The Community School Defined

Clapp Elsie R. Community Schools in Action. New York: Viking Press, 1939. An interesting account of the process of organization of community schools in a rural setting. It is a significant milestone in the development of the community-school concept in that it details possible steps whereby such educational endeavor can be carried on and the interest and co-operation of citizens secured.

The Community School. Edited by Everett Samuel . New York: D. Appleton–Century Co., 1938.

An earlier statement of the community-school concept. of particular interest are the chapters dealing with the fundamental assumptions upon which the community school is based. The variety of illustrative material detailing the operation of community schools in different settings is of assistance in gaining insight into the possibilities inherent in such schools.

Dewey John Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan Co., 1916. The searching analysis of the relationship between education and a way of life presented in this volume makes clear the important role of education in achieving a fuller realization of the “good life.” The philosophical thought presented in this volume forms a basis for the establishment and organization of the community school.

Educational Policies Commission. Point Four and Education. Washington: National Education Association, 1950.

This brief document presents in clear form the realities of our modern world and the implications for education which stem from them. It is an illuminating as well as inspiring presentation of the possibilities of education as the instrument for social progress. Set in the world scene, it makes clear the way in which the community school may function in the larger community.

Hanna Paul R. “Education for the Larger Community,” Educational Leadership, LV (October, 1946), 27–33.

This short article presents a plan for achieving the ends projected for the community schools. It makes clear the necessity for some kind of curriculum planning which will give conscious direction to the efforts of the schools as a major tool of society in attacking its problems. Also developed at some length is a newer concept of community which embodies some of the major ideas developed in this yearbook.

Hanna Paul R. “Education and Planning,” Planning for America. Edited by George Galloway. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1941. A penetrating chapter which discusses the inherent possibilities of education as a tool to achieve better living. It points up many ways in which youth in schools could assist in the study of community problems and high lights the need for dynamic action to attack and solve social problems.

Hanna Paul R. “The School: Looking Forward,” Democracy and the Curriculum. Edited by Rugg Harold . New York: D. Appleton–Century Co., 1939.

This chapter of the Third Yearbook of the John Dewey Society presents an inclusive view of the functioning of the community school for both personal and community growth and improvement. The ideas developed and the implications stemming from them provide challenging concepts for exploration by the educator. The chapter includes several illustrations from actual school practice which give substance to the theoretical considerations involved in the community-school concept.

Hanna Paul R. Youth Serves the Community. New York: D. Appleton–Century Co., 1936.

A casebook containing many projects by schools engaged in community betterment. An excellent source of illustrative suggestions on how the community school may function in a wide variety of settings.

Muntyan Milosh “Community-School Concepts in Relation to Societal Determinants.” Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, the Graduate School, University of Illinois, 1947.

A keen analysis of the problems of defining authority relationships between school and community. As the school moves into areas of concern in state, region, and nation these problems become acute. This dissertation is of special concern in the implementation of the criteria suggested in this chapter for implementing the community-school concept.

Naslund Robert A. “The Origin and Development of the Community-School Concept.” Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, School of Education, Stanford University, 1951.

This study explores the various points of view on the community school as found in current literature and proposes a definition. in the light of the definition, historical roots of the concept are traced as they have contributed to the comprehensive view proposed in this yearbook.

Seay Maurice F. “The Community-School Emphases in the Postwar Period,” in American Education in the Postwar Period: Curriculum Reconstruction, pp. 209–28. Forty-fourth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1945. A significant characterization of the potential contributions of the community-school program to the solution of social and economic problems. Procedures are outlined for dealing with various types of community problems, whether of long-time or temporary concern to the residents of the community and regardless of the age groups whose needs are to be served by the school in any given situation.