102 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



culture, the kind of culture popularly defined by the words " leisure, 

 ihdolence, idleness," but through the refining influence of labor, 

 labor which gives the boy a thrill as he looks upon his w^ork, sees that 

 it is well done, and realizes that he has done it. To realize such an 

 ideal in education, Dr. Robertson believes that we must shift the 

 emphasis from the " three R's," from letters to training for life in 

 the locality. 



The problem of relating the country schools more closely to the 

 life and needs of the people was discussed more at length in the de- 

 partment of rural and agricultural education, especially in a round- 

 table conference which was attended by Dr. Robertson and other 

 leading educators who liave identified themselves with rural school 

 interests. This problem, as stated by D. J. Crosby, leader of this 

 conference, involves both a fuller scheme of education and a new kind 

 of education adapted to the real needs of the farming people. 



" Such a scheme of public education," in his opinion, " calls for 

 larger school units, to the end that the per capita cost of education 

 may not be undul}^ increased when we provide better material equip- 

 ment, better trained and better paid teachers, and higher grades of 

 instruction within dail}^ reach of the homes of all rural children. It 

 calls for instruction in the principles and practice of agriculture and 

 home economics in the rural public schools, and for the establishment 

 of a limited number of new special schools of agriculture and home 

 economics. It demands a new point of view in teaching the subjects 

 now generally included in the public school curriculum, to the end that 

 nonessentials shall be eliminated and greater concreteness and effect- 

 iveness shall be acquired through problems and illustrations drawn 

 from the farm, the home, and the common things in the natural en- 

 vironment of the children. And, finallj'^, it must have the united 

 su]3port of National, State, and county . educational agencies, the 

 bureaus and departments of education, the departments of agricul- 

 ture, the State universities and colleges of agriculture, the State 

 normal schools and the various associations of farmers and teachers, 

 to study the pedagogical and practical problems involved in the re- 

 direction of country life education. That the problems are vast and 

 complex no one will deny, that they are worth the best efforts of our 

 most profound students of education is equally beyond question 

 of doubt." 



It was along these lines mainly that the discussions proceeded both 

 in the conference and in the other two sessions held by the depart- 

 ment of rural and agricultural education, and there Avas practical 

 agreement between the details of the different papers and discus- 

 sions and the essential factors of the summarized statement made by 

 the leader of the conference. 



