Modern Education In The Small Rural School

MODERN EDUCATION IN THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL BY KATE V. WOFFORD Director of Rural Education Stalt Teachers College at Buffalo, N. Y. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY New York 1938 BY TftETMACMILtAW COMPANY All rights r ertfed no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the pub lisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to cjuote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in magazine or newspaper. Published June, 1938 960601 Printed in the United States of America The original pattern of public education In America exists today in large numbers. DEDICATION To my father and mother who exemplified, In their day and generation, all that is best in modern education THERE WAS A CHILD WENT FORTH by Walt Whitman There was a child went forth every day, And the first object he lookd upon, that object he became, And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, Or for many years, or stretching cycles of years. The early lilacs became part of this child, And grass and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird, And the Third-month lambs, and the sows pink-faint litter, and the mares foal, and the cows calf, And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-side, And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there, and the beautiful curious liquid, And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads, all became part of him. The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping, The strata of color d clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint, away solitary by itself, the spread of purity it lies motionless in, The horizons edge, the flying sea-crow, thefragrance of salt marsh and shore mud, These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day. Published with the special permission of the copyright owners The David McKay Co. Philadelphia. PREFACE THE small rural school is a persistent problem in the field of education. Originally the pattern of public education in America it has yielded slowly to reform. Reforms came to it first in a program of consolidation, an administrative device which developed large teaching units from small ones. Be ginning slowly in the early years of the twentieth century the consolidation movement has gathered enough momentum to establish consolidated schools in every state in the union. In 1928 there were approximately 17,000 such schools scattered throughout the several states. As efficacious as this reform has proven to be, however, small schools exist in the present and in large numbers. In 1934, according to the United States Office of Education, 13,024,021 children attended rural schools. Of this number 10,821,777 attended elementary rural schools and 2,202,244 attended rural high schools. The school buildings to serve this large number of American youth are designed, on the whole, for small teaching units. In 1934, 64.9 per cent of all rural school buildings were of one-room 11.4 per cent of two rooms. These small schools were attended by 43.8 per cent of all the school children in America. An examination of these govern mental statistics reveals that rural education in this country is still largely carried on In small teaching units. This book has been written for those who teach or will teach in these small schools, and problems here attackedare those which make teaching in the small school different and difficult. Solutions presented have emanated in techniques developed from a modern philosophy of education and from experiences in the practical application of these techniques to actual class room situations. viii PREFACE This book has been made possible through the cooperation of many friends of rural life whose wisdom and practical knowl edge have in great measure inspired its pages...