CIHM Microfiche Series ({Monographs) ICMH Collection de microfiches (monographles) Canadian Inatituta for Hiatorieal Microraproductiona / Inatitut Canadian da microraproductiona hiatoriquaa 1 Twlmteil lid BttHogr a p h fe Ham I Hum tichwiqiiM t bibliotraptiiqim The liMtiiMH hM MMnpiM to obMin tfM bnt orifiMi eopy MiitaMt for f Hmint. FcMnrw of tfiit oopy wMdi miy M MWioirapMnNy wiiQiM, wMdi Moy ikm my Of VN MwpM HI mv ffvpfooiiciion« Or wiNon Mvy lifnifieMllv ehaiifi tfM umhI NWthod of fUminfl, an lit ■ rifii I^J«^M L'limitwt • microfiliiiA l« iM^ltotir tmmptoin du'il luiaMpoMiMttftMproairtr. Lm dttaib da ott • w iwpl a l u ^ tont powt-Atra i biMiofrapM«M, qui poinw roproduHt. ou 4vi pMNMt oxiiw WW modifieatioii dam la mMMda noniMlo d> f Nmoft tont indiqufa ei-danout. I yi Colotifad eo««n/ LxJ Couvarturo da □ Cofara Comanuia □ Colourad / D □ Covan raitofad and/or lamkiatad/ Comortura raitaiirAa at/oM paUieuMa □ Covar tMa iiiiMiii§/ La titra da eomartura D D Coloiiffad TTtapt/ Cartas fAofraphiqoat an Colourad ink (i.a. otiiar than Mua or Wacfc)/ Enert da eoulawr (i.a. antra qua Waua ou noira) ns: rattorad and/or lamlnatad/ at/ou paNleuMa* 0N|asdiMolourad.stainadorfomd/ Paias dieolorto. tackatiai ou piquta n 0Sho«irthrou|h/ Tramparanaa □ Colourad platas and/or ilhittrations/ PlaiMhat at/ou iNustrationt wn coulaur I I Bound with( 1 I RalMavaed'i othar matarial/ 'autrat doeumanti □ Tifht binding may cawa ihadow* or distortion alonf iniarior ntK^fnl La laUura sarrfa paut eauaar da rombre ou dt la distorsion la lonfl da la marfB inttriaura n D during raitoration may i within tha taxt. Whanavar posiibla. thata ha«a baan omittad from filmint/ lliapautquaeanainaspafasblanehat aioutias lore d'una rastauration apparaittant dans la taxts. mais, lorsqua eala MBit postiMa. eat pagas n'ont pasMfihnfat. Additional eommantt:/ Commantairas tupplimantairas: □ Quality of print varies/ Qualiti in«9Ble de I'impression □ Continuous pegination/ Pagination eontinue □ Includes index(es)/ Comprend un (des) index Title on heeder taken from:/ Le titre da I'en-tite provient: □ Title page of inue/ Page de titre de la livraison r~n Caption of issue/ Titre de dipart de la livraison n Mntrique (piriodiquas) de la livraison This item is filmed at the reduction ratio cheeked below/ Cc document est f itoni au uux di riduetion indiqui ci-dessous. 10X ux n itx 12X IfX aox 22X 2IX XX 24X 2tX Z] 32X Th« copy filmad Iwra has bMn raproducad thanka to tha ganaroaity of: National Library of Canada L'axamplaira f iim4 f ut raproduit grica A la g*n4roait* da: BibllotMqua nationala du Canada Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha baat quality poaaibia eonaldaring tha condition and lagibillty of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract tpacif icationa. Original copiaa in printad papar covara ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or iiluatratad impraa- sk>n. or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tha firat paga with a printad or iiluatratad Impraa- aion. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or iiluatratad imprasaion. Tha last racordad frama on aach microficha shall contain tha symbol •-»> (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol ▼ (moaning "END"), whichavar appliaa. Laa imagaa auh^antaa ont «ti raproduitas avac la plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da l'axamplaira film*, at an conformity avac las conditions du contrat da filmaga. Laa axamplairas originaux dont la couvartura an papiar aat ImprimAo aont filmAs an commandant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant aoit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illustration, soit par la sacond plat, salon la cas. Tous laa autraa axamplairaa originaux sont filmte an commandant par ia pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illustration at an tarminant par la darnitra paga qui comporta una taila amprainta. Un daa aymbolas suhranta apparattra sur ia darnlAra imaga da chaqua microficha, salon ia cas: ia symbols -^ signifia "A SUIVRE". la aymbola ▼ aignifia "FIN". IMapa, piataa, charta, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thosa too larga to ba antiraiy included in ona axposuro ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand corner, laft to right and top to bottom, as many framaa aa required. Tha following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea cartea, pianchea, tableaux, etc., peuvent fttre fiimAs i dee taux da rMuction diff^rants. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra raproduit en un soul cliche, il est film* i partir da I'angia aupAriaur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant ia nombre d'imagea nAcassaira. Lea diagrammes suivanta iiiuatrant la m*thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 **«C«OeOfV MKXUTION TBT CHAIT (ANSI and ISO TEST CHAUT No. 2) la ■2.8 1^ itt |£ 12.2 u §SA Mam ■•« 1 IZO Uh ILzs nu 1^1 1.6 .^ /APPLIED IN/HGE Inc 16U East Hoin SIrnt Rochtiltr. Hn York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Ption« (716) 286 -5989 -Fa. i-^^- Improvement of Education ..in Rurol Schook. Reprinted (rem R^ort of tiic Doodnka EducatkMul Ajwdation, Augurt, 1901. BY PROFESSOR JAMES W. ROBERTSON Ottawa, Coiada. Improvement of Education in Rural Schools BY PROFESSOR JAMES W. ROBERTSON and fervor of those who have addressed the conVenT'on ^'T' A„v nation., s„„„,,,, „,,,, „^ ^/j IZ a,.. „ !o"'''°", "'" from .„ i„,.,„gen,, God.fea,ing and o.p,h I op ^r T „"""" these qualities in our people, it will be adn,i,,..i i, " in .he ,„„, school, we'ne'd 'the ulj'^Z:' ' ""' '""■ "" The Do»,n,o» Edlcational Association. coJsL'^L'l;,;:;''' °:f;""'"7-i'''« "" -■'•" -^--Hons. pose i, • aL tha . ' ""' '"■""'''''^l -"embers who com- .o bti"g s:v^i:\:z?:r'r,i' " ■"""■ "- "" ■"'■ •"=• ■• a convention of eac er, „„?' "vT 't=/"7'-' "' ■•"»"■•-"«• At intellectual hospitali. . ' M^re ?v ° 'n °«"'"* ""'' ""''"'""'■'« minds, those enUedin eduCira .' , stuTd hr ""'.°''" ..amst i„r„™ation, ot suggestions, evMb^^ : Id-^ft l' — a — unexpected quarter*. I have observed in the diiKuwion. that eacher. are .earle,. and even lavi.h in their critici.ronh. edu cafonal sy.tem. in the various province, from which they HM Th.y -peak with .vehemence of adjective, which I would „i t:': ure to.m.tate. Such word, of a dei^riptive .ort a.'.viclor" P«rn.c.ou.." . . prepo,terou,." are to..ed .Lt with a freedZ frl responsibility which , would not dare claim. However ourofT mformafon. the .u,rge.tion, and the critki.m, .houW come Ll k..» lu.i 1. . . ''F^«'«-ne». pass or record resolutions, makes but I ttle use of the intellectual amunition of those who take pTrt in .t» discussions. My own contribution to the procredinrwiS Slve value only in so far as it leads to practical action afterla.d. The Manual THAistvo Movement. oubii!*Lir"T* '"" .T *^°""«t«d with Manual Training in the public school, since I have the honour to administer the Macdonald Manual Training Fund for Canada. «»»caonaia catinl* 'k '^'^J ""^°^*""**« ^hat this reform in the methods of edu- cation should have come to us under the name of •• Manual Train- ing There are in this newer education three form, of expression which are used interchangeably. , am sorry for that ; it Teld. ^^ much confusion. The three are : Manual Training, Industrial Education. Technical Education. I see them in the iewspapl", one ™ Z"''"'u""' "''' '"•" P*°P'« ^-"^'"^ ^b*'"* them ; and th^ Zrrn "' *r°'* P^P'*- ^°'^' ^•••y "• -t he same thing at ail-not at all the same sort of thing. The spirit of tT. h nfs I h""'"" '*?"*"'" '"''' ''P'"* " 'J"'*' d'ff--t « those things I have named. Manual Training is that part of general education which seek. ts result ,n the boy himself or in the giri herself, seeks the resu, there and nowhere else, without regard to the particular occupation to be followed afterwards. The thing, made by a child in Manual Traming may as well go into the stove or into the wa,te-paper baske ; but the thing, made by a boy in an indu,tri.l school. unSer a system of Industrial Education, are made for the sake of the — 3— thinKs and made for the sake of the ability to make the same or similar thm^rn that will sell. I do „ot say that , a poor part or an unnece»«ary part of education, but it is not Manual Training. Ini'u«trial education imparts information and ^ives. training for thv .articular purpose of fitting a boy or girl, or man or womar .o be capable, expert and skilful in some industrial occupa- tion. ^ Technical Kducation has some manual training in it, but the manual training in technical education has a price in it and on it for the worth of its products. It is looking to the effect of the training on ihe craft and on the product, and not on the person. Technical h. ucation IS to prepare a boy or girl, or man or woman, for follow- ing successfully a trade or profession. Manual Training in a techni- cal school i.s pursued as an end in itself ; the idea behind it is utilit- arian only. There is a difference -a tremendous difference-and Manual Training is not so valuable after a bov is past fifteen It then becomes technical education and crafts.nanship. which have their value in dolla s and cents, but which are not essential as part of an elementary school system. On the other hand. Manual Train- ing IS a means for developing the faculties and giving the boy that all-round training which he is entitled to in a country like ours. Any attempt to impart a purely utilitarian character to the educa- tion of young children is bound to defeat its own object. A child is one and indivisible. After reading books on the subject one is almost persuaded that a c.iild is not one-that a child is like the wooden puzzle we used to have as boys. You pulled out one peg. and that was one part ; you continued, and laid all thfc parts in separate places After a while you tried to put them together, and when it was finished it was a man. So we speak of the body, and we have gymnastics for the body ; we speak of the mind, and we have intellectual training for the mind ; we have the emotions, and we have music and all such nice things for the emotions ; and then we have the will, and we make a boy do disagreeable things, and refrain from doing pleasant things, to train his will. The disagree- able has been counted a nee. sary element in mental and moral training of high discipline. That is my old wooden puzzle over again; you take the boy all apart and scatter him about, and then try to put him together again-and you find that you haven't the S"th 1°^ '"J^V*"!.^ ^°'' °^ '^'""S: the division is not real. toogJeatTcS ^'••^ ^'^'«-- f- ^'«— of explanation, is al — 4- ■mVATION IN RURAL DIHTRUTI. Th« improvement of the rural sichoola ii one of the important public quettions in Canada to-day. In our educational prof reas not much hat been done for the boya and girls in rural achoolg compwed with what has been given to and made possible for the children in towns and cities. The after-life of the boy who leaves the country school, to follow some occupation in the locality, docs not readily join itself to the •chool life which he then leaves behind. In nearly every case the school life has been an experience apart from, diffiercnt from, and only in a very remote way leading up to, the mental or bodily labours and social duties which are to occupy him afterwards. It becomes necessary, since the school house absorbs so much of the time of the boys and girls, to adapt rural schools to rural life. In educational Manual Training the advance has been one from books to benches as a means of mental culture. In rural schools the advance should be from books to benches, and from both to plots of ground and various objects, as a means of mental culture. This sort of thing is being carried on most successfully, particularly in the schools of Nova Scotia and those of the North West Terri- tories. A piece of ground attached to a rural school should be utilized, each child having his own small plot, which he can use like his slate, putting things in it and on it, and and rubbing them off again— not for the 6ake of the things, but for the sake of the child's growth in knowledge and mental ability. I hope that ere long we shall have many schools in Canada, where boys and girls will have an opportunity of getting this better sort of education. For instance, suppose a boy should plant ten grains of wheat in a row, ten grains of Indian corn in another row, ten sets of potatoes in another row, and ten clover plants in another row. Suppose, further, that he should pull up one of these plants every week, and find out for himself, under the guidance of a competent teacher, all that had happened in the meantime. Suppose, further, that as far as he was able he should make drawings of the plants and a written statement of the progress of growth as he was able to observe it from week to week, would not such a course for ten weeks, occupying only half a day per week, give an intelligent boy or girl not only a great amount of exceedingly useful information, but also habits of investi- i — 5— gation, obMrvation, comparibon iind thoughtl'ulnt>it, which arc uo dtsirabit ? In this matttr, ai in Manual Training, the course of studiea and txcrciaan should bt graduated to the ubiiitics of the children. Such courses have been followed with great success for many years in European countries, and of late years they have become part of the school system in some places of our own country, under the name of Nature Studies. Perhaps what is needed most is the help of ex- perienced teachers, who know tlie true educational plan to put below such work and study by the children, that it might not degenerate into only a means of giving them a mass of scrappy and disconnected information about a great number of things. Books do that well enough, or badly enough, now. The purpose below this newer method should be to train the (uculties of the children in natural ways, and to make the objects, the exercises, and the information acquired, all strictly serviceable to that end. The difficulties which have hindered progress in the past are said to have been : Want of money, the fact that the time table was already too full, and the fact that teachers are not properly qualified to take up fully these better methods. Reforms of a permanent sort must necessaiily be brought about little by little. The teacher and the school trustees, without sub- stantial outside help at the beginning, can go only a little further than they are followed and supported by local opinion. About Subjects and Methods. In considering the subjects which should be to the very front in the school course, one is warranted in saying that those which deal vith nature should come first, and perhaps those which deal with human nature should follow. It seems to me that a great deal of nonsense has been talked about the cultural value of the subjects, which have been grouped under the name of Humanities, for children in the elementary schools. In the elementary schools, the children are very much children, and it is obvious that their faculties can be called out into activity, and trained better, on what they can see and handle and even make for themselves, than on subjects more or less (and usually a great deal more) theoretical. The matter of all subjects should itself be suggestive and not artifical. It should certainly be full of purpose for the awakening and sustaining of the interest of the child and the training of his mind. If one may mention a method which would seem to include the best, it would be that of tracing results back to their causes until that habit of mind is formed in the children. In Nature Studies, those who have experience say that the beginning should be made with what is solid and obviously practical, and that then the child should proceed to book lessons when his own observation is exhausted. It will certainly be of great benefit to the children at «ny rural school if a school garden containing plots for every child above the age of eight or nine years could be provided. These gardens could be used, as they are at a few schools in England and as they are in many schools on the continent of Europe, for the training of children to habits of close observation, of thoughtfulness, of reflection and of carefulness. It is certainly most desirable to cultivate in the child a love of labour, of even the sort of labour by which the child is to live, in order that he may be trained to ability therein. It is most desirable to cultivate a love of study, and to incline the children towards be- coming lovers of ideas as well as lovers of labour. To start and nourish ideas the teachers use methods, processes and devices. Children get ideas and ideals far better from things and from life than from symbols and words and books. We have six avenues for taking in impressions before we are educated ; after that, we have many more. We have six to start with : tasting, smelling' hearing, seeing, feeling and the sense of temperature,— that even a baby has. Those are six avenues for impressions. Now, if an im- pression reaches a boy's consciousness by all these channels at one time, don't you think he has the impression a good deal more clearly and distinctly and lastingly than if it came to him by only one of them? When a child does anything with its own hands, such as plant- ing a seed, pulling up a plant, making examination of the changes which have taken place during its growth, making a drawing of it, mounting it and putting its name on it, he receives impressions by the sense of touch, he sees, he hears the noise of the movements he — 7— makes, and he smells the soil and the part of the plant with which he is dealing. Do you not remember the smell of the woods and fields in Sprintj, and the lingering odouAof the leaves in Autumn ; and do they not bring back to you every voice and every sound, every bird and every twig that contributed to your impressions at the time ? Six avenues for impressions and only two avenues for expression — the tongue and the hands ; a little in the countenance when you are angry or pleased, but otherwise the two avenues, the tongue to say and the hands to do things. Now, if we get clean-cut impres- sions along all those lines of sense, we ought to give them a chance of getting out as expressions by both lines, and not only by one line. We ought to do that for the sake of the ideas, and for the sake of the boys. Both may thus be of use and benefit to each other — the ideas and the children. Children would become lovers of ideas, and ideas would nourish their minds. Some Suggestions kor Advance. No doubt teachers in Canada would be willing to qualify them- selves for this better sort of work in schools, if an opportunity were provided. It seems desirable and practicable to give such teachers tl^e opportunity which they need. I would suggest four ways in which beginnings towards im- provement in the right direction might be made. Might not a group of ten rural schools in some locality be chosen in which to give an object lesson or illustration of this better education to which I have •been alluding ? If a competent travelling instructor were engaged, who would spend half a day of every week at each of these ten schools, would he not soon be able to train teachers and children into these better methods of nature study and give practical illustra- tion of training these faculties of the children which too often are altogether neglected ? In some other locality could not a group of five schools be arranged under the care of one travelling instructor, who would be a specialist in nature study and nature knowledge as well as a good teacher in the subjects which have been common in the schools in the past ? Such a travelling instructor could then visit each of these five schools two half days per week and give the teachers and children together lessons in the school garden, and -8- other object lessons, which would train their observation, quicken their intelligence and lead them to have desire and capacity for living happily amid rural surroundings. Another way in which I would suggest progress would be to start evening continuation classes in the rural districts. These would provide the true solution for education in agriculture of youths in the country at the ages from fourteen to eighteen. One or two central schools of each of these groups might be chosen for evening con- tinuation classes. At these, what the young lad working on the farm saw during the day with his uninstructed eye, coulJ be ex- plained to him in such a way as to awaken a new interest in his work and greatly increase his ability for enjoying it and carrying it on well. Moreover, in some districts, the area for the rural school is so small that the need of funds and the isolation of school authorities from contact with others, cause them to let educational matters drift into still greater weakness and helplessness. If in some district an object lesson could be given of the consolidation of five or six rural schools and of the establishment of one well appointed and well sus- tained central school instead of five or six weak ones, that might lead to a general improvement in that direction. In some of the United States the consolidation of rural schools has already been carried out to a considerable extent, and in most cases with a very great gain in the quality of the education given in the locality and with no increase of cost to the ratepayers. It has not been difficult to arrange routes for the collecting of milk or cream to one central place ; it would not be more dfficult to arrange for the collection of children on various routes to one central school, and certainly the children of a neighbourhood are worth the best care and thought and spending of anything in the locality. To make possible such work as I have hinted at and to let it be capable of anything like general adoption and extension, there is need for further preparation of the teachers. At several places in England this year, short courses have been provided for periods of only three weeks, with the expectation of doing a good deal towards qualifying teachers to carry on their work in a better way. In Canada it might be possible to arrange for courses of training for say twenty-five teachers at one place, each course to last for two mPQth^f During this course the teachers should carry on nature study as they expected the children to do it at the school afterwards. A plant house is not so costly for construction and maintenance that this would be a very difficult accomodation to have for the winter and spring months. Recommending and Supposing. I recommend these four matters to your most sympathetic con- sideration : (i) the possibility of giving an illustration of the best method of carrying on educational work in rural schools in groups of five or ten schools ; (2) the carrying on of evening continuation classes ""-^r boys and girls of from fourteen or fifteen to eighteen years 1 tge ; (3) the consolidation of rural schools in one or two districts; and (4) the establishment of training schools for teachers, at one or more places. These would all be in a measure experimental. I think they would serve for education a purpose somewhat similar to that which illustration stations, dairy stations and experimental farms have served for agriculture in Canada. Now, supposing a committee of this Association should be appointed to take these matters into consideration, do you not think that such a committee could bring something to pass and have an amount of exceedingly valuable information to present to the con- vention of this Association to be held two years hence. Supposing^, but you may say, what is the use of supposing- when the want of funds and the want of time put the matter beyond the ability of the Association or its members ? Mr. President, I have a great regard for the habit of supposing. Let me give you an illustration. One night with my feet on the fender, I sat musing and supposing what would happen if a thousand boys on Canadian farms could be led to take up the systematic study of the selection of seed grain, if they would each grow a special plot on their father's farm and discover for themselves what improvement would result by systematic and continued selection for several years. Supposing that were possible, what a great gain to the agriculture of the Dominion and to the in- tellectual life of the people on farms would result. Supposing ten thousand dollars should become available in the shape of prizes to encourage these boys to take up this work ; supposing that could be done, what then ? Well, the illustration of supposing I have given you, led to the sum of ten thousand dollars being put in the Bank of Montreal by Sir William C. Macdonald to do the very thing which I began supposing might be done, and which if done would be of great benefit to the people of Canada. — lO — Now let me go back again to the matter of the committee of this Dominion Educational Association. Sup/Hmnfr a committee should be appointed to take up the matter of the improvement of rural schools ; and supptmnff the committee out of its collective wisdom decided that suggestions such as I have made, or others better than them, should be attempted in the way of object lessons, Illustrations or experiments, in educational matters ; and supposing further that such a committee would undertake to supervise these object lessons, illustrations and experiments, if the money actually needed were provided ; do you not suppose that such a committee would do exceedingly valuable work in Canada? Now, Mr. President, if I may drop the supposing, \ think I am able to say that If this Association appoints such a committte I know where the funds for such work could likely be obtained to enable the committee to render such a great service to the Dominion of Canada as only trained, experienced, capable and unselfish educators could render to It. when assisted by sufficient money provided by one or more of the generous friends of education in our Dominion. Such a committee could approach the Departments of Education in the various provinces with suggestions and recommendations and offers of co-operation, which would doubtless be welcomed. Their knowledge, zeal and enthusiam could carrv forward educational work in wise ways with due regard to the varied and manifold needs of the people of Canada. I am sure that out of such efforts might grow what would be of the greatest possible benefit to this country ; and I am confident that one of my friends will make good whatever I have intimated to the Association in my supposing, if such a com- mittee is appointed and takes up the matter of the improvement ot of rural schools.