CHAPTER FIVE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PROMOTION T is now a commonplace of every tongue that I war is an evil, and that the hope of the world is in its elimination. But the consummation which all desire is not yet. It may be hastened by wiser methods of education based upon the recognition of the fact that our youth have now to be citizens of the world, and to be prepared for international as well as national duties. The League of Nations may become a mere piece of official machinery, as useless as the old diplomacy to prevent war. It may, on the other hand, become an effective instrument for world co-operation and peace. But to do this it must have behind it the knowledge, enthusiasms and conscious ideals of Peoples. For these we must ultimately rely in a large measure upon the schools of this and other countries. The first suggestion I would make in attempting to build up a system of international education is that we should adopt different methods of teaching history in our schools. We all know what the ordinary school text-books were like which were in use before the war. English History stood out for the most part as a succession of military events. Our heroes were the fighting heroes. Even some histories with literary pretensions were disfigured by a narrow and flamboyant nationalistic appeal. The limited picture given in most school histories rarely extended far beyond our own country. There was little attempt to give any sort of international teaching of history. In schools where real historical work is being done, it has been frequently found necessary to dispense with text-books, and to encourage pupils to make these for themselves by the writing of their own notes. The history of our own country should be taught in relation to the history of other countries. Our conscious ideal should be to bring not only knowledge but sympathy and understanding for the help of the youth of our schools. For it is only through a reformed method of the teaching of history that we can hope to give the right bias to the young student in his outlook on foreign affairs. It sounds a commonplace to say that the teachers of history must themselves have a definite ideal of the interdependence of mankind and nations, of their solidarity. Frequently we have hesitated to express that ideal with all its implications. Its expression was never more necessary than it is now. We have emerged from a war which all over the world has increased passion, and prejudice and narrow nationalist feelings. Our hope is in the schools. There we must ultimately look for the broadening of sympathy and the understanding of the lessons of the past which may yet lead peoples into the paths of peace and freedom. There are few signs yet that the world has learnt these lessons. We are invited to rejoice at the death of the devil; it may be we are bidden to his resurrection feast. We have not yet secured in our schools freedom for ideals. Let us get rid of the drill sergeant in education. A few years ago, at a famous public school, an attempt was made by reasonable masters interested in real things, to guide—I think in a wise and intelligent way-the sympathies of their pupils. These masters interested them in the study of contemporary history and events, and the result of that experiment was to stir up an amount of interest and enthusiasm in real things which had an extraordinary influence for good in the whole life of the school, as well as in the individual lives of the pupils who took up these studies. It is within my knowledge that the War Office intervened, and pointed out to the authorities of the school that if liberal studies like that were continued and boys were encouraged to think for themselves on such questions, they feared that it would have a prejudicial influence upon the work of the Officers' Training Corps. They therefore warned the authorities of the school that they would have to withdraw their support of the school as one where the O.T.C. was officially recognised, if this scheme continued. I am sorry to say that as a result of that intervention, the authorities of the school suppressed this teaching and dismissed the brilliant men responsible for its inception. That is why I say we must be delivered from the drill sergeant in education. One great obstacle to international education is the fact that most people are wholly dependent upon the newspaper press for all foreign news and views. It is an inadequate and frequently a biased agency. It has always seemed to me lamentable that, with few exceptions, it is impossible to get any coherent picture of the lives of peoples in other countries. If we think of almost any newspaper, the columns devoted to foreign affairs consist largely of unrelated telegrams having reference to dramatic events -crimes, prize-fights, or anything that momentarily interests the general public. We seek in vain for the newspaper which will supply from the great capitals of the world a coherent story from day to day giving a picture of the life and interests, the literature, the social problems, of the peoples of the modern world. I do not want to know how the champion eater is faring in New York; I am not greatly concerned with the sensational crimes of Paris, or the latest creation of her milliners; but I do want to know what ordinary people are thinking and reading and trying to do, the development of their social structure, their attitude towards other countries. These things are sought in vain. There is a great, and in some respects an unexplored, avenue of international service before the English newspaper which is prepared to recognise its responsibilities and opportunities as an instrument of international education. Perhaps the best of all ways to promote friendship between peoples is for the people of one nation personally to know the people of another nation, but this always appears to me the most difficult thing to achieve. I am sure that it is not sufficient for us to be content with the exchange of official representatives, whether ambassadors, bishops, or business men. Notwithstanding the respect I feel for all persons in authority, I sometimes think that when they speak in the name of their fellow-countrymen, they are not wholly adequate. |