the case of the child, these useful experiences, these premeditated educational experiences, are largely organized in terms of two outstanding institutions-the home and the school. So much so, in fact, that ordinarily when we talk about childhood education, we are talking about the activities of the school. The school has become the primary agency, even surpass­ing the home, probably, in our thinking today, as the educative agency for the child. But that is not true in the field of adult education. There is no single agency--there are no two agen­cies-in this field to compare with the school and the home in the case of the child. Adult education is sponsored by a multiplicity of agencies, and I take it that one of the reasons for a confer­ence of this sort, perhaps an outstanding purpose, is to gather together representatives from these agencies to get some common thinking and common planning and common activity into this dis­jointed enterprise. We need to have some sort of organization and common planning on a sound basis, which cannot come about through the medium of a single institution. Also, there is another very fundamental difference, I think, in that so much of the planned and organized experience which is supplied to the adult is what can be described best as propaganda. A vast amount of the organized and premeditated experiences which are dished out to the adult are for the purpose of selling him something, or for the purpose of getting him to join some­thing, or for the purpose of getting him to vote for somebody. Now I do not say that there is no such thing as propaganda in the field of childhood education. But the child is not so lucrative for the propagandists. As a rule, where propaganda enters into child­hood education, it is usually looking forward to something that the child can do, or can join, or can vote for when he gets old enough to do that. But, in attempting to define adult education, we do have to go a little further than to consider it in terms of organized and premeditated experience, I think. We must in some way eliminate planned experience for propaganda purposes; and so, if I might define adult education, I would put it, perhaps, in these terms: "AduIt education consists of a variety of agencies which present in an organized and planned way experiences intended to change the outlook or the behavior of adults, for their cwn or society's welfare and improvement," and in that last phrase, I would be attempting to exclude the self-seeking sort of organized and premeditated experience-giving represented by prop­aganda. So much, then, for the first question as to what is adult education. This is an amateur's attempt to define it for himself. Two other questions concern what seem to me to be certain obstructive factors in the adult education situation. One of these is the concept which prevails among a great many adults that adults do not need to learn, that there is no particular occasion for adult education, that childhood and youth are the periods intended by Nature and Divine Power for the educative processes, and that the adult has been educated and he doesn't need to learn more. The other is the obstructive idea to the effect that even if the adult does need to learn, he cannot learn now; that the learn­ing period is the period of childhood and youth, and that the adult is not capable of further learning. I shall try to approach these two obstructive ideas in the form of two questions. First, "Can adults learn?" and secondly, "Should adults learn?" We are all familiar with the old adage, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," which expresses a very common attitude in the situation-that an adult is not a learner; that for adults learn­ing is over for all practical purposes; certainly that the adult period is not a learning period but it is a performing, acting period utilizing the learnings of childhood and youth. I think if anyone would take the trouble to examine his own experiences, he would discover at once the error of that belief. I have discovered in the last two days that even a white-headed professor of educa­tional administration can learn something about adult education. You may not think so, but if you could compare my present state of mind with that of two days ago, you would realize that I have learned. I think perhaps you have no confusion on the subject, all of you. If anyone follows the course of his own mind during the adult period, he will find that there is real, almost momentary evidence of the fact that he learns. He learns something from the newspaper every day, he learns something out of his business experiences or casual experiences every day, he learns something about people, he learns something about political issues and politi­cal questions, etc. Every day he learns, and if he looks around at his neighbors, he may be convinced that occasionally they learn too. However, this matter of casual observation and inspection may not be entirely convincing. Individuals differ, and it may very well be that I learn and someone else doesn't; and certainly the method is not any very adequate measure of the extent of adult learning, or of the comparative ability of adults to learn. Fortu­nately, that whole question has been investigated rather thoroughly in a scientific manner, and I have taken the trouble to look through what I had not looked through before-one of the older but still respectable reports summarizing the investigations and discoveries in the field of adult psychology and comparative studies of learn­ing as between children and adults; notably, Thorndikes book on adult learning, which is now about twelve years old, but still a fundamental classic in that field. Now, Thorndike summarizes literally dozens of experiments, set up under comparative condi­tions, comparing the learning abilities of adults in different stages and youth in different stages, of different types of learning mate­rial all the way from the learning of nonsense syllables which have no meaning whatever to associative learning and acquirement or improvement of skills and things of that sort. And Thorndike sets up what might be regarded as a sort of summation chart, or a chart of learning, or a sort of smoothed-out curve for learning at different periods, in which these different types of learning are combined. It starts very low at the period of early childhood and rises rapidly until about the age of twenty, and then there is a sort of a plateau from the age of twenty to thirty; and then begin­ning with thirty and running to forty-five, which is the limit of Thorndike's study, there is a gradual decline; but that curve at the age of forty-five is still higher than it was at the age of eighteen, which represents the maximum learning ability for the child and youth in the formal school period. Now, if one tears the information apart, and tries to analyze it, he finds that there are some differences to be noted between adult and youth learning. He finds, for example, that youth responds to a greater variety of learning procedures than does the indi­vidual adult. In other words, youth learning is not nearly so much conditioned by experience as is the learning of the adult; the child and the youth are ready to respond to different sorts of learning stimuli with a more or less equal tendency. His interests and his abilities to interpret and associate are not so well defined as in the case of the adult. Your smoothed curve brings together the varied interests and abilities of a large variety of adults. But upon analysis we find that the learning ability of the adult is likely to be one-sided as compared with the learning ability of the child­due, of course, to the accumulation of experience in a rather narrow channel. Now, that would seem to offer at least two things, perhaps, for the adult education program as compared to the childhood education program. One thing is that probably adult education ought to struggle more against that narrow, conservative point of view. But the interests and experiences of the adult, though more confined and more intense, show that the adult has a very distinct equipment, that of his interests and experience, with which to con­nect new ideas and new learning. Another difference which shows up rather plainly is the re­sourcefulness of the child in rote learning. The mastery of rote processes such as nonsense syllables, and other meaningless syllables and slogans, is very distinctly greater than that of the adult. But the ability of the adult to do associative memory learn­ing, to fix things in his mind through association with other things that he knows, is much greater than that of the child, because he is better prepared and has more experience with which to entangle and unite these new experiences which he is seeking to learn. In general, it can be said, perhaps, that the difficulties which adults seem to show in learning are due to about three principal lacks. First is the lack of practice. The adult has not practiced, kept up his formal learning. If you follow the learning careers of people who have been learners all their lives, you will find that they go right on continuing to learn. But the average adult, since he has left school, has just let learning in any purposeful and marked way slide. His learnings are accidental, incidental to the business of the day, and so he lacks practice. What he needs is to recover his ability through a period of practice. Also, he lacks confidence. He has learned and has accepted that adage that an old dog can't learn new tricks. He takes that popular psychol­ogy to be sound and correct. Perhaps he has a supercilious atti­tude on the need for learning, holds the theory that learning is a job for children, not a job for adults; but, in any case, he is likely to lack confidence in his ability to learn something new. In the third place, he is likely to lack motive. Perhaps this matter of superciliousness better fits in with the last point. He does not respond to the kind of motivation which frequently works in the classroom, and he does not generate within himself any real and fundamental motive to learn. But, if you take any adult who in childhood had ability to learn and give him motive and give him confidence and keep him at it-give him practice-he'll learn. There is no question about that. The next question is "Should adults learn?" This attitude of superciliousness to which I referred-that is not a good word. I don't mean to challenge or condemn the adult by using that term, but this attitude that learning is a thing for children, not to be used in connection with adults, will have to be overcome. Should the adult learn? It seems to me that there are many reasons, many which would be effective. I have selected only three: one, the very obvious fact that in a dynamic society such as ours (I simply mean a society which is constantly changing, which grows out of or over itself, which is in a continual state of flux) we have to change in accordance with this dynamic society; constant readjustments have to be made. It is utterly impossible to build an educational program for children and youth with any conviction that it will equip the child or the youth when he emerges from that program towards meeting the demands of the society on the day that he gets out. We don't know what is going to happen ten years from today. When we start a youngster in the first grade of school, we have no idea of the kind of society and economic situations he is going to have to function in when he graduates; and not only is it true for that decade in his life, but it is true for all the decades that follow. He is going to have to learn in and live through constantly changing economic and social situations, and there is the need for constant readjustment to meet those changes. There is the further fact that modern science interprets the human mind-in fact, the whole being-in an organismic way. Now, that is a big word which means only that the human being is an organism mentally, physically, morally, spiritually, and in every other way; and an organism is a thing which is constantly changing within itself, which is constantly sloughing off, and is rebuilding. Now, it is true that an organism passes through a growth stage and reaches a stage of maturity in growth, and then finally arrives at decline and senility; and with that analogy in mind, perhaps we feel that the growth stage is the learning stage of childhood and youth, and that the adult stage is the stage of plateau or decline. But, as a matter of fact, the plateau which is reached is not the end, is not a plateau of cessation or decline of learning ability; the plateau which is reached is the maximum point of learning ability, which is then maintained, and there is a vast difference. The decline which sets in then and continues until absolute senility is reached never brings the learning capacity of that individual back to the minimum, practically non-existent state with which the child started. An organism constantly rebuilds itself, and the human being is an organism mentally and spiritually as well as physically. There is the further fact of the accumulative character of experi­ence. From this point of view, the adult is in a better position to learn than is the child, and as he lives on he arrives continually at a better and still better position to learn. Why, there are many things in life that can't be learned by children. The higher values of life are beyond the experience of children, probably, to assimi­ilate and comprehend; and those of us who have arrived at a stage where our hair is gray believe that there are some things which older people learn and can learn that younger people can't. Experience is cumulative. Now, I admit that we lose some things as we grow older in the form of initiative and vitality, perhaps aggressiveness, and so on; but we do have a certain something in that accumulation of ex­perience which no one except those who have become older can get, or at least which we individually could not have gotten earlier. Possibly some individuals accumulate this experience through for­tunate circumstances, and through their innate abilities, earlier than other individuals do; and quite possibly from that point of view, there are certain people of thirty who are in a better posi­tion to learn with respect to these higher and more fundamental values than are other people of sixty or seventy. But wait until those people who now have that capacity at thirty have arrived at forty-five and fifty, and watch them. They will have that benefit of accumulated experience which is an important factor in the more fundamental types of learning with respect to real human values. Well, now, those are some of the suggestions that I would offer as to why adults should learn, why we should not think of childhood and youth as the period of learning and adult life as the period when such activity practically ceases; that is, learning in any organized and premeditated way. Finally we have the question as to what adults should learn. I take it that is pretty largely the purpose of a conference like this. As I look over the program, it starts out with a general theme to the effect that this conference is called to define the values of adult education in a democracy. This conference will seek to challenge our thinking with respect to democracy as a way of life. Attitudes may be built up toward social institutions and cultural institutions. Emphasis could be placed on adult edu­cation as it is contributing to the advancement of such a demo­cratic society. That, I take it, determines the major purposes and functions of this conference. If you look through the program you will notice that a theme is set forth for each of the general assembly periods: How adult education may assist in the solu­tion of problems of economic self -sufficiency; How it may assist in the problems of family life; How it may assist in the develop­ment of better citizenship. Economic self-sufficiency, better family life (including health and matters of that sort), and education for better citizenship seem to be the things which the committee in charge of this program have chosen as three of the major groups of things that adults can and should learn in order to function bet­ ter in the democratic way of life. If I were to attempt to summarize, I would say that the things that adults ought to acquire should be made the major objectives of a conference on adult education, and might be summarized under about three headings. First, to make up the deficiencies of early education. There is a great deal of adult education that is now directed toward just that sort of thing, teaching of the fundamentals to persons who were unfortunate in their early schooling; teaching of American­ism, and teaching of the English language, etc., to the foreign­born; the making up of the deficiencies of early education. If the time comes when childhood education becomes universal and complete, and more and more perfect within itself, then that matter of making up deficiencies would cease to be a proper objec­tive of adult education; but that time has not been reached, and it still is an important factor. Another important objective, certainly, is to keep up with the demands of changing times and circumstances; vocationally, phys­ically, socially, in terms of health and sanitation, and in practi­cally every respect just to keep up with the requirements, with the new adjustments which the changes of time and circumstance bring, as we go on living our lives. The third need, seems to me, is to achieve certain developments and understandings having to do with the more fundamental values of life that are impossible of proper acquirement in the stage of childhood and youth. I take it that the purpose of this conference is to try to define somewhat the learning that adults should have, and the ways in which this learning may be brought about, and also to secure some sort of voluntary consolidation of the efforts of a great variety of agencies which are engaged in adult education, so as to bring into the picture something that corresponds to that chief agency in the field of childhood education now-the school. HOW ADULT EDUCATION MAY ASSIST IN THE PROBLEMS OF ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY H. P. DROUGHT, State Administrator, Work Projects Administration for Texas At Mass one Sunday Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Mrs. O'Toole list­ened to good Father McCarthy preach on the happiness of matri­mony and the bliss of married life. When they left the church together, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said: "Faith, Mrs. O'Toole, 'Twas a beautiful sermon that Father McCarthy preached on married life." "Yes," said Mrs. O'Toole, "and I wish I knew no more about it than Father McCarthy does." For me, a lawyer, to attempt to talk to you, experienced and distinguished educators that many of you are, on any subject re­lated to education is like Father McCarthy preaching that sermon to Mrs. O'Toole. Perhaps I should have declined the invitation to talk to you today. Perhaps I would have declined it had it not been extended by a Dean of The University of Texas. However, one of the first lessons I learned during five years of attendance at that great institution was that invitations from its Deans had best be accepted. I am sorry, indeed, that a most unfortunate accident has prevented the Dean from being here today. Perhaps he would appreciate this evidence of how the authority of his office extends through the years. Having suggested that I am hardly qualified to speak to you on the subject of "How Adult Education May Assist in the Solution of Problems of Economic Self-Sufficiency," may I not ask, if you refuse me your indulgence and consider my remarks presumptuous, that you remember this is the Dean's idea, not mine, and that you charge him, not me, with the presumption? The United States is now recovering from its ninth depression. It has been brought out of its previous depressions not by fore­ sight and planning, but in each instance by a combination of what might be termed fortuitous economic phenomena. In the present depression, no such phenomena have occurred and we find our­ selves under the necessity of devising ways and means for recovery. During every depression, and certainly during this depression, those who have been the greatest sufferers, those who have swelled the ranks of the unemployed and the destitute, and hence have retarded recovery, have been and are the uneducated, the untrained, the people who cannot adjust themselves to the changes m eco­nomic conditions which occur during every such period m our history. Shocking proof of this is afforded by the employment rolls of the Work Projects Administration. The persent unemployment in this country is conservatively estimated at nine million, three hun­dred thousand. Last month, two and one-quarter million of these men and women were, because of their destitution and inability to find work elsewhere, at work on W.P.A. projects. And eighty-five per cent of them are without training in any presently usable skill or profession. If these W.P.A. workers are a fair sample of all the unemployed in this country, and I believe they are, then there are almost eight million unemployed people in the United States today needing work and unable to find it, who, because of lack of education and lack of training in methods of earning a livelihood, cannot adjust themselves to the economic changes which are now taking place. Many of these people are illiterates, but many of them have had some formal education. Whether they are illiterates or high school or even college graduates, they are uneducated and untrained in the sense that they have not learned how to gain economic security, how to make a living, how to adjust themselves to their present economic environment. Without entering into a discussion of what is and what is not education, without recommending one type of training or condemning another, I believe, and I think you believe, that, for all practical purposes, these people are uneducated and form a field in which you must work. I shall not argue that were these people educated in professions or trained in techniques and skills, everyone of them would now be employed, but I do offer for your consideration the thought that these figures are most sig­nificant, that they do prove the present ranks of the unemployed would be reduced by many millions were there proportionately few uneducated and untrained persons in those ranks. If this be true, it follows that a successful plan for a reduction in unemployment, for recovery from this depression, must include, as one of its essential elements, the training or education of these untrained and uneducated jobless people, at least to a degree which will enable them to offer themselves to agriculture and industry as something more marketable than common labor in a technolog­ical age. I have spoken of the unskilled unemployed as forming a field in which you must work. But there is another field, a vastly larger one, which demands your most diligent effort and your highest talent. Not all of the uneducated and untrained are in the ranks of the unemployed. Indeed only a relatively small proportion of them are. Millions of them,-most of them, are employed, but at common labor, and at a price which makes the problem of eco­nomic self-sufficiency insoluble to them. Who are these millions of employed common laborers? They are the thousands of Mexican seasonal workers who, starting from the cotton fields of the Rio Grande Valley in the early summer, follow the harvests north until they reach the beet fields of Michi­gan; they are the thousands of Negroes who have a precarious existence either as farm workers, as common laborers or as odd­job men in town; they are the thousands of tenant farmers eking out a living by raising the same crops year after year to be sold on glutted markets; they are the industrial laborers who, through a decade or more, have become specialists in one operation which machines now do quicker and cheaper, and who have joined the ranks of common labor for they cannot now sell their skill; they are the professional men and women and the technicians whose professions or techniques are no longer needed, as the musicians who used to play in our theatres, and who now live, God only knows how, some on vain hope but many on uncertain and often secret charity. Adult education is essential to the security of every one of these people. These five classes I have named and the many I have omitted must be trained or retrained, must be taught or retaught, how to solve their problem of economic self-sufficiency, how to adjust themselves to the world of today or how to start life anew. Until this is done, our Nation cannot prosper. I have purposely refrained, until now, from mentioning those millions of young men and women, many of them with a formal education, but who now, principally because they have not been trained or educated in any needed skill or profession, are in the ranks of common labor, are on government projects or are among the millions of unemployed. They should be our chief concern, for we should have provided them with the means of earning a livelihood, and in this we have failed. Not long ago, I received a letter from a young man who had been an enrollee in a Civilian Conservation Camp and was then employed as a common laborer on a W.P.A. project. He was graduated from a high school several years ago and had never been able to obtain any employment other than a govern­ment emergency job. The statements in his letter were startling. He wrote that he was one of millions of his generation who had taken advantage of every opportunity which my generation had offered them, who had done exactly what my generation had told them to do in order to earn a living, and, he charged, these oppor· tunities were useless,--Qur instructions had misled them and they were now without knowledge of how to get a start in life. He said he had no place of value in his country under our present gov­ernment, and he asked me what my generation, which had brought him into the world and was responsible for his condition, now intended to do about it. "You have failed," he charged, "and in your failure you have created a situation for me in which I cannot succeed." Can we defend ourselves against this charge? I am afraid we cannot at present. But you and your colleagues who are engaged in the great task of adult education are building a defense against this charge. You have it within your power, I believe, to reach this young man and the millions like him with that help which they need, to give them now that training which we should have given them, to equip them yet with the means to win their struggle for a decent existence. On the success of adult education largely depends the welfare of our Nation and the continuation of our democratic form of government. Let me illustrate what I mean by that statement. One dark night not long ago, when our hounds were loose in the woods hunting a wolf, one of them stepped in a steel wolf trap. In his panic he attacked everything within reach, including a clump of cactus. Had we not been able to find him quickly and release him, he would have destroyed the cactus and probably destroyed himself. Of course, had he known what was crushing his foot, what was holding him when he wanted to go forward, and with this knowledge, had he been able to liberate himself, what appeared to him to be the greatest tragedy of his life, would have been merely a painful incident. These Mexicans, these Negroes, these tenant farmers, these work­ers trained in skills now obsolete, and especially these millions of young men and women exemplified by the young man who wrote me that letter, are all caught in an economic steel trap. Because they are uneducated and untrained, they neither know what has clutched them nor how to get loose from the clutches. The University of Texas Publication You and your colleagues have a knowledge of the mechanism of this trap and can show them how to release its jaws so that they can go forward in some form of economic security. And you must be the teachers who will teach them this, for if you are not, other teachers will find them. These other teachers are not people like us who believe in our democratic form of government and who are striving to maintain it, and to assure its success for all time to come. These other teachers are abroad in our land today. They are seeking these people to teach them that it is not an economic trap that is holding them fast, but that it is our and their govern­ment that is the trap, and that unless they destroy it, they will be held where they are until they starve. I could carry this further, but I believe it is enough for me to repeat what I have just said: On the success of adult education largely depends the welfare of our Nation and the continuation of our democratic form of government. This is a great enterprise, a very constructive enterprise, an enterprise rich in the creation of human values, in which you are engaged. I envy you, because it seems to me that the returns from your undertaking must be much more gratifying than any returns ever received by a lawyer or by a state administrator of a general works program. Although, as I have doubless disclosed, there is much about your work that I do not know, yet I have learned something of it. I know that the need for this work has existed in this country from the earliest days. I know that in one form or another efforts at adult education must have been made since then, but I also know that whatever these efforts may have been, the need for the work in the United States today is greater than ever before. I have learned that many of the methods used suc­cessfully in schools and colleges, as we know them, are useless in the education of adults; that today the need for new methods is recognized and new methods are being devised and tested; that some of them are being discarded; that a few are being adopted and that this experimentation must continue. I know that one of our greatest difficulties is to inspire and maintain the interest of your students in order to induce them to take up and to continue their studies, and I realize that you have no practical means of reaching those whom you should teach except by inspiring this interest. The adult education project of the Work Projects Administra­tion has given me a knowledge of your problems and of what you can achieve whenever these problems are solved. I have often thought that this is the most worth-while project of the entire Works Program, and I have sometimes wondered if in years to come its achievements will not be ranked above those of all other projects. Finally, I know that when you stand off and get the right per­spective of your work, and view its magnitude,-when you come out from among the trees and gaze at the forest, as I am sure most of you must do occasionally, you cannot but feel discour­aged, for great achievement must often seem hopeless. But if you have in you any of the strain of your ancestors who, despite dis­couragement and apparent hopelessness, attained the great objec­tives, such as those pioneers who extended the boundaries of this country from the Alleghenies to the Pacific Coast, or those who laid ribbons of steel over its prairies and through its western mountains, you will ignore this discouragement, you will refuse to feel this hopelessness and your achievements may be as great as theirs. Indeed, you are engaged in high adventure; if you fail, the cost to this Nation will be terrible, but the prize which you will gain if you succeed will be so great,-so glorious, that I know you will not fail. SYMPOSIUM: PROBLEMS OF ECONOMIC SELF­ SUFFICIENCY ,A. THE LATIN-AMERICAN E. D. SALINAS, President-General, Leagt!e of United Latin­ American Citizens I believe I know what a symposium is. It is a place where speakers are compelled to discuss an age-old problem in five minutes. I shall not try to give you an exposition and justify the problem of the Latin-American in his efforts to get into the Ameri­can way of life. I am going to enumerate and make very short comments on the four points that were brought out in the discus­sion this afternoon. Adult education can assist in the solution of problems of eco­nomic self -sufficiency of the Latin-American by attempting to in­corporate the culture of the Latin-American into the American way of life; this can be done by educating internally the American of Latin extraction by instilling in him the spirit, the initiative, and the ambition to become an American citizen, an active Ameri­can citizen; and also by educating externally the other population groups that compose the American citizenry to accept and receive him with open arms as a fellow citizen of this country. Those educations, internal and external combined, might gradually, by a process of evolution, incorporate that Latin personalty, after de­veloping him to his maximum, into the final and ultimate person­ality of the American citizen of tomorrow, whatever that personality might be. Second, adult education can and should emphasize our similari­ties rather than lay any stress on our differences. Those simi­larities might be the desire of all those Americans within the con­fines of our country to live in a democratic community and in a democratic nation; our similarities of ideals and our love for our flag, for our traditions as a Nation; our similarity in enjoying the good fellowship of one another; our desire to understand one another, to see the other fellow's point of view. Third, adult education ought to consider that the Latin-American is a person of bi-lingual characteristics, and that education should approach him not only in the English language, but also in the Spanish language, for the purpose of getting the desired ideal well impressed in his own system and constitution. We should also consider his cultural background, and instead of attempting to eliminate it, we should attempt to stimulate it and inspire it so that it can be incorproated into the background of our American way of life. We should also take into account the economic tra­ditions and the economic conditions and circumstances of the American citizen of Latin extraction. Fourth, the members of the discussion group believed that many of the assumed differences which are alleged to exist between the American citizen group of Latin extraction and the other popula­tion groups of our country do not exist in fact, that they are merely assumed, and that differences, in so far as they exist, are due to economic and social conditions; that the Latin-American has not been able to raise his social system and social environ­ment to the desirable extent; and that disparities of circumstances are not due to biological differences. Adult education should help us to understand that the existing differences may be completely obliterated. Those were points that were brought out at this discussion. I just want to make a few remarks with regard to the Latin­American. You and I love our country. We are as American in our own Latin-American group as is any other population group. We thrill when Old Glory passes by, and our heart throbs with the first notes of "America." We love this country. It is our mother country. The forefathers that made this country we con­sider our national forefathers, because they gave this country, through the Constitution, to all those people of whatever extrac­tion who might be born within its border. We have been born within its borders, and we are endeavoring to take an active part in the American way of life; our people, in a way, constitute a population group somewhat different and distinct at this time; but we pray and we hope, that with the years that come, that popula­tion group will be merged with the other population groups of our country so that in these conferences we cannot say that there are different population groups, but that there is only one popula­tion, and that is American. The Americans of Latin extraction ask you to vaccinate and immunize yourself against a prejudice that has taken root for many years. We do not condemn, and we do not feel that we should blame you for it. Try to receive all Americans of what­ever extraction with open arms. Let us not in this country of ours have foreigners. Let us all be Americans. Let us not try to super­impose one population group by planting another. Let us, as true Americans-under our flag which casts a star-spangled heaven over each and every one of us-let us unite ourselves in spirit and in action so that, in the end, we can say that our country may be the salvation of democracy. B. THE NEGRO ROBERT L. SUTHERLAND, Chairman, Division of Social Studies, Buckwell University and Associate Director, American Youth Commission The mother of a little girl known as Mary Washington came from a rather good farm family. Her father owned his farm; the farmhouse was well kept; there were screens on the windows. Mary's mother taught her to be clean, to have pride in her family, to go as far with her schooling as she could. When Mary grew up, she married John, who did not have the fortune of coming from a family which had owned its own farm; nor did John have the fortune of owning a farm. And so, when he married, he had a varying fortune. Sometimes he thought that he was on the verge of saving enough money to get a piece of land for himself, and then he would slip back again. When their child was born, a girl named after her mother, and carrying the name of Mary, she had a conflicting set of influences brought to bear upon her personality. To begin with, the mother's strict practice of carrying on the tradition of her own family was effective. This girl was taught to respect the school system, to value education, not to fight the teacher, to go to school and learn her lessons well. The girl was taught how to establish a good home. But about that time, the economic standing of the family had dropped so low, and they had moved about from place to place so much, and the father was getting so restless under the pressure which his wife was bringing to bear for him to establish a good home that he went off and left the mother and daughter to shift for themselves. The father did not have the background of com­ fort, and the pressure was so great that he went off and got drunk and did not come back. The mother and daughter had to attempt to carry on this middle-class standard of proper living. They were soon on relief. The family was now in a strange community, occupying a one-room shack of as humble description as you could well imagine of a family on relief, and having very humble pro­ visions for relief. Mary, the daughter, frequently ironed her dresses very carefully before she went to school. She was always so neat and clean that the teacher was sure she must come from one of the better families in the country, and when the teacher said, "Bring two pennies from your mother for the P.-T.A.," and the child did not turn up with the two pennies, she said, "You must have stolen those pen­nies and spent them for candy." The teacher couldn't imagine that Mary came from a home that couldn't afford two pennies for P.-T.A. dues. Mary was known as a bright child, and flamed back a reply to the teacher from whom she had tried to hide the truth about her father's desertion. The teacher had either to know the truth, or to believe the untruth that she was dishonest-both of which hurt Mary's pride. Mary dropped from that high status of an obedient child willing to cooperate with the educ.ational system to a child that was fighting it; she became known as a problem child. Mary was a colored girl, and she illustrates a great many of the problems of colored youth today. She represents, first of all, the hardships which come to per­sonal and family development when the limitations of a caste-like system confront the individuals. She represents the hardships which come to a person and to a family when the limitations of an economic system which is not working too smoothly brings its worst features to bear upon persons in real life. On the other hand, she represents the potentialities of personal influence. She shows how, even in relatively humble circumstances, a mother and a daughter can try to maintain high standards. Thus we see how the investigator who gathered these case facts himself had an important influence upon the future of Mary's development. This investigator was attracted to her because she was a problem child. Going back of the factors required Mary's cooperation, and so the investigator began to talk to her as though she were normal. Once again Mary found she could talk to a middle-class person as an equal, to a self-respecting person from outside; this investigator was that. And once again Mary forgot she was living on relief; she regained her self-respect and then the facts came out, and she said, "Yes, I am in bad circumstances, but I do want to come out. Can you help me?" By his casual cour­tesy, this investigator-this outside person, this adult educator­had a chance to affect that girl's personality for all time to come. And so another thing is illustrated by this case: That perhaps we, frequently, in the role of outsider, teacher, administrator, or friend, when we are dealing with people who are caught in a cir­cumstance hut who themselves may advance in spite of the circum­stance, may help these individuals to find themselves. Our group discussed cases like Mary's. We discussed the com­plexity of factors which produces these problem cases; and we are interested in the field of adult education as applied to Negro problems so that, in this realm of economic life, such persons may find new adjustments. First, we hope that the finesse and the skill that we have as educators will bring to the many persons in our society employ­ment so that individuals will gradually and increasingly he liber­ated from those conditions that hold them down to lower class ways of behaving. We hope that we, as adult educators, can bring direct influence to bear upon the type of person represented by Mary. Even in their limitations, such persons, through higher standards of per­sonal efficiency, can and will achieve, through their own efforts, a desirable goal of adult education. C. THE TENANT FARMER C. A. WILEY, Professor of Economics, The University of Texas We just had time to pass five resolutions in our group, and I am just going to give you these five resolution;;. We had quite a hit of difficulty deciding what to do about this tenancy problem, because we finally couldn't decide whether we wanted tenancy or not. We ran into the problem that to do away with tenancy would do away with absentee landlordism, and we couldn't decide. We were struck with the dilemma that if absentee landlordism was good and tenancy had, or the other way around-we were lost in inconsistency. We wanted to iron it out like this: Some absentee landlordism is good, some bad; some tenancy is good, some had; and we would like to have a little of both. Finally we did decide that agriculture or agricultural producers are in a pretty bad way-both owners and tenants. Some small-scale owners, accord­ing to relief studies, are found to be in almost as incapacitated circumstances as their tenants; so, as a general resolution, we were much in agreement on this one point: That adult education should encourage and assist and promote cooperative self-help for our farmers, whether through cooperative selling, cooperative produc­ing, producing for home use, or farm management. In the second place, we endorsed increased farm income through more efficient land use. (We didn't know just what, exactly, effi­cient land use was-whether you increase efficiency by enlarging the size of the farms or decreasing the size of the farms, or by improved technology, or ownership, or tenancy. But we wanted to increase the farm income through more efficient land use; and whatever you think that is, we want to have it. We could iron this all out. We are perfectly capable of doing it, but we didn't have enough time.) Then, in the third place-a thing we are pretty much in agree­ment on-we felt that we couldn't afford to abolish absentee land­lordism entirely; and that neither could we afford to promote 100 per cent ownership. We would favor increased governmental activity, state or federal, in subsidies toward increased farm owner­ship of family-sized farms. (Don't ask me to define family-sized farms-we didn't. If you want a pretty close approximation, it is those occupied by a farm family.) We were in favor of that. In the fourth place, since we are going to tolerate some tenancy (that is, some is good, some is bad, and we hope to keep what is good), we endorsed careful social action (especially adult educa­tion, I imagine) in the halls of the Legislature, with respect to passing legislation for improved contractual relations between landlords and tenants and for better operating agreements that will increase farm income. In the fifth place, we decided that probably in adult education (whether it is adult education generally, or university education, or experiment station education, or maybe extension service educa­tion) a little bit too much emphasis has been put upon educating the fellow who didn't need so much education, and that too little emphasis has been put upon educating the fellow who was defi­cient in education. So we were in agreement that educational opportunities for rural people should be broad. More emphasis should be put upon rural education for rural people, and not so much emphasis upon education for city people. Especially we should place greater emphasis upon education of rural peoples now falling in the so-called submerged or underprivileged group. Generally if we don't have enough wealth in a rural community to support a good system of public free 8chool education, we have called it unfortunate, or the work of the Almighty, or something that is born of infinite wisdom, or something about like that; but whatever procedure we might undertake to get it, we want more public free school education for the underprivileged rural people. The University of Texas Publication D. LABOR AND INDUSTRY PAUL E. SPRUILL, Junior Placement Supervisor, Texas State Employment Service We had a most interesting discussion on what kind of trammg labor needs in order to fit into industry. The first question which came up was: What is the need for training? Mr. Drought brought out in his talk that W.P.A. groups show a definite need for train­ing, and we think certain groups over thirty-five need additional training if they are to be able to retain their jobs or to obtain new jobs. Those were the two groups that particularly appeared to need training. The two major problems were to train the untrained and to retrain or further train present workers for job security. In other words, these people that are unemployed, or those that are trying to enter the labor market, or are going to enter the labor market shortly, must be trained for positions if they are to get them. Otherwise, they are going to have to be unskilled or common labor· ers, and even that field is overcrowded. Then, the present workers in many cases must be trained for public security. There is the decided need for vocational guid­ance. Many people don't know what they want to do or what they can do, and what the occupational opportunities are. In the discussion we asked, "What is being done along that line?" There are many papers and books being written on job oppor­tunity. Most of them approach the problem from a national or a state-wide basis, and that does not do a person much good, because they don't get down to the specific problems. The prob­lem must be approached on a community basis. People are going to find jobs in their own community, or go away from their home community to find jobs. The main thing that was brought out as needed was general education for the unemployed group. Many of the unemployed persons lack general education, and need, of course, specific job training. The question then came up of migratory workers in Texas. They begin their seasonal work in the Valley in the summer, you know, and they are working now in vegetable harvest. They come on into the cotton picking, and go on into the Panhandle in October and November. They are pretty well taken care of, as you will find by reading a recent report in Survey Graphic. Other reports will come out shortly in Readers' Digest and Time Magazine. Someone raised the question as to whether health was a factor. It was agreed that health is a very important factor in many cases of employment. If persons do not have good health, they are not able to work, or at least they are prevented from doing their best. And then we brought up a question of the older worker. The unemployed veteran presents a problem. What are you going to train him for? Employers do not want to employ older workers because they can get young people and train them for the jobs to to he done. What are we going to train these older workers for? We will have to study that problem in order to determine what is to be done. E. JOBS FOR YOUTH W. P. DAVIDSON, Educational Adviser, North Texas District, Civilian Conservation Corps In our group discussion we had seventeen people present, repre­senting practically all of our educational agencies, and we had a "cat and dog fight." It was a very interesting discussion. It was remarked that we needed a week to carry on our discussion, and one lady said if we could finish the discussion in this genera­tion, we would be very lucky. We in our group decided to make four recommendations to this conference. We agreed that one of the prime needs, and a very real need in our modern society in this country, is that we shall educate the public to the end that they will change their opinions about labor so that the idea that is very general that the white­collar jobs are superior socially and economically will be put aside, and that all form of productive labor will be looked upon as dignified, worthy and entirely desirable. There is too much opinion abroad that if we want to he somebody, we must have a white-collar job, or he a professional man. In the opinion of the group that I met with, we as adult educators, in all of our activi­ties, ought to do all we can to dispel that notion and to build up the idea that all forms of productive labor are dignified and are socially, as well as economically, desirable. The second recommendation is that those adult education agen­cies known as the National Youth Administration, the Work Projects Administration Adult Education Division, and the Civil­ian Conservation Corps should be continued, and should he made permanent agencies of the government. These agencies are doing a great deal to provide jobs, guidance, and training for the youth of our generation. Third, our group recommends that the public schools should do more and more effective vocational counseling and guidance. We had quite a discussion as to whether or not the school should do more actual vocational education. The matter was not finally decided. There were those who believed that we should not attempt to do more vocational education than we are now doing; there were those who thought that we should do more. All of us agreed that we couldn't do all of the vocational education that needs to be done, and that the main burden for actual training in voca­tional skills must rest upon industry and commerce. But we think that the schools should do more expert vocational counseling, giv­ing students occupational and vocational information of all kinds; and we think that this vocational information should be specific. There are a number of agencies that put out some very fine voca­tional and occupational information, but this information is largely national in scope; what we need is information about the vocational needs and occupational opportunities in the vicinity that is accessible to the students of the high schools. Instead of knowing what the vocational trends are through the whole United States, we need to know what they are in Austin and vicinity, and in Texas, and in the Southwest, and build up from that. We also recommend, unanimously, that all adult educational agencies should do · more counseling and guidance. It was the unanimous opinion of our group that guidance counseling that is free, informed, and expert, is intensely needed, and that anything that we can do to stimulate the spread of effective counseling and guidance will be one of the greatest contributions we can make to the solution of this problem of jobs for youth. HOW ADULT EDUCATION MAY ASSIST IN THE SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS OF FAMILY LIFE MILDRED HORTON, Vice-Director, Texas Cooperative Extenswn Service I think it is rather significant, as we look at this morning's program which has to do with the family, that so many of the speakers and so many of the discussion leaders are women. I think that is a tradition, and I hope that the thoughts of men and women will mingle here this morning although we are sitting Quaker way; that we can break down the feeling that the family is the province of the women. We are all members of the family. The family is the basic unit of life. It is the goal toward which life strives. As far back as history traces human culture, the family has been an important unit. Its importance in past experiences, its importance in modern life, and its increasing importance in future life is the reason, I believe, why so many thinking people are giving their attention to families and to family life. The family is a little society, as it were, where we all first come with crude human natures that need to be changed into socialized personali­ties. The family is the first unit of democracy. The great progress the world has made during the last two cen­turies through inventions, discoveries, and science has greatly changed the desires, the beliefs, and the relationships of men, women, and children. Just as education, government, and other institutions change, so does the family change. This rapid change in the family, in its way of living, is reflecting itself in our cul­ture. The old patriarchal form of family life of the Eighteenth Century has been swept away; and the family, because it does have more sentiment than most institutions, and because of the complexity of civilization and higher standards of living, today has found it hard to make the necessary adaptation. The attempts at adaptation have brought many cases of unhappy home life, confusion, frustration, and separations. These show the conse­quences of the complexity of family relations under the conditions of our modern civilization. These failures at family adaptations come largely from lack of training, lack of understanding in good family principles;-lack of these two things beginning in early childhood-so that educa­tion is being directed toward understanding these conditions and experiences that make for successful family life. The extent to which men and women, boys and girls, and the small children have an opportunity to understand and to practice these family experi­ences, these democratic experiences-to that extent will our fami­lies be successful. The approach to the problems of family life is education­education of the family, the urban family, the rural family­education of all families. This education must be something more than skill in classes and textbooks, more than training in tech­niques and skills, important as they are. This education must be an intellectual and spiritual process involving the effort to under­stand, to comprehend, to be sensitive to ideas, aspirations, and interests of which the individual might otherwise be indifferent. These must result in intelligent acting, in intelligent living. This education must better the development of individual character, of belief in one's self. There must be the development of a sense of responsibility and of willingness to accept and to meet our responsibilities intelligently. And there must be an understanding of our obligations as well as our rights as family members and as citizens. And there must always be a recognition of the rights of others. In other words, fitness for living in a great democracy must be developed in the people; and I believe the place for beginning is the family, and the way for beginning is education. We must realize that a fountain cannot rise higher than its source, and that children and youth are dependent on adults for guidance and assistance. The importance of adult education from that standpoint is being more and more recognized in the whole field of education today. Jacks, the English author and educator, in his book "The Edu­cation of the Whole Man" points out three changes coming in education from the adult standpoint. Those three are the place of education, the time of education, and the persons in education; time, place, and persons. He sees a wide extension of the area of operation from the specialized localities; in other words, from the schools, to every place of human activity where men and women will be educated into the full stature of human beings. In the extension service, we have long believed that education can take place wherever there is a human activity, whether it is in the kitchen, in the garden, in the field, in the orchard, or in the factory. Jacks sees education not as a episode in life, but as a systematic process that goes on, that is lasting, and continuous through life. He sees the teachers as learners and learners as teachers; each occupying a double role. And as adult educators, it seems to me that we must take that word literally, and assume that our education is a lasting, continuous process. As an example of a learner becoming a teacher and a teacher a learner, I should like to give the example of the frame garden development in Texas. If you have noticed the pictures out in the lobby, then we can picture for ourselves a frame garden. A frame garden is a small plot intensively cultivated, with some lxl2's around it, and a cover of canvas or some loosely woven material which protects the young plants frmo the wind, or cold, or sand, or heat, or whatever the obstacle to growing a garden may he in that particular section of the state. Back several years ago, a family by the name of Heck in Castro County was ill. Practically every member of the family was ill. The mother and father were quite concerned. They packed the family in the car and drove to Mayo's to find out the trouble. They were told there that it was a question of malnutrition, that what they needed was more green, fresh vegetables. They returned to Castro County, and having the difficulties of sand and wind, heat and cold, they devised the frame garden idea. Necessity forced them to that invention and they became teachers of the idea, and we, the ex­tension service, the adult educators, became learners. We learned from the Hecks. And so last year ten thousand frame gardens were built by farm families as a result of that first frame garden built by the Hecks of Castro County. Requests for information on frame gardens have come from Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana in the last two weeks; and so the learner becomes a teacher and the teacher becomes a learner. The problems of the home and family life today may he grouped in two classes: those dealing with things and those dealing with people. Of course, they are closely related, each having influence on and direct relation to the otber. They really are inseparable. The problems dealing with things are usually considered largely economic, hut this is not always so. Poverty and ignorance are contributing causes to many of our problems. For example, pro­viding the right food for the family, the calories, vitamins, and minerals is not just a matter of money, hut also a matter of edu­cation, a matter of intelligence. One must know what constitutes an adequate diet, a safe diet. If this is known, if its value is understood and appreciated, then more attention is given to pro­ducing an adequate diet from the farmer's standpoint; or maybe to wiser purchasing of an adequate diet from the standpoint of The University of Texas Publication urban families. The diets of forty per cent of the farm and ranch families over Texas are lacking in one or more fundamental essen­tials to growth and health. Sixty per cent of the urban families' diets are lacking, so that is still a problem. The question of the family food supply has a direct influence on family behavior as well as family health. The hungry man is not a peaceful man. He is not an understanding man; and the same may be said of the woman; we may accept that in a general sense. In such prob­lems of family life, the adult educators must he able to begin, if necessary, as Christ did, with the physical needs of the family. Begin with the family where it is, whatever its problem, whatever its need; and then go further and direct or guide that family as their needs and their desires and welfare will dictate and as their economic ability will permit. Begin with some vital, living problem. The thing that was said of the hungry man can also he said of the cold man; so food, clothing, and shelter are material needs which must he provided if the family is to develop good family life, if the family members are to take their places as good citizens, and if problems of delinquency and other such problems are to he solved. Now, if home economics is to make a satisfac­tory contribution to family life, to make its biggest and its best contribution, it must be made to function more, not only in the lives of the boys and girls who take home economics in high schools and colleges, hut also the lives of the boys and girls who do not take home economics. It must he made to function more in the lives of the people who are working with the various gov­ernment agencies, and it must also be made to function more in the lives of people not working with any government agencies. In other words, home economics and other related fields in family life must be made to function in the lives of the masses of the people. Greater progress will be made in enabling home eco­nomics to function more in the lives of all the people and thus make a more satisfactory contribution to family living if the fun­damental scientific information on what constitutes adequate food, satisfactory clothing, the right kind of shelter, the right kind of sanitation were explained in a brief, simple, attractive form that would be easy for the masses to understand, and easy for the masses to learn. There is plenty of scientific information avail­able, but far too often it's clothed in words that the masses cannot understand. As various agencies working in the State of Texas, we are not agreed on what constitutes a safe diet, on what constitutes safe clothing, on what constitutes the right kind of housing. So if we want to aid home economics and related fields in making home economics function more in the lives of the people, let us work to prepare some basic statements on what constitutes the essentials in these three fields: nutrition, clothing, and housing. And then if we do that, let us accept it, and let us all work together in presenting those essentials to the people of Texas in a brief, sim­ple way with all of us talking the same language. My extension service has prepared a very small, pocket-size edition of the Texas food standard, a safe diet, daily and for the year. But all home economists are not agreed on this, and yet the same food essentials would hold in El Paso as would hold in Port Arthur or Beaumont. So something can be done there in the field of adult education if we, ourselves, can get together and present these basic statements. In the second class of family problems come those of human relationships. These are important, and more difficult for solution. As Lindeman has said, "The sad thing about economics is that it is no science if it stops at contacts and does not go beyond to human modifications." Science has just begun to study our human relationships, but as this study progresses, much can be done and much is being done to meet the relationship problems of husband and wife, or of parents and children. It is encourag­ing to know that advance is being made by youth today in prep­aration for marriage, for life relationship. It is encouraging to see the recognition by many adults of their needs for family life education, to see their eagerness to participate in such talks, the forums, the group meetings, and P. T.A.'s. It is encouraging to see the many fine articles written for our magazines and to note the interest on the part of adults, on the part of parents, to read and to study these--all that they may help to develop a better family life, a better democratic attitude and home. But, on the other hand, as you and I well know, there are many who have no conception of the need for parent education, no con­ception of their need for training in home-making for rearing their children, and these people also need our help, and we must find some way to help them. Let us now think for just a few minutes on what is good family life. Let us take it from the positive standpoint, maybe thinking back in our own experience of some interesting occasions. When is family life good? In the extension service, we have set down a few things toward which we are working, toward which we are helping farm families work. We believe family life is good when each family member feels himself an important member of the family, with his own place, his interests and his rights recognized, and his work appreciated. That is in direct contrast to the old saying that a child should be seen and not heard. That has passed. In good family life, every family member has his place, his inter­ests are recognized, and his work is appreciated. I remember a family in Kerr County where each child of the family (and it was a large family) had a part in the family garden. Each child contributed-maybe lettuce, maybe radishes, maybe beets-but something, to the family food supply. Those children had a place. We believe family life is good when each member of the family is aware of a general wholesome relation­ship in his family and when he feels around him love and appreciation. Have you ever known a family where maybe a boy was wanted and a girl came, and the girl was made to feel that all her life? The case might have been xeversed, but there are families where children do feel they are not wanted. That sort of an atmosphere in the early life of the child leaves its mark throughout that per­son's life. To be wanted, to be loved, to be appreciated is the right of every family member. It is good when each family mem­ber feels his individual friendships are valued and encouraged, when the friendships of the children are recognized, are encour­aged, and when a friendly relationship exists between the parents and the children. A recent article on what adolescents want of their parents indi­cated in both the mother and father that they wanted their friend­ship, they wanted their companionship, they wanted them to accompany them places. Each family member needs encourage­ment in developing his best ability, his creative talent, and some of his own ideas. Children's ideas may not be our ideas as adults; it would be very unusual if they were. But their ideas should be recognized, encouraged, and guided. It may be the boy wants a workroom; or he may be a radio enthusiast; but whatever his interest is, help him in that. Then each family member has a widening field of experience sufficient to make him feel independ­ent of himself and of the situation. I believe through our Boy Scouts, our Girl Scouts, through the Future Farmers, Future Homemakers, and 4-H Clubs, these widening experiences are avail­able. These young people go to county meetings, to state meet­ings. They mix and mingle with boys and girls from over the county and the state, and do have widening experiences and opportunities. Then, it is good family life when there are sufficient food, clothing, shelter, and comfort, that each family member may have health and good physical development. Each child, each family member can play a part in providing the food, or in preparing the food, or in setting the table, or in doing some other helpful task. There is good family life when there is a common goal toward which each member is putting his share of work, and from which he is receiving his share of benefit. It may be saving for summer vacation, it may be just a distribution of labor within the home; but let each family member enter into a cooperative agreement, each contributing, each sharing; and then there is a spirit of fellowship and unity fostered by family play, family hospitality, family work and tradition. Family play is being revived. Family play is important. The children want it. The family enjoys it. We have some very interesting examples of club girls under­taking the development of family play or family night one night each week, with a different member of the family in charge of the planning each week. There is interest, and there is good to be gained. Bacon and eggs taste much better where the spirit of hospitality prevails than roast turkey with all the trimmings where a spirit of tension or irritation prevails. And, then, we believe that family life is good when there is a receptiveness to beauty and to human feeling. Those things are within reach of all families, if we have understanding and appre­ciation for their values. Adult educators interested in helping adults live should recognize the great fertile field that is ahead of us. It may need some terracing, it may need some plowing. In some cases, it is ready for sowing. But let's recognize the field and begin, or continue. Let us recognize the job as bigger than can he done by adult educators alone. In other words, let us use to the fullest the leadership which we find and the leadership which we are able to develop among the people with whom we work. Let us recognize that people like to learn from those whose circumstances are similar. Home demonstration women like to learn from each other. They believe that if a woman whose age is about theirs, whose financial status is about theirs, whose num­ber of children is about theirs can develop a fine home food sup· ply, then they can develop that same food supply. If a family whose circumstances are similar to theirs can plan and plant a The University of Texas Publication beautiful yard, then they believe they can. They receive inspira­tion and influence from those whose circumstances are similar, from those who like what they like, and from those whose lives are examples and demonstrations of the ideas and ideals being taught. As adult educators in the field, let us recognize the value of discussion, of teaching, and experience meetings where the teaching comes from many rather than from one. The law under which the extension service operates, the Smith­Lever law, defines as our purpose "to aid in the dissemination of useful and practical information." It does not say that we are to disseminate practical and useful information, hut that we are to aid in the dissemination, to aid farm people to help each other. We are not the sole source of the truth; as in the case of the frame garden, we learn very often and very largely from the field. Let us recognize that a contribution to a program, small as it may he, gives some pride and confidence to the giver, some self­reliance which may grow and lead that person to do bigger things. Mrs. Perkins, this morning, in talking with Dr. Alderman and me, said that after this experience of being president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, she felt she could do anything. Of course, Mrs. Perkins had lots of experience before she was president of the Federation, hut the experience of being president has given her even more confidence, more belief in herself and her ability to do things; and so, small as it may he, if we permit adults to make contributions, we permit growth, pride, self­reliance. So, let us strive, as adult educators, to place before adults opportunities that are worth-while, opportunities that are valuable, that they may feel the satisfaction of successful achieve­ment, and as a result may grow and grow and grow. And let us encourage family analysis of problems, family planning, family participation, and, finally, family evaluation. Let us encourage family council and family decisions. When a tractor is to he bought, if the whole family is invited into council about the buy­ing of the tractor, then it is much easier when summer time comes to do without the dress that the girl may want, or to do without the refrigerator that may he needed. Family council and family decisions will go a long way toward developing better family relationships. In conclusion, let me say that I hope we as educators will recognize the new social and economic order emerging in this country which will center around man, and not around money and power, and that we will recognize that things are valuable only in so far as they contribute to human welfare. So let us, as adult educators, strive to develop the people with whom we work into intelligent thinking, intelligent acting, and responsible home­makers and citizens. SYMPOSIUM: PROBLEMS OF FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION A. PHYSICAL HOME IMPROVEMENT MARY A. MASON, Professor of Home Economics, Texas State College for Women One of the first things that was brought up in this discussion was in regard to the workshop idea-home improvement through a little community center or workshop. One of the men in the group discussed this and explained how such a program had been developed for an entire county. First it was developed as a leisure­time activity with rural people; there were six or seven months of the year during which there was no farm work to employ the people, and this leisure time was utilized to develop a workshop program. The leader of the group was a man who had had some training in music; he found that the people were interested in music, and he used music as a means of getting them interested in home improvement. They started the piece of work they are on-making furniture. Though the furniture was rather rough at first, it met the needs-and skills were developed which are now being used to make better furniture. The group next proceeded to construct some farm buildings--chicken houses and barns. Now the next step will be planning and constructing homes for these people. In connection with the discussion of this group activity, it was brought out that native materials should he utilized. This work was done in the piney woods section of East Texas, where there was an abundance of workable native materials. The group discussed the value of county councils in planning home improvement. These councils are composed of representa­tives from all clubs, organizations, and agencies concerned with such a program. Mr. Gordon Worley discussed some of the things which the State Department of Education has been doing in this regard, describing the methods which the Department has found to he successful in gaining community cooperation. He explained that the first step was to get the community itself interested, and to find out what the needs of the community are. Those who are interested in such a program should not guess at the needs; they should find out what the actual situation is. When a clear pic­ture of the community and its needs is obtained, an educational program can be built. Because it is a product of needs, such a program is not forced on the community. All educational agencies, and all other interested organizations and agencies-the teachers, the extension service, the W.P.A. adult educational personnel, the ministers-unite and cooperate to get the job done. To determine community needs, a survey should be made which will take into consideration all the economic resources that are available. Capable leaders are needed-leaders who can understand that a successful program must be built on the needs of the community, and who are willing to guide and direct and go with the group, instead of going so fast that the group cannot keep up. B. INTRA-FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPON­ SIBILITIES BERNICE MooRE, Assistant District Director, W.P.A. Division of Professional and Service Projects We in the group discussing intra-family relationships and responsibilities took as the keynote of our discussion the need for democratic living within the family group as training for a demo­cratic life in groups other than the family. We feel that in the family we must not only establish democratic ideals, but we must practice democratic action; that in the family we can do this by placing the parent relationship on the plane of democratic ideals; that our relationship between parent and child shall carry for­ward the same ideas of active participation and of judgment and assimilation of responsibilities within the family group; that the child-to-parent relationship must carry the same principles that we feel are necessary not only in living with the family (our primary institution, both in time and importance) but also in the larger group of community democratic action. We feel that the character of that democratic living should be adjusted within the group so that there may be adjustment without the group. We feel that if this is to be carried on within the family group, we must have an interpretation of other mutual programs as they relate to the family group. As our society is organized today, the family is not isolated either as an economic or as a social unit; it is definitely a part of a matrix of institutions made up of the government, the school, the church, the recreational centers, the whole of our complicated social and economic structure; and if the family is to maintain and develop the strongest of intra-family relationships and not be torn apart by conflict, we must have an understanding of the pro­ grams outside of our home that are definitely related to our home. In that connection we also felt that, as adult educators, we might impress upon the public school teacher the necessity for using and coordinating home experience in schools and for taking school experience into the home. We are asking that there be education in the school for the home, and in the home for other institutional living. That is a part of our group essence. We felt that in our program of adult elucation we had failed to reach the father in the household as much as we had reached the mother and the children; and that perhaps one field for our endeavor is to reach the father; that this can be done through the members of the family, by creating interest groups, by using home projects that will bring the father into active participation in family living and that will gain an interest from him in the other programs that make up a democratic family existence. We discussed the approaches to our program of intra-family relationships and responsibilities through adult classes; one means is discussing such problems as we have presented. We talked of organized club agencies as adult education groups. We discussed the method of the open forum, and suggested that forums might be used in relation to family problems with youth and adults par­ticipating, bringing out, each of them, their side of the program that goes to make up family living. We thoroughly discussed the place of vocational education in homemaking, and the place of extension services and all agencies that we now have operating in family-life education. We feel that there should be a coordination of influence and activities of the agencies whose work does affect family living. We feel that we should have more family counseling by trained family counselors with regard to the individual problems of our family group. Finally, we feel that the family relationship to society can only be helped by our agencies; that it is in teaching the families to help themselves that we will bring about an understanding of democratic living in the small group, so that it may be carried into our larger group in a democratic society. C. FAMILY BUDGETARY PROBLEMS JENNIE S. WILMOT, Professor of Home Ec-0nomics, The University of Texas We would like to bring these recommendations as a result of our discussion. First, that the approach to budget making by many should be the "what I want" approach rather than a "live within my budget" approach. The psychological value of the first as over the second is obvious to you people, I am sure. Second, that the budget should be a family matter in planning rather than the planning of one individual member of that family. We make that recommendation for these reasons: First, it is bet­ter child training. (As a specific example there, making a child an allowance and expecting him to take care of his allowance is good child training.) Then, it is a better approach to democratic living. Also, it is a better way for the entire family to affiliate it<> needs and its wants and to get away from one member of the family having to give up things all of the time in order that some other members of the family may have what they think they want. Our third recommendation is that adult education should include teaching people ways in which they may obtain the most that they can from the funds that are available to them. It was suggested that this would include such items as a better understanding of the adequacy of food, the use of gardens, choice of food pur­chased so that the greatest health value would be received from the money spent, and training in the preparation of food so that it will be palatable. It would also include making things for the home rather than buying them. (Many times the things that peo­ple buy are inferior in quality to things that they might make themselves. There is added satisfaction from this sort of activity.) It could likewise include remaking or reworking discarded things. Some of the loveliest things that we find in some of the gayest homes are made from something that came out of the attic. Our fourth suggestion is cooperation, both in work and owner­ship, among families in a community. Fifth, this group would like to go on record as endorsing the Food Stamp Plan as a method which extends the family's income and at the same time looks toward better distribution of goods produced throughout the country. Lastly, we should like to recommend every effort to build an educational program that will help people to help themselves to distribute the money which they have, in order to give, as nearly as possible, a minimum standard of health and efficiency. D. HEALTH AND SAFETY VIRGINIA SHARBOROUGH, Parent Education Specialist, Division of Extension, The University of Texas In this group we brought up many questions. We even went back to the inheritance of the members of the family; we decided we couldn't do very much about that now, and that we had better deal with things that we had now. We didn't solve any problems, but we did open up many, and we would like to present them to you for your thinking. We hope it will result in some action. In seeking definitions, we first defined what we meant by edu­cating for democracy. That is our theme, as you know. We feel that health and safety have a definite bearing on human relation­ships, economic efficiency, and good citizenship; and we should like to go on record as recommending that they should be defi­nitely studied and made a part of anyone's program in outlining the purposes of education. Probably you have studied that little book in which the Educa­tional Policies Commission says this: "A democracy is dedicated to the proposition that all children be well-born, carefully guarded against infections, properly nourished in body and mind, provided with an environment in which to grow and a chance to live long and happily and well." All of those things, you see, have much to do with health and safety. Now, I want to give you some of the questions which were raised, and you will see why we didn't answer any of them. Here are the questions as they came: What can be done to improve heredity? We decided that everybody here was scrub stock or had come from scrub stock, and that there was nothing to be done in a day. We would like to have both an immediate program and a long-range program of competent training, training the individ­ual as a whole, eliminating possible deficiencies. What are the problems of adult health education? There are many. We will give you some of them directly. What is meant by education for democratic living? What shall we expect of a family? I think that is one of our key questions. What can we reasonably expect of family life education? You have already heard much that can be expected, but from the stand­point of health and safety, ask yourself that question, please, and then go back home and try to answer it. How can we enlist and arouse the family to action? Ways and devices, many of which already have been used with great success, were mentioned. We have got to reach the people. We have got to understand them, meet them in their own way. One of the large problems of adult health is that dangerous degenerative diseases arise because of the in­creased life span of the individual. The emotional atmosphere of the home was emphasized as being a factor in the health of the members in the home. Parents need to understand the nature of the problems and the difficulties fac­ing their children. Leaders like us need to understand the people and need to understand how to approach the people. I think that was emphasized more than anything else: that we are intellectual leaders--but often not very intelligent leaders. Do you get the difference? Mental maladjustment is significant, very significant. We should do something about it. In solving our problems now, what can we do? Some of the things that we felt should be done: In this matter of nutrition, information on food fundamentals should be given in simple form and in an interesting and attractive way that will appeal to every family. It has already been emphasized that home instruction should be given to the adults in the family, and they in turn should be urged to carry it to their children or the members of their family. Leadership education is necessary. I have mentioned that time and again, and I hope it sticks. I believe that was one of the keynotes of our meeting-that leaders need to understand the masses, their thinking and way of living, how to reach them, how to get them interested. We cannot go to them with a program all mapped out, and superimpose it upon them. We have to work with the people, not just for the people. We must build our health program on the basis of needs and interests. We must use every cooperative agency. We recognize that no one agency is complete in itself. Each has a different slant on the people. We need to get together and work out those simple fundamentals that are necessary for every family, backed up by intelligence, and by emphasizing the need for an up-to-date legis­lative program. Summarizing, we need a constructive program. We need to con­tinue services already existing, and we need to extend other serv­ices. We need to educate leaders. And we need to unite our efforts. The University of Texas Publication E. RECREATION AND LEISURE JOHN H. ZIMMERMAN, State Supervisor, Louisiana W.P.A. Recreation Program We had a fine group. I was pleased because everyone contrib­uted to the discussion. We came to the conclusion that adult rec­reation should place at least as much emphasis upon training for avocational as vocational pursuits if we are going to meet this leisure-time problem. We are agreed on two things. We agreed that there was a leis­ure time problem; we agreed that every agency should do its best to do something about the leisure time problem. We pointed out that research shows that if the Wages and Hours Bill was made to function as it should, the work week would he forty hours, and the sleep week would he fifty-six, and we would have seventy-two hours a week in which to enjoy leisure. There are twenty-odd hours more leisure per week than we had twenty or thirty years ago. We think that as adult educators we should place as much em­phasis on art, music, and drama and all the fine things which can he carried on as avocational pursuits as we do in connection with vocational pursuits. We think that we, as adult educators, mU6t adjust out own attitudes in carrying on this program, and that we should teach people to do these things because they enjoy doing them. They get thrill out of doing them, and they get much personal benefit. We believe and endorse most heartily the suggestion for more family recreation: recreation by the family, within the family­may be even bringing in the close neighbors. We think that is wonderful. We pointed out a wealth of examples of fine family recreation. We feel very definitely that there should be a public recreation program. That is one of the responsibilities of a government-to provide public, directed recreation for all the people--not for the poor, not for the underprivileged, not for one class of people or the other class-but for all the people, because they are people, and because they are American people, and deserve the best. We think that the government should provide parks, playground, community centers, and direction in all the fine cultural things that make life worth living. We think that the schools are doing a fine piece of work today in training children, as one of our leaders pointed out, in the fun. damentals of good life. We don't believe that the schools com­pletely can condition people for a future life of leisure. We believe that they can contribute to this conditioning. We believe that if the schools will expose children in all of the grades to more of the cultural things-music, art, drama, crafts, and the physical activities-that when these same children become adults, they will know what to do with their leisure time. That, how­ever, is not possible as a complete picture. We think that there will always be the need of adult education, because if this world is to move forward, what we do for the child today may or may not be the thing that the child requires fifteen or twenty years from now. We think the schools (and I want to commend them for what they have done in this respect) have always and will always do a fine job in fundamental training. I believe that there is some need to look into legislative acts in every state and for you, as educators, to spread the news that there should be some adjustment in legislation. For example, we pointed out that in some states people do not feel as we do that public school buildings and all public buildings are the property of the people and that they should be used for adult education and for recreational purposes. I want to bring out this one important point brought up in our group: Many of the school facilities are not suitable for the type of informal education in which we believe. We believe that adults sitting in a cramped schoolroom are not good subjects for recreation or for education. What we do believe is that some facilities of the schools are good, and that these facilities are available. As we build new school buildings, the thought of community use should be paramount. A thing that worries us a great deal is: Who will educate the educators? Because we know that among our adult educators many do not understand the meaning of leisure; that they need a revision of attitude. I believe that some effort should be made in adult education groups toward this end. I would like to read for your benefit a quotation from Lindeman: "It may then be said by way of summary that the primary demands which modern leisure is to master are : a. Healthy and balanced organisms and personalities b. Manual skills c. Participation in the arts d. Acquaintance with nature e. More and more vocational learning f. Contemplation g. Group experience That should be leisure's contribution." He says, and this may surprise many of you, "I have probably omitted discussion of those simpler needs of children for which play is the natural fulfillment because it is my opinion that adults have not come to recognize the need of children's play." Our broader conception of leisure has been retarded by the recent tendency to emphasize play and playgrounds at the expense of recreation and a democratic type of leisure. The playground is, of course, essential for the modern child; but it constitutes only a small item in the whole conception of cultural leisure. RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADULT EDUCATION FOR BETTER CITIZENSHIP L. W. ROGERS, Educational Adviser, Eigktk Corps Area, Civilian Conservation Corps . The statement of the subject assigned to me-The Responsibility of Adult Education for Better Citizenship-seems to imply that there is need for improvement in the quality of citizenship in this country. And I am inclined to accept that implication in my role as official challenger of the discussion groups assigned to this topic. In this glorious "land of the free and the home of the brave," in the best of all worlds, there is room for improv­ing the character of our citizenship; in fact, there is imperative need for it. Fortunately for me, it is the responsibility of the discussion groups to discover and bring in the answers. The chair­man very graciously instructed me to ask, not to answer, questions. According to the agenda for this phase of the conference pro­gram we have less participation on the part of our people in governmental institutions and responsibilities than is desirable for the democratic health and social well-being of the country as a whole; and what participation we have is not as intelligent in all respects as it well might be. I take it that the statement refers to participation in government on a non-per diem, no-mileage basis by the citizenry. Some of our people think that the per diem payrolls are now sufficient unto the day. But be that as it may, it is true that relatively too few of the citizens of this coun­try actually participate, actively and constructively, in the deter­mination of governmental policies and in the exercise of demo­cratic functions. Too few of them qualify themselves, in the first place, for participation in the suffrage, and, in the second place, fewer still go to the polls and exercise it. Elections involving vital political, social and economic issues, are often won by default; they are determined by the will of minorities. In theory, ours is a government of the majority (of the people, by the people and for all the people) but in reality it is one of the minority; with few exceptions, from the national capitol down to any rural school district, our course of action frequently is determined by a minority of the citizens or by fortuituous-not to say selfish-­combinations of minority groups. We have, it seems, a pretty firmly established system of absentee political landlordism in this country. That probably is the number one problem for the dis­cussion groups to solve: How to obtain active, purposeful partici­pation by a majority of all the citizens in precinct, state, and national functions that vitally affect the political, social and eco­nomic well-being of all the people. And there is reason to believe that an answer to that question needs to be found soon; for, apparently, the proposed reforms must breast a strong adverse tide in national affairs, particularly in the economic field. Take for instance the agricultural situation. Formerly, the agri­cultural population of this country, farmers and farm laborers, constituted a very stable and rather homogeneous element in our political and economical life. But that is not so much the situa­tion today; that pillar of national strength is disintegrating. Farming is being industrialized; corporations are taking over and operating farms-the most profitable of them-and the families that once tenanted those farms have become nomads, wandering around over the face of the earth, seeking occasional (seasonal) employment at sub-par wages and living under below-standard conditions. "Adrift on the Land" is the appropriate title of the life-story of millions of men, women, and children--once settled, stable farm folks. With their human relationship to the land and its local institutions almost, if not completely, severed, what opportunity or incentive have they to participate actively and con­structively in government? That situation, in which the rungs of the agricultural ladder may become rigid bars between classes of our people, is not conducive to an effective functioning of normal democratic processes in a large segment of our political and economic life. Hard and fast stratification of various elements of society is not in the best traditions of our democratic ideals. But that very thing, apparently, is taking place in this country today, particularly as regards a large proportion of the youth of America. In this country, in which the fundamental democratic ideal of equality of opportunity is cherished as it is in few other places on the face of the earth, multiplied thousands of American youths--not only those of racial and otherwise underprivileged minorities, but also those of our own stock-find the doors of opportunity barred, not because of their own lack of industry and ability, but because of social and economic factors over which neither they nor their parents have any appreciable control. As the Educational Policies Commission reported recently, "fortuitous factors of the most indefensible character, rather than ability to learn and willingness to work, now determines the kind and amount of educational opportunity provided millions of American youths. Educational opportunity, instead of being a solvent of class lines based on hereditary wealth and position, threatens to become a cement that sets and perpetuates these distinctions." As evidence of that deplorable state of things in our present situation, the Commission reported that at least one million children are not enrolled in any school; that many more are attending schools of the poorest quality; and that only a minority of the youth of the nation complete their high school education. And that, mark you, is happening at the very time when, in this country, high school graduation and, in many instances, even more extensive training are prerequisite to admission to an increasing percentage of occu­pations; when opportunity, the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, lies more and more along the road of extensive gen­eral and specific training; when modern economy with growing insistence demands semi-skilled and skilled workers instead of a great mass of unskilled laborers. It is happening at a time and in the midst of economic conditions that, as perhaps never before, penalize the untrained, the educationally handicapped, elements in our population. As a witness to that situation take, for example, a 1936 report made by the United States Chamber of Commerce. It said that of all applicants from the relief rolls for employment in an Eastern city less than 6% were eligible for employment as skilled workers. That state of affairs accounts in very large measure for the existence of a youth problem in this country-the problem of 40%, or more, of the youth of normal high school age out of school and, for the most part, unemployed or in temporary part-time jobs affording little opportunity for security or advancement. For the most comprehensive description of that problem of which I know, I refer you to the report of the American Youth Commission, of which Dr. Homer P. Rainey was the director. Doubtless most of you are familiar with it. It was made in 1936. The report stated that of 20,000,000 young people in this country between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four years, inclusive, 4,700,000 were unem­ployed, not in school, and, presumably, seeking work. They were unemployed for two reasons, principally: first, because there were not enough jobs for them; and, second, because many of them were unable to jualify for available positions. Special reports and surveys cited by the Commission show conclusively that a large part of the vast army of unemployed youths were out of work not because there were no openings for them but because they The University of Texas Publication were inadequately trained or were handicapped by personal deficiencies. In one case, it was found that over 70% were untrained for a skilled occupation, and 4·0% were unprepared for work of any kind. The experience of American youth on relief was conunented on by the Commission as a significant factor in the youth problem. It was estimated that almost 3,000,000 young people between the ages of sixteen to twenty-four had recently been on relief either as individual cases, or as heads of families, or members of relief families. The seriousness of that situation in its bearing on the attitute of youth toward the social and economic institutions of this country is obvious. In this connection, I wish to cite one other very significant phase of the youth problem as it was revealed by the report. That was youth's lack of desire for em­ployment. "A great deal of social reconstruction is going to be necessary," the Commission said, "to combat the waning ambition and energy of youth." Other thoughtful observers have pointed out that one of the most serious consequences of the so-called economic collapse was its devastating effect on the moral fiber of our young people. And right here I am going to make an observation that may be somewhat of a disgression from the main purpose of this occasion, but it is, I think, worthy of serious con­sideration. It is this: If youth today lacks a desire to work; if our young people are seeking the easy ways of life, some of the fault lies at our own doors, at the doors of our public schools and of our higher institutions, for that is the way our teachers are teaching today; it is the way that their professors are teaching them to teach school. The principle of discipline in school work has been in large measure discarded-displaced by the principle of individual interest. Children in the best academic circles are not required (I do not dare to use the word compelled) to study any subject because of its intrinsic disciplinary value but are lured into this or that more or less pleasant activity. Books have largely been discarded for sugar-coated units of instruction; read­ing for mechanical drill and facility has almost gone out of fashion even in the primary school; the very latest thing in that field among the educational elite is research reading. Research reading in the third grade! Is it any wonder that high school teachers and college professors complain that their students can't read? Probably, that is a partial explanation of the presence of thousands of illiterate, or functionally illiterate, boys in our C.C.C. camps. Then, too, there is no longer any such word as failure in the bright lexicon of public school children. Requirement of definite day by day accomplishment is not the thing to do today. If little Johnny tires of reasearch reading, if he loses his interest in marching up and down the room dressed in sober Puritan garb, with Grandfather Smith's old squirrel rifle on his shoulder, on his Sunday way to the meeting house; or if little Mary, at the same time, loses her interest in the intricacies of design on table silver, they, Johnny and Mary, do not lose their places in the academic procession. No, they go right along, onward and upward, to Com­mencement Day and receive their ribbon-tied doplomas-qualified by attendance, if not by accomplishment, for that award! Now, lest I be misunderstood, let me explain that I appreciate the need that existed some years ago for curriculum revision, for the utilization of interest and motivation and life situations in various phases of instruction. But the deplorable circumstance is that in their attempt to apply the principles of progressive edu­cation to our school work teachers often overlook the very sig­nificant fact that little Mary is going to face a real life situation in which failure in a history course can't be made up by her facility in drawing sketches of medieval castles; or that Johnny may have to drive a truck 300 miles a day whether he particularly enjoys the interior of its cab or not. Perhaps the most difficult lesson that the boys in the C.C.C. camps have to learn is to do a day's work; and the greatest service that the Corps does for the boys is the change it makes in their attitude toward work-the development of an appreciation of the dignity of labor; an appre­ciation of the value of an honest day's work done when and as it should be done; realizatioQ of the very stern fact that often in the day's work individual preferences (interests, if you please) must be subordinated to the welfare of the group. And it is not without significance, I think, that the Corps has adopted as its motto "We Can Take It." Perhaps at this point I should indicate more specifically what is the responsibility of adult education in this particular field­that of training for citizenship. For this purpose I shall quote the statement of Dr. Floyd W. Reeves, of Chicago University, as to what adult education is and where it is going. "Adult education," he said, "offers those persons no longer in school an opportunity to broaden their cultural, social and occupational backgrounds, and to find new ways of earning a living through occupational retraining. In an age of shorter working hours, adult education provides an opportunity for wise use of leisure. It prepares for more effective participation in community activities, for more intelligent citizenship, and for clearer understanding of state, national and international affairs." Continuing, he declared that "among the so-called 'literate' there exist social illiteracy, economic illiteracy, political illiteracy, and religious illiteracy." These, he said, "must be eradicated." Apparently, then, the specific respon­sibility of adult education is to ,fill the gaps left by other instruc· tional units. The question naturally arises then as to what are the gaps that have been left in our training for civic responsibility. In an attempt to indicate the answer to that question, I shall adapt to my purpose the Educational Policies Commission's statement of the objectives of civic responsibilities. In its report on The Pur­poses of Education in American Democracy, the Commission listed twelve objectives of civic responsibility, as follows: social justice, social activity, social understanding, critical judgment, tolerance, conservation, social applications of science, world citizenship, law observance, economic literacy, political citizenship, and devo­tion to democracy. That our training program has left wide gaps for adult education to fill in the attainment of those objectives is readily apparent. The most casual observation of our social, political and economic situation would confirm that judgment. That is what Professor Reeves meant, I think, by social, political, and economic illiteracy among the literate of this country. It is the thing that has confused and disillusioned American youth and, to that extent, created the necessity for C.C.C. camps and other youth-serving agencies. The products of our training program have not all been "sensitive to the disparities of human circumstance," nor have they always acted promptly and in concert "to correct unsatisfactory conditions." And that failure has laid the funda­tion for a great deal of existing social misunderstanding, has pre­pared the ground for the prolific growth of noxious propaganda, and has made difficult the eradication of poisonous weeds from our hack yards and fields. That there is a wide gap-a deep gulf, in fact-in our observ­ance of law needs only to he stated; the truth of the statement is a notorious fact in our local, state and national affairs, to say nothing of the international situation. Nor, in the light of our experience during the depression period, would anyone think of denying the existence of a tremendous gap in our economic lit­eracy. Millions of youth, to say nothing of their elders, on relief; more millions of them living under sub-par conditions and losing faith in the reality and promises of the democratic way of life-­that is, to some extent, the measure of our economic literacy. Equality of opportunity for individuals to rise from unsatisfactory -environmental conditions to positions of competence and respect has been one of the chief distinctions between the new world and the old world. Is that ideal to be lost in the increasing tendency toward stratification of various elements in our economic life? If it isn't, it will be, in large measure, because adult education has filled the yawning gap in our economic literacy. And, finally, it will profit us little to plan and develop elab­orate training plans unless means are found to insure loyalty to -democratic ideals by the recipients of that training, to induce them to accept and fulfill their civic duties. To a very great -degree, adult elucation faces the task of finding a solvent for the stratification of economic opportunity, for the intolerances that handicap our efforts to attain democratic ideals, and for the lethargy and indifference that characterize a large segment of our people in the face of vital local, state and national issues. To dis­cover that solvent and then to prescribe its application to the problems of the day and hour is the task of the discussion groups. It is a big order, but I have a reasonable amount of faith in their ability to fill it. SYMPOSIUM: PROBLEMS OF BETTER CITIZENSHIP A. INTELLIGENT AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT NORRIS A. HIDIT, State Field Supervisor, Work Projects Administration for Texas Our group was charged with the responsibility of discussing intelligent and active participation in government. The only thing we agreed upon was the fact that we do not have intelligent and active participation in governmental affairs in the country today. We did not determine any specific ways and means by which such intelligent and active participation in governmental affairs might be brought about. Rather, we discussed our own personal points of view, and adjourned without knowing much more than we did when we got there; therefore, I was instructed by the group specifically to state that we do not make any definite suggestions as to the ways and means of bringing about a more intelligent and active participation in governmental affairs. Dr. Hester and others pointed out in the beginning of our dis­cussion that the American people must simply realize that they have moved into a new realm of things; that possibly they have burned their bridges behind them; that the question of how we might preserve our democratic processes in this new realm is one that is most certainly open to debate, and is, perhaps, the most vital problem facing this country today. It was pointed out that democracy assumes that people in groups will act rationally, but that confusion in thinking exists, not only by the unlettered, but by the statesman, the educator, the industrial leader, and all of us; that certainly a need exists for emotional balance and control on the part of the people in regard to civic affairs; and that the danger that demagogues may be lurking around the corner to take the situation over, not in the dim distant future, unless something is done about it, is a real danger and not a remote one. Some four or five points which we discussed were as follows: Citizenship involves not only knowledge, but tolerance and a willingness to assume the responsibility of following the majority of the group. Particularly in our consideration of civic affairs, discussion should revolve about issues and not personalities; and discussions should he rational and not emotional outbursts. Dr. Oberholtzer, of Houston, felt that public sentiment is the most potent influence on the participation of citizens in govern­mental affairs; that if in a given community it is considered the thing to do by people to participate intelligently and actively in governmental affairs, people will do just that; but that if peo­ple consider that poltical responsibility and governmental affairs are not the people's business, but somebody else's business, they don't participate. From that point, we began to discuss how we might bring about a public sentiment which would cause people to desire to participate intelligently and actively in governmental affairs. Someone pointed out that citizens in a democracy should be willing to assume responsibility, and that perhaps at home we have not practiced democracy in leading children, during the last generation or two, so as to cause them to recognize their respon­sibilities and be willing to assume them. It was pointed out that people are constantly confronted with the matter of making choices on different issues in the civic arena; and that they have to know how to make these choices and be willing to accept the responsibility of the choices. In that con­nection it was said that an ignorant vote was a very dangerous thing, and that the idea of exhorting people to go vote who didn't know why they were voting was a very dangerous thing. If we move into the area of exhorting more people to vote, we first must move into the area leading these people to an understanding of the fundamental issues involved in such voting. Perhaps, then, in the home and in the school, in our teaching of government and civics in the schools and in our home training, we should bring about more citizenship training which would lead people to recog­ nize their responsibilities and better to assume the consequences of their actions. It was said that perhaps government sponsored radio programs might be a very powerful means for bringing about public senti­ment conducive to the type of citizenship of which we are talk­ing. It was further said that perhaps public meetings in various towns in the communities might be a means for doing the same thing. Those were the only means suggested and discussed. It was pointed out that no matter what means we use in seek­ing to bring about such sentiment, these programs must be presented at the level which the people can understand, in language which they can understand. (We got into an argument there about the relationship of music, band, orchestra, fiddles, etc., to govern­mental activities, and about the extent to which emotional ap­proaches induce citizens to take certain civic actions. In that mat· ter, may we properly fight the devil with fire? May we leave our old ideas, and in looking about for means, dare to go into the arena and assume some of the means used by people who influ-· ence persons pretty effectively one way or another on things now?) At that point, it was brought up that personal gain is not a proper motive or basis for intelligent and active participation in government. That is, we don't ever like the spectacle of having an array of candidates, with the one who promises the most get­ting elected; our political scene devolves into a thing where the attitude of the person toward a government is simply, "What am I going to get out of it?" We didn't decide how to make unself­ishness predominate. In closing, I want to read again Dr. Hester's original statement, which I believe you ought to think about: "The American people must simply realize that already they have moved into a new realm of things, that possibly they have burned their bridges behind them, and that the problem of deciding how we can preserve our democratic processes is one worth discussion in a group like this." B. PROPAGANDA ANALYSIS: A MEANS OF BETTER UNDERSTANDING AMERICANISM W. E. GETTYS, Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas Like the group that has just reported, the one on propaganda analysis did not take time to draw up any formal statement of conclusions. Propaganda, it was said, might be defined as the attempt on the part of an individual or group, through an expression of opinion or by some action, to directly and more or less immediately influence the opinions and attitudes and actions of other individ­uals and groups with reference to some predetermined end. This definition was proposed in the meeting, and was the definition, I think, that more or less guided our discussion throughout the whole session. It probably isn't a perfect definition by any means; there are many definitions of propaganda. The discussion seemed to center around two or three major points. First: How can we distinguish or detect propaganda? As per­sons engaged in the educational processes, some teaching and others leading adult education groups, how can we as leaders and as teachers make it possible for adults to detect propaganda and weigh and analyze propaganda so that in their thinking and in their actions they may not be misled by it? Of course, that ques­tion led us into some discussion of good propaganda and bad propaganda, and true and false propaganda, and that which is near the truth, but just a little off, and so on. Not a great deal of time, fortunately, was given over to that type of discussion, for it would probably have been quite futile unless we had had all the time in the world in which to discuss it. In connection with that same point, however, some attempt was made to distinguish be­tween propaganda and education. It was pointed out by some of the speakers that both of those words have been considerably mis­used, and that they are terms that may fall into disuse. But since we were trying to think out this problem of the relation of propa­ganda analysis to education, some of those present, particularly those engaged in the education of the foreign-born, asked how they could in their work with these people teach them American­ism, for example or teach them the democratic way of life and the things that we stand for in America (or at least think we stand for, hope we stand for) without indoctrination. There was considerable discussion about that, and it was, I think, rather defi­nitely pointed out that when we become indoctrinators, we are at least approaching the role of the propagandist. It was pointed out that we can only hope to try to get people to think reflectively, and critically, and deliberately. In other words, try to fortify them against propaganda, which almost in­variably undertakes to get people to think and to act immediately, uncritically, thoughtlessly. It was pointed out that if we could get people to think deliberately-that is. take time to think, and to not act on emotion, for sentimental reasons or on pretty con­ceptions, that there might be some hope of combating some of the more vicious aspects of the tremendous volume of propaganda that does assail all citizens of a democracy. It was indicated that in a democratic society, we perhaps are not assailed by more propaganda, but by more different types of propaganda than are persons living in a totalitarian state where the propaganda is of one kind and is the propaganda that a state or the leader or fuhrer wants them to get. But here in a democ­racy we are assailed by a great cloud of propaganda, great waves of propaganda, from all sides, and from many different sources; and our problem is one of being able to distinguish between that which is good and that which is bad, and that which is true, and that which is false, and so on. That is one of the prices that we have to pay for democracy, if we are not to suppress freedom of speech and freedom of press, and thus deprive ourselves of democ­racy. Toward the latter part of the discmsion, it was pointed out that if we want people to think, then they must have information with which to think; that is, they must have facts; and then there was some discussion as to how to get the facts, how to weigh the facts, and how to evaluate facts. We did not go into that very much. One of the speakers indicated that our concern should be with the consumer of propaganda rather than with the perpetrator of propaganda; that probably here in America we worry too much about the propagandists and about the propaganda itself, or the propagandas themselves; and that our great concern here, partic­ularly in this conference, should be with the consumer of propa­ganda-that is, the people who are being propagandized. It was pointed out tha~ this is not something that can be done quickly. If we can develop a wholesome curiosity, and a wholesome philos­ophy of life, and if we can detach ourselves from much of that which is remote and vague and far off (such things as what is happening in Europe, for example, and in the Far East; of course, we can't ignore those things altogether) if we can detach our­selves more from such things and develop a personal philosophy with which we can cope with the more immediate problems that are close to us, we may be able to free ourselves from certain of the dangers that come from listening to so much propaganda that is imported, and that is foreign, and that probably only remotely concerns us. Another thing that we need to try to do and to get other people to do is to rid ourselves of lethargy. One of the great dangers in a democratic society doesn't come from propagandistic sources, but from our own lethargy. If we will awaken and become alert and interested and curious, we will be in a much better position to deal with some of these problems of propaganda. It was also pointed out that there is no cure-all for propaganda, and that we probably cannot get rid of it. That is one of the prices we pay for !iberty and for freedom. We will have to try to fortify ourselves in such a way that we will not be taken in. C. RECOGNITION OF FACTORS OF COMMUNITY WELFARE GEORGE 0. CLOUGH, Director of Extension, Southern Methodist University Our group centered most of its attention around a discussion of about three problems. You can see from a statement of this topic, "Recognition of Factors of Community \Velfare," that we could have spread out considerably. The first problem we discussed was the problem of unemploy­ment. Reports were given from research bureaus which indicate that unemployment has not grown out of an increase of new machines. There were some disputes as to whether or not these research reports could be relied upon. I heard a man make such a report; he was on a committee that spent $3,000 trying to determine what caused our unemployment problem, and that was one conclusion that they came to. He showed that over a period of about twenty years the number of employees in industry increased all the way along. Then he discussed population trends, the increased adult population, and the situation in which young people find themselves due to an increased period of dependence. The next problem was the matter of the coordination of adult agencies in any community. We tried to think of all these prob­lems in the light of our body of adult education workers today. We thought it would be vitally important for all the agencies working on adult education in a community to set up some kind of an organization in which they might be represented, and cooperate in a program for the betterment of the community. Another thing that we discussed for a brief period was the mat­ter of making a positive approach to any of these problems, on an individual or a social group level-by which we mean that we would not simply take an individual who is physically down and out and try to improve his physical condition and leave him that way, but that we would take him physically and emotionally and socially and try to raise the standard of his physical living, and give him a better attitude and a better social relation to his com­munity. Finally, we agreed upon three or four statements. There may hf' a good deal of overlapping in these statements, but they were written in about five or ten minutes. I will read them in closing: First, any program of adult education must build on a general survey of individual and community needs. Second, in the light of such determined needs, we should set up aims and begin on a program of adult education that will take the individual and the community from where they are to the point of freedom and independence in which they are capable of further problem solving. Third, adult education must develop a general program of guid­ance for poorly equipped or badly adapted individuals. Fourth, because of community interdependence, adult education must utilize community centered activities in attacking the problem. D. THE YOUTH PROBLEM J. C. KELLAM, State Administrator, Nati-Onal Youth Administration for Texas It is our group's opinion that the youth problem encompasses all youth, and that the youth problem is not an outgrowth of the depression. Youth wants and youth needs were considered by the group-youth wants from the standpoint of young persons; youth needs as we, as adult, see them. We believe that youth wants: ( 1) to be! ong; (2) to be recog­nized; (3) to learn to do some one thing well; (4) a job; (5) a family life; (6) security; and (7) participation in affairs. We believe that youth needs: (1) good health; (2) good char­acter; ( 3) a sense of values; (1) specific skills, good work habits, and job responsibility; (5) security; and (6) a spiritual philosophy. The group believe that the forces of adult education can and should participate in a program to satisfy these needs and these wants. E. CITIZENSHIP AND PROBLEMS OF FOREIGN-BORN GROUPS 0. DOUGLAS WEEKS, Professor of Government, The University of Texas I think one conclusion we came to in our group was that the foreign-born element was diminishing, with the curtailment of immigation, and with the fact that in the last decade many for­eigners have returned to their native countries. Therefore, the problem of foreign-born, while it is a problem by itself, is com­ing to be more and more merged with what might be called the minority group problem. There was a good deal of talk in our Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education 69 meeting about minority groups that by no stretch of the imagina­tion could be called foreign-born. We spoke of Negroes and Negro problems, and also about Mexicans in Texas. We know that many of the Mexicans we have in South Texas are not even born iu Mexico, but that they are minority groups here, and that the old problem of the foreign-born becomes the problem of the minority group; and that problem is with us for a long time to come. We also agreed that adult education originally meant largely Americanization. I believe adult education of the foreign-born began in that way, and that the old conception of Americaniza­tion developed during the great war and after was a pretty nar­row conception. The old idea was that we were simply attacking a group that wanted to be naturalized making them live in a democratic way, giving them an injection of a little Americanism to take the oath of citizenship, and a little formal training in how to vote. That idea was gone with the war. Adult education is far broader than that. Adult eduaction must concern itself with people in the foreign-born group and the minority group having social and economic participation in the whole scene. Adult education must do what it can to fit into the whole economic picture. If the gen­eral problem of adjustment concerns all classes of people today, particularly the unfortunate, then it equally concerns this group. We also agreed that the problem that the foreign-born element is confronted with is, to a very great extent, part of the whole economic problem. It is a part of the general labor problem, part of the general agricultural problem. A good many of the so-called difficulties of the foreign-born group are, after all, just general economic conditions that many native Americans are also confronted with. In other words, we perhaps have attributed too much to the foreigner's differences of race and culture, etc. He comes to this country as a worker, he becomes affiliated with the working class, and the problems of the working class in this country become his problems. Some of his barriers are also around the working class in general. Finally, I think we came to this conclusion: That adult edu­cation can never succeed in absolutely breaking down all barriers to a dead level; that the academic idea of an Eighteenth Century equality is impossible. But even in nations like Sweden where you have 99% of the people Swedish, you are still going to have group differences. The University of Texas Publication These foreign elements have much to give. One of the faults of our former educational system was that it leveled them down too quickly. They have something to add to our culture. They ought to keep that while they are adjusting themselves and becoming affiliated. We felt that adult education, so far as this question was con­cerned, was not simply a matter of educating the foreign-born group or the minority group; it also had a vital problem in educating the native American Anglo-Saxons. If different people living in the same state will ever get together, there will have to be some kind of a meeting half-way. It is not lifting up foreign-born elements; it is a problem of bringing the native element to the foreign-born element in understanding. Perhaps the best thing we could do would be to emphasize more the culture of the foreign-born or minority element. That might be concretely illustrated in the point of language. It was agreed that not knowing the English language was a barrier, of course; everybody knows that the foreigner ought to be taught the English language. But, at the same time, perhaps he ought to be allowed to learn his own language. In other words, we should build up a spirit of tolerance, attempt to create understanding in all groups for other groups, and to educate people toward the idea of pro­moting cooperation. All races and nationalities in this country will never be brought to the point where they all want to live together; but that does not mean that we can't understand each other, or have equal facilities in schools, advantages in jobs, etc. We ought to do that, and, of course, that involves piecing up the whole economic sys­tem. It is not all a matter of adult education. If we could create a perfect economic system giving all of these people jobs, they would be happy. At any rate, these groups will be with us for a long time, whether we call them foreign-born or minority groups; and what we have to do is to create some kind of community cooperation, a spirit of tolerance, a spirit whereby the leaders of different racial and nationalistic groups can learn to get together and discuss community problems in a way satisfactory to all. THE MEANING OF A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRACY HOMER P. RAINEY, President, The University of Texas I want to take this opportunity to extend to you my personal greetings and my pleasure in having this conference on adult edu­cation to meet with us here in Austin. We have been looking for­ward to this conference for some time. We are very sorry, indeed, that Dean Shelby, who had been dreaming of such a conference for many years, has been unable to be with you; but I want to say, on behalf of The University of Texas, and all of us in this southern part of the country, that we are delighted to have you here. I am pleased, too, to welcome to this campus some personal friends of mine, particularly Dr. Alderman, of Washington. While I was in Washington for four years, Mrs. Rainey and I had the very happy privilege of being counted on the list of friends of the Aldermans; and that for us was a very happy experience. I am also happy to have on our campus this week Dr. and Mrs. Suther­lr:nd from Bucknell University. I have had the happy privilege of knowing Dr. and Mrs. Patton from Shawnee, Oklahoma, who are guests here with us this week. To all of them we extend our personal greetings and best wishes. You have been hearing me talk for some time since I have been in Texas, and many times I have told you that I had a one-track mind, and just had one speech. Until I came here, that speech was on the meaning of liberal education. Since coming to Texas, I have developed another one that revolves around the University and the affairs of the University here in Texas, and I had almost forgotten this speech, but I have been promising it to you people here in Texas, and so it seems that this occasion has given me the opportunity to really deliver this speech on the meaning of a liberal education, and so here it comes. I hope you will enjoy it. I am serious about this, however, because most of my thinking in educational terms in the last twelve or fifteen years has revolved primarily around two questions. When I was pulled out of a university professorship and catapulted, really, into the presidency of a small liberal arts college, I had never done any serious thinking about the meaning of a liberal education and the function of liberal arts classes in our society; and so, in that pos1t10n, I began to raise in my own mind two questions; and these are the questions I said I have built most of my educative thinking around in the last twelve or fifteen years. The first is: What is the meaning of a liberal education? And the second one is very closely related to it, and that is: What is the function or the place of a so-called liberal arts college in our society? and that means in a democratic society. I worked and worked on those questions and tried to find a satisfactory answer to them in my own mind, and I am going to give you the results of some of that thinking here tonight, because I think it is pertinent to this program you are talking about here, educa­tion for democratic living. I think an adequate concept of what we mean by a liberal education in a democracy is very pertinent to this entire program. I want to consider this in relation to one or two of our other problems that I think are handicapping us in American education and in our thinking about education. We have several rather fundamental concepts deep set in Ameri­can thought about education in the United States, and there are three of those concepts that I think are hampering us very much in our educational program. One of those concepts is what I call and others call the "time" concept of education. Somehow, over a period of one hundred years, we have developed an idea that education is related to time in some way. I think it is probably caused by the development of our graded school system more than any other factor. Between 1830 and 1860, our educational leaders in this country became very much enamored with the Ger­man system, and all of our great educational leaders went to Ger­many and studied the German system at that time, and came back into the country; and, in those thirty or forty years between 1830 and about 1860, they developed here for us a hard and fast lock­step system of education that was built upon a time concept-a ladder, an educational ladder, extending from the earliest grade through the elementary school, high school, college, and univer­sity; a grade-a-year idea came into our thinking. A student would spend a year, and each grade was dependent upon successful progress in the one proceeding; so by 1880 in this country we had built up the most hard and fast and lock-step system that is imaginable with this grade-a-year idea back of it. And, some­how, that idea has persisted down to the present time, and we still have this idea of education by time; we think that if you spend six years in the elementary school, four years in high school, and four years in college, somehow you will get an education. Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education 73 Prior to that time, we had a mastery concept of education, which is, after all, the only genuine concept; because up to 1830 approximately, people had progressed in education on the basis of what they could do. A student progressed in the elementary school by subjects, and he had to advance so far in talent to the rule of three-reading, writing, and arithmetic-and if he had mastered it up to that point, he began at that point next year, or whenever he entered school again. He studied the old blue-backed speller. He mastered one, and then he moved on to the next. The whole concept of education was one of mastery. Education under this system, beginning along about 1830, was shifting from a mastery concept to a time concept, and that time concept persists so much in our thinking today that it is one of the problems that we will have to deal with in order to get back to something that is real and genuine in our educational thinking. Another one of those concepts that I have been thinking a great deal about in recent years as I have studied this American youth problem, or as we have analyzed the factors that are con­tributing to our present situation, is what I call another general fundamental concept; it is almost part of our ideology. That is that education is for status-the idea that if we get more and more education, it is going Lo improve our status; and, by that, I mean economic status and social status. It is no pretty fact that our system of democratic, independent, self-supported free education in this country is what we had just as well admit is a needless course in search of education. We have started out to use it, and that is not condemning it. Obviously, we have used our educational program as a means of lifting ourselves and im­proving our living standards, improving our status, and that has all been very well; but it carries with it some very difficult prob­lems that we must face today. The other concept brings me to the theme that I want to dis­cuss tonight, and that is a very unanimous concept that the majority of American people have about the meaning of a liberal education. When I began to study this problem a few years ago, I began to talk to a lot of people, trying to get from them their concepts of what a liberal education is all about. Stop any ten people that you meet and ask them what they conceive a liberal education to be, and if you get any sort of a satisfactory answer, I shall he surprised. Not many people will try to define a liberal education. Nine out of ten of them will attempt to define it in terms of some sort of a relationship to the classical languages and classical literature and art. They think somehow it must be related to Latin and Greek and classical literature, or you are not being liberally educated. As I became convinced that that was the truth of the matter, I began to try to study, and to think I should like to see how it happened that way and how we got this concept. That led me back into a long historical study of this concept and how it came to be. I want to give you a little of this background, because I think it is absolutely essential to our think­ing about it. The very term liberal education grew up from the ancient Greek setting in which it was the type of education that was given to the liberalis, or the freemen in Greek society, as opposed to the type of education given to the slaves in that society. When Greece was at her height there were two major divisions; the freemen, approximating twenty-five per cent of this society, were charged with the responsibility of the organization and control and direction of the government of that society; about three­fourths of the society was made up of serfs or slaves. And so this very term, liberal education, comes from that setting in which, as I said, it was the type of education given to these liberalis, the freemen in that society, as contrasted to the education given to the serfs. Now, if you will examine that, you will find that the type of education that these freemen received in Greece in that time was a dynamic sort of thing. There was no scholasticism about it. There was no study of languages in it. They were studying things that were of vital importance to them in their everyday life, and their thinking is the key to the whole success of the Grecian nation during that long period of its great glory. There were these freemen who were concerning themselves with the problems and issues of contemporary life. They were trying to solve the problems they were facing every day in their society. They were not talking about something that happened a thousand or two thousand years ago. They were not studying any dead languages that had no real meaning and significance to them at that time. Take Aristotle for example. "Wbat was Aristotle trying to do? He laid the basis of our scientific thinking by beginning a classi­fication of our scientific knowledge, and he took for himself the greatest problem that science has ever taken; that is the classifi­cation of phenomena, the starting point of the development of all science. That is how vital Aristotle was at that time. Plato was trying to answer such problems as: What is the best form of organization for a state? What is the best way for society to organize itself and control itself and govern itself in order that it may achieve the greatest amount of satisfaction for itself? What is the best way to educate the youth of the nation, to develop the nation, and to solve all the problems that relate to the daily lives of the people? Even in the fine arts in this great creative period, they were trying to find an answer to these great problems. Greek drama, Greek art, painting, all of it was built upon an effort to find the real answer to the problems that they were dealing with. They were looking for comfort and for beauty, for the happiness of the human spirit, to find the great satisfactions in life through the arts. So you can go through that whole Grecian experience at that time, and I think you will find that the emphasis there was upon contemporary issues; and that was the great genius of it, in my estimation. Then I am going to make another great historical jump, and come down to the Dark Ages. What were the Dark Ages? The Dark Ages were an intellectual break with that past. Whereas prior to that time the interest of the human beings had been upon their contemporary problems and issues, during a period of a thousand or twelve hundred years man turned his back upon that concept and substituted another world concept; he began to think then about another world, an abstract sort of thing, and he made a complete intellectual break with the past and substituted that other world concept, or contemporary concept that the Greeks held. And so we get a thousand years of intellectual history­almost one hundred decades; but learning passed out, intercourse among the nations passed out, cities declined, roads declined, and we went into the period of the Dark Ages; the ideal of the edu­cated man during that entire period was the man who secluded himself from life, withdrew from contemporary affairs and secluded himself in a monastery and there contemplated in an abstract way these great philosophical concepts and other concepts of that nature, and we get scholasticism and we get sterility in a social way as a result of that. We make another great leap and come to the Renaissance. In Western Europe, the Renaissance was the revival of learning, of liberty of the human spirit. It was a rediscovery of the Greek attitude toward life and the Greek way of thinking. When those people in the Renaissance began to go back and rediscover those Greek classics, they found them still vibrant and alive, because they were dealing with problems that they were facing, and interest in living things was due almost entirely to the fact that they began again to make man conscious of himself and of his society and of the problems that he was facing. So we know that Western Europe experienced something of a revival of the human spirit that transcends anything that perhaps we have known in human history. There was a new interest in life following a great scientific movement and a use of science in the solution of human problems. With that history as background, I want to go back and make this assertion. If that concept of a liberal education is sound (and I think it is; that is, it deals with the problems and issues of contemporary life) , then I want us to get off the track, and I want us to forget this more or less general concept of a liberal education that is somehow related to the Latin and Greek lan­guages and literatures. It is a perfectly natural thing historically. During the Renaissance and afterward, they developed learning under the inspiration of the Greek and Roman classics. The Greek and Latin languages were the only avenues back into these two great cultures of the past, the only keys that unlocked that great storehouse of life back there; and so they were vital to, the development of this whole movement of the revival of learn­ing. So these languages were actually an essential to scholarship for a period of two or three hundred years, because they were the only key to unlock those great literatures of the past. As time went on, we began to get great translations in the vernac­ulars, and then we began to see a decline of the importance of the languages themselves, Greek and Latin, and as we got more of the one, we saw a corresponding decline of the other, and then we got into this sort of thing again. People began to think in these terms, "If the language isn't as important, it still has some sort of value to it," and we follow it as a form, as a discipline, and we ought to study it if it helps us to study English. If we study Latin and Greek, we find that we have gotten from it the thing that was vital-not the language itself, but it was the thing that was back of the language-it was the concept, the education of life that they found there, and in the last two or three hundred years, we have lost that concept to a rather large extent, in my judgment, and we try to hold onto the form and shell, and we have lost the real spirit. Let us go back again if this concept is sound. Let us make a modern application of it; the education of the liberalis-the free­men in society-is the essem:e of a liberal education in a democ­racy such as we are trying to operate here today. We have decreed and resolved among ourselves that there shall be no slaves in our democracy; that every man is a freeman in the sense that he is called upon periodically to cast his vote and to partici­pate actively and intelligently in the affairs of democratic life; he is called upon to aid his society in government, and in edu­cation, and in economics, and in defense of the nation. And, therefore, it seems to me that we must get to the heart of the man. The meaning of a liberal education in a democracy is to make us independent citizens about all the issues and problems of contemporary life. If you and I as citizens in a democracy are going to discharge the obligations of freemen, of directors of our democracy, then, as someone has said, there is for each of us a greater obligation to be intelligent; and if we are not intelligent about these various is5ues of contemporary life that come before us, then I submit to you that we are not free­men at all in that sense. We are slaves in a very real sense if we are ignorant about the great issues that come before us. Now, that places upon each of us, as democratic citizens, the most tre­mendous responsibility that any form of society imposes upon its citizens. I have often said, and I feel it very deeply, that democracy demands and requires more of its citizens in terms of character and intelligence than any other form of government or society in the world. Those two are important; both character and intelli­gence. If we are not intelligent about our affairs, we certainly cannot manage them wisely and effectively. On the other hand, if we do not believe in the fundamental character and integrity that goes with that responsibility, then of course we can't hold our social institutions accountable; because we know how depend­ent we are in a great cooperative society of this sort upon the fundamental characteristics, integrity and trustworthiness, of the people who are assuming the responsibility of government and of leadership. Plato had that idea of politics that I think we get today, all of us as citizens, that politics is the highest art of society, of a group of people. It is the art of governing ourselves; it is the art of organizing our society in order that we may achieve the greatest obligations and ideals that we set for ourselves. And think how politics is degraded in our lives; think of the low place it holds iu our estimation and efforts. It should be the highest art of any society. It should be in the very top of our system of social institutions, and we should be bringing to politics the finest that we can bring in terms of intelligence and character and integrity, if our democracy is going to work effectively. That is my concept of the meaning of a liberal education in a democracy, and I want to go a little further now and emphasize one or two implications of that concept. The first thing I want to say about it is that I think the greatest need we have in American education today or in contemporary life, for that mat­ter, is to develop that sort of intelligence. By that, I mean a social intelligence, a political intelligence, an economic intelligence, a moral intelligence that are commensurate with the great power that we have developed in the scientific world. Many people have defined our problem in modern life as that of bringing together these two great types of intelligence--social intelligence on the one hand, and scientific intelligence on the other. We have made the most remarkable progress that man has ever known in recent years in the development of science and scien­tific power. We have made such achievements there, and there is such a gap between what we have done in that field and what we are able to do in the social and political field, that many are telling us our society is breaking down at that point. Unless we can develop a social intelligence commensurate with this great scientific and mechanical power, we are not going to make our democracy work. We have the great spectacle of an ability to produce more goods of all sorts than our society needs, and yet in the face of this ability to produce an abundance of goods, we have some peopl~ who are going without necessities of life and those social circumstances that would improve vastly their liv­ing and standards of living. Power placed in the hands of an unintelligent person or a fool is a dangerous thing, whether that power be mechanical power or scientific power. There is not a one here tonight who would trust his life for five minutes riding the streets of Austin in a high-powered automobile with a drunken driver. There is unin­telligent power, and if that power isn't controlled wisely, it results in disaster and destruction. The same thing is true with respect to scientific power, intellectual power, or political power. If that power is not in the hands of individuals who are intelligent about its use, and who have the basic integrity to use that power wisely for human ends and for the promotion of the finest and best that we know in life, then we are in a dangerous situation. I remember how this thought was impressed upon me a few years ago in reading a book by one of our outstanding modern biologists entitled The Next Age of Man. In this book, the biol­ogist was discussing the great advance we are making today in scientific information. He was talking about the social signifi­cance of this advance, and he said that we have now developed such marvelous scientific information in our various fields of science that in just one field alone, in the field of genetics in biolgy, we have scientific information now that can be released to 130,000,000 American people and that, so far as its social value and significance is concerned, it is of greater significance than all the scientific information that we have had up to date. I couldn't quite conceive of that, and I don't believe you can, but I followed him in his argument. He said, "Now, in the field of birth control, we have scientific information in our biological laboratories that I can release to the American people that will make birth control as easy as going to the corner drugstore and buying a box of aspirin." He raised the question of thought iu my mind of taking a power so tremendous as that, and so sig­nificant in terms of human values, and human destiny, and plac­ing it in the hands of American people who have not developed a social, moral, and political intelligence commensurate with that power, so that it may be u!'ed for human ends and the promo­tion of human welfare. Shortly after that, I was down in Kentucky surveying colleges of Kentucky, and I got a concrete illustration of this thing. was talking with a man, and he said in that town they took great pride in the fact that there was not a scrub bull in that county. In the realm of animal husbandry, they have taken the biological laws that apply to the breeding of animals and used them so that they have eliminated all the scrub stock. The biologist said that in two or three or four generations, if we were to use our biological knowledge intelligently, we could eliminate all the scrub stock of humanity, and the time would come in our world when every child born into our society would be born as a perfect physical specimen with no blemishes, born with a perfect physical body. Think of what that would mean in two or three or four generations to modern society, if we could bring every child into the world as a perfect physical specimen. Think of the greater intellectual and spiritual values. That power is within our grasp. We can go on into the other fields and draw the same sort of parallels. With supermarginal production, we can supply all the funda­mental necessities of human beings: food, clothing, and shelter, and have much to spare. Here in this great Southland of ours, we have three-fourths of all the natural rescources in the entire United States, and all that we have to do in order to build a great civilization for ourselves in terms of the economic necessi­ties of life is simply to apply economic and political intelligence to what we have, and fit tools for ourselves, and work out our problems in those terms. Many of you have heard me use many times already the refer­ence to Denmark in this connection. Seventy-five years ago when we were coming out of a great civil war, Denmark was flat on her back. She too had lost a war, and she was completely dis­couraged-down and out economically and politically, as we were. That little country does not have as many natural resources as we have in two or three Texas counties, and yet by spiritual labor, and led by a great statesman of that small country, in seventy­five years (up until a week ago) Denmark had attained the high­est standard of living of any people in the world, simply by the application of social, economic, and political intelligence to her problems. That is the sort of thing I am pleading for here. We must bring to bear that sort of intelligence upon our problems. I get terribly discouraged in talking about this problem with many people because there is an attitude of defeatism about it. They will go back and say, "Well, we can't do anything about it. We are the victims of environment, of society; and the problem is just too difficult for us. We are doomed to a certain type of government and a certain type of society." You know, I don't believe that for a minute. If I did, I would quit the job I am working at now. I would go do something else. My fundamental faith in education and the powers of education lead me to believe that we can do something about it. The problems we are facing today are our problems. We have created them. They haven't been handed down to us by some despot, who has something against us; and yet that is the attitude many people have. From my earliest boyhood I can remember the type of teach­ing that said to us, "This is some sort of a pronouncement that is imposed upon us for our sins." It is a sin of ignorance; it is a sin of a lack of courage to meet our problems intelligently; and it is not something that is inevitable at all. People try to argue with me that it is the will of a divine father that we should endure these sorts of things. It doesnt make sense to m~. I think that idea of defeatism reached its height back a few years ago in that famous trial in Chicago when Clarence Darrow argued that these two boys are not responsible for this crime they had committed. "They are the victims of society. Society has made them what they are, and they are not morally responsible, and hence should not be punished for this crime." He put that argu­ment over. I want to submit to you that if you and I as individ­uals did not possess the capacity to think creatively and to think intelligently, then I would be willing to admit that we wouldn't have moral responsibility; but you and I do have the capacity to think creatively, and to think constructively about our problems. We can set up goals for ourselves and organize our lives individ­ually and collectively toward the achievement and realization of those goals. Because we can do that, then we have the moral responsibility, it seems to me, to achieve it and to do it. That is the type of education that I think we need so much today, an emphasis upon the problems that we are facing and the organization of our political and economic life in such a way that we may achieve those things for ourselves. I think a lot of the trouble we are facing today is also due to the concept of social education that we have in our schools and classes, and the type of social education we have given people. A very unrealistic type of social education has accumulated here in Texas. The type of civics I was taught twenty-five or thirty years ago, that is still taught in many places, was all about the affairs of Wall Street or Tammany Hall in New York, way off out there some place, and as someone has remarked, that didn't hurt Tammany Hall and it didn't do me any good, which I think is absolutely true. I was not taught the problems of local government and state gov­ernment, and a type of intelligence that would enable me to deal effectively as a citizen in my society with the problems that we were facing at that time; and that is the sort of thing we need here in our educational program more than anything else. Our social sciences, I think; are almost wholly inadequate in their approach to this problem of preparing us for active and intelligent citizenship in this democracy of ours. There is one other thing I want to say. I think we have been led astray in our social sciences by the natural scientists and the nature sciences. Because they have developed a great objective, reliable, and varied method for the discovery of truth in these scientific fields, they have tried to impose that type of method­ology upon the rest of us; and I have sat in faculty meeting after faculty meeting and heard those natural scientists poke jibes at our social science men. "You are not real scientists. You have no scientific method, you have no right to call yourselves scien­tists until you have the same sort of method we have." Our social scientists have wilted under that sort of argument, and gone off and tried to develop a scientific method of that sort, and have lost almost the heart of their social problems in doing that. They have gotten to the place where they can study society objectively, study all the trends operating in contemporary life, predict which way those trends are going, all about it. Fine! Diagnosis is per­fect, but that is as far as they go. They say, "It is not our busi­ness to do anything about it. All we want to do is to analyze, but somebody else has got to formulate a program and get those things done. That is not our job." I heard them spoken of one time as being like people standing on a balcony watching the stream of life go by. They can analyze and diagnose, but they never get off of that balcony and into the stream of life and try to reshape and redirect those trends. That is the thing we need more in education than anything else. We must begin to organize ourselves economically and politically and morally toward the achievement of our ideals. THE NEED FOR ADULT EDUCATION DR. L. R. ALDERMAN, National Director, W.P.A. Education Program The history of adult education has been interesting. Of course, ever since the early days in this country, we have had adult edu­cation. The New England town meeting was a very effective kind of adult education. Evening schools existed in New York and New England very early in our history. But adult education struggled along and was always more or less of a step-child until 1917. In 1917 we were in the war, and the American Defense Council ordered state departments of education and city school depart­ments to establish schools in which the foreign-born might learn English and might become citizens, so that they would not have to be sent back home. I happened to be in a city school superin­tendency at that time, and our city was requested to establish a school for the foreign-born. To these so-called Americanization schools also came the native born, that they might learn English, reading, writing, and principles of American government. Of course, it was impossible to continue the name "Americanization" schools when we were teaching the native-born; so a new name had to be found. At about that time we organized the Americanization teachers into a department of the National Education Association. That Americanization group in about 1920 took the name of the Depart­ment of Adult Education. Classes formerly termed Americaniza­tion classes came to be called adult education classes. As long as we had called our work the Americanization school, of course it had a challenge for the 13,000,000 people of this country who were foreign-born. As soon as we changed the name to adult education, it was a challenge to all adults. I recently took pains to look over the National Education Association program of eleven years ago and compare it with the program of two years ago; in the former, I found hardly any mention of adult education; but the latter program was shot through with the term "adult education." There was the Depart­ment of Adult Education, which had the largest attendance next to the Classroom Teachers Department. There were speakers on adult education on all parts of the program. So the term "adult education" has become popular. Almost every organization in the country feels that it is working in the field of adult education. Of course, in 1922, 1923, and 1924, the American Association for Adult Education was organized. Thorn­dike made his study of the ability of adults to learn-and twenty years from now it may he that his hook will he the most signifi­cant hook of the period. Now you and I, if we were adults, knew that we could learn. But we thought that we were geniuses. Thorndike showed that the man in the jail or in the penitentiary could learn. As students of adult education, we ought also to be familiar with the study made at the University of Minnesota. Price and Sorenson, thinking that perhaps Mr. Thorndike had compared those in practice with those not in practice (that is, compared students with people who were out of school and not in good training for mental achievement), took their extension students and compared them with the students in the University and in the high schools of Minnesota, and corrected the Thorndike curve. Their curve doesn't go down at 40 or 45 the way the Thorndike curve gradually comes down; it shoots nearly straight across the map until senility begins. Thorndike's study was made from 1924 to 1926, and was reported in 1926. I happened to be present when he reported that study; and I am not sure hut that 1926 is a very important date in the history of adult education-because the study reported in that year shows conclusively that adults can learn. But the accepted thing is that we common people, as a rule, cannot learn merely from a book. Adults have to learn by experi­ence; and in the programs we have had-the W.P.A. adult edu­cation program and other programs in the schools-we have proved beyond all doubt that not only the exceptional man can study and learn, but that the average man can learn. We have had seven or eight million adult students in our W.P.A. classes, and we find that they can learn adequately. But I think that an even more significant thing has been discovered, and that is that adults want to study and want to learn. I think that is just as important as the fact that they can learn. In our program we have had no compulsory attendance laws, no tests, no grades-the millions of students we have reached simply came because they wanted to learn. As time goes on, that may prove to be the most significant thing in American history. It may be the greatest discovery of our age that, just at the time when we need to study most, we have found out that no man or woman with good health, up to the age of sixty-five, has a real reason for not learning. There never was a time when we needed to know that more than we do now. Here we are at a conference called by this university, coming together to discuss all of these problems. When you find a uni­versity that really is taking an interest in the affairs of the state, I think that is very fine; and, of course, this university is doing that. I could spend a whole evening telling you what educational institutions are now taking the lead in this movement of adult education. I want to say, before I forget it, that at the beginning of this program, we had people to say that the public school evening classes would be ruined in this country if they were put under federal administration. From 1925 to 1933 it was my business to go all over the United States trying to build up evening schools. In 1932 I suffered a great disappointment when those programs were broken off. It did not seem fair to me, for only about one­tenth as much money was being spent on the evening school stu­dents as on the ordianry boy or girl in high school. Yet the evening school was helping the boy or girl who had to work. But even at the time when these school boards were cutting out evening schools, I felt that the time would come when we would finally have a great many more. And now we have morf evening schools than we ever had. So this program of adult edu­cation is growing, and growing, and growing. Now I find that states are changing their laws relative to adult education. The State of Oklahoma, just this last legislative ses­sion, passed a law that provides for adult education in any of the school districts of the state. I don't know whether or not they appropriated any money; but anyway, they have the law. The same thing is true in Pennsylvania; there, if fifteen people peti­tion for any subject they want to study, they have that subject taught. And so, in many places, the whole program is going well now. We find state superintendents and city superintendents adding departments of adult education. I thought that tonight I would like to have your help in answer­ing a question which is often put to adult educators by other school men. When a school man says to you, "I believe in adult education, but I am very fearful that in supporting adult educa­tion you are going to take away educational opportunities from children"-what is your answer to be? I have a very good friend who is city superintendent of schools in a city of 3,000 popula­tion. I asked him, "Why don't you enter into this program and bring educational opportunities to your people? Why don't you really go in for this?" And he replied, "Well, I believe in adult education, but I am afraid that if you promote something new in education, you are going to take away from what we already have." Let us spend a moment or two considering this attitude. Do you know that the Commission on Education of the National Education Association has just reported in its last book that in 1930 the amount of money appropriated for public education was 22.3 per cent of all public money, and that in 1936 the amount of money appropriated for public education was only 14.4 per cent of all public money. What is the significance of this fact? It means that education may be losing ground. Two years ago we celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the American public school sytem; you and I, who have worked in public education, have taken great pride in the country's edu­cational development. But as leaders, we cannot be satisfied with past accomplishments. Are we an educated nation? Though we have followed the slogan, "Educate all the children of all the people," we find we haven't lived up to this slogan. In 1930 we found that 511 counties had the same amount of illiteracy that they had in 1920. We found that we have a third more illiterates than we have college graduates. Are we an educated people? We have made great advances, but I am calling your attention to the fact that we thought education to be a simpler task than it actually is. We thought that all we had to do was to pass a compulsory school attendance law. Children would go to school, old people would die off, and we would have an educated nation. That isn't true, and never will be true. That isn't the way we are going to do it. The problem is not that simple. Why? Because parents have a dominating influence upon their children. You know that our compulsory school laws are about as forceful as our prohibition laws; and if a parent does not believe in educa­tion, it is almost impossible to educate the child. A child may be sent to school, and a community may teach him his lessons; but the parents exercise the dominating force. You are not going to have all the children of all the people educated until you have all the people of all the children educated. It is, therefore, not as simple as we thought it to be. How in the world did we ever come to the opinion that youth is the only time for education? Christ didn't believe that. Plato didn't teach only youth; neither did Aristotle, neither did Socrat.e:;. Why did we ever think all that we had to do was educate chil­dren, and not to follow this education through? If we could read a child's mind, and see the frustrations and the centers of interest that are there, we would see that it is almost impossible for the child to concentrate. Education is a matter of experience, and it must not be satisfied with youthful beginnings. Adult education carries it on through. The real consumer of education for children is not the child; it is the adult. And the prayer of every conscientious teacher in America is, and has been for a long, long time: "May I find work where the consumer parents in my school district appreciate honest, conscientious work, and not flashy, shoddy work." One of the real questions before this country right now is: "How long can we afford the high cost of low education?" The most expensive thing that we have in the world is ignorance. The problem of crime has its solution very largely in educa­tion; if we could cut down the amount of crime by only one­sixth, it would result in a saving of billions of dollars. Then let us take the matter of illness-unnecessary illness, silly illness. A great deal of expense and suffering could be averted if we could just keep well. Education can help us to keep well. Then there is the matter of our wasted resources. Because we are ignorant, we allow millions of tons of top soil to wash down the Mississippi River each year. We burn off millions of cubic feet of natural gas. How long will we continue this prodigal waste of our natural resources? But waste of natural resources isn't the main loss. A loss greater than that is the waste of human resources. The cost of thwarted lives is high. It costs the adults of today and the children of tomorrow, "even unto the tenth generation." How long can we afford to have wasted people? We ought to do everything we can to increase the earnings, the production, and the consumption of every individual in the United States. There is where our wealth is. I want you to help me with this argument. Answer the man who says, "I believe in adult education, but I am afraid it is going to take away from education for children." I think it is the only way we are going to add to the education of children. You and I believe in adult education. Adult education does not mean simply getting a little smarter. The greatest need of man­kind today, in any country, is to continue his growth. There comes a time in every life when the individual has to make a transition or die a mental death. As Nicholas Murray Butler said, "There ought to be written on some tombstones; 'Died at thirty, buried at sixty.'" We have to make a transition, mental and spiritual. The most cruel law in the world is use or lose; and the greatest tragedy in human life is when we just stop growing. That is the saddest thing in life; we find it all around us, and it sorrows us. Every individual has to make an effort to prevent that thing. Our job is to make human life more valuable. How are we going to do it? Right now you and I have a number of jobs; one of them is preparing people for the most fearful tests that have ever come upon a race. How are we going to manage our leisure? How are we going to manage our unemployment prob­lem? Conditions in industry are changing. There are no more free public lands; from the beginning of time, civilization has followed the sun to the Western Ocean; and now, in your day and mine, we have reached that ocean, and on the other side of that ocean is the home of the teeming millions now fighting for a place to live. Always before in American life we have had the free public land which served as an absolute cure for depressions and unemployment. These lands are gone. We need other frontiers. Are we wise enough to learn to live together and work out those problems we have to face? We believe we can solve those problems. I believe that the most optimistic discovery of our generation is that adults can learn, and that adults want to learn; and that life is not dust and ashes, but something we can enjoy. I am going to close with two poems. Byron wrote the first at the age of thirty-six: "My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone!" Browning wrote: "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand Who saith, 'A whole I planned; Youth shows but half. Trust God; see all. Nor be afraid!' " COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION FOR ADULT EDUCATION HERBERT C. HUNSAKER, Field Representative, American Association for Adult Education I am very glad to be here and to have an opportunity to add further evidence to the statements that Dr. Alderman has been making about the need for adult education. I attended a conference just recently in Spokane, Washington, where one of the principal speakers said that if it were necessary, in his opinion the need was so great for adult education that we should close our public schools for the next five years and spend the same amount of money on bringing the adult population into the school buildings and giving them an education. Of course, he didn't maintain that we really should close the schools or that that would solve the problem. He was merely trying to point out that we have to have the most intelligent and alert type of citi­zenry that we can possibly develop if we are going to maintain our democracy; and therefore, to add emphasis, he suggested the possibility of closing our public schools to the children. It is im­portant, however, as Dr. Alderman pointed out, that we open our public school buildings to the adults, for the community, and keep them going all hours of the day and night as community centers. My particular assignment with the American Association has been that of trying to help communities to develop or to establish programs of adult education. We soon discovered that if we were going to be helpful to the communities in developing a program of education for the adults, that perhaps it would be wise not to intrude, but to go around and find out what is going on in some of our communities in the country, and to attend some of the regional conferences, and find out what people are thinking in different sections of the United States. Therefore, I have, as your chairman has said, attended some of the regional conferences. I just came in from one-the Mountain Plains Conference in Denver, where they were talking about conserving human resources. It is obvious, from the thinking of that group, that one of the ways in which we are going to conserve human resources is by develop· ing a more active program of adult education in our communities throughout the country. I think that the best way for me to tell you how my own thoughts have been moving in this question of adult education is to tell you what was running through my mind as I went around and visited some of these communities, as I have gone from one community to another, both large and small. For years those of us who have been engaged in education have been contending that we are educating youth for individual and social living, and I have wondered whether that has carried over into adult life. As I have gone about some communities, I have been inclined to think that perhaps it has not carried over nearly as well as we thought. Perhaps this business of continuing education needs to be stressed. Certainly, if you look at our social and our economic problems, that exist both in the little community and in the large commu­nity, you are conscious of the fact that in some way we have not quite yet discovered how to live together effectively. We have not yet quite learned how to manage his business of living together as a social and economic group. And yet, I have faith, as I am sure you have, in those educational objectives. I have wondered if it would not be possible to find some areas in which the local community is accepting these goals as realized ones. I am going to tell you about a couple of communities that I have visited just recently, and see if, as we visit these communi­ties tonight, you can discover that there was something going on there that is significant to that community and that may be sig­nificant to other communities. Naturally, it won't be possible for me tonight to tell you about all of the communities that I have visited. When I started talking about community programs of adult education, in the beginning, because I came from New Jer­sey, I was often tempted to pull out a little catalogue like this one from South Orange and Maplewood, and say, "Now, here is a real people's university, if there is one," and I would start list­ing all the courses; but the people would say, "They are close to New York City. There are dozens of colleges and universities on whom they can draw for leaders and for teachers; but we are an isolated community; we can't get these leaders in our community," so I have stopped talking about South Orange and Maplewood; and I have gone into some of these isolated communities to see what is going on. I went into one community with a population of nine hundred people, old and young, and between four and five hundred adults. I found there men and women of all ages, engaged in many activi­ties, after school hours. It didn't seem like South Orange and Maplewood, but there is something going on in that community that I was convinced was significant. I talked with the school principal and I asked him what they were doing. He said, "Well, during the past two years, we have had adult activities and classes of various kinds, including chair caneing, photography, public speaking, handicrafts, parent education, consumer education, art appreciation, care and feeding of livestock, knitting, sewing, com­munity singing, and the public forum." That sounded like a pretty ambitious program for a little community with only four or five hundred adults. He said they had an average attendance for these activities between 125 and 150 in that community. I asked him where he got his leaders, his teachers. "Oh," he said, "we just looked around the neighborhood and we tried to find some peo­ple who knew more than somebody else in the community, who could lead a class better than somebody else. We figured that they could help us. So we asked one of the housewives who knew quite a bit about chair caneing to come in and lead a class of her friends and neighbors. She said she would be delighted." There seemed to be some interest in photography, and they found there a retired college professor who had photography as a hobby. They asked him to lead a class. He said he would be glad to. There was some interest expressed in public speaking; a lot of folks thought they would like to learn how to express themselves a little more effectively, and learn how to stand on their feet before their groups or organizations. They canvassed the com­munity, and discovered a man operating a local garage who had studied public speaking a number of years ago; they went to him and asked him to give up one night a week and lead this class in public speaking. As it has turned out, it is one of the most popular courses they have in that little community. It is a rather interesting further development that that garage mechanic this next year, so they told me, is going to be a candidate for the leg­islature from that same rural county. That illustrates some of the ways in which you discover local leadership. This principal assured me that if this man hadn't worked with his neighbors there in that class of public speaking, it never would have occurred to him that he might become a leader in the community. As a result of that activity, his students in the class and his neighbors urged him to become a candidate for the legislature. How did they get the teacher of hobbies or handicrafts? They had a local carpenter whose hobby was making bird houses. So they organized a class under his leadership, and you should have seen the women who came in to take his class on handicraft, and to learn how to build bird houses. Take another course, consumer education. That course in this particular school was taught by the principal of the school; art appreciation by the grade school teacher; care and feeding of livestock by the county agent; knitting by other housewives; sew­ing by another housewife; community singing by one of the teach­ers in the school system. They simply proceeded on the theory that they were going to get the ablest person available to help them in this program. You will be interested to know how they got started. Every time I go to a different community, I always learn of some new way of starting a program. This one, I think, has some significance. The superintendent of schools was eager to have an intelligent, alert community, so he thought the best way to do it was to start off with a forum program. He got a good group of speakers to come into the community at widely spaced times, and he called in representatives of organizations to help him start it off three years ago. How many people do you suppose showed up on the first night? Six. They decided that there was something wrong; that there must be some way to appeal to adults and to devise a program effective enough to get them out into the school building. So they started this activity program the following year. I have told you something of the results. Interestingly enough, the superintendent didn't append the idea of the forum. He simply arranged his activities first, and another class the second hour, and left the third hour free for a forum. Their average attendance at the forum following these other activ­ities was about ninety or nine-five per cent of those enrolled in other activities; the planning group changed some of the subjects that they had originally planned for their forum. I will give a list of some of the subjects that they were discussing : socialized medicine, taxation, national defense, cooperatives, and credit unions. One evening they discussed why rural church pews are empty; they got the minister out, and they had a good lively discussion that evening. They tell me that since that time the attendance in church has increased, and that it was a good thing for the whole community to have had this open, frank discussion of that ques­tion. Most of the leaders for these forums were coming either from that community or some nearby community. Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education 93 To my way of thinking, the test of the success of this kind of a program is the extent to which is contributes not only to indi­vidual living, but to the improvement of the community. I know from experience that I should not be able to find tangible evi­dence of improvement if the community does not. Things don't happen that way. In other words, you don't get forums going in a community just because someone who thinks they are a good idea tries to impose them on the community; these things come up gradually; you get interest and improvement gradually. I asked that school principal whether what happened in his community was a result of his program, and he said, "You see this building here? This old frame structure has been standing here for thirty­five years, and we have had quite a little trouble with heat dur­ing recent years. I have been trying to get the board of educa­tion to install an automatic stoker to give us better heat during these cold winter days. Last winter we had some pretty blister­ing cold ,nights; the adults were down here, and it wasn't very long after that when a pretty substantial group of the community appeared before the board of education and said, 'It is bad enough to bring the adults down here and make them freeze. We don't want our children brought into a school building like this.' " The people voted enough money to insulate the entire building and install an automatic stoker which the principal had been trying to get for four or five years. Who plans this program of activities? I think the success of a program of education sometimes depends upon the way in which the program is planned. I asked the principal very frankly if he would tell me who started this program and who was planning it. He said, "In the beginning I called together a group of represent­atives from various organizations in the community and some others representing unorganized interests. We had a little plan, and we talked about this thing, and this is how we developed this kind of activity, and this kind of forum program. After the first year, I decided that they would probably do an even better job if I turned it completely over to them and simply offered to coop­erate and to offer the facilities of the school. They grumbled quite a little, and didn't feel quite capable, but finally they went ahead. I'll be honest and admit that the program was better when I stepped out than it was before, because I felt it truly rep­resented the interests of that community. There was vitality in that program; there was a support for it that came as a result of the feeling of the people in the community that they were respon­sible for the success of this as a community project." "Well," I said, "that is very interesting. Does that kind of experience evidence itself in any other way in this community?" "It has," he replied. "The planning committee now is thinking in terms of forming a kind of community council that will con­cern itself with other things happening in the community. The leaders are also vitally interested in some community problems, and they discovered that by working together, they can solve some of these problems. We are interested in the attendance at churches, and we think that this community singing class can become a com­munity choir, and can go into the churches and help them with their programs. There are many problems which we can handle on a cooperative basis." I have already taken more time in giving that illustration than I had planned to. I want to tell you about one other community-­in Jay, Oklahoma. That little community has a population of about one thousand people. Here was the superintendent of schools, a part Cherokee Indian, who had a vision of what his school could do for his community if the program was adapted to the needs of the children of the school and adapted to the needs of the community as a whole. He knew, for example, that ninety-five per cent or even more of the high school graduates were not going away to college; and he knew that they were get­ting preparation, however, as though they intended to go to col­lege. He knew that after receiving that preparation and finding no jobs in their local community, they wandered off into larger communities, and he knew if they could find employment in their local communities, they would like to remain there. And he thought, "Why can't we here in this community develop a pro­gram that is really adapted to the needs of these boys and girls who want to make this community their home?" In seven years, from a five-room school with 250 pupils, this program has expanded to the point where they now have a fifteen­room school building, with 800 students and twenty-five teachers, and buses that carry children in from all over the county in which this community is located. In addition, they have six separate shops and laboratory buildings, including those for home eco­nomics, manual training, vocational agriculture, music, and com­mercial work. They have a lunchroom, serving hot lunches to the underprivileged children in the communities, and a dormitory for the N.Y.A. students that is constructed in such a way that if the N.Y.A. should be discontinued, the same building can be used as a grammar school building. Here is a community that has really looked at its own resources, and lifted itself by its own boot straps. They are in an economically underprivileged area and have no money. They received federal aid to get the materials for their buildings-these shops that I have been talking about; but the labor was done by the high school students and the N.Y.A. in that community. In their shops they make furniture for the school building, and make things for use in their own homes. They are doing the kinds of thing that will help their community, and are demonstrating to the adults what the resources of the commu­nity are. I think I had better tell you about at least one of those build­ings, and how they have tried to economize. I went to the dormi­tory that was nearing completion, and the principal picked up a two-by-four about two feet long and started walking around and hitting against the plaster on the walls. Any moment I expected to see the dust fly or the plaster crumble. I asked him what he was trying to demonstrate. "Have you any idea how that plaster was made?" he asked. "I certainly haven't. I am impressed, however, that it is pretty solid plaster," I replied. "Well, that is made out of cement and sawdust," he said. I asked him how that happened. "Well," he said, "we didn't have as much money as we wanted. The Federal Government allowed $75 a yard for plaster, and I needed that money in so many other places. I happened to think that my father taught me that you can make pretty good plaster out of sawdust and cement. We mixed cement and sawdust." "What did the Federal Government say?" "The inspector did come around here, and he wanted to know what we had used in those walls. I gave him the same kind of demonstration I gave to you. I explained that we had used saw­dust. He thought that was terrible, but after this demonstration, he came back and said, 'Just what was the formula by which you mixed that sawdust?'" This school center here has become a genuine center for the adults of the community. Interestingly enough, they have taken a great deal of pride in that school. So much pride, as a matter of fact, that they are doing something that will be of even greater value later than it is at the present time. The Rock-Buster Club bought a 117-acre farm, and presented it to the school as a demon­stration farm for the high school youth and for the N.Y.A. youth in that county. They are going to demonstrate to the farmers of that community what the possibilities are with the soil that will enable them to earn a better living. And are the local citizens proud of that farm? They certainly are? They are taking their visitors up every day to show them the improvements they have accomplished in the three months that these young people, these high school students, have had this to work with as a laboratory. The day I was there they were putting out five acres of peach trees. They had already planted a half-acre vegetable garden_ The people in the community had given them a couple of cows and a couple of pigs. The horse which was used in the plowing had been loaned by one of the farmers who didn't need him for a while. There was a spirit of cooperation-a desire to make that a bet­ter community in which to live. Well, this is one of those situa­tions in which the outsider really can't help them very much; hut we can learn. Certainly that has been one of the outstand­ing experiences in my visiting over the country. As a matter of fact, the neighboring communities have learned too. I think I ought to illustrate that-the way in which this principal told me about it. He said, "You see this article that appeared last month in the Tulsa World, this piece about Jay, that says, 'That is a school that is in a class by itself.' There is a lawyer in Glove who cut that story out and put it in his window so people could read it as they went by. He said, 'This ain't being done in Glove.' Well, curiously enough, in Glove, which is just sixteen miles away, seven years ago they had six hundred students, with seventeen teachers. Today they have five hundred students with sixteen teachers." I think there is another point the principal told me that is rather significant about this. He had received five applications from teachers in Tulsa applying for positions on his staff, and one from Dallas, Texas. And he was pleased to think that there were some teachers who would like to be identified with a pro­gram of that kind. Of what significance are these community programs? I think you will understand without my telling you that in some way or other, we are going to make this business of democracy meaning­ful. We have got to bring it closer to our own homes in some way or other as we develop our program of education. We should be thinking of the whole community, not of some separate class in the community. And they are doing it in enough communities so that I am beginning to think that as a result of this experience of working together in developing various kinds of community programs (and especially the kind that will enable the commu­nity to face its own problems and do something about them on a cooperative basis) may be the way by which we will learn to solve some of our national and some of our other problems. As much as we need state aid, and as much as we need Federal aid for adult education (because the need for adult education is certainly great), I am convinced that as we make available oppor­tunities of this kind more and more throughout the country, Fed­eral aid and state aid for adult education will become possible if the people feel that it is needed in order to give them the kind of program they want in their community. It seems to me that the real test of democracy lies in our local communities, in our neighborhoods where we live, and in making democracy work in our own community. Until we do this, how can we expect to achieve democracy as a national ideal? PROBLEMS OF INTEGRATING THE PROGRAMS OF SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES ANI: INSTITUTIONS HERBERT C. HUNSAKER, Field Representative, American Association for Adult Education I am glad that those of us who have been attending this con­ference, participating in this discussion, are gathered together this morning not to discuss solely adult education, but adult educa­tion as it relates to the community organization. When I began my assignment with the American Association, I was inclined to hope that out of the adult education council we would find some technique, perhaps some pattern, some blueprint, on methods of organizing the community. I soon discovered, how­ever, that there are many types of organization in the community that have educational significance, and that one cannot confine oneself solely to one particular type of organization. I suspect there will be a few here, as there are in every conference, who hope that out of this discussion they will get a blueprint for tech­niques in community organization. If we have a blueprint, I have failed to discover it. As a matter of fact, I am not so sure that we are looking for a blueprint. Blueprints work pretty well in some nations, notably the totalitarian; but I am not so convinced that we want blueprints in a democratic society. I am inclined to think that the moment we get a blueprint for social and economic devel­opment, we are moving dangerously near a type of organization that is seeking at the present moment to dominate the European situation. In my various visits across the country, I have come across many types of community organizations. These local people and representatives of agencies serving the community are by a coop­erative effort attempting to solve some of their problems. I cannot tell you about all of the types of effort, but I am going to tell you about one that struck me as being rather significant. I find similar efforts in many other communities. When I went to Chicago last fall to visit Ralph McAllister of the Adult Education Council offices he said that he had been hearing about a community plan which was being carried on in Dowagiac, Michigan; and he wondered if I wouldn't be willing to take a day off and go over and visit that little community. So I did. I went into this little community of 5,800 people, and found that there, under the leadership of the superintendent of schools and some other citizens, they decided to develop a community council. And, in order that that council might be truly represent­ative of all of the interests of the community, they thought that they ought to have on it a representative of every organization in the community. Then they started to find out how many organ­izations they had. To their surprise, they discovered they had at least sixty-four in that little community of 5,800. I told one per­son about that one day, and he said, "Well, that is nothing. We have two hundred in our community, and it isn't much larger than that." It seenied that sixty-four was a pretty sizeable number. Anyway, they were not discouarged about it, and they formed a council. But they found there were certain unorganized interests in the community that ought to be represented, so they formed a coun­cil composed of representatives from each of the sixty-four organ­izations and other unorganized interests. When they got through, they had a total council membership of seventy-five. Then they realized that was an unwieldy council, and if they wished to func­tion effectively, they needed a smaller executive committee that would determine policies and aid in the administration of their affairs; so, consciously seeking to be democratic in their pro­cedure, they selected their representatives on the basis of rather wide fields of interest or activity in the community. They selected a representative from the women's organizations, a representative from the men's organizations, a representative from each of the dominant church groups in the community, and a representative from the Board of Education, a representative from the youth groups of the community, a representative from the business interests and industrial interests of the community, and a repre­sentative of the labor union. They included on this Executive Committee the mayor of the town. Their total membership on the Executive Committee was eighteen. As far as the mayor's participation was concerned, I was inter­ested to discover that he had been one of the members of the Executive Committee who had attended most regularly throughout the entire two years that this council had been functioning. Some of them said, of course, that it was because he was interested in being re-elected to office. Irrespective of whether or not he was interested in being re-elected, it was significant that in that com­munity the mayor was concerning himself in a cooperative effort in which all of the leading citizens of the community were par· ticipating. Too often we as citizens are inclined to think that our job has been fulfilled when we elect people to public office; and here is a case where, it seems to me, they are illustrating that there are many policies to determine in the community in which the citizens of the community are vitally concerned; and if, in some way or other, you can get this cooperation between the officials, it is possible that we will get a better governed com­munity. Well, how did that work in Dowagiac? In the first place, they decided that they were not concerned soley with adult education in the community; and if they were going to deal effectively with their problems, they had a feeling that they ought to create cer­tain types of committees on which there would he representative citizens who were especially interested in certain of the problems of the community. So they created, in all, twenty-four committees. You might be interested in having me to name some of them. For example, they had committees of health, recreation, unemploy­ment, juvenile delinquency, labor, welfare, inter-church relation­ships, farm marketing porhlems, public forums, and adult edu­cation. They also had a committee on hot lunches. The reason they had a committee on hot lunches is that they discovered there were in that community a number of underprivileged children not receiv­ing the proper kind of nourishment in their homes and in school, and they considered that to be a responsibility of the community as a whole; they raised the funds and supplied these children with hot lunches. With regard to juvenile delinquents, for example, they decided that they needed better recreation facilities for the young people. By pooling their resources, they were able to open up centers where young people were able to obtain opportunities for recrea­tion and for education. As far as the adults were concerned, the committee that was responsible for adult education sponsored a program of classes and activities in the school building. There are many things that were significant to me about this type of cooperative effort in that community. The extent to which the people participated in it was one of the significant things. As a matter of fact, they had three hundred citizens serving on these twenty-four committees. Now, naturally when you see what looks like an almost overorganized type of effort, you are inclined to be somewhat skeptical. I couldn't help but feel that twenty-four committees with three hundred citizens sounded like too ambitious a program, and it was somewhat in that skeptical spirit that I went around the community and talked with representatives who were participating in this cooperative effort. I went to the president of the bank, for example, and I asked him, "Don't you think this is a pretty ambitious program? Do you feel that it is accomplishing results, and what are you gain­ing personally from this experience?" I asked that question not only of the president of the bank; I asked it of the representa­tives of the labor union, of industry, and of the Board of Educa­tion; and uniformly I received something like this response: "Well, maybe the program is too ambitious. Maybe we have tried too much; but certainly, as a result of this cooperative experi­ence, we have learned that, in this community, by organizing together, we have been able to accomplish more in the last two years than we have in any previous period in the history of this community. We have learned that we can deal effectively with some of the most urgent problems in the community." When I asked the president of the bank, for example, what he personally was getting out of it, he said, "Well, you know, I have been a citizen of this community for thirty years, and I thought I knew my community pretty well. But I soon discovered when I began working in this cooperative effort that I didn't know as much about the community as I thought. For example, labor to me had been existing largely in name only. I didn't know per­sonally any of the representatives of the labor movement; but, as a result of this experience, I have rubbed elbows with the rep­resentative of the labor union on this council; and although I may not agree with his point of view, at least I have learned to respect it. I have achieved a better understanding of his point of view, and I consider that to be a valuable contribution." I asked him whether he, for example, was attending and participating in any of the adult education classes, and he replied that he was attending the lecture series on "Europe Today." I asked the representative of the labor union what he was get­ting out of this experience. I also asked just how he was selected for membership on the council, because I was interested in know­ing to what extent the democratic process was working in that community. I said, for example, "Were you selected by members of your own union for representation on this council, or were you hand-picked by the community itself." "Well," he said, "you know, I was just invited to serve on the council." Did that help you, or was that a handicap?" "As a matter of fact, it was a handicap. If they had come to the labor union and had asked the union to select a representative to par­ticipate, I think that more would have been accomplished. As a matter of fact, if they had used the other procedure, it would have been easier for me to represent the labor unions of the community. I think that labor would probably have selected me for representation; but, nevertheless, I think that labor in this community is beginning to understand what is being done by this cooperative effort in the community. At first, the members of the union accused me of going high-hat and joining the 'four hun­dred.' Gradually their attitude has changed because they have been witnessing the results accomplished." I went to the chairman of the council, and I asked him, "Are you attending any of these classes, any of these activities in the community adult school?" "Well," he said, "you know, I feel as though I ought to show up at some of the activities.'' I said, "You mean to tell me that you are not attending any of these because you feel you want to, that you are doing it primarily because you ought to? Isn't there some one of those activities exciting enough, interesting enough, so that you go because you really want to go, and not out of a sense of obligation because you ought to? He said, "Well, they have a series of lectures on 'Europe Today,' and I wouldn't miss a single one." "If you don't mind my saying so," I told him, "I am not so sure but what that is the real test of the success of your commu­ nity adult school and any other of your activities. In other words, the extent to which you are attending and participating because you want to, because you planned something here in this com­ munity that appeals to you enough so that you eagerly go along and participate is the significant thing. I am not so sure but what too often we make the mistake of planning a program for the other fellow and not for ourselves." Well, I could continue to talk to you about other types of coop­ eration that seem to me to be significant. For example, in Colum­ bus, Ohio, in part because of the influence of the Adult Educa­ tion Council, we find a counseling service that has been organized by bringing together agencies in the community interested pri­ marily in youth and unemployment. They have created a testing .service---educational and vocational. They are counseling young people with regard to educational and vocational education, and they are endeavoring to find employment for these young people. They are simply saying to themselves, "These are our resources," and they are attempting to assemble them in that office, and get­ting all of the agencies to look at this counseling service as some­thing that is available to the entire community. Now, they haven't achieved their ultimate goal, and I am not sure that any com­munity has. But, by this cooperative effort, at least, they have achieved a record that I think is enviable for any community. They have been able, in terms of actual placement, to place one out of every five that has come to them seeking employment; and, more than that, they have aided many of these, particularly the unemployed, out-of-school young people, to make better adjust­ments to the problems with which they are immediately confronted. As to the method by which some of these things are accom­plished: I think the simplest fundamental of a method for com­munity organization is one that can be found in a booklet that has recently been published by the County Council for Commu­nity Development. That is the youth experiment that is being car­ried on in Greenville, South Carolina. I would like to read what they say about their method, because it is stated so simply and so effectively: "The Council has no progarm to put over in the county. It assumes its task to be that of a coordinating agency in the best sense. It sees the community organized into a multiplicity of groups, every one tending to go its own way, with its own pro­gram, oblivious of the other groups operating in the same area of interest. The Council proceeds to ask, therefore, as soon as the problem is isolated, 'Who are the groups with an interest in the solution of this problem? ' A conference is then called of all persons concerned and a joint solution sought. Before there can he any questions, the problems have to be isolated and examined, and that means that one of the Council's primary activities is in research, exhaustive research into every phase of community life. As to action, the Council wants the people of the various com­munities to conquer their own problems with the Council work­ing in advisory and supervisory capacity, but it does not mean to dig up flaws or problems, point them out, and then go quietly away while the people forget them. The efforts of officers, com­mittees, and staff is to direct to tangible results." Well, there they seek to isolate the problem, then endeavor, through research, to assemble the factual data necessary to the understanding of that problem, and then they call together the people interested in the solution of that problem and expect them to go into action. I think, Mr. Chairman, that leads us to the point where we can begin to participate in the discussion of techniques of community organization. DISCUSSION: COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION CHAIRMAN: ELMER SCOTT, Executive Secretary, Dallas Civic Federation MR. ScoTT: Dr. Hunsaker's recital of the facts concerning Dowagiac, Michigan, reminds me of a personal experience I had in Nova Scotia. Some of you may be aware of the admirable adult education movement fostered in Nova Scotia. In Dover, a little town about twenty miles from the railroad, on a very rocky rough coast, the sole possibility of income is fishing. There was the immediate economic need of these poor people in the town of Dover. They said they were not interested in history, economics, or classics, but they were very much concerned with their imme­diate economic needs; so the first adult education movement started in this little town was in respect to fish packing aid fish marketing. They set up an adult education class in which the whole com­munity participated in studying the methods of fish packing and fish marketing. That had been undertaken some five or six years before I was in Dover. They had their own fish packing plant. They had their canneries with the outlets in Boston and other American cities. The people were still comparatively poor, but their economic level had been raised considerably. But, more than that, they were masters of their own fate, and the develop· ment of their adult education in that regard was important. When I was there they had five adult education study groups; these classes had been set up in accordance with their own requests, and four out of five were led by their own leadership in this little remote fishing village. One of the outcomes of that adult education was the fact that they, to their amazement, found that comparatively ignorant fish· ermen could go into the banking business; the complexity of banking and finance was swept away, and they went into the hanking busines on their own account. Under the adult education processes in the community, they started naturally and on a very simple standard. I had a very similar experience in Ireland some years ago, and numerous ones elsewhere, all of which have constantly impressed me with the absolute need for the development of initiative and imaginative thinking. I think Dr. Hunsaker has discovered iri his own studies that there is a surprising amount of leadership lying latent in even the most remote communities. Most of us are committed to the proposition that life begins with the community itself; the next consideration is the extent to which it will permeate the entire state or the entire nation. My judgment is that no state agency and no federal agency will ever find any responsiveness in a community until that responsiveness has developed, to some extent, within the people of that community. I recall that two or three years ago a federal public forum was established in the city of Waco; and as long as the federal agency supported it, and its initiative was taken care of by outside influ­ence, it was carried on for that one year. But the community had never been conditioned to carrying on that kind of program, and as soon as the outside support was withdrawn, I think it was true that the forum movement in Waco disappeared completely. If our communities are not conditioned themselves in respect to the cul­tural needs within their own community, and their own partici­pation in their planning, there is not much that can be done by superimposing financial and intellectual leadership. Those things are exceedingly dependent at first. Now we are going to have a period of discussion. I am going to take the liberty of suggesting that Dr. Ruth Kotinsky, Field Representative, American Association for Adult Education, who has been at work in matters of this similar character, might at this moment speak to us. DR. KoTINSKY: I have been impressed this morning, and I have been impressed several times before, that when we begin to talk about community organizations, we always talk about relatively small communities. Nobody talks about community organization in New York City, or any metropolitan centers. It is always a community of 2,000 or 6,000 or a country road crossing. Before raising my questions, I want to express hy profoundest regard for helping people who get together to solve their common problems as possibly the basic approach in adult education. That is what we are after-to enable people to get together to conduct their common interests better so that they will be able to lead a richer life. But I am skeptical as to the adequacy of our current con­cepts of community organization. The task in hand is to reor­ganize social conditions. The fact that we always use those coun­try roadside small-town communities as examples had led me to ask whether we are not talking about community organization as though we were still living in a simple, agricultural economy, and in a society where each family and each small group of families lived a life somewhat unto itself. I should like to raise three questions to see whether our present conception of community organization is yet adequate to the task in hand. The first qestion is "How many people get in on this job of small-town organization?" In Mr. Hunsaker's town of 5,800, only 300 people were actually in on the job. Some of those were representatives of organized groups. They had some responsibility to their groups. The others were picked then be­cause they represented something not organized. Now, I propose that one of our problems is that we have depended a great deal on representation and that we are obliged to rely upon represen­tation. We do not get the same effect as when each individual is actually in on the thing. Sending a representative to Congress is not exactly the same thing as going to a town meeting and voting whether a certain acre shall remain or be sold. We are not getting that town meet­ing aim in our society. You know Mr. So-and-so in your local community may have some private axe to grind. You know who he is-you know all about him. You know all the factors con­cerned. You can speak. You can hear others speak. You can come to a real decision. But when you elect somebody else to go off and speak for you, you don't always know all about him. You certainly don't know all about the people with whom he is in contact. You don't know all of the issues involved. Well, that furnishes a slight idea as to how many people get in on it. If all the people are to learn better how to manage their affairs, 300 of the 5,800 is not enough. It has to be all the adults. A second question: "Are these programs really effective in edu­cating for the democratic process? Do we accept democracy as a way of life?" Unless individuals, in their relationships with the people with whom they associate in daily life-their friends, their neighbors, their coworkers-do realize and put into effect some of the basic principles of democracy, the whole democracy is lost. We have to have democracy in face-to-face groups. We have to learn to live that way in our most intimate experiences. We see the 300 of the 5,800 have a little experience in democracy, but I am asking whether that experience is enough. People get together and they obtain a better community school, they obtain a better health system, they clean up the community, and do a lot of things of undoubted value. The conditions of their lives are, to a degree, improved. Also, I would say that they learn something about working together. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they do not, identify what they have learned by working together sufficiently that they would put it to work in any wider group relationships. Let me see if I can make that point a little more concrete. There are many people you know who are very gracious neigh­bors, but who have no respect for somebody from another part of town. Others are very polite to equals, but have no sense of humanity about servants or laboring people in general. You can learn the values of working together in this group of twenty-four organizations, and still not realize what the problems of working together as a nationality are, and how difficult they are. It seems to me that if the community-organization approach to adult education is to begin to fulfill its total potentialities, it has to be sure that it not only helps people to make certain local improvements, but to see how it was that they made those local improvements, and to make the translation from that small and concrete face-to-face group to the intangible, remote, and difficult groups with which people are now related in society at large. Very closely related to that is my third question: "Can com­munity organization bring a conscientious and intelligent attack upon the problems of a disintegrated society." In the small agri­cultural communities where every man is an independent farmer, that problem does not arise so much. But as soon as problems encompass employees and their families, tenants and landlords­that old, old question of the owner and his worker, the profit. maker and the worker, comes into the picture. The need for bridging that chasm, I think, is growing more and more desperate. We are going to have to solve our economic problems. That is most important. We are at work on community school and health services, and what not; but we wouldn't dare try to do anything about the fact that we have some people here trying to live on $3.50 a week. It is perfectly proper that we have to do a lot of other things before we touch this question. But I am asking the question now: Even in Dowagiac the whole picture wasn't entirely rosy on that score, was it, Mr. Hunsaker? To bring people who work in factories and people who own the fac­tories together may result in a kind of temporary paternalism; they are all terribly nice and polite; but no understanding, no human communion can exist along those lines. Now, I haven't any answer to propose. I merely suggest that community organization should find a method for bridging some of the schisms of that sort in our society, and helping people to think through the basic causes of those schisms that may not be solvable on a small community basis. It may take wider action, wider programs of education over the country as a whole. But until then, community organization ought to do something about helping people to understand the basic principles of democracy, relationships among persons, and the free play of intelligence in arriving at decisions which will meet effectively the needs of all the people who have a basic stake in the issue. I don't think it would be the whole answer of what we can expect out of helping people themselves to solve their problems. I think we can make only one small step in that direction, in our most thoughtful efforts, because we are still trying to adjust our thinking in education along those lines to the kind of a society that we have. We are still trying to gear the town-meeting scheme to a society where the town meeting is hardly possible. I think it is a problem for adult education to find some ample substitute for the town meeting in American life. I don't think we have found it in community organization. DR. MILDRED J. WEISE (Editor, "Our Weekly News"): I think that those of us who are interested in the possibility of community effort must face those very fundamental questions. With regard lo Dr. Kotinsky's question as to how many people participate­obviously, it is not possible for the whole community to actively participate. In some way we must devise ways and means by which more of the people in your community may at least dis­cuss and to some extent participate in the processes by which the leaders think through these problems. Finally, these problems will not be solved until the understanding of the community as a whole is behind them, in a democratic society. In some other kind of a society, a group of leaders could impose its program on the community. It will not be done, however, in a democratic society. Now, it is true that we know more about effective cooperation in the rural community that we do in our larger community; but, at least, we are struggling with it in our larger urban areas. Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education 109 I could tell you of many, many failures in both rural and urban areas, and I hope, as this discussion goes on, we will face some specific problem, and discuss how we might go about it in one of the urban areas, if that is the wish of the group. With regard to answering her first question, it seems to me that those of us engaged in adult education have got to get busy and see if we can, through adult education, aid both large and small communities in benefitting from this participation in which, per­haps, the whole community cannot share. How truly educative is this experience? The participants must be able to identify what they have achieved as a result of this experience. Consider the program in Auburn, Ohio. They began with their community adult school and then they appreciated the value of working together, and said, "Now, if we can do this by cooperative planning, we can tackle our community program of education and other problems in the community with adult activi­ties." From this first experience emerged a kind of community council that has concerned itself with the solution of other prob­lems in the community. In Jay, Oklahoma, they began by working with the develop­ment of the program in the school. They attempted to analyze their own community resources, to discover what the needs of the young people were; and they built a program around the public school. This work in itself had been a valuable educative experi­ence for those who were participating; and they made a good start in Oklahoma under the leadership of the city schools. That same group said, "Now, let us bring more and more of the com­munity in." They were made specifically into a kind of a com­munity council. I think Dr. Hunsaker pointed out that the same kind of thing happened in Dowagiac. Again I say that this kind of thing is more effective in smaller areas where a larger number of people are able to profit by the experience; but I still think we have to find the way by which it can be done as effectively in our larger urban areas. (In the Audience): I would be interested in knowing whether planning community programs doesn't lead over into a discussion of the Federal aid education set up. In Auburn, Ohio, the school program and its financing were discussed in one of the forums, and they were concerned with that problem; as a result of the struggle they had to find the solution in the local community, they saw the larger complications of the need for assistance, the need for tackling the problem on a state-wide basis, and on a nation-wide basis. And the failure to solve problems successfully in the urban areas has convinced many of you who have been seeking this solution that they must, in some way or other, look at the needs of the larger areas and together pool their efforts to secure a more satisfactory solution. Finally, you ask: How is community organization aiding us in a disintegrating society? How can community organization bridge the schisms that have been pointed out? It seems to me that as we labor to find a solution to these problems in the local community, and pool together the best effort that we have to find the solution, we are going to become conscious of the need for cooperation in larger areas. In times of war, you know, we mobilize our natural resources, and our human resources and direct them toward certain defined goals. Why can't we, in an equally scientific way, inventory our natural and material resources and direct them toward human and social goals? There are efforts being made by many persons to understand their own communities, understand their shortcomings. Take this question of equalizing educational opportunities in a state. That can only be handled on the basis of a rather wide area of coop­eration, because you have inequalities in a wide area, and the communities that are economically underprivileged need the help of those that are economically able to help them. So you get a kind of distribution that attempts to bring up the whole level in the underprivileged area to more nearly equal that of the priv­ileged area. What does this all mean? I am convinced that it means that we have got to learn something about the scientific method. We have got to use the laboratory method in the science of human relationships. We have got to apply it to our social science. We need intelligent social and economic planning that is not based on regimentation, but is based on isolating our problems, study­ing them through exhaustive research, and then relying on the intelligence of our people to answer the logic that this evidence presents to us. DR. WEISE: One of the speakers said that we should seek basic principles of group organization. Dr. Hunsaker said we should look for a scientific method of group organization. It seems to me that that is the responsibility of adult education, but that there are probably some principles in the smaller group which could be applicable to the larger group, if we could define those principles with sufficient clarity. How are the purposes and the goals of a small group set up? How is that group organized? Could the purposes and goals be determined in the same way? Or how is the authority determined in the small groups? Where is the authority located? How are decisions made in smaller groups? And how is action finally worked out in the smaller groups? If there are general principles by which goals are set, business policy is determined, and business decisions are made, are those principles different in democratic organization from what they are in totalitarian organization? Can we translate from a small democratic group the kinds of principles which are effec­tive in an ever larger group Is the same principle effective in the city group that is effective in the community group? If we could see and define those principles, we would be making a real contribution to group organization. It would be more profit­able than discussing many experiences without finding in those a common principle which could be adapted to a new situation. I just wanted to raise that as a possible scientific approach toward generalization which might have a universal application. DR. HUNSAKER: I hope we won't spend too much time on gen­eralizations. I want to take the particular problem. MR. ScoTT: I think Dr. Kotinsky set up at the conclusion of her book on the adult education council movement three rather basic, fundamental principles that have applied to almost any kind of community organization. I wonder if she wouldn't discuss those three principles. DR. HUNSAKER: The organization itself must be democratic, truly democratic. It must use the democratic processes, and it must define what it means by education and democracy. DR. KoTINSKY: As I understand Dr. Weise, she would like to identify the principles of democracy at work in community organ­ization with principles of democracy as they work in wider groups; to attempt to state them in the same terms; to work out from the community school to Federal cooperation. MR. NORRIS A. HIETT (State Field Supervisor, Texas W.P.A. Education Program}: I want to ask a very simple question. What should we do in my community In San Antonio, Texas, two years ago, three of us who thought we were smart conceived the idea of having adult education councils in San Antonio; so we called a meeting. At this meeting we had fifty or sixty represent­atives of all the organizations in the community.· We gathered around a big table and held about a three-hour powwow. Fol­lowing that, we had two or three smaller group meetings. Every­body had his problem; the women's federated groups had their places and times of meeting organized a year ahead, and they didn't have time to bother around with a thing like this. They were glad to be there, and have you to use their name. Every other group is the same way. Each has its own program, and each one thinks its fight is really the best fight. So in San Antonio that thing just fizzled out; although we have a constitu­tion and by-laws, and the names of the best people in San Astonio on this adult education council, it has never done anything, and never will. Everybody is an active worker in adult education, and each follows his own program; and, Dr, Hunsaker, each carries it out. I want to know how, in the communities you have mentioned, they bring all these people together and start them going? DR. HUNSAKER: For what purpose did you bring them together in the beginning? Did you take the initiative? MR. HIETT: I was one of the three. DR. HUNSAKER: What purpose did you have m mind? MR. HIETT: We had in mind integrating the work of all these fifty or sixty agencies. There is much overlapping and duplica­tion of our efforts. For instance, one group of people ought to have better health. At the present time, about twelve agencies send out there and run over each other. We thought that if we all got together and examined what each agency was trying to do-had a council which would be a clearing house--that we could have more effective cooperative activities, rather than everyone going his own way. DR. HUNSAKER: Did you make any effort to break down this total program and to work towards some rather specific objec­tive? Most of these communities I have been talking about came together to do some rather specific thing. MR. GORDON WORLEY (Specialist in Negro Education, Texas State Department of Education): May I make this statement? I have never seen a community program that was successful that did not really center around some particularly towering individ­ual in that community, whether it has been in the church, or in the school, or in the adult education program, or in some other organization. There has always been somebody there who has started something and then the other agencies have come in, and because it was a fertile field, they have helped. Around that indi­vidual, the program was built. That has been by observation here; I have gathered from the reports that have been made of these community programs that they, too, have been centered around some individual who really started something, who was doing something either for the com­munity in general or for the youth in the school. In trying to work with the situation here, I have always observed that in any community or county where we have gone, trying to get the agents to look at their whole program and see if we couldn't agree upon a program with the people cooperating, there have always been agencies which had their own programs. If we will have a coor­dinated program that will be their program, they are perfectly willing to work. If not, they just don't work. I don't believe the Federal agencies in Washington cooperate with each other very much, from what I hear. In the state we have agencies that don't cooperate particularly well. Each one has its own program. This is also true in the county. Each agency has a program it wants to implant somewhere on some commu­nity, rather than getting together with other agencies. We need to forget our separate programs and, with the leadership of the community, see what the community needs, and see if we together can help that community achieve its needs. I can think better in terms of the little communities-the smaller the better. I am personally thinking that we must first get our agencies ready to cooperate with each other before we can get cooperation in any community anywhere. We cannot deceive a group of farm people. They know whether we are cooperating or not; and, if we are not cooperating, they are not going to cooperate. We can't inspire them to do it. I think that program in Nova Scotia grew up around the priest up there, St. Francis Xavier. He was almost thrown out from any church that looked like it was anything. He was sent where he couldn't do any harm. There was a people not quite willing to cooperate. He started something himself. He was helping them in the interest of the community and not in the interest of the church. Whenever any agency does something in the interest of the community rather than in the interest of its own agency, the people will support it. That is what will happen anywhere. It applies to all agencies from the largest Federal department to the smallest community agency. (In the Audience): It has been several years now since I have been in community work, but as I have been listening closely to these discussions, it seems to me that there are two points of emphasis. One point concerns the structure of community organ­ization. I wonder whether there is any place of any size that is really combining all of the various interests into one general plan. That may take some time. I am much more interested in the other thing, and that is that question of the democratic processes. I would like some day to see a group of people get together who would help to plan some experiences in democratic working together. We seem always to begin up here on too large a scale. I am convinced we should begin with small groups. I have worked in cities where small groups of us got together to help white peo­ple to appreciate Negro people and the contribution they can make. In our cities we get together so seldom that we don't appre­ciate such contributions. We don't have that experience. That will never take place in a large community planning group. It will only take place in small groups taking care of some specific thing and then moving on to another. The same thing is true of labor groups. How many of us have worked with labor groups? It doesn't happen to very many of us. Not many of us have had the experience of working together with groups of foreign-born. I know it is a real experience in democratic thinking; and by that I mean in appreciation of the contributions individuals can make to our whole thinking. It seems to me that we have a place for community planning; but when we begin to worry about the democratic processes, I wish we could think in terms of some group. Let us get together groups of people who may discover that experience in which they learn to appreciate each other and the contributions each can make, and build toward something that eventually would be a real democratic community organization. I believe that is going to take several years in any city. MR. CHARLES A. HALL (Director of Evening Schools, Houston): I don't believe that you are going to get very far in any sort of educational program unless you have the wholehearted interest of the constituted public school authorities. I don't believe that is possible without adequate finances. I think, as a result of this conference, we ought to make up our minds: Are we going to have some way of financing a regular adult education program? Dr. Alderman said last night that in 1932 the public schools dis­continued the appropriation of tax money to support adult edu­cation. I know that was true in Houston, where I was trying to do something with adult education. My principal problem is finance. Personally, I favor a program for adult education similar to that conducted in industrial education for twenty-two years. I know that the past president of the National Education Associa­tion in an address in Houston last year said that the Naational Education Association favored a Federal appropriation similar to the Smith-Hughes appropriation for vocational education. He also made a statement that the vocational people generally opposed such an appropriation. I am not going to argue for it or against it. If anything came out of this conference, I would like to see something done in finance. I don't believe that you can success­fully conduct two separate programs in the same community. I know that the public school teachers in Houston are not particu­larly interested in adult education. I believe that if they were here and could hear these discussions, they would be interested. Dr. Hunsaker said last night that one man stated that if neces­sary, we should close the public schools for five years and devote all that money to adult education. If it is that serious, then some different appropriation should be made for the promotion of adult education in the United States. As long as it is on a relief basis, it is not going to work. DEAN 0. A. ULLRICH (Southwestern Universityj: I had two points that I decied to make, and the man from Houston has picked up one of them: The program needs some finance. The other point that I want to stress is this matter of a scien­tific method of organizing the community. When the term "scien­tific" is used, that implies a technician, a person who has knowl­edge, an individual well trained for that type of work. When we want to build a railroad or a dam, we need highly trained peo­ple, and they cannot be referred to a legislature or the vote of the people. The type of men we have been talking about would be leaders who are social engineers, who have the technique and science of organizing people. The question arises, "How far down the line can you go? How far will the rank and file understand that kind of program?" If we are going to build from the bottom up, we have the problem of education immediately at our doors. I think Mr. Worley was correct when he stated that these programs will center around some dynamic personality who has the confidence of the com· munity, and also has the knowedge and the skill that it takes to organize these people and bring them together. That's leadership for us; and without that leadership, I see very little that we can do. The day has come when our society is no longer made up of a number of independent communities hither and yonder. It is interrelated to such an extent that if something happens in one section of the country, the people in the other communities will feel the effects of it in short order. The money problem, the health problem, the racial problems-all are of such a character. In order to bring about education at the adult level, it becomes necessary for us to have leaders who are scientists in this sort of business-perhaps I should say social engineers. What we need is a large number of social engineers who must work together and study the technology, the mechanism. It becomes necessary for us to approach this from a national scale as well as from the community standpoint. MR. SCOTT: Unfortunately, our time is nearly up. I think per­haps this particular period before we introduce Dr. Sutherland might be given to Dr. Hunsaker for a final word. DR. HUNSAKER: We have raised a number of points here. I would like to comment on them briefly. With regard to this ques­tion of finding the community interests in our urban areas and in our cities; there is some experimentation going on at the present time; there is some effort to break down our larger cities into geo­graphical neighborhood units and to see what we can learn as a result of that experience. The point has been made that we could not transfer the town meeting into the geographical neighbor­hoods of our larger cities, because we do not have the community of interests; and in our geographical areas there is the same wide divergency of interests which exists in some areas in our larger cities. We come together on the basis of a common interest, attempting to find the solution of a particular problem. Maybe that is the basis on which we are going to have to work. I don't think that we know the answer, but I think that we are going to participate more earnestly in carrying on experiments of this kind in order that we may discover the basis for cooperation in our larger cities. I don't believe we are going to get the financial support we seek for adult education until more and more people in the com­munity are conscious of what we want and of what we mean by adult education-until it becomes a living experience in their own personal lives rather than something that is just talked to them about by educational leaders in the community, or something they listen to over the radio or read about in newspapers or books. It is a worthwhile objective, it seems to me, for adult education to work out educational programs that will reach the people that are not now being reached by organized groups in the community. Many of them are eager for that kind of an opportunity. I have made it my business not always to talk to educators, but to talk to lay people who do not have these opportunities. And now I am talking about this kind of experience; I am talking about the whole community-not only the underprivileged, but the privi­leged people who stopped their education when they got their diploma from high school or college. With regard to this question of leadership, I would say that leadership must come from above and it must come from below. I don't think there is any one way. The important thing is that it must be leadership with a social point of view. I agree that we need experts in scientific method---experts who can interpret their findings so that the person on the street will understand them. For too long we have had experts who couched their findings in such language that the average person could not understand them. We need experts in the field of education, adult education, public education. We need the kind of teachers and the kind of educational administrators who look at the needs of the whole community-understand the contributions that educa­tion can make toward the solution of some of our social and eco­nomic problems. (In the Audience): Mr. Chairman, we have with us State Super­intendent L. A. Woods. I would suggest that we give him a little time to talk with us. DR. L. A. Wooos (Texas State Superintendent of Public lnstruc· tion}: We are certainly glad to have you here and to know that you are interested in at least one phase of our educational pro­gram. I have taken the position that education should continue throughout life. Everyone deserves to be well-born. In order for a child to be well-born, the educational program must start with the parents. Certainly the formal education that we are using in the public schools will not suffice. When we have finished our formal education, then we should join ourselves to our particular groups, develop our particular programs of continuing educa­tion. Most of our organizations, possibly, are organized from a selfish viewpoint, and not for the community and the general wel­fare. This selfishness must be broken down to a certain degree hefore you can get folks to come together and think of their com­munity as a whole, instead of thinking about bettering themselves. (In the Audience): The late C. R. Henderson said, "The test of my placement system is the men and women who come out." The test of a public school system is the young adults who come out. Adult education has made the very important discovery that the organization of the public schools is of vital concern to those in adult education. CONFERENCE SUMMARY ROBERT L. SUTHERLAND, Chairman, Division of Social Studies, Bucknell University and Associate Director, American Youth Commission I have been given quite a comprehensive assignment. I believe there have been some twenty or so different persons on the pro­gram, and I have only a few minutes in which to summarize. I could summarize the conference from many points of view; so my first task was to decide which would be the more impor­tant. For example, I could summarize the conference from the point of view of the very interesting stories. I notice many of you kept notes on the stories. As you know, that was an important part of the program. You will see that we had extremes in cer­tain parts of this conference. We had Drought on Thursday morn­ing, but by the time of the banquet that evening, it was Rainey. We had many personalities in the conference. We had Mrs. O'Shaunessey, who wished that she knew as little about married life as did the speaker; we had the absent-minded Dr. Alderman, who collected umbrellas; we also had the horse trader who didn't buy the eight-miles-an-hour horse because he only lived five miles from town. We had the little boy who said all the other states lie about Arkansas. We had the person who wanted a helter per­spective-the private in the army who ran from the front lines to the rear. That is, I suppose what we are doing here. We are with­drawing for the time being from our surroundings, but for some of us it is a very temporary flight from reality. Now we are going back to face the problems. There are many points of view that we might use, but I think the dominant idea in the minds of most of the speakers would be this: We cannot run away from the job of finding solutions to the very complex problems. There is no panacea solution. I heard that repeated time after time. A thing that was not mentioned (however, it came out rather surprisingly by its lack of mention) was the very small amount of radicalism you reported in your different communities. In one of the first sessions, when we were talking about economic self-suffi­ ciency, each speaker described the economic conditions of his par­ticular group; and yet none of the speakers reported any actual revolution, any large degree of radicalism. Men in their thirties and youth are supposed to be the radicals. It was found in a recent personal interview questionnaire that less than one per cent of both white and colored youth were interested in complete change. That lack of radicalism might please us, but I think that it might also concern us, because that really means that the peo­ple of all the states which are represented here have faith in our ability to achieve gradual and productive change so that radical change will not be necessary. That makes all of us feel a tremen­dous responsibility for our jobs in adult education. Can we, by the slow process, in the long run come out ahead? When we go to bed at night, have we effected any change, can we see any tangible progress, are we bringing about a greater democracy which would ward off other types of government? If so, then we can go to sleep with a clear conscience. People are as tolerant as they ever were, as willing to put up with our methods and wait until we have learned better methods. This is reassuring, but it is a serious matter. When Mr. David­son reported in his session that someone said we needed not just a day or a week, but a generation, he did denote a big issue. I think that the change, gradual though it may be, is regu­lar. We must find progress between now and next year. We have to have definite records of progress if we are going to fulfill this reponsibility. The real business is that of effecting changes in attitudes, interests, patterns, and institutions. We are really en­gineers in social change. Unless we can do that job well, we are not fulfilling the trust that is given us. What is one of the principal problems of change that has been discussed in this conference? You will recognize that the out­standing problem is that of getting organizations (all of which start out with an enthusiasm for cooperation) to perform a special­ized function and to work together. Why is it difficult to secure better change in that respect? We had a speaker just a few minutes ago from San Antonio who said they got their agencies together and nothing happened. Why do agencies become self-interested and not work for commu­nity welfare as a whole? Why do we have such a thing as con­servativeness, as "old-fogeyism? Why is it necessary for us to criticize agencies and say they are just interested in their own welfare, or merely interested in the statistics they can send to the central office? At this conference we have not said very much about human nature, about persons themselves. We have said that we want leaders, we want interested people with broad vision. But how do we get them? We don't like people who are obstruction­ists. I believe it might be well if we would study this business of human nature and personality. What makes some of us good leaders in our community work, and what makes some of us rather poor? There are variations in personality just as there are vari­ations in patterns of communities, of course. Applied to this concrete problem there are three reasons why agencies don't work together. People and agencies resist change because they are afraid of losing something. Is that abnormal? It is quite justifiable. People possess things, they work all their lives for things. If you ask them to give those things up, they are going to resist. People quite naturally fear change, and naturally we call them conservatives. They try to conserve what they have. The second reason why people resist change is because they don't know the new ideas. They don't know that it is possible to accomplish the same thing that they are after, or even accomplish it in a fuller measure, by following a different pattern. In the third place, people resist change because they are so well adjusted to the old habits and the old customs that they become a part of their nature. We call it inertia. If those are three things which hamper us when we are trying to get agencies to cooperate and to accept this evidence, how might we overcome these three? Is it possible to take out this person who is afraid and count him on our side? Suppose he is the director of recreation in the Work Projects Administration project in a certain community, and we say, "Your recreation program has announced a meeting, but we have an adult education meeting, and we want you to give up that meeting." That meeting is impor­tant for him. He has to send in reports as indication of his suc­cess. Instead of asking him to give up something, show him that he can get something more. I am not preaching about increased selfishness. We have to recognize that each has needs. One of those needs is pride in accomplishment. The thing we want to do is not to ask people to give up accomplishment, but show them how they can accomplish even more. \Ve used several negative terms and examples: "We have to break down these neighbors' lines; we have to get rid of vested interests." Those are harsh terms. I would hate to have anybody say I represent vested interests. Does anybody admit that he is a conservative? People don't like to be called that. Maybe we had better not say we have to break down things; the thing we want to do is to show these people in positive terms how they can secure a greater satisfaction for their interests in the community. Here are some particular things. Dr. Alderman said, for ex­ample, that the school superintendent was afraid of losing attend­ance in the night schools. Why should he support W.P.A. classes? We find that the night school attendance is actually increased; that the W.P.A. classes increased the vague interest in adult edu­cation. If that idea could have been put in the mind of this school man to begin with, his resistance would have been much less. I remember the case of an old lady teaching a Sunday School class. She had taught the same class in this little town for years and years. She had a vested interest. A young preacher was brought to the church. He saw that these young adolescents couldn't get a very satisfactory view on life from this person who was old not only in years, but also ideas. And so he said, "Well, my first move is to ask you to retire, to get out of this church posi­tion and let some younger person take over this class." You can well guess that that young minister lasted just three months. He found the church split wide open. Half thought he was right, half thought he was wrong. But all of it was unnecessary. That woman's loyalty and interest could have been enlisted in some position in which the breadth of experience that she had would have counted for more. He could have said, "All the records for the church for sixty years need to be compiled." Maybe she could have been the very one who was needed. Instead of that, he began by attacking the Sunday School class, her primary interest in life. Another church was located in a large city where population changes had been great. Formerly the city was Protestant; because of population changes, the community became predominantly Catholic. This Protestant church faced the prospect of either hav­ing a dwindling membership and attendance, or of making radical adjustment to these new conditions. A new minister was hired for the church. He preached fiery sermons, and he launched an attendance campaign. Then the church declined, and they said it was the fault of the minister. Finally they discontinued the church, explaining that there were twC> groups of people in the church. Some persons were so thoroughly identified with that church project that they said, "Our fathers worshipped in this church. This is going to be a Baptist Church." Institutions behave the same way. They cleave to what they hold important. If you could have demonstrated to that institu­tion that it had a new usefulness, it would have been no effort to adjust its program to the new challenge. Obstructionists would have become leaders. Here is an example of how it would happen. In a large city a Presbyterian Church and a Methodist Church were located across the street from each other. The people realized they were behind the times, that these methods of competition were all right in the early days, but that now in large cities the cost of plants was so tremendous that churches could't afford to build. So they planned how to save. An organization known as the Comity Class was formed for the purpose of coordinating the efforts of the churches. They met large-scale technological problems of the large city. It all happened without anybody losing anything and with every­body gaining. That is possible in a great many cities today. That city has gained not only the solution of its own problem, but it has gained a reputation throughout the country as setting a new way. People come to find out how they did it. Prominent Metho­dists, for instance, from all over the country come and say, "How have you learned to work together with other churches?" We must learn how people can avoid this feeling of losing something, and learn that they can gain something in community work. I am very glad that I can draw illustrations from the field of religion. We sometimes take that field for severe criticism. I want to call attention to the case study Mr. Worley mentioned in regard to successful community organization. I dare say the people involved in that project got bigger character out of the results and reputation of their community than any one agency could possibly have lost in the things it gave up. If those pros­pects and possibilities can be put in the minds of people at first, their fears become relaxed, and they move along with us. The first thing is to overcome fear; the second is to transmit new ideas, to put new patterns in the minds of the people. We act far too much on the basis of pictures, on the basis of symbols and stereotypes and slogans, on the basis of summaries; and it is ter­ribly hard to change. The only way we can do it is to have an attractive idea, an idea that will solve our problem better than the old one. Realistic approaches command respect. Take, for example, a few of the new ideas advanced in the last fifteen or twenty years. For example, this Thorndike idea that adults can learn, illustrative of this need for a new pattern. Thorndike didn't change people. He didn't change them at all. The only thing he did was to change our conception of people. That exercised, I think, a tremendous influence upon adult education. Are we ourselves ingenious enought to invent new conceptions, new ways of interpretation, or will we fall into the old slogans or terminology. We have not been particularly skilled in develop­ing new types of languages. Somebody is going to make a glossary of our conference terms, and there is going to be a great amount of stardardization. You hear about the same type of generaliza­tions. We have to think up new, fresh ways of analyzing prob­lems, and take hold of some of the new ideas that have come out of this and other conferences. Mr. Davidson told us that there was a great need to dignify work so that people do not feel that they are failures unless they have white-collar jobs. I wish we could get that across to some employers. The labor unions have helped to do it. There were two workers in a factory. One girl was a stenog­rapher in the office and the other girl worked in the textile part of the factory. This latter girl, partly through the liberal attitude of her employer, was receiving at least a third higher salary than the stenographer. But this stenographer wouldn't think of trading jobs, because she had a white-collar job. She thought she had a higher status-she was in the office operating a typewriter. She knew the stenographers did not receive very great compensation, nevertheless, she would rather have that job than to have the job in the factory and get more pay. She began to think: "Where did I get that idea? The factory workers are doing work with their hands. I have to sit here, and I have to blow off steam at night. I get so fed up on this highly detailed routine work. The girls in the factory have more opportunity to move about. They can sometimes do things rather interesting. They get more pay for it. Where did I get this idea that I have a better job than this person?" Then she said, "I am crazy. I have had the wrong idea in my mind." When the girls in the factory got a $10 raise, she became even more convinced that she had been wrong. We have heard that our problems are very complex. That word "complex" is an unattractive word. It is repeated entirely too often. If our problems are complex, we can accept the fact, and don't have to talk about it. But I am not sure that it is so true. Are our problems so complex if we begin working at them, mak­ing a little progress here and there? Sometimes you will find that they are not so complex if you approach them in the right way. Some of the so-called big, complex problems in Washington are being solved in simple ways. The people who are solving them are not geniuses in complexity. The factors which caused the problems are not so complex. We hear it said that the Industrial Revolution is very complex. I think it is very simple. Any eighth-grade child can analyze the basic factors in our whole economic situation. He would say to you: "First, you have to know what you have to make things out of. You have to know how many people you have. You have to know where you can get those things for the people who need them." Those are the so-called complex theories of economics. They are not so complex when you interpret them in terms of the experi­ence of our people. Here was a rather interesting case. A W.P.A. adult education supervisor in my own state came up against a problem which was rather difficult from a political angle. He was moving into a new community, hiring a new supervisor; and there was a good deal of pressure being brought to bear upon him to hire a certain woman. She was a very fine woman-a widow and a deserving person-so it was going to be difficult for him to avoid hiring her. But he didn't think that this particular woman had had enough experience in this work. She wasn't flexible enough. She just wasn't fitted for this job. What was his approach? He found out a good deal about her family background. He went to see her. He said, "We are going to open our adult education work in this community. It is going to be difficult getting a start. Some people have the idea that W.P.A. work is run by politics. That is the first thing we have got to overcome. As you know, we have got to find a most capable person to run these classes." She said, "Well, I want to be in this program. I want to get a job." He said, "Yes, I have heard that you are an applicant for this job. I don't think you are as qualified for this job as someone else." "Someone else wants me to get this job," she said. "Wasn't your father So-and-so in this community? Wasn't he noted in this community for the way he cleaned up the government, and for >-ome of the things he stood for? Haven't you stood for those things yourself?" She said, "Yes, we take great pride in those things." "You are not asking me, then," he said, "to go against my best judgment. I have every respect for you as a person and for your ability, but I think this is a very technical job. We have someone who is qualified. I am sure you wouldn't ask me to give you the job under those cir­cumstances. In fact, if you take the lead supporting our program from the sidelines, but not in this technical job, you can do more for the success of this project than in any other way." She had had this one idea in her mind: "Get somebody to talk for you and support you." This new idea in her mind was more valuable to her. Perpetuation of her family reputation was more important to her personally than this old idea of getting what you can through influence. We need to have other new ideas come to us. I thought this one rather interesting-a new way of expressing an idea-which came to us last night from Dr. Alderman: The real consumer of education is the adult. To educate all of the children of all of the parents, you must educate all of the parents of all of the children. We had, as the old idea, the attitude that the farm was the place to leave, not to live. The new idea was discussed that the farm is the place to live and to grow up; the Future Farmers of America may give it organization. The old path is for youth to be dissatisfied with the farm. The new path is for youth to join the Future Farmers of America. This field of community organi­zation, these case studies Mr. Hunsaker has given us so itnerest­ingly, show that new concepts can be followed successfully. In the third place, you have got to get people to act. Jar inertia apart. People just wait at home and relax. They are not willing to take the initiative to make a change. The task of getting peo­ple to act on the basis of what they know is good. All of you know far better than I how it can be accomplished. We sometimes need to pass the word around that somebody else has done it. There is a great pride in person-so also is there pride in com­munity, pride in state. I read an article in Survey Graphic saying that the State of T cxas was one of the first states in the country to answer Grapes of Wrath-to establish a system so that people moving about when the crops require workers will be housed when they get there. It doesn't claim to solve all problems. But the fact that Texas has started to do something is arousing the other states to action. People do take pride in their own community. If you know that your own community is a little bit behind, you are apt to bring pressure to bear to get people to change, to act. I don't think we utilize crises enough. A crisis is a bad thing. It is a personal tragedy. Some fortune is lost, the community has a depression or a crop failure. But most of the agencies repre­sented here are the outgrowth of crises. Crises can be bad, but also very constructive. Generally the prevailing sentiment is: "Oh, well, the old system does pretty well." If you can take advantage of a crisis, and your reason is not bowled over by the experience, it helps tremendously. We should recognize the contagious spirit of optimism. If we ourselves are a bit skeptical-we think this new idea might work or might not-we have to act courageously. A new idea beckons you, and you are eager to try it. If you have laid the foundation carefully, you know your institutions, and you have a reasonable basis for your belief that change would be successful-then if you can get the key people to be a little enthusiastic about it and to express openly their belief that things are going well, things really will be going well. How much we are influenced by that atmosphere! We think that we are rational people and that we have to stop and analyze everything before we can act. We should. That would be an ideal Utopia. But we don't. We are influenced a great deal by the moral atmosphere that surrounds us. A department store in New York City was having a sale on women's dresses. The owner of the store wanted to get some cus­tomers for these dresses. He hired whispering agents to say, "A tremendous sale is going on at so-and-so's." These people traveled in two's and went up and down in elevators-small space and lots of people. They sometimes went in elevators of other depart­ment stores. They would separate, one would be several feet away from the other. "Did you hear about the bargain I got. I have a new dress, and here it is." "I need a new dress." "I got this one at so-and-so's for something-or-other." "You mean it?" "And they have the most beautiful dresses-not last year's num­ bers at all." And they went to another elevator. I don't advocate underhandedness like that. But it is true that if somebody believes that things can be done, and if they are confident of the outcome, it does tend to break the lethargy and inertia. If we take advantage of crises, utilize prestige, give people new ideas, associate them with what we are trying to accomplish, we frequently will get the people who will do something about things. I was very glad to hear this point emphasized repeatedly this morning: You must take into account personality. That is a real factor in the last stage of this process-the personal element is the final one. We know that in history, when we have a series of complex economic and political situations, at that point a personality may play a tremendous part. It is at that point, after you have laid down good work, and analyzed all these things, and got the program in mind, it may be that a personality does the trick. My concluding point: I have been pleased to see the feeling of responsibility that the persons who attended this conference assumed. It is our problem. How can we solve the problem? There has been very, very little buck-passing. That does mean that we, ourselves, are an important factor. We have to as­sume the responsibility, and we are willing to do so. If we are applying this personality analysis to ourselves, we, as workers, have to be emotionally mature. We must be so mature in our own personality, our own emotional make up, that we don't have to get anything out of it for us personally. The poor leader is trying to dominate the situation out of self-consciousness. He needs some­thing he doesn't have. If we are inadequate mentally or emotion­ally, we will utilize the community none the less, in our most glowing, interesting terms, to fulfill some wish of our own. It is a good thing to sit back and think: "Am I fighting for any agency, or for personality inadequacy? Have I got a little bit too much of my emotion wrapped up in it? It might be well for me to apply mental hygiene to myself, and then act-go on and work for the total program." I am not advocating that any of us here need that except in the way that everybody needs it. All of us have barriers, frustrat­ing experiences. I don't think there is a person who doesn't have. The only difference is in the way we meet those experiences. If we are capable of moving ahead rather than bringing our blighted spots into our program, we, of course, are the great leaders. The very poor listener who dominates a discussion group has a cer­tain need. If you will help him to meet that need, you will get much farther in your discussion. Some of us take these demo­cratic processes too seriously. We assume that everybody is abso­lutely free, absoltuely rational; that what each person is saying is what he thinks is the truth and what ought to be. Actually, what he is saying is what he needs to say. What is hack of it? What has got him so worked up? Don't eliminate him as an obstruc­tionist. Free him so that he can participate more effectively. All of us need to become emotionally mature. No one is per­fect in that respect. We need to have confidence in the success that we are working to achieve--not Polly Anna optimism, but confidence. We need to leave this conference with a feeling that even though our problems are complicated, we are making head­way. Remember the opening remark: "The teacher needs to learn from the learner." All of us must leave this conference with a real determination to do our best. We cannot tell at what moment in our discussions something we say, some attitude which we will express will touch another person just at the crisis of experience when it will be a turning point for him. I talked to a man very prominent in the State of Texas. He said, "I was studying mathematics. I couldn't get the problem. I be­came impatient, frustrated. The teacher said, 'Read the instruc­tions for this problem.' I read them, and the teacher said, 'That is why you couldn't get the problem. You can't read.' Then the teacher read the instructions with emphasis. 'Why, I can get that problem in a minute.'" Right now that man is one of the great leaders in this state, very much interested in higher education. Although he is about seventy, he told me that this little experience way back in his childhood had a tremendous amount of influence upon him. We can't tell when something that we may say, some encour­agement we may give, may have far greater importance than we realize. We are engaged in a type of work not statistically meas­ured very accurately. We have to act on faith. We have to believe that better days are coming. I believe they are. REPORT OF RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE OF THE SOUTH­WEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADULT EDUCATION No greater movement in the field of education has been fostered during the last quarter of a century than that of adult education. We who are members of this first Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education believe that the foundation of our nation is the education of its people, and that a democracy can attain its full fruition only when each of its members is trained to the high­est level of his intelligence. We, therefore, commend the Federal Government for its efforts to provide opportunities for adults to remedy deficiencies in their education, to develop personal talents, to improve their vocational efficiency, and to enrich the cultural aspects of life. Because of the impetus given to adult education during this con­ference, and because of the great possibilities for good that lie in additional regional conferences, we recommend that a permanent organization to be known as the Southwest Regional Conference on adult Education be authorized and established by those assembled here--the said organization to embrace five states, viz.: Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. We further recom­mend that Dean T. H. Shelby, of the Extension Division of The University of Texas, and promoter of this conference, be empow­ered to name a committee, composed of members from the five states named heretofore, to establish and to put in operation the Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education which shall meet annually. We extend our appreciation to The University of Texas, the American Association for Adult Education, and the Texas Feder­ated Agencies for Adult Education for sponsoring this timely, highly successful, and far-reaching regional conference on adult education. To Dean T. H. Shelby and to C. W. Huser, State Supervisor, Education Section, Texas Work Projects Association, we express our sincere gratitude for initiating and planning this regional con­ference. We acknowledge with deep appreciation the excellence of the addresses of the distinguished speakers appearing on the Confer­ence Program. To the members of the committees listed in the Conference Pro­gram we express our appreciation for their invaluable assistance and effective cooperation in conducting the conference. We wish to sincerely thank Mrs. T. H. Shelby, Mrs. L. C. Procter, Mrs. J. W. Aycock, and Mrs. Mariana Jei;:sen for providing decora­tions for the banquet session. We are grateful to the exhibitors, the state and local press, and the Driskill Hotel for the splendid services which they have ren­dered in making the conference successful. NORRIS A. HIETT, Chairman W. P. DAVIDSON L . C. PROCTER MRS. E. H. BECKER MRS. I. D. F AIRCHJLD MISS ALINE LATHROP (This report of the Resolutions Committee was adopted as read.) A PARTIAL LIST OF PERSONS IN ATTENDANCE AT THE CONFERENCE Samuel S. Akers, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. L. R. Alderman, National Director, W.P.A. Education, Washington. W. O. Alexander, District Director, N.Y.A., Houston. Minnie E. Baker, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Clancy E. Baldridge, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, San Angelo. Esther B. Barremore, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Mrs. E. H. Becker, Second Vice-President, Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers, Houston. L. C. Billingsley, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Marshall. Allie Bland, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Huntsville. Mrs. Emma Bond, Regional Chief, Home Economics, Dallas. John D. Bowles, Dean, Houston College for Negroes, Houston. A. W. Brisbin, District Director, N.Y.A., Waco. Doyle T. Brooks, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, EI Paso. Thomas M. Bruton, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Temple. Alton M. Bryant, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Waco. L. J . Buchanan, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Austin. Thomas V. Calkins, State Superintendent, W.P.A. Education and Recreation, Santa Fe. Mabel Cassell, Curriculum Director, Houston. J. W. Chapman, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Randolph Lee Clark, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Cisco. George 0. Clough, Director of Extension, Southern Methodist Uni­ versity, Dallas. C. C. Comer, Assistant Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Austin. Mrs. B. F. Coop, Secretary, Board of Education, Houston. Houston Crump, State Supervisor, W.P.A. Recreation, San Antonio. Arthur Cunningham, Jr., Teacher, Public Schools, Austin. Abigail Curlee, Executive Secretary, Travis County Welfare Board, Austin. Arthur R. Curry, State Supervisor, W.P.A. Library Project, San Antonio. Charles Cyrus, Teacher Trainer, The University of Texas, Austin. Roy K. Daily, Chairman of Adult Eciucation, Board of Education, Houston. W. P. Davidson, District Education Adviser, C.C.C., Fort Worth. Percy M. Dawson (Retired), Austin. Willard Deeson, Deputy State Administrator, N.Y.A., Austin. LeNoir Dimmitt, Director, Package Loan Library, The University of Texas, Austin. Mildred Dougherty, Consultant, Children's Bureau, U.S. Departmentof Labor, Austin. H. P. Drought, State Administrator, W.P.A., San Antonio. Mrs. H. P. Drought, San Antonio. James R. D. Eddy, Director of Trade and Industrial Education, State Department of Education, Austin. William Eilers, Sr., Austin. Mrs. Ailee P. Ervin, Home Supervisor, F.S.A., Austin. C. M. Evans, Regional Director, F.S.A., Dallas. Frank Bowen Evans, State Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Southwest Regional Conference on Adult Education 131 Irma Deane Fowler, Secretary, Division 1Jf Extension, The Univer­sity of Texas, Austin. W. J. Fraker, State Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. W. T. Francisco, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Fort Worth. Nelson W. Gay, District Education Adviser, C.C.C., San Antonio. Dorothy Gebauer, Dean of Women, The University of Texas, Austin. W. E. Gettys, Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas, Austin. Audrey C. Goree, State Supervisor, W.P.A. Welfare Projects, San Antonio. Stanley E. Grannum, President, Samuel Huston College for Negroes, Austin. Leon G. Halden, Professor of Government, University of Houston, Houston. Chas. A. Hall, Director, Evening School, Houston. D. B. Harmon, Mental Health Specialist, State Health Department, Austin. Bess Heflin, Professor of Home Economics, The University of Texas, Austin. Rev. Edmund Heinsohn, Pastor, University Methodist Church, Austin. F. M. Hemphill, Chief Health Education Consultant, State Health Department, Austin. Norris A. Hiett, State Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Geraldine A. Hines, District Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, Fort Worth. J. Warren Hitt, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education Section, Waco. Mildred Horton, Vice-Director, Cooperative Extension Service, Texas A. & M. College, College Station. Mrs. L. M. H. Hotchkiss, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Herbert C. Hunsaker, Field Representative, American Association for Adult Education. C. W. Huser, State Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Mariana Jessen, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, Austin. Edward W. Kee, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Austin. J. C. Kellam, State Administrator, N.Y.A., Austin. Catherine M. Keller, Adult Education Teacher, Austin. Earl E. Kerr, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Waco. Ruth Kotinsky, Field Representative, American Association for Adult Education, New York. Aline Lathrop, Assistant Director, Div;sion of Information and Statistics, State Department of Education, Austin. Elna J. Lind, State Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, San Antonio. Priscilla D. Lyon, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, San Angelo.Mrs. Berta Malone, State Department of Public Welfare, Austin. Vernon L. Mangum, Dean, Mary Hardin-Baylor College, Belton. J. 0. Marberry, Professor of Educational Administration, The Uni­versity of Texas, Austin. Mrs. Sylvia D. Mariner, Regional Supe1·visor, W.P.A. Education and Recreation, New Orleans. H. E. Markham, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Marshall. Mary A. Mason, Professor of Home Economics, Texas State College for Women, Denton. Homer L. Massey, Supervisor, F.S.A., Dallas. Scott J. McGinnis, State Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Autonio. Elizabeth McGuire, Consultant on Community Organization, State Health Department, Austin. Cora McKnight, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. K. S. McNamee, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Marshall. Alfred Melinger, State Director of Public Information, W.P.A., San Antonio. Minnie P. Mitchell, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Rev. William H. Molony, Dean of Studies, St. Edward's University, Austin. Bernice M. Moore, Assistant District Director, W.P.A. Professional and Service Division, Austin. Laura Murray, Director. Industrial Teacher Training, The Univer­sity of Texas, Austin. C. W. Norris, State Field Supervisor, Negro Division, W.P.A. Edu­cation, San Antonio. E. M. Norris, Director, Graduate Study, Prairie View State College, Hempstead. E. E. Oberholtzer, Superintendent of Schools, Houston. W. B. Orr, State Representative, U.S. Bureau of Agricultural Eco­nomics, College Station. H. B. Palmer, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Laredo. Ethel L. Parker, Secretary, W.P.A. Education, Austin. S. D. Parrish, Principal, Dunbar High School, Mexia. C. W. Patton, Professor of Government and History, Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee. Mrs. C. W. Patton, Shawnee, Oklahoma. Lillian Peek, Austin. Mrs. Georgia U. Peoples, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Mrs. Joseph W. Perkins, President, Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. B. F . Pittenger, Dean, School of Education, The University of Texas, Austin. Ross Poteet, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Lella Price, District Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, Marshall. Hugh C. Procter, Superintendent of Schools, Mission. L. C. Procter, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Austin. Homer P. Rainey, President, The University of Texas, Austin. Edna W. Ray, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. J. T. Reid, Director of Extension, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Mrs. Mary J. Rheubotham, Regional Supervisor, Welfare Projects, New Orleans. Netabel S. Rice, State Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Dorothy Richie, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. M. S. Robertson, State Director, W.P.A. Education, New Orleans. L. W. Rogers, Education Adviser, Eighth Corps Area, C.C.C., San Antonio. Henry RoRs, Professor of Agricultural Education, Texas A. & M. College, College Station. E. D. Salinas, President-General, League of United Latin-American Citizens, Laredo. George I. Sanchez, Professor of Education, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Mrs. B. Satterfield, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Elmer Scott, Executive Secretary, Dallas Civic Federation, Dallas. Georgiana Scott, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Herbert H. Scott, Director, Extension Division, University of Okla­homa, Norman. Florence I. Scoular, Director, Department of Home Economics, North Texas State Teachers College, Denton. Grace Sewell, Personnel Director, State Department of Public Wel­fare, Austin. Virginia W. Sharborough, Parent Education Specialist, The Uni­versity of Texas, Austin. Jack Shelton, Vice-Director, Extension Service, Texas A. & M. Col­lege, College Station. Henry S. Shipp, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Jasper. Elizabeth Siddall, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Houston. Louise M. Spaeth, Austin. Paul E. Spruill, Junior Placement Supervisor, Texas State Employ­ment Service, Austin. Sadie Stevens, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. E. B. Stover, Field Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, Dallas. Robert L. Sutherland, Chairman of Social Studies, Bucknell Uni­versity. Madelyn S. Tayloe, District Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, Dallas. D. B. Taylor, Assistant State Agent for Negro Schools, State De­ partment of Education, Austin. Jack H. Taylor, Assistant Education Adviser, C.C.C., Austin. Mrs. Mary K. Taylor, State Director, W.P.A. Professional and Service Projects, San Antonio. Willis P. Terry, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Elinor M. Thompson, Nursery School Instructor, North Texas State Teachers College, Denton. Terrell Trimble, First Assistant State Superintendent, State Depart­ment of Education, Austin. Oscar A. Ullrich, Dean, Southwestern University, Georgetown. Mrs. Priscilla Valentine, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Alma Valroff, Adult Education Teacher, San Antonio. Julia E. Vance, Registrar, Extension Teaching Bureau, The Uni­ versity of Texas, Austin. 0. Douglas Weeks, Professor of Government, The University of Texas, Austin. Mrs. Joe A. Wessendorff, President, Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers, Rosenberg. Evelyn P. Westfall, District Supervisor, W.P.A. Nursery Schools, Houston. E. S. J. Whitehead, Senior Supervisor, W.P.A. Education, San Antonio. Mildred J. Wiese, Editor, "Our Weekly News," Columbus, Ohio. C. A. Wiley, Professor of Economics, The University of Texas, Austin. Grace G. Williams, State Training Supervisor, W.P.A., San Antonio. Jennie S. Wilmot, Professor of Home Economics, The University of Texas, Austin. F. L. Winship, Director of Dramatics, University Interscholastic League, Austin. L. A. Woods, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Austin. Gordon Worley, Director of Negro Education, State Department of Education, Austin. John A. Zimmermann, State Supervisor, W.P.A. Recreation, New Orleans.