Bricker brings in two additional requirements in his qualifications which are in substance: 1, Rural mindedness 2, Enthusiasm manifested by a love fur rural manifestation of the spirit of the farmer, 3, Harmonious adjustment Must not find farm work dity or repulsive. 4, Professional knowledge a, facts and principles of b, knowledge of what to teach, how to teach, and when to teach. (1) Weeks had put the whole matter in a nut-shell in his statement that that "A successful agricultural teacher in an high school must possess the knowledge of the student in agriculture as well as the experience of the farmer boy, and then have the ability to mix with and command the interest and confidence of farmers and town people alike." (2) Natural fitness. It is evident from the above that much is made of natural fitness to teach. To a certain extent it is true that teachers are "born", and this does apply to teachers of agriculture alone. Nevertheless, the success in the field of agriculture is to a larger degree conditioned The teacher of agriculture is, in a way, is a compe- The 1, Bricker loc. cit. p.27-31 4. that he is "a master of farming as a handicraft". teaching. Again, the teacher's responsiblity does not stop with The solution of the problem of better agriculture rests upon his shoulders. It is his function not only to give his students the knowledge of how to farm, he must only make them able to apply the principles of scientific agriculture, but also willing to do so. Furthermore, it is his duty to see that they do employ their knowledge. To him are usually assigned the duties of extension. His sucess in changing the agriculture in his community, and that means merely to live up to his obligation, will largely depend upon his ability to meet people, to get along with them, and to understand their point of view. It is not often that a person can acquire this grasp upon practical farm operations and the sympathetic attitude without farm experience. would give the teacher with farm experiance and no teaching experience the preferance over the one who had the Tater but not the former. (1) Storm It is not possible to analyse out the elements which make up natural aptitude to teach which, all must concede, does exist. It seems safe to say, however, that enthusiasm has much to do with it. It is not improbable that both spring from the same source. Bricker is right in giving In it a prominent place in his list of qualifications. Storm, The Unprepared Teacher of agriculture. p.38 General Culture. There is, of course, no good reason why the teacher in this field should have less general culture than other teachers. He must have a wide point of view lest he ride his hobby in the ground. There is culture in agriculture (1) and it is Technical Knowledge. Bricker combined both knowledge of subject matter and knowledge of the science of teaching under this head. The above-mentioned quotations have clearly and forciable presented the need for both. As both will be more fully treated in a later chapter the mere mentioning will suffice. ******* ******* Steffens, Culture in Agriculture. Harp. W., Ja.10,1914, p7-10 |