Queens College - Silhouette Yearbook (Queens, NY)

Page 17 text:

, l Bryant High School students who whistle at that pretty student teacher from Queens College, South Jamaica grammar school students tolerantly amused by the seemingly strange antics of the green young teacher who take over their classes, speech defectives made suddenly aware of their alveolar ridges and glottal stops, all serve as unwitting guinea pigs for Queens College teaching aspirants. But there is no real danger in this service. In fact in many cases the unwitting guinea pigs find themselves influenced to the good by the educational experi- ments of the eager young men and women trying their hands at putting educational theory into practice. For the Department of Education of Queens College has exercised strict care in teaching the college stu- dent who would make teaching his career how to make classes interesting and Well organized, and, especially in the case of speech and mental de- fectives, how to put a pupil in the proper psychological frame of mind for learning. It is the aim of democratic education to provide to every citizen the training that makes for equality of oppor- tunity. In turning out skilled teachers, well aware of progress in the field of education, in giving underprivileged children the chance to correct speech defects that might hinder their future success through the Speech Clinic, in making educational theories workable, Queens College is laying the groundwork for the future accomplishment of that great aim. Practice teaching is but one of the means toward that end. I3

Page 16 text:

TEA-TIME Every other Thursday finds the Social Science Seminar storming over its collective tea cup, when more often than not the traditionally dispassionate, academic atmosphere is rent by cries of students in the throes of intellectual birth pangs. A faculty committee drawn from each department of the Division of Social Sci- ences, and a small group of specially selected students enter lustily into these informal dis- cussions that call forth the utmost in free speech and independent thought. The seminar constitutes a very real recognition of the role the social sciences play in a democratic state. Aiming at the training of minds in techniques of analysis and interpretation, the seminar takes as its area of investigation problems common to all the disciplines repre- sented 3 problems upon whose solution hinges the fate of the democratic ideal. In times of crisis especially the job of the social scientist assumes a new importance, for his job is to keep democracy a dynamic thing by constructive criticism based on scientific research. His job is to refuse to allow his research to be colored by cultural biases. His job, if not to settlerthe issues of contemporary civilization, is at least to show what the issues are, and what the alternatives may be. Answers are not the goal of inquiry, but rather a clear comprehen- sion of questions. And perhaps this, too, is an essential characteristic of democratic education, that the ideal be always two jumps ahead. I2

Page 18 text:

. e . ' if 2 . is il t 3 i i si. it il, .it li ti ,,. l gl ,L E. Dear Friends of June 1942, There is a poignancy in the motto of our seal, Discimus ut S6TUl4ll7l'L1,lS, that was not anticipated at the time of its adoption. YVC were to learn that we might serve our fellow men in peace and by serving faithfully make the tragedy of war increasingly remote. But today we must prepare to serve in war and in peace. Each week, students and teachers join our armed forces. Others prepare for civilian defense. Each of us identifies himself with the great war effort. Our day by day teaching takes its color from the need of the hour. lf our conception of dignity of human life is to prevail, then we IUUSK prepare not only for a quickened victory, but also for the inevitable peace in a democratic society. Queens College, like her sister colleges, must continue to be the sanctuary for emerging ideas. Your generation is asked to pay an overwhelming price to preserve the democratic process. But yours will be the high reward. For you shall see the liberation of all peoples through the enrichment of the democratic ideal. Faithfully yours, PAUL KLAPPER I4