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mechanical methods of the farm". The teacher is not to blame. The school has employed him to teach agriculture; the supervisors of the school do not know what he is to teach, they have introduced agriculture because every other school was so doing, or to get the state aid; the legislators did not know what secondary agriculture was, they have left that to the school men, and they had not yet solved the

(1)

problem. As Knapp says: "It would have been better, had legislation demanded the teaching of one or two things", instead the indefinite subject, agriculture.

Another result of the rapid extension of agriculural instruction under the artificial stimulation of legislation, giving state aid or compelling the introduction of agriculture in high schools, is often a remarkable lack of real interest. Many teachers are now teaching agriculture who

would not do so, were they not compelled to teach it.

The communities are likewise often indifferent to the work, and indifference is worse than hostility.

It will take

much good teaching to overcome the indifference which is rapidly turning into contempt because of the unprepared teacher.

The unprepared teacher is, in the last analysis, the greatest of all problems. The popularity of the early agricultural schools was directly due to the teachers. As the number of schools was small, it was not impossible

to find a teacher who happened to have the right combination

of teaching ability, experience, and training, who, in addition,

1, quoted in Proc. N.E.A. 1914, p.894.

brought to his work a love and a belief in the work, which went far to outweigh any possible shortcomings in prepara

tion.

The sudden clamor for teachers of agriculture has pressed into service many who have little of the enthusiasm of the pioneer, less natural aptitude for the work, and practically no preparation in the subject matter.

Agriculture will in many cases be judged not by its real intrinsic value, but by the work of the unprepared teacher. It will be a decade before agriculture will be taught as it should. If agriculture is to continue, it is imperative that the untrained teacher give way to a trained teacher before the damage done is irreparable.

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