III. The Ideal Teacher. Before judgement can be passed upon the present efforts in training teachers of agriculture, and before plans can be made for a more complete preparation, it is necessary to analyse out the factors which make for success in teaching agriculture. The training which the college gives must aim directly to give to those trained the qualifications which the ideal teacher should possess. Among the several statements on qualifications of teachers for school agriculture the one formulated by the Indiana Deaprtment of Public Instruction is among the best. The Teacher of prevocational agriculture 1, should have practical farm experience, 2, his general preparation should equal that required of teachers in regular school work, 3, his technical preparation in agriculture should at least equal that gained by a two-year's special course in a standard technical course, 4, his teaching experinece "should include ability to teach, familiarity with the technical methods of the present day school administration and the technique of the school-room as applied to the teachers own task and responsibility. He should also be trained in the application of the more important principles of teaching as they apply to his own particular subject. He should have enough knowledge of the theory and practice of education, its history and development, to enable him to see clearly and truly the aim of the prevocational work with which he is concerned, and its relation to the rest of the school work and the work attempted in the various types of vocational schools. He should know enough about our own economic, social, and industrial history to enable him to appreciate and understand the present world-wide movement for vocational education;" 5, personal equipment. "Freedom from physical defects, neatness in dress, good taste, and pleasing manners are essentials to the highest success of pre-vocational subjects as they are to teachers of academic subjects. Other essentials are good health, the ability to meet and and get along with people, interest in community activity, the ability to understand and sympathise with young people, the spirit and interest of the learner, etc."(1) The Massachusetts Board of Education in its report on agricultural education postulates similar requirements. The agricultural teacher should be a graduate of an agricultural college and should be capable of keeping in touch with the literature and work of his field. He should have been reared on the farm and should be a "master of farming as a handicraft". He must be effective in discipline, be able to meet people, and prepared to maintain harmonious relations between his department and the other departments of the school. (2) Monaham states his ideal of a well qualified teacher as follows: "Men for this work need a liberal education in the general culture subjects, together with special training a, in the physival and natural sciences, particularly b, in technical and practical agriculture and farm c, in rural sociology and agricultural economics; e, in agricultural pedagogy, including (1) the the history of agricultural and industrial education, Fairchild stresses the professional phase of the teacher's preparation. He thinks that "it takes more than and agricultural training to make a good teacher of agriculture. In the first place the candidate for agricultural teacher should have been reared in the country, preferably, on a well conducted farm. This alone can give him the right point of view and the sympathetic attitude toward the farmer and the farm home. Of course a teacher of agriculture must have a thoro knowledge of agricultural science and the best agricultural practices. This he must get in an agricultural college, but he must know how to impart such knowledge according to the most approved and efficient methods of pedagogy. He must understand psychology and the principles of teaching." (4) 1, Indiana Dept. of Public Instruction. Bul. 4, 1914. p.10-11. 2, Massachusetts Bd. of Education. Rpt on Agrl Educ. p.62-3. 3, Monahan. U. S. Bur. Educ. Bul.1912, no.6. p.43-3 4, Fairchild. A.A.A.C. & E. S. Proc. 191 p.172. |