Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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DR. DI. ASBLQKY Pl l MAN, Prcsidczz

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Qu QDut5taniJing :professional ibrnblem No single definition of education, numerous and comprehensive as many of these are. includes all of the duties, responsibilities and opportunities of the teacher. And all of these obligations and privileges, according to the needs ol the individual student. the field of service in which he is engaged and the par- ticular demands of society in any given age, must determine the matter and method of instruction and the degrees of emphasis which should be placed upon any phase of education. In recent years. no educational program seems complete without at least some reference to a changing world. To be sure the World, fortunately, has always been a changing world. To borrow an axiomatic truth from an ancient philosophy, All life is a perpetual flux. A changeless world is a dead world. A changeless civilization leaves society absolutely without hope. But there are periods in history in which changes come with such a degree of rapidity that society is wholly unprepared to anticipate them or to solve immediately the pressing problems which are thrust upon it in quick succession. In these years of your professional training, we are living in just such an age of change and uncertainty which places squarely upon us, the teachers of the country, most serious and solemn responsibilities. Not the least of these is the problem brought by the enforced unemploy- ment of both the youthful and adult population and the greatly increased amount of leisure of all classes. including the children in our schools. Upon the solution of this problem which involves the proper use of leisure time de- pends, in very large measure. the physical, mental, and moral salvation of the generation of pupils who are now in our schools and who will constitute the adult society of tomorrow. I make an earnest plea for a form of education that will create interests. abilities, and habits which will make for the health of the individual, insure his productive power so that he shall be both self-supporting and self-respect- ing, and which shall enrich both his own life and that of the community in which he lives and serves. This implies the discovery and development of his inherent interests. which in turn requires of the schools more of vocational guidance in a more scientinc way than in the past. lt calls for the promotion of avocations as well as major vocations: for they possess not only an economic value in that they greatly enrich life, but, because of their enticing interest, they crowd out of life much that is relatively worthless or which is positively vicious. This guidance must be accompanied by a variety of desirable expe- riences and real vocational training, and it should also lead to the development of cultural interests which shall enrich life and the formation of habits which shall lead to the highest type of citizenship. I I I