PARENT EDUCATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22774, 7 July 1937, Page 5

PARENT EDUCATION

MOVEMENT IN AMERICA GROUP DISCUSSION METHOD RELATIONSHIPS IN THE HOME "It is almost impossible to have a good democracy without a properly educated citizenship," said Mrs. F. W. Hart, who arrived in Auckland yesterday by the Maunganui with her husband, Professor Hart, to attend the New Education Fellowship Conference in New Zealand.

Mrs. Hart, who has been connected with the parent education movement in California since its commencement, is to speak at the conference upon the organisation and aims of this work. She gained her B.A. degree at Michigan and her M.A. degree at Columbia after her marriage. Eleven years ago she assisted at the inauguration of the first parent education group in Berkeley, near San Francisco. After working as an organiser of classes for five years she became a leader, a position which she still holds. The movement was established primarily to bring parents more closely in touch with and into better understanding of the problems and the education of theii children and to educate people into wise methods of approaching practical human relationships in the home and particularly between parents and children. Parents learned, through discussion and .consideration, to solve their own problems and to acquire the technique of meeting any problems with which they were faced. Practical Form of Education The group discussion method was becoming increasingly popular'throughout the United States, and was employed in many colleges and in all advanced university classes. In Mrs. Hart's opinion, the group discussion method was much more practical in education than the lecturing method. It had also a definite psychological value. Under the method, a member of the organisation, known as a leader, addressed a group of from 20 to 30 parents and all members of the group were encouraged to discuss with the leader and with other members their own views. In this way every member contributed something to the ultimate solution and did not feel that he or she was being merely talked to or told what to do by some person who might not, in their opinion, be fully qualified to do so. Interest of the State

With New York, California was the pioneer State in the parent edupation movement, said Mrs. Hart, and it was actually the first in which the movement was taken under the control of the State as the Parent Education Bureau and considered as part of the responsibility of the State. In California the movement was financed by the State and by the local school system. Almost the entire organisation, however, had been undertaken by the Parent-Teacher Association, which assisted in defining groups and organising classes. . As one of the largest educational schemes in the United States, the parent educational movement was a very necessary organisation, particularly, perhaps, in the United States, where there was such a rapid changing of standards and ideals. Life generally was becoming faster, and changing faster, with every year, and people, particularly parents, were apt to find their problems so much, more difficult and puzzling. Responsibility of Women

In a changing world, said Mrs. Hart, there weie many fundamental truths that remained fixed. However, in order to make the change progressive, a sound, thinking education was necessary to good citizenship. Mrs. Hart considered that once women realised their responsibilities they were capable of doing what they had to do thoroughly. She was firmly convinced that education was ne\er wasted on women and that, even after marriage, they should carry on "with some form of intellectual education or occupation.