The Rural School Its Methods and Management

THE URAL SCHOOL — ITS- METHODS AND MANAGEMENT CULTER AND STONE mtt QioUt^t of Agriculture At QfarneU IniuErattH '-"'">' LB 1567.C8T""'™""'"' '''^^^ural school, its methods and manage 3 1924 013 395 201 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013395201 THE RURAL SCHOOL ITS METHODS AND MANAGEMENT BY HORACE M. CULTER PROFESSOR OF RURAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION KANSAS. STATE NORMAL SCHOOL EMPORIA, KANSAS AND JULLV M. STONE TEACHER, MODEL RURAL SCHOOL WESTERN KANSAS STATE NORMAL SCHOOL HAYS, KANSAS SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO Copyright, 1913, by eaVER, BURDETT AND COMJAHY @ 15823 PREFACE The present treatise on school methods and management is intended for teachers in the elementary country schools and for those in normal and high schools who expect to go into the rural schools to teach. The writer has studiously avoided all suggestions especially applica- ble to the management of city schools, and has pur- posely confined himself to such plans and methods as will be suited to the country school. While consolidation is an important movement, and many more weak districts should be united, yet in many parts of the United States the time is far distant when the one-room country school will, or should, be discontinued. A one-room school in the rural districts, taught by a competent teacher, is still a good place for a boy or girl to get the elements of an education. The United States Commissioner of Education reports that in the school year 1907-1908 there were five and one half million school children and one hundred thirty- four thousand teachers in cities of four thousand or more population; in the outside districts, there were eleven million children and three hundred sixty-one thousand teachers. In the state of Kansas there are two and one third times as many children in the one- and two- room schools and nearly five times as many teachers, as there are in the cities and towns maintaining graded systems of schools. From the above it seems safe to conclude that in the United States there are twice as vi Preface many teachers in the rural schools and nearly twice as many children. But, up to the present time, the em- phasis has been placed upon city school management and city supervision, and many of the suggestions offered do not fit rural conditions at all. It is the country teacher, especially, who needs instruction in management. The one-room rural school with the six to nine grades and twenty to twenty-five or more classes, is a much more complex institution to manage than is the one room of a city system. And if it were not, the city teacher is placed at a much greater advantage than the country teacher, for if assistance is needed, the city teacher may call to her aid the principal of the building, or he may consult the superintendent. On the other hand, the country teacher must be at the same time teacher, principal and superintendent. When in need, she may on Saturday drive ten or twenty miles and interview the county :,uperintendent; or, if in dire distress, at the risk of her reputation as a teacher, she may ask that the superintendent come to her school and assist in settling some difficulty. But an awakening interest in rural schools is evident on every hand, and many are coming to believe not only that there should be better supervision in the rural district, but also that the boy and the girl of the country should have as good school privileges as the boy and the girl of the city. The environment of the country school is better, the health and vigor of the young people of the rural district make them more receptive of educational advantages; there is less to distract from the school and its interests; yet many of the schools of the country are far behind the schools of the city. The truth of this statement is proved by the fact that many farmers move to town every year that they may send their children Preface vii to school. Again, six months of school in the country- are not the equivalent of nine months in the city, and this is about the proportion of educational advantages offered in many of our states. In order that the country child may have as good school privileges as. the city child, the country must have better schoolhouses and equipment; better supervision and more of it; longer terms of school; courses of study in harmony with rural conditions; and better teachers who have been trained for rural school work. Besides school management, the rural teacher needs to know better methods, especially in primary subjects. Realizing this deficiency, a few chapters in primary methods, by Miss Stone, have been added, which are adapted to the work of country schools. Out of an experience of many years as a teacher in rural, village and county high schools, and as a teacher of teachers, have the pages of this book been written; and it is offered to the public with the hope that it may add its mite to the improvement of rural schools. A SUGGESTION While this book is intended primarily for elementary teachers, a more advanced study of the subjects contained in Part One may be had by supplementing the study of the book with the use of the reference bibliog- raphy which follows each chapter. Such a course, well done, will give advanced students quite a comprehen- sive view of Rural School Management. Horace M. Culter. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In treating so many subjects as are contained in this book, it is not to be supposed that any one or two persons can be authority on all. As the reader peruses these pages, he will observe that many persons have contrib- uted to the contents of this book. To these the authors express their grateful appreciation. But special acknowledgment is due Joseph H. Hill, president of the Kansas State Normal School, for his hearty encouragement throughout the preparation of this volume; to Professor R. H. Ritchie, head of the Speech Arts Department of the Kansas State Normal School, for his careful work in correcting the manu- script; to Professor Frank A. Beach, director of music of the Kansas State Normal School, for writing the chapter on Music; to Professor W. G. Lewis, formerly professor of physics, for the chapter on Nature Study; to Mrs. Emily K. Hoelcel, for many helpful suggestions and for her work in criticising the chapters on Methods; to Mr. C. J. Brown of Louisiana, for valuable suggestions; and to Willis H. Kerr, of the Kansas Normal School library; to the Smith Heating Company and to the Waterman-Waterbury Heating Company for illus- trative material; to the authors of "Farm Life Readers" for four illustrations from those books; and to many others who have so kindly made suggestions and con- tributed material for the various chapters of the book. They are deserving of a share of credit for whatever merit this volume may have and for whatever success may attend it. viii CONTENTS Part I RURAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT CHAPTEB PAGE I. The Rural School a Laggard . ... 1 IL School Site and Grounds . .5 Choosing the Site — The School Grounds — A School Plant. III. The House . 13 The Need of Better School Buildings — Three Types of Houses — Equipment. IV. School Hygiene and Sanitation .... 28 Precautions against Germs — Correcting Physical Defects — Lighting and Seating — Ventilation. V. The Teacher — His Qualifications .... 45 Physical Equipment — Mental Equipment — Attention to Business Details. VI. The Teacher — His Personality ... 56 The Development of a Strong Personality. VII. The First Day .... ... 63 Preparation for the First Day — Methods of Procedure for the First Day. VIII. The Daily Program 71 The Study Program — Arrangement of Classes. IX. The Recitation . 81 Purposes of the Recitation — Mechanics of the Recitation." X. The Recitation (continued) . .93 Devices of the Recitation — Methods of the Reci- tation — Induction and Deduction. XI. Teaching Pupils How to Study . 101 Stages in the Art of Study — Hints on Studying. XII. Play and Playgrounds 112 The Function of Play — How the School Should Provide for Play. X Contents CHAPTE3B PAGE XIII. The Library and Its Uses . ... 125 Acquiring a Library — What to Buy — Using the Library — Suggested Plan of Organiza- tion for Small School Library — A Working Library for Country Schools. XIV. School Government .... 143 Aids to School Government — The Infliction of Punishments — Corporal Punishment as Viewed by the Courts — Placing Pupils on their Honor — The Psychology of Motor Ac- tivities — The Use of Incentives. XV. School Ethics . ... 159 The Need of Ethical Teaching — Methods of Ethical Teaching. XVI. Agriculture in Rural Schools . 169 Overcoming Obstacles — Outline of Work for a Rural School — A Lesson Plan — School Gardens — Contests and Clubs — The View Point of the Country. XVII. Duties op the Teacher 184 To the District — To Pupils — To the County Superintendent — To the Neighborhood — To Self. XVIII. The Opportunity of a Rural Teacher . 200 The Lesser Opportunities — The Great Oppor- tunities — What Has been Accomplished by Teachers in Country Schools. XIX. Consolidation ... 222 Changed Conditions — Origin of the District Unit — Evils of the District System — The Larger Unit — Reports in Regard to ConsoU- dation in Several States — Standardization of the Schools — Requirements for a Standard School. Part n RURAL SCHOOL METHODS I. Primary Reading .... 245 Importance of Reading — Kinds of Reading — Methods of Teaching Reading.

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