It is difficult to assume an association of any kind
between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. John E. Hayes, President of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers in the United States, but Mrs. Hayes has fortuitously furnished considerable reinforcement to the Archbishop's denunciation of the use of television in schools. In her view (expressed not inappropriately at Los Angeles on Monday) cinemas, television and comic books are largely responsible for the fact that child- ren cannot learn in school. That is going further than Dr. Fisher, who was speaking primarily of television. I hope his strictures will not be disregarded. It is not a question of making learning easy; everyone must approve of that if it really is learning. But making school seductive is a rather different matter, and it is not enough in itself. Education is not a question of pouring in; it is at least as much a question of drawing out. To sit passively looking at a television picture or listening to a radio talk is not necessarily education. Visual aids are admirable, but education will not benefit if they replace the human teacher unduly. Innovations can be carried too far.
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