PART II. 

 CHAPTER V. 



The Teaching Force 



At the time this study was made (1919), there were 33 teachers 

 of agriculture (exclusive of assistants), in the schools shown in 

 Figure 1. It has already been mentioned that these men are called 

 Supervisors of Agriculture because they supervise home project 

 work in agriculture. In addition, they are frequently called upon 

 to render various forms of educational service to the adult popula- 

 tion of the community. All this tends to widen their sphere of 

 usefulness to the community and makes them bigger andd abler 

 men than if their efforts were restricted to those of the class room 

 and laboratory. The supervisors are young men as is shown in 

 Figure 8. Twenty-four of them are between twenty-six and thirty 

 years of age. 



The pertinence of the graph lies largely in a probable relation- 

 ship (to which there are exceptions) between age and personal 

 adaptability to teach successfully a growing and dynamic vocation 

 such as that of agriculture. 



More significant than age, however, is the background of pre- 

 vious experience that teachers possess. Figure 9 shows how many 

 years the supervisors have lived in urban centers, in rural communi- 

 ties, but not on farms, and on farms. 



Experience in Shop Work. In describing the experience that 

 the supervisors of agriculture have had in shop work, a distinction 

 is made between school experience and that obtained outside of 

 schools. Figure 10 shows that of thirty-three supervisors twenty- 

 nine have had normal school or college training in woodwork, and 

 that twelve have had training in iron and steel, that is, forge prac- 

 tice. Xo attempt was made to show the exact nature and amount 

 of this school experience. In the case of 82 per cent of the men 

 those graduated in agriculture from the Pennsylvania State College 

 it probably consisted of one three-hour period per week for one 

 >emester. The woodwork given was largely joinery. The course 

 of study for agricultural students in effect when the men graduated 



47 



