VOL. 43, NO. 2 HEAD OFFICE: MONTREAL, FEBRUARY 1962

Leadership in Education

NO ONE MAY BE ABLE to forecast the developments inCanadian education, but there is evidence at con-ferences and meetings that we are convinced of theneed to adjust ourselves to new ideas. Every com-munity faces practical problems involving shortageof school accommodation, shortage of teachers, andshortage of money. In addition, there are pressuresfor changes in the subjects we teach and in methodsof teaching. We are becoming increasingly aware ofthe need, if we are to fulfil our boast of equality ofeducation, for special attention to backward andhandicapped and brilliant children.

The effectiveness of any school depends upongetting the proper answers to several questions:what is the job to be done? what resources can bemade available? what co-operation can be achievedbetween those who plan, those who support, andthose who control the school?

On another level of thought, there is one question:how are we, in a country that is well off materiallyand has no longer to struggle with the elemental effortto live, to find a focus in education that will lendform, purpose and order to our lives?

We need leaders who will help us to find the answers.This leadership is not a monopoly of ministers ofeducation, chairmen of school boards and presidingofficers of this and that organization. It is a functionalso of superintendents, principals, teachers and rate-payers.

Merely being elected to office or being posted to a jobdoes not make a man a good leader. He is not simplya person who walks in front of people who knowwhere they are going. Success in leadership dependsupon vision of what should be, and the ability to getothers to follow toward that goal.

There are open questions in education, just as thereare open ends in science. Many of these problems arenot the result of our failure in years past, but of thescientific, mechanical and social successes which havecome upon us recently. We have to abandon the easythought that we could be satisfied to educate a few

people exceedingly well and all our people somewhatless well. The times in which we live call upon us togive maximum development to every individual atevery level.

Education and societyNo nation can expect to be ignorant and fi’ee, but

ignorance means something different from what itdid a few years ago. Matters which in years gone byseemed to be the business of only a few persons arenow recognized by an increasing number of Canadiansas being their business also.

This is so because, after retreating for centuries,despotism is on the march again. Harsh, obscure andpowerful forces are at work under the surface. Intelli-gent citizenship does not consist in having a simplefaith in democracy. It calls for a thorough knowledgeof political principles and institutions, of history andeconomics. It requires ability to read, to understand,and to test the logic of arguments far more compli-cated than any that have hitherto been addressed tothe public at large.

Thirteen years ago George Orwell published his terri-fying novel 1984. In it the Party of the Big Brother in-vented the means of enslaving men’s minds. It beganby obliterating history, setting all men adrift in a worldwhere past experience became meaningless. Then itattacked language, debasing speech until it could nolonger be the vehicle of independent thought. Itreached its peak when it assailed logic and mathe-matics, bringing its victims not only to say, butactually to believe, that two plus two equals five.

It is false to believe that in a world of revolutionwe must be revolutionary in education. When somuch is dissolving around us we need to cling firmlyto such higher standards as we can preserve. We maycriticize and reform, but without such standards wehave nothing against which to judge the merit of ourresponse to new situations.

We are equally in error if we lay the blame for ourcrisis in education, particularly our science education

at the moment, on propaganda, scientists, the nuclearbomb, or some foreign country. The crisis is causedby mankind’s breath-taking breakthrough into a newtechnological era. Look around in Canada: we arewell up in the ranks of those experimenting withnuclear energy; we are participating, in a small way,in the exploration of outer space; our medical scientistsare among world leaders in their studies of brainfunctioning and in work on the living ceil. Thesepoint to changes in our lives so startling as to test tothe utmost our adaptive capacities and our stability.

Education is constructiveWe cannot build greatness in education by talking

about the need of education for survival. We mustappeal to higher motives than fear. We should holdfast this ideal: that in our homes, our schools, ouruniversities and in their social environment, ourchildren shall be educated to live with others, toattain their highest individual success and happiness,and to prepare themselves for citizenship in a worldsociety.

We cannot be content with the trappings of life, forcivilization is higher than telephones and electric lights,automobiles and television sets. The inventions ofman have revolutionized the conditions of life andhave become, even for people in far off lands who donot yet benefit by them, the false symbols of civiliza-tion: as du Noiiy calls them in Human Destiny: thepagan idols of modern times.

Under these circumstances there is the greatest pos-sible need for people who will lead us in the educationpath we should tread.

Among the organizations working year in and yearout in leadership is the Canadian Education Associa-tion, organized in 1891. During these seventy-oneyears the Association has sponsored interprovincialco-operation in education; given leadership in everyarea of education, practical and ideal; brought to-gether professional people for studies in leadership;and through its publication Canadian Education (nowCanadian Education and Research Digest) informedand stimulated the thought of all Canadians interestedin the subject.

Another illustration of forward looking is theCanadian Conference on Education, sponsored bysixty national organizations. The first Conference wasconceived in 1956 by the Canadian Teachers’ Federa-tion and others in order to give wider public under-standing of Canada’s educational needs and problems,to assure an exchange of ideas between the public andthose responsible for the direction and encouragementof education.

Why go to school ?The test of our system of education is whether it has

helped children to become fully developed humanbeings. We are failing in our purpose if childrenmerely go to school to walk the treadmill of vocationalpreparation.

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The late Canon Cody once defined education in thisway: "The process by which persons grow and areenabled to live significantly." And Prince Philip put itin these words: "... training the intellect, activelydeveloping character, and providing a practical prep-aration for life."

Education is not a process of fiUing up pupils’ headswith facts and formulae. Upon graduating from anyeducational institution a youth should know threevital truths: where he is; where he is going; and whathe had best do under these circumstances. The mostprecious gift education has given him is the ability tosolve new problems by using the accumulated intel-lectual power of the race.

If, then, we are not to become a nation of docileminds giving carbon copy opinions we need to providea broad, liberal education. Spurning the thought ofthe eternal verities as essentials of education, the lastKaiser declared: "Our business is to educate youngGermans, not young Greeks and Romans." He spokethe language of nationalistic despotism, not that ofliberal democracy.

Some people believe, even today after world-wideexamples of the scourge of such thinking, that a liberaleducation is unrealistic in what has become a tech-nological race for survival. But there is evident areaction against preoccupation with techniques div-orced from humanizing influences. As L~on Lortie,Director of Extension of the University of Montreal,said to the National Conference of Canadian Univer-sities in 1956: "Along with other Canadian institutionsof higher learning, the French speaking universitiesare expressing the opinion that we do not only needscientists, engineers and economists but well educatedpeople who, whatever may be their language or theirreligion, will be excellent Canadian citizens."

The liberal subjects are not chunks of frozen fact;they are the powerful tools and engines by which aman discovers and handles facts. They sharpen hisperceptions, cultivate his powers of analysis, andteach him to foster the habit of holding a valuablepoint of view. We need to make liberal education notmerely something we have a right to and are ready todefend against despots, but something we give freelyto our young people.

This is not to say that science should be ignored.It would be absurd to argue that a man could beconsidered liberally educated today without somecomprehension of the role of science in our lives.

We have to live at the level of our times, but weneed to know the steps by which we arrived at thislevel. We need to know about the whole of life,including something of where we are going.

Education of the liberal sort is opposed to dogma-tism, to assurance, to closed-mindedness, to smugness,to intolerance of others’ opinions. It attempts todevelop the ability to use the scientific method ot"

enquiry so that students may learn to weigh issuesand arrive at logical conclusions on the basis of soundand reliable evidence.

Need for leadershipEveryone in Canada has a practical stake in the

leadership given to our education. We need to createin groups of people a sense of mutual endeavour,carefully directed toward the aim we have. The func-tion of leadership is to bring out the best efforts inthese groups, and to unite their efforts in a commonpurpose.

Certain principles of leadership apply to all sortsof leaders -- individuals and groups, professional andlay, official and voluntary. These include, but are notmade up exclusively of, intelligence, initiative, courage,and knowledge about human nature. The personalityof the leader does not consist in the possession of anumber of independent qualities, but in the fusion ofdesirable traits in face of a social situation.

The leader is called upon to work earnestly. Hispreparation must be suitable to the greatness of theenterprise and the hopes of his followers. Much ofthe bumbling waste of time that blots the history ofour co-operative efforts can be laid to people whothought they could negotiate complex problems with-out doing their homework first.

Leaders are careful to involve key people in theirwork. When people share in analyzing a problemthey are more likely to initiate or support action thanif they have been merely told about it. They like tobe beard and recognized. They become suspicious ofthe proposals of anyone who seems to claim a mo-nopoly of inspiration and wisdom.

The leader must be adaptable, willing to discardsome of his ideas in favour of commendable newsuggestions. He will be aware of the value of com-promise. Only after he has failed to win by persuasionshould he resort to enticing or coercing, and onlythen in the case of vital issues.

Who are leaders ?The heart of the educational system is the teacher.

Our ideals for our children can be realized only ifwe have well-informed, well-taught, enthusiastic anddedicated teachers.

Members of the profession, conscious of their socialresponsibility, can be leaders of the highest importancetoward a better educated Canada. If a pupil’s mindcatches fire it is almost invariably a teacher who setsthe spark.

Society has a grave responsibility to teachers. Itowes them prestige, suitable payment as non-competi-tors in a competitive economy, good working condi-tions as to environment and equipment, protectedintegrity, and the opportunity to reach higher satisfac-tion by constantly broadening their horizons.

The teaching profession needs dedicated men andwomen to whom pay is not an overriding considera-tion, but, said the Rockefeller Report on Educationthree years ago: "until we pay teachers at least aswell as the middle echelon of executives we cannotexpect the profession to attract its full share of theavailable range of talents."

It goes without saying that the principal is a leaderof paramount importance within a school system.He can exercise powerful influence among pupils,teachers and parents, based on their common interest.If he has a vision of greatness, a glimpse of the ideal,he is in strategic position to communicate it in sucha way as to inspire teachers to do their best.

The community, through its appointed representa-tives, should see to it that the school principal is notso loaded with management work and teaching dutiesthat his contribution in leading teachers and pupilsbecomes dwarfed.

Skill in leadership is looked upon as one of the mostimportant ingredients of administrative success, andthe office of school superintendent is a keystone in thelocal leadership arch.

The superintendent or inspector who has the idealof improving instruction will not be content merely toaudit or review the functioning of the schools. He willhelp principals and teachers to uncover weaknessesand assist them to build strengths.

While showing strong initiative in guiding the ac-tivities of the school groups, he will establish suchrelationships among his subordinates and betweenhimself and his subordinates as to make them sharersin responsibility and accomplishment.

Every community should, by displaying constructiveinterest in education, persuade its best available citi-zens to take office as trustees. To serve as schooltrustee is to make a substantial social contribution,because on the school board rests the obligation toprovide what is necessary in the way of education.

The community will be especially proud of leader-ship by trustees whose current policies reflect unusualforesight and vigilance It is a compliment indeed whenratepayers say: "Our school trustees saw this situa-tion coming, and when it arrived we were ready for it."

Moving out from the school, past professionalteachers and official boards, we reach the parents, andfind that they, too, are leaders in education. Theyteach language, manners, food habits, self-control,religion, work habits, cleanliness, and a host of otherthings basic to living. They can block or impede theschool, but if they give constructive leadership theycan facilitate and support the school.

Parents must not abdicate their own responsibilitiesso as to rely upon outside agencies to discover qualitieswhich can best be developed at home. They need tomotivate their children to use all their potential

capacity to learn, and to guide them toward makingthe best use of their talent. A child will not strive forexcellence unless his parents believe that excellenceis desirable.

Group leadership

We have in Canada many associations devoted tothe improvement of our educational processes.Parents are acting wisely when they ally themselveswith a group of likeable people all passionately con-cerned in this joint enterprise.

The Home and School movement has made a signi-ficant contribution to education by constantly strivingto develop parental interest in improving educationalopportunities for their children. In many cases it hasbeen instrumental in achieving noteworthy advancesin school curriculum and facilities.

A Home and School Association is not designed totake the running of the school out of the hands of thetrustees and the principal. On the other hand, warnsDr. S. R. Laycock in The Parents’ Responsibility, itshould not degenerate into a ladies aid to provideluxuries or needed supplies through the running ofwhist drives and dances. Its purpose is to co-operatewith the school authorities so as to assist in the raisingof pupils to be mentally healthy and well-roundedcitizens.

The Association must be continually studying if itis to be of service to the school. Group discussion is auseful tool in planning a course of action, but let itbe discussion of how to do things now and not headytalk about a distant Utopia. As Dr. Samuel Johnsonsaid: "While you are considering which of two thingsyou should teach your child first, another boy haslearned them both."

The Home and School Association is not a platformfrom which educators acquaint parents with policies,but an assembly for the exchange of ideas having astheir purpose the provision of the best education thatparents and teachers can imagine.

Other groups with major interest in education in-elude the I. O. D. E., which has offered scholarshipsin post-graduate studies since 1919; the NationalCouncil of Women, which has as one educational aimto support the better training of teachers and provisionof remuneration commensurate with the importance oftheir services; and the Federated Women’s Institutes,speaking for the rural women in Canada, which hassince its inception in 1897 been concerned with alllevels of education.

It is evident, then, that we are conscious of the needfor widespread leadership in education. The progressof civilization is made up of details in which everyperson is involved. Leadership stems from the people,and expresses itself through a lively, pressing, urgentpublic demand for excellence.

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Public interest like this needs something to sustainit. Information must be broadcast fully and freely sothat the people can discuss facts and determinepolicies in an enlightened way.

In 1959, a survey was undertaken in a majorCanadian city to determine the extent of knowledgeabout the school system possessed by citizens. Thescores ranged from zero to 71 per cent, with anaverage of 38 per cent. Said the thesis written byE. R. Coffin: "The survey showed conclusively thatthe public is ill-informed with respect to schoolmatters."

The schools have everything to gain by being frankand helpful in catering to the desire of the communityfor information.

This does not mean publicity, which is merelytelling people about things--perhaps how goodyou are, or how good your plans and actions are.Nothing could be more dangerous in leadership,whether in education or busincss, than to think ofthis sort of thing as public relations.

What is to be sought is understanding, which givesand receives. It provides the information on whichproposals and acts may be judged, and it invites thejudgment.

On looking forward

There is no philosophy of education with a lifetimeguarantee. Education cannot be standardized thisyear, no matter how hard we try, and left to runitself like an automatic machine. In the course ofthe next half century- the lifetime of children nowin our schools -- there can be little question that thespread of technology and the waves of politicalchange will alter the aspect of the world. There couldbe nothing more disastrous than that we shouldeducate our children for a way of life that does notexist,

As Thornton Wilder put it, our young people arebeing prepared for a world in which "every good andexcellent thing.., stands moment by moment onthe razor-edge of danger and must be fought for."

This puts us all in positions of leadership. There isnot an hour in the education of our young peoplethat is not trembling with destinies, and we are theleaders in preparing for those destinies.

We must define our purpose clearly, and it shouldnot be a paltry compromise with expediency. It shouldnot give in to the panic of immediacy.

How are we to judge the effectiveness of our leader-ship ? Only by seeing clearly the gap between what isand what might be. There is a philosophy which givesus the standard of value by which to judge. It is avery simple one, to which Sir Richard Livingstonehas given the name: "The Philosophy of the First-rate."

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