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

Page 20 text:

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.

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.

Page 21 text:

Ellie Glnuntrg Glhurrh anh the I Rural Svrhnnl H. B. LONGEST PONTOTOC 'COUNTY HE country church and rural school are the important factors in the develop- ment of a good community. Then to have the best rural community there must not be a broad gulf between the church and school. They should work hand in hand. When convenience will admit they should be located close together. This will stimulate a mutual interest. For the greatest success in church and school work it is necessary for the pastor of the church and the teacher of the school to live in the community. This makes their work convenient for them and closely associates them with the people. The teacher and the pupils constitute a large per cent of the regular attend- ants at Sunday School and church services. The school can help the church by pre- paring to take care of the singing and music. This preparation can be made by de- voting only a few minutes to it during the opening exercises each morning. Also the opening exercises conducted in the right way give the pupils a knowledge of the scripture, which will serve as a basis for a more careful study of the Bible. It will prepare them to receive the greatest benefit from the church services. The teacher will very likely be expected to be superintendent of the Sunday School and to take an active part in the mid-week prayer meeting services. In doing this he becomes better acquainted with the needs of the people. Efficient service can not be rendered without the problems of the community are thoroughly understood. Interest is stimulated through service. The preacher will be better acquaint- ed and feel closer to the school if he has opportunity to conduct their opening exer- cises occasionally. The pastor who comes out from town, once each month, to preach does not do the community very much good. He should be personally acquainted with every person near the church. No wide awake man cares to be in a community where there is no church and school interest. The proper co-operation of the church and school will tend to make the country more attractive than the town or village. So long as the people of the country feel that they have to move to town for their children to have social and educational advantages the church and the school are not doing their duty. H. B. LONGEST.