No More Learning

Meet the soviet Russians : a study guide to the Soviet Union for
teachers in secondary schools / by Dora A. Ames, Katrina B. Anderson,
Eunice Johns [and others]
Ames, Dora Augusta.
Cambridge, Mass. : The Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, 1944.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/wu. 89096252051
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? HARVARD WORKSHOP SERIES: NO. 6
MEET THE
SOVIET RUSSIANS
A STUDY GUIDE TO THE SOVIET UNION
FOR
TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
By
Dora A. Ames, Katrina B. Anderson, Eunice
Johns, and Others
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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? WAU
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? HARVARD WORKSHOP SERIES: NO. 6
MEET THE
SOVIET RUSSIANS
A STUDY GUIDE TO THE SOVIET UNION
FOR
TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
By
Dora A. Ames
Dartmouth High School
North Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Katrina B. Anderson
The Buckingham School
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Eunice Johns
Horace Mann School
Gary, Indiana
and Others
Published by the Graduate School of Education
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Price, 75 Cents
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? COPYRIGHT 1944
BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
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? ? r\Vt2>
PREFACE
A document recently issued by the bilateral Canada-United
States Committee on Education includes paragraphs which
well suggest the background for this Workshop publication. The
Committee says,
"Of the 2,175,000,000 people in the world today, only
about 50,000,000 have remained uninvolved in World Wars
I and II. No modern nation, in defense of sovereignty or
even of existence, can live unto itself alone. Each moves
within a vast network of international relations, and its
welfare is affected by events far removed from its borders. . . .
To act with wisdom in matters of national concern and in
world affairs each nation must be wise in the ways of other
nations. Ignorance and lack of understanding provide no
safe foundation for wise action. In a democratic society
the citizens of each nation must understand other nations
and respect other peoples ever more deeply. The Twentieth
Century demands wide horizons for every citizen in a
democracy. . . . To maintain democracy in the modern
world we must have, as never before, a citizenry widely
informed on world affairs and deeply concerned with the
preservation of human freedom. "
Increasing sensitivity in the United States to the international
setting and influences of our times leads inevitably to readjust-
ments and new emphases in school programs of education for
citizenship. In recent years we have begun to increase and im-
prove our instruction about Latin America and Asia; as the
source of the above quotation indicates, we are awakening to
the need for more study about Canada. Among the most seri-
ously neglected areas in our school programs today is the Soviet
Union. We teach relatively little about the Soviets; an undue
amount of what is presented seems to be inaccurate, incomplete,
and biased; out-of-school influences tend to provide much mis-
information, to be animated by prejudgments. The net result
is that we have more misinformation than information, more
heat than light, in our total educational program about one
of the major powers of the world in which our pupils must live.
One reason why our educational program in this area falls
iii
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? SU\oi
short is the scarcity of materials directed toward the use of
teachers and pupils. This bulletin is intended to help pro-
vide some of the material needed; it presents a resume of salient
facts about the Soviet Union, a useful bibliography, and a
reservoir of pupil activities. The bulletin can be used by teach-
ers at all school levels and by pupils in the senior high school.
It embodies a "resource unit"; from it the teacher may build
a teaching unit directly about the Soviets, or may select data
and activities for use in courses in general history or the other
social studies. The bulletin does not presuppose a special
course on the U. S. S. R. ; it is useful and suggestive to teachers of
all the social studies and humanities.
The bulletin is an outgrowth of the 1944 Summer Session of
the Harvard Workshop in the Social Studies. One section of
the Workshop, which was made possible by the aid of the
National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, was focused
on the Soviet Union in the network of modern international
relations. Dr. Corliss Lamont and Dr. Dorothy Douglas di-
rected this section of the Workshop, working in full co-
operation with other staff members representing fields of pro-
fessional education. A group of teachers participating in the
program under their leadership prepared the manuscript of
this bulletin; their names appear here as authors; to them the
Harvard Workshop is deeply indebted.
Their manuscript is here made available to teachers in the
firm conviction that the area of study in which they have
pioneered is of marked significance in the adaptation of edu-
cation to the needs of our times. Their document is not a
propaganda plea; it is an effort to place facts before teachers
in an educationally useful format. It is the hope of the Harvard
Workshop that this bulletin will provide both a service and a
stimulus to further work on the part of American teachers.
Howard E. Wilson
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction 1
I. Geography and Resources 7
II. Peoples and Population 15
III. History 20
IV. Soviet Life Today
A. Government 30
B. Nationality Policies 38
C. Economic Life 42
D. Provision for Social Welfare 50
E. Cultural Life 51
F. The Position of Women 63
G.
To act with wisdom in matters of national concern and in
world affairs each nation must be wise in the ways of other
nations. Ignorance and lack of understanding provide no
safe foundation for wise action. In a democratic society
the citizens of each nation must understand other nations
and respect other peoples ever more deeply. The Twentieth
Century demands wide horizons for every citizen in a
democracy. . . . To maintain democracy in the modern
world we must have, as never before, a citizenry widely
informed on world affairs and deeply concerned with the
preservation of human freedom. "
Increasing sensitivity in the United States to the international
setting and influences of our times leads inevitably to readjust-
ments and new emphases in school programs of education for
citizenship. In recent years we have begun to increase and im-
prove our instruction about Latin America and Asia; as the
source of the above quotation indicates, we are awakening to
the need for more study about Canada. Among the most seri-
ously neglected areas in our school programs today is the Soviet
Union. We teach relatively little about the Soviets; an undue
amount of what is presented seems to be inaccurate, incomplete,
and biased; out-of-school influences tend to provide much mis-
information, to be animated by prejudgments. The net result
is that we have more misinformation than information, more
heat than light, in our total educational program about one
of the major powers of the world in which our pupils must live.
One reason why our educational program in this area falls
iii
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-06-10 17:24 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/wu. 89096252051 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SU\oi
short is the scarcity of materials directed toward the use of
teachers and pupils. This bulletin is intended to help pro-
vide some of the material needed; it presents a resume of salient
facts about the Soviet Union, a useful bibliography, and a
reservoir of pupil activities. The bulletin can be used by teach-
ers at all school levels and by pupils in the senior high school.
It embodies a "resource unit"; from it the teacher may build
a teaching unit directly about the Soviets, or may select data
and activities for use in courses in general history or the other
social studies. The bulletin does not presuppose a special
course on the U. S. S. R. ; it is useful and suggestive to teachers of
all the social studies and humanities.
The bulletin is an outgrowth of the 1944 Summer Session of
the Harvard Workshop in the Social Studies. One section of
the Workshop, which was made possible by the aid of the
National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, was focused
on the Soviet Union in the network of modern international
relations. Dr. Corliss Lamont and Dr. Dorothy Douglas di-
rected this section of the Workshop, working in full co-
operation with other staff members representing fields of pro-
fessional education. A group of teachers participating in the
program under their leadership prepared the manuscript of
this bulletin; their names appear here as authors; to them the
Harvard Workshop is deeply indebted.
Their manuscript is here made available to teachers in the
firm conviction that the area of study in which they have
pioneered is of marked significance in the adaptation of edu-
cation to the needs of our times. Their document is not a
propaganda plea; it is an effort to place facts before teachers
in an educationally useful format. It is the hope of the Harvard
Workshop that this bulletin will provide both a service and a
stimulus to further work on the part of American teachers.
Howard E. Wilson
Harvard Graduate School of Education
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-06-10 17:24 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/wu. 89096252051 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction 1
I. Geography and Resources 7
II. Peoples and Population 15
III. History 20
IV. Soviet Life Today
A. Government 30
B. Nationality Policies 38
C. Economic Life 42
D. Provision for Social Welfare 50
E. Cultural Life 51
F. The Position of Women 63
G. Family Life 65
V. Foreign Relations 67
VI. Selected Annotated Bibliography 77
VII. Minimum Kit of Essential Teaching Materials . . 88
VIII. Directory of Sources of Teaching Aids 88
V
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? INTRODUCTION
HpHE Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, our ally in the
? *? present struggle against German aggression, and our
neighbor across the Bering Strait, will doubtless be the greatest
land power in Europe and Asia following the war. Soviet
Russia has great natural resources, a rapidly growing popula-
tion, and has made the swiftest strides in technology and indus-
trialization of any country since the First World War. Moreover,
here are more than two hundred million fellow human beings,
almost one-tenth of all the world's inhabitants, living in an area
which is approximately one-sixth of the total land area of the
globe, concerning whose background, struggles, present status,
aims, and interests, comparatively little is known in the United
States. American citizens must learn to understand the U. S. S. R.
because our greatest hope for world peace lies in making sound
decisions in the field of international relations. In the future
peace and in the world cooperation necessary to maintain it,
the U. S. S. R. will play an important part.
An intelligent facing of the future requires that knowledge on
the part of the students and teachers of America concerning the
U. S. S. R. be increased, to the end that greater understanding
and better international relations may result. The whole world
today is caught up in an intricate pattern of international rela-
tionships which necessitate a reassessment of the bases of civic
education in this country. We must insert in the curriculum
additional materials on the international setting in which the
United States has to operate, and of which we are now becom-
ing increasingly aware. What happens in one country affects rela-
tionships all over the world. We must study the total pattern of
those relationships and the cultures back of them. There is
probably no comparable area in the world the study of which
is more neglected in current school curricula in this country
than the Soviet Union.
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
THE PLAN OF THE STUDY GUIDE
School authorities who desire to develop an understanding of
the Soviet Union will find difficulty in locating adequate materi-
als in school textbooks. It is in an endeaver to suggest aids
for the use of teachers and students in the junior and senior
high schools that this introduction to the study of the Soviet
Russians has been prepared. It is meant to present as objective
a picture of the Soviet Union as possible, without pretending to
pass judgment on the validity of the system. The material may
be used as a resource unit by teachers, or as a framework for
the development of a teaching unit. It is well within the scope
of high-school students, and they may find it useful as a reference.
The study guide includes (1) a content outline, (2) suggested
activities, (3) a selected, annotated bibliography, classified for
teachers and students, (4) a suggested minimum kit of mate-
rials recommended for a study of the Soviet Union, and (5) a
list of places where materials may be obtained.
The content outline is written primarily for secondary-school
teachers, and is intended to suggest certain lines of emphasis
which may be developed. Limitations of space obviously do
not permit treatment of all aspects of Soviet life. Three or four
selected reading references for more intensive study are indicated
at the end of each topic in the outline. The brief lists of activi-
ties for students are intended to suggest supplementary materi-
als and important lines of interpretation. These activities are
planned to include some "Things To Do" for students with
varying degrees of ability. Teachers will be able to develop in
the classroom many other activities which may be more suitable
than those suggested, and it is not expected nor recommended
that any teacher use all of those included.
The bibliography suggests further reading that may profitably
be undertaken by teachers and students. The suggested kit of
materials should be regarded as a minimum, and many of the
books in the general bibliography should be consulted, as well
as others that are available.
The attention of teachers is called to materials to be found in
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS J
current magazines and newspapers. More is being printed about
the Soviet Union in our newspapers and magazines than ever
before. Such materials might even be used as a point of de-
parture in developing an entire study of the U. S. S. R. An
abundance of pictorial materials is available in such magazines
as Life, Look, and National Geographic. Mimeographed copies
of a teaching unit on the U. S. S. R. at the sixth- and seventh-grade
levels may be secured from the Social Studies Workshop, Harvard
Graduate School of Education.
SOVIET RUSSIA IN THE CURRICULUM
The question of how the materials in this study can be intro-
duced into social studies courses is an important one. Few
schools can offer a regular course on the Soviet Union, and then
only on an elective basis. There are, however, opportunities
in many schools for the introduction of special units of study
in some of the regular courses. This would seem to apply
especially to courses in world history, modern history, inter-
national relations, and world and economic geography. In
other courses, nitration of material on the Soviet Union into
the existing program can take place. Continuous cross-references
between developments in America and in the Soviet Union
should help students to acquire a better understanding of our
mutual problems and responsibilities. Such filtration can take
place frequently in courses in American history, problems of
democracy, economics, social problems, current events, litera-
ture, music, art, dramatics, public speaking, and debate.
A third method of developing a better understanding of the
Soviet Union is by making use of the opportunities for indirect
teaching. Attractive classroom and corridor exhibits of pictures
and other materials may be quite as effective as the spoken word.
Films may be used to promote discussion and study; outside
speakers may be invited to visit the school; student assembly
and special community programs may be developed with the
purpose of promoting better understanding of the U. S. S. R. Extra-
curricular clubs, such as discussion, current events, and inter-
national relations clubs, may profitably devote some time to
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? 4 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
study and discussion of the place of the Soviet Union in the
world today. Three ways of inserting materials on the Soviet
Union into the curriculum have thus been suggested: the intro-
duction of special units in some courses, filtration of mater1al
into many courses, and the use of the other school facilities
for enriching experiences.
A realistic, thoughtful approach to the problem of teaching
about the Soviet Union is needed. The teacher is faced with a
lack of objectivity in much of the material at the high-school
level, both in texts and in other materials. Bessie Louise Pierce,
in her study of civic attitudes in American school textbooks,
found that textbooks present, on the whole, friendly sentiments
toward Russia before the opening of the first World War, but
that, in dealing with the period since 1917, the discussions are
apt to arouse the opposite sentiments. 1 Teachers even today
may become entangled in controversy when teaching about the
Soviet Union. In attempting to teach so as not to arouse preju-
dices, it is well to avoid value-judgments as to the superiority
or inferiority of the Soviet system, but comparisons which are
based upon purely factual materials may be made frequently,
and with profit. The purpose should be to present an objective
study of what the Soviet Union is, how it came to be what it
is, and how we can make use of these understandings in learn-
ing to work together in harmony. The obligation to undertake
the development of an understanding of the Soviet Union is
inescapable.
It may be argued that there is no space in the over-crowded
curriculum for such a study. The responsibility for the selec-
tion of materials rests upon the shoulders of the teachers and
administrators in the field of the social studies. We must re-
evaluate our points of emphasis, and drop out much of the
content material we have included in the past. This does not
imply a neglect of content material, but rather intensification at
the points of emphasis. Within the social studies field, there is
^ivic Attitudes in American School Textbooks. Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1930, p. 79.
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 5
much needless duplication of topics; in some cases there is repe-
tition of subject matter taught by other departments of the
school. A re-examination of the total curriculum of the school,
and a critical evaluation and reallocation of materials, will almost
certainly provide space for the inclusion of more study of Soviet
Russia, which has been so long neglected.
ACKNOWIJEDGMENTS
This study guide was prepared as a project of the Social
Studies Workshop of the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
under the direction of Dr. Howard E. Wilson. The planning
of the project and the preparation of the material in its initial
stages were supervised by Professor Dorothy Douglas. Dr.
Corliss Lamont directed the preparation of the main text of
the study guide.