THE RURAL SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY
Among the great phenomena of our time is the growth of the school
idea--the realization of the part that the school plays in our
civilization and in the training of our youth for life. Our New England
fathers started the school in order that their children might learn to
read the Scriptures, and thus that they might get right ideas of their
religious duty. Even after this aim was outgrown, our schools for
generations did little more than to teach the use of the mere tools of
knowledge; to read, to write, and to cipher were the great gains of the
schoolroom. Even geography and grammar were rather late arrivals. Then
came the idea that the school should train children for citizenship, and
it was argued that the chief reason why schools should be supported at
public expense was in order that good citizens should be trained there.
History and civil government were put into the course in obedience to
this theory. Another step was taken when physiology was added, because
it was an acknowledgment that the schools should do something to train
youth in the individual art of living. Still another step was taken when
manual training and domestic science were brought into our city schools,
because these studies emphasize the fact that the schools must do
something to train workers. And finally we have at present the idea
gaining a strong foothold that the schools must train the child to fill
its place in the world of men; to see all the relations of life; to be
fitted to live in human society. This idea really embraces all of the
other ideas. It implies that the schools shall not only teach each
individual the elements of knowledge, that they shall train for
citizenship, that they shall train men in the art of living, that they
shall aid in preparing for an occupation, but that they shall do _all_
of these things, and do them not merely for the good of the individual,
but for the good of society as a whole.
And not only is there a feeling that the pupil in school can be brought
into closer touch with the life of the community, but that the school as
an institution can be made more useful to the community as a whole. This
double thought has been expressed in the phrase, "Make the school a
social center," and practically it is being slowly worked out in
numerous city schools. How far can this idea be developed in the country
school?
The purpose of this chapter is not to deal in the theory of the subject,
nor to argue particularly for this view of the function of the school,
but rather to try to show some methods by which the rural school and the
farm community actually can be brought into closer relations. In this
way we may perhaps indicate that there is a better chance for
co-operation between the rural school and the farm community than we
have been accustomed to believe, and that this closer relation is worth
striving for. Five methods will be suggested by which the rural school
can become a social center. Some of these have already been tried in
rural communities, some of them have been tried in cities, and some of
them have not been tried at all.
1. The first means of making the rural school a social center is through
the course of study. It is here that the introduction of nature-study
into our rural schools would be especially helpful. This nature-study
when properly followed approves itself both to educators and to farmers.
It is a pedagogical principle recognized by every modern teacher that in
education it is necessary to consider the environment of the child, so
that the school may not be to him "a thing remote and foreign." The
value of nature-study is recognized not only in thus making possible an
intelligent study of the country child's environment, but in teaching a
love of nature, in giving habits of correct observation, and in
preparing for the more fruitful study of science in later years. Our
best farmers are also coming to see that nature-study in the rural
schools is a necessity, because it will tend to give a knowledge of the
laws that govern agriculture, because it will teach the children to love
the country, because it will show the possibilities of living an
intellectual life upon the farm. Nature-study, therefore, will have a
very direct influence in bringing the child into close touch with the
whole life of the farm community.
But it is not so much a matter of introducing new studies--the old
studies can be taught in such a way as to make them seem vital and
human. Take, for instance, geography. It used to be approached from the
standpoint of the solar system. It now begins with the schoolhouse and
the pupils' homes, and works outward from the things that the child sees
and knows to the things that it must imagine. History, writing,
reading, the sciences, and even other subjects can be taught so as to
connect them vitally and definitely with the life of the farm community.
To quote Colonel Parker, who suggests the valuable results of such a
method of teaching:
It would make a strong, binding union of the home and the school,
the farm methods and the school methods. It would bring the farm
into the school and project the school into the farm. It would give
parent and teacher one motive in the carrying out of which both
could heartily join. The parent would appreciate and judge fairly
the work of the school, the teacher would honor, dignify and
elevate the work of the farm.
The study of the landscape of the near-by country, the study of the
streams, the study of the soils, studies that have to do with the
location of homes, of villages, the study of the weather, of the common
plants, of domestic animals--all of these things will give the child a
better start in education, a better comprehension of the life he is to
live, a better idea of the business of farming, a better notion about
the importance of agriculture, and will tend to fit him better for
future life either on the farm or anywhere else, than could any amount
of the old-fashioned book knowledge. Is it not a strange fact that so
many farmers will decry book knowledge when applied to the business of
farming, and at the same time set so much store by the book learning
that is given in the common arithmetic, the old-fashioned reader, and
the dry grammar of the typical school? Of course anyone pleading for
this sort of study in the rural schools must make it clear that the
ordinary accomplishments of reading, writing, and ciphering are not to
be neglected. As a matter of fact, pupils under this method can be just
as well trained in these branches as under the old plan. The point to be
emphasized, however, is that a course of study constructed on this
theory will tend to bring the school and the community closer together,
will make the school of more use to the community, will give the
community more interest in the school, while at the same time it will
better prepare pupils to do their work in life.
2. A second way of making the rural school a social center is through
the social activities of the pupils. This means that the pupils as a
body can co-operate for certain purposes, and that this co-operation
will not only secure some good results of an immediate character,
results that can be seen and appreciated by everyone, but that it will
teach the spirit of co-operation--and there is hardly anything more
needed today in rural life than this spirit of co-operation. The schools
can perform no better service than in training young people to work
together for common ends. In this work such things as special day
programmes, as for Arbor Day, Washington's Birthday, Pioneer Day; the
holding of various school exhibitions; the preparation of exhibits for
county fairs, and similar endeavors, are useful and are being carried
out in many of our rural schools. But the best example of this work is a
plan that is being used in the state of Maine, and is performed through
the agency of what is called a School Improvement League. The purposes
of the league are: (1) to improve school grounds and buildings; (2) to
furnish suitable reading-matter for pupils and people; (3) to provide
works of art for schoolrooms. There are three forms of the league, the
local leagues organized in each school; the town leagues, whose
membership consists of the officers of the local leagues; and a state
league, whose members are delegates from the town leagues and members of
the local leagues who hold school diplomas. Any pupil, teacher, school
officer, or any other citizen may join the league on payment of the
dues. The minimum dues are one cent a month for each pupil, for other
members not less than ten cents a term. But these dues may be made
larger by vote of the league. Each town league sends a delegate to the
meeting of the state league. Each league has the usual number of
officers elected for one term. These leagues were first organized in
1898 and they have already accomplished much. They have induced school
committees to name various rural schools for distinguished American
citizens, as Washington, Lincoln, and so forth. They give exhibitions
and entertainments for the purpose of raising funds. Sometimes they use
these funds to buy books for the schoolroom. The books are then loaned
to the members of the league; at the end of the term this set of books
is exchanged for another set of books from another school in the same
township. In this way, at a slight expense, each school may have the use
of a large number of books every year. The same thing is done with
pictures and works of art, these being purchased and exchanged in the
same way. Through the efforts of the league schoolhouses have been
improved, inside and out, and the school grounds improved. It is not so
much the doing of new things that has been attempted by this league.
The important item is that the school has been _organized_ for these
definite purposes, and the work is carried on systematically from year
to year. It needs no argument to show the value of this sort of
co-operation to the pupil, to the teacher, to the school, to the
parents, and ultimately to the community as a whole.
3. A third method is through co-operation between the home and the
school, between the teacher and pupils on one side, and parents and
taxpayers on the other side. Parents sometimes complain that the average
school is a sort of mill, or machine, into which their children are
placed and turned out just so fast, and in just such condition. But if
this is the case, it is partly the fault of the parents who do not keep
in close enough touch with the work of the school. It is not that
parents are not interested in their children, but it is rather that they
look at the school as something separate from the ordinary affairs of
life. Now, nothing can be more necessary than that this notion should be
done away with. There must be the closest co-operation between the home
and school. How can this co-operation be brought about? Frequently
parents are urged to visit the schools. This is all right and proper,
but it is not enough. There must be a closer relation than this. The
teacher must know more about the home life of her pupils, and the
parents must know far more about the whole purpose and spirit, as well
as the method, of the school. A great deal of good has been done by the
joint meeting of teachers and school officers. It is a very wise device,
and should be kept up. But altogether the most promising development
along this line is the so-called "Hesperia movement," described in
another chapter. These meetings of school patrons and teachers take up
the work of the school in a way that will interest both teachers and
farmers. They bring the teachers and farmers into closer touch socially
and intellectually. They disperse fogs of misunderstanding. They inspire
to closer co-operation. They create mutual sympathy. They are sure to
result in bringing the teacher into closer touch with community life and
with the social problems of the farm. And they are almost equally sure
to arouse the interest of the entire community, not only in the school
as an institution and in the possibilities of the work it may do, but
also in the work of that teacher who is for the time being serving a
particular rural school.
4. A fourth method is by making the schoolhouse a meeting-place for the
community, more especially for the intellectual and aesthetic activities
of the community. A good example of this kind of work is the John Spry
School of Chicago. In connection with this school there is a lecture
course each winter; there is a musical society that meets every Tuesday
evening; there is a men's club that meets every two weeks to discuss
municipal problems and the improvement of home conditions; there is a
woman's club to study for general improvement and social service; there
is a mothers' council meeting every two weeks; there is a literary and
dramatic society, meeting every week, composed of members of high-school
age, and studying Shakespeare particularly; there is a dressmaking and
aid society meeting two evenings a week, to study the cutting of
patterns, garment-making, etc.; a food-study and cooking club, also
meeting two evenings a week; an inventive and mechanical club, meeting
two evenings a week, and tending to develop the inventive and mechanical
genius of a group of young men; an art club; and a boy's club, with
music, games, reading-lessons, reading of books and magazines, intended
for boys of fourteen or fifteen years of age. These things are all
under the direction of the school, they are free, they are designed to
educate. It will not be feasible for the rural school to carry out such
a programme as this, but do we realize how large are the possibilities
of this idea of making the rural school a community center? No doubt one
of the advantages of the centralized rural school will be to give a
central meeting-place for the township, and to encourage work of the
character that has been described. Of course, the Grange and farmers'
clubs are doing much along these lines, but is it not possible for the
district school also to do some useful work of this character?
Singing-schools and debating clubs were quite a common thing in the
rural schools forty years ago, and there are many rural schools today
that are doing work of this very kind. Is there any reason, for example,
why the country schoolhouse should not offer an evening school during a
portion of the winter, where the older pupils who have left the regular
work of the school can carry on studies, especially in agriculture and
domestic science? There is need for this sort of thing, and if our
agricultural colleges, and the departments of public instruction, and
the local school supervisors, and the country teachers, and the farmers
themselves, could come a little closer together on these questions the
thing could be done!
5. Fifth and last, as a method for making the school a social center, is
the suggestion that the teacher herself shall become something of a
leader in the farm community. The teacher ought to be not only a teacher
of the pupils, but in some sense a teacher of the community. Is there
not need that someone should take the lead in inspiring everyone in the
community to read better books, to buy better pictures, to take more
interest in the things that make for culture and progress? There are
special difficulties in a country community. The rural teacher is
usually a transient; she secures a city school as soon as she can; she
is often poorly paid; she is sometimes inexperienced; frequently the
labor of the school absorbs all her time and energy. Unfortunately these
things are so, but they ought not to be so. And we shall never have the
ideal rural school until we have conditions favorable to the kind of
work just described. The country teacher ought to understand the country
community, ought to have some knowledge of the problems that the farmers
have to face, ought to have some appreciation of the peculiar
conditions of farm life. Every teacher should have some knowledge of
rural sociology. The normal schools should make this subject a required
subject in the course, especially for country teachers. Teachers'
institutes and reading-circles should in some way provide this sort of
thing. This is one of the most important means of bringing the rural
school into closer touch with the farm community. Ten years ago Henry
Sabin, of Iowa, one of the keenest students of the rural-school problem,
in speaking of the supervision of country schools, said:
The supervisor of rural schools should be acquainted with the
material resources of his district. He should know not only what
constitutes good farming, but the prevailing industry of the region
should be so familiar to him that he can converse intelligently
with the inhabitants, and convince them that he knows something
besides books. The object is not alone to gain influence over them,
but to bring the school into touch with the home life of the
community about. It is not to invite the farmer to the school, but
to take the school to the farm, and to show the pupils that here
before their eyes are the foundations upon which have been built
the great natural sciences.
The programme needed to unite rural school and farm community is then,
first, to enrich the course of study by adding nature-study and
agriculture, and about these co-ordinating the conventional school
subjects; second, to encourage the co-operation of the pupils,
especially for the improvement of the school and its surroundings;
third, to bring together for discussion and acquaintance the teachers
and the patrons of the school; fourth, so far as possible to make the
schoolhouse a meeting-place for the community, for young people as well
as for older people, where music, art, social culture, literature, study
of farming, and in fact, anything that has to do with rural education,
may be fostered; and fifth, to expect the teacher to have a knowledge of
the industrial and general social conditions of agriculture, especially
those of the community in which her lot is cast.