Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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The Voyageur But what is udemocracyw? It must be more than a perpetuation of the ustatus quow. It must be better than the world we knew between 1919-1939, of boom and depression, of maladjustments, economic and political. Dem- ocracy must mean more than a slogan such as Hitler's New Order or ,lapanis Co-Prosperity Sphere. Democracy has meaning. Five basic minimum essentials are: . General Welfare M'Democracy prizes a broad humanitarianism, an interest in the other fellow, a feeling of kinship to other people more or less fortunate than one- self. One who lives in accordance with democracy is interested, not only in his own welfare but in the welfare of others-the general welfare. Civil Liberty Democratic behavior observes and accords to every individual certain 'funalienablew rights and certain inescapable corollary responsibilities. One who lives in a democratic way respects himself. And to self-respect he adds respect for the moral rights and feelings of others, for the sanctity of each individual personality. The Consent of the Coverned Democratic processes also involve the assent of the people in matters of social control and the participation of all concerned in arriving at im- portant decisions. This implies that all the people must have access to the facts which will help them to reach wise decisions. The Appeal to Reason Peaceful and orderly methods of settling controversial questions are applied by a democracy to matters of national and international policy as well as to private disputes. The callous use of force and violence is rejected as unworthy of a civilized people. The Pursuit of Happiness Finally, democracy sets high value upon the attainment of human happi- ness as a basis for judging the effectivenes of social lifef, These values are the basic values which must be preserved for the post- war world. If not, the gains of many generations will be lost and the present struggle will be ultimately meaningless. The school, or to put it more broadly, education is the means by which these values are to be realized. What are the educational objectives by which these purposes must be realized? Educational objectives are many and varied-for example, to get ahead in the world, to improve on the position of parents, to improve social status. The parental wish is often as follows:-'fthe noble wish to save all earnings to the uttermost and give his child a better bringing up than his had beenf, 'K Purposes of Education in American Democracy --National Education Association, U.S.A. 14

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The Voyageur gcfucaiianwf P ' in pail'-wad eanacfa Synopsis of an address delivered by Joseph Mcffulley, MA.. Headmaster of Pickering College. - to the Urban Section, Trustees' and Ratepayers' Department. Untario Educational Association, Easter 1.9H. Reprinted from the Canadian School Journal. May. 1944. i HE AXIS NATIONS prepared for war for at least a ten-year period. Simi- larly, if peace is to be permanent, and just, it must be prepared for. Many people, already tired by the strain of the war years, are becoming equally tired by so much talk of post-war planning. It is imperative how- ever, to think of the responsibilities of education in the post-war period. The more clearly we see our goals, the more effectively will the struggle be waged. Perhaps it is part of our weakness-that millions of people in the United Nations are being asked to sacrifice, to struggle and to die for purposes unsure. MHow valid are the aims expressed in the Atlantic Charter?,' asks the common man. HWhat about DeCaulle and Giraud? '6Have we made mistakes in ltaly?', uHow truly unitedare the GBig Four, in our war aims? Are we giving China as much help as we can and should? and so on. Even though we may ask some of those questions, there need be no ques- tion about the broad nature of the post-war settlement. When we talk of the post-war world we can visualize only one such world-a world in which the Axis Nations have' been decisively defeated. One hundred years from now, historians may argue about ucauses, events and results of World War ll, but for us there is only one possible answer. We are lighting for survival-but for more than physical survival-for the survival of those values in which we believe and for the privilege of transmitting those values to posterity. No matter what our political differences, no matter what our criticism of the incidentals and details of government programme in the last five years, no one can deny that by her effort and achievement in this period. Canada has earned an honoured place among the Nations of the post-war world. What kind of a world will it be in which Canada will find herself? VVhat are the values, so important, that we believe them to be worth the incalcul- able cost of these war years? lt must be a world in which the principles of democracy have full sway. 13

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The Voyageur Four objectives of education mentioned by the Educational Policies Com- mission are: Education is Concerned with the Development of the Learner '4The first role, or phase of total behavior, is that of the educated person. Conduct in this field is centred on the personal development, growth, and learning of the individual. It includes his use of the fundamental tools of learning, his health, his recreation, his personal philosophy. The placing of these objectives first in the list is not accidental. They deal with the development of the individual himself. In a democracy this field is of supreme importance. Success in this role conditions one's success in every other phase of life's activities. The purposes of education which fall into this area of total behaviour are referred to as the objectives of self- realization. Education is Concerned with Home, F amily, and Community Life A second area is that of home and family relationships with their im- mediate and natural extensions to neighbours and community. Educationally the home is the most powerful, as it is perhaps the oldest, of all social institutions. Good homes and good communities are the basic units of democracy. The activities of the educated individual which relate to these immediate, person-to-person contacts are, therefore, grouped together as objectives of human relationship. Education is Concerned with Economic Demands The next aspect of the activities of the members of a democratic society includes the economic sphere-the creation and satisfaction of material wants. Here we consider the education of the individual as a producer, a consumer, an investor. The importance of such education in providing the indispensable material basis for comfort, safety, and even life itself is clear. The objectives within this general area are classified under the heading of the objectives of economic efficiency. Education is Concerned with Civic and Social Duties Finally, there are activities of the educated citizen. They involve his dealings with his government-local, provincial and national-his relation- ships with the peoples of other nations, and his other 'glong-distance con- tacts in large scale collective enterprises. This field of activity is served by education through the objectives of civic responsibilityf' These objectives are not mutually exclusive. Rather they represent four approaches to the task of education, giving us a comprehensive view of the whole. Some of these objectives are shared by other agencies, the home, the church, etc. At times their realization is hamperd by agencies in the community which indeed educate but not always towards these ends. However, from the vantage point of these objectives and keeping in mind the fundamental desire to develop a democractic Canada in a democratic world order, what are a few of the priorities in a programme of education in post-war Canada? They are as follows: 15