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Page 19 text:
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' Weather Favors Graduation of 630 in Malden Municipal Stadium June 8, 1966
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Page 20 text:
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Valedictorian and Salutatorian EDUCATION AS AN EXPERIENCE Traditionally, educational systems have functioned to perpetuate the society of which they are a part. This role of the schools exists because it is a necessity. Each new generation must be prepared to replace the preceding one if an organized society is to survive. With this end in view, education in the United States has achieved unparalleled success. For the first time in history, a nation has been able to provide most of its citizens with sufficient food, clothing and shelter to eliminate the basic problems of survival. Without the organized training of the young, this could never have been accomplished. The base from which to work for the continuation of our society has been constructed—the physical needs of the people have been satisfied. But while American education has concentrated on its role of achieving a materially secure country, other facets of education have had to be sacrificed. It is now the time to determine what has been neglected in our pursuit of physical well-being. An examination of the results of our system reveals that many of those result s interfere directly with the future suc¬ cess of our society. The emphasis during school years is on the future—the children are being trained to be the respon¬ sible citizens of tomorrow. Unfortunately, because of this, childhood is suddenly stopped short at age 6. The active first-grader is forced to sit up straight in his seat and stop moving about the room. His natural tendency toward com¬ plete freedom and curiosity is inhibited, instead of gradually modified to fit into the practices of the community. The desire to play is not allowed to grow itself-out—it remains with the student throughout his life. Thus we have adults who can never fully adjust themselves to the duties of the grown-up world—adults who, at forty, need the security of the corner-gang with its secret handshakes and magic pass¬ words, and who find this security in the many fraternal organizations. If the obligation of maturity were not thrust on students before they were ready to accept it and its privileges, they would be better able to face the realities of life. They would be able to accept the challenge of diffi¬ culties without the desire to retreat into a fantasy world which had never been allowed to flourish during the child¬ hood years. The emphasis placed in education on the continuation of the existing society has often lead to the child’s disas¬ sociating in his own mind the ideas of school and life. Despite the observations of such educators as A. S. Neill, the founder of the Summerhill School in England, that the community sense of social responsibility does not de¬ velop naturally in children until the age of 18, we expect VALEDICTORIAN DIANE PANSEN receives from Mrs. Holland the long-awaited diplomas which she distributes to graduates. Diane Pansen—Valedictorian children from grade school on to work hard, in order that they may one day be able to vote intelligently, earn a living, and be respected and responsible citizens. We must begin to understand that young children live for the present —their sense of time is not developed enough to have them aim for vague goals in a future that exists for them only in their imitative-imaginative play. Since the child does not consciously care about what he will do in the fu¬ ture, he regards school as a waste of time which prevents him from enjoying the wondrous possibilities for adventure that he sees about him. Although most children do eventu¬ ally reconcile themselves to school, not deeming it worth¬ while, they rarely devote their full capacities to it. These are the students who become content with mediocrity. These are the students who will determine the future course of our culture. Democracy, to work successfully, needs a well-educated citizenry. But, by overstressing this fact in our educational system, we have produced indifference in the very people upon whom the future of a democratic America depends. Clearly, a change in emphasis is required in our schools if our society is to continue to prove its worth. Modern education tries, for 12 years, to prepare each srudent for the future. But the student is ready to live and wants to live in the present; he thinks of himself, the individual, as being more important than the plumber, physician or soldier he will one day become. Educators must learn to respect this belief. In present education, the student is regarded as a lump of clay to be molded from nothingness into a desired shape. Rather, educators should approach the student as a sculptor would a fine piece of marble. The sculptor sees the possibilities of the marble, judges its hardness, grain and color—and then proceeds to use these qualities to their best advantage, thereby creating a beautiful and satisfying work. The teacher, likewise, must learn the capabilities of his students, their Strengths and weaknesses, and work with them to allow a complete and worthwhile human being to appear from the potential they possess. Only if the teacher himself regards each stu¬ dent as unique can the student, in turn, come to discover his own uniqueness and personal worth. 18
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