New Ideals in Rural Schools | Page 6

But this does
not solve the problem. The flux to the town or city still goes on, and
will continue to do so until the natural desire for social and intellectual
opportunities and for recreation and amusement is adequately met in
rural life.
Farming as an industry has already felt the effects of a new interest in
rural life. Probably no other industrial occupation has undergone such
rapid changes within the last generation as has agriculture. The rapid
advance in the value of land, the introduction of new forms of farm
machinery, and above all the application of science to the raising of
crops and stock, have almost reconstructed the work of the farm within
a decade.
Special "corn trains" and "dairy trains" have traversed nearly every
county in many States, teaching the farmers scientific methods.
Lecturers on scientific agriculture have found their way into many
communities. The Federal Government has encouraged in every way
the spread of information and the development of enthusiasm in
agriculture. The agricultural schools have given courses of instruction
during the winter to farmers. Farmers' institutes have been organized;
corn-judging and stock-judging contests have been held; prizes have
been offered for the best results in the raising of grains, vegetables, or
stock. New varieties of grains have been introduced, improved methods
of cultivation discovered, and means of enriching and conserving the
soil devised. Stock-breeding and the care of animals is rapidly
becoming a science. Farming bids fair soon to become one of the
skilled occupations.
Such, then, is a brief view of the situation of which the rural school is a
part. It ministers to the education of almost half of the American people.

This industrial group are engaged in the most fundamental of all
occupations, the one upon which all national welfare and progress
depend. They control a large part of the wealth of the country, the
capital invested in agriculture being more than double that invested in
manufactures. Agricultural wealth is rapidly increasing, both through
the rise in the value of land and through improved methods of farming.
The conditions of life on the farm have greatly improved during the last
decade. Rural telephones reach almost every home; free mail delivery
is being rapidly extended in almost every section of the country; the
automobile is coming to be a part of the equipment of many farms; and
the trolley is rapidly pushing out along the country roads.
Yet, in spite of these hopeful tendencies, the rural community shows
signs of deterioration in many places. Rural population is steadily
decreasing in proportion to the total aggregate of population. Interest in
education is at a low ebb, the farm children having educational
opportunities below those of any other class of our people. For, while
town and city schools have been improving until they show a high type
of efficiency, the rural school has barely held its own, or has, in many
places, even gone backward. The rural community confronts a puzzling
problem which is still far from solution.
Certain points of attack upon this problem are, however, perfectly clear
and obvious. First, educational facilities must be improved for rural
children, and their education be better adapted to farm life; second,
greater opportunities must be provided for recreation and social
intercourse for both young and old; third, the program of farm work
must be arranged to allow reasonable time for rest and recreation;
fourth, books, pictures, lectures, concerts, and entertainments must be
as accessible to the farm as to the town. These conditions must be met,
not because of the dictum of any person, but because they are a
fundamental demand of human nature, and must be reckoned with.
What, then, is the relation of the rural school to these problems of the
rural community? How can it be a factor in their solution? What are its
opportunities and responsibilities?
The adjustment of the rural school to its problem

As has been already stated, the problem of any type of school is to
serve its constituency. This is to be done through relating the
curriculum, the organization, and the teaching of the school to the
immediate interests and needs of the people dependent on the school
for their education. That the rural school has not yet fully adjusted itself
to its problem need hardly be argued.
It has as good material to work upon in the boys and girls from the
farm as any type of schools in the country. They come of good stock;
they are healthy and vigorous; and they are early trained to serious
work and responsibility. Yet a very large proportion of these children
possess hardly the rudiments of an education when they quit the rural
school. Many of them go to school for only a few months in the year,
compulsory education laws