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    "title": "Address By Commissioner Of Education Earl McGrath",
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    "ocrText": "GREETINGS*\nAs U. S. Commissioner of Education, I take great pleasure\nin expressing to the Educators of the Philippines congratulations\non the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of their educational\nsystem. As I send these felicitations to our colleagues in the\neducational fraternity in the Philippines, I know that I speak\non behalf of all the members of the profession in the United States.\nFor many years there have been the closest working relationships\nbetween the educators of the United States and the educators of\nyour country. Indeed, we are happy to be able to point to the\nfact that as long as fifty years ago a small band of American\nTeachers went out into the hinterlands of your country to work\nwith your own teachers in building up the excellent educational\nsystem which you now have.\nYour schools, like our own, place great emphasis on educa-\ntion for democratic living. The educators of your islands have\nfor years instilled the ideals and the practices of democracy in\nthe minds and hearts of your children. It was unquestionably for\nthat reason that your people along with our own stood firm against\nthe assaults of military aggression in the second World War. And\nnow the schools of your country are playing a large part in prepar-\ning Philippine youth to advance the cause of humanity throughout\n* By Earl James McGrath, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Federal\nSecurity Agency, Washington, D.C., recording made for Voice of\nAmerica broadcast upon the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of\nthe Educational System of the Philippines, 4:00 p.m., December\n11, 1951, Washington, D.C.\n- 2 -\nthe world by their support of the ideals of the dignity of the\nindividual and respect for all human beings regardless of race,\ncreed, or color.\nOn this happy occasion of your fiftieth educational birth-\nday, I wish to extend to all the educators of the Philippines our\nbest wishes for the future of education in your great country.\n3.\nWhy was the year happy? What was the stimulation? What\nmade it exciting? Among the many answers that are evident\nimmediately are ones such as living abroad for a year, being\nstimulated intellectually, or just plain getting out of a\ncomfortable rut. There are additional reasons, however, which\nreach more deeply into the lives of these teachers. They are\nconstantly challenged both in their professional and private\nlives. They represent a great country; not many Americans\nwhen they are in England visit Cleethorpes or Market Rasen\nregularly, and not many. British make repeated stops at Bellwood,\nPennsylvania; Orange, Texas; or Marysville, Michigan. Therefore,\nthese teachers coming from all sections of their countries\nrepresent all that their nations stand for; they are the ones\nwho have to cope with the ready made myths which obtain about\ntheir citizens and country.\nWhat have been the results of the exchange program so far?\nAlthough this is one of the smaller programs of exchange\nadministered by the Office in point of numbers, it looms large\nin results. Those teachers who come to us have already received\ntraining in their special fields and from week to week during\ntheir internship one can see them making unbelievably rapid\nprogress. An effort has been made to see what they have done\nafter returning to their respective countries in order to deter-\nmine the ultimate values of such a program. Replies to Question-\nnaires recently sent to former grantees emphasize the professional\ncontributions made and the bonds of good neighborliness which have\nbeen established as a result of this teacher-training program.\nMr. Hector Gomez Matus of Chile studied graphic arts\neducation in the U. S. in 1944-45 and is now director of the\nNational School of Graphic Arts in Santiago and assistant director\nof the governmental publication, Review of Education. He has\nrecently been appointed chief of the Information and Publication\nService of the Ministry of Education. Since his return to Chile,\nhe has twice been interviewed on the radio on these subjects,\n\"Education and Life in the U.S.A.\" and \"Graphic Arts in the\nUnited States\".\nMiss Esperanza Robles Dominguez of Mexico came to the\nU. S. in 1945-46 to study the methods of teaching English as a\nsecond language. She had been an elementary-school teacher and\ntaught 3 hours a week in a secondary school. After her return\nto Mexico, she became the general supervisor of the English\nDepartment of all the secondary schools in the Republic, with\nthe exception of schools in the Federal District.\n4.\nMr. Enrique Salas from Chile worked in the field of\nvocational guidance in 1944-45. Since his return to his home\ncountry he has been appointed director of the Department of\nGuidance in the Ministry of Education. He writes that \"Chilean\nteachers are rapidly becoming guidance conscious, which interest\nwill no doubt be a decisive factor in the furtherance of our\nprogram for secondary education. \"\nThe interchange of teachers not only paid dividends to\nthe local school community but to a larger community as well as\nto the individual. When a British teacher spoke to the Kiwanis\nClub of Louisville, the toastmaster replied in this vein:\n\"During these trying times for the people of the\nentire world it seems that there is no better way\nto form and securely hold a democratic relationship\nthan the plan which permits you to spend a year in\nour country. You may rest assured that your manner\nof comparing the two countries will win you a host\nof friends wherever you may go.\"\nAgain and again this sentiment was echoed in Great\nBritain as well as in the United States. In one Midwestern\ncity there was an annual contest in which the \"Man of the Year\"\nwas chosen. So great was the impact of the visiting teacher from\nGreat Britain that she was nominated with these words:\n\"Hutchinson was fortunate that England sent us Kitty\nBishop. Why not make it the Woman of the Year? Miss\nBishop hasn't tried to thrust herself on the community,\nbut rather through her quiet, gracious manner she has\nmade more friends for herself and for her country than\nany amount of speeches or publicity could have done.\nShe has given generously of her time to visit with local\ngroups, to explain the problems of England, and close\nthe ties between our two countries. This seems partic-\nularly important this year, and, indeed, all the postwar\nyears when we should be learning more about the rest of\nthe world. Kitty, all by herself is helping us to learn. If\nDo other relationships exist between this country and others in the\nfield of education, outside the exchange program?\nYes, there are many other relationships in the field of\neducation in addition to the exchange of persons. Our mailing\nlists contain the ministries of education in countries all over\nthe world to whom we send our publications. We in turn receive\nfrom other ministries their reports and copies of studies made on\none or another aspect of education. Then there are hundreds of\nU. S. pen-pals who exchange correspondence with students in other\ncountries. The school affiliation program too has been an\n5.\neffective device to develop international understanding.\nDo you hope to increase this sort of activity, both with regard to\nthe United States and other nations?\nBy all means, I hope the exchange of persons programs\nincrease in number and scope.\nWe understand each other better when we know the people\nof another country. These visitors are really ambassadors of\ngood will. They have learned much; they have had a rich exper-\nience not only academically and personally, but internationally.\nThey have had an opportunity to become better teachers, but of\nfar greater importance better citizens, not only of their own\nnations but of the world.\nThank you very much, Dr. Earl McGrath\nThis is Cliff Groce\nin Washington. Now for a summary of world news, we return you to\nour studios in New York."
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