How to Spread the Word: Reprint

Leo Huberman
1997 Monthly review  
In the late 1930's I sat in on a course of education for trade unionists. That these workers had a desire to learn was evident by their enrollment in a class held in the evenings, after they had done a day's work. That the teacher knew his subject was manifest from the brilliance of his lecture. That the combination of students' desire and teacher's grasp of the material did not result in learning was obvious from the fact that before the hour was over, several members of the class were asleep;
more » ... it was apparent, too, from the decline in enrollment-the next class was attended by only half the students, and the third time the class met, less than a quarter who had signed up were in attendance. This, by and large, has been the experience in trade union education in the United States. Union officials, badgered by the pleas of the education director to appropriate the small sum needed for trade union classes, finally yield, reluctantly . The classes are held, and they fizzle. The union officials then declare triumphantly, "See, the workers don't want to
doi:10.14452/mr-049-01-1997-05_1 fatcat:dvgvdratzjhdxl2i3d3kybw77u