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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by ALICE HALL WALTER 



Address all communications relative to the work of this depart- 

 ment to the editor, at 53 Arlington Avenue, Providence, R. I. 



A SUMMARY OF PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 



As vacation days come to a close and the year ahead begins to urge its 

 duties upon us, two questions present themselves to the thoughtful mind, the 

 answer to either of which might bring success along the lines of nature-study 

 work in which we are engaged. 



The first question relates to the work of the year just now past and may 

 be stated briefly and without circumlocution. How far has nature-study in our 

 schools fallen short of the goal set for it by leaders of the movement? To be 

 able to analyze conditions, and to understand exactly where the sources of 

 failure in teaching nature-study lie, is a big step ahead in handling the problem 

 which confronts every Audubon Society and every Board of Education. 



So far, this question is answered differently in different localities, and, 

 as yet, very little real unity as to methods of teaching nature-study has come 

 to the surface. In one state the value of a trained supervisor is demonstrated; 

 in another it is discredited. In one place nature-study is taught as a separate, 

 prescribed subject; in another it is combined with some unrelated branch, 

 usually more or less at the discretion of the teachers in charge. 



In few places is it placed on a basis of equality with studies of equal rank, 

 while in many places it is entirely neglected. 



If all Audubon Societies and interested teachers would take time to con- 

 sider the situation in their respective vicinities, and report clearly and concisely 

 upon the same, either to state superintendents of education or to some maga- 

 zine like The Nature-Study Review or Bird-Lore, where the facts could be 

 made public, a decided advance might take place not only in teaching nature- 

 study, but also in putting it within the reach of those who are no longer in 

 school. 



The second question relates to the work of the year just ahead of us, and it 

 too has reference to methods and conditions of work. What has or has not 

 already been done in the past is no measure or criterion for the future. 



Suggestions have been made in this Department, from time to time, that 

 an annual or bi-annual nature-study conference be held in each state for the 

 benefit of teachers; that traveling-collections of nature-study pictures, ,as well 

 as of books upon nature, be put within the reach of every rural as well as 

 urban district; that Bird and Arbor Day be made an occasion for promoting 

 particular interest in nature-study throughout every community; that school- 



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