Listen to these comments from schools in Hawaii:

An intermediate school counselor-

"We don't counsel the students in this school, we just administer the rules. The real control and mo· tivation, very subtle in nature, re· sides within the student peer groups and the teachers end coun· selo1s are excluded." A University student reflecting on

the topic 0£ creativity- -

"I have always thought of crea· tivity as such a wonderful thing, but I learned very early that it is not one of the criteria by which mo5t teachers grade the student. In fact I can recall vividly a frightful and traumatic experience concern· ing the topic of creativity and it goes something like this: When I was a fiflh grader, a freckled.faced young lad had just arriwd from

14

Some Observations on Education in Hawaii

the mainland and was not aware of the criteria for grades. He, there· fore, put everything he had into one of our assignments and I must say to me and my peers it was beautiful; an expression of crea· tivity to its fullest and we nil ad· mired it. When the assignment was returnecl, howe\'er, the boy had an "F" for not following di· rections. At that moment I realized no matter how wonderful and re· freshing creativity is I would never risk the cost of exercising it. I made up my mind then that I would follow directions explicitly." A third grade teacher in her sec·

ond year in a rural school-".Most days I don't know what

to do m•xt. Few of my group of 33 are able to rend and it's impossible for me to communicate with many of tht>m. The noise alone and their ~ocin 1 behavior brings me lo the

William P. McDougall

point of exhaustion each day. I guess I don't know enough about their values and system of com· munication to bring them under control. I can't just yell at them nil the time - I wasn't raised that way. I've tried for two years but I'm afraid I'll have to quit or change levels." A young student lender talking

about what counselors are doing-

"l'm sorry but your counselor's bag is not my bag."

These comments are more than just interesting. Like dropouts and suspensions• they signal failure in our ability to communicate and meet the needs of young people, The dropout or suspended student has taken control and removed himself rrom the school environment, and is

EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

on the records as a failure. These situations reflect trouble at a subex­plosion level potentially more destructive than the dropout.

To point dirt>ction in the solution of these kinds of problems I should like to emphasize some currt>nt trends end strategies which I belic\'l' ha\·e particular relevance for puhlic schools in Hawaii.

Implement a philosophy of educa­tion which will allow young people the right lo freedom of choice and thought and the opportunities to develop individual and social respon­sibility through participation in real social process.

Despite the fact that our society is founded upon the concepts of freedom and responsibility most of us have grown up in a deterministic world and we go about the performance of our duties, without much concern, using rather automati­cally the concepts and instruments of a deterministic psychology. The con· cept of ·free will is a metaphysical question for most of us. We are products of school systems which emphasized the manipulative func· tions of "distributive," "adjustive" and "adaptive" education, where robot-like behavior is rewarded, free­dom of thought and expression and creative behavior suppressed. Seeing the world through these glasses we are frightened by the thought of anarchy, unable to tolerate people who are different and often react with a rigidity which freezes com­munication, particularly with young people, and denies that growth and change will occur. Generally speak­ing, we feel that students cannot learn anything until we bring them under our control. Conformity and control become the essence of learn­ing. The opportunity for the learner to understand and participate in the social process of establishing limits of his own behavior is too frequently dt"niecl.

MAY 1911

Contemporar} societ} also is characterized by many trends end dilemmas which threaten freedom and individuality and rob young

people of the opportunity for personal im·olwment in the educa­th e process. Population explo~ion

and urbanization, mass education. rising meritocrac} in cmplo) mcnt. mechanization and automation all teno to depress indh·idualism and make the per!'on faceless. Young: people ha\C a feeling 0£ l)('ing d<•ter­mincd and programmed and lrft out of the proct"ss of helping to shape their own future. John Gardner in his book Self Rt'nr1wl and the Inno­vative Society pul~ it this way: "One of the clearest dangers in modern society is that men and \\ omrn "ill lose the experience of participating in meaningful decisions concerninf? their own life and work and that they will becom 'cogs in the machine' becau~e they feel like cogs in tht" machine!"2

Ct"rtainly the paramount objective in our educatht" process is to brin~ forth person5 , .. ho arc "inner directed" and "self actualized", who participate acti\ely in social process and are able to make responsible decisions individually ancl socially. Such maturity can only be lt>arned through participation! Mathewson' says it well: "The crucial considera­tion ( for guidance) seems to he whetht"r we shall regard the student as a statistical unit - a piece of socio-economic mass to be planneo, directed and otherwise manipulated - or ''hether he is to be perceived as a potentiall} free and responsihle individual and citizen "ho, every day in his adult life, "ill be personally engaged in his own pursuit of meaning and 111

determining, with his fellows, the essential nature of our culture and economy."

Tht" importance of attending to

this principle in the Hawaiian com­

munitr is great for despite the ap· parent racial harmony at present it may be ohserved that certain ethnic group and social class. cleavages tend

to suppress change through octh·c participation. Th<• tendencr to over indulge youth in a wa) of !He which spl'lls satisfaction to the older memhers can only prorlucc a youngrr set unprepared for change and n·spon!'ible social action in the f utur<'.

Modi/) and extend school learning

models to provide mort> appropriate

co11ditions for achieving all rd11ca­

tional objectiveJ including the learn­

ing of personal and social skills and

adjustment. The traditional school model is a mass production model which views students as commo·

clities, with focus on control of pro­duction. It hos frequently been charactnizcd as the prison model with trachers and school 1ulminis­trators as wardens. Actually there is no rl'al evidence which would justify it as the most valid model for learn­ing. Try es we may to shore it up with such supports as ability group­ing, remedial instruction and individ­ual counseling, we still lose large segmt>nts of th<• students. Instruction continues in this unnatural setting aclministered in 50 minute doses "turning students on and off' with a succession of bells. We gather research data hoping to establish which lcchniqui·s, such as ability g rouping, or which ancillary sen·ice, such as indi\-idual counsel­ing, will hel11 the most when the real problem mar be the model itself.

Though there is probably no hope in the immediate future for drastic modification of the school "architec· ture," it would appear to be time now to open our minds to the task of ap· plying new learning models which \\ill in fact permit real social learn-

15

ing to take place. We must attend to the student and his cultural setting and mak«> the "learning group" one

with \\ hich the learner can idcntif y and communicate on an cxtcnJ,.d hasis.

Perhaps the most pervasive powerful sources of moti\ ation and the most natural learning models arc

the family and the 111•cr grou11 \\ ith which a youth idcntifit•s. To elate \l't'

have made only minor use of this obvious fact in planning learning ex­periences for 1..hildrcn. Though not fully undl•rstood, the use of the small

group as a \chicle for changing behavior holds great promise and should he further r1•st•arclwd. Tiii' 1•ultural anthropologi!'t and the so­ciologist may be mo!'t helpful in guiding our stud} of community forc1•s and helping to arrange con· 1litio11!' for optimum h·urning. Pin}· ground and ULli\'ily club models, fnmil} counsl'linµ, use of parents.

and young fll'O)lle from the lommu· nity as lll'lp1•rs. ~houl<I all he ~tudiccl for th1•ir pol1•11tial rnltws in disco\ er· ing u~l'ful li·arr11nir mod1•ls. Certain kill(!~ of \ ntical 1troupinµs !<honl<I be consid1·rc1l. Shift in authorit} aml

responsihility for \ ariou~ kinds of education should hi' studied. fuller ust• of total community leadership and potential must he imoh·cd in future planning. Education of the

citizenry is not soml'thing which can he totally 1l1•le1mll•1I to th<' srhool n~ a function s1•parntl' from li,·ing.

Rt•vamp our prt!s1•111 tra111111g pro. gmm.f .w /l'llchl'rs aclii1•1·1• gn•atcr sen.~iti vii)' to co11/1'111 porar) .~ocial

trl'nds 11111/ i.~su1•s. b1•1t1•r p1•rso11al a111/ .wriul mlj11stmc11t irrcluding com· mu11icutiv1• .fkills, 1111d f ullrr 11ndcr­.f/<111dillg of tli1• l1•ami11g proct•ss. Tcaclirr trai11i11g 11111st b1• vil'rn•d a.f a cor1ti111toU.f proct•ss tlrro11glw11t tlic rr1tirc carrcr of tlir l<'acl1rr and close coopcratio11 u it/, rt•srarcli and tmi11· ing programs must br f os/crt•d.

The larg1• majority of trachers

16

and administrators, especially in Hawaii, arc mcmlwrs of a slriving middle class culture. They embrace enthusiastically the \'alm•s of educa· lion and high academic acl1il'\ emcnt, ncatnc5'5 nncl conformity, liar<l \wrk and i:ompliancl' with authoril} and the importance of "corn•ct" socio I

lll'hnvior. They !'erm lo he intl·llrr· tually a\\UTl' of curn·nt social trcn1ls and dilemmas but do not hehaw ns though tlwy wen• aware of tlJl'm. A kincl of social and cultural enc:ap~ula· tion st•ems to prt•\ail an<I dl'ep st•nsi­tivity to cliff1•rN1c1·s in childn•n from different social class and ethnic irroup backgrounds is lacking.

It is hii:d1ly unlikcl} that such s1·nsiti,·itics will he achit•H•cl through

vicarious t•Xpl•rienc1·s i:uch as lec­tures and reading. More dirt·1..t cx­perit•nct• will be rcquirt•tl. Summer

\\ork cx1wri1•nce in an•as of different social cla"-s, pn rtici pat ion in all kinds of community proj1•e1s, Ira\ cl and t•ducation in diffrn•nt countrirs all

offer po"-sihilitit•s for intrrnalizing learnings of a broa<lcning nature. Tlwse shoultl become incl~asingly n plannl'd part of all student pro­grams. Small group expt•rit•nct'S \\ ith rnpresenlati\'t•s of \'ariou~ culturt•s and disciplinPs may off er a vd1iclr for increasing such lt•arnings. It

should ali:o he noted that l'Xtn•nw care in selection and placem<'nl of lt•nchcrs must be oliser\'e1l to in~un• that tcaclwrs arc atturwcl to tlw needs and communicatin• structur<· of the community in whirh they an· \\Orking.

Ht•search and expt'rt op1111on hav<' cl!'arly l'Stablishccl that th1• mental health of lht• tcaclwr is of paramount importance in fostering n healthy learning climate for young pt•opl<• } Pt littll' atlt•ntion is gi\'l•n to this aspect of teacher dc\·rlopmcnt al nny poinl in training programs. The

prrsonal and sol'ial adjustmt•nt of the teacher shoul<I he included as a l'Cn· tral ohjcctiv1• and a sysh·matic pro·

gram of group and indh itlual coun­seling shoulcl be arranged and staffed with competent persons to assist in the solution of personal problems, the de\ elopment of listening and communicative skills, social sensitivi­ty and great sd£ understanding.

Teachers and students alike eX· pn·ss dissatisfaction with courst•s in methods, learning and beginning t•ducational psychology. Present courses \\ill need radical revision to incorporate more obsenation and iii reel experience \\ ith students in the learning selling. Greater em· phasis on growth ancl development

in the beginning of the training sc· quencc and the incorporation of

learning theory al a latter point in the training mar be more appro· printc to student's level of readiness. Small group discussions should he plannccl so that principles of

development and learning may be heller rclalt•d to individual ex· pt•rience. Principles and experiences in special education should be ex· tl'nded to all students. Other means of suppll'm1•nting learning using \ i!'ual aids. programmed instruction and imlh i1lual s tudy should be furtlll'r studied although care should be taken not to l'quatc excellence in 1•itlll'r training or research with the amount and rnrict~ of paraphnnalia

1•mploye<I. Finally the demand for training

arul retraining will he continuous

throughout the can·er of tead1ers. Clo~c cooperation bctwt•en the

~chools and the training and n•s t•arch facilities will help assure constant fct>dback anrl help adjust tilt' training ancl n•scarch efforts to the needs of the teachers. The prom· int·m·e of researd1 efforts focused on till' central net•ds of thr learner should be t•mphasized.

Look to tlw prt'Sl'nl and the f ulurc for Ilic .mlutiori of our t•ducatio1111l probkms or as the ad !'a} S, "come

up to the times." Our task is to ac-

EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

ct•pt conditions as they arc and try to understand and improvf' them. We will not recapture an idt•ntity or an exccllcncc in education out of the past. That '\ hich worked in the past i-: outgrown. Excl'llcncc is to be created and achim ed, not found. The "Good old days" arc today-tomor­row.

Much of our present day research on learning and instruction, partic· ularl) association or corrclational research is of questionable 'olue in making pre~l'nl day edm.ational decisions. Dealing with data which is already histor) it lends lo 11rojcct answers into the future which arc out of conte-.t. It implies that the learner should hehaw according to laws and repeal the same patterns of behavior in the solution to llC\\ and complex problems. Frequently, tiny differences of little practical signif­icanct• or, diffcrl'llCt'S found using data of questionable \aliclity, arc magnified out of proportion using a

variety of impressive statistical tech­niques and jargon.

The standardized ahility testing " game" pro\'idcs a striking example of circular and culturally encap­sulated logic in research and predic­tion. In this case the conceptual • model originally validated on a limited segment of the population has bt•come a part of the criterion against which the validation process continues. These tests, all measures of convergent verbal abilitr, little <liffcrenl than Birwt's original intelli­gence tests, arc continuously vali­dated on groups which ha\'c been selected by different varieties of tlw same kind of measun•s. Thus the criteria is controlled by selection and the net result is fitting present prac­tice lo concepts useful at a previous period in history. It's interesting to note what Rothncy has to say about standardized test . "Research in ed­ucation, guidance and psychology has not clearly and conclusively

MAY 19&8

demonstrated that the use of tests has increased the \\elfare or produc­li\'ity of anr significant numbers of persons dt•spitc the fact that millions of tlu·m are us(•d annually."4 Though this judgment may seem severe we should remind ourselves that stan­dardized tests are \·alidated on groups and may tell us V(•rr little or nothing about singl«' individuals. They arc of value only for making tentative hypotheses and do not pro­' ide final answers.

The kind of research models need­e1I arc thos1• which will gem•rute answer:- as we encounter the prob­lems in complex l1•nrning situations. Tlw proeedun•s must b(• open and self correcting and permitting im­mediatt• fet•dhnck and mo1lification. Tlw rl'S('ar<"h must lw carried on in the social context in which 11•arning takt•s pla1·e and dt•al simultaneously with all kincls of variahlt•s, including those associatPd with the informal cultun· as w1•1l as tht• formal <'ulture of tlw l1•arn1•r. Pro<·edun•s will lw nel'ded \\ hich allow all kinds of data to be harullc·<I so that h<'st decisions can lw madr at any point in time. This may he• ac<"omplishcd through

'' idclr divPrs1• approachl's ranging from informal interaction to the use of modl'rn electronic data analysis equipment. Tlw lt•acher, school of­fi<"ials and rl's1•arch1•rs will conti-1111011sl) and wrn;ciously participate in the n•-:1•arC'h proces-:. Emphasis will he l?ivcn to rearrangement of the learning environment to fit the needs of the learner rather than pre. dktion an1l control of stud1·nt be­havior.

Fi nail), the challenge of the Cutur,. lies in the area of social and human relationQhip. Eager to achieve ex­exccllence in technical fielcls we ha\'e ncp-lccted these aspects of education. At this point in history we show signs of becoming an enlightened people and arc allowing some of the real soda! issues to surface and be

studied. Those who meet these challenges will need to be open and flexible learners able to tolerate change and ambiguity. Process will become increasin~ly important since final ans\\crs do not exist. Those ex­pct.ting to find absolute will become, increac:ing l r. misfits in society.

Education will onlr succeed in the dl'gree lo which we meet the needs of stuclt•nts not needs of an older µroup. There arc manift•st signs that ~l'fiOll!> min<fo<l } oung peo11le want lo become im·oivl'd in the solution of social problemc:. Perhaps it's time we start comcrsing with them and put· ting the stu1lent rather than the mold at tlu• ccnh•r of our efforts.

It's time lo gl'l akamai !

IFor u current report !t:c llarruii Pu/Jlrr School Dropout and Su:ipcn:iion~. OHt, ,. or ln•trnc tionnl Sen in•, Drpt. or Edu1·•· tion, Fchrunry, 19611.

2Gnrdncr, John William, Sci/ Rcncu:11l: Tiie lndi1:idual and the lnno111ti1:c So· cict)'. New York, Harbor and Row, 1964.

1i\lntl11 • \\~011, Rohcrt H .. "Mun Powrr or P1•r•ons : A Critit-al Issue." Parwr pre· 5rntecl nl the Amcri1'.an College l'er~onncl A« 0< intion, Annual Conference. APGA, April ll, 196.'I, Boston, l\lass.

IR01hne)-, J. W .. ct.al., Measurement fur Guidance. New York Harper and Brothers, 1959, p. 20.

17