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o Commonweajlth of Kentucky 0

EDUCATIoigAL BULLETIN

"\ 1‘,

THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL
IN WAR TIME

i A Handbook fer Teachers

University of Kentch

I Miss Elizabeth Hanson
Lexington, Kentucky

‘ Periodical Librarian

7‘ Published by
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

JOHN W. BROOKER
Superintendent of Public Instruction

I
I
l,
I

ISSUED MONTHLY

Entered as second-class matter March 21, 1933, at the post office at
Frankfort, Kentucky, under the Act of August 24, 1912.

‘IVol-X 0 August, 1942, 0 No.6

1.1.4.;

muxmﬁrx

FOREWORD

\Vith the world at war it is necessary for every agency of the
government and every man, woman, and child under that government
to bring to bear all of their resources upon the winning of the war
and maintaining an enduring peace. The public schools constitute the
assembly line along which flows our trained leadership. While the
critical shortage in trained leadership is felt acutely at the high school
and college levels, the assembly line at the upper level cannot be
maintained unless the elementary school is geared to the secondary
school, and it in turn to the college.

With the belief that the elementary schools migh contribute more
deﬁnitely to the war effort, I asked that a committee prepare
materials which would be useful to the small elementary schools.
I asked Mr. J aggers, Mr. Godman, and Mr. Taylor of this department
to assume responsibility for organizing these materials and I asked
the following persons from the public schools and colleges to assist
them: C. M. Graham, Miss Mabel Rudisill, Mrs. Mamie West Scott,
Miss Louise XVillson, Miss Helen Board, Miss Catherine Evans,
\Villiam O. Gilreath.

The - committee assisting the members of our staff worked
earnestly on the tasks assigned them. These persons developed the
material in chapters II to VII, inclusive. The remainder of the work
of this bulletin, including editing for publication, was done by the
members of our staff.

While the materials of this bulletin focus upon the war effort,
the activities recommended, if followed, will tend to improve the
school program. I commend it to the superintendents and teachers
and laymen of Kentucky. '

Cordially yours,

J. W. BROOKER

Superinten(lent of Public Instruction

IN TR

“a.“ r.—._#n.__ .A.“ r M

CI-

gency of the
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improve the
and teachers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
i INTRODUCTION—The School and the War Effort __________________________________ 595
CHAPTER I—Functions of the School
1. The School ........................................................ 599
i 2. The Teacher ...................................................... 602
CHAPTER II—Pupil Attendance and Its Implication for
Effective Learning .................................................. 606
CHAPTER III—Organization of the School ........................................ 610
) CHAPTER IV—Democratic Living in the School ............................ 620
t
i CHAPTER V—Pupil Health and Welfare __________________________________________ 624
1
CHAPTER VI—Human Relationships __________________________________________________ 635
(Home, Community and Broader Relations)
i CHAPTER VII—Conserving Our Resources ________________________________________ 644

2 Instruction

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INTRODUCTION
The School and the War Eﬁort

The most arresting fact of our time is the \Var. It has become a
vital life interest. It touches every pupil, and every family. It affects
our supply of food, clothing, fuel, transportation, and housing. In
fact the war touches us almost at every turn. XVe must recognize the
facts of war in our schools in order that we may help to ﬁnd the best
solutions possible to the problems which war brings. \Ve must build
with the pupils at every grade level, and with the parents, a full
understanding of the problems; and develop a willingness on the part
of all to cooperate in their solution.

It is the ﬁrst duty of the teacher to ﬁnd out what are the life
interests of the pupils and the parents. The program of activities in
the school must be organized so that the essential individual and
community interests may be developed and the school strengthened in
the process. This is most essential in the little elementary school,
which, of all schools, is closest to the homes.

The children in the school cannot win the war. They cannot solve
all the problems growing out of the war. Impacts of war will touch
them. There is no escape. They must face life and the school should
focus on life problems. \Var at the present is a part of that life.
Some of the problems must be. met in a direct way. Most of them
can be attacked in an indirect way. Children should be spared as
much of the burden as possible. The teacher must focus upon the
problems caused by the war instead of the war. In this way the
country will be better served, since the children will be spared the
emotional strains that must be borne by adults.

In order to assist teachers to organize their work so it will
emphasize the problems faced by individuals and communities in
these times this bulletin has been prepared.

The Functions of the School in meeting the issues of life as
they are tied up with learning are presented in the ﬁrst chapter.
Thls chapter contains detailed suggestions as to the part the teacher
11111813 play in directing learning.

' The Organization of the School Program is presented in the
thlI‘Chtlllapter. The suggestions here are not based upon arm-chair
thlllkmg‘ but grew out of actual experiences in a one room school.
Thls Plan suggests 110w the school can become a workshop where
Chlldl‘en may work naturally.

595

Pupil Attendance and Its Implications for Effective Learning
has a direct bearing upon the problems of the teacher. The war has
brought out the need for more people with better education. Much
of our difﬁculty is due to non attendance, since pupils cannot make
normal progress unless they attend regularly. We cannot furnish
our share of people to the nation unless we give better preparation,
and we cannot make progress unless the children are there. The
school must be a place to which children like to go.

Teaching Democracy through Living has been the accepted
way of making strong Americans. Suggestions are offered in
Chapters IV and VI for teaching demer'racy in the home, the school
and the community. These materials were developed by teachers in
active service in the classrooms of the elementary schools. Sugges-
tions offered come from actual experiences of these teachers in help-
ing children to learn in a democratic way.

The Conservation of our. Resources has become a major prob-
lem and concerns people and materials. Chapters V and VII suggest
speciﬁc ways of saving our materials and people. This chapter was
prepared by people in the schools who are having actual experiences
with these problems. Not only does the conservation of our food,
fuel, clothing, gas, oil, and power attect the war, but it concerns all
of us who remain at home.

The problems of living begin at birth and continue throughout
life. No other subjects are so vital to any person as food, shelter,
clothing, recreation, religion, social relations, and the like. The study
of these should not be separated from the work of the school. We must
read and write about them and solve problems related to them.
History, geography, civics, science, health, literature, are anchored in
one or more of these problems.

Other problems which may be woven into the fabric of the 5011001
are directly concerned with the war. These topics should be
integrated with the regular school program. Suggested topics are:

1. Study the origin and meaning of slogans which have come
out of the war effort, such as:

Our American way of life

Health for Victory

Salvage for Victory

Save and produce

Spend wisely

Victory garden

We are wasters because we have had plenty

WhPP‘GF'?’

596

(left

e Learning
the war has
tion. Much
annot make
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there. The

ac accepted
offered in
a, the school
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ls. Sugges-
ers in help-

major prob-
VII suggest
chapter was
experiences
tf our food,
concerns all

throughout
30d, shelter,

The study
1. We must
d to them.
anchored in

If the school
should be
topics are:
have come

i.
j.

We help the enemy when we get sick

Adequate diet
The United Nations

Win the peace

2. Suggest ways in which the school and community can help
in the food production program, such as:

been???

Gardens at school and home
Community cannery
Give information about spraying plants

' Storing food

Study substitutes for vital foods
Encourage poultry and dairy projects

3. Consider crucial inaterials—mger, rubber, gasoline, etc.

Develop understanding of need for rationing and how it
operates

Build up a spirit of cooperation in Civilian defense

Emphasize conservation education—shortage of school ma-
terials—paper, erasers, textbooks, etc.

Cooperate with volunteer agencies in conserving paper, tin
foil, metal, etc., and canvass communities for collection of
those materials

4. Initiate a cooperative or individual plan of saving to buy
defense stamps.

Develop a functional health program.

99?.”

Expand school lunch program

Study meal planning and intelligent buying

Offer courses in home nursing and ﬁrst aid

Examine reports of medical examinations of selectees and
note effect of nutritional deﬁciency

Develop consciousness of adequate nutrition and importance
of physical ﬁtness for civilian defense

f. Increase emphasis upon safety instruction

Develop Schoolroom conduct during air raids

Provide opportunities for recreation in after-school hours for
children and adults of the community

Increase emphasis upon safety instruction

Develop Appreciation for our American Democracy.

Teach songs, poems, and stories relative to liberty, freedom,
and the Flag“

Practice democratic principles in all classroom activities

Help in Maintaining Morale.

Teach the principles, ideals, privileges, duties and problems
of good citizenship

597

95'

Help children to understand propaganda

Study the story of development of democracy

Help children to understand how nations must depend Upon
one another

Keep the procedure in the school normal

Study speciﬁc ways in which every child can help Win the
war

Study the ways of having peace among nations

598

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Chapter I

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL
1. The School

A child begins life with an ancestral heritage, which we call
heredity. He is essentially what his heredity has made him. But
from the beginning he lives in an environment. He can no more
avoid environment than a physical body can escape from space. He
has continuous impacts with the things of his environment, somewhat
as a physical body has with the forces operating in the space that
surrounds and pervades it. These impacts carry on continuously
while he lives, even when he sleeps. \Ve call these impacts his experi-
ences. He reacts to them. He is changed by them. The manner in
which he reacts determines the kind of change.

A person is the product of his heredity and his environment. The
former factor may be a constant, but the latter is certainly variable.
He undergoes change in mind and body all the time. \Ve are some-
what different from what we were last year. \Ve have been changed
by our experiences.

Education. One’s education is' the functioning product of his
experiences. His education may be in part controlled by selecting or
planning some of his experiences. Schools are set up for this purpose.
The curriculum of the school is the selection and sequence of experi-
ences planned for its pupils. Their out-of-school experiences are

generally less carefully planned, and much of their in-school experi—

ence is subject to chance. Thus we have formal (curricular) and
informal education.

Life in and out of School. The school experiences planned for
the pupil, and the order in which he has them, must have connection
with his other experiences, so they may have meaning and function
in his life. In other words, his interests and activities in school must
be integrated with his legitimate interests and activites out of school.
In this way his life is enriched and strengthened by his curricular
experience. Otherwise it may be weakened and en’ibarrassed by a
non-functioning academic life at variance with his normal functioning
life.

Happiness. The pupil wants to be useful and live a happy life.
Happiness is sought by all. It. comes mainly from being useful, from
making others happy. “The way to be happy is to make others

599

happy.” \Ve want our pupils to have such experiences as may help
them to be useful and happy in life. They must have such habits and
capacities, such knowledge and skills, such qualities and purposes as
may pave their ways to the goal ol’ usel‘ul happy living, We must
plan their school experiences, their curriculum, to that end, and
only to that end. There is no other goal. Yes, it is as simple as that,

To be good teachers we must keep that in mind in all we do at School

Conservation. The pupil has an abundant heritage, and willbe
rich for life it? he learns to make the most 01’ it. lle has mental and
physical health to conserve and mental and physical capacities to
develop. The conser 'ation ol’ personal and environmental resources
is so important as to have a promiment place in our schools.

Work. Most of one’s liFe is connected with his work, with doing
his duties. His work pleasure depends upon how well he does it
rather than upon what work he does. All useful work is pleasurable
when done well. \Ve enjoy doing what we do well, whether it be
playing a game, solving a problem, reciting a. lesson, operating a
plane, running a farm, or teaching a class. It is important then for
both the pleasure and eli‘ectiveness of his work in life that the pupil
be trained to do consciously well whatever he does. His assignments
should be such as he can do well, so the habit of completeness and
thoroughness may be built up. Discouraging assignments and poor

performance undermine sell’ confident“ and defeat the purpose of the
school.

Democracy. (me does not live to himselt‘ alone. We are social.
\Ve are dependent upon others for our food, our clothing, our ideas,
our life, and our way of life. \Ve inhale pleasure in our contacts with
others. This pleasure is intense in protection to our good will for
them. \Ve enjoy then the more as we make them the happier. We
make the most of life, by giving it most t‘reely. Selﬁshness lies at the
root of distress, but happiness springs :l'rom good will. One’s life is
anchored in human relations. \Ve covet for each pupil that he abound
in good will so he may be a good citizen of his home, of the school, of
this great democracy, and of the world democracy that seems 110W 111
the building. May he contribute his spirit to true democracy with
equal justice for all, whatever their wealth, their color, or their
ancestry.

Apppreciation. Happiness comes from appreciation. One may
appreciate his health, his work, his people, and his country. He may
also appreciate and enjoy many, many other things. One is lone-
some indeed who lives among people and does not know them Wen
enough to enjoy them. He misses the best of life who lives at the

600

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beauties of ﬁeld and forest and does not know how to appreciate them,
who lives under the colorful sky and is dead to its beauty. One is
dead to what he does not amnreeiate. \Ve live only with our interests,
only with the things that we know well enough to appreciate them.
It is the function of the school to help each. pupil to enjoy his life by
making the most of it for himsellf and l'or others.

Social Science. \Ve teach. geography and history in order that
our pupils may know the world about them (the school ground and
the far away) and enjoy it the more, that they may know the peoples
of the past and present and have more human ninlerstanding and
good will, that they may know how people work to live and respect
them the more, that they may know our institutions and interdepend—
ence and be better members of society. Civilization is an organiza-
tion of intelligent, good-will cooperation. It belongs to all of us, and
our stock in it is measured by our intelligent good will. It is the
function of the school to enrich the lives of its pupils with a liberal
stock of intelligence and good will.

Science. \Vc live in a world of plant and animal neighbors
cooperating or competing with us, in a world of natural forces
constantly building and tearing down the things of life. We teach
science in our schools in order that our pupils may become acquainted
with these animal and plant neighbors so as to enjoy them, and with
the forces of nature so we may employ them to work for us. Then,
too, there is a pleasure in understanding the features and phenomena
of life about us and feeling oneself in unison with the living world.
For these reasons, we teach science in the schools.

Language. Animals communicate feelings and thought to one
’ another. Whether plants do we cannot be sure. Human beinO's

developed speech long ago and used it as their chief means of com-
munication. They gradually built up intricate languages. Later they
devised written forms of these languages.

Our vernacular is the English language. “’0 use it to convey our
feelings and ideas to others. “To use it also as a frame work for
thinking. Our pupils need a ﬂuent and effective command of their
language heritage in formulating their thought and in communicating
with others. Human understanding, good will, and cooperation are
helped by etfective use of language. Our teaching of English includes
conversation and the conventions and the pleasantries of speech. It
also includes written expression, the writing of sentences. The
correct writing of sentences includes handwriting, capitalizing,
513811ng and punctuation. These are not four things to be taught
seDal‘ately. They are not separate studies or activities. The one use-

601

Elm???“

ful activity is correct sentence writing. In teaching it properly these
four are only incidental. The teaching of language, With skill in its
use and acquaintance with its wealth of literature, is an essential
function of the schools.

Numbers. The number element is important. It is as essential
in our lives as are time and space. Many of the lower animals have
number sense, and some of our plants grow true to their number
traditions. We think in terms of number and of extent. Our busi-
ness and administrative ofﬁces use the language of mathematics. It is
a necessary part of the vernacular. Modern life, in peace and in
wars, is engineered with mathematics. Our schools must teach it.

Art. How diversiﬁed is life, yet how uniﬁed. Music is in the
air that we breathe. We live in the product of the architect and
builder. We dress in the art of the weaver and the seamstress. We
feed on the science and the art of the farmer and the cook. The
sciences, the arts, the industries of our people, are fostered in our
schools.

Crafts. Squirrels give their young instruction in athletics and
in woodcraft. We give our young instruction in these subjects in our
schools.

Character. All organized communities undertake to develop
with their young the qualities needed for the good life. We under-
take in our schools to develop the qualities of honesty, industry,
emotional balance, cheerfulness, and regard for the ideas and feelings
of others. The school is a bulwark of our social order. It seeks to
enrich the pupils with a grasp of their natural and social heritage
and to enrich the social order with enlightened citizenry.

2. The Teacher

I am a teacher. I want to be a real teacher. I would not be a
sham, a quack, an incompetent. The sham tries to get by and please.
Her aim is to teach the prescribed pages of adopted books. She looks
no further. That seems easier than to train children to useful
activities. It seems easier to stock children ’s memories with the spell-
ing of word lists than to train them to the habit of writing their
sentences correctly. It seems easier to impart knowledge than to
develop skill. It seems easier to make a superﬁcial, temporary show-
ing than to build permanent character. Superﬁcial teaching 18
easier for the sham. It is her role. .

Purpose. The real teacher looks further. She faces reality-
She is honest and courageous. She does not use subterfuge. She sees
purpose in every item of the curriculum and has purpose in all that

602

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: than to
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; reality.
She sees
I all that

She does. Her purpose looks ahead. It looks beyond the recitation, the
test, and the term of school. It is concerned with the life of the pupil
——with his outer life of which men know, and his inner life controls.
She builds into his life knowledge, that he may serve intelligently;
skill, that he may work effectively; good will, that he may live
abundantly; purpose,‘that his life may have character and meaning;
and appreciation, that he may enjoy what is real, what is beautiful,
and what is good.

Planning. My work must be purposeful. And it must be
planned. It must be so planned as to achieve its purpose. I am
teaching this girl history. And I know why. I do it to give her
better knowledge of her place in the world, to build more human
understanding and good will into her life, to make her more con-
siderate of others, more patriotic, a better citizen of home, school, and
country. I must plan how to teach this course to get these results.
I want other results. She needs to know how to study a lesson. She
needs accuracy and completeness of expression. I must plan my
teaching of this course to achieve these results in her life. Rote
teaching is botch.

I have a second grade number class. I am teaching them to add.
They can count. Saying the numbers in order is not counting. But
they can count things. They count the books on a shelf and the leaves
on a twig. Counting is adding one to each succeeding number. Next

I shall teach them to add two to each number. I believe that within a .

month I can teach them to think two onto every number they know.
Then they can add two to ﬁve, two to twelve, two to twenty-six, two to
sixty-three. I shall not begin with abstract numbers, but with things.
With six books on the shelf they can tell how many there will be if
two more are added. And so on. Later I shall lead them to think
with abstract numbers. Then I can use ﬁgures. I can put ﬁgure 2
in the center of a circle on the blackboard and 5, 12, 26, 63, and other
numbers around the circle, and they can give the answers, 7, 14, 28, 65,
and so on. But I shall not discourage any pupil by asking him to
add four or seven or any other large number to anything until he
can add two. To ask him to do that would make him lose conﬁdence
in his power to think in numbers. That would defeat the purpose of
my teaching. I must plan my teaching very carefully. If I don’t,
I’ll mess things up for my pupils.

Preparation. My job requires purpose and planning. And it
re(lllll‘es preparation. I must be personally prepared. I must have
good health of body and of mind. I must have quality. I must be
honest all the way. I must be devoted to duty. I must be what I

603

want my pupils to think I am. I must be courageous, not afraid to
meet people. I must not be afraid to meet situations. I must not be
afraid to meet my duties, even when they require thinking and
planning.

And I must be professionally prepared. My certiﬁcate is 110
professional qualiﬁcation. It is only the minimum legal requirement.
To be professionally prepared I must know the subjects of the
curriculum, the things I am to teach. I must know my language, and
I must be able to teach it. I must be interested in the geography of
my district, and I must be ready to teach it. I must know my pupils
and how they live, their home conditions, their aspirations, and their
discouragements. I must know where they are now, where I want to
lead them, and how. I must have interests as wide as their experi-
ences and in line with them. I must be interested in the things of
their environment and life. This is professional preparation.

Then I must make daily preparation. Tomorrow I shall assign
a lesson on the geography of Egypt to the four pupils of my seventh
grade class. I must plan just what to assign and how to assign it,
what history material to include, what readings (Bible or otherwise)
to appoint to this pupil and what to that. I must look those chapters
up, so my assignments may be very definite. I shall assign different
readings, from different sources, to these four pupils. And I must
also consider how that recitation is to be carried on. Indeﬁnite plans
mean waste of time. I must not waste time.

011 Thursday I shall take my pupils on a trip. We shall go into
Mr. Brown’s ﬁeld across the road. I shall show them a gully that1
have seen there. It was made when it rained. It is only a gully. But
it is a canyon. I shall show them its steep cliffs and tell them of the
Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. This canyon in Mr. Brown’s
ﬁeld is a foot deep and a hundred yards long. The Colorado River
canyon is a mile deep and two hundred miles long. But they are
alike. They have been made the same way. We shall consider what
has become of the soil, how muddy it“ makes the water, and where It
goes. We shall consider the ravine between the hills, and what made
the valley in which the creek ﬂows. I must go down into the ﬁeld this
afternoon and consider just where we shall go on our school trip and
just what things will get attention. We must not let our attention be
scattered among too many observations. We shall save some of them
for other trips, for each trip must develop new interests and observa-
tions. My daily duties must be planned. My technique must shoW
some maturity of thought. It is as essential for me to have the three

604

nil
ke;
Tl
wt

not afraid to
I must not be
thinking and

tifieate is no
requirement.
’jects of the
angnage, and
geography of
)w my pupils
ns, and their
are I want to
their expepj.
)he things of
'ation,

shall assign
i' my seventh
to assign it,
r otherwise)
.ose chapters
ign different
And I must
eﬁnite plans

:hall go into
gully that I
gully. But
them of the
Ir. Brown’s
)rado River
it they are
1sider what
1d where it
what made
he ﬁeld this
01 trip and
tttention be
ne of them
1d observa-
mnst show
6 the three

p’s (purpose, plan, and preparation) as for the pupils to have the
three r ’s.
Opportunity. . . .
nity. Sacred is the ground on which she stands. To her is given the
s of the kingdom of usefulness and happiness for her pupils.
Happy is the teacher

The teacher’s position is one of great opportu-

key .
Those to whom she opens it may enter therein.

who sees her opportunities and seizes them.

605

Chapter II

PUPIL ATTENDANCE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR
EFFECTIVE LEARNINGS‘

Causes for Poor Attendance. School attendance is as essential
to a literate people as the establishment and maintenance of a free
school system. Two major causes of poor attendance may be
mentioned as basis for suggestions to teachers in their efforts to gain
and maintain the desired attendance. First, there is not sufﬁcient
parent interest in educational advantages. Next in order would
probably be the mobility of our population.

Mobility of School Population. According to a National
Education Association study,1 the population movement in the
United States between 1930 and 1940 continued apparently un-
checked, and perhaps even at an accelerated rate. Though available
data on this point are scarce, it is estimated that no fewer thant
million persons each year moved from one state to another. During
the past ten years, rural farm population has remained virtually
constant. But, rural non-farm population has increased 14.5 per
cent. This means a considerable mobility of population toward
villages and suburban areas.

The predominant pattern of migration in the farm population
consists neither of removal to the city nor of state to state migration,
but the short moves from farm to farm within the same county and
state. Most studies report that such moves account for about three-
fourths of all farm relocations. Data are not available on the migra-
tion caused by war industry and military camp movements. We
observe it to be tremendous. Putting these factors together, it
becomes obvious that teachers must be extremely alert to keep the
children of this migratory element in school and advancing at a
normal rate.

Implications for Education. Viewing, in retrospect, the Amer-
ican educational situation of the last \Vorld \Var period when 25
per cent of the American army could neither read nor write, we are
led to believe that all our eti’orts have not been in vain. Yet, it is
not enough. No doubt there are areas in Kentucky which are still
—*_’l‘h.i:material was contributed by C. M. Graham, Principal of Training School,
Murray State Teachers College, Murray, Kentucky.

1National Education Association, Research Bulletin Schools and the 1940
Census, Vol. XIX, No. 5, November, 1941.

606

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without educational opportunity. There are few areas where it
could not proﬁtably be extended. Most appalling, however, is the
failure of some to take advantage ot’ the educational facilities at their
disposal.

Dr. John “T. Studebake