A Veteran Goes to College

Abstract

EYVEN in the most remote part of the world, wherever there are American soldiers, news of educational planning and benefits during the postwar era has been disseminated. The question is whether educators at home will have a thorough understanding of the problems of the American soldier unless some of them have shared at least a few of the trying experiences which soldiers meet at the fighting front. Obviously, it is not practicable to ask our educators at home to visit the battle areas of the Burma jungle, the hot spots in India, the rice fields in China, or the firing lines of Italy and France. Nevertheless, on all of the fighting fronts there are many teachers who are also good soldiers. These teachers have led youth in peace and are now leading men in war. Their hope is to return to teaching, in a free world. Their experience on the fighting fronts has proved a dynamic and challenging re-inforcement of their formal university training. They have shared in the experiences of their future students, thereby establishing a common basis for understanding the problems and the needs of the veterans in the postwar years. The proposal made here is that a representation of educators who have served with the armed forces in various combat areas be called upon to aid in the planning of curriculum and in determining the aims and methods of instruction in higher education, both general and specialized. These educators, working with experts at home, would find surveys of the opinions of military personnel of great value in determining their postwar needs and facilitating their postwar adjustments. If general education is to be fostered in the American colleges, the traditional isolated series of courses distributed among various departments will not suffice. The purpose of general education, as stated by Mr. Kellv of the United States Office of Education, is to advance the public welfare. The public welfare cannot be advanced nor can the needs of the veterans be fulfilled by giving a series of lectures in English, social studies, science, mathematics, and languages. Instead, the college curriculum should be integrated to offer study of vital problems and their solutions whenever possible. This type of curriculum construction would unite professors from all departments in a concerted attack