Holmes Declares Hope of Freedom Lies in Education

Citizens of the United States must learn the meaning and responsibilities of freedom, and educators must not be afraid to teach them, Henry W. Holmes, Co-Director of the Civic Education Center at Tufts College and past Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said last night.

Speaking in Fogg Museum, Holmes delivered the Inglis Lecture, one of the high points of the 64th annual convention of the Harvard Teachers Association.

"Our thinking too often neglects the common man," Holmes said. All must share the visions of leaders of democracy he added.

Communist ideology and the danger of atomic weapons present the starkest challenge which democracy has ever faced, Holmes asserted. The duty of educators of the nation is to show students the roots of these problems and to offer solutions for them, he added.

Education is Last Hope

Education of all is "the last best hope" of America to develope its democratic ideals. Secondary schools, especially, must combat the appeal of Communism to the uneducated. Discussion of democracy should be held in all subjects, and more than its ideals should be covered. In every course some of the problems of a democratic nation are exposed.

"It is almost laughable that schools can teach Democracy without discussion of its weight," Holmes continued. Scare headlines might throw a terrible shadow over world conditions, but it is a teacher's responsibility to uncover the true meaning of the issues for the students.

Students must retain faith in democratic education as a way to answer world problems, Holmes concluded.