RURAL LIFE AND THE RURAL SCHOOL

 BY

 JOSEPH KENNEDY

 DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA

 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO

 RURAL LIFE AND THE RURAL SCHOOL W. P. 2. 

PREFACE

This volume is addressed to the men and women who have at heart theinterests of rural life and the rural school. I have tried to avoiddeeply speculative theories on the one hand, and distressingly practicaldetails on the other; and have addressed myself chiefly to theintelligent individual everywhere--to the farmer and his wife, to theteachers of rural schools, to the public spirited school boards, individually and collectively, and to the leaders of rural communitiesand of social centers generally. I have tried to avoid the two extremeswhich Guizot says are always to be shunned, viz. : that of the "visionarytheorist" and that of the "libertine practician. " The former isanalogous to a blank cartridge, and the latter to the mire of a swamp orthe entangled underbrush of a thicket. The legs of one's theories (asLincoln said of those of a man) should be long enough to reach theearth; and yet they must be free to move upon the solid ground of factand experience. Details must always be left to the _person_ who is to dothe work, whether it be that of the teacher, of the farmer, or of theschool officer. 

I am aware that there is a veritable flood of books on this and kindredtopics, now coming from the presses of the country. My sole reasons forthe publication of the present volume are the desire to deliver themessage which has come to fruition in my mind, and the hope that it mayreach and interest some who have not been benefited by a better and moresystematic treatise on this subject. 

By way of credential and justification, I would say that the message ofthe book has in large measure grown out of my own life and thought; forI was born and brought up in the country, there I received my elementaryeducation, and there I remained till man grown. Practically every kindof work known on the farm was familiar to me, and I have also taught andsupervised rural schools. These experiences are regarded as of thehighest value, and I revert in memory to them with a satisfaction andaffection which words cannot express. 

If there should seem to be a note of despair in some of the earlierchapters as to the desired outcome of the problems of rural life and therural school, it is not intended that such impression shall be completeand final. An attempt is made simply to place the problem and the factsin their true light before the reader. There has been much "palavering"on this subject, as there has been much enforced screaming of the eaglein many of our Fourth of July "orations. " I feel that the firstrequisite is to conceive the problems clearly and in all seriousness. 

If these problems are to be solved, true conceptions of _values_ must beestablished in the social mind. Many present conceptions, like those ofthe _personality_ of the teacher, _standards_ for teaching, _supervision_, school _equipment_, _salary_, etc. , must first be_dis_-established, and then higher and better ones substituted. Therewill have to be a genuine and intelligent "tackling" of the problems, and not, as has been the case too often, a mere playing with them. Therewill have to be some real statesmanship introduced into the present_laissez-faire_ spirit, attitude, and methods of American rural life andrural education. The nation in this respect needs a trumpet call toaction. There is need of a chorus, loud and long, and if the small voiceof the present discussion shall add only a little--however little--tothis volume of sound, there will be so much of gain. This is my aim andmy hope. 

 JOSEPH KENNEDY

 THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA

CONTENTS

 PAGE

CHAPTER I. RURAL LIFE 9

 A generation ago; Chores and work; Value of work; Extremes; Yearly routine; Disliked in comparison; Other hard jobs; Harvesting; Threshing; Welcome events; Winter work; What the old days lacked; The result; The backward rural school; Women's condition unrelieved; The rural problem must be met; Facilities. 

CHAPTER II. THE URBAN TREND 19

 Cityward; Attractive forces; Conveniences in cities; Urbanized literature; City schools; City churches; City work preferred; Retired farmers; Educational centers; Face the problem; Educational value not realized; Wrong standard in the social mind; Rural organization; Playing with the problem. 

CHAPTER III. THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 28

 The building; No system of ventilation; The surroundings; The interior; Small, dead school; That picture and this; Architecture of building; Get expert opinion; Other surroundings; Number of pupils; It will not teach alone; The teacher; A good rural school; The problem. 

CHAPTER IV. SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 38

 Progress; In reaping machines; The dropper; The hand rake; The self rake; The harvester; The wire binder; The twine binder; Threshing machine; The first machine; Improvements; The steam engine; Improvements in ocean travel; From hand-spinning to factory; The cost; Progress in higher education; Progress in normal schools; Progress in agricultural colleges; Progress in the high schools; How is the rural school?

CHAPTER V. A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 49

 Rural schools the same everywhere; Rural schools no better than formerly; Some improvements; Strong personalities in the older schools; More men needed; Low standard now; The survival of the unfittest; Short terms; Poor supervision; No decided movement; Elementary teaching not a profession; The problem difficult, but before us; Other educational interests should help; Higher standards necessary; Courses for teachers; The problem of compensation; Consolidation as a factor; Better supervision necessary; A model rural school; The teacher should lead; A good boarding place. 

CHAPTER VI. CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 63

 The process; When not necessary; The district system; The township system; Consolidation difficult in district system; Easier in township system; Consolidation a special problem for each district; Disagreements on transportation; Each community must decide for itself; The distance to be transported; Responsible driver; Cost of consolidation; More life in the consolidated school; Some grading desirable; Better teachers; Better buildings and inspection; Longer terms; Regularity, punctuality, and attendance; Better supervision; The school as a social center; Better roads; Consolidation coming everywhere; The married teacher and permanence. 

CHAPTER VII. THE TEACHER 77

 The greatest factor; What education is; What the real teacher is; A hypnotist; Untying knots; Too much kindness; The button illustration; The chariot race; Physically sound; Character; Well educated; Professional preparation; Experience; Choosing a teacher; A "scoop"; What makes the difference; A question of teachers. 

CHAPTER VIII. THE THREE INSEPARABLES 88

 The "mode"; The "mode" in labor; The "mode" in educational institutions; No "profession"; Weak personalities; Low standard; The norm of wages too low; The inseparables; Raise the standard first; More men; Coöperation needed; The supply; Make it fashionable; The retirement system; City and country salaries--effects; The solution demands more; A good school board; Board and teacher; The ideal. 

CHAPTER IX. THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 100

 Imitation; The country imitates the city; Textbooks; An interpreting core; Rural teachers from the city; A course for rural teachers; All not to remain in the country; Mere textbook teaching; A rich environment; Who will teach these things?; The scientific spirit needed; A course of study; Red tape; Length of term; Individual work; "Waking up the mind"; The overflow of instruction; Affiliation; The "liking point"; The teacher, the chief factor. 

CHAPTER X. THE SOCIAL CENTER 114

 The teacher, the leader; Some community activities; The literary society; Debates; The school program; Spelling schools; Lectures; Dramatic performances; A musical program; Slides and moving pictures; Supervised dancing; Sports and games; School exhibits; A public forum; Courtesy and candor; Automobile parties; Full life or a full purse; Organization; The inseparables. 

CHAPTER XI. RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 127

 Important; Supervision standardizes; Supervision can be overdone; Needed in rural schools; No supervision in some states; Nominal supervision; Some supervision; An impossible task; The problem not tackled; City supervision; The purpose of supervision; What is needed; The term; Assistants; The schools examined; Keep down red tape; Help the social centers; Conclusion. 

CHAPTER XII. LEADERSHIP AND COÖPERATION 139

 The real leader; Teaching _vs. _ telling; Enlisting the coöperation of pupils; Placing responsibility; How people remain children; On the farm; Renters; The owner; The teacher as a leader; Self-activity and self-government; Taking laws upon one's self; An educational column; All along the educational line. 

CHAPTER XIII. THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 152

 Farming in the past; Old conceit and prejudice; Leveling down; Premises indicative; Conveniences by labor-saving devices; Eggs in several baskets; The best is the cheapest; Good work; Good seed and trees; A good caretaker; Family coöperation; An ideal life. 

CHAPTER XIV. THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 160

 Darkest before the dawn; The awakening; The agricultural colleges; Conventions; Other awakening agencies; The farmer in politics; The National Commission; Mixed farming; Now before the country; Educational extension; Library extension work; Some froth; Thought and attitude. 

CHAPTER XV. A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 169

 Not pessimistic; Fewer hours of labor than formerly; The mental factor growing; The bright side of old-time country life; The larger environment; Games; Inventiveness in rural life; Activity rather than passivity; Child labor; The finest life on earth. 

RURAL LIFE AND THE RURAL SCHOOL

CHAPTER I

RURAL LIFE

It is only within the past decade that rural life and the rural schoolhave been recognized as genuine problems for the consideration of theAmerican people. Not many years ago, a president of the United States, acting upon his own initiative, appointed a Rural School Commission toinvestigate country life and to suggest a solution for some of itsproblems. That Commission itself and its report were both the effect andthe cause of an awakening of the public mind upon this most importantproblem. Within the past few years the cry "Back to the country" hasbeen heard on every hand, and means are now constantly being proposedfor reversing the urban trend, or at least for minimizing it. 

=A Generation Ago. =--Rural life, as it existed a quarter of a century ormore ago, was extremely severe and indeed to our mind quite repellent. In those days--and no doubt they are so even yet in many places--theconditions were too often forbidding and deterrent. Otherwise how canwe explain the very general tendency among the younger people to movefrom the country to the city?

=Chores and Work. =--The country youth, a mere boy in his teens, was, andstill is, compelled to rise early in the morning--often at fouro'clock--and to go through the round of chores and of work for a longday of twelve to fifteen hours. First, after rising, he had his team tocare for, the stables were to be cleaned, cows to be milked, and hogsand calves to be fed. 

After the chores were done the boy or the young man had to work all dayat manual labor, usually close to the soil; he was allowed about onehour's rest at dinner time; in the evening after a day's hard labor, hehad to perform the same round of chores as in the morning so that therewas but a short time for play and recreation, if he had any surplusenergy left. He usually retired early, for he was fatigued and neededsleep and rest in order to be refreshed for the following day, when hevery likely would be required to repeat the same dull round. 

=Value of Work. =--Of course work is a good thing. A moderate andreasonable amount of labor is usually the salvation of any individual. No nation or race has come up from savagery to civilization without thestimulating influence of labor. It is likewise true that no individualcan advance from the savagery of childhood to the civilization of adultlife except through work of some kind. Work in a reasonable amount is ablessing and not a curse. It is probably due to this fact that so manymen in our history have become distinguished in professional life, inthe forum, on the bench, and in the national Congress; in childhood andyouth they were inured to habits of work. This kept them fromtemptation, and endowed them with habits of industry, of concentration, and of purpose. The old adage that "Satan finds some mischief still foridle hands to do, " found little application in the rural life of aquarter of a century ago. 

=Extremes. =--Even with all its unrecognized advantages, the fact remainsthat farm life has been quite generally uninteresting to the averagehuman being. There are individuals who become so accustomed to hard workthat the habit really grows to be pleasant. This, no doubt, oftenhappens. Habit accustoms the individual to accommodate himself toexisting conditions, no matter how severe they may be. A very old manwho was shocking wheat under the hot sun of a harvest day was once toldthat it must be hard work for him. He replied, "Yes, but I like it whenthe bundles are my own. " So the few who are interested and accustomed byhabit to this kind of life may enjoy it, but to the great majority ofpeople the conditions would be decidedly unattractive. 

=Yearly Routine. =--The yearly routine on the farm used to be about asfollows: In early spring, before seeding time had come, all the seedwheat had to be put through the fanning mill. The seed was sown byhand. A man carried a heavy load of grain upon his back and walked fromone end of the field to the other, sowing it broadcast as he went. Afterthe wheat had been sown, plowing for the corn and potatoes was begun andcontinued. These were all planted by hand, and when they came aboveground they were hoed by hand and cultivated repeatedly by walking andholding the plow. 

=Disliked in Comparison. =--All of this work implies, of course, that theperson doing it was close to the soil; in fact, he was _in_ the soil. Hewore, necessarily, old clothes somewhat begrimed by dirt and dust. Hisshoes or boots were heavy and his step became habitually long and slow. Manual labor too frequently carries with it a neglect of cleanliness. The laborer on the farm necessarily has about him the odor of horses, ofcows, and of barns. Such conditions are not bad, but they arenevertheless objectionable, when compared with the neatness andcleanliness of the clerk in the bank or behind the counter. We do notwrite these words in any spirit of disparagement, but merely from thepoint of view at which many young people in the country view them. Weare trying to face the truth in order to understand the problem to besolved. It is essential to look at the situation squarely and to view itsteadily and honestly. Hiding our heads in the sand will not clarify ourvision. 

=Other Hard Jobs. =--The next step in the yearly round was haymaking. Frequently, the grass was cut with scythes. In any event the work ofraking, curing, and stacking the hay, or the hauling it and pitching itinto the barns was heavy work. There was no hayfork operated bymachinery in those days. When not haying, the youth was usually put tosummer-fallowing or to breaking new ground, to fencing or splittingrails, --all heavy work. No wonder that he always welcomed a rainy day!

=Harvesting. =--Then came the wheat-harvest time. Within the memory ofthe author some of the grain was cut with cradles; later, simple reapingmachines of various kinds were used; but with them went the binding, shocking, and stacking, all performed by hand and all arduous pieces ofwork. These operations were interspersed with plowing and threshing. Then came corn cutting, potato digging, and corn husking. 

=Threshing. =--In those days most of the work around a threshing machinewas also done by hand. There was no self-feeding apparatus and noband-cutting device; there was no straw-blower and no measuring andweighing attachments. It usually required about a dozen "hands" to doall the work. These men worked strenuously and usually in dusty places. The only redeeming feature of the business was the opportunity given forsocial intercourse which accompanied the work. Men, being social byinstinct, always work more willingly and more strenuously when othersare with them. 

=Welcome Events. =--It is quite natural, as we have said, that under suchconditions as these the youth longed for a rainy day. A trip to the citywas always a delightful break in the monotony of his life, and a shortrespite from severe toil. Sunday was usually the only social occasion inrural life. It was always welcome, and the boys, even though tiredphysically from work during the week, usually played ball, or wentswimming, or engaged in other sports on Sunday afternoons. Living inisolation all the week and engaged in hard labor, they instinctivelycraved companionship and society. 

=Winter Work. =--When the fall work was done, winter came with its ownoccupations. There were usually about four months of school in the ruraldistrict, but even during this season there was much manual labor to bedone. Trees were to be cut down and wood was to be chopped, sawed, andsplit for the coming summer. Land frequently had to be cleared to makenew fields; the breaking of colts and of steers constituted part of thesport as well as of the labor of that season of the year. 

=What the Old Days Lacked. =--There was little or no machinery as afactor in the rural life of days gone by. In these modern times, ofcourse, many things have made country life more attractive thanformerly. Twenty-five years ago there was no rural delivery, no motorcycle, no automobile; even horses and buggies were somewhat of a luxury, for in the remote country districts the ox team or "Shanks' mares"formed the usual mode of travel. 

=The Result. =--It is little wonder that under such circumstancesdiscontent arose and that people who by nature are sociable longed to gowhere life was, in their opinion, more agreeable. Even with all thelater conveniences and improvements, the trend cityward still continuesand may continue indefinitely in the future. The American people may aswell face the facts as they are. It is difficult if not impossible tomake the country as attractive to young people as is the city; andconsequently to reverse or even stop the urban trend will be mostdifficult. Indeed, some of the things which make rural life pleasant, like the automobile, favor this trend, which probably will continueuntil economic pressure puts on the brakes. Even now, with all ourimprovements, the social factors in rural life are comparatively small. Here is one of our greatest problems: How to increase the fullness ofsocial life in rural communities so as to make country life and livingeverywhere more attractive. 

=The Backward Rural School. =--Although the material conditions andfacilities for work have improved by reason of various inventions inrecent years, the rural school of former days was frequently as good as, if not better in some respects than, the school of to-day. Formerlythere were many able men engaged in teaching who could earn as much inthe schoolroom as they could earn elsewhere. There were consequently inthe rural schools many strong personalities, both men and women. Sincethat time new opportunities and callings have developed so rapidly thatsome of the most capable people have been enticed into other and moreprofitable callings, and the schools are left in a weakened condition byreason of their absence. 

=Women's Condition Unrelieved. =--With all our improvements andconveniences, the work of women in country communities has been relievedbut little. Farm life has always been and still is a hard one for women. It has been, in many instances, a veritable state of slavery; for womenin the country have always been compelled to do not only their ownproper work, but the work of two or three persons. The working hours forwomen are even longer than those for men; for breakfast must be preparedfor the workmen, and household work must be done after the evening mealis eaten. It is little to be wondered at that women as a rule wish toleave the drudgery of rural life. Under the improved conditions of thepresent day, with all kinds of machinery, the work of women is lightenedleast. [1]

[Footnote 1: There is an illuminating article, entitled "The Farmer andHis Wife, " by Martha Bensley Bruère in _Good Housekeeping Magazine_, forJune, 1914, p. 820. ]

=The Rural Problem Must Be Met. =--I have given a short description ofrural life in order to have a setting for the rural school. The schoolis, without doubt, the center of the rural life problem, and we areface to face with it for a solution of some kind. The problems of bothhave been too long neglected. Now forced upon our attention, they shouldreceive the thoughtful consideration of all persons interested in thewelfare of society. They are difficult of solution, probably the mostdifficult of all those which our generation has to face. They involvethe reduction of the repellent forces in rural life and the increase ofsuch forces and agencies as will be attractive, especially to the young. The great problem is, how can the trend cityward be checked or reversed?

What attractions are possible and feasible in the rural communities? Ineach there should be some recognized center to provide these variousattractions. There should be lectures and debates, plays of a seriouscharacter, musical entertainments, and social functions; even the movingpicture might be made of great educational value. There is no reason whythe people in the country are not entitled to all the satisfying mentalfood which the people of the city enjoy. These things can be secured, too, if the people will only awake to a realization of their value, andwill show their willingness to pay for them. Something cannot be securedfor nothing. In the last resort the solution of most problems, as wellas the accomplishment of most aims, involves the expenditure of money. Wherever the people of rural communities have come to value the finereducational, cultural, civilizing, and intangible things more than theyvalue money, the problem is already being solved. It is certainly aquestion of values--in aims and means. 

=Facilities. =--Many inventions might be utilized on the farm to betteradvantage than they are at present. But people live somewhat isolatedlives in rural communities and there is not the active comparison orcompetition that one finds in the city; improvements of all kinds aretherefore slower of realization. Values are not forced home by every-daydiscussion and comparison. People continue to do as they have beenaccustomed to do, and there are men who own large farms and have largebank accounts who continue to live without the modern improvements, andhence with but few comforts in life. A greater interest in the bestthings pertaining to country life needs to be awakened, and to this endrural communities should be better organized, socially, economically, and educationally. 

CHAPTER II

THE URBAN TREND

In the preceding chapter we discussed those forces at work in rural lifewhich tend to drive people from the farm to the city. It was shown that, on the whole, up to the present at least, farm life has not been aspleasant as it should or could be made. Some aspects of it areuncomfortable, if not painful. Hard manual labor, long hours of toil, and partial isolation from one's fellows usually and generallycharacterize it. Of course, there are many who by nature or habit, orwho by their ingenuity and thrift, have made it serve them, and whotherefore have come to love the life of the country; but we are speakingwith reference to the average men and women who have not mastered theforces at hand, which can be turned to their service only by thought andthrift. 

=Cityward. =--The trend toward the cities is unmistakable. So alarminghas it become that it has aroused the American people to a realizationthat something must be done to reverse it or at least to minimize it. Atthe close of the Revolutionary War only three per cent of the totalpopulation of our country lived in what could be termed cities. In 1810only about five per cent of the whole population was urban; while in1910 forty-six per cent of our people lived in cities. This means that, relatively, our forces producing raw materials are not keeping pace withthe growth and demands of consumption. In some of the older Atlanticstates, as one rides through the country, vast areas of uncultivatedland meet the view. The people have gone to the city. Large citiesabsorb smaller ones, and the small towns absorb the inhabitants of therural districts. Every city and town is making strenuous efforts tobuild itself up, if need be at the expense of the smaller towns and therural communities. To "boom" its own city is assumed to be a large andlegitimate part of the business of every commercial club. This mustmean, of course, that smaller cities and towns and the rural communitiessuffer accordingly in business, in population, and in life. 

=Attractive Forces. =--The attractive forces of the city are quite asnumerous and powerful as the repellent forces of the country. The cityis attractive from many points of view. It sets the pace, the standard, the ideals; even the styles of clothing and dress originate there. It iswhere all sorts of people are seen and met with in large numbers; itsvaried scenes are always magnetic. Both old and young are attracted byactivities of all kinds; the "white way" in every city is a constant bidfor numbers. In the city there is always more liveliness if not morelife than in the country. Activity is apparent everywhere. Everything_seems_ better to the young person from the country; there is more tosee and more to hear; the show windows and the display of lighting are aconstant lure; there is an endless variety of experiences. Life seemsgreat because it is cosmopolitan and not provincial or local. In anyevent, it _draws_ the youth of the country. Things, they say, are_doing_, and they long to be a part of it all. There is no doubt thatthe mind and heart are motivated in this way. 

=Conveniences in Cities. =--In the city there are more conveniences thanin the country. There are sidewalks and paved streets instead of muddyroads; there are private telephones, and the telegraph is at hand intime of need; there are street cars which afford comfortable and rapidtransportation. There are libraries, museums, and art galleries; thereare free lectures and entertainments of various kinds; and the churchesare larger and more attractive than those in the country. As in the caseof teachers, the cities secure their pick of preachers. Doctors are athand in time of need, and all the professions are centered there. Is itany wonder that people, when they have an opportunity, migrate to thecity? There is a social instinct moving the human heart. All people aregregarious. Adults as well as children like to be where others are, andso where some people congregate others tend to do likewise. Country lifeas at present organized does not afford the best opportunity for thesatisfaction of this social instinct. The great variety of socialattractions constitutes the lure of the city--it is the powerful socialmagnet. 

=Urbanized Literature. =--Most books, magazines, and papers are publishedin cities, hence most of them have the flavor of city life about them. They are made and written by people who know the city, and the citydoings are usually the subject matter of the literary output of the day. Children acquire from these, even in their primary school days, alonging for the city. The idea of seeing and possibly of living in thecity becomes "set, " and it tends sooner or later to realize itself inact and in life. 

=City Schools. =--The city, as a rule, maintains excellent schools; andthe most modern and serviceable buildings for school purposes are foundthere. Urban people seem willing to tax themselves to a greater extent;and so in the cities will be found comparatively better buildings, better teachers, more and better supervision, more fullness of life inthe schools. Usually in the cities the leading and most enterprising menand women are elected to the school board, and the people, as we havesaid, acquiesce in such taxation as the board deems necessary. Citiesendeavor to secure the choice of the output of normal schools, regardless of the demands of rural districts. Every city has asuperintendent, and every building a principal; while, in the country, one county superintendent has to supervise a hundred or more schools, situated too, as they are, long distances apart. 

=City Churches. =--Something similar may be said with respect to thechurches. In every city there are several, and people can usually go tothe church of their choice. In many parts of the country the church isdecadent, and in some places it is becoming extinct. Even the automobilecontributes its influence against the country church as a ruralinstitution, and in favor of the city; for people who are sufficientlywell-to-do often like to take an automobile ride to the city on Sunday. 

=City Work Preferred. =--Workingmen and servant girls also prefer thecity. They dislike the long irregular hours of the country; they preferto work where the hours are regular, where they do not come into suchclose touch with the soil, and where they do not have to battle with theelements. In the city they work under shelter and in accordance withdefinite regulations. Hence it is that the problem of securingworkingmen and servant girls in the country is every day becoming moreand more perplexing. 

=Retired Farmers. =--Farmers themselves, when they have become reasonablywell-to-do, frequently retire to the city, either to enjoy life the restof their days or to educate their children. Individuals are not to beblamed. The lack of equivalent attractions and conveniences in thecountry is responsible. 

=Educational Centers. =--As yet, it is seldom that good high schools arefound in the country. To secure a high school education country peoplefrequently have to avail themselves of the city schools. Many collegesand universities are located in the cities and, consequently, much ofthe educational trend is in that direction. 

=Face the Problem. =--The rural problem is a difficult one and we may aswell face the situation honestly and earnestly. There has been too muchmere oratory on problems of rural life. We have often, ostrich-like, kept our heads under the sand and have not seen or admitted the realconditions, which must be changed if rural life is to become attractive. Say what we will, people will go where their needs are best satisfiedand where the attractions are greatest. People cannot be _driven_--theymust be attracted and won. If "God made the country and man made thetown, " God's people must be neglecting to give God's country "such aface and such a mien as to be loved needs only to be seen. " Where theelement of nature is largest there should be a more truly and deeplyattractive life than where the element of art predominates, howeveralluring that may be. How can country life and the country itself bemade to attract?

=Educational Value Not Realized. =--People generally have never been ableto estimate education fairly. The value of lands, horses, and money caneasily be measured, for these are tangible things; but education is verydifficult of appraisal, for it is intangible. Yet it is true thatintangible things are frequently of greater worth than are tangiblethings. There are men who pay more to a jockey to train their horsesthan they are willing to pay to a teacher to train their children. Thisis because the services of the jockey are more easily reckoned. Theeffects or results of the horse training are measured by the proceeds indollars and cents on the racetrack, and so are easily realized; whilethe growth in education, refinement, and culture on the part of thechild is difficult indeed to measure or estimate. And yet how much morevaluable it is! The jockey gives the one, the teacher the other. 

=Wrong Standard in the Social Mind. =--In some rural communities the ideaexists that a teacher is worth about fifty dollars a month--perhaps notso much. This idea has been encouraged until it has been too generallyaccepted; and in many places the notion prevails that if a teacher isreceiving more than that amount, she is being overpaid, and the schoolboard is accused of extravagance. The rural school problem will never besolved until the standard of compensation is readjusted. There are manypersons in the cities, who, for the performance of socially unimportantthings, are receiving larger salaries than are usually paid touniversity professors and college presidents. Thus, the relative valuesof services are misjudged and the recompense of labor is not properlygraded and proportioned. Unless there is, quite generally, a sanerperspective in the social mind and until values are reëstimated, thesolution of the rural school problem and indeed of many problems ofrural life is well-nigh hopeless. Before a solution is effectedsufficient inducement must be held out to more strong persons to comeinto the rural life and into the rural schools. These persons would andcould be leaders of strength among the people. 

=Rural Organization. =--Until recently there has been little or noorganization of rural life. Communities have been chaotic, socially, economically, and educationally. Real leaders have been wanting--men andwomen of strong and winning personality. The rural teacher, if he were aman of power and initiative, often proved to be a real savior andredeemer of social life in his community. But leaders of this typecannot now be secured without a reasonable incentive. Such men willseldom sacrifice themselves for the organization and uplift of acommunity except for proper compensation. If teachers--or at least thestrong ones--were paid two or three times as much as they are to-day, and if the standards were raised accordingly, so as to secure reallystrong personalities as teachers, country life might be organized indifferent directions and made so much more attractive than at present, that the urban trend would be arrested or greatly minimized. 

=Playing with the Problem. =--The possibilities of the organization ofrural life and rural schools have not yet been realized; as a people wehave really played with this problem. It has taken care of itself; ithas been allowed to drift. Rural life at present is a kind of easysocial adjustment on the basis of the minimum of expense and ofexertion toward a solution. We have not realized the value of genuinesocial, economic, and educational organization with all the activitiesin these lines which the terms imply. We have not grappled with theproblem in an earnest, scientific way; we have never thought outsystematically what is needed, and then decided to employ the necessarymeans to bring about the desired end. It may be that the problem willremain unsolved for generations to come; but if country life and countryschools are to be made as attractive and pleasant as city life and cityschools, the people will have to face the problem without flinching anduse the only means which will bring about the desired result. Theproblem could be easily solved if the people realized the true value ofrural life and of _good_ rural schools. Where there is a will there is away; but where there is no will there is no possible way. Country lifecan be made fully as pleasant as city life, and the rural schools can bemade fully as good as the city schools. Of course some things will belacking in the country which are found in the city; but, conversely, many things and probably better things will be found in the country thancould be found in the city. 

CHAPTER III

THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL

This chapter will have reference to the one-room rural school as it hasexisted in the past and as it still exists in many places; it will alsodiscuss the rural school as it ought to be. It is assumed that, althoughconsolidation is spreading rapidly, the one-room rural school as aninstitution will continue to exist for an indefinite time. Underfavorable conditions it probably should continue to exist; for, as weshall see, it has many excellent features which are real advantages. 

=The Building. =--The old-fashioned country schoolhouse was in manyrespects a pitiable object. The "little red schoolhouse" in story andsong has been the object of much praise. As an ideal creation it may bedeserving of admiration, but this cannot be asserted of it as a reality. The common type was an ordinary box-shaped building withoutarchitecture, without a plan, and, as a rule, without care or repair. Frequently it stood for years without being repainted, and in the midstof chaotic and ill-cared-for surroundings. The contract for building itwas usually awarded to some carpenter who was also given _carte blanche_to do as he pleased in regard to its construction, the only provisionbeing that he keep within the amount of money allowed--probably eighthundred or a thousand dollars. The usual result was the plainest kind ofbuilding, without conveniences of any kind. If a blackboard wereprovided in the specifications (which were often oral rather thanwritten), it was perhaps placed in such a position as to be useless. Inthe course of my experience as county superintendent of schools, I oncevisited a rural school in which the blackboard began at the height of aman's head and extended to the ceiling, the carpenter probably thinkingthat its one purpose was to display permanently the teacher's program. 

=No System of Ventilation. =--No system of ventilation was provided informer days, and in some schoolhouses such is the condition to-day. Nevertheless, within the past fifteen years, there has been a gratifyingimprovement in this direction. It used to be necessary to secure freshair, if at all, by opening windows. In some sections, where the climateis mild, this is the best method of ventilation; but certainly, innorthern latitudes where the winters are long and cold, some system offorced or automatic ventilation should be provided. It may not be amissto assert that it would be an excellent plan to decide first upon a goodsystem of ventilation and then to build the schoolhouse around it. Without involving great expense there are simple systems of ventilationand heating combined which are very efficient for such houses. Informer times, and in some places even yet, the usual method of heatingwas by an unjacketed stove which made the pupils who sat nearest ituncomfortably warm, while those in the farther corners were shiveringwith cold. With new systems of ventilation there is an insulating jacketwhich equalizes the temperature of the room by heating the fresh air anddistributing it evenly. 

It is strange how slowly people change their habits and even theiropinions. Many are ignorant of the fact that in an unventilatedschoolroom each child is breathing over and over again an atmospherevitiated by the air exhaled from the lungs of every child in the room. The fact that twenty to forty pupils are often housed inpoorly-ventilated schools accounts for much sickness and disease amongcountry children. Whatever it is that makes air "fresh, " and healthful, that factor is not found under the conditions described. Changes in thetemperature and movement of the air are, no doubt, important in securinga healthful physiological reaction, but air contaminated and befouled bybodies and lungs has stupefying effects which cannot be ignored. Frequent change of air is essential. 

=The Surroundings. =--The typical country schoolhouse, as it existed inthe past, and as it frequently exists to-day, has not sufficient land toform a good yard and a playground appropriate for its needs. The farmerwho sold or donated the small tract of land often plows almost to thevery foundation walls. There are usually no trees near by to affordshelter or to give the place a homelike and attractive appearance. Sometrees may have been planted, but owing to neglect they have all diedout, and nothing remains but a few dead and unsightly trunks. There isusually no fence around the school yard, and the outbuildings arefrequently a disgrace, if not a positive menace to the children'smorals. If a choice had to be made it would be better to allow childrento grow up in their native liberty and wildness without a school"education" than to have them subjected to mental and moral degradationby the vicious suggestions received in some of these places. Weakteachers have a false modesty in regard to such conditions and schoolboards are often thoughtless or negligent. 

=The Interior. =--Within the building there is frequently no adequateequipment in the way of apparatus, supplementary reading, or referencebooks of any kind. There are no decorations on the walls except such asare put there by mischievous children. The whole situation both insideand out brings upon one a feeling of desolation. Men and women who livein reasonably comfortable homes near by allow the school home of theirprecious children to remain for years unattractive and uninspiring inevery particular. Again this is the result of ignorance, thoughtlessness, or negligence--a negligence that comes alarmingly closeto guilt. 

=Small, Dead School. =--In many a lone rural schoolhouse may be foundten to twenty small children; and behind the desk a teacher holding onlya second or third grade elementary or county certificate. The wholeinstitution is rather tame and weak, if not dead; it is anything butstimulating (and if education means anything it means stimulation). Itis this kind of situation which has led in recent years to a discussionof the rural school as one of the problems most urgently demanding theattention of society. 

=That Picture and This. =--Let us now consider, after looking upon thatpicture, what the situation ought to be. In the first place, thereshould be a large school ground, or yard--not less than two acres. Theschoolhouse should be properly located in this tract. The ground as awhole should be platted by a landscape architect, or at least by aperson of experience and taste. Trees of various kinds should be plantedin appropriate places, and groups of shrubbery should help to form anattractive setting. The school grounds should have a serviceable fenceand gate and there should be a playground and a school garden. 

=Architecture of Building. =--No school building should be erected thathas not first been planned or passed upon by an architect; this is nowrequired by law in some states. A building with handsome appearance andwith appropriate appointments is but a trifle, if any, more costly thanone that has none. Art of all kinds is a valuable factor in theeducation of children and of people generally; and a building, beautifulin construction, is no exception to the rule. Every person is educatedby what impresses him. It is only within the last few years that muchattention has been given to the necessity of special architecture inschoolhouses. 

Men of intelligence sometimes draw up their own plans for a building andthen, having become enamored of them, proceed to construct a residenceor a schoolhouse along those lines. If they had shown their plans to anarchitect of experience he would probably have pointed out numerousdefects which would have been admitted as soon as observed. Neither theindividual nor the district school boards can afford, in justice tothemselves and the community they represent, to ignore the wide andvaried knowledge of the expert. 

=Get Expert Opinion. =--Expert opinion should govern in the matter ofheating and ventilating, in the kind of seating, in the arrangement ofblackboards, in the decorations, and in all such technical andprofessional matters. Every rural school should have a carefullyselected library, suited to its needs, including a sufficient number ofreference books. The pupils should have textbooks without delay so thatno time may be wasted in getting started after the opening of school. The walls should be adorned with a few appropriate and beautifulpictures. 

=Other Surroundings. =--On this school ground there should be a shop ofsome kind. The resourceful teacher would find a hundred uses for somesuch center of work. The closets should be so placed and so devised asto be easily supervised. This would prevent them from being moral plaguespots, as is too often the case, as we have already said. There shouldbe stables for sheltering horses, if the school is, as it should be, asocial center for the community. There should be a flagpole in front ofthe schoolhouse, from the top of which the stars and stripes should beoften unfurled to the breeze. 

=Number of Pupils. =--In this architecturally attractive building, amidbeautiful surroundings both inside and out, there should be, in order tohave a good rural school, not less than eighteen or twenty pupils. Wherethere are fewer the school should be consolidated with a neighboringschool. Twenty pupils would give an assurance of educational and sociallife, instead of the dead monotony which often prevails in the smallerrural school. There should be, during the year, at least eight, andpreferably nine, months of school work. 

=It Will Not Teach Alone. =--But with all of these conditions the schoolmay still be far from effective. All the material equipment--the totalenvironment of the pupils, both inside and outside the building--may beexcellent, and still we may fail to find there a good school. Garfieldsaid of his old teacher that Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and apupil on the other made the best kind of college. This indicates anessential factor other than the physical equipment. 

I remember being once in a store when a man who had bought a saw a fewdays previously returned it in a wrathful mood. He was angry through andthrough and declared that the saw was utterly worthless. He had broughtit back to reclaim his money. The merchant had a rich vein of humor inhis nature and he listened smilingly to the outburst of angry language. Then he merely took the saw, opened his till and handed the man hismoney, quietly asking, with a twinkle in his eyes for those standingaround, "Wouldn't it saw alone?"

Now, we may have a fine school ground, or site, with a variety ofbeautiful trees and clumps of shrubbery; we may have a playground and aschool garden; we may have it all splendidly fenced; the schoolhouse mayhave an artistic appearance and may be kept in excellent repair; it maybe well furnished inside with blackboards, seats, library, referencebooks, good textbooks, and all else that is needed; it may bebeautifully decorated; it may have twenty or even more pupils, and yetwe may not have a good school. It will not "saw alone"; the oneindispensable factor may still be lacking. 

=The Teacher. =--"As is the teacher, so is the school. " Mark Hopkins onthe end of a log made a good college, compared with the situation wherethe building is good and the teacher poor. The teacher is like themainspring in a watch. Without a good teacher there can be no goodschool. Live teacher, live school; dead teacher, dead school. Theteacher and the school must be the center of life, of thought, and ofconversation, in a good way, in the neighborhood. The teacher is thesoul of the school; the other things constitute its body. What shall itprofit a community to have a great building and lack a good teacher?

If we were obliged to choose between a good teacher and poor materialconditions and environment on the one hand, and excellent materialconditions and environment and a poor teacher on the other, we shouldcertainly not hesitate in our choice. 

=A Good Rural School. =--Now, if we suppose a really good teacher underthe good conditions described above, we shall have a _good_ ruralschool. There is usually better individual work done in such a schoolthan is possible in a large system of graded schools in a city. In sucha school there is more single-mindedness on the part of pupils andteacher. These pupils bring to such a school unspoiled minds, minds notweakened by the attractions and distractions, both day and night, ofcity life. In such a school the essentials of a good education are, as arule, more often emphasized than in the city. There is probably a truerperspective of values. Things of the first magnitude are distinguishedfrom things of the second, fifth, or tenth magnitude. This inability todistinguish magnitudes is one of the banes of common school educationeverywhere--so many things are appraised at the same value. 

=The Problem. =--We have tried in this discussion to put before thereader a fairly accurate picture, on the one hand, of the undesirableconditions which have too often prevailed, and, on the other, of a ruralschool which would be an excellent place in which to receive one'selementary education. The reader is asked to "look here, upon thispicture, and on this. " The transition from the one to the other is oneof the great problems of rural life and of the rural school. Consolidation of schools, which we shall discuss more at length in alater chapter, will help to solve the problem of the rural school, andwe give it our hearty indorsement. It is the best plan we know of wherethe conditions are favorable; but it is probable that the one-room ruralschool will remain with us for a long time to come. Indeed there aresome good reasons why it should remain. Where the good rural schoolexists, whether non-consolidated or consolidated, it should be thecenter and the soul of rural life in that community--social, economical, and educational. 

CHAPTER IV

SOME LINES OF PROGRESS

=Progress. =--The period covering the last sixty or seventy-five yearshas seen greater progress in all material lines than any other equalperiod of the world's history. Indeed, it is doubtful if a similarperiod of invention and progress will ever recur. It has been one ofindustrial revolution in all lines of activity. 

=In Reaping Machines. =--Let us for a few moments trace this developmentand progress in some specific fields. Within the memory of many men nowliving the hand sickle was in common use in the cutting of grain. In thefifties and sixties the cradle was the usual implement for harvestingwheat, oats, and similar grains. One man did the cradling and anotherthe gathering and the binding into sheaves. Then came rapid developmentof the reaping machine. 

=The "Dropper. "=--The most important step was probably the invention ofthe sickle-bar, a slender steel bar having V-shaped sections attached, to cut the grass and grain; this was pushed and pulled between what arecalled guards, by means of a rod called the "Pitman rod, " attached to asmall revolving wheel run by the gearing of the machine. This was awonderful invention and its principle has been extensively applied. Thefirst reaping machine using the sickle and guard device was known as the"dropper. " A reel, worked by machinery, revolved at a short distanceabove the sickle, beating the wheat backward upon a small platform ofslats. This platform could be raised and lowered by the foot, by meansof a treadle. When there was sufficient grain on this slat-platform itwas lowered and the wheat was left lying in short rows on the ground, behind the machine. The bundles had to be bound by hand and removedbefore the machine could make the next round. This machine, thoughsimple, was the forerunner of other important inventions. 

=The Hand Rake. =--The next type of machine was the one in which theplatform of slats was replaced by a stationary platform having a smoothboard floor. A man sat at the side of the machine, near the rear, andraked the bundles off sidewise with a hand rake. A boy drove the teamand the man raked off the grain in sufficient quantities to makebundles. These were thrown by the rake a sufficient distance from thestanding grain to allow the machine to proceed round and round thefield, even if these bundles of grain, so raked off, were not yet boundinto sheaves. 

=The Self Rake. =--The next advance consisted in what is known as the"self rake. " This machine had a series of slats or wings which did boththe work of the reel in the earlier machine and also that of the manwho raked the wheat off the later machine. This saved the labor of oneman. 

=The Harvester. =--The next improvement in the evolution of the reapingmachine--if indeed an improvement it could be called--was what is knownas the "harvester. " In this there was a canvas elevator upon which thegrain was thrown by the reel, and which brought the grain up to theplatform on which two men stood for the purpose of binding it. Each mantook his share, binding alternate bundles and throwing them, when bound, down on the ground. Such work was certainly one of the repellent factorsin driving men and boys from the country to the city. 

=The Wire Binder. =--Another step in advance was the invention of thewire binder. Everything was now done by machinery: the cutting, theelevating, the binding, and even the carrying of the sheaves into pilesor windrows. There was an attachment upon the machine by which thebundles were carried along and deposited in bunches to make the"shocking" easier. 

=The Twine Binder. =--But the wire was found to be an obstruction both inthreshing and in the use of straw for fodder; and, as necessity is themother of invention, the so-called twine "knotter" soon came intoexistence and with it the full-fledged twine binder with all its variedimprovements as we have it to-day. 

=Threshing Machine. =--The development of the perfected threshing machinewas very similar. Fifty years ago, the flail was an implement of commonuse upon the barn floor. Then came the invention called the "cylinder";this was systematically studded with "teeth" and these, in the rapidrevolutions of the cylinder, passed between corresponding teethsystematically set in what is known as "concaves. " This tootharrangement in revolving cylinder and in concave was as epochal in theline of progress in threshing machines as the sickle, with its"sections" passing or being drawn through guards, was in reapingmachines. 

=The First Machine. =--The earliest of these threshing machinescontaining a cylinder was run by a treadmill on which a horse was used. It was literally a "one-horse" affair. Of course the first type ofcylinder was small and simple, and the work as a rule was poorly done. The chaff and the straw came out together and men had to attend to eachby hand. The wheat was poorly cleaned and had to be run through afanning-mill several times. 

=Improvements. =--Then came some improvements and enlargements in thecylinder, and also the application of horse power by means of what wasknown as "tumbling rods" and a gearing attached to the cylinder. Allthis at first was on rather a small scale, only two, three, or fourhorses being used. But improvements and enlargements came step by step, until the ten and twelve horse power machine was achieved, resulting inthe large separator that would thresh out several hundred bushels ofwheat in a day. The separator had also attached to it what was calledthe "straw carrier, " which conveyed both the straw and the chaff toquite a distance from the machine. But even then most of the work aroundthe machine was done by hand. The straw pile required the attention ofthree or four men; or if the straw were "bucked, " as they said, itrequired a man with a horse or team hitched to a long pole. In thislatter case the straw was spread in various parts of the field andfinally burned. 

=The Steam Engine. =--Then came the portable steam engine for threshingpurposes. At first, however, this had to be drawn from place to place byteams. The power was applied to the separator by a long belt. Followingthis, came the devices for cutting the bands, the self-feeder, andfinally the straw blower, as it is called, consisting of a long tubethrough which the straw is blown by the powerful separator fanning-mill. This blower can be moved in different directions, and consequently itsaves the labor of as many men as were formerly required to handle thestraw and chaff. About the same time, also, the device for weighing andmeasuring the grain was perfected. The "traction" engine has nowreplaced the one which had to be drawn by teams, and this not onlypropels itself but also draws the separator and other loads after itfrom place to place. In all this progress the machinery has constantlybecome more and more perfect and the cylinder and capacity of themachine greater and greater. Not many years ago, six hundred bushels ina day was considered a big record in the threshing of wheat. Now thelarge machines separate, or thresh out, between three and four thousandbushels in one day. Such has been the development in reaping machinesfrom the sickle to the self-binder, and in threshing machines from theflail to the modern marvel just described. 

=Improvement in Ocean Travel. =--A similar story may be told in regard toocean traffic and ocean travel. Our ancestors came from foreign lands onsailing ships that required from three weeks to several months to crossthe Atlantic. I am acquainted with a German immigrant who, many yearsago, left a seaport town of Germany on January 1st and landed at CastleGarden in New York City on the 4th of July. The inconvenience of travelunder such circumstances was equal to the slowness of the journey. Inthose days leaving home in the old country meant never again seeingone's relatives and friends. If such conditions are compared with thoseof to-day we can readily realize the vast progress that has been made. To-day the great ocean liners cross the Atlantic in a little more thanfive days. These magnificent "ocean greyhounds" are fitted out with allmodern conveniences and improvements, so that one is as comfortable inthem and as safe as he is in one of the best hotels of the large cities. 

=From Hand-spinning to Factory. =--Weaving in former times was doneentirely by hand. Fifty years ago private weavers were found in almostevery community. Wool was raised, carded, spun, and woven, and thegarments were all made, practically, within the household. All that isnow past. In the great manufacturing establishments one man at a leverdoes the work of 250 or 500 people. This great industrial advancementhas taken place within the memory of people now living. And similarprogress has been made in almost every other line of human endeavor. 

=The Cost. =--Very few people realize what it has cost the human race topass from one condition to the other in these various lines. Hundredsand thousands of men have worked and died in the struggle and in theprocess of bringing about improvements. Every calamity due to inadequatemachines or to poor methods has had its influence toward causing furtheradvancements in inventions for the benefit of mankind. 

=Progress in Higher Education. =--Let us now turn our attention to theprogress that has been made in the field of academic education. It istrue that many of the great universities were established centuries ago. These were at first endowed church institutions or theologicalseminaries; but the great state universities of this country arecreations of the progressive period under consideration. Generaltaxation for higher education is comparatively a modern practice. TheUniversity of Michigan was one of the first state universitiesestablished. Since then nearly every commonwealth, whether it has comeinto the Union since that time or whether it is one of the older states, has established a university. There has been a great development ofhigher education by the states. No institutions of the country havegrown more rapidly within the last thirty or forty years than the stateuniversities. They have established departments of every kind. Besidesthe college of liberal arts there are in most of them colleges orschools of law, medicine, engineering in its several lines, education, pharmacy, dentistry, commerce, industrial arts, and fine arts. The stateuniversity is abroad in the land; it has, as a rule, an extensiondepartment by which it impresses itself upon the people of the state, outside its walls. The principle of higher education by taxation of allthe people is no longer questioned; it is no longer an experiment. Thestate university is relied upon to furnish the country with the leadersof the future--and leaders will always be in demand, for they are alwayssorely needed. 

=Progress in Normal Schools. =--While the state universities have beenenjoying this marvelous development, nearly every state has beenestablishing normal schools for the professional preparation ofteachers. The normal school as an institution is also modern. As aninstitution established and supported by state taxation it is, as arule, more recent than the universities. Forty years ago many goodpeople regarded the normal school idea as visionary and its realizationas a doubtful experiment. Indeed in one western state, as late as theeighties, its legislature debated the abolition of its normal schools onthe ground that they were not fulfilling or accomplishing any usefulmission. To-day, however, no such charge of inefficiency can be made. The normal schools, like the universities, have proved their right toexist. They have been weighed in the balance and have not been foundwanting. It is now generally recognized that those who would teachshould make some preparation for that high calling; and so the normalschools in every state have demonstrated their "right of domicile" inthe educational system. It is now generally recognized that teaching, both as a science and as an art, is highly complicated, and that, if itis to be a profession, there must be special preparation for it. Consequently the normal schools of the country have had a wonderful andrapid development from the experimental stage to that in which they havewell-nigh realized their ideals. School boards everywhere look to thenormal schools for their supply of elementary teachers. 

=Progress in Agricultural Colleges. =--Similar statements may be madeconcerning the agricultural colleges of the country. They are moderncreations in the United States; and with the aid of both the state andthe national government they have come to be vast institutions, devotingthemselves to the teaching and the spreading of scientific farming amongthe people. Here there is a vast work to be done. On account of thetrend of population toward the cities, and on account of the vast tractsof country land lying idle, scientific agriculture should be brought into aid in production and thus to keep down the cost of living. Theagricultural colleges of the country have a large part to play in thesolution of the problems of rural life. 

=Progress in the High Schools. =--A similar development characterizes thehigh schools of the country. Education has extended downward from above. Universities everywhere have come into existence before theestablishment of secondary schools. Not only are the universities, thenormal schools, and the agricultural colleges of recent origin, but thehigh schools also are modern institutions, at least in their presentsystematized form. The high schools of the cities constitute to-day oneof the most efficient forms of school organization. At the present timethe better high schools of the cities are veritable colleges--in facttheir curricula are as extensive as were those of the colleges of sixtyyears ago. Vast numbers attend them; their faculties are composed ofcollege graduates or better; they have, as a rule, various departments, such as manual training, domestic science, agriculture, commercialsubjects, normal courses, etc. In addition to the traditional curricula, the high schools, like the universities, normal schools, andagricultural colleges, have kept pace, in large measure, with thematerial progress described in the first part of this chapter. 

=How Is the Rural School?=--We have described the progress that hasbeen made in various fields of the industrial world and also in severalkinds of educational institutions. At this point the question may, withpropriety, be asked whether the rural schools have generally kept pacein their progress with the other and higher institutions which we havementioned. We believe that they have not. The rural schools have toooften been the last to attract public interest and to receive theattention which their importance deserves. 

[Illustration: A neglected school in unattractive surroundings]

[Illustration: A lonely road to school. No conveyances provided]

[Illustration: A better type of building with some attempt atimprovements]

[Caption for the above illustrations: THE ONE-ROOM SCHOOL]

CHAPTER V

A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD

=Rural Schools the Same Everywhere. =--The one-room country school ofto-day is much the same the whole country over. Such schools are nobetter in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota than they are in theDakotas, Montana, or Idaho. They are no better in Ohio or New York thanthey are in Minnesota or Wisconsin, and no better in the New Englandstates than in New York and Ohio. There is a wonderful similarity inthese schools in all the states. 

Nevertheless, it may be maintained with some plausibility that the ruralschools of the West are superior to those farther east. The East isconservative and slow to change. The West has fewer traditions to break. Many strong personalities of initiative and push have come out of theEast and taken up their abode in the West. Young men continue to followHorace Greeley's advice. Sometimes these young men file upon lands andteach the neighboring school; and while this may not be the highestprofessional aim and attitude, it remains true nevertheless that suchteachers are often earnest, strong, and educated persons. 

Not long ago I had occasion to visit a teacher's institute in anorthwestern state, in which there were enrolled 350 teachers. Some ofthese were college graduates and many of them were normal schoolgraduates from various states. One had only to conduct a round table inorder to experience a very spirited reaction. Colonel Homer B. Sprague, who was once president of the University of North Dakota, used to saythat it always wrenched him to kick at nothing. There would be nodanger, in such a body of teachers as I have referred to, of wrenchingoneself. I have had occasion many times every year to meet these westernteachers in local associations, in teachers' institutes, and in stateconventions; and from my observations and experience I can truthfullystate that they are fully as responsive and as progressive as theteachers in other parts of the country. 

=Rural Schools no Better than Formerly. =--Notwithstanding all this, itis probably true that the rural schools of to-day are, on the whole, butlittle better than those of twenty years ago. About that time I servedfour years as county superintendent of schools in a western state. As Irecall the condition of the schools of that day I feel sure that therehas been but little real progress. Indeed, for reasons which will bestated later on, it can be safely asserted that in some parts of thecountry there has been a deterioration. 

About thirty years ago I had the experience of teaching rural schoolsfor several terms. Being acquainted with my coworkers, I met themfrequently in teachers' gatherings and in conventions of various kinds. If my memory is to be trusted I can again affirm that the teachers ofthose days do not compare unfavorably with the rural school teachers ofthe present time. And if the teacher is the measure of the school, thesame may be said of the schools. 

Nor is this all. About forty years ago I was attending a rural schoolmyself. I received all of my elementary education in such schools and Iam convinced that many of my teachers were stronger personalities thanthe teachers of to-day. 

=Some Improvement. =--It is not intended here to assert or to convey theimpression that there has been no progress in any direction in the ruralschools. It is the personnel of the country school--the strength andpower of initiative in the teachers of that day--that is here referredto. Although there has been some progress in many lines it has not beenin the direction of stronger teachers. The textbooks in use to-day invarious branches are decidedly superior to those used in former days, although some of these older books were by no means without their pointsof strength and excellence. Indeed, I sometimes think that textbooks areoften rendered less efficient by being refined upon in a variety of waysto conform to the popular pedagogical ideas of the day. 

It is no doubt true also that there has been, in the last thirty orforty years, much discussion along the lines of psychology and pedagogyand the methods of teaching the various branches. The professionalspirit has been in the air, and there has been much writing and muchtalking on the science and art of teaching. But it must be confessedthat, while this is desirable and in fact indispensable, much of it maybe little more than a mere whitewash; much of it is simply parrot-likeimitation; much of it is only "words, words, words. " Far be it from meto underestimate the value of this professional and pedagogical phase ofthe teacher's equipment. Nevertheless, when all is said and dulyconsidered, it is personality that is the greatest factor in theteacher. A good, sound knowledge of the subjects to be taught comesnext; and last, though probably not least, should come the professionalpreparation and training. Without the first two requisites, however, this last is worth little. It is a lamentable fact that, in almost everysection of our country, there are persons engaged in teaching ruralschools, who are not only deficient in personal power but whose academiceducation is not such as to afford an adequate foundation forprofessional training. 

=Strong Personalities in the Older Schools. =--As an example of strongpersonalities I remember one teacher who in middle life was recognizedas a leader in his community; another one, after serving anapprenticeship in the country schools, became a prominent and successfulphysician; a third became a leading architect; a fourth, a lawyer; afifth went west and became county judge in the state of his adoption; asixth entered West Point Military Academy and rose rapidly in the UnitedStates army. These instances are given to show that many of the old-timecountry teachers were men of force and initiative. They became to theirpupils ideals of manhood worthy to be patterned after. These all taughtin one neighborhood, but similar strong characters were no doubt engagedin the schools of surrounding neighborhoods. What rural school of to-dayin any state can boast of the uplifting presence of so many men teachingin one decade?

A. V. Storm, of the Minnesota Agricultural College, says:

 "But we lack one thing nowadays that these old schools possessed. Twenty or thirty years ago the country schools were taught for the most part by men. Such men as Shaw and Dolliver, and a great many other leading men of to-day, were at one time country school teachers. They exercised a great influence upon the pupils. They were the angels who put the coals of fire upon the lips of the young men, giving them the ambition that made for future greatness. The country schools now are not so good as they were twenty years ago. The chief reason is that their teachers are not so capable. "

=More Men Needed. =--To secure the best results, there should be fully asmany men as women teaching in the rural schools. One hundred years agoboth city and country schools were taught by men alone. Now the ruralschools and most of the city schools are taught by women alone. There isprobably as much reason against all teachers being women as there isagainst all teachers being men. 

=Low Standard Now. =--Thirty or forty years ago about half of theteachers were men and half women, both sexes representing the strong andthe weak. Very many of the schools of to-day are under the charge ofyoung girls from eighteen to twenty years of age who have had littlemore than a common elementary education. Some have just finished theeighth grade and have had a smattering of pedagogy or what is sometimescalled "the theory and practice of teaching. " This they could havesecured in a six weeks' summer school, while reviewing the so-called"common branches. " These teachers are holders merely of a second gradeelementary, or county, certificate, which requires very littleeducation. Almost any person who has taken the required course inreading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, andhygiene of the elementary school can pass the usual examination andobtain a certificate to teach. In some states the matter is made stilleasier by the issuing of third grade county certificates, and even, insome cases, by the giving of special permits. Indeed, the standards areusually so low that the supply of teachers is far beyond the demand. 

=The Survival of the Unfittest. =--Such is the standard which prevailsextensively throughout the country in respect to the qualifications ofrural school teachers. As inferior goods sometimes drive out the betterin the markets, so poor teachers holding the lowest grade of certificatewill sometimes drive out the better, for they are ready to teach for"less than anybody else. " The men and women of strength and initiativeare constantly tempted to go out of the calling into other lines of workwhere progress is more pronounced and where salaries or wages arehigher; and so the doors of the teachers' calling swing outward. Thegood teachers will desert us, or refuse to come, and the rural schoolswill be left with what might be called the survival of the unfittest. 

=Short Terms. =--Add to the foregoing considerations the short terms ofservice which prevail in rural schools and we have indeed a pitiablecondition. The average yearly duration of such schools in most states isabout seven months--sometimes less. This leaves about five months ofvacation, or of time between terms, when much that has been learned isforgotten. Under such conditions how is it possible to give the childrenof these communities an education which is at all comparable to thatafforded by the city?

=Poor Supervision. =--Then, again, there is often little supervision ofcountry schools. When a county superintendent has under his inspectionfrom fifty to two hundred schools, it is utterly impossible for him togive to each the desired number of visits or to supervise andsuperintend the work of those schools in a manner that can be calledadequate in any true sense. Sometimes he can visit each school only oncea year, or twice at most, and, even then, there may be two differentteachers in the same school during the year; so that he sees each of histeachers at work probably only once. What can a supervising officer dofor a school or for a teacher under such circumstances? Practicallynothing. The county superintendent is usually elected to office by thepeople and frequently on a partisan ticket. This method of choosingnaturally tends to make him give more attention to politics than heotherwise would think of giving. So the supervision or superintendencyof country schools is too often slighted or neglected--and who is toblame? Of course there are many exceptional cases, but the exceptionsonly prove the rule. 

=No Decided Movement. =--The whole movement of the rural school, whetherit has been backward or forward, has been too frequently withoutdefinite or pronounced direction. It has moved along the line of leastresistance, sometimes this way, sometimes that, in some places forward, in other places backward. Time, circumstances, and chance determine thework. School problems have been settled by convenience andcircumstances. The whole situation has been one of _laissez faire_. Itis only within the past few years that people have become awakened tothe situation. They are beginning to be impressed with the progress thatis being made in all other lines, not only outside of the schools butalso in the fields of higher and secondary education. The rural schoolinterests have at last begun to ask, "Where do we come in?"

=Elementary Teaching Not a Profession. =--There has been as yet no realprofession of teaching in the rural or elementary field. In about onethird of the schools there is a new teacher every year; so that everythree years the teaching force in any given county is practicallyrenewed. A _profession_ cannot be acquired in a day, or even in twelvemonths. The work to be done is regarded as an important public work, andthe public is concerned in its own protection. Hence in every trueprofession there is a somewhat lengthy period of preparation and astandard of acquirements which must be attained. In other words, a trueprofession is a closed calling which it is impossible for everyone tojoin, and which only those can enter who have passed through a severepreparation and have successfully met the required standard. Schoolteaching in the country is too frequently not a profession. It can beentered too easily; the required period of preparation is so short andthe standard is placed so low that young and poorly prepared personsenter too easily. 

=The Problem Difficult, but Before Us. =--What shall be done? The problemis before the American people in every state of the Union. The peoplethemselves have become aroused to the situation, and this itself isencouraging. Much has been done in some states, but much will be leftundone for the attention of coming generations. The masses of thepeople can be aroused only with difficulty. The education of anindividual is a slow process. The education of a family, of a community, or of a state is slower still. The education of a nation or of a race isso slow that its progress is difficult of measurement. Indeed, themovement of the race as a whole is so imperceptible that it leaves roomfor debate as to whether humanity is going forward or backward. 

=Other Educational Interests Should Help. =--The higher institutions, including the state universities, the agricultural colleges, the normalschools, and the high schools, should all join hands in helping toremedy conditions. Society has already, in large measure, solved theproblems in the higher educational fields; those institutions have beenadvanced to such an extent that they have almost realized their ideals. The rural population has helped them to attain to these high standards. As one good turn deserves another, rural communities now look to theseinterests for aid in the struggle to overcome the difficulties whichconfront them. 

=Higher Standards Necessary. =--But before the rural schools can everhope to make the desired progress, higher standards must be set bysociety, and the teachers in those schools must attain to them. TheUnited States, as a nation, is far behind foreign countries in settingsuch a standard. In Denmark and elsewhere a country school teacher mustbe a normal school graduate. A few national laws in the way ofstandardization both in higher and lower education would produceexcellent results. The old fear of encroachment upon state's rights bythe national government has too long prevented national legislation of amost beneficial kind in the educational field. 

=Courses for Teachers. =--In every normal school in the United Statesthere should be an elementary course of study extending at least threeyears above the eighth grade, and the completion of this course shouldbe required as a minimum preparation for teaching in any school in thecountry. This is certainly not asking too much. Pupils who complete theeighth grade at fourteen or fifteen years, and then go to a normalschool, would complete this elementary course at the age of seventeen oreighteen; and no person who has not reached this age should assume theresponsibility for the care and instruction of children in any school. 

=The Problem of Compensation. =--Were such a standard adopted as aminimum, salaries would immediately rise. (We do not often call them"salaries" but _wages_, and probably with some discrimination. ) If it issaid that teachers of such qualifications cannot be secured, the answeris that in a short time things would so adjust themselves that thedemand would bring the supply. Salaries in the country must be higherbefore we can hope to secure any considerable number of teachers as wellequipped and with as strong personalities as those found in the cities. It may be necessary for us to pay more than is paid in the city; for ifa teacher has two offers at $65 a month, one from a city and one fromthe country, she will, without doubt, accept the city offer every time. True, she will have to pay more for room and board in the city;nevertheless she will prefer to be where there are the mostopportunities and conveniences, with probably a better prospect forpromotion. And who can blame her? It is probable that, in manyinstances, country districts will have to pay five or ten dollars amonth more than the city if they wish to secure equally strong teachers. A country district can really afford to pay more than the city in orderto get a good, strong teacher; for taxation in the country is usuallylighter than it is in the city. In the city there is taxation forlighting, for paving, for sidewalks, for police protection, and forvarious other conveniences and necessities. The country is free frommost of such levies, and it could, therefore, afford to pay a littlemore school tax in order to secure its share of the best teachers. 

=Consolidation as a Factor. =--In the solution of the school problemconsolidation will do much. This is being tried in almost every state ofthe Union and is working in the direction of progress with greatsatisfaction. We shall treat of this more at length in a later chapter. 

=Better Supervision Necessary. =--Not only must we have better teachersin the country, but we must have more and better supervision. There isno valid reason why country superintendents should be elected on apolitical platform. It is the custom everywhere to choose citysuperintendents from among the best men or women anywhere in the field, inside or outside of the state. Such should also be the practice inchoosing county superintendents. Then, too, a county should be dividedinto districts and more assistance given the county superintendent inthe supervision of schools. In other words, supervision should bepersistent, consistent, and systematic; visits should be more frequent. In the city a superintendent or principal has all his schools andteachers either in one building or in several buildings at no greatdistance apart. In the latter case he can go from one to another in afew minutes, staying at each as long as he thinks necessary. Little timeis lost in travel. The opposite condition is one of the difficulties ofrural supervision, and it must be overcome in some satisfactory way. 

=A Model Rural School. =--It would be a good plan for the state toestablish in each county one model rural school. Such schools might bemaintained wholly or in part by the state, and they would become modelsfor all the neighboring districts. Children are always imitative, andpeople are only children of a larger growth. Most people learn to dothings better by imitation; and so these model state schools would serveas patterns to be studied and copied by others. 

=The Teacher Should Lead. =--The school should be the mainspring ofeducational and social life in the community; hence, only such teachersshould be employed as are real originators of activity in rural schoolsand in rural life. The teacher should be a "live wire" and should be"doing things" all the time. He should be the leader of his communityand his people. 

=A Good Boarding Place. =--A serious difficulty connected with teachingin the country is that of securing a good boarding place and temporaryhome. This may not be a troublesome problem in the older andwell-established communities, but in the newer states and sparselysettled sections the condition is almost forbidding. Half the enjoymentof life consists in having a comfortable home and a good room tooneself. This is absolutely necessary in order to do one's work well, especially the work of the teacher. Some of the experiences whichteachers have been obliged to go through are almost incredible. Almostevery teacher of a country school could give vivid and patheticillustrations and examples of the discomforts, the annoyances, and thetrials to which a boarder in a strange family is subjected. The questionof a boarding place should be in the mind and plan of every school boardwhen they employ a teacher for their district. It is they who shouldsolve this problem for the teacher by having a good available homeprovided in advance. 

CHAPTER VI

CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS

Much has been said and written in regard to what is generally known asthe "consolidation of schools. " Men and women interested in the cause ofpopular education have come to feel that the rural schools throughoutthe country are making little or no progress, and public attention hastherefore been turned to consolidation as one of the possible means ofimprovement. 

=The Process. =--As the name implies, the process is simply the bringingtogether and the fusing of two or more schools into one. If two or morecommunities, each having a small school of a few children, conclude thattheir schools are becoming ineffective and that it would be advantageousto unite, each may sell its own schoolhouse, and a new one may be builtlarge enough for all and more centrally located with regard to the wholeterritory. They thus "consolidate" the schools of the several districtsand establish a single large one. In many portions of the country therural schools have, from various causes, grown smaller and smaller, until they have ceased to be places of interest, of activity, and oflife. Now, a school, if it means anything, means a place where mindsare stimulated and awakened as well as where knowledge is communicated. There can be but little stimulation in a school of only a few children. The pupils feel it and so does the teacher. Life, activity, mentalaspiration are always found where large numbers of persons congregate. For these reasons the idea of consolidating the small schools intoimportant centers, or units, is forcing itself upon the people of thecountry. Where the schools are small and the roads are good, everythingfavors the bringing of the children to a larger and more stimulatingsocial and educational center. 

=When Not Necessary. =--It might happen, as it frequently does, that aschool is already sufficiently large, active, and enthusiastic to makeit inadvisable to give up its identity and become merged in the largerconsolidated school. If there are twenty or thirty children and anefficient teacher we have the essential factors of a good school. Furthermore, it is rather difficult to transport, for several miles, alarger number than this. 

=The District System. =--There are two different kinds of country schoolorganization. In some states, what is known as the district system isthe prevailing one. This means that a school district, more or lessirregular in shape and containing probably six to ten square miles, isorganized into a corporation for school purposes. The schoolhouse issituated somewhere near the center of this district and is usually asmall, boxlike affair, often located in a desolate place without treesor other attractive environment. This school may be under theadministration of a trustee or of a school board having the managementof the school in every respect. This board determines the length ofterm; it hires and dismisses teachers, procures supplies and performsall the functions authorized by law. It is a case where one school boardhas the entire management of one small school. 

[Illustration: A frame building and adequate conveyances]

[Illustration: A substantial and well-planned building]

[Caption for the above illustrations: TWO TYPES OF CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS]

=The Township System. =--The other form of organization is what is knownas the township system. Here the several schools in one township are allunder the administration of one school board. There is not a schoolboard for each schoolhouse, as in the district system, but one schoolboard has charge of all the schools of the township. Under certainconditions it has in its power the locating of schoolhouses within thisgeneral district. The board hires the teachers for all the schoolswithin its jurisdiction, and in general manages all the schools in thesame manner as the board in the district system manages its one school. 

=Consolidation Difficult in District System. =--The process ofconsolidation is always difficult where the district system prevails. Both custom and sentiment cause the people to hesitate or refuse toabandon their established form of organization. If a community has beenincorporated for any purpose and has done business for some years, it isalways difficult to induce the people to make a change. They feel as ifthey were abdicating government and responsibility. They hesitate tomerge themselves in a larger organization, and hence they advance manyobjections to the consolidation of their schools. All this is butnatural. The several communities have been living apart educationallyand have been in a measure strangers. They have never had any occasionto meet in conference, to exchange thought, and to do business together;hence they fear and hesitate to take a leap in the dark, as theyconceive it, and to embark upon a course which they think they mayafterwards regret. Consolidation frequently fails because of falseapprehensions due to a lack of social organization. 

=Easier in Township System. =--It is quite otherwise where the townshipsystem exists. Here there are no separate corporations or organizationscontrolling the various schools. The school board administers theaffairs of all the schools in the township. Hence there is no sentimentin regard to the separate and distinct individuality of each school andits patronage. There are no sub-districts or distinctly organizedcommunities; a whole township or two townships constitute one largedistrict and the schools are located at the most convenient points toserve the children of the whole township. The people in such districtshave been accustomed to act together educationally as well aspolitically, and to exchange thought on all such situations. Henceconsolidation, or the union of the several schools, is a comparativelyeasy matter. 

=Consolidation a Special Problem for Each District. =--It will, ofcourse, be seen at once that, in a school township where there areseveral small and somewhat lifeless schools with only a few children ineach, it would be desirable for several reasons to bring together allthe children into one large and animated center. This process is aspecific local problem. Whether or not such consolidation is advisabledepends upon many conditions, among which are, (1) the size of theformer schools, (2) the unanimity of sentiment in the community, (3) thelocation of roads and of residences, (4) the distance the pupils are tobe transported, and other local and special considerations. The peopleof each district should get together and discuss these problems fromvarious points of view and decide for themselves whether or not theyshall adopt the plan and also the extent to which it shall be carried. Much will depend upon the size of the schools and everything upon theunanimity of sentiment in the community. If there is a large minorityagainst consolidation the wisdom of forcing it by a small majority is tobe questioned. It would be better to let the idea "work" a while longer. 

=Disagreements on Transportation. =--The problem of transporting pupilsis always a puzzling one. Many details are involved in its solution andit is upon details that communities usually disagree. Most enterprisesare wrecked by disagreements over small matters. Even among friends itis the small details in mannerisms or conduct that become with time soirritating that friendship is often strained. Details are usually small, but their obtrusive, perpetual presence is likely to disturb one'snerves. This is true in deliberative bodies of all kinds. Importantmeasures are often delayed or killed because their advocates andopponents cannot "give and take" upon small points. Almost every greatmeasure passing successfully through legislative bodies and, in fact, the settlement of many social problems embody a compromise on details. Many good people forget that, while there should be unanimity inessentials, there should be liberty in non-essentials, and charity inall things. Many people lack the power of perspective in the discussionand solution of problems; for them all facts are of the same magnitude. Large things which they do not wish are minimized and small things aremagnified. A copper cent may be held so near the eye that it willobscure the sun. Probably there has been no difficulty greater in theprocess of consolidation than the problems involved in the detailsconcerning the transportation of pupils. 

=Each Community Must Decide for Itself. =--The particular mode oftransportation must be determined by the conditions existing in eachcommunity. In some places the consolidated school district provides oneor more busses, or, as they are sometimes called, "vans"; and these goto the homes of the children each morning in time to arrive at theschoolhouse before nine o'clock. Of course, in this case the pupilsliving farthest from the school must rise and be ready earliest; theyare on the road for the greatest length of time. But this is one of theminor discomforts which must be borne by those families and theirchildren. All cannot live near the school. Sometimes a different plan oftransportation is found to give better satisfaction. The parents mayprefer to bring their own children to school or to make definitearrangements with nearby neighbors who bring theirs. There is no one waywhich is the only way, and, in fact, several methods may be used in thesame district. 

=The Distance to Be Transported. =--If pupils must be transported overfive or six miles, consolidation becomes a doubtful experiment. Ofcourse, the vehicles used should be comfortable and every care should betaken of the children; but six miles over country roads and in all kindsof weather means, probably, an hour and a quarter on the road bothmorning and evening. It could, of course, be said in reply that sixmiles in a comfortable wagon and an hour and a quarter on the road arenot nearly so bad as a mile and a quarter on foot at certain seasons ofthe year. 

=Responsible Driver. =--Another point upon which all parents shouldinsist is that the transportation of their children should be performedby reliable and responsible drivers. This is important and mostnecessary. Under such conditions there would be no danger of childrenbeing drenched with rain in summer and exposed to cold in winter, forthe vehicles would be so constructed as to offer protection againstboth. There would also be no danger of the large boys bullying andbrowbeating the smaller children on the way, as is often done when theywalk to school over long and lonely roads; for all would be under thecare of a trustworthy driver until they were landed at the door of theschoolhouse or the home. 

=Cost of Consolidation. =--The cost of consolidation is always animportant consideration. Under the district system one district may bewealthy and another poor, the former having scarcely any taxation andthe latter a high rate of taxation. It is usual that, in such cases, thedistricts having a small rate of taxation are unwilling to consolidatewith others. This is one of the difficulties. Consolidation will bringabout uniformity of taxation in the whole territory affected. This is anadvantage in itself. If the old schoolhouses are in good condition therewill be somewhat of a loss in selling them and in building a large newcentral building. This is another situation which always complicates theproblem. If the old buildings are worthless and if they must be replacedin any event by new buildings, then the time is opportune forconsidering consolidation. 

Even after the reorganization is effected, and the new central buildinglocated, the cost of education, all things considered, is not increased. It is undoubtedly true that a larger amount of money may be needed tomaintain the consolidated school than to maintain all the various smallschools which have previously existed. But other factors must be takeninto account. The total amount of dollars and cents in the one situationas compared with the total amount in the other does not tell the wholestory. For it has been found that, everywhere in the country, there is alarger and better attendance of pupils in the consolidated school, thatmore pupils go to school, that they attend more regularly, and that theschool terms are longer. Therefore the proper test of expense is thecost of a day's schooling for each pupil, or the cost "per pupil perday. " Measured by this standard education in the consolidated school isno more expensive than in the unconsolidated schools; indeed it isusually less expensive. It is a good thing for society to give a day'seducation to one child; then education pays as it goes, and the moredays' education it can offer, the better. 

=More Life in the Consolidated School. =--No one can deny that in thislarger school there can be more life and activity of all kinds, and amuch finer school spirit than was possible in the smaller schools. Education means stimulation and where a great many children are broughttogether and properly organized and graded there is a more stimulatingatmosphere and environment. 

=Some Grading Desirable. =--In these consolidated schools a reasonableamount of grading can be secured. It may be true that in some of thelarge cities an extreme degree of grading defeats education and the trueaim of organization, but certainly in consolidated rural schools no suchdegree of refinement need be reached or feared. Grading can remain herein the golden mean and will be beneficial to pupils and teachers alike. The pupils thus graded will have more time for recitation andinstruction, and teachers will have more time to do efficient work. Inthe one-room rural school one teacher usually has eight grades and oftenmore, and sometimes she is required to conduct thirty or forty differentrecitations in a day. Under such conditions the lack of time preventsthe attainment of good results. 

=Better Teachers. =--It is also true that, where a school is larger andattains to more of a system, better teachers are sought and secured bythe authorities. As we have already said, the cities are able to bidhigher for the best trained teachers, so the country districts suffer inthe economic competition. But the consolidated school being organized, equipped, and graded, and representing, as it does, a large community ordistrict, the tendency will be to secure as good teachers as possible. This is helped along by the comparison and competition of teachersworking side by side within the walls of the same building. In suchschools, too, there is usually a principal, and he exercises thefunction of selection and rejection in the choice of teachers. All thisconduces to the securing of good teachers in the consolidated center. 

=Better Buildings and Inspection. =--Similar improvements are attained inthe building as a whole, in the individual rooms, and in the interiorequipment. Such buildings are usually planned by competent architectsand are more adequate in all their appointments. All things are subjectto inspection, both by the community and the authorities. It is naturalthat such inspection and criticism will be satisfied only with the best;and so the surroundings of pupils become much more favorable to theirmental, moral, and physical well-being than was possible in the isolatedone-room school building. 

=Longer Terms. =--The same discussion, agitation, inspection, andsupervision will inevitably lead to longer terms of school. Whereas theone-room schools usually average six and a half months of school peryear, the consolidated schools average over eight months. This is initself a most important gain. 

=Regularity, Punctuality, and Attendance. =--The larger spirit and lifeof the consolidated school induce greater punctuality and regularity ofattendance. When pupils are transported to school they are always ontime, and when they are members of a class where there is considerablecompetition they attend school with great regularity. There are manygrown-up pupils in the district who would not go to the small schools, but who will go to a larger school where they find their equals; and sothe school attendance is greatly increased. We have, then, theadvantages of greater punctuality, greater regularity, and more pupilsin attendance. 

The school spirit is abroad in the consolidated school district; peopleare thinking and talking school. It becomes the customary andfashionable thing to send children to school. 

=Better Supervision. =--There is also much better supervision in theconsolidated school; for, in addition to the supervision given by thecounty superintendent or his assistants, there is also the supervisionof the principal, or head teacher. This is in itself no small factor inthe making of a good school. Good supervision always makes strongly forefficiency. 

=The School as a Social Center. =--Other effects than those abovementioned will necessarily follow. The consolidated school can andshould become a social center. There should be an assembly room forlectures, debates, literary and musical entertainments, and meetings ofall kinds. The lecture hall should be provided with a stage, and goodmoving-picture exhibitions might be given occasionally. There, also, thecitizens may gather to hear public questions discussed. It could thusbecome a civic and social center as well as an educational center. Allproblems affecting the welfare of the community might be presented here;the people could assemble to listen to the discussion of political andother social and public questions, which are the subjects of thoughtand of conversation in the neighborhood. This is real social andeducational life. 

=Better Roads. =--Not only does consolidation tend to all the aboveresults but it does many other things incidentally. It leads to themaking of better roads; for where a community has to travel frequentlyit will provide good roads. This is one of the crying needs of the daythroughout the country. 

=Consolidation Coming Everywhere. =--Consolidation is now under way inalmost every state of the Union and wherever tried it has almostinvariably succeeded. In but very few places have rural communitiesabandoned the educational, social, and civic center, and gone back totheir former state of isolation and deadly routine. 

=The Married Teacher and Permanence. =--In order to make the consolidatedschool a success, the policy will have to be adopted in America ofbuilding, at or near the school, a residence for the teacher, and ofselecting as teacher a married man, who will make his home there amongthe people whose children he is to teach. Such a teacher should be areal community leader in every way, and his tenure of service should bepermanent. Grave and specific reasons only should effect his removal. With single men and women it is impossible to secure the permanence oftenure that is desirable and necessary to the educational and socialwelfare of a school and a community. This has been demonstrated over andover again, and foreign countries are far ahead of us in this respect. Such a real leader and teacher will, it is true, command a high salary;but a good home, permanence of position, a small tract of land forgarden and field purposes, and the coming policy everywhere of an"insurance and retirement fund" would offer great inducements to strongmen to take up their abode and cast their lot in such educational andcommunity centers. 

CHAPTER VII

THE TEACHER

=The Greatest Factor. =--Now, although we may have a beautiful schoolcampus, an adequate and artistic building, a library, laboratories andworkshops with all necessary physical or material appointments complete, we may yet have a poor school; these things, however desirable, will notteach alone. The teacher is the mainspring, the soul of the school; the"plant, " as it may be called, is only the body. A great person is onewith a great soul, not necessarily with a great body. Hence it is that agreat teacher with poor buildings and inferior equipments isincomparably better than great buildings and equipments without acompetent teacher. 

=What Education Is. =--Education is essentially and largely thestimulation and transformation of one mind or personality by another. Itis the impression of one great mind or soul upon another, giving it amanner of spirit, a bent, an attitude, as well as a thirst forknowledge. This is too often lost sight of in the complexity of things. Many people are inclined to think that educational equipment andmachinery alone will educate. There is nothing further from the truth. Mark Hopkins would be a great teacher without equipment; buildings, grounds, apparatus, and laboratories will not really educate without agreat personality behind the desk. There is probably nothing moreinspiring, more suggesting, more stimulating, or more transforming thanintimate contact with great minds. Thought like water seeks its level, and for children to come into living and loving communication with agreat teacher is a real uplift and an education in itself. 

As a saw will not saw without some extraneous power to give it motion, neither will the gun do execution without the man behind it. Thelocomotive is not greater than the man at the throttle, and the shipwithout the man at the helm flounders aimlessly upon the sea. Just so, agreat personality must be behind the teacher's desk or there cannot bein any sense a real school. 

=What the Real Teacher Is. =--The true teacher is an inspirer; that is, he breathes into his pupils his spirit, his love of learning, his methodof study, his ideals. He is a real leader in every way. Children--and weare all children to a certain extent--are great imitators, and so thepupils tend to become like the teacher. 

The true teacher stimulates to activity by example. Where you find sucha teacher, things are constantly "doing"; people are thinking andtalking school all the time; education is in the atmosphere. The realteacher is, to use a popular phrase, a "live wire. " Something new isundertaken every day. He is a man of initiative and push, and withal heis a man of sincerity and tact. While he is retrospective andcircumspective he is also prospective--he is a man of the far-look-aheadtype. 

=A Hypnotist. =--The teacher is in the true sense a suggester of goodthings. He is an educational hypnotist. The longer I continue to teachthe more am I impressed with the fact that suggestion is the great artof the teacher. Hence the true teacher is the leader and not the driver. 

=Untying Knots. =--A man once said that the best lesson he ever learnedin school was the lesson of "untying knots. " He meant, of course, thatevery problem that was thrown to the school by the teacher was "tackled"in the right spirit by the pupils. They investigated it and analyzed it;they peered into it and through it to find all the strands ofrelationship existing in it. It would be easier, of course, for theteacher under these circumstances merely to cut the knot and have it alldone with, but this would be poor teaching. This would be _telling_, notteaching. This would lead to passivity and not to activity on the partof the pupils. And it may be said here that constant and too much_telling_ is probably the greatest and most widespread mistake inteaching. Teachers are constantly cutting the knots for children whoshould be left to untie them for themselves. To untie a knot is to seethrough and through a subject, to see all around it, to see the variousrelations of its parts and, consequently, to understand it. This issolving a problem; it is _dissolving_ it; that is, the problem becomesa part of the pupil's own mind, and, having made it a part of himself, he understands it and never forgets it. 

This is the difference between not being able to remember and not beingable to forget. In the former case the so-called knowledge is not a partof oneself; it is not vital. The roots do not penetrate beneath thesurface of our minds; they are, as it were, merely stuck on; the mentalsap does not circulate. In the latter case the knowledge is real; it isalive and growing; there is a vital connection between it and ourselves. It would be as difficult to tear it from us as it would to have ourhearts torn out and still live. 

=Too Much Kindness. =--An illustration of the same point appears in thefollowing incident. A boy who owned a pet squirrel thought it a kindnessto the squirrel to crack all the nuts for it. The consequence was thatthe squirrel's incisors, above and below, grew so long that theyoverlapped and the animal could not eat anything. Too many teachers areso kind to their pupils that they crack all the educational nuts forthem, with the consequence that the children become passive and diementally for want of activity. The true teacher will allow his pupils towrestle with their problems without interruption until they arrive at aconclusion. If some pupil "goes into the ditch" and flounders he shouldusually be allowed to get out by his own efforts as best he can. Here isthe place where the teacher "should be cruel only to be kind. "

=The Button Illustration. =--Another illustration may help to bring to usone of the characteristics of the really good teacher. When children, wehave all, no doubt, amused ourselves by putting a string through twoholes of a button and, after twirling it around between our thumbs, drawing it steadily in measured fashion so as to make the button spinand hum. If the string is drawn properly this will be successful;otherwise it will become a perfect snarl. This common experience hasoften seemed to me to typify two different kinds of school. In one, where there is a great teacher "drawing" the school properly, you willhear, incidentally, the hum of industry, for all are active. A schoolwhich may be thus characterized is always better than the onecharacterized by silence and inaction. A little noise--in fact aconsiderable noise--is not inconsistent with a good school, and itfrequently happens that what we call "the silence of death" is due tofear, which is always paralyzing. 

=The Chariot Race. =--Still another illustration may help to make clearwhat is meant by a good school and a good teacher. Lew Wallace, in hisaccount of the chariot race, makes Ben Hur and his rival approach thegoal with their horses neck and neck. He says that Ben Hur, in gettingthe best out of his steeds, _sent his will out along the reins_. Areally spirited horse responds to the throb of his driver's hand uponthe rein. A good driver gets the best out of his horse; he and his horseare in accord and the horse takes as much pride in the performance asthe driver does. This is analogously true of a good school. 

The schoolroom is not a complete democracy--in fact, it is not ademocracy at all in the lower grades; it is or should be a benevolentautocracy. The teacher within the schoolroom is the law-making body, theinterpreter of the laws, and the executor of the laws. The good teacherdoes all this justly and kindly, and so elicits the admiration, therespect, and the active support of the governed. He sends his will outalong the reins. Some schools--those with great teachers in charge--arein this condition; they are coming in under full speed toward the goal, guided by a master whose will stimulates the pupils to the greatestvoluntary activity. Other schools, we are sorry to say, illustrate theconditions where the reins are over the dashboard and the school isrunning away, pell-mell!

=Physically Sound. =--What are some of the characteristic attributes ortraits which a masterful and inspiring teacher should possess? In thefirst place he should be physically sound. It may seem like a lack ofcharity to say, and yet it is true, that any serious physical defectshould militate against, if not bar, one from the schoolroom. Anyserious blemish or noticeable defect becomes to pupils an ever-presentsuggestive picture, and to some extent must work against, rather thanfor, education. Other things being equal, those who are personallyattractive and have the most agreeable manners should be chosen. Sincechildren are extremely plastic and impressionable, and so susceptibleto the influence of ideas and ideals, beauty and perfection should, whenever possible, be the attributes of the person who is to guide andfashion them. 

=Character. =--A teacher should be morally sound; he should "ring true. "One can give only what one has. A liar cannot teach veracity; adishonest person can not teach honesty; the impure cannot teach purity. One may deceive for a time, but in the long run the echo of what we are, and hence what we can give, will be returned. It is often thought thatchildren are better judges of moral defects and of shams than are grownpeople; but, while this is not true, it is nevertheless a fact that manychildren, in a short time, divine or sense the true moral nature of theteacher. Children appreciate justice and will endure and even welcomeseverity if they know that justice is coupled with it. They are notaverse to being governed with a firm hand. If pupils are allowed to dojust as they please they may go home at the close of the first day, saying that they had a "lovely time" and liked their teacher, but in avery few days they will tire of it and begin to complain. 

=Well Educated. =--We need not, of course, contend at any length that ateacher should be well educated, in the academic sense of the word. Inorder to teach well, one must understand his subject thoroughly. It isquite generally held that a teacher should be at least four years inadvance, academically, of the pupils whom he is to teach. Whether thisis true or not in particular cases, the fact remains that the teachershould be full of his subject, should be at home in it, and should beable to illustrate it in its various phases; he should be free to standbefore his class without textbook in hand and to give instruction from afull and accurate mind. There is probably nothing that so destroys theconfidence of pupils as the lamentable spectacle of seeing the teachercompelled at every turn to refer to the book for verification of theanswers given. It is a sign of pitiable weakness. If a distinction is tobe made between knowledge and wisdom a true teacher should be possessedof the latter to a considerable extent. He should also have prudence, orpractical wisdom. Wisdom and prudence imply that fine perspective whichgives a person balance and tact in all situations. It should be notedthat there is a policy, or diplomacy, in a good sense, which does not inany way conflict with principle; and the true teacher should have theknowledge, the wisdom, and the tact to do and to say the right thing atthe right time and to leave unsaid and undone many, many things. 

=Professional Preparation. =--In addition to a thorough knowledge ofsubject matter every teacher should have had some professionalpreparation for his work. Teaching, like government, is one of the mostcomplicated of arts, and to engage in it without any previous study ofits problems, its principles, and its methods seems like foolhardiness. There are scores, if not hundreds, of topics and problems which shouldbe thought out and talked over before the teacher engages in actual workin the schoolroom. When the solutions of these problems have become apart of his own mind, they will come to his rescue as occasion demands;and, although much must be learned by experience, a sound knowledge ofthe fundamental principles of education and teaching will always throwmuch light upon practical procedure. It is true that theory withoutpractice is often visionary, but it is equally true that practicewithout any previous knowledge, or theory, is very often blind. 

=Experience. =--In addition to the foregoing qualifications the teacher, in order to be really masterful, must have had some--indeedconsiderable--actual experience. It is this that gives confidence andfirmness to all our procedure. The young lawyer when he appears at thebar, to plead his first case, finds his knees knocking together; butafter a few months or years of practice he acquires ease, confidence, and mastery in his work. The same is true of the physician and theteacher. Some successful experience always counts for much. Schoolboards, however, often over-estimate _mere_ experience. Poor experiencemay be worse than none; and some good superintendents are willing, andoften prefer, to select promising candidates without experience, andthen train or build them up into the kind of teachers they wish them tobecome. 

=Choosing a Teacher. =--If I were a member of a school board in acountry district where there is either a good one-room school or aconsolidated school, I should go about securing a good teacher somewhatas follows: I should keep, so to speak, my "weather eye" open for ateacher who had become known to some extent in all the surroundingcountry; one who had made a name and a reputation for himself. I shouldinquire, in regard to this teacher, of the county superintendent and ofhis supervising officers. I should make this my business; and then, if Ishould become convinced that such a person was the one needed in ourschool, and if I had the authority to act, I should employ such a personregardless of wages or salary. If after a term or two this teachershould make a satisfactory record, I would then promote him, unsolicited, and endeavor to keep him as long as he would stay. 

=A "Scoop. "=--Sometimes there is considerable rivalry among thenewspapers of a city. The editors or local reporters watch for what theycall a "scoop. " This is a piece of news that will be very much sought bythe public and which remains unknown to the people or, in fact, to theother papers until it appears in the one that has discovered it. This isanalogous to what I should try to do in securing a teacher: I should tryto get a veritable educational "scoop" on all the other districts of thesurrounding country. The only way to secure such persons is for someindividual or for the school board to make this a specific business. Inthe country districts this might be done by one of the leadingdirectors; in a consolidated school, by the principal or superintendent. If it is true that "as the teacher so is the school, " it is likewisetrue that as is the principal or superintendent so are the teachers. 

=What Makes the Difference. =--It will be found that a small differencein salary will frequently make all the difference between a worthlessand an excellent teacher. It is often the ten or fifteen dollars a monthadditional which secures the prize teacher; and so I should make thedifference in salary a secondary consideration; for, after all, thedifference amounts to very little in the taxation on the wholecommunity. 

=A Question of Teachers. =--The question of teachers is the real problemin education, from the primary school to the great universities. It isthe poor teaching of poor teachers everywhere that sets at naught theprocesses of education; and when the American people, and especially therural people, realize that this is the heart and center of theirproblem, and when they realize also that the difference, financially, between a poor teacher and a good one is so small, they will rise to theoccasion and proceed to a correct solution of their problem. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE THREE INSEPARABLES

In the preceding chapter we discussed the type of person that should bein evidence everywhere in the teaching profession. Such a type isabsolutely necessary to the attainment of genuine success. In ruralschools this type is by no means too common, and in the whole field ofelementary and higher education it is much more rare than it should be. Because of the frequent appearance of the opposite type in colleges andin other schools, the teacher and the professor have been oftencaricatured to their discredit. There is usually some truth underlying acaricature; a cartoon would lack point if it did not possess asubstratum of fact. 

=The "Mode. "=--Now, there is often in the public mind this poorer typeof teacher; and when an idea or an ideal, however low, becomes onceestablished, it is changed only with difficulty. The commonplaceindividual, the mediocre type of man or of woman, is by many regarded asa fairly typical representative of what the teacher usually is; or, asthe statistician would express it, he is the "mode" rather than theaverage. The "mode" in any class of objects or of individuals is theone that occurs oftenest, the one most frequently met with. And so thisinactive, nondescript sort of person is often thought of as the typicalteacher. He has no very high standing either financially or socially, and so has no great influence on the individuals around him or on thecommunity in general. This conception has become so well established inthe public mind, and is so frequently met with, that all teachers areregarded as being of the same type. The better teachers, the strongpersonalities, are brought into this same class and must suffer theconsequences. 

=The "Mode" in Labor. =--This same process of classifying individuals maybe seen in other spheres also. In some sections of the country it is themethod of estimating the worth of laboring men; all in the same classare considered equal; all of a class are reduced to the same level andpaid the same wages. One man can do and often does the work of two orthree men, and does it better; yet he must labor for the same commonwage. 

=The "Mode" in Educational Institutions. =--The same is to a great extenttrue of the popular estimate of educational institutions. In the publicmind an institution is merely an "institution. " One is thought of asdoing practically the same work as another; so when institutions comebefore legislatures for financial recognition in the way ofappropriations, one institution is considered as deserving as another. The great public is not keen in its discriminations, whether it be acase of educational institutions, of laboring men, or of teachers. 

=No "Profession. "=--The fact is that, in the lower ranks of theteachers' calling, there is really no _profession_. The personality ofmany who engage in the work is too ordinary to professionalize anycalling. 

=Weak Personalities. =--This condition of affairs has grown partly out ofthe fact that we have not, in the different states and in the country atlarge, a sufficiently high standard. The examinations are notsufficiently extensive and intensive to separate the sheep from thegoats. The unqualified thus rush in and drive out the qualified, for theefficient cannot compete with the inefficient. The calling is in nosense a "closed" profession, and consequently in the lower ranks it isscarcely a profession at all. 

=Low Standard. =--There is also established in the public mind a certainstandard, or test, for common school teaching. This standard has beencurrent so long that it has become quite stable, and it seems almostimpossible to change it. As in the case of some individuals when theybecome possessed of an idea, it is almost impossible to dispossess thesocial mind of this low standard. 

=The Norm of Wages Too Low. =--In regard to the wages of teachers it maybe said that there is fixed in the social mind also, a certain _norm_. As in the case of personality and of standard qualifications, a certainamount of wages has long been regarded as representing the sum which ateacher ought to receive. For rural schools this is probably about fiftydollars a month; in fact, in most states the average wage paid to ruralschool teachers is below that amount. But let us say that fifty dollarsis the amount that has become established in the popular mind as areasonable salary. Here, as in the other cases, it is very difficult tochange ideas established by long custom. For many years people have beenaccustomed to think of teachers receiving certain salaries, and theyrefuse to consider any higher sums as appropriate. This, of course, isan egregious blunder. The rural schools can never be lifted above theirpresent plane of efficiency until these three conceptions, (1) that ofpersonality, (2) that of standard, and, (3) that of wages, are revisedin the public mind. There will have to be a great revolution in thethought of the people in regard to these inseparable things. 

=The Inseparables. =--The fact is that, (1) strong personalities, (2) ahigh standard of qualifications, (3) and a respectable salary go hand inhand. They rise and fall together; they are reactive, one upon theother. The strong personality implies the ability to meet a highstandard and demands reasonable compensation. The same is true of thehigh standard--it selects the strong personality and this in turn cannotbe secured except at a good salary. It may be maintained that if schoolboards really face the question in earnest, and are willing to offergood salaries, strong personalities who are able to meet that highstandard can always be secured. Professor Hugo Münsterberg says: "Ourpresent civilization shows that in every country really decisiveachievement is found only in those fields which draw the strongestminds, and that they are drawn only where the greatest premiums aretempting them. "[2]

[Footnote 2: Psychology and Social Sanity, p. 82. ]

=Raise the Standard First. =--The best way, then, to attack the problemis, first, to raise the standard. This will eliminate inferior teachersand retain or attract those of superior qualifications. It is to beregretted that we have not, in the United States, a more uniformstandard for teaching in the common schools. Each state has its ownlaws, its own standard. It would not, we think, be asking too much toprovide that no person should teach in any grade of school, rural orelementary, in the United States, unless such person has had a coursefor teachers equivalent to at least three years of work in the highschool or normal school, with pedagogical preparation and training. Infact, a national law making such a uniform standard among the teachersin the common schools of the country would be an advantage. But this isprobably more than we can expect in the near future. As it is, thereshould be a conference of the educational authorities in each state toagree upon a standard for teaching, with a view to uniform statelegislation. 

=More Men. =--One of the great needs of the calling is more men. Therewas a time when all teachers were men; now nearly all teachers arewomen. There is as much reason for one condition as for the other. Without going into an analysis of the situation or the causes which makeit desirable that there should be more men in the teaching profession, it is, we think, generally granted that the conditions would be better, educationally, socially, and every other way, if the number of men andwomen in the work were about evenly divided. 

=Coöperation Needed. =--Educational movements and influences have spreaddownward and outward from above. The great universities of the worldwere established before the secondary and elementary school systems cameinto existence. Thought settles down from leaders who are in highplaces. We have shown in a former chapter that the state universities, the agricultural colleges, the normal schools, and the high schools havehad a wonderful development within the last generation, while the ruralschool has too often lagged perceptibly behind. The country districtshave helped to support in every way the development of the higherschools; now an excellent opportunity presents itself for all the higherand secondary educational influences to unite in helping to advance theinterests and increase the efficiency of the rural schools. 

=The Supply. =--The question is sometimes asked whether the right kind ofteachers can be secured, if higher salaries are offered. There can beno doubt at all on this point. Where the demand exists and where thereis sufficient inducement offered, the supply is always forthcoming. Menare always at hand to engage in the most menial and even the mostdangerous occupations if a sufficient reward, financial or otherwise, isoffered. For high wages men are induced to work in factories wheremercury must be handled and where it is well known that life isshortened many years as a consequence. Men are secured to work longhours in the presence of red-hot blast furnaces and in the lowest depthsof the holds of ships. Can it be possible that with a reasonable salarythe strongest kind of men would not be attracted to a calling that hasas many points of interest and as many attractions as teaching?

=Make It Fashionable. =--A great deal depends upon making any work or anycalling fashionable. All that is needed is for the tide to turn in thatdirection. It is difficult to say how much salary will stop the outwardtide and cause it to set in the other direction; but one thing iscertain, we shall never completely solve the rural school problem untilthe tide turns. 

=The Retirement System. =--Strong personalities will, then, help to maketeaching attractive and fashionable, as well as effectual. There is amovement now becoming quite extensive which will also add to theattractiveness of the teacher's calling. A system or plan of insuranceand retirement is now being installed in many states for the benefit ofteachers who become incapacitated or who have taught a certain period oftime. This plan gives a feeling of contentment, and also a feeling ofsecurity against the stress and needs of old age, which will do much tohold strong people in the profession. The fear of being left pennilessin later life and dependent upon others or upon the state, induces, without doubt, a great many persons to leave a calling so poorly paid, in order that they may, in more generous vocations, lay something by for"a rainy day. " The truth of this is borne in upon us more strongly whenwe remember that teaching is different from law, medicine, or otherprofessions. In these vocations a man's service usually becomes more andmore in demand as he advances in years, on account of the reputation andexperience he has gained; while in teaching, when a person arrives atthe middle line of life or after, school boards begin to say and tothink, that he is getting too old for the schoolroom, and so they seekfor younger talent. The consequence is that the good and faithful publicservant who has given the best years of his life to the education of theyoung is left stranded in old age without an occupation and withoutmoney. The insurance and retirement fund plan is a movement in the rightdirection and will do something to help turn the tide of strongpersonalities toward the teachers' calling. 

=City and Country Salaries--Effects. =--The average salary for ruralschool teachers in one state I find to be $45 a month. In that samestate the average salary of teachers in the city and town schools is $55a month. Now, under such conditions, it is very difficult to secure agood corps of teachers for the rural schools. If the ratio were reversedand the rural schools paid $55 a month, while the cities and towns paidonly $45, there would be more chance of each securing teachers of equalability. Even then, teachers would prefer to go to the city at the lowersalary on account of the additional attractions and conveniences and theadditional facilities and opportunities of every kind forself-improvement. 

In the state referred to, the average salary of all teachers in thecommon schools was $51 a month. It is utterly impossible to realize a"profession" on such a financial basis as this. Forty-five or fiftydollars a month for rural teachers is altogether too low. This must beraised fifty, if not one hundred per cent, in order that a beginning maybe made in the solution of the rural school problem. Where $50 a monthseems to be the going wage, if school boards would offer $75 and thensee to it that the persons whom they hire are efficient, an attempt atthe solution of the problem in that district or neighborhood would bemade. Is it possible that any good, strong, educated, and culturedperson can be secured for less than $75 a month? If in such a districtthere were eight months of school this would mean only 8 x $25, or $200more than had been paid previously. For ten sections of land this wouldmean about $20 a section, or $5 a quarter section, in addition to whatthey had been paying with unsatisfactory results. 

This sum often represents the difference between a poor school and agood school. With a fifty-dollar teacher, constructive work was likelylacking. There was little activity in the neighborhood; the pupils orthe people had not been fully waked up. There had not been enoughthinking and talking of education and of schools, enough reading, ortalking about books, about education, about things of the higher life. Under the seventy-five-dollar teacher, wisely chosen, all this ischanged. 

=The Solution Demands More. =--Instead of $75, a community should pay toa wide-awake person, who takes hold of a situation in a neighborhood andkeeps things moving, at least $100 a month. With nine months' schoolthis would mean $900; and it is strange, indeed, if a person in theprime of life who has spent many years in the preparation of his work, and who has initiative and push, is not worth $100 a month for ninemonths in the year. To such a person the people of that neighborhoodintrust their dearest and priceless possessions--their own children. Ifwe remember that, as the twig is bent the tree is inclined, there needbe no hesitation about the value of efficient teaching during theplastic period of childhood. In fact, it may easily be maintained thatthe salary should be even higher than this. But, if this be so, how farare we at present from even a beginning of the solution of our ruralschool problem!

=A Good School Board. =--A good school board is one whose members arealive to their duties and wide-awake to the problems of education. Theyare men or women who have an intelligent grasp of the situation and whowill earnestly attempt to solve the educational problems of school andof life in their community. 

=Board and Teacher. =--If a poor teacher and a good school board arebrought together the chances are that they will soon part company. Agood school board will not retain a poor teacher longer than it iscompelled to do so. A poor school board and a good teacher will alsopart company, for the good teacher will not stay; he will leave and findrelief as soon as possible. Under a poor school board and a poor teachernothing will be done; the children, instead of being educated, will bede-educated. Quarrels and dissensions will be created in theneighborhood and a miserable condition, educationally and socially, willprevail. If a good school board and a good teacher join hands, theproblem is solved, or at least is in a fair way to being solved. Thislast condition will mean an interested school, a united neighborhood, alive, wide-awake, and happy community. 

=The Ideal. =--It is as impossible to describe a successful solution ofthe problems of any particular school as it is to paint the lily, therose, or the rainbow. All are equally indescribable and intangible, butnevertheless the more real, potent, and inspiring on that account. Sucha situation means the presence of a strong life, a strong mind, and astrong hand exemplifying ideals every day. This is education, this isgrowth, this is real life. 

CHAPTER IX

THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM

=Imitation. =--There are two processes by which all progress is attained, namely, imitation and invention. Imitation is found everywhere, in allspheres of thought and of action. Children are great imitators, andadults are only children grown up. Imitation, of course, is a necessarything. Without it no use could be made of past experience. When itconserves and propagates the good it is to be commended; but theworthless and the bad are often imitated also. As imitation is necessaryfor the preservation of past experience, so invention is equallyessential in blazing new paths of thought and of action. It is probablytrue that all persons are more prone to imitation than to invention. 

=The Country Imitates the City. =--The rural schools have always imitatedthe city schools, as rural life attempts to imitate city life. Many ofthe books used in rural schools have been written largely with cityconditions in mind and by authors who have been city bred or city won. These books have about them the atmosphere and the flavor of the city. Their selections as a rule contain references and allusions withoutnumber to city life, and give a cityward bent; their connotation andattitude tend to direct the mind toward the city. As a consequence evenschool textbooks have been potent aids in the urban trend. 

=Textbooks. =--It is not urged that the subject matter of textbooks bemade altogether rural in its applications and references. The booksshould not be completely _ruralized_; nor should there be two sets ofbooks, one for the country and one for the city. But there should be amore even balance between the city aspect and the rural aspect oftextbooks, whether used in the country or in the city. If some of thetexts now used were rewritten with the purpose of attaining thatbalance, they would greatly assist the curriculum in both country andcity schools. There is no reason why city children should not have theirminds touched by the life, the thought, and the activities of thecountry; and it is granted that country children should be madeconscious and cognizant of the life, the thought, and the activities ofthe city. There is no more reason why textbooks should carry the urbanmessage, than that they should be dominantly ruralizing. 

=An Interpreting Core. =--The experiences of country children are of allkinds; rural life, thought, and aspirations constitute the verydevelopment of their consciousness and minds. In all their practicalexperiences rural life and thought form the anchorage of their lateracademic instruction. This early experience constitutes what theHerbartians term their "apperception mass"; and children, as well asgrown-ups, can interpret new matter only in terms of the old. Theexperiences of the child, which constitute his world of thought, ofdiscourse, and of action, are the only means by which he grasps andinterprets new thought and experience. Consequently, the texts whichrural children use should make a strong appeal to their apperceptionmass--to their old stock and store of knowledge. It is the textbooksthat bring to the old knowledge new mental material which the teacherand the textbook together attempt to communicate to the children. Without an interpreting center--a stock and store of old knowledge whichconstitute the very mental life of the child--it is impossible for himto assimilate the new. The old experiences are, in fact, the mentaldigestive apparatus of the child. Without this center, or core, the newinstead of being assimilated is, so to speak, merely stuck on. This isthe case with much of the subject matter in city-made texts. It does not_grow_, but soon withers and falls away. It is, then, essential that thetextbooks used in rural schools should have the rural bent andapplication, the rural flavor, the rural beck and welcome. 

=Rural Teachers from the City. =--A great many teachers of countryschools come from the city. A number of these are young girls having, without blame on their part, the tone and temper, the attitude, spirit, and training which the city gives. Their minds have been _urbanized_;all their thoughts are city thoughts. The textbooks which they have usedhave been city textbooks; their teachers have for the most part beenthose in or from the city. It can scarcely be expected that suchteachers can do for the rural districts all that ought to be done. Verynaturally they inspire some of the children with the idea of ultimatelygoing to the city. This suggestion and this inspiration are givenunconsciously, but in the years of childhood they take deep root andsooner or later work themselves out in an additional impetus to theurban trend. 

=A Course for Rural Teachers. =--What is needed is a course ofinstruction for rural teachers, in every state of the Union. In somestates the agricultural colleges have inaugurated a movement to thisend. In such colleges, agricultural high schools, and institutions of asimilar kind in every state, a three-year course for teachers above theeighth year, specially designed to prepare them for rural schoolteaching, should be established. Such a school would furnish the properatmosphere and the proper courses of instruction to suffuse the minds ofthese prospective teachers with appreciation and love of country lifeand rural school work. 

=All Not to Remain in the Country. =--It is not contended here that allwho are born and brought up in the country ought to remain there forlife. Many writers and speakers preach the gospel of "the country forcountry children, " but this cannot be sound. Each one, as the years goby, should "find" himself and his own proper place. There are manychildren brought up in the country who find their place best in theheart of the great city; and there are many brought up in the cities whoultimately find themselves and their place in the country and in itswork. While all this is true it may still be maintained that the propermental food for country children is the life and the activities of thecountry; and if this life and these activities are made pleasant andattractive a larger percentage of country children will remain in thecountry for the benefit of both country and city. 

=Mere Textbook Teaching. =--Many teachers in the country, as well as inthe city, follow literally the textbooks provided for them. Textbooks, being common and general, must leave the application of the thoughtlargely to the teacher. To follow them is probably the easiest kind ofteaching, for the mind then moves along the line of least resistance. Accordingly the tendency is merely to teach textbooks, withoutlibraries, laboratories, and other facilities for the application of thethought of the text. Application and illustration are always difficult. It frequently happens that children go through their textbooks under theguidance of their more or less mechanical teachers, without making anyapplication of their knowledge. Their learning seems to be stored awayin pigeonholes and never used again. That in one pigeonhole does notmix with that in another. Their thoughts and their education indifferent fields are in no sense united. Pupils are surprised if theyare asked or expected to use their knowledge in any practical manner. Aman who had a tank, seven feet in diameter and eight feet high, abouthalf full of gasoline, asked his daughter, who was completing the eighthgrade, to figure out for him how many gallons it contained. She had justbeen over "weights and measures" and "denominate numbers" of all kinds. After much figuring she returned the answer that there were in it aboutseven and one half gallons, without ever suspecting the ridiculousnessof the result. 

=A Rich Environment. =--The country is so rich in material of all kindsfor scientific observation, that some education should be given to therural child in this field. Agriculture and its various activitiessurround the child; nature teems with life, both animal and vegetable;the country furnishes long stretches of meadow and woodland forobservation and study. Yet in most places the children are blind to thebeauties and wonders around them. Nature study in such an environmentshould be a fascinating subject, and agriculture is full ofpossibilities for the application of the thought in the textbooks. 

=Who Will Teach These Things?=--But who will teach these new sciences oropen the eyes of the child to the beauties around him? Not everyone cando it. It will require a master. Teaching "at" these things in a dull, perfunctory way will do no good. It would be better to leave themuntaught. We have, everywhere, too much "attempting" to teach and notenough teaching, too much seeming and not enough being, too muchappearance and not enough reality. 

An example will illustrate the author's meaning. Some years ago anexperienced institute conductor in a western state found himself thesole instructor when the teachers of the county convened. He soughtamong the teachers for someone who could and would give him assistance. One man of middle age, who had taught for many years, volunteered totake the subject of arithmetic and to give four lessons of forty minuteseach in it during the week. This was good news to the conductor; hecongratulated himself on having found some efficient help. Hisassistant, however, after talking on arithmetic for ten minutes of hisfirst period, reached the limit of his capacity, either of thought or ofexpression, and had to stop. He could not say another word on thatsubject during the week! Now if this is true of an experiencedmiddle-aged teacher of a subject so universally taught as arithmetic, how much more true must it be of an instructor in a subject likeagriculture. It should not be expected that a young girl, eighteen ortwenty years of age, who has probably been brought up in the city andwho has had the subject of agriculture only one period a day for a year, can give any adequate instruction in that branch. She would be the buttfor ridicule among the practical boys and girls in the country whowould probably know more about such things than she. She would, therefore, lose the respect and confidence of pupils and parents, and itwould really be better for her and for all concerned not to attempt theteaching of that subject at all. What is worth doing at all is worthdoing well. A little instruction well given and well applied is worthany amount of "stuff" poorly done and unapplied. 

=The Scientific Spirit Needed. =--There is great need of teachers who arethoroughly imbued with the scientific spirit. In the country especiallythere is need of teachers who will rouse the boys and girls to theinvestigation of problems from the facts at hand and all around them. This should be done inductively and in an investigative spirit. Ourwhole system of education seems somewhat vitiated by the deductiveattitude and method of teaching--the assuming of theories handed down bythe past, without investigation or verification. This is the kind ofteaching which has paralyzed China for untold generations. The easiestthing to do is to accept something which somebody else has formulatedand then, without further ado, to be content with it. The trulyscientific mind, the investigative mind, is one that starts with factsor phenomena and, after observing a sufficient number of them, formulates a conclusion and tests it. This will result in realthinking--which is the same as "thinging. " It is putting _things_ intocausal relation and constructing from them, unity out of diversity. Toinduce this habit of thought, to inspire this spirit of investigationand observation in children is the essence of teaching. To teach is tocause others to _think_, and the man or woman who does this is asuccessful teacher. 

=A Course of Study. =--There should be in every rural school a simple andsuggestive course of study. This should not be as large as a textbook. The purpose of it is not to indicate at great length and in detaileither the matter or the manner of teaching any specific subject. Itshould be merely an outline of the metes and bounds in the processes andthe progress of pupils through the grades. The course of study should bea means, not an end; it should be a servant and not a master. It shouldnot entail upon the school or upon the teacher a vast complicatedmachinery or an endless routine of red tape. If it does this it defeatsits true aim. Here again the country schools have attempted to imitatethe city schools. In all cities grading is much more systematized, andis pushed to a greater extent than it is or should be in the country. Owing to the necessities of the situation and also to the convenience ofthe plan in the cities, the grades, with their appropriate books, amountof work, and plan of procedure, are much more definite than is possibleor desirable in the country. To grade the country schools as definitelyand as systematically as is done in the city would be to do them anirreparable injury. The country would make a great mistake to imitatethe city school systems in its courses of study. 

=Red Tape. =--It sometimes happens that county and state superintendents, in performing the duties of their office, think it necessary to imposeupon the country schools a variety of tests, examinations, reports, andwhat-not, which accomplish but little and may result in positive injury. To pile up complications and intricacies having no practical educationalvalue is utterly useless. It indicates the lack of a true conception ofthe school situation. Such haphazard methods will not teach alone anymore than a saw will saw alone. Behind it all must be the simple, greatteacher, and for him all these things, beyond a reasonable extent, arehindrances to progress. 

=Length of Term. =--In very many country districts the terms arefrequently only six months in the year. This should be extended to eightat least. Even in this case, it gives the rural school a shorter termthan the city school, which usually has nine or ten months each year. But it is very probable that the simplicity of rural school life andrural school teaching will enable pupils to do as much in eight monthsas is done in the city in nine. 

=Individual Work. =--Individual work should be the rule in many subjects. There is no need, on account of numbers, of a lock-step. In the cities, where the teacher has probably an average of 35 to 40 children, all thepupils are held together and in line. In such cases the great danger isto those above the average. There is the danger of forming what might becalled the "slow habit. " The bright pupils are retarded in their work, for they are capable of much more than they do. In such cases theretardation is not on account of the inability of the pupil but onaccount of the system. The bright ones are held back in line with theslow. This need not be the case in rural schools. Here, in every subjectwhich lends itself to the plan, each pupil should be allowed to go asfar and as fast as he can, provided that he appreciates the thought, solves the problems, and understands the work as he goes. I once knew alarge rural school in which there were enrolled about sixty pupils, taking the subjects of all the grades, from the first to the eighth andeven some high school subjects. In such classes as arithmetic the pupilswere, so to speak, "turned loose" and all entered upon a race for thegoal. Each one did as much as he could, his attainments being subjectedto the test of examination. The plan worked excellently; no one wasretarded, and all were intensely busy. 

="Waking Up the Mind. "=--The main thing in any school is not the amountof knowledge which pupils get from textbooks or from the teacher, butthe extent to which the mind appropriates that knowledge and is "wakedup" by it. Mr. Page in his excellent classic, _The Theory and Practiceof Teaching_, has a chapter called "Waking Up the Mind" and someexcellent illustrations as to how it may be done. The main thing is notthe amount of mere knowledge or information held in memory for futuredelivery, but the spirit and attitude of it all. The extent to whichchildren's minds are made awake and sensitive, and the extent to whichthey are inspired to pursue with zest and spirit any new problem are thebest criterions of success in teaching. The spirit and method of attackis all-important; quantity is secondary. If children have each other, soto speak, "by the ears, " over some problem from one day to the next, itindicates that the school and the teacher are awake, that they are upand doing, and that education, which is a process of leavening, istaking place. 

=The Overflow of Instruction. =--On account of the individual work whichis possible in the country schools, what is sometimes called the"overflow of instruction" is an important factor in the stimulation andthe education of all the children in the room. In the city school, whereall are on a dead level, doing the same work, there is not muchinformation or inspiration descending from above, for there is no classabove. But in the rural school, children hear either consciously orunconsciously much that is going on around them. They hear the largerboys and girls recite and discuss many interesting things. Thesediscussions wake up minds by sowing the seeds which afterwards come toflower and fruit in those who listen--in those who, in fact, cannot helphearing. 

I remember an incident which occurred during my experience as a pupil ina country school. A certain county superintendent, who used to visit theschool periodically, was in the habit, on these occasions, of reading tothe school for probably half an hour. Just what he read I do not evenremember, but I recall vividly his quiet manner and attitude, hisbeautiful and simple expression, and the whole tone and temper of theman as he gathered the thought and expressed it so beautifully and soartistically. This type of thing has great influence. It is often theintangible thing that tells and that is valuable. In every case, thatwhich is most artistically done is probably that which leaves itsimpression. 

=Affiliation. =--In some states, notably in Minnesota, an excellent planis in vogue by which the schools surrounding a town or a city areaffiliated with the city schools in such a manner as to receive thebenefit of the instruction of certain special teachers from the city. These teachers--of manual training, domestic science, agriculture, etc. --are sent out from the city to these rural schools two or threetimes a week, and in return the country children beyond a certain gradeare sent to the high school in the city. This is a process ofaffiliation which is stimulating and economical, and can be encouragedwith good results. 

[Illustration: A Christmas gathering at the new school]

[Illustration: A school garden in the larger center]

=The "Liking Point. "=--In the teaching of all subjects the importantthing is that the pupil reach what may be termed the "liking point. "Until a pupil has reached that point in any subject of study his workis mere drudgery--it is work which is probably disliked. The greatproblem for the teacher is to bring the child as soon as possible tothis liking point, and then to keep him there. It is probable that everypupil can be brought to the liking point of every subject by a goodteacher. Where there is difficulty in doing this, something has gonewrong somewhere, either on the part of the pupil, his former teachers, his parents, or his companions. When a pupil has reached the likingpoint it means that he has a keen relish, an appetite for the subject, and in this condition he will actively pursue it. 

=The Teacher the Chief Factor. =--The foregoing observations imply againthat the teacher, after all, is the great factor in the success of theschool. He is the "man behind the gun"; he is the engineer at thethrottle; he is the master at the helm; he is the guide, for he has beenover the road; he is the organizer, the center of things; he is themainspring; he is the soul of the school, and is greater than books orcourses of study. He is the living fire at which all the children mustlight their torches. Again we ask, how can this kind of person be found?Without him true education, in its best sense, cannot be secured; withhim the paltry consideration of salary should not enter. Without suchteachers there can be no solution of the rural school problems, nor, indeed, of the rural life problems. With him and those of his class, there is great hope. 

CHAPTER X

THE SOCIAL CENTER

During the past few years we have heard much of what is called the"social center, " or the "community center, " in rural districts. Thisidea has grown with the spread of the consolidation of schools, andmeans, as the name implies, a unifying, coördinating, organizing agencyof some kind in the midst of the community, to bring about a harmony andsolidity of all the interests there represented. It implies of course aleader; for what is left to be done by people in general is likely to bedone poorly. There is no doubt that this idea should be encouraged andpromoted. People living in the country are of necessity forced to a lifeof isolation. Their very work and position necessitate this, andconsequently it is all the more necessary that they should frequentlycome together in order to know each other and to act together for thebenefit of all. "In union there is strength, " but these people havealways been under a great disadvantage in every way, because they havenot organized for the purpose of united and effective coöperation. 

=The Teacher, the Leader. =--There is no more appropriate person to bringabout this organization, this unification, this increased solidarity, than the public school teacher of the community; but it will require thehead and the hand of a real master to lead a community--to organize it, to unite it, and to keep it united. It requires a person of rarestrength and tact, a person who has a clear head and a large heart, andwho is "up and doing" all the time. A good second to such a person wouldbe the minister of the neighborhood, provided he has breadth of view anda kindly and tolerant spirit. Much of the success of rural life inforeign countries, notably in Denmark, is due to the combined efforts ofthe schoolmaster and the minister of the community church. 

=Some Community Activities. =--Let us suggest briefly some of theactivities that are conducive to the fuller life of such a socialcenter. It is true that these activities are more possible in theconsolidated districts than in the communities where consolidation hasnot been effected; but many of them could be provided even in the smallschools. 

=The Literary Society. =--There should be in every school district aliterary society of some kind. This of course must not be overworked, for other kinds of activities also should be organized in order to givethe change which interest demands. In this literary society the interestand assistance of the adults of the neighborhood and the district, whoare willing and able to coöperate, should be enlisted. There are inevery community a few men and women who will gladly assist in a work ofthis kind if their interest can be properly aroused. There is scarcelyany better stimulus to the general interest of a neighborhood, andespecially of the children in the school, than seeing and hearing someof the grown-up men and women who are their neighbors participate insuch literary work. 

=Debates. =--An important phase of the literary work of such a societyshould be an occasional debate. This might be participated in sometimesby adults who are not going to school, and sometimes by the bigger andmore advanced pupils. Topics that are timely and of interest to thewhole community should be discussed. There is probably no better way ofteaching a tolerant spirit and respect for the honest opinions of othersthan the habit of "give and take" in debate. In such debates judgescould sometimes be appointed and at other times the relative merits ofthe case and of the debaters might well be left to the people of theneighborhood without any formal decision having been rendered. Thislatter plan is the one used in practical life in regard to addresses anddebates on the political platform. The discussions and differences ofopinion following such debates constitute no small part of life andthought manifested later in the community. 

=The School Program. =--A program or exhibition by the school should begiven occasionally. This would differ from the work of the literarysociety in that it would be confined to the pupils of the school. Sucha program should be a sample of what the pupils are doing and can do. Itshould be a mental exhibition of the school activities. There isscarcely anything that attracts the people and the parents of theneighborhood more than the literary performances of their children, younger and older. Such performances, as in other cases, may beoverdone; they may be put forward too frequently; they may also be toolengthy. But the teacher with a true perspective will see to it that allsuch extremes are avoided, for he realizes that there are otheractivities which must be developed and presented in order to secure achange of interest. These school programs occupy the mind and thought ofthe community for some time. The performance of the different parts andthe efforts of the various children--both their successes and theirfailures--become the subjects of thought and of talk in theneighborhood. It acts like a kind of ferment in the social mind; itkeeps the school and the community talking and thinking of school and ofeducation. 

=Spelling Schools. =--For a change, even an old-fashioned spelling schoolis not to be scorned. Years ago this was quite the custom. An entireschool would, on a challenge, go as a sleigh-ride party to thechallenging school. There the spelling contest would take place. One ofthe teachers, either the host or the guest, would pronounce the words, and the visiting school would return, either victorious or vanquished. A performance of this kind enlists the attention and the interest ofpeople and schools in the necessity of good spelling; it affords adelightful social recreation, stirs up thought and wakes up mind in bothcommunities, by an interesting and courteous contest. Such results arenot to be undervalued. 

=Lectures. =--If the school is a consolidated one, or even a largedistrict school, a good lecture course may be given to advantage. Here, again, care must be taken that the lectures, even if few, shall bechoice. Nothing will kill a course of lectures sooner than to have thepeople deceived a few times by poor ones. It would be better to havethree good lectures during the year than six that would bedisappointing. These lecture courses may be secured in almost everystate through the Extension Department of the various stateinstitutions. Recently the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and NorthDakota have entered into an arrangement whereby they will furnish anyrural or urban community of these states with good lecturers at a verysmall consideration. Excellent lectures can be secured in this way on agreat variety of subjects, including those most interesting to ruralcommunities and most helpful in all phases of farm life. These might besecured in the winter season when there is ample time and leisure forall to attend. 

=Dramatic Performances. =--In the social centers where the conveniencesadmit, simple dramatic performances might be worked up or secured fromthe outside. It is a fact that life in some country communities is notsufficiently cheered through the agency of the imagination. The tendencyis for farmers and farmers' families to live a rather humdrum existenceinvolving a good deal of toil. On the secluded farms during the longwinter months, there is not much social intercourse. It has beenasserted that the isolation and solitariness in sparsely settleddistricts are causes of the high percentage of insanity in rural andfrontier communities. It is good for the mental and physical health ofboth old and young to be lifted, once in a while, out of the world ofreality into that of the imagination. All children and young people liketo play, to act, to make believe. This is a part of their life, and itis conducive to their mental and social welfare to express themselves insimple plays or to see life in its various phases presented dramaticallyby others. 

=A Musical Program. =--If the teacher is a leader he will either be able, himself, to arrange a musical entertainment, or he will secure some onewho can and will do so. All, it is contended, can learn to sing if theybegin early enough; and there is probably no better mode ofself-expression and no better way of waking up people emotionally andsocially than to engage them in singing. The importance of singing, tosecure good and right emotional attitudes toward life and mankind, isindicated in the saying, "Let me make the songs of a nation and I carenot who makes her laws. " The importance of singing is recognized to amuch greater extent in foreign countries, notably in Germany, than inAmerica. In Germany all sing; in America, it is to be regretted, but fewsing. There should be a real renaissance in music throughout thecountry. As an aid in the teaching of music and of song, that marvelousinvention, the "talking machine, " should be made use of. It would be anexcellent thing if a phonograph could be put in every school. Childrenwould become acquainted with the best music; they would grow to like it, as the weeks, months, and years roll on. This machine is a wonderfulhelp in developing an appreciation of good music. 

=Slides and Moving Pictures. =--In the consolidated schools, where thereis a suitable hall, a moving-picture entertainment of the right kind isto be commended. The screens and the lantern enable us, in ourimaginations, to live in all countries and climes. The eye is the royalroad to the mind, and most people are eye-minded; and the moving pictureis a wonderful agency to convey to the mind, through the eye, accuratepictures of the world around us, natural and social. The communitycenter--the school center--should avail itself of all such inventions. 

=Supervised Dancing. =--Even the supervised dance, where the sentiment ofthe community will allow, is not to be condemned. It is much better tohave young people attend dances that are supervised than to attendpublic dances that are not supervised; and young people, as a rule, will attend one or the other. The practical question or condition is oneof supervision or no supervision, for the dance is here. The danceproperly supervised, and conducted in a courteous, formal way, beginningand closing at the right time, can probably be turned to good and madean occasion for social and individual culture. The niceties andamenities of life can there be inculcated. There is no good reason whythe dance activities should be turned over to the devil. There was atime and there were places where violin playing was turned over to himand banished from the churches. Dancing is too old, too general, tooinstinctive, and too important, not to be recognized as a means tosocial culture. Here again the sane teacher can be an efficientsupervisor. He can take care that the young people do not becomeentirely dance-minded. 

=Sports and Games. =--The various sports should not be forgotten. Skating, curling, and hockey, basketball, and volley ball, are all finewinter sports; in summer, teams should be organized in baseball, tennis, and all the proper athletic sports and games. Play should be supervisedto a certain extent; over-supervision will kill it. Sometimes plays thatare not supervised at all degenerate and become worse than none. All ofthese physical activities and sports should be found and fostered in therural center. They are healthful, both physically and mentally, andshould be participated in by both girls and boys. 

It is probably true that our schools and our education have stood, totoo great an extent, for mere intellectual acquisition and training. InSparta of old, education was probably nine tenths physical and one tenthmental. In these modern days education seems to be about ninety-nineparts mental. A sound body is the foundation of a sound mind, and timeis not lost in devoting much attention to the play and games of childrenand young people. There is no danger in the schools of our day of goingto an extreme in the direction of physical education; the danger is innot going far enough. I am not sure that it would not be better if thechildren in every school were kept in the open air half the timelearning and participating in various games and sports, instead of, asnow, poring over books and memorizing a lot of stuff that will neverfunction on land or sea. 

=School Exhibits. =--In the social centers a school exhibit could beoccasionally given with great profit. If domestic science is taught, anoccasion should be made to invite the people of the neighborhood tosample the products, for the test of the pudding is in the eating. Thiswould make a delightful social occasion for the men and women of thecommunity to meet each other, and the after-effects in the way offavorable comment and thought would be good. If manual training is anactivity of the school, as it ought to be, a good exhibit of the productof this department could be given. If agriculture is taught and thereis a school garden, as there should be, an exhibit once a year wouldproduce most desirable effects in the community along agriculturallines. 

=A Public Forum. =--Aside from provisions for school activities in thissocial center there should be a hall where public questions can bediscussed. All political parties should be given equal opportunities topresent their claims before the people of the community. This would tendtoward instruction, enlightenment, and toleration. The interestingquestions of the day, in political and social life, should be discussedby exponents chosen by the social center committee. In America we havelearned the lesson of listening quietly to speakers in a public meeting, whether we agree with them or not. In some countries, when a man risesto expound his political theories, he is hissed down or driven from thestage by force. This is not the American way. In America each man hashis hour, and all listen attentively and respectfully to him. The nextevening his opponent may have his hour, his inning, and the audience isas respectful to him. This is as it should be; this is the true spiritof toleration which should prevail everywhere and which can becultivated to great advantage in these rural, social centers. It makes, too, for the fullness of life in rural communities. It makes countrylife more pleasant and serves in some degree to counteract the strongbut regrettable urban trend. 

=Courtesy and Candor. =--There are two extremes in debates and in publicdiscussions which should be equally avoided: The first is that brutalfrankness which forgets to be courteous; and the second is that extremeof hypocritical courtesy which forgets to be candid. What is neededeverywhere is the candor which is also courteous and the courtesy whichis likewise candid. In impulsive youth and in lack of education andculture, brutal candor without courtesy sometimes manifests itself;while courtesy without candor is too often exhibited by shrewdpoliticians and diplomatic intriguers. 

=Automobile Parties. =--A delightful and profitable occasion could bemade by the men of the rural community who are the owners ofautomobiles, by taking all the children of the community and of theschools, once in a while, for an automobile ride to near or distantparts of the county. Such an occasion would never be forgotten by them. It would be enjoyable to those who give as well as to those who receive, and would have great educational as well as social value. It would bindtogether both young and old of the community. Occasions like these wouldalso conduce to the good-roads movement so commendable and importantthroughout the country. The automobile and the consolidation of ruralschools, resulting in social centers, are large factors in thegood-roads movement. 

=Full Life or a Full Purse. =--The community which has been centralizedsocially and educationally may often bring upon itself additionalexpense to provide the necessary hall, playgrounds, and otherconveniences required to realize and to make all of these activitiesmost effective. But this is a local problem which must be tackled andsolved by each community for itself. The community where the rightspirit prevails will realize that they must make some sacrifices. If athing is worth while, the proper means must be provided. One cannot havethe benefit without paying the cost. It is a question as to which acommunity will choose: a monotonous, isolated life _with_ theaccumulation of some money, or an active, enthusiastic, educational, andsocial life _without_ so many dollars. It is really a choice betweenmoney with little life on the one hand, and a little less money withmore fullness of life on the other. Life, after all, is the only thingworth while, and in progressive communities its enrichment will bechosen at any cost. Here again it is the duty of the teacher to bringabout the right spirit and attitude and the right decision in regard toall these important questions. 

=Organization. =--A community which is socially and educationallyorganized will need a central post office and town hall, a communitystore, a grain elevator, a church, and possibly other communityagencies. All of these things tend to solidify and bring together thepeople at a common center. 

This suggests organization of some kind in the community. The oldgrange was good in its ideal; the purpose was to unite and bring peopletogether for mutual help. There should probably be a young men's societyof some kind, and an organization of the girls and women of thecommunity. It is true that the matter may be overdone and we may havesuch a thing as activity merely for the sake of activity. It was Carlylewho said that some people are noted for "fussy littleness and aninfinite deal of nothing. " The golden mean should apply here aselsewhere. 

=The Inseparables. =--To bring all of these things about requires talentand ingenuity on the part of the leader or leaders; and we come again tothe inseparables mentioned in a former chapter. It will require a greatpersonality to organize. The word "great" implies a high standard; andstrong personalities, such as are capable of managing a social center, cannot possibly be secured without an adequate inducement in the way ofsalary. Proper compensation cannot mean sixty, seventy-five, or onehundred dollars a month. It must mean also permanence of position. Againwe come face to face with the problem of the teacher in our solution ofthe problem of rural life and the rural school. 

In conclusion it must be said that nothing is too good for the countrywhich is not too good for the city. The rural community must determineto have all these good things at any cost, if it wishes to work out itsown salvation. 

CHAPTER XI

RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION

=Important. =--Supervision is fully as important as teaching. Thesupervisor must be, to even a higher degree than the teacher, a strongpersonality, and this too implies a high standard and an attractivesalary. The supervisor or superintendent must be somewhat of an expertin the methods of teaching all the common school subjects. Not only musthe understand school discipline and organization in its details, but hemust possess the ability to "turn in" and exemplify his qualificationsat any time. It will be seen everywhere that the supervisor orsuperintendent is the expensive person; for, having the elements ofleadership, he is in demand in educational positions as well as inoutside callings. Consequently it is only by a good financialinducement, as a rule, that a competent supervisor can be retained inthe profession. 

=Supervision Standardizes. =--Without the superintendent or supervisor, no common standard can be attained or maintained. It is he who keeps theforce up to the line; without him each teacher is a law unto himself andthere will be as many standards as there are teachers. Human nature isinnately slothful and negligent, and needs the spirit of supervision tokeep it toned up to the necessary pitch. Supervision over a large forceof workers of any kind is absolutely necessary to secure efficiency, andto keep service up to a high standard. 

=Supervision Can Be Overdone. =--The necessity for supervision is clearlyfelt in the city systems. There they have a general superintendent, principals of buildings, and supervisors in various special lines. Asystem of schools in the city without supervision would simply go topieces. It would soon cease to be a system, and would become chaotic. Itmay be, it is true, that in some cities there is too much supervision;it may become acute and pass the line of true efficiency. Indeed, insome cities the red tape may become so complicated and systematized thatit becomes an end, and schools and pupils seem to exist for supervisorsand systems instead of _vice versa_. It is probably true that theconstant presence of a supervisor who is adversely critical may doinjury to the efficiency of a good teacher. No one can teach as wellunder disapprobation as he can where he feels that his hands are free;and so in some places supervision may act as a wet blanket. It maysuppress spontaneity, initiative, and real life in the school. But thisis only an abuse of a good thing, and probably does not occurfrequently. In any event, the exception would only prove the rule. Supervision is as necessary in a system of schools as it is in arailroad or in large industries. 

[Illustration: A basket ball team for the girls]

[Illustration: A brass band for the young men]

[Caption for the above illustrations: ACTIVITIES OF THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL]

=Needed in Rural Schools. =--The country partakes of the same isolationin regard to its schools as it does in regard to life in general. Thisisolation is accentuated where there is little or no supervision. Without it, the necessary stimulus seldom or never touches the life ofthe teacher or the school. There is little uplift; the school runs alongin its ordinary, humdrum fashion, and never measures itself with otherschools, and is seldom measured by a supervisor. A poor teacher may bein the chair one term and a good teacher another. The terms are shortand the service somewhat disconnected. The whole situation gives theimpression to people, pupils, and teacher that education is not of verygreat value. 

=No Supervision in Some States. =--In some states there is but littlesupervision. There may be, it is true, a district board, but these arelaymen, much better acquainted with the principles of farming than withthose of teaching. They have no standards for judging a school andseldom visit one. The selection known as the "Deestrict Skule"illustrates fairly well the ability of the old-time school board to passjudgment upon the professional merits of the teacher. 

=Nominal Supervision. =--In other states there is a county superintendenton part time who has a kind of general but attenuated supervision overall the schools of a county. He is usually engaged in some other line ofwork--in business, in medicine, in law, in preaching--and can give onlya small portion of his time to the work of superintendence. Indeed, this means only an occasional visit to the school, probably once everyone or two years, and such simple and necessary reports as are demandedby the state superintendent or State Board of Education. Suchsupervision, however honestly performed, accomplishes but little. Thesuperintendent may visit the teacher to-day, but when he returns a yearhence, he is likely to find another teacher in charge. Under suchcircumstances, what can he do? He has seen the teacher at work for halfan hour or an hour; he offers a suggestion, or makes some complimentaryremark, and goes his way. No one realizes better than he how little hehas been able to accomplish. And yet, under existing circumstances hehas done all that could be expected. 

=Some Supervision. =--There are, elsewhere, county superintendents whodevote their whole time to the work, but who are chosen for short termsand in a political campaign. Very frequently these men are elected forpolitical reasons quite as much as for educational fitness. If asuperintendent so elected is politically minded--and I regret to saythat sometimes this is the case--he will probably devote much time, energy, and thought to paving the way for reëlection. Expecting to be acandidate for a second term, he will use his best efforts to impress thepublic mind in his favor. This sometimes results in greater attention tothe duties of his office and the consequent betterment of the schools;but, too often, it works in the opposite direction. Being elected foronly two years, he has not the time to carry out any educational policyno matter how excellent his plans may be. Of course many persons chosenin this way make excellent and efficient officers, but the plan is bad. The good superintendent frequently loses out soonest. 

=An Impossible Task. =--Superintendents sometimes have under theirjurisdiction from one hundred to two hundred, or even more, schoolsseparated by long distances. The law usually prescribes that the countysuperintendent shall visit each school at least once a year. This meansthat practically he will do no more; indeed it is often impossible to domore. It means that his visits must of necessity be a mere perfunctorycall of an hour or two's duration with no opportunity to see the sameteacher again at work to determine whether or not she is makingprogress, and whether she is carrying out his instructions. Suchso-called supervision, or superintendence, is not supervision atall--how can it be? The superintendent is only a clerical officer whodoes the work required by law, and makes incidentally an annual socialvisit to the schools. 

=The Problem Not Tackled. =--Such a situation is another evidence thatthe states which tolerate the foregoing conditions have not, in any realand earnest manner, attempted to solve the problem of rural schoolsupervision. They have merely let things drift along as they would, notfully realizing the problem or else trusting to time to come to theiraid. Micawber-like, they are waiting for "something to turn up. " Butsuch problems will not solve themselves. 

=City Supervision. =--Compare the supervision described above with thatwhich is usually found in cities. There we usually find a generalsuperintendent and assistant superintendents; there are high schoolprincipals and a principal at the head of every grade building; there isalso a supervisor of manual training, of domestic science, of music, ofdrawing, and possibly of other subjects. When we consider, too, that theteachers in the city are all close at hand and that the supervisor orsuperintendent may drop into any room at any time with scarcely aminute's notice, we see the difference between city supervision andcountry supervision. Add to this the fact that cities attract the strongteachers--the professionally trained teachers, the output of theprofessional schools--and we can see again how effective supervisionbecomes in the city as compared with that in the country. In the countrywe find only one superintendent for a county often as large as some ofthe older states, and the possibility of visiting each school only aboutonce a year. Here also are the teachers who are not professionalized, asa rule, and who, therefore, need supervision most. 

=The Purpose of Supervision. =--The main purpose of supervision is tobring teachers up to a required standard of excellence in their work andto keep them there. It is always the easiest plan to dismiss a teacherwho is found deficient, but this is cutting the knot rather than untyingit. Efficient and intelligent supervision proceeds along the line ofbuilding such a teacher up, of making her strong where she is weak, ofgiving her initiative where she lacks it, of inculcating good methodswhere she is pursuing poor ones, of inducing her to come out of hershell where she is backward and diffident. In other words, the greatwork of the supervisor is to elicit from teachers their most active andhearty response in all positive directions. It should be understood byteachers--and they should know that the superintendent or supervisorindorses the idea--that it is always better to go ahead and blunder thanto stand still for fear of blundering; and so, in the presence of a goodsupervisor, the teacher is not afraid to let herself out. In theconference, later, between herself and her supervisor, mistakes may bepointed out; but, better than this, the best traits of the teachershould be brought to her mind and the weak ones but lightly referred to. 

=What Is Needed. =--What is needed in the rural situation is a countysuperintendent chosen because of his professional fitness by a countyboard whose members have been elected at large. This board should beelected on a nonpartisan ticket and so far as possible on a basis ofqualification and of good judgment in educational matters. It shouldhold office for a period of years, some members retiring from the boardannually so that there shall not be, at any time, an entirely new board. This would insure continuity. Another plan for a county board would beto have the presidents of the district boards act as a county board ofeducation. Such a board should be authorized--and indeed this traditionshould be established--to select a county superintendent from applicantsfrom outside as well as inside the county. They should be empowered togo anywhere in the country for a superintendent with a reputation in theteaching profession. This is the present plan in cities, and it shouldbe true also in the selection of a county superintendent. 

=The Term. =--The term of office of the county superintendent should beat the discretion of the county board. It should be not less than threeor four years--of sufficient length to enable a man to carry out a lineof policy in educational administration. The status of the countysuperintendency should be similar to that of the city superintendency. 

=Assistants. =--The county board should be empowered to provideassistants for the county superintendent. There should be one suchassistant for about thirty or thirty-five schools. It is almostimpossible for a supervisor to do efficient and effective work if he hasmore than this number of schools, located, as they are, some distanceapart. Provision for such assistants, who should, like thesuperintendent himself, be experts, is based upon the assumption thatsupervision is worth while, and in fact necessary in any system ifsuccess is to be attained. If the supervision of thirty-five schools isan important piece of work it should be well done, and a person wellqualified for that work should be selected. He should be a person ofsympathetic attitude, of high qualifications, and of experience in thefield of elementary education. The assistants should be carefullyselected by the board on the recommendation of the countysuperintendent. Poor supervision is little better than none. 

=The Schools Examined. =--The county superintendent and his assistantsshould give, periodically, oral and written examinations in each school, thus testing the work of both the teacher and the pupils. Theseexaminations should not conform in any perfunctory or red-tape manner toa literally construed course of study. The course of study is a meansand not an end, and should be, at all points and times, elastic andadaptable. To make pupils fit the course of study instead of making thecourse of study fit the pupils is the old method of the Procrusteanbed--if the person is not long enough for it he is stretched; if toolong, a piece is cut off. Any examination or tests which would wake upmind and stimulate education in the neighborhood may be resorted to; butit should be remembered that examinations are likewise a means and notan end. 

Some years ago when I was a county superintendent I tried the plan ofgiving such tests in any subject to classes that had completed adefinite portion of that subject and arrived at a good stopping place. If, for example, the teacher announced that his class had acquired athorough knowledge of the multiplication table, I gave a searching testupon that subject and issued a simple little certificate to the effectthat the pupil had completed it. These little certificates acted likestakes put down along the way, to give incentive, direction, anddefiniteness to the educative processes, and to stimulate a reasonableclass spirit or individual rivalry. I meet these pupils occasionallynow--they are to-day grown men and women--and they retain in theirpossession these little colored certificates which they still highlyprize. 

One portion of my county was populated almost entirely by Scandinavians, and here a list of fifty to a hundred words was selected whichScandinavian children always find it difficult to pronounce. At thefirst trial many or most of the children mispronounced a largepercentage of them. I then announced that, the next time I visited theschool, I would test the pupils again on these words and others likethem, and issue "certificates of correct pronunciation" to all who wereentitled to them. I found, on the next visit, that nearly all thechildren could secure these certificates. These tests created a greatimpetus in the direction of correct pronunciation and language. Someteachers, from mistaken kindness, had been accustomed to refrain fromcorrecting the children on such words, but as superintendent I foundthat both the parents and the children wished drill in pronunciation andwere gratified at their success. This is only a sample. I would advocatethe giving of tests, or examinations, on any subject in the schoollikely to lead to good results and to stimulate the minds of the pupilsin the right direction. The county superintendent and his assistantsmight agree to lay the accent or the emphasis on different subjects, orlines of work, in different years. 

=Keep Down Red Tape. =--In all the work of supervision, the formalpart--the accounting and reporting part--should be kept simple; thetendency in administrative offices is too often in the direction ofcomplexity and red tape. Wherever there is form merely for the sake ofform, it is well worth while to sound a note of warning against it. 

=Help the Social Centers. =--The county superintendent and his assistantscan be of inestimable value in all the work of the social centers. Theyshould advise with school boards in regard to consolidation and otherproblems agitating the community. They should lend a helping hand toprograms that are being carried out in any part of the county. Theyshould give lectures themselves at such social centers and, if asked, should help the local communities and local committees in every waywithin their power. 

=Conclusion. =--The problem, then, of superintendence is, we conclude, one of the large and important problems awaiting solution in rural lifeand in rural schools. It is the binding force that will help to unifyall the educational activities of the county. It is one of the chiefstimulating and uplifting influences in rural education. As in the caseof most other school problems, the constant surprise is that the peoplehave not awakened sooner to the realization of its importance and to anhonest and earnest attempt at its solution. 

CHAPTER XII

LEADERSHIP AND COÖPERATION

=The Real Leader. =--Real leadership is a scarce and choice article; trueleaders are few and far between. The best kind of leader is not one whoattempts to be at the head of every movement and to do everythinghimself, but rather he who makes the greatest number of people active inhis cause. It frequently happens that the more a leader does himself, the less his followers are inclined to do. The more active he is, themore passive they are likely to become. As teaching is causing others toknow and react educationally, so genuine leadership is causing others tobecome active in the direction of the leader's purpose, or aim. Some whopose as leaders seek to be conspicuous in every movement, merely toattract attention to themselves. They bid for direct and immediaterecognition instead of being content with the more remote, indirect, buttruer and more substantial reward of recognition through their followerswho are active in their leader's cause. The poor leader does not thinkthat there is glory enough for all, and so he monopolizes all he can ofit, leaving the remainder to those who probably do the greater part ofthe work and deserve as much credit as he. The spectacular footballplayer who ignores the team and team work, in order to attract attentionby his individual plays, is not the best leader or the best player. Thereal leader will frequently be content to see things somewhat poorlydone or not so well done, in order that his followers may pass throughthe experience of doing them. It is only by having such experiences thatfollowers are enabled, in turn, to become leaders. 

=Teaching vs. Telling. =--As has been shown in an earlier chapter, thelack of leadership is frequently exhibited in the classroom when theteacher, instead of inducing self-activity and self-expression on thepart of the pupils, proceeds to recite the whole lesson himself. He asksleading questions and then, at the slightest hesitation on the part of apupil, he suggests the answer; he asks another leading question fromanother point of view; he puts words into the mouth of the pupil who istrying in a pitiable way to recite; and ends by covering the topic allover with words, words, words of his own. This is poor leadership on thepart of the teacher and gives no opportunity for real coöperation on thepart of the pupils. The teacher takes all the glory of reciting, andleaves the pupil without an opportunity or the reward ofself-expression. 

=Enlisting the Coöperation of Pupils. =--All children--and in fact allpeople--if approached or stimulated in the proper way--like to _do_things, to perform services for others. A pupil always considers it acompliment to be asked by his teacher to do something for him, if therelations between the teacher and pupil are normal and cordial. Thismust, of course, be the case if any truly educative response is to beelicited. Socrates once said that a person cannot learn from one whom hedoes not love. The relation between pupil and teacher should be one ofmutual love and respect, if the educational process is to obtain. Ifthis relation does not exist, the first duty of the teacher is to bringit about. Sometimes this is difficult. I once heard a teacher say thatit took him about three weeks to establish this relation between himselfand one of his pupils. He finally invited the pupil out hunting with himone Saturday, and after that they were the best of friends. The pupilbecame one of the leaders in his school and his coöperation was securedfrom that time forward. In this instance the teacher showed markedleadership as well as practical knowledge of psychology and pedagogy. Francis Murphy, the great temperance orator, understood both leadershipand coöperation, for he always, as he said, made it a point to approacha man from the "south side. "

A pupil, if approached in the right way, will do anything in his powerfor his teacher. There may be times when wood or fuel must be provided, when the room must be swept and cleaned, when little repairs becomenecessary, or an errand must be performed. In such situations, if theteacher is a real leader and if his school and he are _en rapport_, volunteers will vie with each other for the privilege of carrying outthe teacher's wishes. This would indicate genuine leadership andcoöperation. 

=Placing Responsibility. =--Whether in school or some other station inlife, there is scarcely anything that so awakens and develops the bestthat is in either man or child as the placing of responsibility. Everyperson is educated and made greater according to the measure ofresponsibility that is given to him and that he is able to live up to. While it is true that too great a measure of responsibility might begiven, this is no reasonable excuse for withholding it altogether forfear the burden would be too great. There is a wide middle groundbetween no responsibility and too much of it, and it is in this fieldthat leadership and coöperation can be displayed to much advantage. Thegreater danger lies in not giving sufficient responsibility to childrenand youths. It is well known that, in parts of our country, where menwho have been proved to be, or are strongly suspected of being crooked, have been placed upon the bench to mete out justice, they have usuallyrisen to the occasion and to their better ideals, and have not betrayedthe trust reposed in them, or the responsibility placed upon them. Thereis probably no finer body of men in America than our railroadengineers; and while it may be true that they are _picked_ in ameasure, it is also true that their responsible positions and work bringout their best manhood. As they sit or stand at the throttle, with handupon the lever and eyes on the lookout for danger, and as they feel theheart-throbs of their engine drawing its precious freight of a thousandsouls through the darkness and the storm, they cannot help realizingthat this is real life invested with great responsibilities; and withthis thought ever before them, they become men who can be trustedanywhere. There is little doubt that Abraham Lincoln's mettle wastempered to the finest quality in the fires of the great struggle from1860 to 1865, when every hour of his waking days was fraught with thegreatest responsibility. 

=How People Remain Children. =--If children and young people are notgiven responsibilities they are likely to remain children. The oldadage, "Don't send a boy to mill, " is thoroughly vicious if appliedbeyond a narrow and youthful range. In some neighborhoods the fatherseven when of an advanced age retain entire control of the farm and ofall activities, and the younger generation are called the "boys, " and, what is worse, are considered such till forty years of age or older--infact as long as the fathers live and are active. A "boy" is called"Johnnie, " "Jimmie, " or "Tommie, " and is never chosen to do jury duty orto occupy any position connected in the local public mind with a man'swork. The father in such cases is not a good leader, for he has givenno responsibility to, and receives no genuine coöperation from, hissons, who are really man grown, but who are regarded, even bythemselves, from habit and suggestion, as children. If these middle-agedmen should move to another part of the country they would be compelledto stand upon their own feet, and would be regarded as men among men. They would be called _Mr. _ Jones, _Mr. _ Smith, and _Mr. _ Brown, insteadof diminutive and pet names; and, what is better, they would regardthemselves as men. This would be a wholesome and stimulating suggestion. Hence Horace Greeley's advice to young men, to "Go West, " would provebeneficial in more ways than one. 

This state of affairs is illustrated on a large scale by the Chineselife and civilization. From time immemorial the Chinese have been taughtto regard themselves as children, and the emperor as the common fatherof all. The head of the family is the head as long as he lives and allhis descendants are mere sons and daughters. When he dies he is theobject of worship. This custom has tended to influence in a largemeasure the thought and life of China and to keep the Chinese, foruntold generations, a childlike and respectful people. Whatever may cometo pass under the new regime, recently established in their country, they have been, since the dawn of history, a passive people, themajority of whom have not been honored with any great measure ofresponsibility. 

=On the Farm. =--Such lessons from history, written large, are asapplicable in rural life as elsewhere. Coöperation and profit-sharingare probably the key to the solution of the labor problem. Manyindustrial leaders in various lines, notably Mr. Henry Ford in hisautomobile factories in Detroit, have come to the conclusion thatcoöperation, or some kind of profit-sharing by the rank and file of theworkers, is of mutual benefit to employer and laborer. The interest ofworkers must be enlisted for their own good as well as for the good ofsociety at large. It induces the right attitude toward work on the partof the worker, and the right attitude of employer and employee towardeach other. This leads to the solidarity of society and the integrity ofthe social bond. It tends to establish harmony and to bring contentmentto both parties. 

=Renters. =--The renter of a farm must have sufficient interest in it andin all its activities to improve it in every respect, rather than toallow it to deteriorate by getting out of it everything possible, andthen leaving it, like a squeezed orange, to repeat the operationelsewhere. A farm, in order to yield its best and to increase inproduction and value, must be managed with care, foresight, andscientific understanding. There must be, among other things, a carefulrotation of crops and the rearing of good breeds of animals of variouskinds. But these things cannot be intrusted to the mere renter or thehired man who is nothing more. These are not sufficiently interested. The man who successfully manages a farm must be interested in it and inits various phases, whether he be a renter or a worker. He must becareful, watchful, industrious, intelligent, and a lover of domesticanimals; otherwise the farm will go backward and the stock will notthrive and be productive of profits. The man who drives a farm to asuccessful issue must be a leader, and, if he is not the owner, he mustcoöperate with the owner in order that there may be interest, which isthe great essential. 

=The Owner. =--If the farm is operated by the owner himself and hisfamily, there is still greater need of leadership on the part of thefather and of coöperation on the part of all. Money and profits are notthe only motives or the only results and rewards that come to a familyin rural life. As the children grow up to adult life, both boys andgirls, for their own education and development in leadership and incoöperation, should be given some share in the business, some interestwhich they can call their own, and whose success and increase willdepend on their attention, care, and industry. That father is a wiseleader who can enlist the active coöperation of all his family for thegood of each and of all. Such leadership and coöperation are the bestforms and means of education, and lead inevitably to good citizenship. How often do we see a grasping, churlish father whose leadership ismaintained by fear and force and whose family fade away, one by one, asthey come to adolescence. There is no cementing force in such ahousehold, and the centrifugal forces which take the place of trueleadership and cordial coöperation soon do their work. 

=The Teacher as a Leader. =--We have already spoken of the teacher as thenatural leader of the activities of a social center, or of a community. In such situations the teacher should be a real leader, not one whowishes or attempts to be the direct and actual leader in every activity, but one "who gets things done" through the secondary leadership of ascore or more of men, boys, and girls. The leader in a consolidateddistrict, or social center, who should attempt to bring all the gloryupon himself by immediate leadership would be like the teacher whoinsists on doing all the reciting for his pupils. That would be a falseand short-lived leadership. Hence the teacher who is a true leader willkeep himself somewhat in the background while, at the same time, he isthe hidden mainspring, the power behind the throne. "It is the highestart to conceal art. " Fitch, in his lectures on teaching, says that theteacher and the leader should "keep the machinery in the background. "The teacher should start things going by suggestion and keep them goingby his presence, his attitude, and his silent participation. 

Too much participation and direction are fatal to the active coöperationand secondary leadership of others. Hence the teacher will bring about, in his own good time and way, the organization of a baseball team underthe direction of a captain chosen by the boys. The choice, it is true, may probably be inspired by the teacher. The same would take place inregard to every game, sport, or activity, mental, social, or physical, in the community. The danger always is that the initial leader maybecome too dominant. It is hard on flesh and blood to resist thetemptation to be lionized. But it is incomparably better to have partialor almost total failures under self-government than to be governed by abenevolent and beneficent autocrat. And so it is much better that boysand girls work out their own salvation under leaders of their ownchoice, than to be told to organize, and to do thus and so. It requiresa rare power of self-control in a real leader to be compelled to witnessonly partial success and crude performance under secondary leadersgroping toward success, and still be silent and patient. But this is thetrue process of education--self-activity and self-government. 

=Self-activity and Self-government. =--In order to develop initiative, which is the same thing, practically, as leadership, opportunity must begiven for free self-activity. Children and adults alike, if they are togrow, must be induced to _do_. It is always better to go ahead andblunder than to stand still for fear of blundering. Many kind mothersfondly wish--and frequently attempt to enforce their wish--thatchildren should learn how to swim without going into the water. Children see the folly of this and, in order not to disturb the calm andpeace of the household, slip away to a neighboring creek orswimming-hole, for which they ever after retain the most cherishedmemories. In later years when all danger is over these grown-up childrensmilingly and jokingly reveal the mysteries of the trick! Childrencannot learn to climb trees without climbing trees, or to ride calvesand colts without the real animals. Some chances must be taken byparents and guardians, and more chances are usually taken by childrenthan their guardians ever hear of. Accidents will happen, it is true, but in the wise provision of Mother Nature the world moves on throughthese persistent and instinctive self-activities. 

Self-activity is manifested on a larger scale in society and amongnations and peoples. Civilization is brought about through self-activityand coöperation. It were better for the Filipinos to civilize themselvesas much as possible than that we impose civilization upon them. It isbetter that Mexico bring peace into her own household, than that we takethe leadership and enforce order among her people. When the Irishcaptain said to his soldiers, "If you don't obey willingly I'll make youobey willingly, " he fused into one the military and the truly civic andeducational conceptions. An individual or a nation must energize fromwithin outward in order to truly express itself and thus develop in thebest sense. Hence in any community the development of self-expression, self-activity, and coöperation under true leadership is conducive to thehighest type of individuality and of citizenship. 

=Taking Laws upon One's Self. =--It is under proper leadership andcoöperation that children and young people are induced to take laws uponthemselves. It is always a joy to a parent or a teacher when a pupilexpresses himself with some emotion to the effect that such and such adeed is an "outrage, " or "fine" as the case may be. It is an indicationthat he has adopted a life principle which he means to live by, and thatit has been made his own to such an extent that he expresses and commitshimself upon it with such feeling. Moralization consists in just thisprocess--the taking upon one's self of a bundle of good life principles. Under the right kind of leadership and coöperation this moralizingprocess grows most satisfactorily. Children then take upon themselveslaws and become self-governing and law-abiding. 

=An Educational Column. =--One of the best means of creating anatmosphere and spirit of education and culture in a community is toconduct an "educational column" in the local newspaper. The teacher as areal leader in the community could furnish the matter for such a columnonce every two weeks or once a month, and, before long, if he is theleader we speak of, the people will begin to look eagerly for thiscolumn; they will turn to it first on receiving their paper. Here itemsof interest on almost any subject might be discussed. The column neednot be limited narrowly to technically educational topics. The author ofsuch a column could thus create and build up in a community the rightkind of traditions and a good spirit, tone, and temper generally. Hisinfluence would be potent outside the schoolroom and he would have inhis power the shaping and the guiding of the social, or community mind. It is wonderful what can be done in this way by a prudent, intelligent, and interesting writer. The community soon will wish, after the columnhas been read through, that he had written more. This would be anencouraging sign. 

=All Along the Educational Line. =--The kind of leadership andcoöperation indicated in this chapter should be exemplified through theentire common-school system. It should obtain between the statesuperintendent and the county superintendents; between the countysuperintendents and their deputies, or assistants on the one hand andthe principals of schools on the other; between principals and teachers;and between teachers and pupils. It should exist between all of theseofficials and the people variously organized for social and educationalbetterment. Then there would be a "long pull, a strong pull, and a pullall together" for the solution of the problems of rural life and therural school. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE FARMER AND HIS HOME

=Farming in the Past. =--In the past, successful farming was easier thanit is at present or is destined to be in the future. In the prairieregions of the great central West, the virgin and fertile soil, thelarge acreage of easy cultivation, and the good prices made successinevitable. Indeed, these conditions were thrust upon the fortunatefarmer. 

But those days are passed. Increased population is reducing the acreageand cultivation, while it is eliminating the surplus fertility;competition and social and economic pressure are reducing the margin ofprofits. Thrift, good management, and brains are becoming increasinglyimportant factors in successful farming. 

=Old Conceit and Prejudice. =--Twenty years ago, when the agriculturalcolleges were taking shape and attempting to impress their usefulnessupon the farmer, the latter was inclined to assume a derisive attitude, and to refer to their graduates as "silk-stocking farmers"--or, as onefarmer put it, "theatrical" sort of fellows, meaning _theoretical_! Inthe farming of the future, however, the agricultural college and itsinfluence are bound to play a large part. There is plenty of room on agood farm of one hundred and sixty acres for the best thinking and themost careful planning. Foresight and ingenuity of the rarest kinds aredemanded there. 

We wish to enumerate, and discuss in brief, some of the important pointsof vantage to be watched and carefully guarded, if farm life, whichmeans rural life, is to be pleasant and profitable. If rural life is toretain its attractions and its people, it must be both of these. Let us, in this chapter, investigate some things which, although apart from theschool and education in any technical sense, are truly educative, in thebest sense. 

=Leveling Down. =--One thing that sometimes impresses the close observerwho is visiting in the country and in farm homes is that there exists insome rural localities a kind of "leveling down" process. People becomeaccommodated to their rather quiet and unexciting surroundings. Theirhouses and barns, in the way of repairs and improvements, are allowedgradually to succumb to the tooth of time and the beating of theelements. This process is so slow and insidious that those who live inthe midst of it scarcely notice the decay that is taking place. Hence itcontinues to grow worse until the farm premises assume an unattractiveand dilapidated appearance. Weeds grow up around the buildings and alongthe roads, so slowly, that they remain unnoticed and hence uncut--whenhalf an hour's work would suffice to destroy them all, to the benefit ofthe farm and the improvement of its appearance. 

In the country it is very easy, as we have said, to "level down. " Peoplelive in comparative isolation; imitation, comparison, and competitionenter but little into their thoughts and occupations. In the city it isotherwise. People live in close proximity to each other, and oneenterprising person can start a neighborhood movement for theimprovement of lawns and houses. There is more conference, morecriticism and comparison, more imitation. In the city there is a kind ofcompulsion to "level up. "

When one moves from a large active center to a smaller one, the lifetendency is to accommodate one's self to his environment; while if onemoves from a small, quiet place to a larger and more active center, thelife tendency is to level up. It is, of course, fortunate for us that weare able to accommodate ourselves to our environment and to derive agrowing contentment from the process. The prisoner may become so contentin his cell that he will shed tears when he is compelled to leave it forthe outer world where he must readjust himself. The college man, overwhom there came a feeling of desolation on settling down in a smallcountry village with one store, comes eventually to find contentment, sitting on the counter or on a drygoods box, swapping stories withothers like himself who have leveled down to a very circumscribed lifeand living. Leveling down may be accomplished without effort or thought, but eternal vigilance is the price of leveling up. 

=Premises Indicative. =--A farmer is known by the premises he keeps, justas a person is known by the company he keeps. If a man is thrifty itwill find expression in the orderliness of his place. If he isintelligent and inventive it will show in the appointments andadaptations everywhere apparent, inside and outside the buildings. Ifthe man and his family have a fine sense of beauty and propriety, anartistic or æsthetic sense, there will be evidences of cleanliness andsimple beauty everywhere--in the architecture, in the painting, in thepictures, and the carpets, in the kinds and positions of the trees andshrubbery, and in the general neatness and cleanliness of the premises. It is not so necessary that people possess much, but it is importantthat they make much of what they do possess. The exquisite touch on allthings is analogous to the flavor of our food--it is as important forappetite and for nourishment as the food itself. 

=Conveniences by Labor-saving Devices. =--If there are ingenuity and thepower of ordinary invention in common things, system and devices forsaving labor will be evident everywhere. The motor will be pressed intoservice in various ways. There will be a place for everything, andeverything will be in its place. Head work and invention, rather thanmere imitation, characterize the activities of the master. 

=Eggs in Several Baskets. =--The day is past when success may be attainedby raising wheat alone. This was, of course, in days gone by, theeasiest and cheapest crop to produce. It was also the crop that broughtthe largest returns in the shortest time. Wheat raising was merely asummer's job, with a prospective winter's outing in some city center. Itwas and is still the lazy farmer's trick. It was an effort similar tothat of attempting the invention of a perpetual motion machine; it wasan attempt, if not to get something for nothing, at least to getsomething at the lowest cost, regardless of the future. But naturecannot be cheated, and the modern farmer has learned or is learningrapidly, that he must rotate and diversify his crops if he would succeedin the long run. Consequently he has begun rotation. He also replenisheshis soil with nitrogen-producing legumes, along with corn planting andwith summer fallowing. He engages in the raising of chickens, hogs, cattle, and horses. This diversification saves him from total loss incase of a bad year in one line. The farmer does not carry all his eggsin one basket. A bad year with one kind of crops may be a good year withsome other. Diversification also makes farming an all-year occupation, every part of which is bringing a good return, instead of being a jobwith an income for the summer and an outlay for the winter. Live stock, sheep, hogs, and cattle grow nights, Sundays, and winters as well as atother times, and so the profits are accumulating all the year round. 

=The Best is the Cheapest. =--The modern farmer also realizes that ittakes no more, nor indeed as much, to feed and house the best kinds ofanimals than it does to keep the scrub varieties. In all of this thereis a large field for study and investigation. But one must be interestedin his animals and understand them. They should know his voice and heshould know their needs and their habits. As in every other kind of workthere must be a reasonable interest; otherwise it cannot be anoccupation which will make life happy and successful. 

=Good Work. =--The good farmer has the _feel_ and the habit of good work. The really successful man in any calling or profession is he who doeshis work conscientiously and as well as he can. The sloven becomes thebungler, and the bungler is on the high road to failure. It is always apleasant thing to see a man do his work well and artistically. It is thehabit, the policy, the attitude of thus doing that tell in the long run. A farmer may by chance get a good crop by seeding on unplowed stubbleland, but he must feel that he is engaged in the business of trying tocheat himself, like the boy playing solitaire--he does not let his righthand know what his left hand is doing. The good farmer is an artist inhis work, while the poor farmer is a veritable bungler--blaming histools and Nature herself for his failures. 

=Good Seed and Trees. =--The successful farmer knows from study andexperience that only healthy seed and healthy animals will produce goodgrain and strong animals after their kind. He does not try tricks onNature. He selects the best kinds of trees and shrubbery and when theseare planted he takes care of them. He realizes that what is worth sowingand planting is worth taking care of. 

=A Good Caretaker. =--The successful and intelligent farmer keeps all hisbuildings, sheds, and fences in good repair and well painted. He is notpenny-wise and pound-foolish. He knows the value of paint from aneconomic and financial point of view as well as from an artistic andæsthetic one. Knowing these things, and from an ingrained feeling andhabit, he sees to it that all his machinery and tools are under goodcover, and are not exposed to the gnawing tooth of the elements. Thishabit and attitude of the man are typical and make for success as wellas for contentment. As it is not the saving of a particular dollar thatmakes a man thrifty or wealthy, but the _habit_ of saving dollars; so itis not the taking care of this or that piece of machinery, or thatparticular building, but the habit of doing such things that leads himto success. 

=Family Coöperation. =--Such a man will also enlist the interest and theactive coöperation of his sons and daughters by giving them property orinterests which they can call their own; he will make them, in ameasure, co-partners with him on the farm. There could be no better wayof developing in them their best latent talents. It would result inmutual profit and, what is better, in mutual love and happiness. One ofthe greatest factors in a true education is to be interested, self-active, and busy toward a definite and worthy end. Under suchcircumstances both the parents and the children might be benefited bytaking short courses in the nearest agricultural college; and a plan ofgiving each his turn could be worked out to the interest and profit ofall the family. Such a family would become local leaders in variousenterprises. 

=An Ideal Life. =--It would seem that such an intelligent and successfulfarmer and his family could lead an ideal life. Every life worth whilemust have work, disappointments, and reverses. But work--reasonablework--is a blessing and not a curse. Work is an educator, a civilizer, asanctifier. 

A family like that described might in the course of a few years possessmost of the modern conveniences. The telephone, the daily mail, theautomobile, and other inventions are at hand, in the country as well asin the city. The best literature of to-day and of all time is available. Music and art are easily within reach. With these advantages any ruralfamily may have a happy home. This is more than most people in thecities can have. More and more of our people should turn in the futureto this quiet but happy and ideal country life. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE RURAL RENAISSANCE

=Darkest Before the Dawn. =--Prior to the present widespread discussion, which it is hoped will lead to a rural renaissance, the condition andthe prospects of country life and the country school looked dark anddiscouraging. Country life seemed to be passing into the shadow and thestorm. It seemed as if the country was being not only deserted butforgotten. The urban trend, as we have seen, moved on apace. Farms werebeing deserted or, if cultivated at all, were passing more and more intothe hands of renters. The owners were farming by proxy. This meantdecreased production and impoverished soil. It meant one-crop, orsmall-grain farming; it meant a class of renters or tenants with onlytemporary homes, and hence with only a partial interest. The inevitableresult would be an impoverished rural life and poor rural schools. Without a realization of the seriousness of the situation and the trendon the part of the people at large, all these conditions prevailed to agreater or less extent. The people seemed unaware of the fact that rurallife was not keeping pace with the progress of the world around. In NewEngland whole districts were practically deserted, and her abandonedfarms told the tale. In Virginia and in most of the older states similarconditions existed. The people migrated either to the cities or to thenewer and cheaper agricultural regions of the West. 

=The Awakening. =--But the time came when the newer lands were not soavailable and when social and economic pressure forced the whole problemof rural life upon the attention of the nation. Difficulty in adjustmentto surroundings always constitutes a problem, and a problem alwaysarouses thought. When our adjustment is easy and successful it iseffected largely through habit; but when it is obstructed or thwarted, thought and reason must come to the rescue. Investigation, comparison, and reflection are then drafted for a solution. This is what happened afew years ago. The whole situation, it is true, had been in mindpreviously, but only in a half conscious or subconscious way. It wasbeing felt or sensed, more or less clearly, that there was somethingwrong, that there was a great unsupplied need, in rural life; but thethought had no definite shape. The restiveness, the restlessness, wasthere but no distinct and articulate voices gave utterance to anydefinite policy or determination. There was no clearly formulatedconsensus of thought as to what ought to be done. Prior to this time thethought of the people had not been focused on country life at all. Theattention of the rural districts was not on themselves; they were notreally self-conscious of their condition or that there was any importantproblem before them. But not many years ago, owing to various movements, which were both causes and effects, the whole country began to bearoused to the importance of the subjects which I have been discussing. The Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools appointed by the NationalEducational Association had reported the phases of the rural lifeproblem in 1897; but many declarations and reports of that kind arenecessary to stir the whole country. Hence no decisive movement, even inrural education, became noticeable for several years. But this reportdid much good; it not only formulated educational thought and policy inregard to the subject but it also awakened thought and discussionoutside of the teaching profession. 

=The Agricultural Colleges. =--The agricultural colleges and experimentalstations in the several states had also been active for some years andhad formulated a body of knowledge in regard to agricultural principlesand methods. They had distributed this information widely among thefarmers of the country. The latter, at first, looked askance at thesecolleges and their propaganda, and often refused to accept theirsuggestions and advice on the ground that it was "mere theory, " and thatfarmers could not be taught practical agriculture by mere "book men" and"theorizers. " The practical man often despises theory, not realizingthat practice without theory is usually blind. But the growing scienceof agriculture was working like a leaven for the improvement of farmlife in all its phases, and to-day the agricultural colleges andexperiment stations are the well-springs of information for practicalfarmers everywhere. Bulletins of information are published anddistributed regularly, and farmers are being brought into closer andcloser touch with these institutions. 

=Conventions. =--During this awakening period, conventions of variouskinds are held, which give the farmers an opportunity to hear and toparticipate in discussions pertaining to the problems with which theyare wrestling. They come together in district, county, or stateconventions, and the result has been that a class consciousness, an_esprit de corps_, is being developed. Farmers hear and see bigger andbetter things; their world is enlarged and their minds are stimulated;they are induced to think in larger units. Thought, like water, seeksits level, and in conventions of this kind the individual "levels up. "He goes home inspired to do better and greater things, and spreads thenew gospel among his neighbors. At the conventions he hears a variety oftopics discussed, including good roads, house plans, sanitation, schools, and others too numerous to mention. 

=Other Awakening Agencies. =--The agricultural paper, which practicallyevery farmer takes and which every farmer should take, brings to thefarm home each week the most modern findings on all phases of countrylife. The rural free delivery and the parcel post bring the daily mailto the farmer's door. The rural telephone is becoming general, and alsothe automobile and other rapid and convenient modes of communication andtransportation. All these things have helped to develop a clearerconsciousness of country life, its problems and its needs. 

=The Farmer in Politics. =--Add to all the foregoing considerations thefact that, in every state legislature and in Congress, the number ofrural representatives is constantly increasing, and we see clearly thatthe country districts are awakening to a realization not only of theirneeds but of their rights. All of these conditions have helped to turnthe eyes of the whole people, in state and nation, to long neglectedproblems. 

=The National Commission. =--So the various agencies and factorsenumerated above and others besides, all working more or lessconsciously and all conspiring together, finally resulted in theappointment of a National Commission on Rural Life, the results andfindings of which were made the subject of a special message from thepresident to Congress in 1909. The report of the commission was issuedfrom the Government Printing Office in Washington as Document Number705, and should be read by every farmer in the country. This commissionwas the resultant of many forces exerted around family firesides, in theschoolroom, in the press, on the platform, in conventions, inlegislatures, and in the halls of Congress. For the first time in thiscountry, the conditions and possibilities of rural life were made thesubjects of investigation and report to a national body. Thus theCommission became thenceforth a potent cause of the attention andimpetus since given to the problems we are discussing. 

=Mixed Farming. =--In recent years, too, what may be called "scientificfarming" has become a decided "movement" and is now very extensivelypracticed. This includes diversified farming, rotation of crops, stockraising, the breeding of improved stock, better plowing, and a host ofmatters connected with the farmer's occupation. Thus farming is becomingneither a job nor an avocation, but a genuine vocation, or profession. It requires for its success all the brains, all the ingenuity, all theattention and push that an intelligent man can give it; and, withal, itpromises all the variety, the interest, the happiness, and the successthat any profession can offer. 

=Now Before the Country. =--The movement in behalf of a richer rural lifeand of better rural schools is now before the country. It is the subjectof discussion everywhere. It is in the limelight; the literature on thesubject is voluminous; books without number, on all phases of thesubject, are coming from the press. Educational papers and magazines, and even the lay press, are devoting unstinted space to discussions oncountry life and the rural school. The country has the whole question"on the run, " with a fair prospect of an early capture. On pages 182-186we give a bibliography of a small portion of the literature on thesequestions which has come out recently. 

=Educational Extension. =--Within the last few years the movement knownas "extension work, " connected with the educational institutions, hashad a rapid growth. The state universities, agricultural colleges, andnormal schools in almost every state are doing their utmost to carryinstruction and education in a variety of forms to communities beyondtheir walls. They are vying with each other in their extensiondepartments, in extra-mural service of every possible kind. In manyplaces institutions are even furnishing musical performances and otherforms of entertainment at cost, in competition with the private bureaus, thus saving communities the profits of the bureau and the expense of themiddlemen. The University of Wisconsin has been in recent years theleader in this extension work. Minnesota, and most of the central andwestern states are active in the campaign of carrying education andculture to outlying communities. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakotahave recently pooled their forces for some exchange of service inextension work. 

=Library Extension Work. =--In Wisconsin, the state library is under thedirection of the university extension department, and collections ofbooks, which may be retained for a definite length of time, may besecured by any town or community in the state. In this way a library maydo excellent service. 

=Some Froth. =--No doubt some froth will be produced by the stirring ofthe waters which are moving in some places with whirlpool rapidity. There is considerable sound and fury, no doubt, in the discussions andin the things attempted in these uplifting movements. There is aconsiderable amount of smoke in proportion to the fire beneath. But, even with the froth, the noise, and the smoke, there is some latentpower, some energy, beneath and behind it all. The main thing is thatthe power, the energy, the thought, the enthusiasm of the nation havebeen started on the right way. We can discount and overlook the vagariesand foibles which will undoubtedly play around the outskirts of themovement. Every new movement shows similar phenomena. Much will be said, written, and done which is mere surface display. But while these may dolittle good, they will do no harm and are indicative of the inner andvital determination of the people to confront the difficulties. 

=Thought and Attitude. =--Our thought and our attitude make any kind ofwork or any kind of position desirable and worthy, or the reverse. Manyvicious leaders poison the minds of workers and make them dissatisfiedwith their work and their employers by suggesting a wrong spirit andattitude. We do not advocate passive submission to wrongs; nor on theother hand do we think that the interests of the laborer are to besubserved by infusing into his mind jealousy and envy and discontentwith his lot. 

A young man goes through the practice and games of football, enduringexertion and pain which he would not allow any other person to forceupon him; at the same time, he has a song in his heart. On a campingtrip a person will submit to rigors and privations which he would thinkintolerable at home. Whatever is socially fashionable is done withpleasure; the mind is the great factor. If one is interested in hiswork, it is pleasant--indeed more enjoyable than play; but if there isno interest it is all drudgery and pain. The attitude, the motive, thewill make all the difference in the world. In the rural renaissance, farm life may become more and more fashionable. This is by no meansimpossible. Country life has no such rigors as the football field or theouting in the wilds. When as a people we have passed from the sensuousand erotic wave on the crest of which we seem at present to be carriedalong, we can with profit, intellectually, morally, socially, andphysically, "go forth under the open sky and list to Nature'steachings. " Everything except the present glare of excitement beckonsback to the land, back to the country. Whether as a people we shalleffectively check the urban trend, will, in the not distant future, testthe self-control, the foresight, the wisdom, and the character of themanhood and womanhood of this nation. 

CHAPTER XV

A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL

=Not Pessimistic. =--Some of the early chapters of this book may haveleft the impression that a restoration, or rejuvenation, of countrylife, such as will reverse the urban trend and make rural life the moreattractive by comparison, is difficult if not impossible. It isdifficult we grant; but we do not wish to leave the impression that suchis improbable, much less impossible. We were simply facing the truth onthe dark, or negative, side, and were attempting to give reasons forconditions and facts which have been everywhere apparent. If there aretwo sides to a question both should be presented as they really are. Itis always as useless and as wrong to minimize as it is to exaggerate, and we were simply accounting for facts. 

We did not mean that there is no hope. The first essential in thesolution of any problem or in the improvement of any condition is to getthe condition clearly and accurately in mind--to _conceive_ it exactlyas it is. 

There is no doubt that the city, with its material splendor and itssocial life, has attractions; but if we turn to rural life, we shallfind, if we go below the surface of human nature, the strongest appealsto our deeper and more abiding interests. The surface of things and thepresent moment are near to us, and powerful in the way of motivation. These, however, are the aspects of human environment which appeal moststrongly to the child, to the savage, and to the uneducated person. Ifwe are optimists, believing that the race is progressing, and that ourown people and country are progressing as rapidly as or more rapidlythan any other, we must believe that motives which appeal to our deeper, saner, and more disciplined nature will win out in the long run. Let ussee, then, what some of the appeals to this saner stratum of humannature, in behalf of rural life, are. 

=Fewer Hours of Labor than Formerly. =--The hours of labor have beenreduced everywhere. In the olden time labor was done by slaves or serfs, and neither their bodies nor their time was their own. They laboredwhen, where, and as long as their masters dictated. Even a generationago there was little said, and there was no uniformity, as to how long aworking-man should labor. In busy seasons or on important pieces ofwork, he labored as long as the light of day permitted. It was from sunto sun, and often long after the sun had disappeared from the westernhorizon. Sixteen hours was no uncommon day for him. Under suchconditions there was no room for mental, social, or spiritualadvancement. Later, the hours were reduced to a maximum of fourteen. This proved to be so satisfactory that laws were passed providing for afurther decrease in hours. This standardizing of the day of labor, whilenot general in the country, had its effect. The twelve-hour day, whilestill long, was a decided betterment over the sixteen-hour day. Therewas beginning to be a little possible margin for social, mental, andrecreational activity. But the twelve-hour day must inevitably get thebetter of the human system and of the spirit of man. It is too long andtoo steady a grind, and habit and long hours soon tell their story. Theyinevitably lead to the condition of the "man with the hoe. "

As improvements in machinery were perfected and inventions of all kindsmultiplied and spread both in the factory and on the farm, the ten-hourday was ushered in. It was inevitable in this age of inventions andimprovements. Capital had these inventions and improvements in itspossession and a laboring man could now do twice as much with the samelabor as formerly. But society as a whole could not assent to the theoryand the practice that the capitalist, the owner of the machines, shouldreap all the advantages; and so, while the hours were still furtherreduced, the wages were increased, thus more nearly equalizing thebenefits accruing to employer and employed. With the aid of inventionsthe worker, on the average, can do more in the short day of eight orten hours than he did formerly in the sixteen-hour day. It is notcontended, however, that every laborer actually does this. This phase ofthe question is a large factor in the labor problem. But from the pointof view of the average man and of society, labor with the aid ofmachinery can produce probably twice as much as it produced formerlywithout that aid. This fact has had great influence upon industrial lifeeverywhere, and makes for increased opportunities and growth. 

=The Mental Factor Growing. =--The trend alluded to above implies thatthe mental factor is growing larger and larger in occupations of allkinds. Success is becoming more and more dependent on knowledge, ingenuity, prudence, and foresight. Especially is this true on the farm. There is scarcely any calling that demands or can make use of suchvaried talents. All fields of knowledge may be drawn upon and utilized, from the weather signals to the most recent findings and conclusions ofscience and philosophy. As the hours of labor both in the factory and onthe farm are shortened still more--as is possible--the hours of study, of play, and of social converse will be lengthened. Indeed this is oneof the by-problems of civilization and progress--to see that leisurehours are profitably spent for the welfare of the individual. In anyevent, the prospect of reasonable hours and of social and culturalopportunities in rural life is growing from day to day. The intelligentman with modern machinery and ordinary capital, if he has made somescientific study of agriculture, need have no fear of not living asuccessful and happy life on the farm. A knowledge of his calling in allits aspects, with the aid of modern machinery, and with sobriety, thrift, and industry, will bring a kind of life to both adults andchildren that the crowded factory and tenements and the tinsel show ofthe city cannot give. But one must be willing to forego the social andphysical display of the surface of things and to choose the better andmore substantial part. If we are a people that can do this there is hopefor an early and satisfactory solution of the problems of rural life. 

=The Bright Side of Old-time Country Life. =--Even in the country life oftwenty-five to fifty years ago, there was a bright and happy side. Itwas not all dark, and, in its influence for training the youth to astrong manhood, we shall probably not look upon its like again. Ifstrength and welfare rather than pleasure are the chief end of life, many of the experiences which were undoubtedly hardships were blessingsin disguise. Every boy had his chores and every girl her householdduties to perform. The cows had to be brought home in the evening fromthe prairie or the woods; they had to be milked and cared for; calvesand hogs had to be fed; horses had to be cared for both evening andmorning; barns, stables, and sheds had to be looked after. All theanimals of the farm, including the domestic fowls, such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys, became our friends and each was individually known. 

Though all the duties of farm life had to be done honestly and well, nevertheless the farmer's boy found time to go fishing and hunting, skating, coasting, and trapping. He learned the ways and the habits ofbeasts, birds, and fish. He observed the squirrels garnering theirwinter supply in the fall. He watched the shrewd pocket gopher as itcame up and deposited the contents of its cheek pockets upon the pile offresh dirt beside his hole. He learned how to trap the muskrat, and woeto the raccoon that was discovered stealing the corn, for it was trackedand treed even at midnight. The boy's eyes occasionally caught sight ofa red fox or of a deer; and the call of the dove, the drum of thepheasant, the welcome "whip-poor-will" and the "to-whit, to-whit, to-who" of the owl were familiar sounds. He ranged the prairie and thewoods; he climbed trees for nuts and for distant views, and knew everyhill, valley, and stream for miles and miles around. Even his daily andregular work was of a large and varied kind. It was not like the makingof one tenth of a pin, which has a strong tendency to reduce the workerto one tenth of a man. 

On the farm one usually begins and finishes a piece of work whether itbe a hay-rack or a barn; he sees it through--the whole of it receivesexpression in him. It is _his_ piece of work and it faces him as he hasto face it. The tendency is for both to be "honest. " If there were somuch brightness and variety in days gone by, when all work was done byhand, how much better the situation can be now and in the future, wheninventions and machines have come to the rescue of the laborer, and whenthe hours of toil have been so materially shortened!

=The Larger Environment. =--There is no doubt that a large and variedenvironment is conducive to the growth of a strong and activepersonality. If one has to adjust himself at every turn to somethingnew, it will lead to self-activity and initiative, to ingenuity andaggressiveness. If tadpoles are reared in jars of different sizes, thegrowth and size of each will vary with the size of the vessel, thesmallest jar growing the smallest tadpole, and the largest jar thelargest tadpole. It is fighting against the laws of fate to attempt torear strong personalities in a "flat" or even in a fifty-foot lot. Theyneed the range of the prairies, the hills, and the woods. Shakespearewas born and brought up in one of the richest and most stimulatingenvironments, natural and social, in the world; and this, no doubt, hadmuch to do with his matchless ability to express himself on all phasesof nature and of mind. Large and varied influences, while they do notcompel, at least _tend_ to produce, large minds; for they leave with usinfinite impressions and induce correspondingly varied reactions andexperiences. Under such conditions a child is reacting continually andthus becoming active and efficient. He is challenged at every turn, andif stumbling blocks become stepping stones, the process is the very bestkind of education. 

=Games. =--There are excellent opportunities in the country for all kindsof games, for there ample room and many incentives to activity presentthemselves. In the city, children are often content with seeing expertsand professionals give performances or "stunts, " while they, themselves, remain passive. In the country there are not so many attractions anddistractions--so many dazzling and overwhelmingly "superior"things--that children may not be easily induced to "get into the game"themselves. I fear that in recent years owing to imitation of the cityand its life, play and games in the country have become somewhatobsolete. There needs to be a renaissance in this field. We have beenoffered everywhere in recent years so much of what might be called the"finished product" that the children are content merely to sit around asspectators and watch others give the performances. 

As in the case of the rural school the play instincts of countrychildren must be awakened again in behalf of rural life in general. There are scores of games and sports, from marbles to football, whichshould receive attention. In recent years the social mind, in allsports, seems to be directed to the _result_, the winning or losing, instead of to the game, as a game, and the fun of it all. Truesportsmanship should be revived and cultivated. There is no reason whythere should not be found in every neighborhood, and especially at everyschool center, all kinds of plays and games, each in its own time andplace and having its own patronage--marbles, tops, swings, horseshoes, "I spy, " anti-over, pull-away, prisoner's base, tennis, croquet, volleyball, basketball, skating, coasting, skiing, baseball, and football. Horizontal bars, turning pole, and other apparatus should be provided inevery playground. In the social centers, if the boys can be organized asBoy Scouts, and the girls as Camp-Fire Girls, good results will ensue. 

Many more plays and games will suggest themselves, and those for girlsshould be encouraged as well as those for boys. All the aspects of rurallife can thus be made most enjoyable. It is often well to introduce andcultivate one game at a time, letting it run its course, something likea fever, and then, at the psychological moment, introduce and try outanother. To introduce too many at one time would not afford anopportunity for children to experience the rise and fall of a wave ofenthusiasm on any one, and this is quite important. Usually somedirection should be given to play, but this direction should not besuppressive, and should be given by a leader who understands andsympathizes with child nature. 

=Inventiveness in Rural Life. =--In the city, where everything ismanufactured or sold ready-made, a person simply goes to the store andbuys whatever he needs. In the country this cannot be done, and one isdriven by sheer necessity to devise ways and means of supplying hisneeds, himself. He simply has to invent or devise a remedy. Necessity isthe mother of invention. 

It is really better for boys and girls in the country if their parentsare compelled to be frugal and economical. If children get anything andeverything they wish, merely for the asking, they are undone; theybecome weak for lack of self-exertion, self-expression, and invention;they become dissatisfied if everything is not coming their way fromothers. They become selfish and careless. Having tasted of the best, merely for the asking, they become dissatisfied with everything exceptthe best. This is the dominant tendency in the city and wherever parentsare foolish enough to satisfy the child's every whim. If the parentscarry the child in this manner, the child, in later years, will haveweak legs and the parents will have weak backs. Moreover, love andrespect move in the direction of activity, and if everything comes thechild's way there will be little love, except "cupboard love, " going theother way. 

It is unfortunate for children to experience the best too early in life;there is then no room for growth and development. It was Professor Jameswho said that the best doll he ever saw was a home-made rag doll; itleft sufficient room for the play of the imagination. With the perfect, factory-made doll there is nothing more for the imagination to do; it iscomplete, but it is not the little girl who has completed it. In thecountry, men and women, boys and girls are induced to begin and completeall kinds of things. Many things have to be made outright and mostthings have to be repaired on the farm. Challenges of this kind toinventiveness and activity are outstanding all the time. Sleds, bothlarge and small, wheelbarrows and hay racks, sheds, granaries, and barnsare both made and repaired. But in all there is no mad rush. It is notas it is in the factory or in the sawmill. One is not reduced to theinstantaneous reactions of an automaton; he has time to breathe and tothink. One can act like a free man rather than like a machine. There isroom for thought and for invention. 

=Activity Rather than Passivity. =--In this infinite variety ofstimulation and response, the youth is induced to become active ratherthan passive. While he is not pushed unduly, he is reasonably activeduring all his waking hours, and the habit of activity, of doing, isingrained. This is closely related to character and morality, to thriftand success. Such a person is more likely to be a creditor than a debtorto society. In this respect the country and the farm have been thesalvation of many a youth. 

In the city many children have no regular employment; they have nochores to do and no regular occupation. Evenings and vacations findthem on the streets. Then Satan always finds mischief for idle hands todo. These children become passive except under the impulses of instinctor of mischievous ideas; they have no regular and systematic work to do;everything is done for them. During their early years habits ofidleness, of passive receptivity, of mischief, and possibly of crime, are ingrained. And though this kind of life may be more _pleasurable_, in a low sense, than the active life of the country, there can be nodoubt as to which is the more wholesome and strengthening. 

=Child Labor. =--A good child-labor law is absolutely essential to thewelfare of the children for whom it has been enacted; nevertheless, there has been a great omission in not providing that idle childrenshall do some work. Even in large cities there are probably morechildren who do not work enough than there are who are made to work toohard. In our zeal we sometimes forbid children to work, when some workwould be the very best thing for them. It is true that on the farm aswell as in the factory ignorant and mercenary parents make dollars outof the sweat of their children, when these should be going to school orengaged in physical and mental recreation and development. It isunfortunate that society is not able to see to it, that, as in Plato'sRepublic, every child and every person engage in the work or study forwhich he is best fitted, and to the extent that is best for him. Thenthe hundreds of thousands of children who are idling would be engagedin some kind of occupation, and those who are working too hard would begiven lighter tasks; and all would have the privilege of an appropriateeducation. 

=The Finest Life on Earth. =--In view of such circumstances andopportunities, life in the country should be, and _could be made_, thebest and most complete life possible to a human being. Country life isthe best cradle of the race. To have a good home and rear a family inthe heart of a great city is well-nigh impossible for the averagelaboring man. The struggle for existence is too fierce and theopportunity, in childhood and youth, for self-expression and initiativeis too meager. The environment is too vast, complex, and overwhelming, with nothing worth while for the child to do. "Individuals may stand, but generations will slip" on such an inclined plane of life. From thispoint of view it can be truly said, we think, that "God made the countrywhile man made the town. "

The real, vital possibilities of country life are without number. Thesurface attractions of the city are most alluring. A focusing of thepublic mind upon the problem, its _pros_ and _cons_, will, it is to behoped, turn the scales without delay in favor of country life and itssubstantial benefits. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following bibliography is submitted as affording information andsuggestive helps to those who are interested in the problems hereindiscussed. Although the books and references have been selected withcare, it is not to be inferred that the list includes any considerableportion of the vast and still increasing output of literature in thisfield of investigation. But it will prove to be a fairly comprehensivelist from which the reader may select such articles or books as make afavorable appeal to him. The works referred to are all of recent date, and express the current trend of thought upon the problems discussed inthis little volume. 

BOOKS

American Academy of Political and Social Science. Philadelphia, 1912. Vol. XL, No. 129, "Country Life": Butterfield, "Rural Sociology as a College Discipline"; Cance, "Immigrant Rural Communities"; Carver, "Changes in Country Population"; Coulter, "Agricultural Laborers"; Davenport, "Scientific Farming"; Dixon, "Rural Home"; Eyerly, "Coöperative Movements among Farmers"; Foght, "The Country School"; Gillette, "Conditions and Needs of Country Life"; Gray, "Southern Agriculture"; Hartman, "Village Problems"; Hamilton, "Agricultural Fairs"; Henderson, "Rural Police"; Hibbard, "Farm Tendency"; Kates, "Rural Conferences"; Lewis, "Tramp Problem"; Marquis, "The Press"; Mumford, "Education for Agriculture"; Parker, "Good Roads"; Pearson, "Chautauquas"; Roberts and Israel, "Y. M. C. A. "; Scudder, "Rural Recreation"; True, "The Department of Agriculture"; Van Norman, "Conveniences"; Watrous, "Civic Art"; Washington, B. T. , "The Rural Negro Community"; Wilson, "Social Life"; Wells, "Rural Church". 

Bailey, L. H. : _The Country Life Movement in the U. S. _ (1912) 220 pp. Macmillan Co. , New York. _Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. _ 4 vols. $20. 00. Macmillan Co. , New York. _The State and the Farmer. _ (1911) 177 pp. Macmillan Co. , New York. _The Training of Farmers. _ (1909) 263 pp. Century Co. , New York. 

Betts, George H. : _New Ideals in Rural Schools. _ (1913) 127 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co. , Boston. 

Brown, H. A. : _Readjustment of a Rural High School to the Needs of a Community. _ (1912) Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 20. 

Buell, Jennie: _One Woman's Work for Farm Women. _ 50c. Whitcomb & Barrows, Boston. 

Burnham, Ernest: _Two Types of Rural Schools. _ (1912) 129 pp. Teachers College, Columbia, New York. 

Butterfield, K. L. : _Chapters in Rural Progress. _ $1. 00. Univ. Of Chicago Press. _The Country Church and the Rural Problem. _ (1911) 165 pp. Univ. Of Chicago Press. 

Carney, Mabel: _Country Life and the Country School. _ (1912) 405 pp. Row, Peterson & Co. , Chicago. 

Conference on Rural Education--_Proceedings. _ (1913) 45 pp. Wright & Potter, Boston. 

Coulter, John Lee: _Coöperation Among Farmers. _ (1911) 75c. Sturgis & Walton Co. , New York. 

Cubberly, E. P. : _The Improvement of the Rural School. _ (1912) 75 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co. , Boston. _Rural Life and Education. _ Houghton Mifflin Co. , Boston. 

Curtis, Henry S. : _Play and Recreation for the Open Country. _ (1914) 265 pp. Ginn & Co. , Boston. 

Davenport, Mrs. E. : _Possibilities of the Country Home. _ (Bulletin. ) University of Illinois, Urbana. 

Dodd, Helen C. : _The Healthful Farm House; by a Farmer's Wife. _ (1911) 69 pp. Whitcomb & Barrows, New York. 

Eggleston, J. D. , and Bruère, R. W. : _The Work of the Rural School. _ (1913) 287 pp. Harpers. 

Fiske, G. W. : _The Challenge of the Country. _ (1912) 283 pp. Association Press, New York. 

Foght, H. W. : _The American Rural School. _ (1910) 361 pp. Macmillan Co. , New York. 

F. T. : _The Country School of To-morrow. _ (1913) 15 pp. General Education Board, New York. 

Gillette, J. M. : _Constructive Rural Sociology. _ (1913) 301 pp. Sturgis & Walton, New York. 

Haggard, H. R. : _Rural Denmark and its Lessons. _ (1911) $2. 25. Longmans, Green & Co. , New York. 

Hutchinson, F. K. : _Our Country Life. _ (1912) 316 pp. A. C. McClurg & Co. , Chicago. 

Kern, O. J. : _Among Country Schools. _ (1906) 366 pp. Ginn & Co. , Boston. 

Macdonald, N. C. : _The Consolidation of Rural Schools in North Dakota. _ (1913) 35 pp. State Board of Education, Bismarck, N. D. 

McKeever, Wm. A. : _Farm Boys and Girls. _ (1912) 326 pp. Macmillan Co. , New York. 

Monahan, A. C. : _The Status of Rural Education in the U. S. _ Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 

Page, L. W. : _Roads, Paths, and Bridges. _ (1912) $1. 00. Sturgis & Walton Co. , New York. 

Pennsylvania Rural Progress Association: _Proceedings, Rural Life Conference. _ (1912) 227 pp. Julius Smith, Secretary, Pennsdale, Pa. 

Plunkett, Sir Horace C. : _Rural Problem in the U. S. _ (1910) 174 pp. 

Report of National Commission on Rural Life. Doc. No. 705. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 

Schmidt, C. C. : _Consolidation of Schools. _ University of North Dakota. 

Seerley, H. H. : _The Country School. _ (1913) 218 pp. Scribner's Sons, New York. _Rural School Education. _ (1912) 84 pp. University of Texas. 

Wray, Angelina: _Jean Mitchell's School. _ $1. 00. Public School Pub. Co. , Bloomington, Ind. 

ARTICLES IN REPORTS AND PERIODICALS

Allman, L. J. : _Teachers for Rural Schools. _ Report, N. E. A. (1910) pp. 280 and 575. 

Bailey, L. H. : _Why Boys Leave the Farm. _ Century, 72: 410-16 (July, 1906). 

Barnes, F. R. : _Present Defects in the Rural Schools. _ Report N. D. E. A. (1909) pp. 259-266. 

Bruère, Martha Bensley: _The Farmer and His Wife. _ Good Housekeeping Mag. , June, 1914, p. 820, New York. 

Conference for Education in the South; _Proceedings, 1909. _ Foster, Webb, and Parkes, Nashville, Tenn. 

Consolidation: Drop a postal card to Superintendents of Public Instruction for latest printed matter. 

Cotton, F. A. : _Country Life and the Country School. _ School and Home Education, 28:90-94 (Nov. , 1908). 

Coulter, J. C. : _Coöperative Farming. _ World's Work, 23: 59-63 (Nov. , 1911). 

_County Supervision. _ Report N. E. A. 1908, p. 252. 

Cubberly, E. P. : _Politics and the Country School Problem. _ Educ. Review, 47:10-21 (Jan. , 1914). 

Gillette, J. M. : _The Drift to the City. _ Am. Journal of Sociology, 16:645-67 (Mar. , 1911). 

Hibbard, B. H. : _Tenancy in the North Central States. _ Quar. Journal of Economics, 25:710-29 (Aug. , 1911). 

Hill, J. J. : _What We Must Do to be Fed. _ World's Work, 19: 12226-54 (Nov. , 1909). 

McClure, D. E. : _Education of Country Children for the Farm. _ Education, 26:65-70 (Oct. , 1905). 

Miller, E. E. : _Factors in the Re-making of Country Life. _ Forum, 48:354-62 (Sept. , 1912). 

_Passing of the Man With the Hoe. _ World's Work, 20: 13246-58 (Aug. , 1910). 

_Rural Life and Rural Education. _ Report N. E. A. 1912, pp. 281-313. 

Supervision: Index of N. E. A. Reports For County. Report of 1908, pp. 252-71. 

Wells, George F. : _Is an Organized Country Life Movement Possible?_ Survey, 29:449-56 (Jan. 4, 1913). 

INDEX

 Activity and passivity, 179

 Affiliation, 112

 Agricultural colleges, 46, 162

 Apperception mass, 101

 Assistant county superintendent, 134

 Attendance in consolidated school, 73

 Automobile parties, 124

 "Back to the country, " 9

 Best, the--the cheapest, 157

 Boarding place, 62

 Boy Scouts, 177

 Bright side of rural life, 173

 Camp-Fire Girls, 177

 Character, 83

 Child labor, 180

 China, 107, 144

 Chores, 10

 Cities, population of, 19; churches of, 23; conveniences in, 20, 21; schools of, 22

 Commission, Rural, 9, 164

 Committee of Twelve, 162

 Community activities, 115

 Consolidation, 37, 60, 63, 65, 75; cost, 70; difficulties, 64; effects of, 71, 72, 73, 74; process, 63; when not needed, 64

 Conventions, 163

 Coöperation, 139, 140, 145, 158

 County superintendence, 129

 Course of study, 108

 Curriculum in rural schools, 100-113

 Dancing, 120

 Debates, 116

 District system, 64

 Diversification in farming, 156, 165

 Dramatic performances, 118

 Driver, 69

 Education, 77; of teachers, 84; value of, 24

 Educational centers, 23; column in press, 150

 Environment, 105, 175

 Examination of schools, 135

 Exhibits, school, 122

 Experience, teaching, 85

 Extension work, 166

 Farmer, the, and his home, 152; and his politics, 164

 Forum, a rural, 123

 Games, 121, 176

 Grading, 71

 Harvesting machinery, 38-41

 High schools, progress in, 47

 Higher education, progress in, 44

 Hopkins, Mark, 34, 35, 78

 Hours of labor, 170

 Ideal life, 159

 Imitation, 18, 100, 101

 Individual work, 109

 Inseparables, the three, 88, 91, 126

 Interpreting core, 101

 Inventiveness in rural life, 177-179

 Kindness, too much, 80

 Knots, untying, 70

 Labor, hours of, 170

 Labor-saving devices, 155

 Laws, self-imposed, 150

 Leadership, 62, 114, 139, 147

 Lectures, 118

 Leveling process, 153, 154

 Library extension, 166

 Literary society, 115

 Literature, urbanized, 22

 Machinery, caring for, 158

 Married teachers, 75

 Men needed in teaching, 53, 93

 Mental factor, 172

 Mixed farming, 165

 "Mode, " the, 88, 89

 Model rural school, 61

 Moving pictures, 120

 Münsterberg, Prof. H. , 92

 Murphy, Francis, 141

 Music, 119

 Normal schools, 45

 Ocean travel, 43

 Organization, 26, 125

 "Overflow of instruction, " 111

 Physical soundness, 82, 122

 Plant, the educational, 34, 35, 77

 Problem, rural, 24, 36, 37, 57, 131

 Profession, 57, 90

 Profit-sharing, 145

 Progress, lines of, 38-48

 Punctuality, 73

 Reaping machines, 14, 38

 Renaissance, rural, 160

 Responsibility, 142

 Retired farmers, 23

 Retirement fund, 94

 Roads, better, 75

 Routine, 11

 Rural Commission, 9, 164

 Rural schools, 49; backward, 15, 47, 49; buildings, 28; course of study for, 108; good, 36, 61; interior, 31; no progress in, 50; organization, 26; ventilation of, 29

 Rural teachers, 102; courses for, 59, 103

 Salaries, 87, 96, 97

 School board, 98

 Scientific farming, 165; spirit, 107

 Self-activity, 148, 149, 150

 Social center, 74, 114, 137; cost of, 124, 126; as business center, 125

 Spelling school, 117

 Sports, 121

 Standards, 54, 58, 90; to be raised, 92

 Steam engine, 42

 Storm, A. V. , 53

 Supervision, 55, 60, 74, 127, 129; city, 132; county, 129, 131; importance of, 127; nominal, 129; overdone, 128; purpose of, 132

 Surroundings, effect of, on children, 30, 34

 Teacher, 35, 75, 77, 79, 87, 113; chief factor, 34; leader, 62, 114, 147; courses for, 59, 83, 103

 Terms, school, 55, 109

 Textbook teaching, 104

 Township system, 65, 66

 Transportation of pupils, 67, 69

 Urban trend, 19

 Urbanized literature, 22

 Value of education, 24

 Ventilation, 29

 Wages, 90, 96

 Waste land, 160

 Winter work, 14

 Women's condition, 16

 Work, value of, 10, 14, 157, 180; city, 23; farm, 12

 Yearly routine, 11