WITHIN the last few years, rural education in the United States has
received a great deal of attention, and many plans have been suggested
for the betterment of rural teaching. Conferences of state and national
educators have been held for the purpose of discussing the rural school
question, and out of the mass of school movements, discussions, and
ideas which have been presented, there are some which might be made
applicable to the situation as it exists in Porto Rico.
The following ideas seem to indicate the spirit which underlies rural
education of the present day. They are the result of a conference held
in Kentucky in 1914 by people who were especially interested in rural
school problems:
First.--The greatest social need of the century is the organization and
consequent up-building of the rural life of America.
Second.--This must be the outgrowth of the self-activity of rural life
forces.
Third.--Outside forces can only assist in the work.
Fourth.--There is a need of raising the general level of living in the
country in order to keep the brightest and best people from leaving the
country in too great numbers.
Fifth.--To educate the young in the schools, to elevate their ideals, to
arouse their ambitions without raising the level of living and offering
them a broader field for the exercise of their talents, may do as much
harm as good.
Sixth.--The school is only one of the agencies for community
up-building.
Seventh.--There must be coöperation among the rural life forces, all
working together for a common end.
Eighth.--The farmer, the country woman, the country teacher, the country
editor, the country doctor, and the country business man must all join
hands for better living along every line in the country.
Ninth.--The community is the proper unit for rural development.
Tenth.--The community must learn how to educate, to organize, and to
develop itself.
In attempting to carry out the ideas expressed in the statements quoted
above, emphasis has been laid upon educational rallies, school farms,
farmers' Chatauquas, and other means which have as their aim the idea of
arousing community pride and community coöperation, not only for the
benefit and betterment of the school, but also for the benefit and
betterment of the members of the community who are not of school age. A
great deal of emphasis has been laid upon rural school extension work,
that is, work carried on under the supervision of school officers but
which really devotes its main efforts to adults who are living in rural
communities. One of the most recent steps in this direction was the
passing of the bill known as the "Smith Lever Act" by the Federal
Congress in 1914, which ultimately carries with it an appropriation of
over $4,500,000 for agricultural extension and rural welfare. Under this
bill, Porto Rico receives $10,000 per year for extension work among the
farmers, the work being carried out under the supervision of the Federal
Experiment Station located at Mayaguez.
Another movement which is prominent in rural school affairs at present,
is the tendency toward a larger unit of organization for taxation and
administration. The rural schools of Porto Rico are already under the
municipal unit of school administration, which probably will not be
changed, as close supervision demands rather small units of
organization. In the report of the Commissioner of Education for 1915-16
a suggestion is made that the appropriation of money for schools
throughout the Island be determined by the school population in a given
community and not by the taxable wealth of that community. It frequently
happens that the wealthiest municipalities are the ones which are least
in need of additional school facilities, and this recommendation tends
to make the unit for school taxation and appropriation of funds an
Insular rather than a municipal unit, as we have to-day. The idea, of
course, is based upon the fact that Porto Rico is small enough so that
every citizen should be interested in the education of all the children
of the Island, and that the movements in education should be Insular in
unit rather than municipal.
Demonstration schools for rural communities have been organized with a
view to showing the people in a definite and concrete way what a school
can do for a community. These demonstration schools are usually placed
in a central location and put under the charge of the teachers of
greatest experience and ability. All of the children in the different
grades included in the rural school course have a course of study to
complete in the schoolroom, and another equally emphasized course of
study to complete in the home and on the farm.
Experiments and studies are being carried on which involve the use of
every day throughout the year. To accomplish this end, the father and
mother have become the assistant supervisors of the home work and the
farm work, and they receive the advice, the suggestion, and the
instruction of the rural supervisors of schools. While working to get
the best possible results from the efforts made, and to establish the
facts by samples, by photographs, and by financial relations of cost and
return, these undertakings are accompanied by neighborhood meetings of
many kinds which have had the effect of enlarging community interest,
community support, and community improvement. Out of these efforts have
come better social conditions, more harmonious relations, a development
of better ideals, and a higher conception of life.
These demonstration schools, in addition to being a force among the
people in the community where they are located, also serve as
educational centers which are to be visited by the other rural teachers
of the community in order that the inexperienced and untrained teacher
may receive the benefit of the teacher of more experience. In addition,
these schools also serve the purpose of experimental schools where many
ideas are worked out and put into effect, and new methods of teaching as
well as untried methods of farming are given a trial.
The rural school situation is being studied more to-day than ever
before, for it is being realized that our country schools are not
functioning to the best advantage. The social side of the task,
extension work among the patrons of the district, consolidated and more
efficient schools, and better trained teachers are only a few of the
phases of this movement toward making the rural school a real force
throughout the country. The movement is gaining ground each year, and
though there are many problems to be solved and many difficult
situations to be met, yet there is every reason to believe that out of
this mass of experiments there will evolve the rural school of the
future, which will be a more vital factor in the community than has been
the case up to the present day.