Red Tape.—It sometimes happens that county and state superintendents, in performing the duties of their office, think it necessary to impose upon the country schools a variety of tests, examinations, reports, and what-not, which accomplish but little and may result in positive injury. To pile up complications and intricacies having no practical educational value is utterly useless. It indicates the lack of a true conception of the school situation. Such haphazard methods will not teach alone any more than a saw will saw alone. Behind it all must be the simple, great teacher, and for him all these things, beyond a reasonable extent, are hindrances to progress.
Length of Term.—In very many country districts the terms are frequently only six months in the year. This should be extended to eight at least. Even in this case, it gives the rural school a shorter term than the city school, which usually has nine or ten months each year. But it is very probable that the simplicity of rural school life and rural school teaching will enable pupils to do as much in eight months as is done in the city in nine.
Individual Work.—Individual work should be the rule in many subjects. There is no need, on account of numbers, of a lock-step. In the cities, where the teacher has probably an average of 35 to 40 children, all the pupils are held together and in line. In such cases the great danger is to those above the average. There is the danger of forming what might be called the "slow habit." The bright pupils are retarded in their work, for they are capable of much more than they do. In such cases the retardation is not on account of the inability of the pupil but on account of the system. The bright ones are held back in line with the slow. This need not be the case in rural schools. Here, in every subject which lends itself to the plan, each pupil should be allowed to go as far and as fast as he can, provided that he appreciates the thought, solves the problems, and understands the work as he goes. I once knew a large rural school in which there were enrolled about sixty pupils, taking the subjects of all the grades, from the first to the eighth and even some high school subjects. In such classes as arithmetic the pupils were, so to speak, "turned loose" and all entered upon a race for the goal. Each one did as much as he could, his attainments being subjected to the test of examination. The plan worked excellently; no one was retarded, and all were intensely busy.
"Waking Up the Mind."—The main thing in any school is not the amount of knowledge which pupils get from textbooks or from the teacher, but the extent to which the mind appropriates that knowledge and is "waked up" by it. Mr. Page in his excellent classic, The Theory and Practice of Teaching, has a chapter called "Waking Up the Mind" and some excellent illustrations as to how it may be done. The main thing is not the amount of mere knowledge or information held in memory for future delivery, but the spirit and attitude of it all. The extent to which children's minds are made awake and sensitive, and the extent to which they are inspired to pursue with zest and spirit any new problem are the best criterions of success in teaching. The spirit and method of attack is all-important; quantity is secondary. If children have each other, so to speak, "by the ears," over some problem from one day to the next, it indicates that the school and the teacher are awake, that they are up and doing, and that education, which is a process of leavening, is taking place.
The Overflow of Instruction.—On account of the individual work which is possible in the country schools, what is sometimes called the "overflow of instruction" is an important factor in the stimulation and the education of all the children in the room. In the city school, where all are on a dead level, doing the same work, there is not much information or inspiration descending from above, for there is no class above. But in the rural school, children hear either consciously or unconsciously much that is going on around them. They hear the larger boys and girls recite and discuss many interesting things. These discussions wake up minds by sowing the seeds which afterwards come to flower and fruit in those who listen—in those who, in fact, cannot help hearing.
I remember an incident which occurred during my experience as a pupil in a country school. A certain county superintendent, who used to visit the school periodically, was in the habit, on these occasions, of reading to the school for probably half an hour. Just what he read I do not even remember, but I recall vividly his quiet manner and attitude, his beautiful and simple expression, and the whole tone and temper of the man as he gathered the thought and expressed it so beautifully and so artistically. This type of thing has great influence. It is often the intangible thing that tells and that is valuable. In every case, that which is most artistically done is probably that which leaves its impression.
Affiliation.—In some states, notably in Minnesota, an excellent plan is in vogue by which the schools surrounding a town or a city are affiliated with the city schools in such a manner as to receive the benefit of the instruction of certain special teachers from the city. These teachers—of manual training, domestic science, agriculture, etc.—are sent out from the city to these rural schools two or three times a week, and in return the country children beyond a certain grade are sent to the high school in the city. This is a process of affiliation which is stimulating and economical, and can be encouraged with good results.
The "Liking Point."—In the teaching of all subjects the important thing is that the pupil reach what may be termed the "liking point." Until a pupil has reached that point in any subject of study his work is mere drudgery—it is work which is probably disliked. The great problem for the teacher is to bring the child as soon as possible to this liking point, and then to keep him there. It is probable that every pupil can be brought to the liking point of every subject by a good teacher. Where there is difficulty in doing this, something has gone wrong somewhere, either on the part of the pupil, his former teachers, his parents, or his companions. When a pupil has reached the liking point it means that he has a keen relish, an appetite for the subject, and in this condition he will actively pursue it.
A Christmas gathering at the new school