In 1940, only 24 percent of the population twenty-five and over had completed high school, and 5 percent had bachelor’s degrees, so far more learned from on-the-job schooling.[7] As they worked, they learned rules and values by listening to their elders tell stories, often the same ones hundreds of times. Anthropologists refer to this way of transferring knowledge as oral tradition. Many cultures still rely on stories and storytellers to pass on their values and customs to the next generation.
