e last date stamped below 
 
 HOOl. 
 
 \ 
 
 /
 
 
 RURAL LIFE 
 AND THE RURAL SCHOOL 
 
 BY 
 JOSEPH KENNEDY 
 
 DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDLTCATION IN THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 
 NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO
 
 Copyright, 1915, by 
 
 JOSEPH KENNEDY 
 
 Copyright, 1915, in Great Britain 
 
 Rural Life and the Rural School 
 W. P. I.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This volume is addressed to the men and women who 
 have at heart the interests of rural life and the rural school. 
 I have tried to avoid deeply speculative theories on the one 
 hand, and distressingly practical details on the other; and 
 have addressed myself chiefly to the intelligent individual 
 everywhere — to the farmer and his wife, to the teachers 
 of rural schools, to the public spirited school boards, 
 individually and collectively, and to the leaders of rural 
 communities and of social centers generally. I have tried 
 to avoid the two extremes which Guizot says are always 
 to be shunned, viz.: that of the " visionary theorist " and 
 that of the "hbertine practician. " The former is analogous 
 to a blank cartridge, and the latter to the mire of a swamp 
 or the entangled underbrush of a thicket. The legs of 
 one's theories (as Lincoln said of those of a man) should 
 be long enough to reach the earth; and yet they must be 
 free to move upon the solid ground of fact and experience. 
 Details must always be left to the person who is to do the 
 work, whether it be that of the teacher, of the farmer, or of 
 the school officer. 
 
 I am aware that there is a veritable flood of books on 
 this and kindred topics, now coming from the presses of 
 the country. My sole reasons for the publication of the 
 present volume are the desire to deliver the message which 
 has come to fruition in my mind, and the hope that it 
 
 3
 
 4 PREFACE 
 
 may reach and interest some who have not been benefited 
 by a better and more systematic treatise on this subject. 
 
 By way of credential and justification, I would say that 
 the message of the book has in large measure grown out of 
 my own life and thought; for I was born and brought up in 
 the country, there I received my elementary education, 
 and there I remained till man grown. Practically every 
 kind of work known on the farm was familiar to me, and 
 I have also taught and supervised rural schools. These 
 experiences are regarded as of the highest value, and I re- 
 vert in memory to them with a satisfaction and affection 
 which words cannot express. 
 
 If there should seem to be a note of despair in some of 
 the earlier chapters as to the desired outcome of the prob- 
 lems of rural life and the rural school, it is not intended 
 that such impression shall be complete and final. An 
 attempt is made simply to place the problem and the facts 
 in their true fight before the reader. There has been much 
 ''palavering" on this subject, as there has been much en- 
 forced screaming of the eagle in many of our Fourth of July 
 "orations." I feel that the first requisite is to conceive 
 the problems clearly and in all seriousness. 
 
 If these problems are to be solved, true conceptions of 
 values must be estabfished in the social mind. Many pres- 
 ent conceptions, like those of the personality of the teacher, 
 standards for teaching, supervision, school equipment, 
 salary, etc., must first be ^^-established, and then higher 
 and better ones substituted. There will 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. There will have to be some real statesmanship
 
 PREFACE 5 
 
 introduced into the present laissez-faire spirit, attitude, 
 and methods of American rural life and rural education. 
 The nation in this respect needs a trumpet call to action. 
 There is need of a chorus, loud and long, and if the small 
 voice of the present discussion shall add only a little — 
 however Uttle — to this volume of sound, there will be so 
 much of gain. This is my aim and my hope. 
 
 JOSEPH KENNEDY 
 
 The University of North Dakota
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. Rural Life 9 
 
 A generation ago; Chores and work; Value of work; Ex- 
 tremes; 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. 
 
 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; Play- 
 ing with the problem. 
 
 III. The Real and the Ideal School ... 28 
 
 The building; No system of ventilation; The surround- 
 ings; The interior; Small, dead school; That picture and 
 this; Architecture of building; Get expert opinion; Othei 
 surroundings; Number of pupils; It will not teach alone; 
 The teacher; A good rural school; The problem. 
 
 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; Im- 
 provements; 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? 
 
 V. A Backward and Neglected Field ... 49 
 
 Rural schools the same everywhere; Rural schools no 
 better than formerly ; Some improvements; Strong person- 
 alities in the older schools; More men needed; Low stand- 
 ard now; The survival of the unfittest; Short terms; Poor 
 supervision; No decided movement, Elementary teaching 
 6
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 not a profession; The problem difficult, but before us; 
 Other educational interests should help; Higher standards 
 necessary; Courses for teachers; The problem of compen- 
 sation; Consolidation as a factor; Better supervision neces- 
 sary; A model rural school; The teacher should lead; A 
 good boarding place. 
 
 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 desir- 
 able; 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. 
 
 VII. The Ti;acheb.._. 77 
 
 / ^^greatest factor; What education is; What the real 
 
 tea'cKCr fs; A hypnotist; Untying knots; Too much kind- 
 ness; 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. 
 
 VIII. The Three Inseparables 88 
 
 The "mode"; The "mode" in labor; The "mode" in 
 educational institutions; No "profession"; Weak person- 
 alities; Low standard; The norm of wages too low; The 
 inseparables; Raise the standard first; More men; Coopera- 
 tion needed; The supply; Make it fashionable; The retire- 
 ment system; Similar problem in the church; City and 
 country salaries — effects; The solution demands more; A 
 good school board; Board and teacher; The ideal. 
 
 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; WTio will 
 teach these things?; The scientific spirit needed; A course 
 of study; Red tape; Length of lerm; Individual work; 
 "Waking up the mind"; The overflow of instruction; Affili- 
 ation; The "liking point "; The teacher, the chief factor.
 
 8 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 X. The Social Center 114 
 
 The teacher, the leader; Some community activities; 
 The literary society; Debates; The school program; Spelling 
 schools; Lectures; Dr^inifitic performances; A musical pro- 
 gram; Slides and moWng pictures; Supervised dancing; 
 Sports and games; Schfooi^ exhibits; A public forum; Cour- 
 tesy and candor; Aytomdbile parties; Full life or a full 
 purse; Organization; The inseparables. 
 
 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 im- « 
 
 possible task; The problem not tackled; City supervision; 
 The purpose of supervision; What is needed; The term; As- 
 sistants; The schools examined; Keep down red tape; Help 
 the social centers; Conclusion. -^ 
 
 XII. Leadership and Cooperation .... 139' 
 
 The real leader; Teaching vs. telling; Enlisting the co- 
 operation 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. 
 
 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 
 cooperation; An ideal life. 
 
 XIV. The Rural Renaissance 160 
 
 Darkest before the dawn; The awakening; The agricul- 
 tural 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. 
 
 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; Inventive- 
 ness in rural life; Activity rather than passivity; Child 
 labor; The finest life on earth.
 
 RURAL LIFE AND THE RURAL 
 SCHOOL 
 
 CHAPTFT^ T 
 RURAL LIFE 
 
 It is only within the past decade that rural life 
 and the rural school have been recognized as genuine 
 problems for the consideration of the American people. 
 Not many years ago, a president of the United States, 
 acting upon his own initiative, appointed a Rural School 
 Commission to investigate country life and to suggest 
 a solution for some of its problems. That Commission 
 itself and its report were both the effect and the cause 
 of an awakening of the public mind upon this most 
 important problem. Within the past few years the 
 cry ''Back to the country'" has been heard on every 
 hand, and means are now constantly being proposed for 
 reversing the urban trend, or at least for minimizing it. 
 
 A Generation Ago. — Rural life, as it existed a quarter 
 of a century or more 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 — " 
 the conditions were too often forbidding and deterrent. 
 
 9
 
 lO RURAL LIFE 
 
 Otherwise how can we explain the very general tendency 
 among the younger people to move from the country 
 to the city? 
 
 Chores and Work. — ^The country youth, a mere 
 boy in his teens, was, and still is, compelled to rise 
 early in the morning — often at five o'clock — and to go 
 through the round of chores and of work for a long 
 day of twelve to fifteen hours. First, after rising, he 
 had his team to care for, the stables were to be cleaned, 
 cows to be milked, and hogs and calves to be fed. 
 
 After the chores were done the boy or the young man 
 had to work all day at manual labor, usually close to 
 the soil; he was allowed about one hour's rest at dinner 
 time; in the evening after a day's hard labor, he had to 
 perform the same round of chores as in the morning so 
 that there was but a short time for play and recreation, 
 if he had any surplus energy left. He usually retired 
 early, for he was fatigued and needed sleep and rest 
 in order to be refreshed for the following day, when he 
 would be required only to repeat the same dull round 
 over and over again. 
 
 Value of Work. — Of course work is a good thing. 
 A moderate and reasonable amount of labor is usually 
 the salvation of any individual. No nation or race 
 has come up from savagery to civilization without the 
 stimulating influence of labor. It is likewise true that 
 no individual can advance from the savagery of child- 
 hood to the civihzation of adult Hfe except through 
 work of some kind. Work in a reasonable amount is a
 
 RURAL LIFE 1 1 
 
 blessing and not a curse. It is probably due to this 
 fact that so many men in our history have become dis- 
 tinguished in professional hfe, in the forum, on the 
 bench, and in the national Congress; in childhood and 
 youth they were inured to habits of work. This 
 kept them from temptation, and endowed them with 
 habits of industry, of concentration, and of purpose. 
 The old adage that "Satan finds some mischief still for 
 idle hands to do," found little application in the rural 
 life of a quarter of a century ago. 
 
 Extremes. — Even with all its unrecognized advan- 
 tages, the fact remains that rural life has been quite 
 generally repugnant to the average human being. 
 There are individuals who become so accustomed to 
 hard work that the habit really grows to be pleasant. 
 This, no doubt, often happens. Habit accustoms the 
 individual to accommodate himself to existing condi- 
 tions, no matter how severe they may be. A very old 
 man who was shocking wheat under the hot sun of a 
 harvest day was once told that it must be hard work 
 for him. He repUed, "Yes, but I like it when the 
 bundles are my own." So the few who are interested 
 and accustomed by habit to this kind of Hfe may 
 enjoy it, but to the great majority of people the con- 
 ditions would be decidedly unattractive. 
 
 Yearly Routine. — The yearly routine on the farm 
 used to be about as follows: In early spring, before 
 seeding time had come, all the seed wheat had to be 
 put through the fanning mill. The seed was sown
 
 12 RURAL LIFE 
 
 by hand. A man carried a heavy load of grain upon 
 his back and walked from one end of the field to the 
 other, sowing it broadcast as he went. After the wheat 
 had been sown, plowing for the corn and potatoes w^as 
 begun and continued. These were all planted by hand, 
 and when they came above ground they were hoed by 
 hand and cultivated repeatedly by walking and holding 
 the plow. 
 
 Disliked in Comparison. — All of this work implies, 
 of course, that the person doing it was close to the 
 soil; in fact, he was in the soil. He wore, necessarily, 
 old clothes somewhat begrimed by dirt and dust. 
 His shoes or boots were heavy and his step became 
 habitually long and slow. Manual labor always neces- 
 sitates some absence and neglect of cleanliness. The 
 laborer on the farm necessarily has about him the odor 
 of horses, of cows, and of barns. These, it is true, are 
 not bad, but they are nevertheless repulsive, when 
 compared mth the neatness and cleanhness of the clerk 
 in the bank or behind the counter. We do not write 
 these words in any spirit of disparagement, but merely 
 from the point of view at which many young people in 
 the country view them. We are trying to face the 
 truth in order to understand the problem to be solved. 
 It is essential to look at the situation squarely and to 
 view it steadily and honestly. Hiding our heads in 
 the sand will not clarify our vision. 
 
 Other Hard Jobs. — The next step in the yearly 
 round was haymaking. The grass was frequently
 
 RURAL LIFE 13 
 
 cut with scythes. In any event the work of raking, 
 curing, and stacking the hay, or the hauUng it and 
 pitching it into the barns was heavy work. There was 
 no hayfork operated by machinery in those days. When 
 not haying, the youth was usually put to summer- 
 fallowing or to breaking new ground, to fencing or 
 spHtting rails, — all heavy work. No wonder that he 
 always welcomed a rainy day! 
 
 Harvesting. — Then came the wheat - harvest time. 
 Within the memory of the author some of the grain 
 was cut with cradles; later, simple reaping machines 
 of various kinds were used; but \\ith them^went the 
 binding, shocking, and stacking, all performed by 
 hand and aU arduous pieces of work. These opera- 
 tions 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 threshmg machine was also done by hand. There 
 was no self-feeding apparatus and no band-cutting 
 device; there was no straw-blower and no measuring 
 and weighing attachments. It usually required about 
 a dozen "hands" to do aU the work. These men 
 worked strenuously and usually in dusty places. The 
 only redeeming feature of the business was the oppor- 
 tunity given for social intercourse which accompanied 
 the work. Men, being social by instinct, always work 
 more willingly and more strenuously when others arc 
 with them.
 
 14 RURAL LIFE 
 
 Welcome Events. — It is quite natural, as we have 
 said, that under such conditions as these the youth 
 longed for a rainy day. A trip to the city was always 
 a delightful break in the monotony of his life, and a 
 short respite from severe toil. Sunday was usually 
 the only social occasion in rural life. It was always 
 welcome, and the boys, even though tired physically 
 from work during the week, usually played ball, or 
 went swimming, or engaged in other games on Sunday 
 afternoons. Living in isolation all the week and en- 
 gaged in hard labor, they instinctively craved com- 
 panionship and society. 
 
 Winter Work. — When the fall work was done, 
 winter came with its own occupations. There were 
 usually about four months of school in the rural dis- 
 trict, but even during this season there was much 
 manual labor to be done. Trees were to be cut down 
 and wood was to be chopped, sawed, and spht for the 
 coming summer. Land frequently had to be cleared 
 to make new fields; the breaking of colts and of steers 
 constituted part of the sport as well as of the labor of 
 that season of the year. 
 
 What the Old Days Lacked. — There was Httle or no 
 machinery as a factor in the rural life of days gone by. 
 In these modem times, of course, many things have 
 made country life more attractive than formerly. 
 Twenty-five years ago there was no rural delivery, no 
 motor cycle, no automobile; even horses and buggies 
 were somewhat of a luxury, for in the remote country
 
 RURAL LIFE 1 5 
 
 districts the ox team or ** Shanks' mares" formed the 
 usual mode of travel. 
 
 The Result. — It is little wonder that under such 
 circumstances discontent arose and that people who 
 by nature are sociable longed to go where Hfe was, 
 in their opinion, more agreeable. Even with all the 
 later conveniences and improvements, the trend city- 
 ward still continues and may continue indefinitely in 
 the future. The American people may as well face 
 the facts as they are. It is difficult if not impossible 
 to make the country as attractive to young people as 
 is the city; and consequently to reverse or even stop 
 the urban trend is going to be most difficult. Indeed, 
 some of the things which make rural life pleasant, 
 like the automobile, favor this trend, which probably 
 will continue until economic pressure puts on the 
 brakes. Even now, \\dth all our improvements, the 
 social factors in rural Ufe are comparatively small. 
 Here is one of our greatest problems: How to increase 
 the fullness of social hfe in rural communities so as to 
 make country life and Hving more attractive. 
 
 The Backward Rural School. — Although the material 
 conditions and facilities for work have improved by 
 reason of various inventions in recent years, the one- 
 room rural school of former days was as good as, if 
 not better in some respects than, the school of to-day. 
 Formerly there were many men engaged in teaching 
 who could earn as much in the schoolroom as they could 
 in other fields. There were consequently in the rural
 
 l6 RURAL LIFE 
 
 schools a great many strong personalities, both men 
 and women. Since that time new opportunities and 
 callings have developed so rapidly that some of the 
 most capable people have been attracted away from 
 the rural schools, and have left these schools in a 
 weakened condition. 
 
 Women's Condition Unrelieved. — With all our im- 
 provements and conveniences, the work of women in 
 country communities has been relieved but little. 
 Rural life has always been and still is a hard one for 
 women. It has been, in many instances, a veritable 
 state of slavery; for women in the country have always 
 been compelled to do not only their own proper work, 
 but the work of two or three persons. The working 
 hours for women are even longer than those for men; 
 for breakfast must be prepared for the workmen, and 
 household work must be done after the evening meal 
 is eaten. It is little to be wondered at that women 
 as a rule wish to leave the drudgery of rural life. Under 
 the improved conditions of the present day, with all 
 kinds of machinery, the work of women is lightened 
 least. ^ 
 
 The Rural Problem Must Be Met. — I have given 
 a short description of rural life in order to have .a 
 setting for the rural school. The school is, without 
 doubt, the center of the rural life problem, and we 
 
 ^ There is an illuminating article, entitled " The Farmer and His 
 W'fe," by Martha Bensley Bruere in Good Housekeeping Magazine, 
 for June, 1914, p. 820.
 
 RURAL LIFE 1 7 
 
 are face to face with it for a solution of some kind. 
 The problems of both have been too long neglected. 
 Now forced upon our attention, they should receive 
 the thoughtful consideration of all persons interested 
 in the welfare of society. They are difficult of solu- 
 tion, probably the most difficult of all those which our 
 generation has to face. They involve the reduction of 
 the repellent forces in rural Hfe and the increase of 
 such forces and agencies as will be attractive, es- 
 pecially to the young. The great pfoFt^m is, how can 
 the trend city^vard be checked or revefsed? 
 
 What attractions are possible and feasible in the 
 rural communities? In each there should be some 
 recognized center to provide these various attractions. 
 There should be lectures and debates, plays of a 
 serious character, musical entertainments, and social 
 functions; even the moving picture might be made of 
 great educational value. There is no reason why the 
 people in the country are not entitled to all the satis- 
 fying mental food 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, and will 
 show their willingness to pay for them. Something 
 cannot be secured for nothing. In the last resort the 
 solution of most problems, as well as the accomplish- 
 ment of most aims, involves the expenditure of money. 
 When the people of the rural communities come to 
 value the finer educational, cultural, ci\ilizing, and 
 intangible things more than they value money, the 
 
 Rural Life — 2
 
 1 8 RURAL LIFE 
 
 problem will be solved. It is certainly a question of 
 values — in aims and means. 
 
 Facilities. — Many inventions might be utilized on 
 the farm to better advantage than they are at present. 
 But people live somewhat isolated lives in rural com- 
 munities and there are not the active comparison and 
 competition that one finds in the city; improvements 
 of all kinds are therefore slower of realization. Values 
 are not forced home by every-day discussion and 
 comparison. People continue to do as they have been 
 accustomed to do, and there are men who o\vn large 
 farms and have large bank accounts who continue to 
 live without the modern improvements, and hence with 
 but few comforts in life. A revival of interest in the 
 best rural life needs to be awakened, and to this end 
 rural 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 life which 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 
 as pleasant as it should or could be made. Many 
 aspects of it are uncomfortable, if not painful. Hard 
 manual labor, long hours of toil, and partial isolation 
 from one's fellows usually and generally characterize it. 
 Of course, there are many who by nature or habit, or 
 who by their ingenuity and thrift, have made it serve 
 them, and who therefore have come to love the life 
 of the country; but we are speaking with reference to 
 the average men and women who have not mastered 
 the forces at hand, which can be turned to their service 
 only by thought and thrift. 
 
 Cityward. — The trend toward the cities is unmis- 
 takable. So alarming has it become that it has aroused 
 the American people to a reahzation that something 
 must be done to reverse it or at least to minimize it. 
 At the close of the Revolutionary War only three per 
 cent of the total population of our country lived in 
 what could be termed cities. In 1810 only about five 
 
 19
 
 20 THE URBAN TREND 
 
 per cent of the whole population was urban; while 
 in 1 910 forty-six per cent of our people lived in cities. 
 This means, of course, that, relatively, the forces 
 of production are not keeping pace with the growth and 
 demands of consumption. In some of the older Atlan- 
 tic states, as one rides through the country, vast areas 
 of uncultivated land meet the view. The people have 
 gone to the city. Large cities absorb smaller ones, and 
 the small towns absorb the inhabitants of the rural 
 districts. Every city and town is making strenuous 
 efforts to build itself up, if need be at the expense of 
 the smaller to\ATis and the rural communities. To 
 "boom" its own city is assumed to be a large and legit- 
 imate part of the business of every commercial club. 
 This must mean, of course, that smaller cities and towns 
 and the rural communities suffer accordingly in business, 
 in population, and in Hfe. 
 
 Attractive Forces. — The attractive forces of the city 
 are quite as numerous and powerful as the repellent 
 forces of the country. The city is attractive from 
 many points of view. It sets the pace, the standaM, 
 the ideals; even the styles of clothing and dress origi- 
 nate there. It is where all sorts of people are seen 
 and met \vith in large numbers; its varied scenes ar^ 
 always magnetic. Both old and young are attracted 
 by acti\dties of all kinds; the "white way" in every 
 city is a constant bid for numbers. In the city there 
 is always more hvehness if not more life than in the 
 country. Activity is apparent everywhere. Every-
 
 THE URBAN TREND 21 
 
 thing seems better to the young person from the 
 country; there is more to see and more to hear; the 
 show windows and the display of Hghting are a con- 
 stant lure; there is an endless variety of experiences. 
 Life seems great because it is cosmopohtan and not 
 provincial or local. In any event, 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 that the 
 mind and heart are motivated in this way. 
 
 Conveniences in Cities. — In the city there are more 
 conveniences than in the country. There are sidewalks 
 and paved streets instead of muddy roads; there are 
 private telephones, and the telegraph is at hand in 
 time of need; there are street cars which afford com- 
 fortable and rapid transportation. There are Hbraries, 
 museums, and art galleries; there are free lectures and 
 entertainments of various kinds; and the churches are 
 larger and more attractive than those in the country. 
 As in the case of teachers, the cities secure their pick 
 of preachers. Doctors are at hand in time of need, and 
 all the professions are centered there. Is it any wonder 
 that people, when they have an opportunity, migrate 
 to the city? There is a social instinct moving the 
 human heart. All people are gregarious. Adults as 
 well as children like to be where others are, and so 
 where some people congregate others tend to do like- 
 wise. Country life as at present organized does not 
 afford the best opportunity for the satisfaction of this 
 social instinct. The great variety of social attractions
 
 22 THE URBAN TREND 
 
 constitutes the lure of the city — it is the powerful 
 social magnet. 
 
 Urbanized Literature. — Books, magazines, and papers 
 are all published in the cities, and most of them have 
 the flavor of city life about them. They are made 
 and written by people who know the city, and the city 
 doings are usually the subject matter of the literary 
 output of the day. Children acquire from these, even 
 in their primary school days, a longing for the city. 
 The idea of seeing and possibly of living in the city 
 becomes ''set," and it tends sooner or later to realize 
 itself in act and in Ufe. 
 
 City Schools. — The city, as a rule, maintains excel- 
 lent schools; and the most modern and serviceable 
 buildings for school purposes are found there. Urban 
 people seem willing to tax themselves to a greater ex- 
 tent; and so in the cities will be found comparatively 
 better buildings, better teachers, more and better 
 supervision, more fullness of life in the schools. Usually 
 in the cities the leading and most enterprising men and 
 women are elected to the school board, and the people, 
 as we have said, acquiesce in such taxation as the 
 board deems necessary. The cities secure the best part 
 of the whole output of the normal schools, compelling 
 the rural districts to take what is left. Every city has a 
 superintendent, 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.
 
 THE URBAN TREND 23 
 
 City Churches. — Something similar may be said with 
 respect to the churches. In every city there are several, 
 and people can usually go to the church of their choice. 
 In many parts of the country' the church is decadent, 
 and in some places it is becoming extinct. Even the 
 automobile contributes its influence against the country 
 church as a rural institution, and in favor of the city; 
 for people who are sufficiently well-to-do often hke 
 to take an automobile ride to the city on Sunday. 
 
 City Work Preferred. — Workingmen and servant 
 girls also prefer the city. They dislike the long irregular 
 hours of the country-; they prefer to work where the 
 hours are regular, where they do not come into such 
 close touch with the soil, and where they do not have 
 to battle with the elements. In the city they work 
 under shelter and in accordance wath definite regula- 
 tions. Hence it is that the problem of securing working- 
 men and servant girls in the country is every day be- 
 coming more and more perplexing. 
 
 Retired Farmers. — Farmers themselves, when they 
 have become reasonably well-to-do, frequently retire 
 to the city, either to enjoy fife the rest of their days or 
 to educate their children. Individuals are not to be 
 blamed. The lack of equivalent attractions and con- 
 veniences in the country is responsible. 
 
 Educational Centers. — As yet, it is seldom that good 
 high schools are found in the country. To secure 
 a high school education country people frequently 
 have to avail themselves of the city schools. Many
 
 24 THE URBAN TREND 
 
 colleges and universities are located in the cities and, 
 consequently, much of the educational trend is in that 
 direction. 
 
 Face the Problem.— The rural problem is a difl&cult 
 one and we may as well face the situation honestly 
 and earnestly. There has been too much mere oratory 
 on problems of rural life. We have often, ostrich-like, 
 kept our heads under the sand and have not seen or 
 admitted the real conditions, which must be changed 
 if rural life is to become attractive. Say what we will, 
 people will go where their needs are best satisfied and 
 where the attractions are greatest. People cannot be 
 driven — they must be attracted and won. If ''God 
 made the country and man made the town," God's peo- 
 ple must be neglecting to give God's country "such a 
 face and such a mien as to be loved needs only to be 
 seen." Where the element of nature is largest there 
 should be a more truly and deeply attractive life than 
 where the element of art predominates, however al- 
 luring that may be. How can country life and the 
 country itself be made to attract? 
 
 Educational Value Not Realized. — People generally 
 have never been able to estimate education fairly. 
 The value of lands, horses, and money can easily be 
 measured, for these are tangible things; but education 
 is very difficult of appraisal, for it is intangible. Yet 
 it is true that intangible things are frequently of 
 greater worth than are tangible things. There are 
 men who pay more to a jockey to train their horses
 
 THE URBAN TREND 25 
 
 than they are willing to pay to a teacher to train their 
 children. This is because the services of the jockey 
 are more easily reckoned. The effects or results of 
 the horse training are measured by the proceeds in 
 dollars and cents on the racetrack, and so are easily 
 realized; while the growth in education, refinement, 
 and culture on the part of the child is difficult indeed 
 to measure or estimate. And yet how much more 
 valuable it is! The jockey gives the one, the teacher 
 the other. 
 
 Wrong Standard in the Social Mind. — There is 
 established in the public mind of rural communities 
 the idea that a teacher is worth about fifty dollars a 
 month — frequently not so much. This idea has spread 
 until it is almost universally prevalent; it has become 
 "set" or ''fixed," so that if a teacher is being paid 
 seventy-five dollars a month the people are inclined 
 to think that she is overpaid and that the school board 
 is extravagant. The rural school problem will never 
 be solved until this standard is changed and raised. 
 There are men in the United States who are receiving, 
 for the performance of some socially useless tiling, larger 
 salaries than are paid to many university professors 
 and presidents in the country. The situation is mis- 
 conceived, relative values are misjudged, often in- 
 verted or reversed. Until there is a saner perspective 
 in the public mind and until values are reestimated, 
 the solution of the rural school problem and indeed 
 of many of the problems of rural life is well-nigh
 
 26 THE URBAN TREND 
 
 hopeless. Before a solution is effected some sufficient 
 inducement must be held out to strong persons to 
 come into the rural life and into the rural schools. 
 These persons would and could be leaders of strength 
 among the people. 
 
 Rural Organization. — At present there is little or 
 no organization of rural life. Communities are chaotic, 
 socially, economically, and educationally. Real leaders 
 are necessary. These must be men and women of 
 strong and winning personality. The rural teacher, 
 if he be a man of power and initiative, can be a real 
 savior and redeemer of rural life in his community. 
 But leaders of this type cannot be secured without a 
 reasonable incentive. Such men will seldom sacrifice 
 themselves for the organization and uplift of a com- 
 munity except for proper compensation. If teachers 
 — or at least the strong 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 really strong 
 personalities as teachers, country life might be organ- 
 ized in different 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 of rural life and rural schools have not 
 yet been realized; as a people we have really played 
 with this problem. It has taken care of itself; it 
 has been allowed to drift. Rural life at present is a 
 kind of easy social adjustment on the basis of the mini-
 
 THE URBAN TREND 2^ 
 
 mum of expense and of exertion toward a solution. We 
 have not realized the value of genuine social, economic, 
 and educational organization with all the activities in 
 these lines which the terms imply. We have 'not 
 grappled with the problem in an earnest, scientific 
 way; we have never thought out systematically what 
 is needed, and then decided to employ the necessary 
 means to bring about the desired end. It may be 
 that the problem will remain unsolved for generations 
 to come; but if country life and country schools are 
 to be made as attractive and pleasant as city life and 
 city schools, the people will have to face the problem 
 without flinching and use the only means which 
 will bring about the desired result. The prob- 
 lem could be easily solved if the people realized the 
 true value of rural life and of good rural schools. 
 Where there is a will there is a way; but where there 
 is no will there is no possible way. Country Ufe can 
 be made fully as pleasant as city life, and the rural 
 schools can be made fully as good as the city schools. 
 Of course some things will be lacking in the country 
 which are found in the city; but, conversely, many 
 things and probably better things will be found in the 
 country than could 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 has existed in the past and as it 
 still exists in many places; it will also discuss the 
 rural school as it ought to be. It is assumed that, 
 although consolidation is spreading rapidly, the one- 
 room rural school as an institution will continue to 
 exist for an indefinite time. Under favorable condi- 
 tions it probably should continue to exist; for, as we 
 shall see, it has many excellent features which are real 
 advantages. 
 
 The Building. — The old-fashioned country school- 
 house was in many respects a pitiable object. The 
 ^'Httle red schoolhouse" in story and song has been the 
 object of much praise. As an ideal creation it may be 
 deser\dng of admiration, but this cannot be asserted 
 of it as a reality. The common t}'pe was an ordinary 
 box-shaped building without architecture, without a 
 plan, and, as a rule, without care or repair. Frequently 
 it stood for years without being repainted, and in the 
 midst of chaotic and ill-cared-for surroundings. The 
 contract for building it was usually awarded to some 
 carpenter who was also given carte blanche to do as he 
 
 28
 
 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 29 
 
 pleased in regard to its construction, the only pro- 
 \ision being that he keep within the amount of money 
 allowed — probably eight hundred or a thousand dol- 
 lars. The usual result was the plamest kind of build- 
 ing, without conveniences of any kind. If a blackboard 
 were provided in the specifications (which were often 
 oral rather than written), it was perhaps placed in 
 such a position as to be useless. In the course of my 
 experience as county superintendent of schools, I once 
 visited a rural school in which the blackboard began 
 at the height of a man's head and extended to the 
 ceiHng, the carpenter probably thinking that its one 
 purpose was to display permanently the teacher's 
 program. 
 
 No System of Ventilation. — No system of ventila- 
 tion was provided in former days, and in some school- 
 houses such is the condition to-day. Nevertheless, 
 thanks to enterprising salesmen, there has been much 
 improvement in this direction. It used to be neces- 
 sary to secure fresh air, if at aU, by opening windows. 
 In some sections, where the cHmate is mild, this is 
 the best method of ventilation; but certainly, in north- 
 ern latitudes where the winters are long and cold, some 
 system of forced or automatic ventilation should be 
 provided. It may not be amiss to assert that it would 
 be an excellent plan to decide first upon a good sys- 
 tem of ventilation and then to build the schoolhouse 
 around it. Without involving great expense there are 
 simple systems of ventilation and heating combined
 
 30 THE RE.\L AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 
 
 which are very efficient for such houses. In former 
 times, and in some places even yet, the usual method of 
 heating was by an unjacketed stove which made the 
 pupils who sat nearest it uncomfortably warm, while 
 those in the farther corners were shivering with cold. 
 With new systems of ventilation there is an insulating 
 jacket which equalizes the temperature of the room 
 by distributing the heat and fresh air quite evenly. 
 
 It is strange how slowly people change their habits 
 and even their opinions. Many are ignorant of the fact 
 that in an unventilated room each child is breathing 
 over and over again an atmosphere vitiated by the 
 breaths exhaled from the lungs of thirty or forty 
 others. It can be truthfully asserted that to condi- 
 tions of this kind the prevalence of much of the sick- 
 ness and disease among children is due. Whatever 
 it is that makes air "fresh," and healthful, that factor 
 is not found under the conditions described. Changes 
 in the temperature and movement of the air are, no 
 doubt, important in securing a healthful physiological 
 reaction, but air contaminated and befouled by bodies 
 and lungs has stupefying effects which cannot be 
 ignored. Frequent change of air is essential. 
 
 The Surroundings. — The typical country school- 
 house, as it existed in the past, and as it frequently 
 exists to-day, has not sufficient land to form a good 
 yard and a playground appropriate for its needs. 
 The farmer who sold or donated the small tract of 
 land often plows almost to the very foundation walls.
 
 THE REAL AND THE n)EAL SCHOOL 3 1 
 
 There are usually no trees near by to afford shelter 
 or to give the place a homelike and attractive ap- 
 pearance. Some trees may have been planted, but 
 owing to neglect they have all died out, and nothing 
 remains but a few dead and unsightly trunks. There 
 is usually no fence around the school yard, and the 
 outbuildings are frequently a disgrace, if not a positive 
 menace to the children's morals. If a choice had to 
 be made it would be better to allow children to grow 
 up in their native liberty and wildness without a 
 school "education" than to have them subjected 
 to mental and moral degradation by the vicious sug- 
 gestions received in some of these places. Weak 
 teachers have a false modesty in regard to such con- 
 ditions and school boards are often thoughtless or 
 negligent. 
 
 The Interior. — Within the building there is fre- 
 quently no adequate equipment in the way of apparatus, 
 supplementary reading, or reference books of any kind. 
 There are no decorations on the walls except such as 
 are put there by mischievous children. The whole 
 situation both inside and out brings upon one a feeling 
 of desolation. Men and women who live in reasonably 
 comfortable homes near by allow the school home of 
 their precious children to remain for years unattractive 
 and uninspiring in every particular. Again this is the 
 result of ignorance, thoughtlessness, or neghgence — a 
 negligence that comes alarmingly close to guilt. 
 
 Small, Dead School. — In many a lone rural school-
 
 32 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 
 
 house may be found ten to twenty small children; 
 and behind the desk a teacher holding only a second 
 or third grade elementary or county certificate. The 
 whole institution is rather tame and weak, if not 
 dead; it is anything but stimulating (and if edu- 
 cation means anything it means stimulation). It is 
 this kind of situation which has led in recent years 
 to a discussion of the rural school as one of the prob- 
 lems most urgently demanding the attention of 
 society. 
 
 That Picture and This. — Let us now consider, 
 after looking upon that picture, what the situation 
 ought to be. In the first place, there should be a 
 large school ground, or yard — not less than two acres. 
 The schoolhouse should be properly located in this 
 tract. The ground as a whole should be platted by a 
 landscape architect, or at least by a person of experi- 
 ence and taste. Trees of various kinds should be 
 planted in appropriate places, and groups of shrubbery 
 should help to form an attractive setting. The 
 school grounds should have a serviceable fence and 
 gate and there should be a playground and a school 
 garden. 
 
 Architecture of Building. — No school building should 
 be erected that has not first been planned or passed 
 upon by an architect; this is now required by law in 
 some states. A building with handsome appearance 
 and with appropriate appointments is but a trifle, if 
 any, more costly than one that has none. Art of all
 
 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 33 
 
 kinds is a valuable factor in the education of children 
 and of people generally; and a building, beautiful in 
 construction, is no exception to the rule. Every person 
 is educated by what impresses him. It is only ^^dthin 
 the last few years that much attention has been given 
 to the necessity of special architecture in school- 
 houses. 
 
 Men of intelligence sometimes draw up their own 
 plans for a building and then, having become enamored 
 of them, proceed to construct a residence or a school- 
 house along those lines. If they had shown their 
 plans to an architect of experience he would probably 
 have pointed out numerous defects which would have 
 been admitted as soon as observed. Neither the in- 
 dividual nor the district school boards can afford, in 
 justice to themselves and the community they repre- 
 sent, to ignore the wide and varied knowledge of the 
 expert. 
 
 Get Expert Opinion. — Expert opinion should govern 
 in the matter of heating and ventilating, in the kind 
 of seating, in the arrangement of blackboards, in the 
 decorations, and in all such technical and professional 
 matters. Every rural school should have a carefully 
 selected library, suited to its needs, including a suffi- 
 cient number of reference books. Such a school should 
 provide free textbooks so that no time may be wasted 
 in getting started after the opening of school. The 
 walls should be adorned with a few appropriate and 
 beautiful pictures. 
 
 Rural Life — .-j
 
 34 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 
 
 Other Surroundings. — On this school ground there 
 should be a shop of some kind. The resourceful teacher 
 would find a hundred uses for some such center of 
 work. The closets should be so placed and so devised 
 as to be easily supei-vised. This would prevent them 
 from being moral plague spots, as is too often the 
 case, as we have already said. There should be stables 
 for sheltering horses, if the school is, as it should be, a 
 social center for the community. There should be a 
 flagpole in front of the schoolhouse, from the top of 
 which the stars and stripes should be often unfurled 
 to the breeze. 
 
 Number of Pupils. — In this architecturally attractive 
 building, amid beautiful surroundings both inside and 
 out, there should be, in order to have a good rural 
 school, not less than eighteen or twenty pupils. Where 
 there are fewer the school should be consolidated with 
 a neighboring school. Twenty pupils would give an 
 assurance of educational and social life, instead of the 
 dead monotony which inevitably prevails in the smaller 
 rural school. There should be, during the year, at 
 least eight, and preferably nine, months of school work. 
 
 It Will Not Teach Alone. — But with all of these 
 conditions the school may still be far from effective. 
 All the material equipment — the total environment of 
 the pupils, both inside and outside the building — may 
 be excellent, and still we may fail to find there a good 
 school. Garfield said of his old teacher that Mark 
 Hopkins on one end of a log and a pupil on the other
 
 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 35 
 
 made the best kind of college. This indicates an essen- 
 tial factor other than the physical equipment. 
 
 I remember being once in a store when a man who 
 had bought a saw a few days previously returned it in 
 a wrathful mood. He was angry through and through 
 and declared that the saw was utterly worthless. He 
 had brought it back to reclaim his money. The mer- 
 chant had a rich vein of humor in his nature and he 
 listened smilingly to the outburst of angry language. 
 Then he merely took the saw, opened his till and 
 handed the man his money, quietly asking, with a 
 twinkle in his eyes for those standing around, '' Wouldn't 
 it saw alone?" 
 
 Now, we may have a fine school ground, or site, 
 with a variety of beautiful trees and clumps of shrub- 
 bery; we may have a playground and a school garden; 
 we may have it all splendidly fenced; the schoolhouse 
 may have an artistic appearance and may be kept 
 in excellent repair; it may be well furnished inside 
 with blackboards, seats, library, reference books, free 
 textbooks, and all else that is needed; it may be beau- 
 tifully decorated; it may have twenty or even more 
 pupils, and yet we may not have a good school. It 
 will not "saw alone"; the one indispensable factor may 
 still be lacking. 
 
 The Teacher. — "As is the teacher, so is the school." 
 Mark Hopkins on the end of a log made a good col- 
 lege, compared with the situation where the building 
 is good and the teacher poor. The teacher is like the
 
 36 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 
 
 mainspring in a watch. Without a good teacher 
 there can be no good school. Live teacher, live school; 
 dead teacher, dead school. The teacher and the school 
 must be the center of life, of thought, and of conver- 
 sation, in a good way, in the neighborhood. The teacher 
 is the soul of the school; the other things constitute 
 its body. What shall it profit a community to gain 
 a great building and lack a good teacher? ', 
 
 If we were obliged to choose between a good teacher 
 and poor material conditions and environment on the 
 one hand, and excellent material conditions and en- 
 vironment and a poor teacher on the other, we should 
 certainly not hesitate in our choice. 
 
 A Good Rural School. — Now, if we suppose a really 
 good teacher under the good conditions described 
 above, we shall have a good rural school. There is 
 usually better individual work done in such a school 
 than is possible in a large system of graded schools 
 in a city. In such a school there is more single-minded- 
 ness on the part of pupils and teacher. These pupils 
 bring to such a school unspoiled minds, minds not 
 weakened by the attractions and distractions, both 
 day and night, of city life. In siich a school the es- 
 sentials of a good education are, as a rule, more often 
 emphasized than in the city. There is probably a 
 truer perspective of values. Things of the first mag- 
 nitude are distinguished from things of the second, 
 fifth, or tenth magnitude. This inability to distin- 
 guish magnitudes is one of the banes of common school
 
 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL 37 
 
 education everywhere — so many things are appraised 
 at the same value. 
 
 The Problem. — We have tried in this discussion to 
 put before the reader a fairly accurate picture, on the 
 one hand, of the undesirable conditions which have 
 too often prevailed, and, on the other, of a rural school 
 which would be an excellent place in which to receive 
 one's elementary education. The reader is asked to 
 "look upon that picture and then upon this." The 
 transition from the one to the other is one of the 
 great problems of rural life and of the rural school. 
 Consolidation of schools, which we shall discuss more 
 at length in a later chapter, will help to solve the prob- 
 lem of the rural school, and we give it our hearty in- 
 dorsement. It is the best plan we know of where the 
 conditions are favorable; but it is probable that the 
 one-room rural school will remain with us for a long 
 time to come. Indeed there are some good reasons 
 why it should remain. Where the good rural school 
 exists, whether non-consolidated or consolidated, it 
 should be the center 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 years has seen greater progress in all 
 material lines than any other equal period of the world's 
 history. Indeed, it is doubtful if a similar period of 
 invention and progress will ever recur. It has been one 
 of industrial revolution in all lines of activity. 
 
 In Reaping Machines.— Let us for a few moments 
 trace this development and progress in some specific 
 fields. Within the memory of many men now living 
 the hand sickle was in common use in the cutting of 
 grain. In the fifties and sixties the cradle was the 
 usual implement for harvesting wheat, oats, and sim- 
 ilar grains. One man did the cradling and another 
 the gathering and the binding into sheaves. Then 
 came rapid development of the reaping machine. 
 
 The "Dropper." — The most important step was 
 probably the invention of the sickle-bar, a slender 
 steel bar having V-shaped sections attached, to cut 
 the grass and grain; this was pushed and pulled be- 
 tween what are called guards, by means of a rod called 
 the ''Pitman rod," attached to a small revolving wheel 
 run by the gearing of the machine. This was a won- 
 
 38
 
 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 39 
 
 derful invention and its principle has been extensively 
 applied. The first reaping machine using the sickle 
 and guard device was known as the "dropper." A reel, 
 worked by machinery, revolved at a short distance 
 above the sickle, beating the wheat backward upon a 
 small platform of slats. This platform could be raised 
 and lowered by the foot, by means of a treadle. When 
 there was sufficient grain on this slat-platform it was 
 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 removed before the machine 
 could make the next round. This machine, though 
 simple, was the forerunner of other important inven- 
 tions. 
 
 The Hand Rake. — The next type of machine was 
 the one in which the platform of slats was replaced 
 by a stationary platform having a smooth board floor. 
 A man sat at the side of the machine, near the rear, 
 and raked the bundles off sidewise with a hand rake. 
 A boy drove the team and the man raked off the grain 
 in sufficient quantities to make bundles. These were 
 thrown by the rake a sufficient distance from the 
 standing grain to allow the machine to proceed round 
 and round the field, even if these bundles of grain, 
 so raked off, were not yet bound into sheaves. 
 
 The Self Rake. — The next advance consisted in what 
 is known as the "self rake." This machine had a 
 scries of slats or wings which did both the work of 
 the reel in the earlier machine and also that of the
 
 40 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 
 
 man who raked the wheat off the later machine. This 
 saved the labor of one man. 
 
 The Harvester. — The next improvement in the evo- 
 lution of the reaping machine — if indeed an improve- 
 ment it could be called — was what is known as the 
 ''harvester." In this there was a canvas elevator 
 upon which the grain was thrown by the reel, and which 
 brought the grain up to the platform on which two 
 men stood for the purpose of binding it. Each man 
 took his share, binding alternate bundles and throwing 
 them, when bound, down on the ground. Such work 
 was certainly one of the repellent factors in driving 
 men and boys from the country to the city. 
 
 The Wire Binder. — Another step in advance was 
 the invention of the wire binder. Everything was now 
 done by machinery: the cutting, the elevating, the 
 binding, and even the carrying of the sheaves into 
 piles or windrows. There was an attachment upon 
 the machine by which the bundles 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 in threshing and in the use of 
 straw for fodder; and, as necessity is the mother of in- 
 vention, the so-called twine "knotter" soon came into 
 existence and with it the full-fledged twine binder with 
 all its varied impro\'ements as we have it to-day. 
 
 Threshing Machine. — The development of the per- 
 fected threshing machine was very similar. Fifty years
 
 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 41 
 
 ago, the flail was an implement of common use upon 
 the barn floor. Then came the invention called the 
 "cylinder"; this was systematicaUy studded with 
 "teeth" and these, in the rapid revolutions of the 
 cylinder, passed between corresponding teeth system- 
 atically set in what is known as "concaves." This 
 tooth arrangement in revolving cylinder and in con- 
 cave was as epochal in the line of progress in threshing 
 machines as the sickle, with its "sections" passing or 
 being drawTi through guards, was in reaping machines. 
 
 The First Machine. — ^The earhest of these threshing 
 machines containing a cylinder was run by a treadmill 
 on which a horse was used. It was literaUy a "one- 
 horse" affair. Of course the first type of cylinder was 
 smaU 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 each by hand. The wheat 
 was poorly cleaned and had to be run through a fan- 
 ning-mill several times. 
 
 Improvements. — Then came some improvements 
 and enlargements in the cyhnder, and also the appli- 
 cation of horse power by means of what was knowTi 
 as "tumbhng rods" and a gearmg attached to the 
 cylinder. All this at first was on rather a small scale, 
 only two, three, or four horses being used. But im- 
 provements and enlargements came step by step, until 
 the ten and twelve horse power machine was achieved, 
 resulting in the large separator that would thresh 
 out several hundred bushels of wheat in a da}'. The
 
 42 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 
 
 separator had also attached to it what was called the 
 "straw carrier," which conveyed both the straw and 
 the chaff to quite a distance from the machine. But 
 even then most of the work around the machine was 
 done by hand. The straw pile required the attention 
 of three or four men; or if the straw were "bucked," 
 as they said, it required a man with a horse or team 
 hitched to a long pole. In this latter case the straw 
 was spread in various parts of the field and finally 
 burned. 
 
 The Steam Engine. — Then came the portable steam 
 engine for threshing purposes. At first, however, this 
 had to be drawn from place to place by teams. The 
 power was applied to the separator by a long belt. 
 Following this, came the devices for cutting the bands, 
 the self-feeder, and finally the straw blower, as it is 
 called, consisting of a long tube through which the 
 straw is blown by the powerful separator fanning-mill. 
 This blower can be moved in different directions, and 
 consequently it saves the labor of as many men as 
 were formerly required to handle the straw and chaff. 
 About the same time, also, the device for weighing and 
 measuring the grain was perfected. The "traction" 
 engine has now replaced the one which had to be drawn 
 by teams, and this not only propels itself but also 
 draws the separator and other loads after it from place 
 to place. In all this progress the machinery has con- 
 stantly become more and more perfect and the cylin- 
 der and capacity of the machine greater and greater.
 
 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 43 
 
 Not many years ago, six hundred bushels in a day 
 was considered a big record in the threshing of wheat. 
 Now the large machines separate, or thresh out, be- 
 tween three and four thousand bushels in one day. 
 Such has been the development in reaping machines 
 from the sickle to the self-binder, and in threshing 
 machines from the flail to the modern marvel just de- 
 scribed. 
 
 Improvement in Ocean Travel. — A similar story may 
 be told in regard to ocean traffic and ocean travel. 
 Our ancestors came from foreign lands on sailing ships 
 that required from three weeks to several months to 
 cross the Atlantic. I am acquainted with a German 
 immigrant who, many years ago, left a seaport town 
 of Germany on January ist and landed at Castle 
 Garden in New York City on the 4th of July. The 
 inconvenience of travel under such circumstances was 
 equal to the slowness of the journey. In those days 
 leaving home in the old country meant never again 
 seeing one's relatives and friends. If such conditions 
 are compared with those of 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 than five days. These magnificent "ocean grey- 
 hounds" are fitted out with all modem conveniences 
 and improvements, so that one is as comfortable in 
 them and as safe as he is in one of the best hotels 
 of the large cities. 
 
 From Hand-spinning to Factory. — Weaving in for-
 
 44 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 
 
 mer times was done entirely by hand. Fifty years 
 ago private weavers were found in almost every com- 
 munity. Wool was raised, carded, spun, and woven, 
 and the garments were all made, practically, within 
 the household. All that is now past. In the great 
 manufacturing establishments one man at a lever does 
 the work of 250 or 500 people. This great industrial 
 advancement has taken place within the memory of 
 people now living. And similar progress has been 
 made in almost every other line of human endeavor. 
 
 The Cost. — Very few people realize what it has 
 cost the human race to pass from one condition to the 
 other in these various lines. Hundreds and thousands 
 of men have worked and died in the struggle and in 
 the process of bringing about improvements. Every 
 calamity due to inadequate machines or to poor 
 methods has had its influence toward causing further 
 advancements in inventions for the benefit of mankind. 
 
 Progress in Higher Education. — Let us now turn 
 our attention to the progress that has been made in 
 the field of academic education. It is true that many 
 of the great universities were established centuries 
 ago. These were at first endowed church institutions 
 or theological seminaries; but the great state uni- 
 versities of this country are creations of the progres- 
 sive period under consideration. General taxation 
 for higher education is comparatively a modern prac- 
 tice. The University of Michigan was one of the 
 first state universities established. Since then nearly
 
 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 45 
 
 every commonwealth, whether it has come into 
 the Union since that time or whether it is one of the 
 older states, has established a university. There has 
 been a great flowering out of higher education by the 
 states. No institutions of the country have grown 
 more rapidly within the last thirty or forty years than 
 the state universities. They have established depart- 
 ments of every kind. Besides the college of hberal 
 arts there are in most of them colleges or schools of 
 law, medicine, engineering in its several lines, educa- 
 tion, pharmacy, dentistry, commerce, industrial arts, 
 and fine arts. The state university is abroad in the 
 land; it has, as a rule, an extension department by 
 which it impresses itself upon the people of the state, 
 outside its walls. The principle of higher education by 
 taxation of all the people is no longer questioned; it is 
 no longer an experiment. The state university is 
 rehed upon to furnish the country with the leaders of 
 the future — and leaders will always be in demand, for 
 they are always sorely needed. 
 
 Progress in Normal Schools. — While the state uni- 
 versities have been enjoying this marvelous devel- 
 opment, nearly every state has been establishing 
 normal schools for the professional preparation of 
 teachers. The normal school as an institution is also 
 modern. As an institution established and supported 
 by state taxation it is, as a rule, more recent than the 
 universities. Forty years ago many good people re- 
 garded the normal school idea as visionary and its reaH-
 
 46 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 
 
 zation as a doubtful experiment. Indeed in one western 
 state, as late as the eighties, its legislature debated the 
 abolition of its normal schools on the ground that they 
 were not fulfilling or accomphshing any useful mission. 
 To-day, however, no such charge of inefficiency can be 
 made. The normal schools, like the universities, have 
 proved their right to exist. They have been weighed in 
 the balance and have not been found wanting. It is 
 now generally recognized that those who would teach 
 should make some preparation for that high calling; 
 and so the normal schools in every state have demon- 
 strated their "right of domicile" in the educational 
 system. It is now generally recognized that teaching, 
 both as a science and as an art, is highly complicated, 
 and that, if it is to be a profession, there must be 
 special preparation for it. Consequently the normal 
 schools of the country have had a wonderful and rapid 
 development from the experimental stage to that in 
 which they have weU-nigh realized their ideals. School 
 boards everywhere look to the normal schools for their 
 supply of elementary teachers. 
 
 Progress in Agricultural Colleges. — Similar state- 
 ments may be made concerning the agricultural 
 colleges of the country. They are modem creations in 
 the United States; and with the aid of both the state 
 and the national government they have come to be 
 vast institutions, devoting themselves to the teaching 
 and the spreading of scientific farming among the 
 people. Here there is a vast work to be done. On
 
 SOME LINES OE PROGRESS '47 
 
 account of the trend of population toward the cities, 
 and on account of the vast tracts of country land lying 
 idle, scientific agriculture should be brought in to aid 
 in production and thus to keep down the cost of living. 
 The agricultural colleges of the country have a large 
 part to play in the solution of the problems of rural life. 
 
 Progress in the High Schools. — A similar development 
 characterizes the high schools of the country. Educa- 
 tion has extended downward from above. Universi- 
 ties everywhere have come into existence before the 
 establishment of secondary schools. Not only are the 
 universities, the normal schools, and the agricultural 
 colleges of recent origin, but the high schools also are 
 modern institutions, at least in their present sys- 
 tematized form. The high schools of the cities con- 
 stitute to-day one of the most efficient forms of school 
 organization. At the present time the better high 
 schools of the cities are veritable colleges — in fact their 
 curricula are as extensive as were those of the colleges 
 of sixty years ago. Vast numbers attend them; their 
 faculties are composed of college graduates or better; 
 they have, as a rule, various departments, such as 
 manual training, domestic science, agriculture, com- 
 mercial subjects, normal courses, etc. In addition 
 to the traditional curricula, the high schools, like the 
 universities, normal schools, and agricultural colleges, 
 have kept pace, in large measure, with the material 
 progress described in the first part of this chapter. 
 
 How Is the Rural School? — We have described the
 
 48 SOME LINES OF PROGRESS 
 
 progress that has been made in various fields of the in- 
 dustrial world and also in several kinds of educational 
 institutions. At this point the question may, with 
 propriety, be asked whether the rural school has kept 
 pace in its progress mth the other and higher insti- 
 tutions which we have mentioned. We believe that 
 it has not. The rural school is the last to which public 
 attention has been directed; it cannot show any such 
 progress as has been indicated in other directions.
 
 
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 y 
 
 L. 
 
 
 
 
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 m 
 
 r 
 
 w 
 
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 A neglected school in unattractive surroundings 
 
 l li'jaf 
 
 
 A lonely road to school. 
 No conveyances provided 
 
 A better type of building with 
 some attempt at improvements 
 
 THE ONE-ROOM SCHOOL
 
 CHAPTER V 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 Rural Schools the Same Everywhere. — The one- 
 room country school of to-day is much the same the 
 whole country over. Such schools are no better in 
 Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota than they are in 
 the Dakotas, Montana, or Idaho. They are no better 
 in Ohio or New York than they are in Minnesota or 
 Wisconsin, and no better in the New England states 
 than in New York and Ohio. There is a wonderful 
 similarity in these schools in aU the states. 
 
 Nevertheless, it may be maintained with some plausi- 
 bility that the rural schools of the West are superior 
 to those farther east. The East is more conservative 
 and slow to change. The West has fewer traditions to 
 break. Many strong personalities of initiative and 
 push have come out of the East and taken up their 
 abode in the West. Young men continue to follow 
 Horace Greeley's advice. Sometimes these young 
 men file upon lands and teach the neighboring 
 school; and while this may not be the highest profes- 
 sional aim and attitude, it remains true nevertheless 
 that such teachers are often earnest, strong, and 
 educated persons. 
 
 Rural Life — 4 aq
 
 5© A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 Not long ago I had occasion to visit a teacher's 
 institute in a northwestern state, in which there were 
 enrolled 350 teachers. Some of these were college 
 graduates and many of them were normal school 
 graduates from various states. One had only to con- 
 duct a round table in order to experience a very 
 spirited reaction. Colonel Homer B. Sprague, who was 
 once president of the University of North Dakota, 
 used to say that it always wrenched him to kick at 
 nothing. There would be no danger, in such a body 
 of teachers as I have referred to, of wrenching one- 
 self. I have had occasion many times every year to 
 meet these western teachers in local associations, in 
 teachers' institutes, and in state conventions; and from 
 my observations and experience I can truthfully state 
 that they are fully as responsive and as progressive as 
 the teachers in other parts of the country. 
 
 Rural Schools no Better than Formerly. — Notwith- 
 standing all this, it is probably true that the rural 
 schools of to-day are, on the whole, no better than 
 those of twenty years ago. About that time I served 
 four years as county superintendent of schools in a 
 western state. As I recall the condition of the schools 
 of that day I can see that there has been but little if 
 any progress. Indeed, for reasons which will be stated 
 later on, it can be safely asserted that there has been 
 a deterioration. 
 
 About thirty years ago I had the experience of 
 teaching rural schools for several terms. Being ac-
 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 51 
 
 quainted with my coworkers, I met them frequently 
 in teachers' gatherings and in conventions of various 
 kinds. If my memory is to be trusted I can again 
 affirm that the teachers of those days do not compare 
 unfavorably with the rural school teachers of the 
 present time. And if the teacher is the measure of the 
 school, the same may be said of the schools. 
 
 Nor is this all. About forty years ago I was attend- 
 ing a rural school myself. I received all of my ele- 
 mentary education in such schools and I am con\dnced 
 that many of my teachers were stronger personalities 
 than the teachers of to-day. 
 
 Some Improvement. — It is not intended here to 
 assert or to convey the impression that there has been 
 no progress in any direction in the rural schools. It is 
 the personnel of the country school — the strength and 
 power of initiative in the teachers of that day — that 
 is here referred to. Although there has been some 
 progress in many lines it has not been in the direction 
 of stronger teachers. The textbooks in use to-day in 
 various branches are decidedly superior to those used 
 in former days, although some of these older books 
 were by no means without their points of strength 
 and excellence. Indeed, I sometimes think that 
 textbooks are often rendered less efficient by being 
 refined upon in a variety of ways to conform to the 
 popular pedagogical ideas of the day. 
 
 It is no doubt true also that there has been, in the 
 last thirty or forty years, much discussion along the
 
 52 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 lines of psychology and pedagogy and the methods of 
 teaching the various branches. The professional spirit 
 has been in the air, and there has been much writing and 
 much talking on the science and art of teaching. But 
 it must be confessed that, while this is desirable and 
 in fact indispensable, much of it may be little more 
 than a mere whitewash; much of it is simply parrot- 
 like imitation; much of it is only ''words, words, 
 words." Far be it from me to underestimate the 
 value of this professional and pedagogical phase 
 of the teacher's equipment. Nevertheless, when all is 
 said and duly considered, it is personality that is the 
 greatest factor in the teacher. A good, sound knowl- 
 edge of the subjects to be taught comes next; and last, 
 though probably not least, should come the pro- 
 fessional preparation and training. Without the first 
 two requisites, however, this last is, as we said, nothing 
 but whitewash. I am sorry to say that the personnel 
 of the rural teachers everywhere in America, and also 
 their academic education, have not been such as to 
 afford an adequate foundation for professional training 
 and study. 
 
 Strong Personalities in the Older Schools. — As an 
 example of strong personalities I remember one 
 teacher who in middle life was recognized as a leader 
 in his community; another one, after serving an appren- 
 ticeship in the country schools, became a prominent 
 and successful physician; a third became a leading 
 architect; a fourth, a lawyer; a fifth went west and
 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 53 
 
 became county judge in the state of his adoption; 
 a sixth entered West Point Military Academy and 
 rose rapidly in the United States army. These 
 instances are given to show that many of the 
 old-time country teachers were men of force and 
 initiative. They became to their pupils ideals of man- 
 hood worthy to be patterned after. These all taught 
 in one neighborhood, but similar strong characters 
 were no doubt engaged in the schools of surrounding 
 neighborhoods. What rural school of to-day in any 
 state can boast of the uplifting presence of so many 
 men teaching in one decade? 
 A. V. Storm, of the Iowa State 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 Hps of the young men, gi\'ing 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 as many men as women teaching 
 in the rural schools. One hundred years ago both city 
 and country schools were taught by men alone. Now
 
 54 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 the rural schools and most of the city schools are taught 
 by women alone. There is probably as much reason 
 against all teachers being women as there is against 
 all teachers being men. 
 
 Low Standard Now. — Thirty or forty years ago about 
 half of the teachers were men and half women, both 
 sexes representing the strong and the weak. The 
 schools of to-day are practically monopolized by young 
 girls from eighteen to twenty years of age who have 
 had little more, if any, than a common elementary 
 education. Some have just finished the eighth grade 
 and have had a smattering of pedagogy or what is 
 sometimes called "the theory and practice of teach- 
 ing." This they could have secured in a six weeks' 
 summer school, while reviewing the so-called "common 
 branches." These teachers are holders merely of a 
 second grade elementary, or county, certificate, which 
 requires very little education. Almost any person 
 who has taken the required course in reading, writing, 
 spelling, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, and 
 hygiene of the elementary school can pass the usual 
 examination and obtain a certificate to teach. In some 
 states the matter is made still easier by the issuing 
 of third grade county certificates, and even, in some 
 cases, by the giving of special permits. Indeed, the 
 standards are usually so low that the supply of teachers 
 is far beyond the demand. 
 
 The Survival of the Unfittest. — Such is the standard 
 which prevails extensively throughout the country in
 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 55 
 
 respect to the qualifications of rural school teachers. 
 As poor coins sometimes drive out the better in the 
 money world, so poor teachers holding the lowest 
 grade of certificate will often drive out the better, for 
 they are ready to teach for "less than anybody else." 
 The men and women of strength and initiative will go 
 out of the calling into other lines of work where progress 
 is more pronounced and where salaries or wages are 
 higher; and so the doors of the teachers' calling (I shall 
 not call it a profession) swing outward. The good 
 teachers desert us, or refuse to come, and the rural 
 schools are left with what might be called the survival 
 of the unfittest. 
 
 Short Terms. — Add to the foregoing considerations 
 the short terms of service which prevail in rural schools 
 and we have indeed a pitiable condition. The average 
 yearly duration of such schools in most states is about 
 seven months — sometimes less. This leaves about 
 five months of vacation, or of time between terms, 
 when much that has been learned is forgotten. Under 
 such conditions how is it possible to give the children 
 of these communities an education which is at all 
 comparable to that afforded by the city? 
 
 Poor Supervision. — Then, again, there is little or no 
 supervision of country schools. The county super- 
 intendent has under his inspection from fifty to two 
 hundred schools and it is utterly impossible for him to 
 give to each the desired number of \isits or to supervise 
 and superintend the work of those schools in a manner
 
 56 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 that can be called adequate in any true sense. Some- 
 times he can visit each school only once a year, or 
 twice at most, and, even then, there may be two differ- 
 ent teachers in the same school during the year; so 
 that he sees each of his teachers at work probably only 
 once. What can a supervising officer do for a school 
 or for a teacher under such circumstances? Prac- 
 tically nothing. The county superintendent is usually 
 elected to offfce by the people and frequently on a 
 partisan ticket; he must keep on the good side of 
 teachers and will naturally curry favor with school 
 officers in order to be reelected. So the super- 
 vision or superintendency of country schools is often 
 of small value indeed. Of course there are many 
 exceptional cases, but the exceptions only prove the 
 rule. 
 
 No Decided Movement. — The whole movement of 
 the rural school, whether it has been backward or 
 forward, has been too frequently without definite or 
 pronounced direction. It has moved along the line 
 of least resistance, sometimes this way, sometimes that, 
 in some places forward, in other places backward. 
 Time, circumstances, and chance determine the work. 
 School problems have been settled by convenience and 
 circumstances. The whole situation has been one of 
 laissez Jaire. It is only within the past few years that 
 people have become interested in the situation. They 
 are beginning to be impressed with the progress that 
 is being made in all other lines, not only outside of the
 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 57 
 
 schools but also in the fields of higher and secondary 
 education. The rural school interests have at last 
 begun to ask, "Where do we come in?" 
 
 Elementary Teaching Not a Profession. — There has 
 been as yet no real profession of teaching in the rural 
 or elementary field. In about one third of the schools 
 there is a new teacher every year; so that every three 
 years the teaching force in any given county is prac- 
 tically renewed. A profession cannot be acquired in a 
 day, or even in twelve months. The work to be done 
 is regarded as an important public work, and the public 
 is concerned in its own protection. Hence in every 
 true profession there is a somewhat lengthy period of 
 preparation and a standard of acquirements which 
 must be attained. In other words, a true profession 
 is a closed calling w^hich it is impossible for everyone 
 to join, and which only those can enter who have 
 passed through a severe preparation and have success- 
 fully met the required standard. School teaching in 
 the country is in no sense such a profession. It can be 
 entered too easily; there is practically no period of 
 preparation and the standard is placed so low that 
 even those who run may enter. 
 
 The Problem Difficult, but Before Us.— What shall 
 be done? The problem is before the American people 
 in every state of the Union, The people themselves 
 have become aroused to the situation, and this itself 
 is encouraging. ]\Iuch has been done in some states, 
 but much will be left undone for the attention of
 
 58 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 coming generations. The masses of the people can 
 be aroused only with difficulty. The education of an 
 individual 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 is so slow that 
 its progress is difficult of measurement. Indeed, the 
 movement of the race as a whole is so imperceptible 
 that it leaves room for 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 normal schools, and the high 
 schools, should all join hands in helping to remedy con- 
 ditions. Society has already, in large measure, solved 
 the problems in the higher educational fields; those 
 institutions have been advanced 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 these interests for aid in the 
 struggle to overcome the difficulties which confront 
 them. 
 
 Higher Standards Necessary. — But before the rural 
 schools can ever hope to make the desired progress, 
 higher standards must be set by society, and the teach- 
 ers in those schools must attain to them. The United 
 States, as a nation, is far behind foreign countries in 
 setting such a standard. In Denmark and elsewhere 
 a country school teacher must be a normal school
 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 59 
 
 graduate. A few national laws in the way of standard- 
 ization both in higher and lower education would 
 produce excellent results. The old fear of encroach- 
 ment upon state's rights by the national government 
 has too long prevented national legislation of a most 
 beneficial kind in the educational field. 
 
 Courses for Teachers. — In every normal school in 
 the United States there should be an elementary 
 course of study extending at least three years above 
 the eighth grade, and the completion of this course 
 should be required as a minimum preparation for 
 teaching in any school in the country'. This is cer- 
 tainly not asking too much. Pupils who complete the 
 eighth grade at fourteen or fifteen years, and then go to 
 a normal school, would complete this elementary course 
 at the age of seventeen or eighteen; and no person who 
 has not reached this age should assume the responsi- 
 bility for the care and instruction of children in any 
 school. 
 
 The Problem of Compensation. — Were such a stand- 
 ard adopted as a minimum, salaries would immediately 
 rise. (We do not often call them "salaries" but wages, 
 and probably with some discrimination.) If it is said 
 that teachers of such qualifications cannot be secured, 
 the answer is that in a short time things would so 
 adjust themselves that the demand would bring the 
 supply. Salaries in the country must be higher before 
 we can hope to secure any considerable number of 
 teachers as well equipped and with as strong per-
 
 6o A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 sonalities as those found in the cities. It may be 
 necessary for us to pay more than is paid in the 
 city; for if a teacher has two offers at $65 a 
 month, one from a city and one from the 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 most opportunities and conveniences, 
 with probably a better prospect for promotion. And 
 who can blame her? It is probable that, in many 
 instances, country districts will have to pay five or 
 ten dollars a month 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 order to get 
 a good, strong teacher; for taxation in the country is 
 usually lighter than it is in the city. In the city there 
 is taxation for lighting, for paving, for sidewalks, for 
 police protection, and for various other conveniences 
 and necessities. The country is free from most of 
 such levies, and it could, therefore, afford to pay a 
 little more school tax in order to secure its share of 
 the best teachers. 
 
 Consolidation as a Factor. — In the solution of the 
 school problem consolidation will do much. This is 
 being tried in almost every state of the Uiiion and is 
 working in the direction of progress with great satis- 
 faction. We shall treat of this more at length in 
 a later chapter. 
 
 Better Supervision Necessary. — Not only must we
 
 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 6 1 
 
 have better teachers in the country, but we must have 
 more and better supervision. There is no vahd reason 
 why country superintendents should be elected on a 
 political platform. It is the custom everywhere to 
 choose city superintendents from among the best men 
 or women anywhere in the field, inside or outside of the 
 state. Such should also be the practice in choosing 
 county superintendents. Then, too, a county should 
 be divided into districts and more assistance given 
 the county superintendent in the supervision of schools. 
 In other words, super\'ision should be persistent, con- 
 sistent, and systematic ; visits should be more frequent. 
 In the city a superintendent or principal has all his 
 schools and teachers either in one building or in several 
 buildings at no great distance apart. In the latter 
 case he can go from one to another in a few minutes, 
 staying at each as long as he thinks necessary. Little 
 time is lost in travel. This is one of the difficulties 
 of rural supervision, and it must be overcome in some 
 satisfactory way. 
 
 A Model Rural School. — It would be a good plan 
 for the state to establish in each county one model 
 rural school. Such schools might be maintained wholly 
 or in part by the state, and they would become models 
 for all the fieighboring districts. Children are always 
 imitative, and people are only children of a larger 
 growth. Most people learn to do things better by 
 imitation; and so these model state schools would 
 serve as patterns to be studied and copied by others.
 
 62 A BACKWARD AND NEGLECTED FIELD 
 
 The Teacher Should Lead. — The school should be the 
 mamspring of educational and social life in the com- 
 munity; hence, only such teachers should be employed 
 as are real originators of activity in rural schools and 
 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 community and his people. 
 
 A Good Boarding Place. — A serious difficulty con- 
 nected with teaching in the country is that of se- 
 curing a good boarding place and temporary home. 
 This may not be a troublesome problem in the older 
 and well-established communities, but in the newer 
 states and sparsely settled sections the condition is 
 almost forbidding. Half the enjoyment of life consists 
 in having a comfortable home and a good room to 
 oneself. This is absolutely necessary in order to do 
 one's work well, especially the work of the teacher. 
 Some of the experiences which teachers have been 
 obliged to go through are almost incredible. Almost 
 every teacher of a country school could give vivid and 
 pathetic illustrations and examples of the discomforts, 
 the annoyances, and the trials to wliich a boarder in a 
 strange family is subjected. The question of a ^board- 
 ing place should be in the mind and plan of levery 
 school board when they employ a teacher for their 
 district. It is they who should solve this problem for 
 the teacher by having a good available home provided 
 in advance.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 Much has been said and written in regard to what 
 is generally known as the ''consolidation of schools." 
 Men and women interested in the cause of popular 
 education have come to feel that the rural schools 
 throughout the country are making little or no prog- 
 ress, and public attention has therefore been turned 
 to consolidation as one of the possible means of im- 
 provement. . 
 
 The Process. — As the name implies, the process is 
 simply the bringing together and the fusing of two or 
 more schools into one. If two or more communities, 
 each having a small school of a few children, con- 
 clude that their schools are becoming ineffective 
 and that it would be advantageous to unite, each 
 may sell its own schoolhouse, and a new one may 
 be built large enough for all and more centrally 
 located with regard to the whole territory. They 
 thus "consohdate" the schools of the several districts 
 and establish a single large one. In many portions of 
 the country the rural schools have, from various 
 causes, grown smaller and smaller, until they have 
 ceased to be places of interest, of activity, and of 
 life. Now, a school, if it means anything, means a 
 
 63
 
 64 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 place. where minds are stimulated and awakened as 
 well as where knowledge is communicated. There can 
 be but little stimulation in a school of only a few chil- 
 dren. The pupils feel it and so does the teacher. Life, 
 activity, mental aspiration are always found where 
 large numbers of persons congregate. For these 
 reasons the idea of consohdating the small schools 
 into important centers, or units, is forcing itself upon 
 the people of the country. Where the schools are small 
 and the roads are good, everything favors the 
 bringing of the children to a larger and more stimu- 
 lating social and educational center. 
 
 When Not Necessary. — It might happen, as it fre- 
 quently does, that a school is already sufficiently large, 
 active, and enthusiastic to make it inadvisable to give 
 up its identity and become merged in the larger con- 
 solidated school. If there are twenty or thirty chil- 
 dren and an efficient teacher we have the essential 
 factors of a good school. Furthermore, it is rather 
 difficult to transport, for several miles, a larger num- 
 ber than this. 
 
 The District System. — There are two different kinds 
 of country school organization. In some states, what is 
 known as the district system is the prevailing one. This 
 means that a school district, more or less irregular in 
 shape and containing probably six to ten square miles, 
 is organized into a corporation for school purposes. The 
 schoolhouse is situated somewhere near the center of 
 this district and is usually a small, boxHke affair, often
 
 A frame building and adequate conveyances 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hl^ 
 
 ci^W 
 
 ■^^^^^^j 
 
 fc^jMi^^^^m^H^E 
 
 
 I 1 "ii ""^'- — 
 
 
 
 -'■■ ^ , "^"^^ 
 
 A substantial and well-planned building 
 TWO TYPES OF CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 65 
 
 located in a desolate place without trees or other at- 
 tractive environment. This school may be under the 
 administration of a trustee or of a school board having 
 the management of the school in every respect. This 
 board determines the length of term; it hires and dis- 
 misses teachers, procures supplies and performs all the 
 functions authorized by law. It is a case where one 
 school board has the entire management of one small 
 school. 
 
 The Township System. — The other form of organiza- 
 tion is what is known as the township system. Here 
 the several schools in one township are all under the 
 administration of one school board. There is not a 
 school board for each schoolhouse, as in the district 
 system, but one school board has charge of all the 
 schools of the township. Under certain conditions it has 
 in its power the locating of schoolhouses within this 
 general district. The board hires the teachers for all 
 the schools \vithin its jurisdiction, and in general man- 
 ages all the schools in the same manner as the board 
 in the district system manages its one school. 
 
 Consolidation Difficult in District System. — The proc- 
 ess of consolidation is always difficult where the dis- 
 trict system prevails. Both custom and sentiment 
 cause the people to hesitate or refuse to abandon their 
 established form of organization. If a community 
 has been incorporated for any purpose and has done 
 business for some years, it is ahvays difficult to induce 
 the people to make a change. They feel as if they 
 
 Rural Life — 5
 
 66 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 were abdicating government and responsibility. They 
 hesitate to merge themselves in a larger organization, 
 and hence they advance many objections to the con- 
 solidation of their schools. All this is but natural. 
 The several communities have been living apart 
 educationally and have been in a measure strangers. 
 They have never had any occasion to meet in con- 
 ference, to exchange thought, and to do business to- 
 gether; hence they fear and hesitate to take a leap 
 in the dark, as they conceive it, and to embark upon 
 a course which they think they may afterwards regret. 
 Consolidation frequently fails because of false apprehen- 
 sions due to a lack of social organization. 
 
 Easier in Township System. — It is quite otherwise 
 where the township system exists. Here there are no 
 separate corporations or organizations controlling the 
 various schools. The school board administers the 
 affairs of all the schools in the township. Hence 
 there is no sentiment in regard to the separate and 
 distinct individuality of each school and its patronage. 
 There are no sub-districts or distinctly organized com- 
 munities; a whole township or two townships constitute 
 one large district and the schools are located at the 
 most convenient points to serve the children of the 
 whole township. The people in such districts have 
 been accustomed to act together educationally as well 
 as politically, and to exchange thought on all such 
 situations. Hence consolidation, or the union of the 
 several schools, is a comparatively easy matter.
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 67 
 
 Consolidation a Special Problem for Each District. — 
 It will, of course, be seen at once that, in a school 
 township where there are several small and somewhat 
 lifeless schools with only a few children in each, it would 
 be desirable for several reasons to bring together all 
 the children into one large and animated center. 
 This process is a specific local problem. Whether or 
 not such consolidation is advisable depends upon many- 
 conditions, among which are, (i) the size of the former 
 schools, (2) the unanimity of sentiment in the com- 
 munity, (3) the location of roads and of residences, 
 (4) the distance the pupils are to be transported, and 
 other local and special considerations. The people of 
 each district should get together and discuss these 
 problems from various points of view and decide for 
 themselves whether or not they shall 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 the unanimity of sentiment in the community. 
 If there is a large minority against consohdation the 
 wisdom of forcing it by a small majority is to be ques- 
 tioned. It would be better to let the idea "work" a 
 while longer. 
 
 Disagreements on Transportation. — The problem of 
 transporting pupils is always a puzzling one. Many 
 details are involved in its solution and it is upon details 
 that communities usually disagree. Most enterprises 
 are wrecked by disagreements over small matters. 
 Even among friends it is the small details in manner-
 
 68 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 isms or conduct that become with time so irri- 
 tating that friendship is often strained. Details are 
 usually small, but their obtrusive, perpetual presence 
 is likely to disturb one's nerves. This is true in de- 
 liberative bodies of all kinds. Important measures 
 are often delayed or killed because their advocates and 
 opponents cannot ''give and take" upon small points. 
 Almost every great measure 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 in essentials, there should be 
 liberty in non-essentials, and charity in all things. 
 Many people lack the power of perspective in the dis- 
 cussion and solution of problems; for them all facts are 
 of the same magnitude. Large things which they do 
 not wish are minimized and small things are magnified. 
 A copper cent may be held so near the eye that it 
 will obscure the sun. Probably there has been no 
 difficulty greater in the process of consolidation than 
 the problems involved in the details concerning the 
 transportation of pupils. 
 
 Each Community Must Decide for Itself. — The par- 
 ticular mode of transportation must be determined by 
 the conditions existing in each community. In some 
 places the consoHdated school district provides one or 
 more busses, or, as they are sometimes called, "vans"; 
 and these go to the homes of the children each morning 
 in time to arrive at the schoolhouse before nine o'clock.
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 69 
 
 Of course, in this case the pupils hving farthest from 
 tht school must rise and be ready earliest; they are on 
 the rod..' for the greatest length of time. But this is 
 one of the irJnor discomforts which must be borne by 
 those families and iheir children. All cannot live 
 near the school. Sometimes a different plan of trans- 
 portation is found to give better satisfaction. The 
 parents may prefer to bring their own children to 
 school or to make definite arrangements with nearby 
 neighbors who bring theirs. There is no one way which 
 is the only way, and, in fact, several methods may be 
 used in the same district. 
 
 The Distance to Be Transported. — If pupils must be 
 transported over five or six miles, consolidation be- 
 comes a doubtful experiment. Of course, the vehicles 
 used should be comfortable and every care should be 
 taken of the children; but six miles over country 
 roads and in all kinds of weather means, probably, 
 an hour and a quarter on the road both morning and 
 evening. It could, of course, be said in reply that six 
 miles in a comfortable wagon and an hour and a 
 quarter on the road are not nearly so bad as a 
 mile and a quarter on foot at certain seasons of the 
 year. 
 
 Responsible Driver. — Another point upon which all 
 parents should insist is that the transportation of 
 their children should be performed by rehable and re- 
 sponsible drivers. This is important and most neces- 
 sary. Under such conditions there would be no danger
 
 7© CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 of children being drenched with rain in summer and 
 exposed to cold in winter, for the vehicles would be so 
 constructed as to offer protection against both. There 
 would also be no danger of the large boys bullying and 
 browbeating the smaller children on the way, as is 
 often done when they walk to school over long and 
 lonely roads; for all would be under the care of a trust- 
 worthy driver until they were landed at the door of 
 the schoolhouse or the home. 
 
 Cost of Consolidation. — The cost of consolidation is 
 always an important consideration. Under the district 
 system one district may be wealthy and another poor, 
 the former having scarcely any taxation and the latter 
 a high rate of taxation. It is usual that, in such cases, 
 the districts ha\dng a small rate of taxation are un- 
 willing to consolidate with others. This is one of 
 the difficulties. Consolidation will bring about uni- 
 formity of taxation in the whole territory affected. 
 This is an advantage in itself. If the old schoolhouses 
 are in good condition there will be somewhat of a 
 loss in selling them and in building a large new central 
 building. This is another situation which always 
 complicates the problem. If the old buildings are 
 worthless and if they must be replaced in any event 
 by new buildings, then the time is opportune for con- 
 sidering consolidation. 
 
 Even after the reorganization is effected, and the 
 new central building located, the cost of education, 
 all things considered, is not increased. It is undoubt-
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 71 
 
 edly true that a larger amount of money may be needed 
 to maintain the consohdated school than to maintain 
 all the various small schools which have previously 
 existed. But other factors must be taken into account. 
 The total amount of dollars and cents in the one situa- 
 tion as compared with the total amount in the other 
 does not tell the whole story. For it has been found 
 that, everywhere in the country, there is a larger and 
 better attendance of pupils in the consolidated 
 school, that more pupils go to school, that they attend 
 more regularly, and that the school terms are longer. 
 Therefore the proper test of expense is the cost of a 
 day's schooling for each pupil, or the cost ''per pupil 
 per day." Measured by this standard education in 
 the consolidated school is no more expensive than in 
 the unconsolidated schools; indeed it is usually less 
 expensive. It is a good thing for society to give a 
 day's education to one child; then education pays as it 
 goes, and the more days' education it can offer, the 
 better. 
 
 More Life in the Consolidated School. — No one can 
 deny that in this larger school there can be more 
 life and activity of all kinds, and a much finer school 
 spirit than was possible in the smaller schools. Edu- 
 cation means stimulation and where a great many 
 children are brought together and properly organized 
 and graded there is a more stimulating atmosphere 
 and environment. 
 
 Some Grading Desirable. — In these consolidated
 
 72 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 schools a reasonable amount of grading can be secured. 
 It may be true that in some of the large cities an 
 extreme degree of grading defeats education and the 
 true aim of organization, but certainly in consolidated 
 rural schools no such degree of refinement need be 
 reached or feared. Grading can remain here in the 
 golden mean and will be beneficial to pupils and 
 teachers alike. The pupils thus graded will have more 
 time for recitation and instruction, and teachers will 
 have more time to do efficient work. In the one- 
 room rural school one teacher usually has eight grades 
 and often more, and sometimes she is required to con- 
 duct thirty or forty different recitations in a day. 
 Under such conditions the lack of time prevents the 
 attainment of good results. 
 
 Better Teachers. — It is also true that, where a school 
 is larger and attains to more of a system, better teachers 
 are sought and secured by the authorities. As we 
 have already said, the cities now secure nearly all 
 of the best trained teachers, and the country dis- 
 tricts are compelled to take what is left. But the 
 consoHdated school being organized, equipped, and 
 graded, and representing, as it does, a large com- 
 munity or district, the tendency will be to secure as 
 good teachers as possible. This is helped along by the 
 comparison and competition of teachers working side 
 by side within the walls of the same building. In such 
 schools, too, there is usually a principal, and he exercises 
 the function of selection and rejection in the choice of
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 73 
 
 teachers. All this conduces to the securing of good 
 teachers in the consolidated center. 
 
 Better Buildings and Inspection. — Similar improve- 
 ments are attained in the building as a whole, in the 
 individual rooms, and in the interior equipment. 
 Such buildings are usually planned by competent 
 architects and are more adequate in all their appoint- 
 ments. All things are subject to inspection, both by 
 the community and the authorities. It is natural 
 that such inspection and criticism \vill be satisfied 
 only mth the best; and so the surroundings of pupils 
 become much more favorable to their mental, moral, 
 and physical well-being than was possible in the isolated 
 one-room school building. 
 
 Longer Terms. — The same discussion, agitation, in- 
 spection, and supervision will inevitably lead to longer 
 terms of school. Whereas the one-room schools usu- 
 ally average six and a half months of school per year, 
 the consolidated schools average over eight months. 
 This is in itself a most important gain. 
 
 Regularity, Punctuality, and Attendance. — The larger 
 spirit and life of the consolidated school induce greater 
 punctuality and regularity of attendance. When 
 pupils are transported to school they are always on 
 time, and when they are members of a class where 
 there is considerable competition they attend school 
 with great regularity. There are many grown-up 
 pupils in the district who would not go to the small 
 schools, but who will go to a larger school where they
 
 74 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 
 
 find their equals; and so the school attendance is 
 greatly increased. We have, then, the advantages 
 of greater punctuality, greater regularity, and more 
 pupils in attendance. 
 
 The school spirit is abroad in the consolidated school 
 district; people are thinking and talking school. It 
 becomes the customary and fashionable thing to send 
 children to school. 
 
 Better Supervision. — There is also much better 
 supervision in the consolidated school; for, in addition 
 to the supervision given by the county superintendent 
 or his assistants, there is also the supervision of the 
 principal, or head teacher. This is in itself no small 
 factor in the making of a good school. Good super- 
 vision always makes strongly for efficiency. 
 
 The School as a Social Center. — Other effects than 
 those above mentioned will necessarily follow. The 
 consoHdated school can and should become a social 
 center. There should be an assembly room for lectures, 
 debates, literary and musical entertainments, and meet- 
 ings of all kinds. The lecture hall should be provided 
 with a stage, and good moving-picture exhibitions 
 might be given occasionally. There, also, the citizens 
 may gather to hear pubhc questions discussed. It 
 could thus become a civic and social center as well as 
 an educational center. All problems affecting the 
 welfare of the community might be presented here; the 
 people could assemble to listen to the discussion of 
 pohtical and other social and public questions, which
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 75 
 
 are the subjects of thought and of conversation in the 
 neighborhood. This is real social and educational Hfe. 
 
 Better Roads. — Not only does consolidation tend to 
 all the above results but it does many other things 
 incidentally. It leads to the making of better roads; 
 for where a community has to travel frequently it will 
 provide good roads. This is one of the crying needs of 
 the day throughout the country. 
 
 Consolidation Coming Everywhere. — Consolidation 
 is now under way in almost every state of the Union and 
 wherever tried it has almost invariably succeeded. 
 In but very few places have rural communities aban- 
 doned the educational, social, and civic center, and 
 gone back to their former state of isolation and deadly 
 routine. 
 
 The Married Teacher and Permanence. — In order 
 to make the consolidated school a success, the policy will 
 have to be adopted in America of building, at or near 
 the school, a residence for the teacher, and of selecting 
 as teacher a married man, who will make his home 
 there among the people whose children he is to teach. 
 Such a teacher should be a real community leader in 
 every way, and his tenure of service should be per- 
 manent. Grave and specific reasons only should effect 
 his removal. With single men and women it is im- 
 possible to secure the permanence of tenure that is 
 desirable and necessary to the educational and social 
 welfare of a school and a community. This has 
 been demonstrated over and over again, and foreign
 
 76 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS^ 
 
 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 for garden and field purposes, and 
 the coming policy everywhere of an ''insurance and 
 retirement fund" would offer great inducements to 
 strong men to take up their abode and cast their lot 
 in such educational and community centers.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 The Greatest Factor. — Now, although we may have 
 a beautiful school campus, an adequate and artistic 
 building, a library, laboratories and workshops with 
 all necessary physical or material appointments com- 
 plete, we may yet have a poor school; these things, 
 however desirable, will not teach 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 one with a great soul, not necessarily with a great 
 body. Hence it is that a great teacher with poor 
 buildings and inferior equipments is incomparably 
 better than great buildings and equipments without a 
 competent teacher. 
 
 What Education Is. — Education is essentially and 
 largely the stimulation and transformation of one mind 
 or personality by another. It is the impression of one 
 great mind or soul upon another, giving it a manner 
 of spirit, a bent, an attitude, as well as a thirst for 
 knowledge. This is too often lost sight of in the com- 
 plexity of things. Many people are inclined to think 
 that educational equipment and machinery alone will 
 educate. There is nothing further from the truth. 
 
 77
 
 78 THE TEACHER 
 
 Mark Hopkins would be a great teacher without equip- 
 ment; buildings, grounds, apparatus, and labora- 
 tories will not really educate without a great person- 
 ality behind the desk. There is probably nothing more 
 inspiring, more suggesting, more stimulating, or more 
 transforming than intimate contact with great minds. 
 Thought hke water seeks its level, and for children to 
 come into living and loving communication with a 
 great 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. The locomotive is not 
 greater than the man at the throttle, and the ship 
 without the man at the helm flounders aimlessly upon 
 the sea. Just so, a great personality must be behind 
 the teacher's desk or there cannot be in 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 method of study, his ideals. 
 He is a real leader in every way. Children — and we are 
 all children to a certain extent — are great imitators, 
 and so the pupils tend to become like the teacher. 
 
 The true teacher stimulates to activity by example. 
 Where you find such a teacher, things are constantly 
 "doing"; people are thinking and talking school all the 
 time; education is in the atmosphere. The real teacher 
 is, to use a popular phrase, a "live wire." Something 
 new is undertaken every day. He is a man of initiative
 
 THE TEACHER 79 
 
 and push, and withal he is a man of sincerity and tact. 
 While he is retrospective and circumspective he is also 
 prospective — he is a man of the far-look-ahead type. 
 
 A Hypnotist. — The teacher is in the true sense a 
 suggester of good things. He is an educational hyp- 
 notist. The longer I continue to teach the more 
 am I impressed with the fact that suggestion is the 
 great art of 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 learned in school was the lesson of 
 "untying knots." He meant, of course, that every 
 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 of relationship existing 
 in it. It would be easier, of course, for the teacher 
 under these circumstances merely to cut the knot and 
 have it all done with, but this would be poor teaching. 
 This would be telling, not teaching. This would lead 
 to passivity and not to activity on the part of the 
 pupils. And it may be said here that^ constant and 
 too much telling is probably the greatest and most 
 widespread mistake in teaching. Teachers are con- 
 stantly cutting the knots for children who should be 
 left to untie them for themselves. To untie a knot is 
 to see through and through a subject, to see all around 
 it, to see the various relations of its parts and, conse- 
 quently, to understand it. This is solving a problem;
 
 8o THE TEACHER 
 
 it is dissolving it; that is, the problem becomes a 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 being able to forget. In the former 
 case the so-called knowledge is not a part of oneself; 
 it is not vital. The roots do not penetrate beneath the 
 surface of our minds; they are, as it were, merely stuck 
 on; the mental sap does not circulate. In the latter 
 case the knowledge is real; it is alive 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 our hearts torn out and still live. 
 
 Too Much Kindness. — An illustration of the same 
 point appears in the following incident. A boy who 
 owned a pet squirrel thought it a kindness to the 
 squirrel to crack all the nuts for it. The consequence 
 was that the squirrel's incisors, above and below, grew 
 so long that they overlapped and the animal could 
 not eat anything. Too many teachers are so kind to 
 their pupils that they crack all the educational nuts for 
 them, with the consequence that the children become 
 passive and die mentally for want of activity. The 
 true teacher will allow his pupils to wrestle with their 
 problems without interruption until they arrive at a 
 conclusion. If some pupil "goes into the ditch" and 
 flounders he should usually be allowed to get out by his 
 own efforts as best he can. Here is the place where the 
 teacher "should be cruel only to be kind."
 
 THE TEACHER 8l 
 
 The Button Illustration. — Another illustration may 
 help to brin^ to us one of the characteristics of the 
 really good teacher. When children, we have all, no 
 doubt, amused ourselves by putting a string through 
 two holes of a button and, after twirling it around 
 between our thumbs, drawing it steadily in measured 
 fashion so as to make the button spin and hum. If 
 the string is drawn properly this will be successful; 
 otherwise it will become a perfect snarl. This com- 
 mon experience has often seemed to me to typify two 
 different kinds of school. In one, where there is a 
 great teacher "drawing" the school properly, you will 
 hear, incidentally, the hum of industry, for all are 
 active. A school which may be thus characterized is 
 always better than the one characterized by silence and 
 inaction. A little noise — in fact a considerable noise — 
 is not inconsistent with a good school, and it frequently 
 happens that what we call "the silence of death" is 
 due to fear, which is always paralyzing. 
 
 The Chariot Race. — Still another illustration may 
 help to make clear what is meant by a good school and 
 a good teacher. Lew Wallace, in his account of the 
 chariot race, makes Ben Hur and his rival approach 
 the goal with their horses neck and neck. He says 
 that Ben Hur, in getting the best out of his steeds, 
 sent his will out along the reins. A really spirited 
 horse responds to the throb of his driver's hand upon 
 the rein. A good driver gets the best out of his horse; 
 he and his horse are in accord and the horse takes as 
 
 Rural Life — 6
 
 82 THE TEACHER 
 
 much pride in the performance as the driver does. 
 This is analogously true of a good school. 
 
 The schoolroom is not a complete democracy — in 
 fact, it is not a democracy at all in the lower grades; 
 it is or should be a benevolent autocracy. The teacher 
 within the schoolroom is the law-making body, the 
 interpreter of the laws, and the executor of the laws. 
 The good teacher does all this justly and kindly, 
 and so elicits the admiration, the respect, and the 
 active support of the governed. He sends his will 
 out along the reins. Some schools — those with great 
 teachers in charge — are in this condition; they are 
 coming in under full speed toward the goal, guided by 
 a master whose will stimulates the pupils to the greatest 
 voluntary activity. Other schools, we are sorry to say, 
 illustrate the conditions where the reins are over the 
 dashboard and the school is running away, pell-mell! 
 
 Physically Sound. — What are some of the character- 
 istic attributes or traits which a masterful and inspiring 
 teacher should possess? In the first place he should 
 be physically sound. It may seem like a lack of 
 charity to say, and yet it is true, that any serious 
 physical defect should militate against, if not bar, one 
 from the schoolroom. Any serious blemish or notice- 
 able defect becomes to pupils an ever-present sug- 
 gestive picture, and to some extent must work against, 
 rather than for, education. Other things being equal, 
 those who are most comely and most beautiful of 
 face and of form should be chosen. Since children are
 
 THE TEACHER 83 
 
 extremely plastic and impressionable, and so susceptible 
 to the influence of ideas and ideals, beauty and perfec- 
 tion should, whenever possible, be the attributes of the 
 person who is to guide and fashion them. 
 
 Character. — A teacher should be morally sound; he 
 should ''ring" true. One can give only what one has. 
 A liar cannot teach veracity; a dishonest 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 that children are 
 better judges of moral defects and of shams than are 
 grown people; but, while this is not true, it is neverthe- 
 less a fact that many children, in a short time, divine or 
 sense the true moral nature of the teacher. Children 
 appreciate justice and will endure and even welcome 
 severity if they know that justice is coupled with it. 
 They are not averse to being governed with a firm hand. 
 If pupils are allowed to do just 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 a very few days they will tire of it and begin to 
 complain. 
 
 Well Educated. — We need not, of course, contend at 
 any length that a teacher should be well educated, in 
 the academic sense of the word. In order to teach well, 
 one must understand his subject thoroughly. It is 
 quite generally held that a teacher should be at least 
 four years in advance, academically, of the pupils
 
 84 THE TEACHER 
 
 whom he is to teach. Whether this is true or not in 
 particular cases, the fact remains that the teacher 
 should be full of his subject, should be at home in it, 
 and should be able to illustrate it in its various phases; 
 he should be free to stand before his class without 
 textbook in hand and to give instruction from a full 
 and accurate mind. There is probably nothing that 
 so destroys the confidence of pupils as the lamentable 
 spectacle of seeing the teacher compelled at every turn 
 to refer to the book for verification of the answers 
 given. It is a sign of pitiable weakness. If a dis- 
 tinction is to be made between knowledge and wisdom 
 a true teacher should be possessed of the latter to a 
 considerable extent. He should also have prudence, 
 or practical wisdom. Wisdom and prudence imply 
 that fine perspective which gives a person balance and 
 tact in all situations. It should be noted that there is a 
 policy, or diplomacy, in a good sense, which does not in 
 any way conflict with principle; and the true teacher 
 should have the knowledge, the wisdom, and the tact 
 to do and to say the right thing at the right time and 
 to leave unsaid and undone many, many things. 
 
 Professional Preparation. — In addition to a thorough 
 knowledge of subject matter every teacher should have 
 had some professional preparation for his work. 
 Teaching, like government, is one of the most com- 
 plicated of arts, and to engage in it without any previous 
 study of its problems, its principles, and its methods 
 seems like foolhardiness. There are scores, if not
 
 THE TEACHER 85 
 
 hundreds, of topics and problems which should be 
 thought out and talked over before the teacher engages 
 in actual work in the schoolroom. When the solutions 
 of these problems have become a part of his own mind, 
 they will come to his rescue as occasion demands; and, 
 although much must be learned by experience, a sound 
 knowledge of the fundamental principles of education 
 and teaching will always throw much Ught upon prac- 
 tical procedure. It is true that theory without prac- 
 tice is often visionary, but it is equally true that 
 practice without any previous knowledge, or theory, 
 is very often blind. 
 
 Experience. — In addition to the foregoing qualifica- 
 tions the teacher, in order to be really masterful, must 
 have had some — indeed considerable — actual experi- 
 ence. It is this that gives confidence and firmness to 
 all our procedure. The young lawyer when he appears 
 at the bar, to plead his first case, finds his knees knock- 
 ing together; but after a few months or years of prac- 
 tice he acquires ease, confidence, and mastery in his 
 work. The same is true of the physician and the 
 teacher. Some successful experience always counts 
 for much. School boards, however, often over-esti- 
 mate mere experience. Poor experience may be 
 worse than none; and some good superintendents are 
 willing, and often prefer, to select promising candidates 
 without experience, and then train or build them up 
 into the kind of teachers they wish them to become. 
 
 Choosing a Teacher. — If I were a member of a school
 
 86 THE TEACHER 
 
 board iii a country district where there is either a 
 good one-room school or a consohdated school, I 
 should go about securing a good teacher somewhat as 
 follows: I should keep, so to speak, my "weather eye" 
 open for a teacher who had become known to some 
 extent in all the surrounding country; one who had 
 made a name and a reputation for himself. I should 
 inquire, in regard to this teacher, of the county super- 
 intendent and of his supervising officers. I should 
 make this my business; and then, if I should become 
 convinced that such a person was the one needed in 
 our school, and if I had the authority to act, I should 
 employ such a person regardless of wages or salary. 
 If after a term or two this teacher should make a 
 satisfactory record, I would then promote him, un- 
 solicited, and endeavor to keep him as long as he would 
 stay. 
 
 A " Scoop." — Sometimes there is considerable rivalry 
 among the newspapers of a city. The editors or local 
 reporters watch for what they call a "scoop." This 
 is a piece of news that will be very much sought by 
 the public and which remains unknown to the people 
 or, in fact, to the other papers until it appears in the 
 one that has discovered it. This is analogous to what 
 I should try to do in securing a teacher: I should try 
 to get a veritable educational "scoop" on all the other 
 districts of the surrounding country. The only way 
 to secure such persons is for some individual or for the 
 school board to make this a specific business. In the
 
 THE TEACHER 87 
 
 country districts this might be done by one of the 
 leading directors; in a consolidated school, by the 
 principal or superintendent. If it is true that "as 
 the teacher so is the school," it is likewise true that 
 as is the principal or superintendent so are the teachers. 
 
 What Makes the Difference. — It will be found that 
 a small difference in salary will frequently make all 
 the difference between a worthless and an excellent 
 teacher. It is often the ten or fifteen dollars a month 
 additional which secures the prize teacher; and so I 
 should make the difference in salary a secondary con- 
 sideration; for, after all, the difference amounts to 
 very little in the taxation on the whole community. 
 
 A Question of Teachers.— The question of teachers 
 is the real problem in education, from the primary 
 school to the great universities. It is the poor teaching 
 of poor teachers everywhere that sets at naught the 
 processes of education; and when the American people, 
 and especially the rural people, realize that this is the 
 heart and center of their problem, and when they 
 realize also that the difference, financially, between a 
 poor teacher and a good one is so small, they will rise 
 to the occasion 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 be in evidence everywhere in the 
 teaching profession. Such a type is absolutely neces- 
 sary to the attainment of genuine success. It does 
 not exist in a very large proportion in the rural schools 
 nor yet in the whole field of elementary and, indeed, 
 of secondary and higher education. It is of infrequent 
 occurrence even in the colleges or universities, and 
 hence it is that the teacher and the professor have been 
 so often caricatured to their discredit. There is usu- 
 ally some truth underlying a caricature; a cartoon 
 would lack point if it did not possess a substratum of 
 fact. 
 
 The " Mode." — Now, there is established in the 
 public mind this type of teacher; and when an idea or 
 an ideal, however low, becomes once established, it is 
 changed only with difficulty. This commonplace in- 
 dividual, this mediocre type of man or of woman, has 
 come to be regarded as a fairly typical representative of 
 what the teacher usually is; or, as the statistician would 
 express it, he is the "mode" rather than the average. 
 The "mode" in any class of objects or of individuals 
 
 88
 
 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 89 
 
 is the one that occurs oftenest, the one most frequently 
 met with. And so this inactive, nondescript sort of 
 person is often thought of as the typical teacher. He 
 has no very high standing either financially or so- 
 cially, and so has no great influence on the individuals 
 around him or on the community in general. This 
 conception has become so well established in the 
 public mind, and is so frequently met ^\^th, that all 
 teachers are regarded as being of the same type. The 
 better teachers, the strong personalities, are brought 
 into this same class and must suffer the consequences. 
 
 The "Mode" in Labor. — This same process of 
 classifying individuals may be seen in other spheres 
 also. In some sections of the country it is the 
 method of estimating the worth of laboring men; 
 all in the same class are considered equal; all of a class 
 are reduced to the same level and paid the same wages. 
 One man can do and often does the work of two or 
 three men, and does it better; yet he must labor for 
 the same common wage. 
 
 The "Mode'* in Educational Institutions. — The 
 same is to a great extent true of the popular estimate 
 of educational institutions. In the public mind an 
 institution is merely an "institution." One is thought 
 of as doing practically the same work as another; 
 so when institutions come before legislatures for 
 financial recognition in the way of appropriations, one 
 institution is considered as deserving as another. The 
 great public is not keen in its discriminations, whether
 
 90 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 
 
 it be a case of educational institutions, of laboring 
 men, or of teachers. 
 
 No "Profession." — The fact is that, throughout the 
 lower ranks of the teachers' calling, there is really no 
 profession. The personality of those engaged in the 
 work is too ordinary to professionalize any calling. 
 
 Weak Personalities. — This condition of affairs has 
 grown partly out of the fact that we have not, in the 
 different states and in the country at large, a sufficiently 
 high standard. The examinations are not sufficiently 
 extensive and intensive to separate the sheep from the 
 goats. The unqualified thus rush in and drive out the 
 qualified, for the efficient cannot compete with the 
 inefficient. The calling is in no sense a "closed" pro- 
 fession, and consequently in the lower ranks it is 
 scarcely a profession at all. 
 
 Low Standard. — There is also established in the 
 public mind a certain standard, or test, for common 
 school teaching. This standard has been current 
 so long that it has become quite stable, and it seems 
 almost impossible to change it. As in the case of some 
 individuals when they become possessed of an idea, 
 it is almost impossible to dispossess the social mind of 
 this low standard. 
 
 The Norm of Wages Too Low. — In regard to the 
 wages of teachers it may be said that there is fixed 
 in the social mind also, a certain norm. As in the case 
 of personality and of standard qualifications, a certain 
 amount of wages has long been regarded as representing
 
 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 9 1 
 
 the sum which a teacher ought to receive. For rural 
 schools this is probably about fifty dollars a month ; in 
 fact, in most states the average wage paid to rural 
 school teachers is below that amount. But let us say 
 that fifty dollars is the amount that has become 
 established in the popular mind as a reasonable salary. 
 Here, as in the other cases, it is very difficult to change 
 ideas established by long custom. For many years 
 people have been accustomed to think of teachers 
 recei\ang certain salaries, and they refuse to consider 
 any higher sums as appropriate. This, of course, is an 
 egregious blunder. The rural schools can never be 
 lifted above their present plane of inefficiency until 
 these three conceptions, (i) that of personality, (2) 
 that of standard, and, (3) that of wages, are revised in 
 the public mind. There will have to be a great revolu- 
 tion in the thought of the people in regard to these 
 inseparable things. 
 
 The Inseparables. — The fact is that, (i) strong per- 
 sonalities, (2) a high standard of qualifications, (3) 
 and a respectable salary go hand in hand. They rise 
 and fall together; they are reactive, one upon the 
 other. The strong personality implies the ability to 
 meet a high standard and demands reasonable com- 
 pensation. The same is true of the high standard — 
 it selects the strong personality and this in turn cannot 
 be secured except at a good salary. It may be main- 
 tained that if school boards really face the ques- 
 tion in earnest, and are willing to offer good salaries,
 
 92 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 
 
 strong personalities who are able to meet that high 
 standard can always be secured. Professor Hugo 
 MUnsterberg says: "Our present civilization shows 
 that in every country really decisive achievement is 
 found only in those fields which draw the strongest 
 minds, and that they are drawn only where the greatest 
 premiums are tempting them." ^ 
 
 Raise the Standard First. — The best way, then, to 
 attack the problem is, first, to raise the standard. 
 This will eliminate inferior teachers and retain or 
 attract those of superior qualifications. It is to be 
 regretted that we have not, in the United States, 
 a more uniform standard for teaching in the common 
 schools. Each state has its own laws, its own stand- 
 ard. It would not, we think, be asking too much 
 to provide that no person should teach in any grade 
 of school, rural or elementary, in the United States, 
 unless such person has had a course for teachers 
 equivalent to at least three years of work in the high 
 school or normal school, with pedagogical preparation 
 and training. In fact, a national law making such a 
 uniform standard among the teachers in the common 
 schools of the country would be an advantage. But 
 this is probably more than we can expect in the near 
 future. As it is, there should be a conference of the 
 educational authorities in each state to agree upon a 
 standard for teaching, with a view to uniform state 
 legislation. 
 
 1 Psychology and Social Sanity, p. 82.
 
 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 
 
 93 
 
 More Men. — One of the great needs of the caUing 
 is more men. There was a time when all teachers were 
 men; now nearly all teachers are women. There is as 
 much reason for one condition as for the other. With- 
 out going into an analysis of the situation or the 
 causes which make it 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 and women in the work were about 
 evenly divided. 
 
 Cooperation Needed. — Educational movements and 
 influences have spread downward and outward from 
 above. The great universities of the world were 
 established before the secondary and elementary school 
 systems came into existence. Thought settles down 
 from leaders who are in high places. We have shown 
 in a former chapter that the state universities, the 
 agricultural colleges, the normal schools, and the high 
 schools have had a wonderful development within the 
 last generation, while the rural school has remained 
 practically at a standstill. The country districts have 
 helped to support in every way the development of 
 the higher schools; now an excellent opportunity 
 presents itself for all the higher and secondary educa- 
 tional influences to unite in helping to solve the rural 
 school problem. 
 
 The Supply. — The ciuestion is sometimes asked 
 whether the right kind of teachers can be secured, if
 
 94 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 
 
 higher salaries are offered. There can be no doubt at 
 all on this point. Where the demand exists and where 
 there is sufficient inducement offered, the supply is 
 always forthcoming. Men are always at hand to engage 
 in the most menial and even the most dangerous 
 occupations if a sufficient reward, financial or other- 
 wise, is offered. For high wages men are induced to 
 work in factories where mercury must be handled and 
 where it is well known that life is shortened many years 
 as a consequence. Men are secured to work long hours 
 in the presence of red-hot blast furnaces and in the low- 
 est depths of the holds of ships. Can it be possible 
 that with a reasonable salary the strongest kind of 
 men would not be attracted to a calling that has as 
 many points of interest and as many attractions as 
 teaching? 
 
 Make It Fashionable. — A great deal depends upon 
 making any work or any calling fashionable. All 
 that is needed is for the tide to turn in that direction. 
 It is difficult to say how much salary will stop the 
 outward tide and cause it to set in the other direction ; 
 but one thing is certain, we shall never completely 
 solve the rural school problem until the tide turns. 
 
 The Retirement System. — Strong personalities will, 
 then, help to make teaching attractive and fashionable, 
 as well as effectual. There is a movement now be- 
 coming quite extensive which will also add to the 
 attractiveness of the teacher's calling. A system or 
 plan of insurance and retirement is now being in-
 
 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 95 
 
 stalled in many states for the benefit of teachers 
 who become incapacitated or who have taught a cer- 
 tain period of time. This plan gives a feeling of con- 
 tentment, and also a feeling of security against the 
 stress and needs of old age, which will do much to 
 hold strong people in the profession. The fear of 
 being left penniless in 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 when we re- 
 member that teaching is different from law, medicine, 
 or other professions. In these vocations a man's serv- 
 ice usually becomes more and more in demand as he 
 advances in years, on account of the reputation and 
 experience he has gained; while in teaching, when a 
 person arrives at the middle line of life or after, school 
 boards begin to say and to think that he is getting too 
 old for the schoolroom, and so they seek for younger 
 talent. The consequence is that the good and faithful 
 public servant who has given the best years of his life 
 to the education of the young is left stranded in old 
 age without an occupation and without money. The 
 insurance and retirement fund plan is a movement in 
 the right direction and will do something to help turn 
 the tide of strong personalities toward the teachers' 
 calling. 
 
 Similar Problem in the Church. — The church in its
 
 96 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 
 
 various denominations is confronted with a similar 
 problem. Time was when the ministry was an attrac- 
 tive and, in fact, a fashionable calling. During a long 
 period, education was for the most part a preparation 
 for the ministry. In our day the doors of the min- 
 istry, like the doors of the teaching profession, swing 
 out; and if the strong personalities do not leave, at 
 least the strong ones outside are not attracted to it. 
 
 City and Country Salaries — Effects. — The average 
 salary for rural school teachers in one state I find to 
 be $45 a month. In that same state the average 
 salary of teachers in the city and town schools is $55 
 a month. Now, under such conditions, it is utterly 
 impossible to secure a good corps of teachers for the 
 rural schools. If the ratio were reversed and the 
 rural schools paid $55 a month, while the cities and 
 towns paid only $45, there would be more chance of 
 each securing teachers of equal ability. Even then, 
 teachers would go to the city at the lower salary on 
 account of the additional attractions and conveniences 
 and the additional facilities and opportunities of 
 every kind for self-improvement. 
 
 In the state referred to, the average salary of all 
 teachers in the common schools was $51 a month. 
 It is utterly impossible to realize a "profession" on 
 such a financial basis as this. Forty-five or fifty 
 dollars a month for rural teachers is altogether too 
 low. This must be raised fifty, if not one hundred per 
 cent, in order that a beginning may be made in the
 
 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 97 
 
 solution of the rural school problem. Where $50 a 
 month seems to be the going wage, if school boards 
 would offer $75 and then see to it that the persons 
 whom they hire are efficient, an attempt at the solu- 
 tion of the problem in that district or neighborhood 
 would be made. Is it possible that any good, strong, 
 educated, and cultured person can be secured for less 
 than $75 a month? If in such a district there were 
 eight months of school this would mean only 8 x $25, 
 or $200 more than had been paid previously. For ten 
 sections of land this would mean about $20 a section, 
 or $5 a quarter section, in addition to what they had 
 been paying with little or no results. 
 
 This sum often represents the difference between a 
 poor school and a good school. With a fifty-dollar 
 teacher, nothing worth while was done. There was 
 no activity in the neighborhood; the pupils or the 
 people had not been waked up. There had been no 
 talking and no thinking of education or of schools, 
 no reading, or talking about books, about education, 
 about things of the higher life. Under the seventy- 
 five-dollar teacher all this is changed. 
 
 The Solution Demands More. — Instead of $75, a 
 community should pay to a wide-awake person who 
 takes hold of a situation in a neighborhood and keeps 
 things moving at least $100 a month. With nine 
 months' school this would mean $900; and it is strange, 
 indeed, if a person in the prime of life who has spent 
 many years in the preparation of his work, and who 
 
 Rural Life — 7
 
 98 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 
 
 lias initiative and push, is not worth $ioo a month for 
 nine months in the year. To such a person the people 
 of that neighborhood intrust their dearest and priceless 
 possessions — their own children. If we remember 
 that, as the twig is bent the tree is inclined, there 
 need be no hesitation about the value of efficient teach- 
 ing during the plastic period of childhood. In fact, 
 it may easily be maintained that the salary should 
 be even higher than this. But, if this be so, how far 
 are we at present from even a beginning of the solution 
 of our rural school problem! 
 
 A Good School Board. — A good school board is one 
 whose members are alive to their duties and wide- 
 awake to the problems of education. They are men or 
 women who have an intelligent grasp of the situation 
 and who will earnestly attempt to solve the educa- 
 tional problems of school and of life in their community. 
 
 Board and Teacher. — If a poor teacher and a good 
 school board are brought together the chances are that 
 they will soon part company. A good school board will 
 not retain a poor teacher longer than it is compelled 
 to. A poor school board and a good teacher will 
 also part company, for the good teacher will not stay 
 with it; he will leave and find relief as soon as pos- 
 sible. Under a poor school board and a poor teacher 
 nothing will be done; the children, instead of being edu- 
 cated, will be de-educated. Quarrels and dissensions 
 will be created in the neighborhood and a miserable 
 condition, educationally and socially, will prevail. If
 
 THE THREE INSEPARABLES 99 
 
 a good school board and a good teacher join hands, 
 the problem is solved, or at least is in a fair way 
 to being solved. This last condition will mean an 
 interested school, a united neighborhood, a live, wide- 
 awake, and happy community. 
 
 The Ideal. — It is as impossible to describe a suc- 
 cessful solution of the problems of any particular 
 school as it is to paint the lily, the rose, or the rainbow. 
 All are equally indescribable and intangible, but never- 
 theless the more real, potent, and inspiring on that 
 account. Such a situation means the presence of a 
 strong life, a strong mind, and a strong hand exem- 
 phfying ideals every day. This is education, this is 
 growth, 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 all spheres of 
 thought and of action. Children are great imitators, 
 and adults are only children grown up. Imita- 
 tion, of course, is a necessary thing. Without it 
 no use could be made of past experience. When it 
 conserves and propagates the good it is to be com- 
 mended; but the worthless and the bad are often 
 imitated also. As imitation is necessary for the 
 preservation of past experience, so invention is equally 
 essential in blazing new paths of thought and of 
 action. It is probably true that all persons are more 
 prone to imitation than to invention. 
 
 The Country Imitates the City. — The rural schools 
 have always imitated the city schools, as rural life 
 attempts to imitate city life. The books used in 
 rural schools have been written almost exclusively 
 with city conditions 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 
 
 lOO
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM loi 
 
 without number to city life, and give a cityward bent; 
 their whole connotation and attitude direct tlie mind 
 toward the city. As a consequence even school 
 textbooks have been potent aids in the urban trend. 
 
 Textbooks. — It is not urged that the subject matter 
 of textbooks be made altogether rural in its applica- 
 tions and references. The books should not be com- 
 pletely ruralized; nor should there be two sets of 
 books, one for the country and one for the city. But 
 there should be a more even balance between the 
 city aspect and the rural aspect of textbooks, whether 
 used in the country or in the city. If the texts now 
 used generally were rewritten with the purpose of 
 attaining that balance, they would greatly assist the 
 curriculum in both country and city schools. There 
 is no reason why city children should not have their 
 minds touched by the life, the thought, and the ac- 
 tivities of the country; and it is granted that country 
 children should be made conscious and cognizant of 
 the life, the thought, and the activities of the city. 
 There is no more reason why textbooks should carry 
 the urban message, than that they should be dom- 
 inantly ruralizing. 
 
 An Interpreting Core. — The experiences of country 
 children are of all kinds; rural life, thought, and as- 
 pirations constitute the very development of their 
 consciousness and minds. In all their practical ex- 
 periences rural life and thought form the anchorage 
 of their later academic instruction. This early ex-
 
 I02 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 
 
 perience constitutes what the Herbartians term their 
 "apperception mass"; and children, as well as grown- 
 ups, can interpret new matter only in terms of the 
 old. The experiences of the child, which constitute 
 his world of thought, of discourse, and of action, are 
 the only means by which he grasps and interprets 
 new thought and experience. Consequently, the 
 texts which rural children use should make a strong 
 appeal to their apperception mass — to their old stock 
 and store of knowledge. It is the textbooks that 
 bring to the old knowledge new mental material 
 which the teacher and the textbook together attempt 
 to communicate to the children. Without an inter- 
 preting center — a stock and store of old knowledge 
 which constitute the very mental life of the child — 
 it is impossible for him to assimilate the new. The old 
 experiences are, in fact, the mental digestive apparatus 
 of the child. Without this center, or core, the new 
 instead of being assimilated is, so to speak, merely 
 stuck on. This is the 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 
 the textbooks used in rural schools should have the 
 rural bent and application, the rural flavor, the rural 
 beck and welcome. 
 
 Rural Teachers from the City. — The great majority 
 of teachers come from the city. They are mostly 
 young girls having, without blame on their part, the 
 tone and temper, the attitude, spirit, and training
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 103 
 
 which the city gives. Their minds have been urban- 
 ized; all their thoughts are city thoughts. The text- 
 books which they have used have been city textbooks; 
 their teachers have for the most part been those in 
 or from the city. It is not possible that such teachers 
 can do for the rural districts all that ought to be done. 
 They cannot help inspiring children with the idea of 
 ultimately going to the city. This suggestion and 
 this inspiration are given unconsciously, but in the 
 years of childhood they take deep root and sooner or 
 later work themselves out in an additional impetus 
 to the urban trend. 
 
 A Course for Rural Teachers. — What is needed is 
 a course of instruction for rural teachers, in every 
 state of the Union. In some states the agricultural 
 colleges have inaugurated a movement to this end. 
 In such colleges, agricultural high schools, and in- 
 stitutions of a similar kind in every state, a three- 
 year course for teachers above the eighth year, 
 specially designed to prepare them for rural school 
 teaching, should be established. Such a school would 
 furnish the proper atmosphere and the proper courses 
 of instruction to suffuse the minds of these prospective 
 teachers with appreciation and love of country life and 
 rural school work. 
 
 All Not to Remain in the Country. — It is not con- 
 tended here that all who are born and brought up in 
 the country ouglU to remain there for life. Many 
 writers and speakers preach the gospel of " the country
 
 I04 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 
 
 for country children," but this cannot be sound. Each 
 one, as the years go by, should "find" himself and his 
 own proper place. There are many children brought 
 up in the country who find their place best in the heart 
 of the great city; and there are many brought up in 
 the cities who ultimately find themselves and their 
 place in the country and in its work. While all this 
 is true it may still be maintained that the proper 
 mental food for country children is the life and the 
 activities of the country; and if this life and these 
 activities are made pleasant and attractive a larger 
 percentage of country children will remain in the coun- 
 try for the benefit of both country and city. 
 
 Mere Textbook Teaching. — Many teachers in the 
 country, as well as in the city, follow literally the 
 textbooks provided for them. Textbooks, being com- 
 mon and general, must leave the application of the 
 thought largely to the teacher. To follow them is 
 probably the easiest kind of teaching, for the mind 
 then moves along the line of least resistance. Ac- 
 cordingly the tendency is merely to teach textbooks, 
 without libraries, laboratories, and other facilities for 
 the application of the thought of the text. Application 
 and illustration are always difficult. It frequently 
 happens that children go through their textbooks 
 under the guidance of their more or less mechanical 
 teachers, without making any application of their 
 knowledge. Their learning seems to be stored away 
 in pigeonholes and never used again. That in one
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 105 
 
 pigeonhole does not mix with that in another. Their 
 thoughts and their education in different fields are in 
 no sense united. Pupils are surprised if they are asked 
 or expected to use their knowledge in any practical 
 manner. A man who had a tank, seven feet in diam- 
 eter and eight feet high, about half full of gasoline, 
 asked his daughter, who was completing the eighth 
 grade, to figure out for him how many gallons it 
 contained. She had just been over ''weights and 
 measures" and "denominate numbers" of all kinds. 
 After much figuring she returned the answer that there 
 were in it about seven and one half gallons, without 
 ever suspecting the ridiculousness of the result. 
 
 A Rich Environment. — The country is so rich in 
 material of all kinds for scientific observation, that 
 some education should be given to the rural child in 
 this field. x\griculture and its various activities sur- 
 round the child; nature teems with life, both animal 
 and vegetable; the country furnishes long stretches of 
 meadow and woodland for observation and study. 
 Yet in most places the children are blind to the beauties 
 and wonders around them. Nature study in such an 
 environment should be a fascinating subject, and agri- 
 culture is full of possibilities for the application of the 
 thought in the textbooks. 
 
 Who Will Teach These Things?— But who will teach 
 these new sciences or open the eyes of the child to the 
 beauties around him? Not everyone can do it. It 
 will require a master. Teaching "at" these things
 
 lo6 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 
 
 in a dull, perfunctory way will do no good. It would 
 be better to leave them untaught. We have, every- 
 where, too much "attempting" to teach and not 
 enough teaching, too much seeming and not enough 
 being, too much appearance and not enough reality. 
 
 An example will illustrate the author's meaning. 
 Some years ago an experienced institute conductor 
 in a western state found himself the sole instructor 
 when the teachers of the county convened. He sought 
 among the teachers for someone who could and would 
 give him assistance. One man of middle age, who had 
 taught for many years, volunteered to take the subject 
 of arithmetic and to give four lessons of forty minutes 
 each in it during the week. This was good news to the 
 conductor; he congratulated himself on having found 
 some efficient help. His assistant, however, after 
 talking on arithmetic for ten minutes of his first 
 period, reached the limit of his capacity, either of 
 thought or of expression, and had to stop. He could 
 not say another word on that subject during the week ! 
 Now if this is true of an experienced middle-aged 
 teacher of a subject so universally taught as arith- 
 metic, how much more true must it be of an instructor 
 in a subject like agriculture. It should not be ex- 
 pected that a young girl, eighteen or twenty years 
 of age, who has probably been brought up in the city 
 and who has had the subject of agriculture only one 
 period a day for a year, can give any adequate in- 
 struction in that branch. She would be the butt for
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 107 
 
 ridicule among the practical boys and girls in the 
 country who would probably know more about such 
 things than she. She would, therefore, lose the respect 
 and confidence of pupils and parents, and it would 
 really be better for her and for all concerned not to 
 attempt the teaching of that subject at all. What is 
 worth doing at all is worth doing well. A Httle instruc- 
 tion well given and well appHed is worth any amount 
 of ''stuff" poorly done and unapplied. 
 
 The Scientific Spirit Needed. — There is great need 
 of teachers who are thoroughly imbued with the 
 scientific spirit. In the country especially there is 
 need of teachers who will rouse the boys and girls to 
 the investigation of problems from the facts at hand 
 and all around them. This should be done inductively 
 and in an investigative spirit. Our whole system of edu- 
 cation seems somewhat vitiated by the deductive atti- 
 tude and method of teaching — the assuming of theories 
 handed down by the past, without investigation 
 or verification. This is the kind of teaching which 
 has paralyzed China for untold generations. The 
 easiest thing to do is to accept something which some- 
 body else has formulated and then, without further 
 ado, to be content with it. The truly scientific mind, 
 the investigative mind, is one that starts with facts 
 or phenomena and, after observing a sufficient number 
 of them, formulates a conclusion and tests it. This 
 will result in real thinking — which is the same as 
 "thinging." It is putting things into causal relation
 
 lo8 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 
 
 and constructing from them, unity out of diversity. 
 To induce this habit of thought, to inspire this spirit 
 of investigation and observation in children is the 
 essence of teaching. To teach is to cause others to 
 think, and the man or woman who does this is a suc- 
 cessful teacher. 
 
 A Course of Study. — There should be in every rural 
 school a simple and suggestive 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 detail either 
 the matter or the manner of teaching any specific 
 subject. It should be merely an outline of the metes 
 and bounds in the processes and the progress of pupils 
 through the grades. The course of study should be a 
 means, not an end; it should be a servant and not a 
 master. It should not entail upon the school or upon 
 the teacher a vast complicated machinery or an endless 
 routine of red tape. If it does this it defeats its true 
 aim. Here again the country schools have attempted 
 to imitate the city schools. In all cities grading is 
 much more systematized, and is 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 con- 
 venience of the plan in the cities, the grades, with their 
 appropriate books, amount of work, and plan of pro- 
 cedure, are much more definite than is possible or 
 desirable in the country. To grade the country schools 
 as definitely and as systematically as is done in the 
 city would be to do them an irreparable injury. The
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 109 
 
 country would make a great mistake to imitate the 
 city school systems in its courses of study. 
 
 Red Tape. — It frequently happens that county 
 and state superintendents, in order to magnify their 
 oihce and to appear busy and useful, impose upon 
 the country schools all sorts of tests, examinations, re- 
 ports, and what-not, to no purpose, and in fact to the 
 injury of their schools. To pile up complications and 
 intricacies of this kind in rural schools is utterly use- 
 less, and indicates the want of a true conception of 
 the school situation. All these things will not teach 
 alone any more than a saw will saw alone. Behind it 
 all must be the simple, great teacher, and for him all 
 these things, beyond a reasonable extent, are hindrances 
 to progress. 
 
 Length of Term. — In very many countr}' districts 
 the terms are frequently only six months in the year. 
 This should be extended to eight at least. Even in 
 this case, it gives the rural school a shorter term than 
 the city school, which usually has nine or ten months 
 each year. But it is very probable that the simplicity 
 of rural school life and rural school teaching will 
 enable pupils to do as much in eight months as 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 the pupils are held together and in line. In such
 
 no THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 
 
 cases the great danger is to those above the average. 
 There is the danger of forming what might be called 
 the "slow habit." The bright pupils are retarded in 
 their work, for they are capable of much more than 
 they do. In such cases the retardation is not on 
 account of the inability of the pupil but on account 
 of the system. The bright ones are held back in line 
 with the slow. This need not be the case in rural 
 schools. Here, in every subject which lends itself 
 to the plan, each pupil should be allowed to go as far 
 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 a large rural school in 
 which there were enrolled about sixty pupils, taking 
 the subjects of all the grades, from the first to the 
 eighth and even some high school subjects. In such 
 classes as arithmetic the pupils were, so to speak, 
 "turned loose" and all entered upon a race for the 
 goal. Each one did as much as he could, his attain- 
 ments being subjected to the test of examination. 
 The plan worked excellently ; no one was retarded, and 
 all were intensely busy. 
 
 " Waking Up the Mind." — The main thing in any 
 school is not the amount of knowledge which pupils get 
 from textbooks or from the teacher, but the extent to 
 which the mind appropriates that knowledge and is 
 "waked up" by it. Mr. Page in his excellent classic. 
 The Theory and Practice of Teaching, has a chapter 
 called "Waking Up the Mind" and some excellent
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM ill 
 
 illustrations as to how it may be done. The main 
 thing is not the amount of mere knowledge or in- 
 formation held in memory for future delivery, but the 
 spirit and attitude of it all. The extent to which 
 children's minds are made awake and sensitive, and 
 the extent to which they are inspired to pursue with 
 zest and spirit any new problem are the best criterions 
 of success in teaching. The spirit and method of 
 attack is all-important; quantity is secondary. If 
 children have each other, so to speak, "by the ears," 
 over some problem from one day to the next, it indi- 
 cates that the school and the teacher are awake, 
 that they are up and doing, and that education, which 
 is a process of leavening, is taking place. 
 
 The Overflow of Instruction. — On account of the 
 individual work which is possible in the country 
 schools, what is sometimes called the "overflow of 
 instruction" is an important factor in the stimulation 
 and the education of all the children in the room. In 
 the city school, where all are on a dead level, doing the 
 same work, there is not much information or inspira- 
 tion descending from above, for there is no class 
 above. But in the rural school, children hear either 
 consciously or unconsciously much that is going on 
 around them. They hear the larger boys and girls 
 recite and discuss many interesting things. These 
 discussions wake up minds by sowing the seeds which 
 afterwards come to flower and fruit in those who 
 listen — in those who, in fact, cannot help hearing.
 
 112 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 
 
 I remember an incident which occurred during my 
 experience as a pupil in a country school. A certain 
 county superintendent, who used to visit the school 
 periodically, was in the habit, on these occasions, of 
 reading to the school for probably half an hour. 
 Just what he read I do not even remember, but I 
 recall vividly his quiet manner and attitude, his 
 beautiful and simple expression, and the whole tone 
 and temper of the man as he gathered the thought 
 and expressed it so beautifully and so artistically. 
 This type of thing has great influence. It is often the 
 intangible thing that tells and that is valuable. In 
 every case, that which is most artistically done is 
 probably that which leaves its impression. 
 
 Affiliation. — In some states, notably in Minnesota, 
 an excellent plan is in vogue by which the schools 
 surrounding a town or a city are affiliated with the 
 city schools in such a manner as to receive the benefit 
 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 three times a week, and 
 in return the country children beyond a certain grade 
 are sent to the high school in the city. This is a process 
 of affiliation which is stimulating and economical, and 
 can be encouraged with good results. 
 
 The " Liking Point." — In the teaching of all subjects 
 the important thing is that the pupil reach what may 
 be termed the "liking point." Until a pupil has
 
 A Christmas gathering at the new school 
 
 A school garden in the larger center
 
 THE RURAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM 113 
 
 reached that point m any subject of study his work is 
 mere drudgery — it is work which is probably disHked. 
 The great problem for the teacher is to bring the child 
 as soon as possible to this liking point, and then to 
 keep him there. It is probable that every pupil can 
 be brought to the liking point of every subject by a 
 good teacher. Where there is difficulty in doing this, 
 something has gone wrong somewhere, either on the 
 part of the pupil, his former teachers, his parents, or 
 his companions. When a pupil has reached the liking 
 point 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 ob- 
 servations imply again that the teacher, after all, is 
 the great factor in the success of the school. He is 
 the "man behind the gun"; he is the engineer at the 
 throttle; he is the master at the helm; he is the ^uide, 
 for he has been over the road; he is the organizer, 
 the center of things; he is the mainspring; he is the 
 soul of the school, and is greater than books or courses 
 of study. He is the living fire at which all the children 
 must light their torches. Again we ask, how can this 
 kind of person be found? Without him true educa- 
 tion, in its best sense, cannot be secured; with him the 
 paltry consideration of salary should not enter. With- 
 out such teachers 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. 
 
 Rural Life— 8
 
 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. This idea has grown with 
 the spread of the consolidation of schools, and means, 
 as the name implies, a unifying, coordinating, organ- 
 izing agency of some kind in the midst of the com- 
 munity, to bring about a harmony and solidity of all 
 the interests there represented. It implies of course 
 a leader; for what is left to be done by people in gen- 
 eral is likely to be done poorly. There is no doubt 
 that this idea should be encouraged and promoted. 
 People living in the country are of necessity forced to 
 a life of isolation. Their very work and position 
 necessitate this, and consequently it is aU the more 
 necessary that they should frequently come together 
 in order to know each other and to act together for 
 the benefit of all. "In union there is strength," but 
 these people have always been under a great dis- 
 advantage in every way, because they have not organ- 
 ized for the purpose of united and effective cooperation. 
 
 The Teacher, the Leader. — There is no more 
 appropriate person to bring about this organization, 
 
 114
 
 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 "5 
 
 this unification, this increased solidarity, than the 
 pubhc school teacher of the community; but it will 
 require the head 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 rare strength 
 and tact, a person who has a clear head and a large 
 heart, and who is "up and doing" all the time. A 
 good second to such a person w^ould be the minister 
 of the neighborhood, provided he has breadth of view 
 and a kindly and tolerant spirit. Much of the success 
 of rural life in foreign countries, notably in Denmark, 
 is due to the combined efforts of the schoolmaster and 
 the minister of the community church. 
 
 Some Community Activities. — Let us suggest briefly 
 some of the activities that are conducive to the fuller 
 life of such a social center. It is true that these 
 activities are more possible in the consolidated dis- 
 tricts than in the communities where consolidation 
 has not been effected; but many of them could be pro- 
 vided even in the small schools. 
 
 The Literary Society. — There should be in every 
 school district a literary society of some kind. This 
 of course must not be overworked, for other kinds of 
 activities also should be organized in order to give 
 the change which interest demands. In this hterary 
 society the interest and assistance of the adults 
 of the neighborhood and the district, who are willing 
 and able to cooperate, should be enlisted. There are 
 in every community a few men and women who will
 
 Il6 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 gladly assist in a work of this kind if their interest 
 can be properly aroused. There is scarcely any 
 better stimulus to the general interest of a neigh- 
 borhood, and especially of the children in the school, 
 than seeing and hearing some of the grown-up men 
 and women who are their neighbors participate in 
 such literary work. 
 
 Debates. — An important phase of the literary work 
 of such a society should be an occasional debate. 
 This might be participated in sometimes by adults 
 who are not going to school, and sometimes by the 
 bigger and more advanced pupils. Topics that are 
 timely and of interest to the whole community should 
 be discussed. There is probably no better way of 
 teaching a tolerant spirit and respect for the honest 
 opinions of others than the habit of "give and take" 
 in debate. In such debates judges could sometimes 
 be appointed and at other times the relative merits 
 of the case and of the debaters might well be left to 
 the people of the neighborhood without any formal 
 decision having been rendered. This latter* plan is 
 the one used in practical life in regard to addresses 
 and debates on the political platform. The discussions 
 and differences of opinion following such debates con- 
 stitute no small part of life and thought manifested 
 later in the community. 
 
 The School Program. — A program or exhibition by 
 the school should be given occasionally. This would 
 differ from the work of the literary society in that it
 
 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 117 
 
 would be confined to the pupils of the school. Such 
 a program should be a sample of what the pupils are 
 doing and can do. It should be a mental exhibition 
 of the school activities. There is scarcely anything 
 that attracts the people and the parents of the neighbor- 
 hood more than the literary performances of their 
 children, younger and older. Such performances, as 
 in other cases, may be overdone; they may be put I 
 forward too frequently; they may also be too lengthy. 
 But the teacher with a true perspective will see 
 to it that all such extremes are avoided, for he re- 
 alizes that there are other activities which must be 
 developed and presented in order to secure a change of 
 interest. These school programs occupy the mind 
 and thought of the community for some time. The 
 performance of the different parts and the efforts' 
 of the various children — both their successes and their 
 failures — become the subjects of thought and of talk 
 in the neighborhood. It acts like a kind of ferment 
 in the social mind; it keeps the school and the com-^ 
 munity talking and thinking of school and of education. 
 Spelling Schools. — For a change, even an old- 
 fashioned spelling school is not to be scorned. 
 Years ago this was quite the custom. An entire 
 school would, on a challenge, go as a sleigh-ride party 
 to the challenging school. There the spelling contest 
 would take place. One of the teachers, either the 
 host or the guest, would pronounce the words, and 
 the visiting school would return, either victorious or
 
 Il8 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 vanquished. A performance of this kind enlists the 
 attention and the interest of people and schools in 
 the necessity of good spelling; it affords a delightful 
 social recreation, stirs up thought and wakes up mind 
 in both communities, by an interesting and courteous 
 contest. Such results are not to be undervalued. 
 
 Lectures. — If the school is a consolidated one, or 
 even a large district school, a good lecture course may 
 be given to advantage. Here, again, care must be 
 taken that the lectures, even if few, shall be choice. 
 Nothing will kill a course of lectures sooner than to 
 have the people deceived a few times by poor ones. 
 It would be better to have three good lectures during 
 the year than six that would be disappointing. These 
 lecture courses may be secured in almost every state 
 through the Extension Department of the various 
 state institutions. Recently the states of Wisconsin, 
 Minnesota, and North Dakota have entered into an 
 arrangement whereby they will furnish any rural or 
 urban community of these states with good lecturers 
 at a very small consideration. Excellent lectures can 
 be secured in this way on a great variety of subjects, 
 including those most interesting to rural communities 
 and most helpful in all phases of farm life. These 
 might be secured in the winter season when there is 
 ample time and leisure for all to attend. 
 
 Dramatic Performances. — In the social centers where 
 the conveniences admit, simple dramatic perform- 
 ances might be worked up or secured from the out-
 
 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 119 
 
 side. It is no doubt true that life in country com- 
 munities is not sufficiently cheered through the agency 
 of the imagination. In fact, the tendency is for farmers 
 and for farmers' famiUes to Hve a rather humdrum 
 existence involving much drudgery. On the se- 
 cluded farms during the long winter months, there 
 is much lonesomeness and weariness. It has been 
 asserted that the isolation and solitariness in sparsely 
 settled districts are causes of the high percentage 
 of insanity in rural and frontier communities. It is 
 good for the mental and physical health of both old 
 and young to be Hfted, once in a while, out of the 
 world of reahty into that of the imagination. All 
 children and young people like to play, to act, to 
 make believe. This is a part of their life, and it is 
 conducive to their mental and social welfare to express 
 themselves in simple plays or to see life in its various 
 phases presented dramatically. 
 
 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 one who can 
 and will do so. All, it is contended, can learn to sing 
 if they begin early enough; and there is probably no 
 better mode of self-expression and no better way of 
 waking up people emotionally and socially than to 
 engage them in singing. The importance of singing, 
 to secure good and right emotional attitudes toward 
 life and mankind, is indicated in the saying, "Let me 
 make the songs of a nation and I care not who makes
 
 I20 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 her laws." The importance of singing is recognized 
 to a much greater extent in foreign countries, notably 
 in Germany, than in America. In Germany all sing; 
 in America, it is to be regretted, but few sing. There 
 should be a real renaissance in music throughout the 
 country. As an aid in the teaching of music and of 
 song, that matvelous invention, the "talking machine," 
 should be made use of. It would be an excellent 
 thing if a phonograph could be put in every school. 
 Children would become acquainted with the best music ; 
 they w^ould grow to like it, as the weeks, months, and 
 years roll on. This machine is a wonderful help in V 
 developing an appreciation of good music. 
 
 Slides and Moving Pictures. — In the consolidated 
 schools, where there is a suitable hall, a moving- 
 picture entertainment of the right kind is to be com- 
 mended. The screens and the lantern enable us, in 
 our imaginations, to live in all countries and climes. 
 The eye is the royal road to the mind, and most people 
 are eye-minded; and the moving picture is a wonder- 
 ful agency to convey to the mind, through the eye, 
 accurate pictures of the world around us, natural and 
 social. The community center — the school center — 
 should avail itself of all such inventions. 
 
 Supervised Dancing. — Even the supervised dance, 
 where the sentiment of the community will allow, 
 is not to be condemned. It is much better to have 
 young people attend dances that are supervised than ; 
 to attend public dances that are not supervised; |
 
 THE SOCIAL CENTER 1 21 
 
 and young people, as a rule, wdll attend one or the other. 
 The practical question or condition is one of super- 
 vision or no supervision, for the dance is here. The 
 dance properly supervised, and conducted in a cour- 
 teous, formal way, beginning and closing at the right 
 time, can probably be turned to good and made 
 an occasion for social and indixddual culture. The 
 niceties and amenities of life can there be inculcated. 
 There is no good reason why the dance activities 
 should be turned over to the de\dl. There was a time, 
 and there were places where \'iolin playing was turned 
 over to him and banished from the churches. Dancing 
 is too old, too general, too instinctive, and too im- 
 portant, not to be recognized as a means to social 
 culture. Here again the sane teacher can be an effi- 
 cient supervisor. He can take care that the young 
 people do not become entirely dance-minded. 
 
 Sports and Games. — The various sports should not 
 be forgotten. Skating, curling, and hockey, basket 
 ball, and volley ball, are all fine winter sports; in 
 summer, teams should be organized in baseball, tennis, 
 and all the proper athletic sports and games. Play 
 should be super\ased to a certain extent; over-super- 
 vision will kill it. Sometimes plays that are not 
 supervised at all degenerate and become worse than 
 none. All of these physical activities and sports 
 should be found and fostered in the rural center. 
 They are healthful, both physically and mentally, 
 and should be participated in by both girls and boys.
 
 122 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 It is probably true that our schools and our edu- 
 cation have stood, to too great an extent, for mere 
 intellectual acquisition and training. In Sparta of 
 old, education was probably nine tenths physical 
 and one tenth mental. In these modern days 
 education seems to be about ninety-nine parts men- 
 tal. A sound body is the foundation of a sound 
 mind, and time is not lost in devoting much atten- 
 tion to the play and games of children and young 
 people. There is no danger in the schools of our day 
 of going to an extreme in the direction of physical 
 education; the danger is in not going far enough. I 
 am not sure that it would not be better if the chil- 
 dren in every school were kept in the open air half 
 the time learning and participating in various games 
 and sports, instead of, as now, poring over books and 
 memorizing a lot of stuff that will never function on 
 land or sea. 
 
 School Exhibits. — In the social centers a school 
 exhibit could be occasionally given with great profit. 
 If domestic science is taught, an occasion should be 
 made to invite the people of the neighborhood to 
 sample the products, for the test of the pudding is 
 in the eating. This would make a dehghtful social 
 occasion for the men and women of the community to 
 meet each other, and the after-effects in the way of 
 favorable comment and thought would be good. 
 If manual training is an activity of the school, as it 
 ought to be, a good exhibit of the product of this
 
 THE SOCIAL CENTER 123 
 
 department could be given. If agriculture is taught and 
 there is a school garden, as there should be, an ex- 
 hibit once a year would produce most desirable effects 
 in the community along agricultural lines. 
 
 A Public Forum. — Aside from provisions for school 
 activities in this social center there should be a hall 
 where public questions can be discussed. All political 
 parties should be given equal opportunities to present 
 their claims before the people of the community. This 
 would tend toward instruction, enlightenment, and 
 toleration. The interesting questions of the day, in. 
 political and social life, should be discussed by ex- 
 ponents chosen by the social center committee. In' 
 America we have learned the lesson of listening quietly 
 to speakers in a public meeting, whether we agree 
 with them or not. In some countries, when a man 
 rises to expound his poHtical theories, he is hissed do\Mi 
 or driven from the stage by force. This is not the 
 American way. In America each man has his hour, 
 and all listen attentively and respectfully to him. 
 The next evening his opponent may have his hour, 
 his inning, and the audience is as respectful to him. 
 This is as it should be; this is the true spirit of tolera- 
 tion which should prevail ever^-where and which can 
 be cultivated to great advantage in these rural, social 
 centers. It makes, too, for the fullness of life in rural 
 communities. It makes country life more pleasant 
 and serves in some degree to counteract the strong 
 but regrettable urban trend.
 
 124 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 Courtesy and Candor. — There are two extremes in 
 debates and in public discussions which should be 
 equally avoided: The first is that brutal frankness 
 which forgets to be courteous; and the second is that 
 extreme of hypocritical courtesy which forgets to be 
 candid. What is needed everywhere is the candor 
 which is also courteous and the courtesy which is 
 likewise candid. In impulsive youth and in lack of 
 education and culture, brutal candor without courtesy 
 sometimes manifests itself; while courtesy without 
 candor is too often exhibited by shrewd politicians 
 and diplomatic intriguers. 
 
 Automobile Parties. — A delightful occasion could 
 frequently be made by the men of the rural com- 
 munity who are the owners of automobiles,- by taking 
 all the children of the community and of the schools, 
 once in a while, for an automobile ride to near or 
 distant parts 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 bind together both young and old of the com- 
 munity. Occasions like these would also conduce to 
 the good-roads movement so commendable and im- 
 portant throughout the country. The automobile 
 and the consolidation of rural schools, resulting in 
 social centers, are large factors in the good-roads 
 movement. 
 
 Full Life or a Full Purse. — The community which
 
 THE SOCIAL CENTER 125 
 
 has been centralized socially and educationally may 
 often bring upon itself additional expense to pro- 
 vide the necessary hall, playgrounds, and other con- 
 veniences required to realize and to make all of these 
 activities most effective. But this is a local problem 
 which must be tackled and solved by each community 
 for itself. The community where the right spirit 
 prevails will realize that they must make some sac- 
 rifices. If a thing is worth while, the proper means 
 must be provided. One cannot have the benefit 
 without paying the cost. It is a question as to which 
 a community will choose: a monotonous, isolated Hfe 
 with the accumulation of some money, or an active, 
 enthusiastic, educational, and social life without so 
 many dollars. It is really a choice between money 
 with little life on the one hand, and a little less money 
 with more fullness of life on the other. Life, after 
 all, is the only thing worth while, and in progressive 
 communities its enrichment will be chosen at any cost. 
 Here again it is the duty of the teacher to bring about 
 the right spirit and attitude and the right decision 
 in regard to all these important questions. 
 
 Organization. — A community which is socially and 
 educationally organized will need a central post office 
 and town hall, a community store, a grain elevator, 
 a church, and possibly other community agencies. 
 All of these things tend to solidify and bring together 
 the people at a common center. 
 
 This suggests organization of some kind in the
 
 126 THE SOCIAL CENTER 
 
 community. The old grange was good in its ideal; 
 the purpose was to unite and bring people together 
 for mutual help. There should probably be a young 
 men's society of some kind, and an organization of 
 the girls and women of the community. It is true 
 that the matter may be overdone and we may have 
 such a ,thing as activity merely for the sake of activity. 
 It was Carlyle who said that some people are noted 
 for "fussy littleness and an infinite deal of nothing." 
 The golden mean should apply here as elsewhere. 
 
 The Inseparables. — To bring aU of these things about 
 requires talent and ingenuity on the part of the leader 
 or leaders; and we come again to the inseparables 
 mentioned in a former, chapter. It will require a great 
 personality to organize. The word "great" implies 
 a high standard; and strong personalities, such as are 
 capable of managing a social center, cannot possibly 
 be secured without an adequate inducement in the 
 way of salary. Proper compensation carmot mean 
 sixty, seventy-five, or one hundred dollars a month. 
 It must mean also permanence of position. Again 
 we come face to face with the problem of the teacher 
 in our solution of the problem of rural life and the 
 rural school. 
 
 In conclusion it must be said that nothing is too 
 good for the country which is not too good for the 
 city. The rural community must determine to have 
 all these good things at any cost, if it wishes to work 
 out its own salvation.
 
 • CHAPTER XI 
 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 Important. — Supervision is fully as important as 
 teaching. The supervisor must be, to even a higher 
 degree than the teacher, a strong personahty, and this 
 too impHes a high standard and an attractive salary. 
 The supervisor or superintendent must be somewhat 
 of an expert in the methods of teaching all the com- 
 mon school subjects. Not only must he understand 
 school discipline and organization in its details, but 
 he must possess the ability to ''turn in" and exemplify 
 his qualifications at any time. It will be seen every- 
 where that the supervisor or superintendent is the 
 expensive person; for, having the elements of leader- 
 ship, he is in demand in educational positions as well 
 as in outside callings. Consequently it is only by a 
 good financial inducement, as a rule, that a competent 
 supervisor can be retained in the profession. 
 
 Supervision Standardizes, — Without the superin- 
 tendent or supervisor, no common standard can be 
 attained or maintained. It is he who keeps the force 
 up to the line; without him each teacher is a law unto 
 himself and there will be as many standards as there 
 are teachers. Human nature is innately slothful and 
 negligent, and needs the spirit of supervision to keep 
 
 127
 
 128 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 it toned up to the necessary pitch. Supervision over 
 a large force of workers of any kind is absolutely 
 necessary to secure efficiency, and to keep service 
 up to a high standard. 
 
 Supervision Can Be Overdone. — The necessity 
 for supervision is clearly felt in the city systems. 
 There they have a general superintendent, principals 
 of buildings, and supervisors in various special lines. 
 A system of schools in the city without supervision 
 would simply go to pieces. It would soon cease to be 
 a system, and would become chaotic. It may be, 
 it is true, that in some cities there is too much super- 
 vision; it may become acute and pass the line of true 
 efficiency. Indeed, in some cities the red tape may 
 become so complicated and systematized that it be- 
 comes an end, and schools and pupils seem to exist 
 for supervisors and systems instead of vice versa. 
 It is probably true that the constant presence of a 
 supervisor who is adversely critical may- do injury 
 to the efficiency of a good teacher. No one can teach 
 as well under 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 may sup- 
 press spontaneity, initiative, and real life in the school. 
 But this is only an abuse of a good thing, and prob- 
 ably does not occur frequently. In any event, the 
 exception would only prove the rule. Supervision 
 is as necessary in a system of schools as it is in a rail- 
 road or in large industries.
 
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 ACTIVITIES OF THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL
 
 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 129 
 
 Needed in Rural Schools. — The country partakes of 
 the same isolation in regard to its schools as it does in 
 regard to Hfe in general. This isolation is accentuated 
 where there is little or no supervision. Without 
 it, the necessary stimulus seldom or never touches 
 the life of the teacher or the school. There is little 
 uplift; the school runs along in its ordinary, hum- 
 drum fashion, and never measures itself with other 
 schools, and is seldom measured by a supervisor. ^ A 
 poor teacher may be in the chair one term and a 
 good teacher another.. The terms are short and the 
 service somewhat disconnected. The whole situation 
 gives the impression to people, pupils, and teacher 
 that education is not of very great value. 
 
 No Supervision in Some States. — In some states 
 there is practically no supervision. There is, it is true, 
 a district board but these are laymen, often uneducated, 
 and knowing little of the teacher's profession. They 
 have no standards for judging a school and seldom 
 visit one. ^ The selection known as the "Deestrict 
 Skule" illustrates fairly well the ability of the local 
 lay-board to pass judgment upon the professional 
 merits of the teacher. 
 
 Nominal Supervision. — In other states there is a 
 county superintendent on part time who has a kind 
 of general but attenuated supervision over all the 
 schools of a county. He is usually engaged in some 
 other line of work — in business, in medicine, in law, 
 in preaching — and can give only a small portion of 
 
 Rural Life — 9
 
 I30 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 his time to the work of superintendence. Indeed, 
 this means only an occasional visit to the school, 
 probably once every one or two years, and such simple 
 and necessary reports as are demanded by the state 
 superintendent or State Board of Education. Such 
 superintendence is merely a sham and a pretense. He 
 may visit a teacher to-day, but the next time he enters 
 that same school he is Hkely to find another teacher. 
 Under such circumstances he can be of little ser\dce. 
 He has seen the work of the teacher for half an hour 
 or an hour; he passes some comphmentary remarks 
 and goes his way. Such supervision is worthless; in- 
 deed, it may be worse than none, for it leaves the 
 impression on the pubhc that there is supervision 
 when in reality there is none. 
 
 Some Supervision. — Elsewhere we find county super- 
 intendents who devote their whole time to the work, 
 but who are chosen for short terms and in a political 
 campaign. Under such circumstances the candidate 
 must be a resident of the county and he is elected 
 for political, as much as for educational, reasons. If 
 he is politically minded — and the probabilities are 
 that such is the case — he will spend much of his time, 
 energy, and thought in electioneering for another 
 term. Being a candidate for reelection, his constant 
 thought is to impress the public mind in his favor^ 
 In order to keep himself constantly in the pubhc eye, 
 he even prints blanks of various kinds for class and 
 school reporting, on which his name always appears.
 
 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 131 
 
 Being elected for only two years, he has not the time to 
 carry out any educational pohcy even if he had the 
 ability and inclination to do so. "" Of course many per- 
 sons chosen in 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 their jurisdiction from one hundred to 
 two hundred, or even more, schools separated by long 
 distances. The law usually prescribes that the county 
 superintendent shall visit each school at least once 
 a year. This means that practically he will do no 
 more ^ indeed it is often impossible to do more. It 
 means that his visits must of necessity be a mere 
 perfunctory call of an hour or two's duration \vith no 
 opportunity to see the same teacher again at work 
 to determine whether or not she is making progress, 
 and whether she is carrying out his instructions. 
 Such so-called supervision, or superintendence, is 
 really not supervision at all, but a mere farce. 
 The superintendent is only a clerical officer who does 
 the work required by law, and makes incidentally 
 an annual social visit to the schools. 
 
 The Problem Not Tackled. — Such a situation is 
 another evidence that the states which tolerate the 
 foregoing conditions have not, in any real and earnest 
 manner, attempted to solve the problem of rural school 
 supervision. They have merely let things drift along 
 as they would, not fully realizing the problem or else
 
 132 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 trusting to time to come to their aid. Micawber- 
 like, they are waiting for "something to turn up." 
 But such problems mil not solve themselves. 
 
 City Supervision. — Compare the supervision de-^ 
 scribed above with that which is usually found in 
 cities. There we' usually find a general superintendent 
 and assistant superintendents; there are high school 
 principals and a principal at the head of every grade 
 building; there is also a supervisor of manual training, 
 of domestic science, of music, of drawing, and possibly 
 of other subjects. When we consider, too, that the 
 teachers in the city are all close at hand and that the 
 supervisor or superintendent may drop into any room 
 at any time with scarcely a minute's notice, we see the 
 difference between city supervision and country super- 
 vision. Add to this the fact that cities attract the 
 strong teachers — the professionally trained teachers, 
 the output of the professional schools — and we can 
 see again how effective supervision becomes in the 
 city as compared with that in the country. In the 
 country we find only one superintendent for a county 
 often as large as some of the older states, and the 
 possibility of visiting each school only about once a 
 year. Here also are the teachers who are not pro- 
 fessionalized, as a rule, and who, therefore, need 
 supervision most. 
 
 The Purpose of Supervision. — The main purpose of 
 supervision is to bring teachers up to a required stand- 
 ard of excellence in their work and to keep them there.
 
 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 1 33 
 
 It is always the easiest plan to dismiss a teacher who 
 is found deficient, but this is cutting the knot rather 
 than untying it. Efficient and intelligent supervis- 
 ion proceeds along the line of building such a teacher 
 up, of making her strong where she is weak, of giving 
 her initiative where she lacks it, of inculcating good 
 methods where she is pursuing poor ones, of inducing 
 her to come out of her shell where she is backward 
 and diffident. In other words, the great work of the 
 supervisor is to elicit from teachers their most active 
 and hearty response in all positive directions. It 
 should be understood by teachers — and they should 
 know that the superintendent or supervisor indorses 
 the idea — that it is always better to go ahead and 
 blunder than to stand still for fear of blundering; and 
 so, in the presence of a good supervisor, the teacher 
 is not afraid to let herself out. In the conference, 
 later, between herself and her supervisor, mistakes 
 may be pointed out; but, better than this, the best 
 traits of the teacher should be brought to her mind 
 and the weak ones but lightly referred to. 
 
 What Is Needed. — Wliat is needed in the rural 
 situation is a county superintendent chosen because 
 of his professional fitness by a county board whose 
 members have been elected at large. This board 
 should be elected on a nonpartisan ticket and so 
 far as possible on a basis of qualification and of good 
 judgment in educational matters. It should hold office 
 for a period of years, some members retiring from the
 
 134 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 board annually so that there shall not be, at any 
 time, an entirely new board. This would insure con- 
 tinuity. Another plan for a county board would be 
 to have the presidents of the district boards act as a 
 county board of education. Such a board should be 
 authorized — and indeed this tradition should be 
 established — to select a county superintendent from 
 applicants from outside as well as inside the county. 
 They should be empowered to go anywhere in the 
 country for a superintendent with a reputation in 
 the teaching profession. This is the present plan in 
 cities, and it should be true also in the selection of a 
 county superintendent. 
 
 The Term.— The term of office of the county super- 
 intendent should be at the discretion of the county 
 board. It should be not less than three or four years 
 — of sufficient length to enable a man to carry out a 
 line of pohcy in educational administration. The 
 status of the county superintendency should be simi- 
 lar to that of the city superintendency. 
 
 Assistants. — The county board should be empowered 
 to provide assistants for the county superintendent. 
 There should be one such assistant for about thirty 
 or thirty-five schools. It is almost impossible for a 
 supervisor to do efficient and effective work if he 
 has more than this number of schools, located, as 
 they are, some distance apart. Provision for such 
 assistants, who should, like the superintendent him- 
 self, be experts, is based upon the assumption that
 
 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 135 
 
 supervision is worth while, and in fact necessary in 
 any system if success is to be attained. If the super- 
 vision of thirty-five schools is an important piece of 
 work it should be well done, and a person well quali- 
 fied for that work should be selected. He should be 
 a person of sympathetic attitude, of high qualifica- 
 tions, and of experience in the field of elementary 
 education. The assistants should be carefully selected 
 by the board on the recommendation of the county 
 superintendent. Poor supervision is little better than 
 none. 
 
 The Schools Examined. — The county superintendent 
 and his assistants should give, periodically, oral and 
 written examinations in each school, thus testing the 
 work of both the teacher and the pupils. These 
 examinations should not conform in any perfunctory 
 or red-tape manner to a literally construed course of 
 study. The course of study is a means and not an 
 end, and should be, at all points and times, elastic and 
 adaptable. To make pupils fit the course of study 
 instead of making the course of study fit the pupils is 
 the old method of the Procrustean bed — if the person 
 is not long enough for it he is stretched; if too long, 
 a piece is cut off. Any examination or tests which 
 would wake up mind and stimulate education in the 
 neighborhood may be resorted to; but it should be 
 remembered that examinations are likewise a means 
 and not an end. 
 
 Some years ago when I was a county superintendent
 
 136 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 I tried the plan of giving such tests in any subject 
 to classes that had completed a definite portion of 
 that subject and arrived at a good stopping place. 
 If, for example, the teacher announced that his class 
 had acquired a thorough knowledge of the multiplica- 
 tion table, I gave a searching test upon that subject 
 and issued a simple little certificate to the effect that 
 the pupil had completed it. These little certificates 
 acted like stakes put down along the way, to give in- 
 centive, direction, and definiteness to the educative 
 processes, and to stimulate a reasonable class spirit or 
 individual rivalry. I meet these pupils occasionally 
 now — they are to-day grown men and women — and 
 they retain in their possession these little colored 
 certificates which they still highly prize. 
 
 One portion of my county was populated almost 
 entirely by Scandinavians, and here a list of fifty to 
 a hundred words was selected which Scandinavian 
 children always find it difficult to pronounce. At 
 the first trial many or most of the children mispro- 
 nounced a large percentage of them. I then an- 
 nounced that, the next time I visited the school, 
 I would test the pupils again on these words and 
 others like them, and issue "certificates of correct 
 pronunciation" to all who were entitled to them. I 
 found, on the next visit, that nearly all the children 
 could secure these certificates. These tests created a 
 great impetus in the direction of correct pronunciation 
 and language. Some teachers, from mistaken kindness,
 
 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 137 
 
 had been accustomed to refrain from correcting the 
 children on such words, but as superintendent I found 
 that both the parents and the children wished drill 
 in pronunciation and were gratified at their success. 
 This is only a sample. I would advocate the giving 
 of tests, or examinations, on any subject in the school 
 likely to lead to good results and to stimulate the 
 minds of the pupils in the right direction. The county 
 superintendent and his assistants might agree to lay 
 the accent or the emphasis on different subjects, or 
 Knes of work, in diflerent years. 
 
 Keep Down Red Tape. — In all the work of super- 
 vision, the formal part — the accounting and reporting 
 part — should be kept simple; the tendency everywhere 
 in administrative offices is in the direction of com- 
 plexity and red tape. There seems to be so much 
 form merely for the sake of form, everywhere, that 
 it is worth while to sound a note of warning against it. 
 
 Help the Social Centers. — The county superin- 
 tendent and his assistants can be of inestimable value 
 in all the work of the social centers. They should 
 advise with school boards in regard to consolidation 
 and other problems agitating the community. They 
 should lend a helping hand to programs that are being 
 carried out in any part of the county. They should 
 give lectures themselves at such social centers and, 
 if asked, should help the local communities and local 
 committees in every way within their power. 
 
 Conclusion. — The problem, then, of superintend-
 
 138 RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION 
 
 ence is, we conclude, one of the large and important 
 problems awaiting solution in rural life and in rural 
 schools. It is the binding force that will help to unify 
 all the educational activities of the county. It is 
 one of the chief stimulating and uplifting influences in 
 rural education. As in the case of most other school 
 problems, the constant surprise is that the people 
 have not awakened sooner to the realization of its 
 importance and to an honest and earnest attempt at 
 its solution.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 The Real Leader. — Real leadership is a scarce and 
 choice article; true leaders are few and far between. 
 The best kind of leader is not one who attempts to 
 be at the head of every movement and to do every- 
 thing himself, but rather he who makes the greatest 
 number of people active in his cause. It frequently 
 happens that the more a leader does himself, the less 
 his followers are inclined to do. The more active 
 he is, the more passive they are likely to become. 
 As teaching is causing others to know and react edu- 
 cationally, so genuine leadership is causing others 
 to become active in the direction of the leader's pur- 
 pose, or aim. Some who pose as leaders seek to be 
 conspicuous in every movement, merely to attract 
 attention to themselves. They bid for direct and 
 immediate recognition instead of being content with 
 the more remote, indirect, but truer and more sub- 
 stantial reward of recognition through their followers 
 who are active in their leader's cause. The poor 
 leader does not think that there is glory enough for 
 all, and so he monopolizes all he can of it, leaving the 
 remainder to those who probably do the greater part 
 
 139
 
 I40 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 of the work and deserve as much credit as he. The 
 spectacular football player who ignores the team 
 and team work, in order to attract attention by his 
 individual plays, is not the best leader or the best 
 player. The real leader will frequently be content 
 to see things somewhat poorly done or not so well 
 done, in order that his followers may pass through 
 the experience of doing them. It is only by having 
 such experiences that followers are enabled, in turn, 
 to become leaders. 
 
 Teaching vs. Telling. — As has been shown in an 
 earlier chapter, the lack of leadership is frequently 
 exhibited in the classroom when the teacher, instead 
 of inducing self-activity and self-expression on the 
 part of the pupils, proceeds to recite the whole lesson 
 himself. He asks leading questions and then, at the 
 slightest hesitation on the part of a pupil, he suggests 
 the answer; he asks another leading question from 
 another point of view; he puts words into the mouth 
 of the pupil who is trying in a pitiable way to recite; 
 and ends by covering the topic all over with words, 
 words, words of his own. This is poor leadership 
 on the part of the teacher and gives no opportunity 
 for real cooperation on the part of the pupils. The 
 teacher takes all the glory of reciting, and leaves the 
 pupil without an opportunity or the reward of self- 
 expression. 
 
 Enlisting the Cooperation of Pupils. — All children 
 — and in fact all people — if approached or stimulated
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 14 1 
 
 in the proper way — like to do things, to perform 
 services for others. A pupil always considers it a 
 compliment to be asked by his teacher to do some- 
 thing for him, if the relations between the teacher and 
 pupil are normal and cordial. This must, of course, 
 be the case if any truly educative response is to be 
 elicited. Socrates once said that a person cannot 
 learn from one whom he does not love. The relation 
 between pupil and teacher should be one of mutual 
 love and respect, if the educational process is to 
 obtain. If this relation does not exist, the first duty 
 of the teacher is to bring it about. Sometimes this 
 is difficult. I once heard a teacher say that it took 
 him about three weeks to establish this relation be- 
 tween himself and one of his pupils. He finally in- 
 vited the pupil out hunting with him one Saturday, 
 and after that they were the best of friends. The 
 pupil became one of the leaders in his school and his 
 cooperation was secured from that time forward. 
 In this instance the teacher showed marked leadership 
 as well as practical knowledge of psycholog}' and 
 pedagog}'. Francis Murphy, the great temperance 
 orator, understood both leadership and cooperation, 
 for he always, as he said, made it a point to approach 
 a man from the "south side." 
 
 A pupil, if approached in the right way, will do 
 anything in his power for his teacher. There may be 
 times when wood or fuel must be pro\'ided, when the 
 room must be swept and cleaned, when little repairs
 
 142 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 become necessary, or an errand must be performed. In 
 such situations, if the teacher is a real leader and 
 if his school and he are en rapport, volunteers will 
 vie with each other for the privilege of carrying out 
 the teacher's wishes. This would indicate genuine 
 leadership and cooperation. 
 
 Placing Responsibility. — Whether in school or some 
 other station in life, there is scarcely anything that 
 so awakens and develops the best that is in either man 
 or child as the placing of responsibility. Every person 
 is educated and made greater according to the measure 
 of responsibility 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 be given, this is no 
 reasonable excuse for withholding it altogether for 
 fear the burden would be too great. There is a wide 
 middle ground between no responsibility and too 
 much of it, and it is in this field that leader- 
 ship and cooperation can be displayed to much ad- 
 vantage. The greater danger lies in not giving 
 sufficient responsibility to children and youths. It 
 is well known that, in parts of our country, where 
 men who have been proved to be, or are strongly sus- 
 pected of being crooked, have been placed upon the 
 bench to mete out justice, they have usually risen to 
 the occasion and to their better ideals, and have not 
 betrayed the trust reposed in them, or the responsi- 
 bility placed upon them. There is probably no finer 
 body of men in America than our railroad engineers;
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 1 43 
 
 and while it may be true that they are picked in a 
 measure, it is also true that their responsible posi- 
 tions and work bring out their best manhood. As 
 they sit or stand at the throttle, with hand upon 
 the lever and eyes on the lookout for danger, and 
 as they feel the heart-throbs of their engine drawing 
 its precious freight of a thousand souls through 
 the darkness and the storm, they cannot help realiz- 
 ing that this is real life invested with great respon- 
 sibilities; and with this thought ever before them, 
 they become men who can be trusted anywhere. 
 There is little doubt that Abraham Lincoln's mettle 
 was tempered to the finest quality in the fires of the 
 great struggle from i860 to 1865, when every hour of his 
 waking days was fraught with the greatest responsibility. 
 How People Remain Children. — If children and 
 young people are not given responsibilities they are 
 likely to remain children. The old adage, "Don't 
 send a boy to mill," is thoroughly vicious if applied 
 beyond a narrow and youthful range. In some 
 neighborhoods the fathers even when of an advanced 
 age retain entire control of the farm and of all activ- 
 ities, and the younger generation are called the ''boys," 
 and, what is worse, are considered such till forty years 
 of age or older — in fact 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 or 
 to occupy any position connected in the local public 
 mind mth a man's work. The father in such cases is
 
 144 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 not a good leader, for he has given no responsibility to, 
 and receives no genuine cooperation from, his sons, 
 who are really man grown, but who are regarded, 
 even by themselves, from habit and suggestion, as 
 children. If these middle-aged men should move to 
 another part of the country they would be compelled 
 to stand upon their own feet, and would be regarded 
 as men among men. They would be called Mr. 
 Jones, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Brown, instead of dimin- 
 utive and pet names; and, what is better, they would 
 regard themselves as men. This would be a whole- 
 some and stimulating suggestion. Hence Horace 
 Greeley's advice to young men, to "Go West," would 
 prove beneficial in more ways than one. 
 
 This state of affairs is illustrated on a large scale 
 by the Chinese life and civilization. From time im- 
 memorial the Chinese have been taught to regard 
 themselves as children, and the emperor as the common 
 father of all. The head of the family is the head as long 
 as he lives and all his descendants are mere sons and 
 daughters. When he dies he is the object of worship. 
 This custom has tended to influence in a large measure 
 the thought and hfe of China and to keep the Chinese, 
 for untold generations, a childlike and respectful 
 people. Whatever may come to pass under the new 
 regime, recently established in their country, they 
 have been, since the dawn of history, a passive people, 
 the majority of whom have not been honored with any 
 great measure of responsibility.
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 14$ 
 
 On the Farm. — Such lessons from history, written 
 large, are as applicable in rural life as elsewhere. 
 Cooperation and profit-sharing are probably the 
 key to the solution of the labor problem. Many 
 industrial leaders in various lines, notably Mr. Henry 
 Ford in his automobile factories in Detroit, have come 
 to the conclusion that cooperation, or some kind of 
 profit-sharing by the rank and file of the workers, is 
 of mutual benefit to employer and laborer. The 
 interest of workers must be enlisted for their own 
 good as well as for the good of society at large. It 
 induces the right attitude toward work on the part of 
 the worker, and the right attitude of employer and 
 employee toward each other. This leads to the sol- 
 idarity of society and the integrity of the social bond. 
 It tends to establish harmony and to bring content- 
 ment to both parties. 
 
 Renters. — The renter of a farm must have sufiicient 
 interest in it and in all its acti\aties to improve it in 
 every respect, rather than to allow it to deteriorate 
 by getting out of it everything possible, and then 
 leaving it, like a squeezed orange, to repeat the opera- 
 tion elsewhere. A farm, in order to yield its best and to 
 increase in production and value, must be managed 
 'TN'ith care, foresight, and scientific understanding. There 
 must be, among other things, a careful rotation of crops 
 and the rearing of good breeds of animals of various 
 kinds. But these things cannot be intrusted to the mere 
 renter or the hired man who is nothing more. These 
 
 Rural Life — 10
 
 146 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 are not sufficiently interested. The man who suc- 
 cessfully manages a farm must be interested in it and 
 in its various phases, whether he be a renter or a worker. 
 He must be careful, watchful, industrious, intelligent, 
 and a lover of domestic animals; otherwise the farm 
 will go backward and the stock will not thrive and be 
 productive of profits. The man who drives a farm 
 to a successful issue must be a leader, and, if he is 
 not the owner, he must cooperate with the owner 
 in order that there may be interest, which is the great 
 essential. 
 
 The Owner. — If the farm is operated by the owner 
 himself and his family, there is still greater need of 
 leadership on the part of the father and of cooperation 
 on the part of all. Money and profits are not the only 
 motives or the only results and rewards that come to 
 a family in rural life. As the children grow up to 
 adult life, both boys and girls, for their own education 
 and development in leadership and in cooperation, 
 should be given some share in the business, some 
 interest which they can call their own, and whose 
 success and increase will depend on their attention, 
 care, and industry. That father is a wise leader who 
 can enlist the active cooperation of all his family 
 for the good of each and of all. Such leadership 
 and cooperation are the best forms and means 
 of education, and lead inevitably to good citizenship. 
 How often do we see a grasping, churlish father whose 
 leadership is maintained by fear and force and whose
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 147 
 
 family fade away, one by one, as they come to adoles- 
 cence. There is no cementing force in such a household, 
 and the centrifugal forces which take the place of 
 true leadership and cordial cooperation soon do their 
 work. 
 
 The Teacher as a Leader. — We have already 
 spoken of the teacher as the natural leader of the 
 activities of a social center, or of a community. In 
 such situations the teacher should be a real leader, 
 not one who wishes or attempts to be the direct and 
 actual leader in every activity, but one "who gets 
 things done" through the secondary leadership of a 
 score or more of men, boys, and girls. The leader 
 in a consolidated district, or social center, who should 
 attempt to bring all the glory upon himself by im- 
 mediate leadership would be like the teacher who 
 insists on doing all the reciting for his pupils. That 
 would be a false and short-lived leadership. Hence 
 the teacher who is a true leader will keep himself 
 somewhat in the background while, at the same 
 time, he is the hidden mainspring, the power behind 
 the throne. "It is the highest art to conceal art." 
 Fitch, in his lectures on teaching, says that the teacher 
 and the leader should "keep the machinery in the 
 background." The teacher should start things going 
 by suggestion and keep them going by his presence, 
 his attitude, and his silent participation. 
 
 Too much participation and direction are fatal to the 
 active cooperation and secondary leadership of others.
 
 I4S LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 Hence the teacher will bring about, in his own good 
 time and way, the organization of a baseball team 
 under the 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 in regard 
 to every game, sport, or activity, mental, social, or 
 physical, in the community. The danger always is 
 that the initial leader may become too dominant. It 
 is hard on flesh and blood to resist the temptation to 
 be lionized. But it is incomparably better to have 
 partial or almost total failures under self-government 
 than to be governed by a benevolent and beneficent 
 autocrat. And so it is much better that boys and girls 
 work out their own salvation under leaders of their 
 own choice, than to be told to organize, and to do 
 thus and so. It requires a rare power of self-control 
 in a real leader to be compelled to witness only partial 
 success and crude performance under secondary 
 leaders groping toward success, and still be silent and 
 patient. But this is the true process of education — 
 self-activity and self-government. 
 
 Self-activity and Self-government. — In order to 
 develop initiative, which is the same thing, prac- 
 tically, as leadership, opportunity must be given for 
 free self-activity. Children and adults alike, if they 
 are to grow, must be induced to do. It is always better 
 to go ahead and blunder than to stand still for fear of 
 blundering. Many kind mothers fondly wish — and 
 frequently attempt to enforce their wish — that chil-
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 149 
 
 dren should learn how to swim without going into the 
 water. Children see the folly of this and, in order 
 not to disturb the calm and peace of the household, 
 slip away to a neighboring creek or swimming-hole, 
 for which they ever after retain the most cherished 
 memories. In later years when all danger is over 
 these grown-up children smilingly and jokingly reveal 
 the mysteries of the trick! Children cannot learn 
 to climb trees without climbing trees, or to ride calves 
 and colts without the real animals. Some chances must 
 be taken by parents and guardians, and more chances 
 are usually taken by children than their guardians 
 ever hear of. Accidents will happen, it is true, but 
 in the wise provision of Mother Nature the world 
 moves on through these persistent and instinctive 
 self-activities. 
 
 Self-activity is manifested on a larger scale in society 
 and among nations and peoples. Civilization is 
 brought about through self-activity and cooperation. 
 It were better for the Filipinos to civilize themselves 
 as much as possible than that we impose civilization 
 upon them. It is better that Mexico bring peace 
 into her own household, than that we take the leader- 
 ship and enforce order among her people. Wlien the 
 Irish captain said to his soldiers, "If you don't obey 
 willingly I'll make you obey willingly," he fused 
 into one the military and the truly civic and educa- 
 tional conceptions. An individual or a nation must 
 energize from mthin outward in order to truly ex-
 
 I50 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 
 
 press itself and thus develop in the best sense. Hence 
 in any community the development of self-expression, 
 self-activity, and cooperation under true leadership 
 is conducive to the highest type of individuality and 
 of citizenship. 
 
 Taking Laws upon One's Self. — It is under proper 
 leadership and cooperation that children and young 
 people are induced to take laws upon themselves. 
 It is always a joy to a parent or a teacher when a 
 pupil expresses himself with some emotion to the 
 effect that such and such a deed is an "outrage," 
 or "fine" as the case may be. It is an indication 
 that he has adopted a life principle which he means 
 to'live by, and that it has been made his own to such 
 an extent that he expresses and commits himself upon 
 it with such feeling. Moralization consists in just 
 this process — the taking upon one's self of a bundle 
 of good life principles. Under the right kind of 
 leadership and cooperation this moralizing process 
 grows most satisfactorily. Children then take upon 
 themselves laws and become self-governing and law- 
 abiding. 
 
 An Educational Column. — One of the best means 
 of creating an atmosphere and spirit of education 
 and culture in a community is to conduct an "edu- 
 cational column" in the local newspaper. The teacher 
 as a real leader in the community could furnish the 
 matter for such a column once every two weeks or once 
 a month, and, before long, if he is the leader we speak
 
 LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION 151 
 
 of, the people will begin to look eagerly for this colurrm ; 
 they will turn to it first on receiving their paper. 
 Here items of interest on almost any subject might 
 be discussed. The column need not be limited nar- 
 rowly to technically educational topics. The author 
 of such a column could thus create and build up in a 
 community the right kind of traditions and a good 
 spirit, tone, and temper generally. His influence 
 would be potent outside the schoolroom and he 
 would have in his 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 column has been read through, that he had 
 written more. This would be an encouraging sign. 
 
 All Along the Educational Line. — The kind of 
 leadership and cooperation indicated in this chapter 
 should be exemplified through the entire common- 
 school system. It should obtain between the state 
 superintendent and the county superintendents; be- 
 tween the county superintendents and their deputies, 
 or assistants on the one hand and the principals of 
 schools on the other; between principals and teachers; 
 and between teachers and pupils. It should exist 
 between all of these officials and the people variously 
 organized for social and educational betterment. 
 Then there would be a "long pull, a strong pull, and 
 a pull all together" for the solution of the problems 
 of rural life and the rural school.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 
 
 Farming in the Past. — In the past, successful farm- 
 ing was easier than it is at present or is destined to 
 be in the future. In the prairie regions of the great 
 central West, the virgin and fertile soil, the large 
 acreage of easy cultivation, and the good prices made 
 success inevitable. Indeed, these conditions were 
 thrust upon the fortunate farmer. 
 
 But those days are passed. Increased population 
 is reducing the acreage and cultivation, while it is 
 eliminating the surplus fertility; competition and 
 social and economic pressure are reducing the margin 
 of profits. Thrift, good management, and brains are 
 becoming increasingly important factors in successful 
 farming. 
 
 Old Conceit and Prejudice. — Twenty years ago, 
 when the agricultural colleges were taking shape and 
 attempting to impress their usefulness upon the farmer, 
 the latter usually assumed a sneering and defiant 
 attitude, and referred to their graduates as "silk- 
 stocking farmers" — or, as one farmer put it, "theat- 
 rical" sort of fellows, meaning theoretical! In the 
 farming of the future, however, the agricultural college 
 
 152
 
 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 153 
 
 and its influence are bound to play a large part. 
 There is plenty of room on a good farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres for the best thinking and the most 
 careful planning. Foresight and ingenuity of the 
 rarest kinds are demanded there. 
 
 We wish to enumerate, and discuss in brief, some of 
 the important points of vantage to be watched and 
 carefully guarded, if farm life, which means rural life, 
 is to be pleasant and profitable. If rural life is to 
 retain its attractions and its people, it must be both 
 of these. Let us, in this chapter, investigate some 
 things which, although apart from the school and 
 education in any technical sense, are truly educative, 
 in the best sense. 
 
 Leveling Down. — One thing that impresses all who 
 visit the country and the ordinary farm homes is 
 that there is noticeable in many who live in the country 
 a kind of "leveling down" process. People become 
 accommodated to their rather quiet and unexciting 
 surroundings. Their houses and barns, in the way of 
 repairs and improvements, are allowed gradually to 
 succumb to the tooth of time and the beating of the 
 elements. This process is so slow and msidious 
 that those who live in the midst of it scarcely notice 
 the decay that is taking place. Hence it continues 
 to grow worse until it gives the farm premises a very 
 unattractive and dilapidated appearance. Weeds 
 grow up all around the buildings and along the roads, 
 so slowly, that they remain unnoticed and hence
 
 154 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 
 
 uncut — when half an hour's work might suffice to 
 destroy them all, to the benefit of the farm and its 
 improved appearance. 
 
 In the country the tendency, as we have said, is to 
 ''level down." People live in comparative isolation; 
 imitation, comparison, and competition enter but 
 little into their thoughts and occupations. In the 
 city it is otherwise. People live in close proximity 
 to each other, and one enterprising person can start 
 a neighborhood movement for the improvement of 
 lawns and houses. There is more conference, more 
 criticism and comparison, more imitation. In the 
 city the tendency is to "level up." 
 
 When one moves from a large active center to a 
 smaller one, the life tendency is to accommodate 
 one's self to his environment; while if one moves 
 from a small, quiet place to a larger and more active 
 center, the life tendency is to level up. It is, of course, 
 fortunate for us that we are able to accommodate 
 ourselves to our environment and to derive a growing 
 contentment from the process. The prisoner may 
 become so content in his cell that he will shed tears 
 when he is compelled to leave it for the outer world 
 where he must readjust himself. The college man, over 
 whom there came a feeling of desolation on settling 
 down in a small country village with one store, comes 
 eventually to find contentment, sitting on the counter 
 or on a drygoods box, swapping stories with others 
 like himself who have leveled down to a very circum-
 
 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 155 
 
 scribed life and living. Leveling down may be accom- 
 plished without effort or thought, but eternal vigilance 
 is the price of leveling up. 
 
 Premises Indicative. — A farmer is known by the 
 premises he keeps, just as a person is known by the 
 company he keeps. If a man is thrifty it will find ex- 
 pression in the orderliness of his place. If he is intelli- 
 gent and inventive it will show in the appointments and 
 adaptations everywhere apparent, inside and outside the 
 buildings. If the man and his family have a fine 
 sense of beauty and propriety, an artistic or aesthetic 
 sense, there will be evidences of cleanliness and simple 
 beauty everywhere — in the architecture, in the paint- 
 ing, in the pictures, and the carpets, in the kinds and 
 positions of the trees and shrubbery, and in the 
 general neatness and cleanliness of the premises. 
 It is not so necessary that people possess much, but it 
 is important that they make much of what they do 
 possess. The exquisite touch on all things is analogous 
 to the flavor of our food — it is as important for appe- 
 tite and for nourishment as the food itself. 
 
 Conveniences by Labor-saving Devices. — If there are 
 ingenuity and the power of ordinary invention in 
 common things, system and devices for saving labor 
 will be evident everywhere. The motor will be 
 pressed into service in various ways. There will 
 be a place for everything, and everything will be in 
 its place. Head work and invention, rather than mere 
 imitation, characterize the activities of the master.
 
 156 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 
 
 Eggs in Several Baskets. — The day is past when 
 success may be attained by raising wheat alone. 
 This was, of course, in days gone by, the easiest and 
 cheapest crop to produce. It was also the crop that 
 brought the largest returns in the shortest time. 
 Wheat raising was merely a summer's job, with a 
 prospective winter's outing in some city center. It 
 was and is still the lazy farmer's trick. It was an 
 effort similar to that of attempting the invention of 
 a perpetual motion machine; it was an attempt, if 
 not to get something for nothing, at least to get some- 
 thing at the lowest cost, regardless of the future. 
 But nature cannot be cheated, and the modern farmer 
 has learned or is learning rapidly, that he must rotate 
 and diversify his crops if he would succeed in the long 
 run. Consequently he has begun rotation. He also 
 replenishes his soil with nitrogen-producing legumes, 
 along with corn planting and with summer fallowing. 
 He engages in the raising of chickens, hogs, cattle, 
 and horses. This diversification saves him from total 
 loss in case of a bad year in one line. The farmer 
 does not carry all his eggs in one basket. A bad year 
 with one kind of crops may be a good year with some 
 other. Diversification also makes farming an all- 
 year occupation, every part of which is bringing a 
 good return, instead of being a job with an in- 
 come for the summer and an outlay for the winter. 
 Live stock, sheep, hogs, and cattle grow nights, 
 Sundays, and mnters as well as at other times,
 
 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 157 
 
 and so the profits are accumulating all the year 
 round. 
 
 The Best is the Cheapest. — The modern farmer also 
 realizes that it takes no more, nor indeed as much, to 
 feed and house the best kinds of animals than it 
 does to keep the scrub varieties. In all of this there 
 is a large field for study and investigation. But 
 one must be interested in his animals and understand 
 them. They should know his voice and he should 
 know their needs and their habits. As in every other 
 kind of work there must be a reasonable interest; 
 otherwise it cannot be an occupation 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 does his work 
 conscientiously and as well as he can. The sloven 
 becomes the bungler, and the bungler is on the high 
 road to failure. It is always a pleasant thing to see 
 a man do his work well and artistically. It is the habit, 
 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 stubble land, but he must 
 feel that he is engaged in the business of trymg to 
 cheat himself, like the boy playing soHtaire — he does 
 not let his right hand know what his left hand is 
 doing. The good farmer is an artist in his work, 
 while the poor farmer is a veritable bungler — blaming 
 his tools and Nature herself for his failures.
 
 158 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 
 
 Good Seed and Trees. — The successful farmer 
 knows from study and experience that only healthy seed 
 and healthy animals will produce good grain and strong 
 animals after their kind. He does not try tricks on 
 Nature. He selects the best kinds of trees and shrub- 
 bery and when these are planted he takes care of them. 
 He realizes that what is worth sowing and planting is 
 worth taking care of. 
 
 A Good Caretaker. — The successful and intelligent 
 farmer keeps all his buildings, sheds, and fences in 
 good repair and well painted. He is not penny- wise 
 and pound-fooHsh. He knows the value of paint from 
 an economic and financial point of view as well as 
 from an artistic and aesthetic one. Kjiowing these 
 things, and from an ingrained feeling and habit, he 
 sees to it that all his machinery and tools are under 
 good cover, and are not exposed to the gnawing 
 tooth of the elements. This habit and attitude of 
 the man are typical and make for success as well 
 as for contentment. As it is not the saving of a par- 
 ticular dollar that makes a man thrifty or wealthy, 
 but the habit of saving dollars; so it is not the taking 
 care of this or that piece of machinery, or that par- 
 ticular building, but the habit of doing such thmgs 
 that leads him to success. 
 
 Family Cooperation. — Such a man will also enlist 
 the interest and the active cooperation of his sons 
 and daughters by giving them property or interests 
 which they can call their own; he will make them, in a
 
 THE FARMER AND HIS HOME 159 
 
 measure, co-partners with him on the farm. There 
 could be no better way of developing in them their 
 best latent talents. It would result in mutual profit 
 and, what is better, in mutual love and happiness. 
 One of the greatest factors in a true education is to 
 be interested, self-active, and busy toward a definite 
 and worthy end. Under such circumstances both the 
 parents and the children might be benefited by taking 
 short courses in the nearest agricultural college ; and a 
 plan of giving each his turn could be worked out to the 
 interest and profit of all the family. Such a family 
 would become local leaders in various enterprises. 
 
 An Ideal Life. — It would seem that such an intelli- 
 gent and successful farmer and his family could lead 
 an ideal life. Every life worth while must have work, 
 disappointments, and reverses. But work — reason- 
 able work — is a blessing and not a curse. Work is 
 an educator, a civilizer, a sanctifier. 
 
 A family like that described might in the course of 
 a few years possess most of the modern conveniences. 
 The telephone, the daily mail, the automobile, and 
 other inventions are at hand, in the country as well 
 as in 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 rural family may 
 have a happy home. This is more than most people 
 in the cities can have. More and more of our 
 people should turn in the future to 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 and the prospects of 
 country life and the country school looked dark and 
 discouraging. Country life seemed to be passing 
 into the shadow and the storm. It seemed as if the 
 country was being not only deserted but forgotten. 
 The urban trend, as we have seen, moved on apace. 
 Farms were being deserted or, if cultivated at all, 
 were passing more and more into the hands of renters. 
 The owners were farming by proxy. This meant 
 decreased production and impoverished soil. It meant 
 one-crop, or small-grain farming; it meant a class of 
 renters or tenants with only temporary homes, and 
 hence with only a partial interest. The inevitable 
 result would be an impoverished rural life and poor 
 rural schools. Without a realization of the seriousness 
 of the situation and the trend on the part of the people 
 at large, all these conditions prevailed to a greater 
 or less extent. The people seemed unaware of the 
 fact that rural life was not keeping pace with the pro- 
 gress of the world around. In New England whole 
 
 1 60
 
 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE l6l 
 
 districts were practically deserted, and her abandoned 
 farms told the tale. In Virginia and in most of the 
 older states similar conditions existed. The people 
 migrated either to the cities or to the newer and 
 cheaper agricultural regions of the West. 
 
 The Awakening. — But the time came when the 
 newer lands were not so available and when social 
 and economic pressure forced the whole problem of 
 rural life upon the attention of the nation. Difi&culty 
 in adjustment to surroundings always constitutes a 
 problem, and a problem alwa}'s arouses thought. 
 When our adjustment is easy and successful it is 
 effected 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 
 a few years ago. The whole situation, it is true, had 
 been in mind previously, but onl}' in a half conscious 
 or subconscious way. It was being felt or sensed, 
 more or less clearly, that there was something 
 wrong, that there was a great unsupplied need, in 
 rural life; but the thought had no definite shape. 
 The restiveness, the restlessness, was there but no 
 distinct and articulate voices gave utterance to any 
 definite policy or determination. There was no 
 clearly formulated consensus of thought as to what 
 ought to be done. Prior to this time the thought of 
 the people had not been focused on country life at all. 
 The attention of the rural districts was not on them- 
 
 Rural Life — ii
 
 l62 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 
 
 selves; they were not really self-conscious of their 
 condition or that there was any important problem 
 before them. But not many years ago, owing to 
 various movements, which were both causes and effects, 
 the whole country began to be aroused to the impor- 
 tance of the subjects which I have been discussing. 
 The Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools appointed 
 by the National Educational Association had reported 
 the phases of the rural life problem in 1897; but many 
 declarations and reports of that kind are necessary 
 to stir the whole country. Hence no decisive move- 
 ment, even in rural education, became noticeable 
 for several years. But this report did much good; 
 it not only formulated educational thought and policy 
 in regard to the subject but it also awakened thought 
 and discussion outside of the teaching profession. 
 
 The Agricultural Colleges. — The agricultural col- 
 leges and experimental stations in the several states 
 had also been active for some years and had formu- 
 lated a body of knowledge in regard to agricultural 
 principles and methods. They had distributed this 
 information widely among the farmers of the country. 
 The latter, at first, looked askance at these colleges 
 and their propaganda, and often refused to accept 
 their suggestions and advice on the ground that it 
 was ''mere theory," and that farmers could not be 
 taught practical agriculture by mere "book men" 
 and "theorizers." The practical man often despises 
 theory, not realizing that practice without theory
 
 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 1 63 
 
 is usually blind. But the growing science of agri- 
 culture was working like a leaven for the improve- 
 ment of farm life in all its phases, and to-day the 
 agricultural colleges and experiment stations are the 
 well-springs of information for practical farmers 
 everywhere. Bulletins of information are published 
 and distributed regularly, and farmers are being 
 brought into closer and closer touch with these in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 Conventions. — During this awakening period, con- 
 ventions of various kinds are held, which give the 
 farmers an opportunity to hear and to participate 
 in discussions pertaining to the problems with which 
 they are wrestling. They come together in district, 
 county, or state conventions, and the result has been 
 that a class consciousness, an esprit de corps, is being 
 developed. Farmers hear and see bigger and better 
 things; their world is enlarged and their minds are 
 stimulated; they are induced to think in larger units. 
 Thought, like water, seeks its level, and in conventions 
 of this kind the individual "levels up." He goes home 
 inspired to do better and greater things, and spreads 
 the new gospel among his neighbors. At the con- 
 ventions he hears a variety of topics discussed, in- 
 cluding good roads, house plans, sanitation, schools, 
 and others too numerous to mention. 
 
 Other Awakening Agencies. — The agricultural paper, 
 which practically every farmer takes and which every 
 farmer should take, brings to the farm home each week
 
 1 64 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 
 
 the most modern findings on all phases of country 
 life. The rural free delivery and the parcel post 
 bring the daily mail to the farmer's door. The rural 
 telephone is becoming general, and also the automobile 
 and other rapid and convenient modes of communica- 
 tion and transportation. All these things have helped to 
 develop a clearer consciousness of country life, its prob- 
 lems and its needs. 
 
 The Farmer in Politics. — Add to all the foregoing 
 considerations the fact that, in every state legislature 
 and in Congress, the number of rural representatives 
 is constantly increasing, and we see clearly that the 
 country districts are awakening to a realization not 
 only of their needs but of their rights. All of these 
 conditions have helped to turn the eyes of the whole 
 people, in state and nation, to long neglected problems. 
 
 The National Commission. — So the various agencies 
 and factors enumerated above and others besides, 
 all working more or less consciously and all conspiring 
 together, finally resulted in the appointment of a 
 National Commission on Rural Life, the results 
 and findings of which were made the subject of a 
 special message from the president to Congress in 
 1909. The report of the commission was issued 
 from the Government Printing Office in Washington 
 as Document Number 705, and should be read by 
 every farmer in the country. This commission was 
 the resultant of many forces exerted around family 
 firesides, in the schoolroom, in the press, on the plat-
 
 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 165 
 
 form, in conventions, in legislatures, and in the halls 
 of Congress. For the first time in this country, the 
 conditions and possibilities of rural life were made the 
 subjects of investigation and report to a national body. 
 Thus the Commission became thenceforth a potent 
 cause of the attention and impetus since given to the 
 problems we are discussing. 
 
 Mixed Farming. — In recent years, too, what may be 
 called "scientific farming" has become a decided 
 "movement" and is now very extensively practiced. 
 This includes diversified farming, rotation of crops, 
 stock raising, the breeding of improved stock, better 
 plowing, and a host of matters connected with the 
 farmer's occupation. Thus farming is becoming 
 neither a job nor an avocation, but a genuine vocation, 
 or profession. It requires for its success all the brains, 
 all the ingenuity, all the attention and push that an 
 intelligent man can give it; and, withal, it promises 
 all the variety, the interest, the happiness, and the 
 success that any profession can offer. 
 
 Now Before the Country. — The movement in behalf 
 of a richer rural life and of better rural schools is 
 now before the country. It is the subject of dis- 
 cussion everywhere. It is in the limehght; the lit- 
 erature on the subject is voluminous; books without 
 number, on all phases of the subject, are commg 
 from the press. Educational papers and magazines, 
 and even the lay press, are devoting unstinted space 
 to discussions on country life and the rural school.
 
 1 66 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 
 
 The country has the whole question "on the run," 
 with a fair prospect of an early capture. On pages 
 182-186 we give a bibliography of a small portion 
 of the literature on these questions which has come 
 out recently. 
 
 Educational Extension. — Within the last few years 
 the movement known as "extension work," connected 
 with the educational institutions, has had a rapid 
 growth. The state universities, agricultural colleges, 
 and normal schools in almost every state are doing 
 their utmost to carry instruction and education in a 
 variety of forms to communities beyond their walls. 
 They are vying with each other in their extension 
 departments, in extra-mural service of every possible 
 kind. In many places institutions are even furnishing 
 musical performances and other forms of entertain- 
 ment at cost, in competition with the private bureaus, 
 thus saving communities the profits of the bureau 
 and the expense of the middlemen. The University 
 of Wisconsin has been in recent years the leader in 
 this extension work. Minnesota, and most of the 
 central and western states are active in the cam- 
 paign of carrying education and culture to outlying 
 communities. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Da- 
 kota have recently pooled their forces for some ex- 
 change of service in extension work. 
 
 Library Extension Work. — In Wisconsin, the state 
 library is under the direction of the university exten- 
 sion department, and collections of books, which may
 
 THE RUR.\L RENAISSANCE 1 67 
 
 be retained for a definite length of time, may be se- 
 cured by any town or community in the state. In this 
 way a library may do excellent service. 
 
 Some Froth. — No doubt some froth will be produced 
 by the stirring of the waters which are moving in some 
 places with whirlpool rapidity. There is considerable 
 sound and fury, no doubt, in the discussions and in 
 the things attempted in these uplifting movements. 
 There is a considerable amount of smoke in propor- 
 tion to the fire beneath. But, even with the froth, 
 the noise, and the smoke, there is some latent power, 
 some energy, beneath and behind it all. The main 
 thing is that the power, the energy, the thought, the 
 enthusiasm of the nation have been started on the 
 right way. We can discount and overlook the vagaries 
 and foibles which will undoubtedly play around the 
 outskirts of the movement. Ever}^ new movement 
 shows similar phenomena. Much will be said, written, 
 and done which is mere surface display. But while 
 these may do little good, they will do no harm and 
 are indicative of the inner and vital determination 
 of the people to confront the difficulties. 
 
 Thought and Attitude. — Our thought and our atti- 
 tude make any kind of work or any kind of posi- 
 tion desirable and worthy, or the reverse. Many 
 vicious leaders poison the minds of workers and make 
 them dissatisfied with their work and their employers 
 by suggesting a wrong spirit and attitude. We do 
 not advocate passive submission to wrongs; nor on
 
 1 68 THE RURAL RENAISSANCE 
 
 the other hand do we think that the interests of the 
 laborer are to be subserved by infusing into his mind 
 jealousy and envy and discontent with his lot. 
 
 A young man goes through the practice and games 
 of football, enduring exertion and pain which he 
 would not allow any other person to force upon him; 
 at the same time, he has a song in his heart. On a 
 camping trip a person will submit to rigors and priva- 
 tions which he would think intolerable at home. 
 Whatever is socially fashionable is done with pleasure ; 
 the mind is the great factor. If one is interested in his 
 work, it is pleasant — indeed more enjoyable than play; 
 but if there is no interest it is all drudgery and pain. 
 The attitude, the motive, the will make all the differ- 
 ence in the world. In the rural renaissance, farm life 
 may become more and more fashionable. This is by no 
 means impossible. Country life has no such rigors as 
 the football field or the outing in the wilds. When as 
 a people we have passed from the sensuous and erotic 
 wave on the crest of which we seem at present to be 
 carried along, we can with profit, intellectually, 
 morally, socially, and physically, "go forth under the 
 open sky and list to Nature's teachings." Everything 
 except the present glare of excitement beckons back 
 to the land, back to the country. Whether as a 
 people we shall effectively check the urban trend, 
 will, in the not distant future, test the self-control, 
 the foresight, the wisdom, and the character of the 
 manhood and womanhood of this nation.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 Not Pessimistic. — Some of the early chapters of 
 this book may have left the impression that a restora- 
 tion, or rejuvenation, of comitry life, such as will 
 reverse the urban trend and make rural life the more 
 attractive by comparison, is difficult if not impossible. 
 It is difficult we grant; but we do not wish to leave the 
 impression that such is improbable, much less im- 
 possible. We were simply facing the truth on the 
 dark, or negative, side, and were attempting to give 
 reasons for conditions and facts which have been 
 everywhere apparent. If there are two sides to a 
 question both should be presented as they really are. 
 It is 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 the solution of any problem or in the 
 improvement of any condition is to get the condition 
 clearly and accurately in mind — to conceive it exactly 
 as it is. 
 
 There is no doubt that the city, with its material 
 
 169
 
 I70 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 splendor and its social life, has attractions; but if we 
 turn to rural life, we shall find, if we go below the sur- 
 face of human nature, the strongest appeals to our 
 deeper and more abiding interests. The surface of 
 things and the present moment are near to us, and 
 powerful in the way of motivation. These, however, 
 are the aspects of human environment which appeal 
 most strongly to the child, to the savage, and to the 
 uneducated person. If we are optimists, believing 
 that the race is progressing, and that our own people 
 and country are progressing as rapidly as or more rap- 
 idly than 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 us see, then, 
 what some of the appeals to this saner stratum of 
 human nature, in behalf of rural life, are. 
 
 Fewer Hours of Labor than Formerly. — The hours 
 of labor have been reduced everywhere. In the olden 
 time labor was done by slaves or serfs, and neither 
 their bodies nor their time was their own. They la- 
 bored when, where, and as long as their masters dic- 
 tated. Even a generation ago there was little said, 
 and there was no uniformity, as to how long a working- 
 man should labor. In busy seasons or on important 
 pieces of work, he labored as long as the light of day 
 permitted. It was from sun to sun, and often long 
 after the sun had disappeared from the western 
 horizon. Sixteen hours was no uncommon day for 
 him. Under such conditions there was no room for
 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 171 
 
 mental, social, or spiritual advancement. Later, 
 the hours were reduced to a maximum of fourteen. 
 The idea spread and the labor unions brought about 
 a uniformity and a further decrease in hours. This 
 standardizing of the day of labor, while not general 
 in the country, had its effect. The twelve-hour day, 
 while still long, was a decided betterment over the 
 sixteen-hour day. There was beginning to be a little 
 possible margin for social, mental, and recreational 
 activity. But the twelve-hour day must inevitably 
 get the better of the human system and of the spirit 
 of man. It is too long and too steady a grind, and 
 habit and long hours soon tell their story. They in- 
 evitably lead to the condition of the "man with the 
 hoe." 
 
 As improvements in machinery were perfected and 
 inventions of all kinds multiplied and spread both in 
 the factory and on the farm, the ten-hour day was 
 ushered in. It was inevitable in this age of inventions 
 and improvements. Capital had these inventions 
 and improvements in its possession and a laboring 
 man could now do twice as much with the same 
 labor as formerly. But society as a whole could not 
 assent to the theory and the practice that the capital- 
 ist, the o\vner of the machines, should reap all the 
 advantages; and so, the hours were reduced to ten, 
 then to nine and now, in many occupations, to eight. 
 With the aid of inventions and improvements the 
 worker, on the average, can do more in the eight hours
 
 172 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 than he did formerly in the sixteen. It is not contended 
 that every laborer does this or that every workman 
 will do it even if he can. This phase of the question 
 is a large factor in the labor problem. But from the 
 point of view of the average man and of society, labor 
 can produce in eight hours as much as it produced 
 formerly in sixteen. This idea has permeated 
 rural as well as industrial life, and makes for more 
 opportunity and growth, intellectual, moral, and 
 social. 
 
 The Mental Factor Growing. — The trend alluded to 
 above implies that the mental factor is growing 
 larger and larger in occupations of all kinds. 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 such varied talents. 
 All fields of knowledge may be drawn upon and utilized, 
 from the weather signals to the most recent findings 
 and conclusions of science and philosophy. As the 
 hours of labor both in the factory and on the farm are 
 shortened still more — as is possible — the hours of 
 study, of play, and of social converse will be lengthened. 
 Indeed this is one of the by-problems of civiliza- 
 tion and progress — to see that leisure hours are profit- 
 ably spent for the welfare of the individual. In any 
 event, the prospect of reasonable hours and of social 
 and cultural opportunities in rural life is growing 
 from day to day. The intelligent man with modern
 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 1 73 
 
 machinery and ordinary capital, if he has made some 
 scientific study of agriculture, need have no fear of 
 not living a successful and happy life on the farm. A 
 knowledge of his calling in all its aspects, with the aid 
 of modern machinery, and with sobriety, thrift, and 
 industry, will bring a kind of life to both adults and 
 children that the crowded factory and tenements 
 and the tinsel show of the city cannot give. But 
 one must be willing to forego the social and physical 
 display of the surface of things and to choose the 
 better and more substantial part. If we are a people 
 that can do this there is hope for an early and satis- 
 factory solution of the problems of rural life. 
 
 The Bright Side of Old-time Country Life. — Even 
 in the country life of twenty-five to fifty years ago, 
 there was a bright and happy side. It was not all 
 dark, and, in its influence for training the youth to a 
 strong manhood, we shall probably not look upon its 
 like again. If strength and welfare rather than 
 pleasure are the chief end of life, many of the experiences 
 which were midoubtedly hardships were blessings in 
 disguise. Every boy had his chores and every girl 
 her household duties to perform. The cows had to 
 be brought home in the evening from the prairie or 
 the woods; they had to be milked and cared for; 
 calves and hogs had to be fed; horses had to be cared 
 for both evening and morning ; barns, stables, and sheds 
 had to be looked after. All the animals of the farm, 
 including the domestic fowls, such as chickens, ducks,
 
 174 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 and turkeys, became our friends and each was in- 
 dividually 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 of 
 beasts, birds, and fish. He observed the squirrels 
 garnering their winter supply in the fall. He watched 
 the shrewd pocket gopher as it came up and deposited 
 the contents of its cheek pockets upon the pile of 
 fresh dirt beside his hole. He learned how to trap 
 the muskrat, and woe to the raccoon that was dis- 
 covered stealing the com, for it was tracked and 
 treed even at midnight. The boy's eyes occasionally 
 caught sight of a red fox or of a deer; and the call of 
 the dove, the drum of the pheasant, the welcome 
 "whip-poor-will" and the "to- whit, to- whit, to- who" 
 of the owl were familiar sounds. He ranged the 
 prairie and the woods; he climbed trees for nuts and 
 for distant views, and knew every hill, valley, and 
 stream for miles and miles around. Even his daily 
 and regular work was of a large and varied kind. 
 It was not like the making of one tenth of a pin, which 
 has a strong tendency to reduce the worker to one 
 tenth of a man. 
 
 On the farm one usually begins and finishes a piece 
 of work whether it be a hay-rack or a barn; he sees it 
 through — the whole of it receives expression in him. 
 It is his piece of work and it faces him as he has to
 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 175 
 
 face it. The tendency is for both to be "honest." 
 If there were so much brightness and variety in days 
 gone by, when all work was done by hand, how much 
 better the situation can be now and in the future, 
 when inventions and machines have come to the 
 rescue of the laborer, and when the hours of toil have 
 been so materially shortened! 
 
 The Larger Environment. — There is no doubt that 
 a large and varied environment is conducive to the 
 growth of a strong and active personality. If one 
 has to adjust himself at every turn to something 
 new, it will lead to self-activity and initiative, to in- 
 genuity and aggressiveness. If tadpoles are reared 
 in jars of different sizes, the growth and size of each 
 will vary with the size of the vessel, the smallest 
 jar growing the smallest tadpole, and the largest jar 
 the largest tadpole. It is fighting against the laws of 
 fate to attempt to rear strong personahties in a "flat" 
 or even in a fifty-foot lot. They need the range of 
 the prairies, the hills, and the woods. Shakespeare 
 was born and brought up in one of the richest and 
 most stimulating environments, natural and social, 
 in the world; and this, no doubt, had much to do 
 with his matchless abihty to express himself on all 
 phases of nature and of mind. Large and varied 
 influences, while they do not compel, at least tend 
 to produce, large minds; for they leave with us in- 
 finite impressions and induce correspondingly varied 
 reactions and experiences. Under such conditions a
 
 176 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 child is reacting continually and thus becoming active 
 and efficient. He is challenged at every turn, and if 
 stumbling blocks become stepping stones, the process 
 is the very best kind of education. 
 
 Games. — There are excellent opportunities in the 
 country for all kinds of games, for there ample room 
 and many incentives to activity present themselves. 
 In the city, children are often content with seeing 
 experts and professionals give performances or " stunts," 
 while they, themselves, remain passive. In the coun- 
 try there are not so many attractions and distractions 
 — 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 city and its life, play 
 and games in the country have become somewhat 
 obsolete. There needs to be a renaissance in this 
 field. We have been offered everywhere in recent 
 years so much of what might be called the "finished 
 product" that the children are content merely to sit 
 around as spectators and watch others give the per- 
 formances. 
 
 As in the case of the rural school the play instincts 
 of country children must be awakened again in be- 
 half of rural life in general. There are scores of games 
 and sports, from marbles to football, which should 
 receive attention. In recent years the social mind, 
 in all sports, seems to be directed to the result, the 
 winning or losing, instead of to the game, as a game.
 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 177 
 
 and the fun of it all. True sportsmanship should 
 be revived and cultivated. There is no reason why- 
 there should not be found in every neighborhood, 
 and especially at every school center, all kinds of 
 plays and games, each in its own time and place 
 and ha\ing its own patronage — marbles, tops, swings, 
 horseshoes, "I spy," anti-over, pull-away, prisoner's 
 base, tennis, croquet, volley ball, basketball, skating, 
 coasting, skiing, baseball, and football. Horizontal 
 bars, turning pole, and other apparatus should be 
 provided in every playground. In the social centers, 
 if the boys can be organized as Boy Scouts, and the 
 girls as Camp-Fire Girls, good results will ensue. 
 
 Many more plays and games will suggest themselves, 
 and those for girls should be encouraged as well as 
 those for boys. All the aspects of rural life can thus 
 be made most enjoyable. It is often well to introduce 
 and cultivate one game at a time, letting it run its 
 course, something like a fever, and then, at the psy- 
 chological moment, introduce and try out another. 
 To introduce too many at one time would not afford 
 an opportunity for children to experience the rise 
 and fall .of a wave of enthusiasm on any one, and this 
 is quite important. Usually some direction should be 
 given to play, but this direction should not be sup- 
 pressive, and should be given by a leader who under- 
 stands and sympathizes with child nature. 
 
 Inventiveness in Rural Life. — In the city, where 
 everything is manufactured or sold ready-made, a 
 
 Rural Life — 12
 
 178 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 person simply goes to the store and buys whatever he 
 needs. In the country this cannot be done, and one 
 is driven by sheer necessity to devise ways and means 
 of supplying his needs, himself. He simply has to 
 invent or devise a remedy. Necessity is the mother 
 of invention. 
 
 It is really better for boys and girls in the country 
 if their parents are compelled to be frugal and econom- 
 ical. If children get anything and everything they 
 wish, merely for the asking, they are undone; they 
 become weak for lack of self-exertion, self-expression, 
 and invention; they become dissatisfied if everything 
 is not coming their way from others. They become 
 selfish and careless. Having tasted of the best, merely 
 for the asking, they become dissatisfied with everything 
 except the best. This is the dominant tendency 
 in the city and wherever parents are foolish enough 
 to satisfy the child's every whim. If the parents 
 carry the child in this manner, the child, in later years, 
 will have weak legs and the parents will have weak 
 backs. Moreover, love and respect move in the direc- 
 tion of activity, and if everything comes the child's way 
 there will be little love, except "cupboard love," 
 going the other 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 James who said 
 that the best doll he ever saw was a home-made rag 
 doll; it left sufficient room for the play of the imagina-
 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 179 
 
 tion. With the perfect, factory-made doll there is 
 nothing more for the imagination to do; it is complete, 
 but it is not the little girl who has completed it. In 
 the country, men and women, boys and girls are 
 induced to begin and complete all kinds of things. 
 Many things have to be made outright and most 
 things have to be repaired on the farm. Challenges 
 of this kind to inventiveness and activity are outstand- 
 ing all the time. Sleds, both large and small, wheel- 
 barrows and hay racks, sheds, granaries, and barns 
 are both made and repaired. But in all there is no 
 mad rush. It is not as it is in the factory or in the 
 sawmill. One is not reduced to the instantaneous 
 reactions of an automaton ; he has time to breathe and 
 to think. One can act like a free man rather than 
 like a machine. There is room for thought and for 
 invention. 
 
 Activity Rather than Passivity. — In this infinite 
 variety of stimulation and response, the youth is 
 induced to become active rather than passive. While 
 he is not pushed unduly, he is reasonably active 
 during all his w^aking hours, and the habit of activity, 
 of doing, is ingrained. This is closely related to char- 
 acter and morality, to thrift and success. Such a 
 person is more likely to be a creditor than a debtor 
 to society. In this respect the country and the farm 
 have been the salvation of many a youth. 
 
 In the city many children have no regular employ- 
 ment; they have no chores to do and no regular
 
 I So A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL 
 
 occupation. Evenings and vacations find them on 
 the streets. Then Satan always finds mischief for 
 idle hands to do. These children become passive 
 except mider the impulses of instinct or of mischievous 
 ideas; they have no regular and systematic work to do; 
 everything is done for them. During their early years 
 habits of idleness, 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 
 no doubt as to which is the more wholesome and 
 strengthening. 
 
 Child Labor. — A good child-labor law is absolutely 
 essential to the welfare of the children for whom it 
 has been enacted; nevertheless, there has been a great 
 omission in not providing that idle children shall do 
 some work. Even in large cities there are probably 
 more children who do not work enough than there are 
 who are made to work too hard. In our zeal we some- 
 times forbid children to work, when some work would be 
 the very best thing for them. It is true that on the 
 farm as well as in the factor}^ ignorant and mercenary 
 parents make dollars out of the sweat of their children, 
 when these should be going to school or engaged in 
 physical and mental recreation and development. It is 
 unfortunate that society is not able to see to it, that, as 
 in Plato's Republic, every child and every person 
 engage in the work or study for which he is best fitted, 
 and to the extent that is best for him. Then the
 
 A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL l8l 
 
 hundreds of thousands of children who are idhng 
 would be engaged in some kind of occupation, and those 
 who are working too hard would be given lighter 
 tasks; and all would have the privilege of an appro- 
 priate education. 
 
 The Finest Life on Earth. — In view of such circum- 
 stances and opportunities, life in the country should 
 be, and could be made, the best and most complete 
 life possible to a human being. Country life is the 
 best cradle of the race. To have a good home and 
 rear a family in the heart of a great city is well-nigh 
 impossible for the average laboring man. The struggle 
 for existence is too fierce and the opportunity, in child- 
 hood and youth, for self-expression and initiative is 
 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 this 
 point of view it can be truly said, we think, that "God 
 made the country while man made the town." 
 
 The real, vital possibilities of country fife are without 
 number. The surface attractions of the city are most 
 alluring. A focusing of the public mind upon the prob- 
 lem, its pros and cons, will, it is to be hoped, turn 
 the scales without delay in favor of country life and its 
 substantial benefits.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 The following bibliography is submitted as affording infor- 
 mation and suggestive helps to those who are interested in 
 the problems herein discussed. Although the books and 
 references have been selected with care, it is not to be in- 
 ferred that the list includes any considerable portion of the 
 vast and still increasing output of literature in this field of 
 investigation. But it will prove to be a fairly comprehen- 
 sive list from which the reader may select such articles or 
 books as make a favorable appeal to him. The works re- 
 ferred to are all of recent date, and express the current trend 
 of thought upon the problems discussed in this little volume. 
 
 BOOKS 
 
 American Academy of Political and Social Science. Phila- 
 delphia, 191 2. Vol. XL, No. 129, "Country Life": 
 Butterfield, "Rural Sociology as a College Disciphne"; 
 Cance, "Immigrant Rural Communities"; Carver, 
 "Changes in Country Population"; Coulter, "Agri- 
 cultural Laborers"; Davenport, "Scientific Farming"; 
 Dixon, "Rural Home"; Eyerly, "Cooperative Move- 
 ments among Farmers" ; Foght, "The Country 
 School"; Gillette, "Conditions and Needs of Country 
 Life"; Gray, " Southern Agriculture " ; Hartman, "Vil- 
 lage Problems " ; Hamilton, " Agricultural Fairs " ; Hen- 
 derson, "Rural Police"; Hibbard, "Farm Tendency"; 
 Kates, "Rural Conferences"; Lewis, "Tramp Prob- 
 lem"; Marquis, "The Press"; Mumford, "Education 
 for Agriculture"; Parker, "Good Roads"; Pearson, 
 "Chautauquas"; Roberts and Israel, "Y. M. C. A."; 
 182
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 83 
 
 Scudder, "Rural Recreation"; True, "The Depart- 
 ment 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. 
 (191 2) 220 pp. Macmillan Co., New York. Cyclopedia 
 of American Agriculture. 4 vols. $20.00. Macmillan 
 Co., New York. The State and the Farmer. (191 1) 
 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 Mifliin Co., Boston. 
 
 Brown, H. A.: Readjustment of a Rural High School to the 
 Needs of a Community. (191 2) 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. (191 1) 165 pp. Univ. of Chicago Press. 
 
 Carney, Mabel : Country Life and the Country School. (191 2) 
 405 pp. Row, Peterson & Co., Chicago. 
 
 Conference on Rural YjdwcdXiorv— Proceedings. (1913) 45 pp. 
 Wright & Potter, Boston. 
 
 Coulter, John Lee: Cooperation Among Farmers. (191 1) 
 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. 
 (19 14) 265 pp. Ginn & Co., Boston.
 
 l84 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 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 Bruere, R. W.: The Work of the Rural 
 School. (19 13) 287 pp. Harpers. 
 
 Fiske, G. W.: The Challenge of the Country. (191 2) 283 pp. 
 Association Press, New York. 
 
 Foght, H. W.: The American Rural School. (1910) 361pp. 
 Macmillan Co., New York. 
 
 Gates, F. T.: The Country School of To-morrow. (1913) 15 
 
 pp. General Education Board, New York. 
 Gillette, J. M.: Constructive Rural Sociology. (1913) 301pp. 
 
 Sturgis & Walton, New York. 
 Haggard, H. R.: Rural Denmark and its Lessons. (191 1) 
 
 $2.25. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. 
 'H.u.tchmson,F.'K.: Our Country Life. (1912) 316 pp. A. C. 
 
 McClurg & Co., Chicago. 
 Kern, O.].: Ajnong 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 Educa- 
 tion, Bismarck, N. D. 
 McKeever, Wm. A.: Farm Boys and Girls. (191 2) 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. (191 2) $1.00 
 
 Sturgis & Walton Co., New York. 
 Pennsylvania Rural Progress Association: Proceedings, 
 
 Rural Life Conference. (191 2) 227 pp. Julius Smith, 
 
 Secretary, Pennsdale, Pa. 
 Plunkett, Sir Horace C: Rural Problem in the U. S. (1910) 
 
 174 pp.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 185 
 
 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. Scrib- 
 
 ner's Sons, New York. Rural School Education. (191 2) 
 
 84 pp. University of Texas. 
 Wray, Angelina: Jean Mitchell's School. $1.00. Public 
 
 School Pub. Co., Bloomington, Ind. 
 
 ARTICLES IN REPORTS AND PERIODICALS 
 
 AUman, 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. 
 
 Bruere, 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: Cooperative Farming. World's Work, 2t,: 
 59-63 (Nov., 191 1). 
 
 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 Sociol- 
 ogy, 16:645-67 (Mar., 191 1).
 
 l86 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Hibbard, B. H. : Tenancy in tlie North Central States. Quar. 
 
 Journal of Economics, 25:710-29 (Aug., 191 1). 
 Hill, J. J. : What We Must Do to he 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., 191 2). 
 
 Passing of the Man With the Hoe. World's Work, 20: 
 13246-58 (Aug., 1910). 
 
 Rural Life and Rural Education. Report N. E. A. 191 2, 
 pp. 281-313. 
 
 Supervision: Index of N. E. A. Reports For County. Re- 
 port 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, 10 1 
 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 
 
 Church, problems of, 95 
 
 Cities, population of, 19; churches 
 
 of, 23; conveniences in, 20, 21; 
 
 schools of, 22 
 Commission, Rural, 9, 164 
 Committee of Twelve, 162 
 Community activities, 1 1 5 
 Consolidation, 37, 60, 63, 65, 75; 
 
 cost, 70; difficulties, 64; effects 
 
 of, 71, 72, 73, 74; process, 63; 
 
 when not needed, 64 
 
 Conventions, 163 
 Cooperation, 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 
 Fonmi, a rural, 123 
 
 Games, 121, 176 
 Grading, 71 
 
 187
 
 i88 
 
 INDEX 
 
 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, lOO, loi 
 Individual work, 109 
 Inseparables, the three, 88, 91, 126 
 Interpreting core, loi 
 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 
 Miinsterberg, Prof. H., 92 
 Murphy, Francis, 141 
 Music, 119 
 
 Normal schools, 45 
 
 Ocean travel, 43 
 Organization, 26, 125 
 "Overflow of instruction," iii 
 
 Physical soundness, 82, 122 
 Plant, the educational, 34, 35, 77 
 Problem, rural, 24, 36, 37, 57, 131 
 Profession, 57, 90 
 Profit-sharihg, 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; in- 
 terior, 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
 
 INDEX 
 
 189 
 
 Storm, A. V., 53 
 
 Supervision, 55, 60, 74, 127, 129; 
 city, 132; county, 129, 131; im- 
 portance of, 127; nominal, 129; 
 overdone, 128; purpose of, 132 
 
 Surroundings, effect of, on chil- 
 dren, 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, 1 1
 
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