Table Of ContentAN ADULT EDUCATION COURSE OP STUDY
FOR HOME AND PERSONAL BETTERMENT
A Project
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
The U niversity of Southern C alifo rn ia
In P a rtia l F ulfillm ent
of the Requirements fo r the Degree
Master of Science in Education
by
W illiam Chapman
June 1950
UMI Number: EP45776
All rights reserved
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TAw project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
Date............................................................................
Adviser
Dean
i i
INTRODUCTION
Many years of research and p ra c tic a l experience have
brought the re a liz a tio n th a t a simply devised course .on home
and personal betterm ent would f i l l an urgent need. Too many ' -
books are burdened with flowery phrases, involved philosophies
and meaningless so p h istrie s, a ll of which tend' to confuse and
d iv ert the reader from the basic o b jectiv es. Here are, fo r
tu n ately , some notable exceptions.
While no one book has hereto fore embraced a ll the sub
je c ts covered here, the reader would b en efit g rea tly by ad
d itio n a l study in sp ecialized in te re s ts . Art fo r A ll, by
Claude C. Crawford and Francis G-. B a rle tt (New York, Macmil
lan, 1941), tr e a ts frankly and r e a lis tic a lly with the impor
tance of a rt in every phase of modern lif e in the home and
daily a c tiv itie s . The word " a r t” is used in its broadest term,
from the a rt of home decoration to the a rt of dressing cor
re c tly . Grive Y ourself a Background, by Fraser P. Bond (New'
York, W hittlesey House, 1942) discusses a u th o rita tiv e sources
to which anyone can turn fo r progressive study in s e lf b e tte r
ment .
The real need fo r a handbook denuded of digressive m atter
•prompted the present work, and sp ecial emphasis has been
i i i .
placed on sim p licity of p resen tatio n . I t b o ils down the prim
substance of the p ra c tic a l a rts and d ilu te s i t fo r easy ap
p lic a tio n to everyday liv in g .
Here,-we shall, not argue the . in tric a te p attern s of ’"art"
appreciation in a ll its- forms,, nor sh all we discuss the gap
between Michelangelo and Picasso, nor debate, pro and con,
the su p erio rity of Georgian fu rn itu re versus American Colo
n ia l and Modern, or whether you may eat chicken with your
fin g e rs. You w ill.n o t be- to ld you have no a rt sense i f you
lik e d aisies alongside dah lias, or i f you, p refer Debussy to
Wagner and Steinbeck to Shakespeare.
Our approach is fac tu al and r e a lis tic in the b e lie f th at
any individual displays a keen, liv e ly and en th u siastic sense
of a rt and good ta s te whenever one is m otivated by sound rea
son and feelin g in whatever is done w ithin the bounds of pro
p rie ty .
The object of th is form of presen tatio n is to stim ulate
your im agination and encourage your la te n t a b ility . By devel
oping your own ideas and id eals in keeping with your person- -
a lity as an in dividual, you w ill be in b e tte r harmony with
y o u rself and the world about jou.
While our view point.is broad, i t does not mean a blank
licen se to be f ille d in with unbridled freedom. There are
lim its . We. cannot be called narrow-minded i f we look askance
at the man who wears a red carnation next to a loud necktie,
and the woman who in s is ts on gold brocades in a maple-bed- .
rood, or one who serves guests ice-cream smothered with vine
gar fo r exotic flav o r. There are people who do such things
e ith e r to shock the observer and a ttra c t a tten tio n or because
of some psychological facto r which has made them reb els.
The average human being, no m atter how untutored, in
s tin c tiv e ly appreciates those q u a litie s in objects and people
which appeal to the eye and the senses, re je c tin g what is ug
ly and rep u lsiv e. But many who possess th is facu lty seem u t
te r ly blind regarding them selves. Thus, men w ill boast of the
p rice they paid fo r a work of a rt, instead of discussing the
m erits of the pain tin g or sculpture. The t a l l woman wearing
high heels and a pointed hat w ill laugh at the short, sto u t
lady in b a rre l-s trip e dress and wide-brimmed h a t. These are
offhand examples. But corresponding errors are made in every
phase of d aily a c tiv ity , such as home decoration, a ttir e and
grooming, selectin g a p ictu re or gift., choosing colors, un
derstanding music or c o llectin g books, and in the broad fie ld
of human relations-.
V
By striv in g earn estly to improve o u rselv es. and putting
what we learn to p ra c tic a l use, i t n a tu ra lly follow s th at
fam ily, friends and v is ito rs , and those-w ith whom jom come in
contact outside your home, w ill recognize-your broadened cu l
tu ra l horizons. Thus you can contribute to the to ta l progress
of the community which is so v ita l to our democratic so ciety.
Americans, perhaps more than any other nation, appreciate
freedom of expression. B\it th is freedom..which has made us the
g re a te st commercial country has also caused us to neglect the
a rt of b e tte r liv in g . The cultured European understands these
q u a litie s in a re la tiv e ly new nation, but he is eager to come
here to learn and contribute what he can. The cultivated-A -
m erican, on the other hand, has recognized the contributions
from the Old World. For th is reason, educators regard study
abroad to be a worthwile investm ent. Travel l i f t s us from
stagnation and narrow view points.
Proof of our progress is evidenced by constantly in creas
ing attendance at museums, e x h ib its, concerts, le c tu re s, and
the schools of higher learn in g . We see i t in b e tte r designed
a rc h ite ctu re and in te rio rs , in the clothes we"wear,and the
food we eat, and g enerally, in the wide f ie ld of human r e la
tio n s. Credit fo r a ll progress is due to the accelerated
v i
in te re s t and work on the p a rt of those who are anxious to
learn and eager to improve th e ir world.
I f we are to appreciate the b e tte r things and avoid su
p e rfic ia l passing fads so frequently forced upon the public
by supercharged commercialism, then the importance of le a rn
ing how to develop one's own ideas and ideals becomes a major
challenge.
In th is sim p lified te x t, the reader w ill find the essence
of a happier l i f e . Each sentence sta te s a basic fa c t.
The book is divided in two p a rts: Part I, "The Home,M
How to R eflect Your P erson ality , and Part I I , "The Ind iv id ual,"
How to Put Your Best Foot Forward. The two sections complement
each oth er.
One would think th at people generally have a good idea
of how to fix up th e ir home, but unfortunately th is is not
the case. Where they may. have good understanding of one phase
or two, they f a l l down completely on the other e sse n tia ls.
S im ilarly, with personal betterm ent the same condition p re
v a ils. What could be more incongruous or disheartening to
the observer than a well-mannered in d iv id u al whose -home su r
roundings con tradict h is outward p erso n ality . I f education
is to f i l l the gaps, a good s ta r t can.be made w ith a functional
course such as th is syllabus w ill provide.
v iii
PREFACE TO COLLEAGUES
Here is a course in which you can exercise your en th u si
asm and broad v isio n fo r the benefit of your students. There
are ju st twenty subjects covered, which -were selected a fte r
careful analysis of the prime re q u isite s fo r home and person
al betterm ent. Here,' then, we have the e sse n tia ls fo r te stin g
the p o lish of any ind iv id ual.
Designed in syllabus form, every sentence estab lish es a
fact which the student can grasp in sta n tly . The te x t and as
signments lend themselves to in te re stin g classroom d iscu s
sions which should be encouraged fre e ly . -
Since the prime object of th is course is to stim ulate o-
rig in a l ideas and self-confidence, illu s tr a tio n s have been
purposely om itted. However, visual m aterial should be used
whenever p ossible, but i t would be well for the in stru c to r
to s ta te th at such visual aids are presented only as guides.
Too often, students tend to accept them as d e fin ite p a ttern s
which they must follow . Here, an open forum w ill prove of in
te re s t and b en efit to the class, since the objective of the
course is to encourage self-ex p ressio n w ithin the bounds of
good ta s te .
Informal p resen tatio n , a sense of humor and to le ran t
