14 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 



But it is one of the strong arguments of the advocates of 

 nature study that it is a subject whose very nature requires 

 its teachers to be initiators rather than imitators. And 

 a teacher's growth in efficiency depends in part upon the 

 compulsion to initiate in some directions rather than to 

 imitate. 



Difficult to Teach. Every teacher of nature study should 

 have the comfort of knowing and every prospective teacher 

 should have the warning that the subject is a difficult one 

 to teach. It calls for more of originality than does the 

 teaching of sciences in the high schools. It demands ac- 

 quaintance with the local material, facility in using it, and 

 flexibility of presentation to a degree not dreamed of in 

 those orderly laboratories where the cut- and-dr ied l ' sciences" 

 hold sway. To ask such work of unprepared teachers and 

 to demand good results is unreasonable. It is not strange 

 that failures in teaching nature study have been numerous; 

 it is rather a wonder that successes have been so frequent. 

 Yet this fact should not produce a feeling of unrest or dis- 

 content with the subject among its teachers; rather it 

 should give confidence in the virtues of the subject itself 

 and courage to continue the perplexing and ever-changing 

 but fascinating task of its successful presentation. If 

 teachers are working in the dark, they should know that 

 this is still somewhat the condition of teachers of the sub- 

 ject everywhere. If they are eager for the light, they 

 should know it will come chiefly by continuing to work 

 patiently and thoughtfully. No one can rescue them ex- 

 cept by stimulating their own persistent effort. There are 

 still many stumbles to be made in nature study, but every 

 fall shows what to avoid next time. 



