University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

Page 19 text:

Uhr iKural Efrarhvr sinh 1611111 hr Ming 3521111 in at iliural Glnmmunitg A. E. JONES SCOTT COUNTY HE supreme need in Rural Mississippi is the rural leadership. The rural teach- ers of the past have not been equal to the task of efficient rural teaching. The course of study also does not suit the needs of a rural child. The teachers seem not to know how to handle the course of study we have. A teacher when beginning a school should look about him and see the real needs of that community. He will easily see that the farms, the churches, and the social phases of the community can be helpedg standards of living should be raised, ignorance should be stamped down, father and mother as well as sons and daughters should be given instruction that would make life easier and happier. The teacher should have an eye single to the help of that community in which he goes. Well trained teachers are needed. Teachers who propose to make teaching a life work and have the welfare of the community at heart, are the kind of teachers the world is looking or. We cannot drop any subject in our present free school course but the subjects that We have can be vitalized, made broader and some emphasized more than others. Latin, algebra and geometry should be taught after the eighth grade is finish- ed. Non-essential subjects should not be taught in the grammar grades, but subjects that deal directly with the child's experience and will give him most benefit in the occupation which he intends to follow. The curriculum is made for the child, not the child for the curriculum. The curriculum should be psychologized as well as pedagogically taught. The boy and girl are looking for vital things that appeal to them not mere rloutiaie and formal methods. The students often ask the question, what good will t is ome. Our present schools educate the boy and girl away from the farm. The rural community is all the while being drained of its best talent. The boy and girl will stay on the farm if the farm communities are raised to a worthy istandard. It is not money so much that the rural people need, butfhigher ideals. A rural community can be built up to a first-class standard without much money. Farms can be made more fertile by nitrogenous plants and yard fertilizer: homes can be beautified by flowers, shubbery, paints and cleanliness: by improved farms, food will be more abundant, the standard of living will be raised in many respects. With a small cost to each farmer, good school houses, churches, and roads can be built. The teacher can help in different phases of rural life mentioned above, but the word TEACHER implies accomplishment. A poorly prepared teacher will not get the respect and confidence of the people. A. E. JONES.

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Pm Zlnrvntiuv in the Ninn Glurrirulnm RUTH HARGIS LAFAYETTE COUNTY X Nuxt I l 4 J S Jack Reed walked up to Miss Wellington, the new teacher in the little village of Deerfield, to give her his name, something in his face attracted her at- tention. Although his appearance showed indifference and carelessness, which gave her an insight into his home conditions, there was in his expression a suggestion of 'hidden genius. But when the usual work was begun, Jack showed no interest whatever. Miss Wellington became somewhat discouraged at this, but her first impression of him remained and she was determined to find and develop that faculty which she felt he possessed. A few days later when the work in manual training was begun, Jack at once refused to enter the class, saying that his former teacher had not given him work like that to do and he didn't see what good it would do him anyhow, But Miss Welling- ton in a tactful way told him of several men who owed their success to the fact that they had been required to do manual work in their youth, and at last persuaded him to join the class. At the end of the first manual training lesson Miss Wellington knew wherein Jack's talent lay. Day after day as his work improved his interest also grew and almost before he knew it he became the star of the class. Jack began to realize that he had a talent and soon became so much interested that not only in school did he engage in his beloved work, but at home he found delight in constructing useful articles for father, mother and sister. This work wrought a great change in J ack's life. Heretofore, he had never had any definite aim, he had worked because he was forced to do sog now work be- came a pleasure instead of drudgery as it had been in the beginning. He knew him- self and realized that his ability lay in manual instead of professional work. So he began to specialize in this line. As he worked he thought of the future, and one day, suddenly and unforewarned, the thought came to him that he would be a great archi- tect. This idea gave him a new incentive for future study, so he at once began to work as a carpenter in order to make enough money to continue his training. By careful planning and economizing and by overcoming many difficulties he at last suc- ceeded in entering one of the large universities where he began to specialize in architecture. After finishing his rigid course, Jack devoted his entire time to his chosen work and in time became a noted architect. His first work after graduation was to beautify his old home, remodeling the house and exchanging for the old worn and broken furniture, new pieces which he himself had made from the ideas first given him by the little teacher of the village school, and broadened by his college training. The value of Miss Wellington's manual training work did not end here, but was evident through the entire village, as shown by the newly painted houses, well laid walks and neatly built fences. RUTH HARGIS.

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Uhr '-Eftirivnt Elearhrr nf 1112 'Rural Smnhag Svrhnnl i MARTHA E. JONES LINCOLN COUNTY C U I LD in the souls of your pupils a wholesome and abiding love for the Bible. We are face to face with the great fact that our day schools cannot give the religious training which the child needs and that this is the sacred and consecrated Work of the Sunday School. We must develop means of making the Sunday School worth while to the children, the future men and women of our communities, so that its influences over them may be retained until they reach maturity. The heart of this reform is the teacher. The vital need of the Sunday School today is not so much a change from the uniform to the graded lessons, but efficient teachers. Let us now consider briefly the necessary characteristics of an efficient teacher. First, he must be in sympathy with each child. Did not Christ sympathize with every condition of human life? He seemed to love them that needed it most, to help those who were most helpless. It is easy for us to be interested in the bright, well dressed child, but, if we are to follow the example of Christ as a teacher, we must not let our personal feelings carry us away from the obligation we owe to the more unfortunate little child, to Whom the kind word and sympathetic touch of the teacher is perhaps the only bright spot in his life. Second, when the child is putting forth his best effort, no matter how poor, we should patiently and kindly help him to do his best. Third, we must love our pupils for what we want them to become: if there is no love, there is no teaching. No matter what equipment we have, what wealth of material, we cannot touch the life of the child until we have united all that we have and all that we are with the love in our souls for Chirst, and for His little ones. The recitation period each Sunday is the teacher's opportunity to guide the child's thinking, to lead him out of doubt and instill in him principles that cannot be erased. This hour is the opportunity of our lives to do something, and to do it well. To do this we must make a thorough preparation of the lesson. We must not stop the study of it when we know it but consider it learned, only when We know it well enough to present it in a clear and concrete way to the child. We must make each lesson we teach become a distinct advance to some goal. 7511 Some one has said Upon the laws of the soul rest the laws of teaching. What is good teaching? Good teaching is generous giving. A good teacher must be willing to devote his best energies to the work. Christ stands out as the great teacher of the World who set aside every other purpose and devoted his efforts to the production of Christian character. Let us strive to teach as Christ taught. MARTHA E. JONES.