Mumford, Mrs Lloyd S

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Masthead Logo The Palimpsest
Volume 31 | Number 11 Article 6
11-1-1950
College Aid in Parent Education
Mrs Lloyd S. Mumford
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Mumford, Mrs Lloyd S. "College Aid in Parent Education." The Palimpsest 31 (1950), 455-458.
Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/palimpsest/vol31/iss11/6
College Aid in Parent Education
Parent education and cooperation with schools 
are the two fundamental projects of the Iowa Con­
gress. Professional leaders have given the finest 
help for both.
From the beginning, a better understanding of 
the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of 
children has been encouraged. Since the estab­
lishment of the Child Welfare Research Station, 
more expert help has been available. Annual con­
ferences on Child Development and Parent Edu­
cation have been regularly attended by large num­
bers of PTA members. All kinds of materials, as 
well as many speakers, have been provided by the 
State University of Iowa and Iowa State College.
The Iowa Congress has made every effort to 
improve the quality of leadership training. For 
several years two scholarships were given to 
teachers, principals, and selected lay leaders for 
summer-session work in parent education. These 
were called the “Bird T. Baldwin“ and “Cora 
Bussey Hillis“ scholarships, named, respectively, 
for the first Director of the Station and for the 
founder of the Iowa Congress. Whh the growth 
of the program, the funds were channeled out over 
the state to reach more people through the work of
455
456 TH E  PALIM PSEST
the state chairman of Parent Education. The 
Child Welfare Station, through the University 
Extension Division, has given a great deal of help 
in training leaders by sending professional men 
and women into many Iowa communities. In 1950, 
the first week-long Workshop in Leadership 
Training for Parent Education was carried out at 
the State University of Iowa. There is now in 
every district of the state a nucleus of enthusiastic 
people ready to help in organizing better study 
groups. The workshop has also been the forerun­
ner of two year-long leadership training courses at 
Drake University and Morningside College. 
Nearly all local units have reported some type of 
study program, with well over 10,000 Iowans en­
rolled.
The program of the annual meeting at the State 
University of Iowa in September, 1949, was de­
voted to the subject of child psychology and par­
ent education. State PTA leaders have taken ad­
vantage of all opportunities offered for training in 
better understanding by attending National Con­
gress conventions. In the last two years, three 
members of the state board attended, at National 
Congress expense, a workshop at the University 
of Chicago in Parent and Family Life Education. 
This year a member of the staff of the Child Wel­
fare Research Station attended this workshop.
A second important area of interest centers in 
the school. Consequently, efforts have been made
COLLEGE A ID  IN  PAR E N T E D U C A T IO N  457
to bring professional educators and parents to­
gether in the discussion type of program. Various 
types of college contacts have also been made with 
the purpose of explaining to teachers-in-training 
the fundamental projects of the Congress, and to 
prepare them to meet the parents in the communi­
ties where they would later teach.
The Iowa Congress of Parents and Teachers 
and the State University of Iowa jointly held the 
first Workshop on Home and School Cooperation 
sponsored by the National Congress of Parents 
and Teachers, in June, 1945. Teachers, adminis­
trators, supervisors, college faculty, members of 
state departments of education, PTA workers, 
and community leaders from twenty-two states 
and from Canada spent a busy week in consider­
ing procedures revolving about home-school rela­
tionships. For those desiring it, credit was given. 
The National Congress now supports a year- 
round course on Parent-Teacher relationships in 
cooperation with Northwestern University.
The Iowa State Teachers College and the Iowa 
Congress are mutually interested in better teacher 
training, salaries, and selective recruitment. Early 
in the history of the Iowa PTA, the College en­
larged its extension program by assigning a staff 
member to help organize new units. For the last 
decade or more an annual Parent-Teacher Insti­
tute has been held at Cedar Falls during the sum­
mer session, with an outstanding member of the
National Board as the speaker. At various times 
also, members of the State Board of Managers 
have discussed the Parent-Teacher movement 
with education classes.
Similar contacts are made with such institutions 
as Coe, Cornell, Drake, Morningside, Simpson, 
Iowa State College, and the State University. 
During 1949-1950, nearly all junior colleges in the 
state have been contacted in this way.
M rs. Lloyd S. M umford
458 TH E  PALIM PSEST


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