is in a coordinate use of all of them. A few outstanding experiments of this use of facilities on a communitywide basis have been widely heralded by the professional educator and the participating adults alike. We believe there should be further exploitation of these beginnings, guided by patient research, communitywide planning and evaluation. This is another point at which we feel that the best educational talent of the family system of education, the sequential-unit system and the complementary-functional system should be concentrated-to utilize the best that is known about facilitating continuous education of adults as maturing personalities, parents, citizens, workers, and as architects of our community life and environment. IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS The key to development of continuous learning through the educative community is the commitment to it of educators and leaders of each of the systems of the total educational enterprise. The profession of education is that group in society that is, or should be, looked upon by its "professors" as one which advances and safeguards the practice of the teaching and learning process, wherever it occurs, whether in the family educational system, the sequentialunit system or the complementary-functional system. To speak of the commitment to continuous learning is not, therefore, adding any new responsibility to the concerns of professional education institutions. It is, rather, to broaden and enlarge the scope and nature of this responsibility from that of advancing and safeguarding the practice of the teaching and learning process in the sequential-unit system to include the competent practice of that process wherever it occurs. The fact that professional education institutions traditionally have focused research and instruction almost exclusively on the sequential-unit system has resulted, at least by default, in various forms of malpractice of the teaching and learning process in other systems. But more importantly it has resulted in perpetuating the lag between the full use of our total educational resources and the need of our times. On the more favorable side of the balance sheet, however, the professional educational institutions have great potentialities for overcoming these limitations and for influencing the emergence of the educative community. They have access to and are learning to make better use of the newer knowledges of the behavioral and social sciences for studying the individual and social receptivity to change and for accelerating creative response to it. They have their own researchers and new knowledges of enhancing the practice and technology of the teaching and learning process, unique and peculiar to the profession of education at the sequential-unit level from which generalizations can be drawn and adaptations made to other systems. What is needed now is the extension of these potentialities to a reconsideration of their application to continuous learning within the total educational enterprise. This enlargement of the scope of commitment of professional educational institutions will call for new qualities of leadership, the most exciting kind of research and bold new patterns of experimentation. But the stakes are high for aiding society to seize upon the possibility of learning to be at home with change. NEEDED RESEARCH At the outset of this paper we suggested that we would attempt to develop certain concepts basic to the advancement of continuous education through the educative community. Most of these concepts reviewed can now be subsumed under a recapitulation of the additional research needed. We use the term "research" here to cover all studied approaches to the problem. What we have tried to do is simply to sugest examples of these studied approaches. In several areas a careful ideological analysis is needed. Along with this will go patient descriptive studies and experimental testing of hypotheses. The research we have suggested can be stated under three major categories, recognizing, of course, their interrelated characteristics. These categories are: (1) the nature of maturity; (2) the requirements of the effective educative community; and (3) the technology of education. THE NATURE OF MATURITY We have emphasized the need for studies that identify and refine growth stages from childhood through adulthood which can be observed and measured in relation to the ability of the individual to meet change positively, critically and constructively. We have suggested that such measures of development should be available not only to the scientist but to the individual himself. Similar measures of growth should be available for families in determining family development and for communities in self-appraisal of neighborhood and community development. In brief, we are aiming here for nothing less than new and useful benchmarks for the maturing personality in the maturing community. The requirements of the effective educative community Here we have suggested concepts both of the meaning of the educative community and some types of study to identify its excellence in operation. These need careful scrutiny, reformulation, and testing in experimental operation. The heart of the concept we have tried to develop is that the educative community is one in which all of its educational systems are operating in full recognition of the potentialities of the others and in such a way that there are available opportunities for anyone to learn whatever he needs to learn whenever he need to learn it. Studies are needed that will aid communities to know the resources and needs to make this objective a reality. Fundamental to its organization and structure are studies that examine partially developed existing models of educational organization support and control and their potentialities for enlargement as well as studies that will design and test new models. One particular question that needs careful study is that of financing the educative community concept. For example, we have raised the question of the economy of our present concepts and stereotypes. How can we redistribute the total educational expenditure for all systems to provide the most appropriate education at the most appropriate times in our development so as to get our money's worth out of educational expenditure? The technology of education Here we are referring to studies needed to reexamine the process of interrelation of the nature of maturity to the effective educative community. One type of study we have suggested is that which will lead all educational systems to a stronger more realistic commitment to the concept of continuous learning. For example: how can the family system of education develop continuous learning to strengthen our sense of belonging in the face of accelerated changes of jobs and habits? What are the roles of sequential-unit system and the complementaryfunctional systems in helping the family attain this objective? A related question is what is the role of the total community in influencing family development without violating its privacy and freedom? A second type of study of the technology of education needed is that which will sharpen our skills in learning to learn and in learning to select and give priority to what needs to be learned at any given time in our development. Here we have emphasized the need for studies that will aid us not only in choosing the areas of essential learning, but also in the improvement of the teaching and learning process, once we have selected it. Here we have been concerned with such questions as the relating of the instruction in the sequential-unit system to the community experiences of children and youth and the learning most appropriate for them at different stages of their growth, the learnings needed and the counseling available for adults to meet predictable stress points in their maturing process. We have also been concerned with studies that might help to break down our stereotypes about the primary and secondary schools and higher educational institutions being the "last chance" for learning. A third aspect of studies needed in educational technology is that of extending, adapting and inventing devices to facilitate continuous learning. We have illustrated this by suggesting studies in the extended use of facilities for home and individual study, in experimentation with new group-study methods, in more intensive analysis of the educative values of social action programs and of the autonomous and informal groups in the community. Most promising of all types of research in the use of facilities is that of learning to make interrelated and coordinative use of the many kinds according to the nature of the continuing educational situation. The implication of further development of these three research areas for professional education institutions is clearly that unless these institutions take the initiative for such research it will probably either not get done or go by default to other agencies less well qualified. Since many of the elements of these studies are already either underway or on the boards of professional education as they relate to the sequential-unit system, we suggest that new efforts be concentrated in studies related to the family-system and the complementary-functional system, particularly at the adult level. Hon. WAYNE MORSE, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, Chairman, Subcommittee on Public Health, Education, Welfare, and Safety, U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR MORSE: The National Education Association wishes to go on record in support of S. 293 and S. 1612, to establish a public junior college and a 4-year public college for the District of Columbia. The need for such higher education facilities has been ably documented by the many witnesses who have testified in support of this legislation. The National Education Association concurs with the statement of its affiliated organization, the District of Columbia Education Association relative to the desirability of providing public education institutions to serve the citizens of the District just as the States provide public institutions to serve their residents. We believe that such institutions should be supported entirely by tax sources, with no tuition charges to the students. The platform of the National Education Association specifically commits the association to seek, under the general heading of goal No. 1 entitled Educational Opportunity for All: (a) "In each State a system of free public education to promote lifelong learning," and (e) "Educational opportunity beyond the high school for all who have both the desire and the ability to benefit from it." With this commitment in mind, the NEA urges the establishment of public higher education facilities to meet the needs of the citizens of the District of Columbia. Sincerely, JOHN M. LUMLEY, Director, Division of Federal Relations. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED, INC., NATION'S CAPITAL CHAPTER, Washington, D.C., March 29, 1966. Hon. WAYNE L. MORSE, Chairman, Subcommittee on Public Health, Education, Welfare, and Safety, District of Columbia Committee, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. MORSE: As legislative chairman of the Nation's Capital Chapter of the National Association of Physically Handicapped, Inc., (NAPH), I wish to state that since our organization is very interested in matters pertaining to education, whether on an elementary, secondary, or college level, it heartily endorses bills S. 293 and S. 1612 to establish a public community college in the District. However, the Nation's Capital Chapter should like to go on record as requesting that your committee recommend that prior to the construction of the above college or similar public educational establishments, certain features be incorporated into the design contract eliminating, as far as possible, such architectural barriers as steps, narrow doors, etc., in order to make these buildings accessible to the handicapped or aged. Hence, we propose that special consideration be given in building specifications to ramps or level entrances, doors 30 inches wide, accessible bathroom facilities. At present, I am taking an evening course twice a week at the District of Columbia Teachers' College, and have encountered an excessive number of steps both outside and inside the building, thus making it difficult to continue my course there. Again, our membership, chairman of the architectural barriers committee (Mr. Delbert Phillips) and I strongly urge you to give consideration to the possible elimination of architectural barriers in the construction of new schools or colleges in the future. I should appreciate several copies of the above-mentioned bills. Hoping to receive a communication from your committee in the near future. DEAR SENATOR MORSE: We have carefully reviewed bills S. 923 and S. 1612, both of which are designed with some variation to establish a 2-year community college and a 4-year liberal arts college. We have also studied the testimony offered at the recent hearings of your subcommittee on these particular bills. We are indeed pleased to place ourselves on record in support of these bills, either of which would accomplish the objectives intended. Institutions of this type and the programs they would encompass are vitally necessary to the ongoing activities of the Department of Public Health if we are to continue, with qualified personnel, our unceasing efforts to meet the health needs of the community. While we feel privileged to offer a blanket endorsement of this effort to provide the District of Columbia with a sound educational format, we would like to call your attention to one area of health career education for which the present bills have an immediate implication. As you know, the second institution of higher (beyond high school) education supported by tax funds is the Capital City School of Nursing, which is operated as an integral part of the District of Columbia General Hospital, which is, in turn, part of the Department of Public Health. This school, incorporated by an act of Congress in 1904 but in operation since 1877, is the oldest such school in the area and one of the oldest in the country. It has contributed substantially to the numbers of registered nurses practicing in the District of Columbia. The need for additional nurses has been acute for some time and will become greater, as noted in the 1963 report of the Surgeon General's Consultant Group in Nursing. While some progress has been made in recent years, the number of nurses has not increased as rapidly as the demand for their services. In recent years, the pattern of nursing education has been in a state of flux as the profession has tried to meet the demands placed on it by the public. While all has not yet been settled in this regard, the American Nurses Association has brought some order into the present confusion by publishing a position paper on Educational Preparation for Nurse Practitioners and Assistants to Nurses. Very briefly, it states that all nursing education must be incorporated into the general system of education through vocational school education for nursing assistants, junior or community college education for nursing technicians, and baccalaureate education for professional nurses. This statement will hasten the demise of 3-year diploma schools of nursing operated under the control of hospitals. With these major factors in mind, as well as others, we believe that the bills presently being considered offer a genuine opportunity for nursing education in the District of Columbia to move confidently into the future, being assured that the present tax supported program will not become an anachronism. We therefore urge that provisions be incorporated into the present bills which would: 1. Establish a program in technical nursing as part of the 2-year community college. (This has already been suggested in Dr. Carr's testimony and would create a new opportunity for District of Columbia residents who wish to pursue a limited nursing career.) 2. Accomplish the merger of the Capital City School of Nursing into the 4-year liberal arts college. (The provisions to accomplish this should be the same as those made for the District of Columbia Teachers' College.) 3. Establish within the framework opportunities for master's degree programs in nursing. (The need for well-prepared clinical specialists, teachers, supervisors, and administrators is the real bottleneck in advancing quality nursing education and practice. The only such program in the immediate area is at Catholic University and is quite expensive.) 4. Establish opportunities within the community college for individual, noncredit study for nurses wishing to improve their education and practice without seeking a degree. (Many graduates of 10 to 25 or 30 years ago need to have opportunities to upgrade their practice but will or cannot for many reasons, including family responsibilities, embark on degree gaining programs. These "older" nurses could thereby be reclaimed for positions of responsibility within the health field.) In all these recommendations, we are assuming that the facilities, personnel, and patients of the District of Columbia General Hospital would continue as the primary sources for teaching in the clinical situation. This is particularly so for the 4-year program and the master's degree program. We understand that a newly established 2-year program and the continuing education program might conceivably wish to establish new relationships. We believe these matters are of great urgency for the community, the Department of Public Health, and nursing. We will be happy to furnish you with all available materials and assistance in aiding you and your committee to react favorably to the bills and our recommendations. Very sincerely, MURRAY GRANT, M.D., D.P.H., YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, March 29, 1966. Re S. 293. Hon. WAYNE MORSE, DEAR SENATOR MORSE: At the recent hearings conducted by the Senate District Subcommittee on Education and Labor, of which you are chairman, the Public Affairs Committee of the YWCA, District of Columbia Branch has been represented. We consider the following facts brought out in the hearings to be significant : 1. Washington, D.C., is the only strategic area in the country that has no program for publicly supported college training other than for teachers. 2. Applications, test and tuition fees make enrolment at private colleges in this area impossible for about 90 percent of District of Columbia high school graduates. This appears to be discrimination on an economic basis. 3. Fewer high school students would drop out of school if there was opportunity for them to attend a municipal institution of higher learning. In the light of this testimony, the board of directors of the YWCA, District of Columbia, voted at its meeting on March 23, 1966, to support legislation which will provide higher education facilities for District of Columbia high school graduates. We urge members of the Senate District Subcommittee on Education and Labor to work toward the establishment of a municipal 2-year community college, and a 4-year liberal arts college. Sincerely yours, FRANCES SCUDDER, President, District of Columbia Branch YWCA. WEST HYATTSVILLE, MD., March 29, 1966. Re Community college for District of Columbia. Hon. WAYNE D. MORSE, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR MORSE: As a native of the District of Columbia and resident of the metropolitan area, I wish to give support to the bill establishing a publicly supported community college in the District of Columbia. Sincerely, ROBERTA H. THRIFT. |