The Wichita daily eagle., 1904-05-25
EDUCATIONAL
SUGGESTIONS
Auditor Baxter Hears from a
School Professor.
ROOM FOR ADVANCEMENT
Special Work for Teachers
Along Agriculture Lines.

1 Guthrie, o. T., May e4.-Superintenden
Baxter has received the following from
normal:
weatherford. o. T., May g.
Hon. L. W. Baxter, Guthrie, o. T.
My deyr Sir: I have desired an oppor-
tunity to talk with you for some time
but it seems that / shall not succeed
Consequently 1 write a few suggestions
not as criticisms on the present arrange
| ment but as a thought of what might
be. Will you kindly note them at your
leisure and advise me if am orthodox.
| ANY criticisms that you may offer will
be gladly received.
1 Does 1t not seem with our population.
| which is to such an extent agricultural,
| We should have more special work for
| teachers along the line of agriculture
| Should there not be some formal study
OF agriculture? Our present courses are
So decidedly literary that we almost for
| get that there is a practical side OF life.
| What we very much need in our pop
| ulation is greater adaptability, but we
| do not prepare our school currieula with
| reference to it. We teach years of Latin,
mathematics, etc, but not single day
! is spent in manual training, agriculture
| and the like. True the culture value of
| education is of great Importance. but it
| is only one side of education of which
| the other side is practical.
| Not alone would / argue for the study
of agriculture and manual training from
| the practical side but also from the the
oretical side. A knowledge of the pro-
cesses of manual training and agricul-
ture by all classes creates a bond of
| sympathy which permeates our whole So
cial order. When the professional, manu-
featuring, and the other classes come to
understand the scientific principles under
lying the processes of agriculture and
manual industry their attitudes are
changed. They have a higher regard for
those who learn their bread in the sweat
of the brow" Where they have been
accustomed to look down on the agri-
eulturalist and the mechanic as of dis
tinctly lower grades, they Will. in turn,
be brought to respect these vocations.
II am frank to confss our educational
system has been too literary in the past.
1t has not been adapted to the needs of
the great masses of the population. l
hope you Will not think me pessimistic
when I make this assertion, for l think
/ am not. Today We are being forced to
change our attitude with reference to the
rural population. We are forced to con-
fess they are furnishing more than their
just proportion of the brain and Drawn of
our commonwealth and We note the
fact with considerable anxiety. The
farm itself is being brought to the door
of the city by modern invention.
II think it was the intention of the
founders of our educational institutions
that they should serve the people who
support them in the fullest possible man.
ner. This the institutions have undoubt-
edly tried to do. but | wonre if there
are not lines of work which are of the
utmost Importance and which have not
been undertaken yet?
''Times are changing, but educational
systems and institutions are apt to be
slow to adopt new measures. The SCHOOL,
man is an extremely conservative individ-
usl. When a curriculum is found to
adapted to a certain extent to the peo-
pie of one age, it is apt to be considered
suitable for any age and people. Time
was when the great masses of the people
could be reached only indirectly. The
state attempted to reach all classes
through the public school teachers. To-
day it is the duty as well as privilege Of
education to go farther. The rapid trans
mission of news and intelligence has
opened up new channels for education.
The farm is only in the suburbs now,
and the farmer is wide-awake 10 all the
activities Of the world. The rural tele-
phone. the rural free delivery OF mail,
the electric lines running from city To
city and connecting every hamlet with
the outside world, have revolutionized
our country. The educational problems
confronting us today are far different
from those of one or even two decades
since
Il heartily believe that even our schools
for special training should arrange aca-
demic courses for all classes. Not only
am I convinced that normal schools
should not be strictly teachers schools, .
agricultural colleges farmers schools,
etc, but ! confess my conviction 10 the
idea that every institution for higher edu-
resident curses To be carried. in part at
least, by correspondence. The time Is not
far of when every educational institu-
tion will be compelled to establish its de
partment OF nonresident work
But there are objections To cores I
pondenee work. Some argue that IL is
not a success. even in the presence OF
such institutions as Columbia University
and the University Of Chicago. ard others /
OF equal rank. / have carefully inyesti- I.
gated a number Of these correspondence !
tion viii not stand. Many OF them are 4
profoundly successful The Home Cores
pondence school has on its faculty some 4
OF the strongest men in America and is I
doing wonderful work.
Such men as Prof. Harkness Flrey II
Avery and many others of the same rank 4
cannot be scored at. Give ne the prsyi- 4
lege q outlining the reading for people /
and I can predict their history. 7 re- 4
peat NY former thought. the time Is not 4
far hence when all Of cur educational i1s- 1
sJitusions must coafoFrn more fully 70 The 4
needs cf the whole people
One Of the most salient objections % 4
work Is that The people 4
VIII not purchase the necessary books
TO carry ~ the work True. this must
he considered Bu:i where r. ths stzte .
lihrSrys For few hundred dollars = 4
sectional library can - started which 4
car - SHIPPED n any section y tire
s:at- This e actually hefrz sfone II,
some states and with great szsccees. This