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An unnatural division has been created between two modes of discourse, discussion and debate, even though decisions in the tradition of a democratic society are seldom reached through "pure" debate or "pure" discussion methods. The types of discussion and debate taught and used in competition may not be the only appropriate forms of training students for the reality of democratic dialogue. For example, in forensic tournaments the "pure" form of debate is used almost exclusively and discussion is excluded, being reserved for use in the classroom. Becuase argumentation is an essential ingredient of discussion, a new forensic event should be created whereby the discourse, called "disbate," would utilize and unite both discussion and debate. (SW)

The American public school is a political idea, as well as an educational institution, that is still awaiting full realization. Public schools fail to deliver the promised indiscriminate availability of educational goods and services. Discussions of that failure frequently revolve around the school's educational agenda and questions of pedagogy and curriculum. It can also be understood as an historical disagreement over the political implications of the equal opportunity objective. Early leaders articulated the idea of education to prepare citizens to use political power intelligently and to transcend the accidents of birth and geography in acquiring economic powers. Those who followed through on the idea saw it as a means for homogenizing society and for imposing on it "needed" education. At the root of these measures was a fear of the political implication of equal education. Although our schools today are not truly great, the idea, clouded with ambivalence, still has the potential of an uncompleted dream. (JH)

American responses to educational problems faced around the globe can serve as models for developing nations. The following characteristics of American education with particular relevance for education in developing nations have been organized as inputs, structures and strategies, and outputs. Inputs to the system of American education, defined in an historical context, include sociocultural pragmatism vs. long-range planning; centralization vs. decentralization; and democratic vs. elite education. Innovative structures and strategies provide the following: (1) new ways of perceiving the educational process, for instance the accountability movement; (2) new housing for education, such as open classrooms; (3) new values--humanistic vs. manpower; (4) expanded participation in the educational decision-making process by students, professionals, parents, and other interest groups; (5) variety in instructional level organization, including the nongraded approach; (6) learning how to learn; and (7) examination of the process of educational change itself. The output of American education is no longer being absorbed by the society. More emphasis on humanistic programs could counteract this situation. Human experience with educational problems should be incorporated into a world information pool on education strategies. (JH)

Participation in industrial change is a hot issue in countries experiencing rapid social change. Major problems include the number of large, highly centralized organizations; people's changing values; work-education and industrial-welfare gaps; the absence of forms to replace unacceptable authoritarian control; the effects of electronic information and communications systems; the bureaucratization of trade unions and professional associations; and the development of "specialist power." We face the colossal task of redesigning major parts of the industrialized world, to set in motion the learning and development process that may spring us from our self-created trap. First, one technology cannot any more be taken as given; second, we must debureaucratize the work organizations and their interrelated institutions. Modern technology makes possible much smaller, simpler, and efficient factories, superior in social terms; they require changes in our basic ideas of work and education. To prevent technological and economic planning from taking precedence over social criteria, a participative design process must take place, in which the roles of specialists are changed. It is possible to choose between basically different forms of work organization. (Author/AJ)

The personnel function in industrial society has been marked by crisis, reappraisals, struggles for power, and guilty conscience. The profession is again under pressure; company management often questions its contribution to the solution of strategic personnel matters, while employees and their unions question its values, and wish to place its actions under the control of the employees. The description of the present situation must be based on tendencies toward change which have already had effect. Some of the tendencies which we may observe in action at present and which will influence personnel work in the future include: (1) movement toward a postindustrial society, with industry's principal branch being services and the basic conflict between the capital owner and the worker giving way to conflict between the professional and the layman; (2) movement toward a realignment of power, between the company and society and within companies, prompting considerable personal development on the part of employees and necessitating new company organization; (3) movement toward a more humane technology; and (4) movement toward a more open and more flexible company organization. Personnel officers must become realistic specialists in people, able to analyze values and processes of change in different situations. (Author/AJ)

The Industrial Democracy Programme (IDP) of Norway seeks to create conditions for a self-supporting change process in industry, rather than implementing a ready-made model, believing that it is more valuable for employees to learn to change their organization than for the specific solution to be found. The central problems, therefore, have been to build up involvement, commitment, and competence in the work-force, so that the responsibility or "ownership" of the project is taken over by those affected by the changes. The strategy has been to work through the existing (management and union) power structure, to set up a limited (in time and space) experiment or demonstration in a shielded area, and let the "force of the example" be the dynamic factor in the diffusion process in the whole plant. To make the first step toward experimenting with new forms of work organization and job design, establishing autonomous work groups has been quite effective. (Before dealing with implications, the speaker describes fairly concretely two cases from projects in which IDP has been involved.) The autonomous work group system has to be combined with training and supported by a system of resource persons or departments able to contribute in joint problem solving. (Author/AJ)

The development of industrial democracy in Norway is traced by the speaker in introducing an international conference on manpower training and development. As a context for the chain of events to be examined, basic information about Norway is presented: population data, the country's democratic tradition, the history of industrial development, the main organizations in working life (Norwegian Employers' Confederation--N.A.F.--and the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions--LO), and the labor movement and the founding of the Labor Party by the LO. The speaker describes the processes by which industrial democracy has developed during the past century. (AJ)

"In democracy education holds the most promising potential solution of the social and economic problems for peaceful, gradual, intelligent evolution toward the goals which we must set up for the preservation of the ideals and the happiness of our citizenship." This opening sentence of the letter of greeting sent by President Roosevelt to the National Conference on Fundamental Problems in the Education of Negroes was the fundamental assumption upon which the conference was projected. The conference was held in Washington, D.C., May 9 to 12, 1934, under the auspices of the Federal Office of Education, and was attended by 1,030 registered delegates, 500 of whom came from 28 States. The agencies represented at the conference were: (1) State, county, and city systems of public education; (2) church boards; (3) philanthropic foundations; (4) National, State, and local teachers' associations; (5) accrediting associations; (6) the press; (7) business, industry, and labor; (8) the professions; (9) fraternal organizations; (10) youth movements; and (11) governmental agencies. Although the conference addressed itself particularly to fundamental and special problems in the education of Negroes, it considered all phases of education in their relation to the special topics under discussion. The report of the conference presented in this bulletin is an abstract of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the committees, together with excerpts from the major addresses made during the sessions. There are three parts of the report, comprising, respectively, addresses, consideration of major life functions, and organizational and administrative machinery. Individual sections contain footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.]