IV. The Present Teacher. The demand for teachers of agriculture was so sudden that there were no trained teachers to supply the demand. It was more a problem of who would teach agriculture, rather than who was prepared to teach it. It is then but natural that those who did teach fell below the ideal described in the preceeding chapter. It is almost immpossible to obtain accurate information of the preparation of the teacher of today. Robison made a study of this question in 1908 and received replies from 182 high school teachers whose preparation in agriculture he tabulated as follows: No. claiming to have special preparation or qualification 143 No. disclaiming any special qualifications, No. failing to report of special qualifications, No. reporting on qualifications. No. failing to report on any of these items, No. reporting practical farm experience No. reporting unspecified theoretical instruction, No. of graduates of college and normal school, No. of graduates of college or normal school, 12 19 174 8 182 77 29 41 14 24 81 8 7 49 No. not graduates of either, No. not graduates of college, No. failing to report of graduation, In 1911 the U.S. Bureau of Education collected infor mation from 898 high school teachers of agriculture. 1) Robison. op.cit. p.102-3. " Of these 2. 540 mentioned some academic training in general or agricultural training in particular; 72 others claimed no special preparartion; and 286 did not comment on preparation." 126, including 38 principles or superintendents has spend at least a full year as students in an agricultural college The or had graduated from a special school of agriculture. No.of teachers in 1911 : %% : No.: 1911: 1908 : : Reporting on all academic work... 540 60.0:78.5 : 72 : 8.3: 6.5 :286: 31.7:15.0 :194 : : : 79 : : 46 : : Claiming no preparation in agriculture,.. :231: 25.7:44.5 : 82 : 9.0:27.0 51 : 5.6: 1.6 (1$ These figures give, at the best, only a very inaccurate picture of the situation. schools were known and furnished information. It is probable Sources and shortcomings. On the basis of preparation the teachers of agriculture may be roughly classified in three classes: the 1, Robison-Jenks. Agrl instruction in high school. p.24-6. |