(This post is the reproduced content of Chapter 6: "Summary and Conclusions" from William H. Kilpatrick's 1932 book, "Education and the Social Crisis". The whole thing is fairly short and readable, but its own summary does an accurate job of getting the gist and is that much shorter. Kilpatrick was perheps the most famous and influential Teachers Colege professors, so I believe this work serves as a fairly cannonical representation of what the Progressive Ed movement understood itself to be about)

Chapter 6: Summary and Conclusions

THE SITUATION

Civilization is, perhaps, at one of its great turning points. Modern technology brings far-reaching changes and demands yet more. It has given us the means for creating unheard-of wealth, but it takes away the historic American dream of equal opportunity for individual freedom and initiative. The old frontier individualism is gone and with it must go our old competitive business. New arrangements must be achieved.

BUSINESS THWARTS TECHNOLOGY

As matters stand, technology is not allowed to serve as it might. The outworn business view prevents. Production must henceforth be made to balance in a complete circle, enough wheat to meet the need for wheat but no more, and so with all the rest. Distribution must balance production. The whole quota of wheat must be sold or farmers cannot buy their several quotas from the others, and so, also, with all the other producers. Prices and wages must suffice to move the whole varied production. Planning alone can do this. The rule of competitive rivalry is henceforth confusion and ruin. A planning technology could banish depressions and achieve economic security for all, even to abundance.

THE ANTI-SOCIAL EFFECTS OF OUR BUSINESS SYSTEM

The now outworn business system has become anti-social in its effects. As shown above, it refuses to let technology serve as it might. It brings recurrent depressions. It distributes wealth most unjustly; even in 1928 two-thirds of our population were held below the approved standard of living, while millionaires were being made overnight. The old system maintains a standing body of the unemployed running into many thousands and the numbers must greatly increase. Business as business cannot on the old competitive basis take account of the various inhuman effects which it entails; dividends and regard for the human element cannot be reconciled.

THE BAD EDUCATIONAL EFFECTS OF OUR BUSINESS SYSTEM

Our business system brings, also, serious educative effects. Everything that a man does educates him. If he accepts inwardly what he does, he grows that way. In present business a man must work for himself. Rewards and approval so come. We then virtually pay our people to become selfish individualists, and many do. Look at the public indifference to bad political conditions. Actual business conditions have educated our people to be indifferent citizens. There is still more. Business offers many opportunities to make money for nothing done in return. Speculation is an example, and “unloading” doubtful stocks and bonds on the unwary, not to mention many, many other“shrewd” practices. The longer people live by such, the worse their morals tend to become. The great fortunes made by such practices are much discussed. The idea82 spreads. Many wish they might do the like. The word goes round that “they all do it.” Graft becomes common. Racketeering arises. Crime becomes an occupation. Politics becomes corrupt in selling favors and protection.“Machines” arise to take care of the traffic. It is all of one piece. Such demoralization is very widespread. Public dishonesty is an educative effect of these bad business practices.

THE MORAL OBLIGATION UPON THE PROFESSION OF EDUCATION

The profession of education must concern itself with all these things. These mis-educative effects of business challenge education’s essential reason for being. Why educate for honesty and citizenship if surrounding business practices will nullify the effort? Education, too, has always been deeply concerned with human welfare. If a bad economic system lowers the life of the people, education cannot be indifferent. It must join hands, with civilization to make a better world. To undertake this new task a wider conception of the profession of education is needed. We need to accept social responsibility for studying all significant educative effects. At times this new profession will call public attention to important effects. At other times, as this, it will assume a new mission. It must help in educative fashion our whole people to study the problem before us because a crisis confronts civilization.

THE NEW ADULT EDUCATION

If we are to deal adequately with this and other problems of the rapidly growing modern world, we must devise new agencies of adult education. In the case before us we must consciously undertake to get as much of our whole adult population as possible, studying every phase of the whole economic question, particularly as to the need of a fundamental reconstruction of the system; and if the answer to this be yes, then as to the means to be employed. This is not partisan propaganda of any prior chosen answers. While many of us have already reached convictions on certain of these points, it is still study that we are promoting, study that will help build an intelligent interest in the problem to the end that an aroused public interest may efficiently reach its own solution to the problem. Each one of us must work wherever we can to spread such study, first with ourselves that we may be as intelligent regarding the matter as possible, then with our colleagues, and so on out to the parents of our pupils, friends, and citizens in general. Discussion groups will perhaps help most. Lectures and forums will be useful. In season and out we work for the cause. Our higher institutions must take up the work to prepare leaders and workers. Courses must be opened in adult education, Private organizations and public authorities must assume the wider work of organizing adult education on an effectual basis to carry on the work permanently. Now that civilization is in continual change and new problems ever arise, continuing education of grownups must become a permanent feature of our total educational system.

THE NEW SCHOOL

But the new profession will owe a newly conceived duty to the schools. We have always professed that we were educating for society, but our work has been largely conventional and quite in keeping with our hitherto individualistic point of view. We must now go further. The new view demands a new social emphasis. We must study, according to age, current social problems as close to life as we can get them. This will often mean controversial issues, for we cannot keep off of them nor would we if we could. For our youth must learn to study and criticize our actual institutional life. Also, we must do all that in us lies to get our pupils and students at work at socially significant undertakings. The pupils of a small city might, for example, undertake an actual city planning project. They could study the city as a whole and map out a specific program of things which they as pupils might feasibly undertake, some to promote among the citizens, others to do themselves. Wisdom will have to be used in deciding what to undertake—that will be one of the educative aspects of the problem. The chief returns will be the social attitudes built from the acceptance of social responsibility and the development of social intelligence from working out the various subordinate projects. If the social implications of it all be studied as fully as age and experience warrant, these with the other results should bring rich returns in building effectual social outlook and attitude. In such ways and more may a real profession of education come gradually into being that can hope to take effectual part in remaking our social structure and life. The demand is already upon us. Opportunity beckons.