Community Civics and Rural Life | Page 3

Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 50, Part 3 (a report on Civic Education for the Schools of Memphis, Tenn.).
It may be added that community civics in the junior high school grades will be vastly more effective if it is preceded in the six elementary grades by some such course as that outlined in Citizenship in School and Out (Dunn and Harris, published by D.C. Heath & Company). See also Lessons in Civics for the Six Elementary Grades of City Schools, by Hannah Margaret Harris (Bulletin, 1920, No. 18, U.S. Bureau of Education).
A list of "Readings" is appended to each of the following chapters. While it is not expected that pupils in the grades for which the book is intended will do a great deal of reading outside of the text, an abundance of illustrative material is desirable and much more easily available, even for rural schools, than is often appreciated. Let the pupils USE THEIR GOVERNMENT, in this connection, as freely as possible. A very large part of the references given are to government publications, many of which can be obtained free of cost directly from the departments issuing them, and all of which can be had for a nominal cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Useful publications of the state government and of state institutions can usually be had for the asking. In ordering from the Superintendent of Documents the money must be sent in advance (stamps are not accepted). Lists of publications with the prices may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, or from the several Departments of the Government.
Frequent reference is made to Lessons in Community and National Life. These are issued in three pamphlets (Series A, B, and C) by the United States Bureau of Education, at 15 cents per pamphlet. They contain a large amount of illustrative material. A very few books are referred to in certain chapters because of their especial value when obtainable. Among these are two collections of patriotic selections valuable because of their emphasis upon national ideals--Long's American Patriotic Prose (D.C. Heath & Company), and Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals (Houghton Mifflin Company). Other similar collections will be found useful.
The illustrations of the book, with comparatively few exceptions, are from photographs furnished by various departments of the United States Government.
ARTHUR W. DUNN.

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
Rural schools, and schools whose pupils have largely a background of rural experience, have not done as much as they should towards training for citizenship. This is largely because the text books have failed to interpret citizenship and government in terms of the actual experience of such pupils, or to stimulate teamwork and leadership in communities with a distinctly rural background. More over, in city and rural schools alike, there has been failure to emphasize the interdependence of rural and urban communities in a single national enterprise. Community Civics and Rural Life is planned to meet these deficiencies.
There has been too much TALKING ABOUT citizenship in school, and too little LIVING it from day to day. Training for citizenship necessitates its daily practice in school and out. In the hands of an able teacher, Community Civics and Rural Life should point the way to real community living, both now and in the future. It should teach the pupils what their real civic responsibilities are as well as their civic opportunities--and assist them to embrace them when they come. Children so trained will learn to respect, now and later, the rights of their neighbors, and will become as fair in their dealings with the government as with their fellowmen. They will furnish their communities with the right kind of leaders, unselfish and public spirited. When the time calls, they will be ready to accept and shed a new dignity upon the old positions of school trustee, highway engineer, sanitary inspector, township supervisor, county commissioner, or the more conspicuous offices of state and national government. Or as plain citizens they will lend these officials their active support for community and national betterment.
HAROLD W. FOGHT.

CONTENTS
I. Our Common Purposes in Community Life II. How We Depend Upon One Another in Community Life III. The Need for Cooperation in Community Life IV. Why We Have Government V. What is Citizenship? VI. What is Our Community? VII. Our National Community VIII. A World Community IX. The Home X. Why Government Helps in Home Making XI. Earning a Living XII. Government as a Means of Cooperation in Agriculture XIII. Thrift XIV. The Relation Between the People and the Land XV. Conserving Our Natural Resources XVI. Protection of Property and Property Rights XVII. Roads and Transportation XVIII. Communication XIX. Education XX. The Community's Health XXI. Social, Aesthetic, and Spiritual Wants XXII. Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Members of the Community XXIII. Teamwork in Taxation XXIV. How We Govern Ourselves XXV. Our Local Governments