under the title, "The Home of The
Countryside."

THE RURAL WORKER AND THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS

III

THE RURAL WORKER AND THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS

Of late the rural schools have been receiving much attention. Educators
and others interested in rural welfare have seriously studied the needs
and opportunities of our country schools and the good results of this
interest are already revealing themselves. It is true, of course, that
much of this contribution to the rapidly increasing literature devoted
to rural educational problems has come from men who live in urban
communities and who for the most part have expert knowledge concerning
the administration of urban schools.

It is easy, without doubt, to give too much emphasis to the peculiar
needs of the rural schools and to forget that urban and rural schools
have much in common. Without forgetting that many of our school
problems are fundamental and present in all schools regardless of the
environment in which they attempt to function, it is reasonable to
regret that a larger part in the discussions relating to rural education
has not been taken by people living in the country and familiar with the
rural life of the present time. It is only just to add, however, that
both urban and rural education suffer because so little influence comes
into school theory and practice from those who stand outside the
profession of teaching. The teacher is not likely to know life so widely
or so accurately as do those men and women who have won success by
meeting actual situations that test practical judgment and sound
self-control. Every one subscribes to the statement that the business of
education is the preparation of pupils for life, every one knows that
the value of such a preparation can be made certain only by being
brought under the acid test of the actual conditions of social life, but
few there are that realize that one of the ever-present problems of
educational efficiency is due to the fact that the thinking that
influences the purposes and methods of teachers mostly originates within
the profession itself. The significance of this would be apparent were
it true that all of one's education for life comes from the schools;
happily, this is not true, and most pupils obtain valuable experiences
from actual contact with problems of life that impress them more deeply
than the preparation which at the same time the school is trying to
give.

The rural worker needs to f