117 

 Afternoon Session, Tin ksdav, Xovkmbkk 1(>. 1005. 



K. C. Kiihcdck. of ArizoiiM. prt'sciiti-d tlic following' p.-ipcr: 



The Land-Grant Colleges and Normal Schools. 



For the purposes of this discussion, normal sohools must be differentiated into 

 two classes— the citv normal school. i>r«'parinj; teachers for urban conditions, 

 and those norni:il schools, liy far the gre.-iter number, which i)re]iare the teachers 

 for the schools of the small town. villaf,'e. and rural conuuunity. The land- 

 «rant colleges can not. in the nature of the case, expect to intlnence very power- 

 fully, on tiie ajrricidtnral side, such normal schools as those in New Voric City. 

 Cook Countv. 111., or San Francisco. Cal. lint in the case of schools like Cort- 

 land and Onconta. X. Y. : IMatteville. Wis.: St. Cloud. ^Finn. : Creeley. Colo., and 

 Chico and San .lose. Cal.. very nuich that will be vitally and permanently profit- 

 able can and must lie done. Just what should be undertaken, and just how to 

 l)roceed in this period of transition to a deeper and more scientific interest in 

 country Industrial life, are <|Uestions which nuist be settled slowly by a combina- 

 tion of common sense, a little pedajiofiy — not too nuich — and a jrreat deal of 

 thoughtful, painstaking', jiatient experimentation. Some suggestions are cer 

 tainiv oiii)ortune at this time. 



Under i)ressure of circumstances, under stress of scant means, under the in- 

 cubus of cocksureness on the p:irt of those method-ists who have solved all the 

 educational in-oblcms of life, death, resurrection, and the world to come, the 

 children of the rural school, of the suburban residential comnnniity. and of the 

 crowded sections of great industrial cities, are all treated to substantially the 

 same medicine. All ignorance and all lack of interest look pretty nnich alike 

 to the teacher narrowly trained in the still pervasive pedagogic notions as to 

 i-ight methods and time's in arithmetic, reading, geography, and history. A cer- 

 tain New Fngland ])reacher of a by-gone day was ;isked how he had managed to 

 bring u]) a family of ten children on the unprincely sal.-iry of .$-l(M). His reply 

 was that he found out the food the children did not like, and gave them lots of 

 it. In the rural schools this ])rinciple has been applied all too consistently, and 

 the chief marvel is that more men and women have not been spoiled in the mak- 

 ing. Thirty years ago, and perhaiis last year, graduates of the best normal 

 schools of New York taught in the small villages of that State, with a serene 

 and blessed indifference to nearly everything which distinguished ccnrntry life 

 from city life. Of course the principles of mathematics and of good English 

 are the same everywhere, and there is no short toll ro.-id to the knowledge of 

 them. But no one' familiar with the conditions of country schools .and of grade 

 schools in the cities for that matter will attempt seriously to controvert the 

 statement that there is lamentable waste of time and en(>rgy in all the primary 

 and intermediate work. Great accilinulations of material are unutilized for 

 educational purposes in the country schools. 



It is clear that there Is a strong tendency in recent years to raise higher 

 and ever higher the standards of requirements for teachers' certificates. The 

 high schools want teac-hers who are college graduates. Grade school otticers. 

 backed in some States by statutes, require graduation from a college or norinal 

 school as an element in the (lualifications of their teachers. All this is good 

 and praiseworthy, but it does not seem likely to remedy all the ills which 

 might be ranked" as major. Those who are interested in raising the standards 

 of living in the country, who want to increase the prosperity, deepen the con- 

 tentment, and cement "the attachment of country boys and girls to the life of 

 the farm may well consider the normal schools as an open door into which 

 they may enter with missionary zeal to preach to. convert, and insiiire those 

 who sit "in darkness. If the children of this generation are to be kindled into 

 real enthusiasm for the wonders and possi])ilities of their surroundings, if the 

 drudgery of their dailv routine is to be enlivened by a vision of the past and 

 present "processes of nature, it must be done by l>etter teaching in the lower 

 schools, by teachers who have knowledge and fire to be passed on to their 

 pupils. ' To this end the land-granf colleges and the State universities must 

 cooperate with the normal schools — compel some of them if need be — to pre- 

 pare teachers far more etfeetively for instruction in the rural and village 

 schools. Some of the normal schools have already gone far to meet the legiti- 

 mate demands for teachers prepared for the organization of courses In manual 

 training— for example, the Cook County Normal Sc-hool. Here and there a 

 strong school like the San Jose Normal School in California offers a course in 



