Address By Commissioner of Education Earl McGrath, The General Education Movement in America

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THE GENERAL EDUCATION MOVEMENT IN AMERICA* At the outset we ought to fix clearly in our minds certain facts of contemporary national and international life related directly to the future. of American education. These facts require no elaborate development since they have recently been compre- hensively discussed by thoughtful educators and laymen throughout the land. Nonetheless, a critical analysis of general education at the mid-century can at best be incomplete unless it is reflected against the political and social conditions of the day. We must recognize the probability of a long period of international tension. National survival requires that we maintain a military establishment at unprecedented peacetime levels, and that at the same time we strive for a just and lasting peace. No one can forecast with certainty at what intensity the conflict with communist imperialism will be maintained. It will probably fluctuate uncertainly for a period of years--8 decade or perhaps even a generation. It is plainly evident that, while the struggle between democracy and communist imperialism has many facets, it is basically a conflict of ideologies, of two dominant systems of thought which originate in two completely different conceptions *By Earl James McGrath, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., at Conference on General Education, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. November 20, 1950. Published in General Education at Mid-Century, A Critical Analysis, Proceedings of the Conference on General Education pp. 11-20.