Education of Pacific Races

Conference to be Held in Honolulu

SPONSORED jointly by the University of Hawaii and the Yale University (U.S.A.), a conference and seminar of Education in Pacific Countries will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from June 27 to August 7.

Its purpose is to offer to a select group of administrators, anthropologists, and scholars from the various Pacific terri tories the opportunity to study and dis cuss the racial, cultural, and educational problems which have arisen as a result of the modern contact of peoples. The seminar will provide occasion for educa tors to secure an interchange of experi ence in dealing with their problems.

The New York Carnegie Corporation has agreed to co-operate and assist in enabling the convention to achieve worthwhile results.

Membership of the conference will be limited to 50 and will consist of directors of education, school principals, social scientists, leaders in both government and mission work, and other vitally interested people. Representatives are expected from British, American, French and Dutch dependencies in the Pacific, and from Australia, China, Great Britain, India, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.

Among those who have been invited to attend are: Dr. A. P. Elkin, Professor of Anthropology, University of Sydney, and Director of Anthropo logical Research, Australian National Research Council.

Professor Peter H. Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa), D. 5.0., M.D., Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Hawaii, formerly of New Zealand.

Dr. Felix M. Keesing, Department of An thropology, University of Hawaii, formerly of the Research Staff, Institute of Pacific Relations.

E. W. P. Chinnery, Dip.Anth. (Cantab.), Gov ernment Anthropologist and Director of Native Affairs, New Guinea; also an educational leader from Papua. Or, as an alternative, F. E. Wil liams, M.A., Government Anthropologist, Papua; and an educational leader from New Guinea.

A representative of the Maori Schools Depart ment, New Zealand.

Representatives of Fiji, Solomons, Tonga, Gil bert and Ellice Islands, Malaya, Hongkong.

A representative of the Barstow Foundation, working in American Samoa.

Representatives of French Colonies in the Pacific, and of French Indo-Chine.

Dr. B. Schrieke, Director of Education, Nether lands East Indies, Professor of Social Anthropo logy, University of Batavia.

Dr. Francisco Benitez, Dean of the College of Education, University of the Philippines, Manila.

Arthur I. Mayhew, C.1.E., M.A. (Oxon.), Sec retary of the British Government’s Education Committee, Colonial Office, London; formerly of the Indian Civil Service.

One representative from Japan, whose interests include colonial education.

Charles T. Loram, LL.B., Ph.D., Sterling Pro fessor of Education, Yale University; formerly of South Africa.

Paul Munroe, Ph.D., LL.D., Litt.D., President of Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey.

James Y. C. Yen, M.A., Leader of Mass Educa tion Movement, Ting Hsien, China.

Educational leaders of mission bodies in the Pacific.

W. Carson Ryan, Ph.D., Director of Education, United States Indian Service, Washington, D.C.

John Dewey, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Phil osophy, Columbia University, U.S.A.

Hawaii’s representatives will include: Stanley D. Porteus, D.Sc., Professor of Psychology, Hawaii University; Frank E. Midkiff, 8.A., Director of the Waialua Community Project, formerly Presi dent of the Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii; Ben jamin O. Wist, M.A., Dean of Teachers’ College, Hawaii University; Romanzo Adams, Ph.D., for merly Professor of Sociology, University of Hawaii.

The following are some of the questions with which the conference will deal: Comparison of educational problems and policies in the different Pacific countries.

The wider circumstances of racial and cultural contact from which the problems arise.

Is all human material equally educable, especi ally so-called primitive peoples?

Regarding minorities, shall education be directed towards encouraging indigenous development, or towards assimilating them into the dominant peoples ?

How far must local economic and other circum stances be a shaping and limiting force in educa tion?

What of language difficulties? Higher educa tion? Segregation or mingling of pupils from dif ferent backgrounds? Civic education for self government ?

Can some greater international collaboration be worked out in educational and related matters?

How best can anthropology, psychology, and similar human sciences contribute to the educator, administrator, and other practical worker?