MODERN DEMOCRACY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 107, 22 May 1937, Page 5

MODERN DEMOCRACY

'Education a Disillusionment' HASTINGS ADDRESS "Education -„nd Modern Democraey" was the subject of an address given by Mr P. Mai titi- Sniith in Hastings !a«t mght uncer the auspices of the Workers' Edutational Association. Mr W. E. Bate presided over a good attendance oi m'cmbtrs. Mr Martin-Smith spoke of the disillusionment that had set in on tbe subjecr. of what education eonld do for demonacy He referred to the great advancee. made in the realm of physical scienoes and to tho lag that had ' taken place m tho realm of soeial sciences, especial'v in regard to the solution oi' tho problexns facing society, and n:an:s haimony in his soeial relationships Possibly it was that with the increase in the tempo of soeial change, more complicated economic relationships and the growth of specialisation, the problem had beeome too vast for the ordinary individual to master. This had led to a giving up of the struggle on the parfc of the individ'niL to master the faets and was represeatod by a retreat from. reason ii« soeial relationships. The condition oi Europe to-day and the growth of Fasoism ilJustrated this point. Tho lecturer tboil pointed out some defects in the eoucational eystem itseif, and went on t> show how the 3.IucationaI system as an institution of society reHer L cl the dominant motives that work in society at large. He pointed out that education in its true sense was something that gave a fuller, freer and botter life. Consequently all man's soeial relationships, insofar as they fuKillcd these conditions, were educative, and that truo education was ttiore a matter of soeial environment than u n-atteT cf schooling. Mr Martin-Smith explained how the schoois in their oiganisation reflected the ideal of individual success in society at large and he stated that examinations and individual work in school reflected this dominant motive in society. The speaker went on to investigate the educative value of some institutions of society such as the cinenia and the Press. He maintained that because they were organised on the basis of a profit-making nature they failed to bf the powerful instruments for cdi.( ation that they otherwise rnight be Mr Martin-Smith concluded on the note that education and the organisation of society were inseparately interwoven and that education could not fulfill its true objective until radical changes were made in society itself.