418 COMMUNICATIONS- BERICHTE - COMMUNICATIONS

COMPARATIVE EDUCATION SOCIETY IN EUROPE

Since the Conference held in London in 1961, at which the Comparative Education Society in Europe was launched, the work of the Provisional Officers and Constitution Committee has been largely restricted to the drawing up of a Provisional Consti- tut ion for the Society and the planning of its future activities.

A meeting of the Provisional Officers and Constitution Committee was held at the Centre International d'Etudes Pddagogiques, in S~vres in May, 1962 and lasted for three days; After much discussion the Committee re-affirmed the decision of the Conference to have only two types of members - Honorary and Ordinary. Honorary membership was to be restricted to persons who have rendered long and distinguished service to Comparative Education or International Education; persons eligible for Ordinary membership included teachers of and research workers in Comparative Education and International Education and persons working in organizations concerned with Comparative and related studies. I t was agreed that candidates for membership should be nominated by at least two members of the Society, The effect of this decision will be undoubtedly to keep the Society in its initial stages, rather small, but it was felt tha t the interests of Comparative Education and International Education would best be served by ensuring any conferences organised by the Society should be on the whole restricted to well informed educationists working in the field of Comparative studies thus ensuring a high level of discussion.

In other respects the Provisional Constitution was based largely upon a tentat ive draft drawn up by Dr. J. Katz (whose presence was much appreciated) based on the Constitution of the Comparative Education Society in America. I t was felt that in the interest of future co-operation it was desirable to have a Constitution as similar to that of the American Society as possible.

A number of general aims were stated. In general the purpose of the Society wil l be to encourage and promote Comparative and International studies in education. The relation between academic studies and the needs of educational administrators to devise realistic policies was also kept well in mind. Several practical ways of implementing these general aims were written into the Constitution. Among them it was thought tha t the Society could help to promote and improve the teaching of Comparative Education; stimulate research; facilitate the publication of Compara- tive studies; interest teachers in other disciplines in the Comparative and inter- national dimensions of their work; encourage exchange visits between educators throughout the world; organize conferences and meetings; and collaborate with other Comparative Education Societies throughout the world. Great importance was placed by members of the Committee on this last point. As part of this policy the willing co-operation of Unesco was welcomed. Every effort should be made, it was thought, to collaborate with the new Comparative Education Division of Unesco and the Unesco Inst i tute for Education in Hamburg. Members of the Committee were therefore extremely pleased when Dr. Robinsohn of the Hamburg Inst i tute agreed to serve not only (as at present) On the Constitution Committee but as a member of the Executive Committee. They were also extremely pleased to meet Mr. Howard Hayden, Head of the Unesco Comparative Education Division and his colleagues and hear of their activities.

Applications for membership were discussed at length. The Committee agreed to invite a number of distinguished educators to become members of the Society before the next Conference. A good many enquiries about membership had been received

GEGENWARTSFRAGEN DES BILDUNGSWESENS IN DER SOWJETUNION 419

during the course of the year by the Secretary/Treasurer, The names of those wishing to become members were considered and on the basis of the criteria for membership laid down in the Provisional Constitution, some of them were accepted for membership. I t was felt that many persons very interested in Comparative Education would not clearly fall into the category of members envisaged. Many Committee members urged that the Society should do everything possible to encou- rage their interest by arranging regional meetings. Membership, it was emphasized again and again, should not be restricted upon any other basis than professional qualifications. Thus it was hoped that members would join from all parts of the world.

International organizations throughout the world have also shown interest in the formation of the Society - correspondence has been maintained with them.

At the time of writing the Society has forty paid-up members. Nominal sub- scription is ~ 1.0.0. (one pound) or its equivalent, but the Committee realized that if the work of the Society was to expand further discussion of an increased sub- scription would be necessary. The most obvious form of promoting the Society was thought to be a conference in the fairly near future and it was also hoped tha t this could be arranged in accordance with the principle laid down at the 1961 meeting, namely in 1963.

Enquiries about the work of the Society and membership should be addressed to the Secretary/Treasurer, Dr. Brian Holmes, University of London Inst i tute of Education, Malet Street, London, W.C. 1.

BRIAN HOLMES, London

GEGENWARTSFRAGEN DES BILDUNGSWESENS IN DER SOWJETUNION

IM SPIEGEL DER ZEITSCHRIFT ,,SOVETSKAJA PEDAGOGIKA" 1)

Schule und Erziehung im Lichte des neuen kommunistiscken Parteiprogramms Grundsatzproklamationen fiber die Ziele und Aufgaben yon Schule und Erziehung

haben in einem Staat mit einer monistischen Weltanschauung und einer einzigen herrschenden politischen Partei yon vornherein ein anderes Gewicht als schul- politische Manifeste in einer pluralistischen Gesellschaft mit einem Mehrparteien- system. So kommt auch dem neuen Progra~nm der Kornmunistischen Partei der Sowjetunion, das aufgrund eines am 30. Juli 1961 ver6ffentlichten Entwurfs vom x x n . KongreB der KPdSU am 31. Oktober 1961 angenommen wurde (Pravda, 2.11.1961), eine ungleich gr6Bere Bedeutung zu als vergleichbaren Dokumenten in einem nichtkommunistischen Land. Das Parteiprogramm dient als Richtschnur fiir die geplante kiinftige Entwicklung der Sowjetunion in allen Lebensbereichen, so auch auf dem Gebiet der Erziehung und Volksbildung. Die dutch die Reform- gesetzgebung yon 1958/59 in Angriff genommene Umgestaltung des Bildungs- wesens in der Sowjetunion wird dadurch in den gr6Beren Rahmen des proklamierten , ,0bergangs zum Kommunismns" hineingestellt, der bis zum Jahre 1980 im wesent- lichen vollzogen sein soll. Dem Range dieses Dokumentes entsprechend standen die im Parteiprogramm niedergelegten Prinzipien im Mittelpunkt zahlreicher Abhand- lungen der ,,Sovetskaja pedagogika."

Der Vizepriisident der Akademie der pAdagogischen Wissenschaften der RSFSR, N. K. Gondarov, hat in einem Grundsatzartikel (,,Die EntschlieBungen des XXl I .

1) Vgl. die Berichte in VI/1960, S. 116ff., S. 478ff., VIi/1961, S. 342ff.