River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-03-04
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL
TRAINS RURAL TEACHERS

Inc OLaLG NOLuldA A1SAOOAo 90 1nlO
the service of the graded and high
schools of cities and villages, think
the State Normal Schools are doing
but little to train teachers for rural
schools. That this opinion is not
founded on fact will be shown in the
following statement of what the
State Normal School at River Falls
has done and is doing in training
teachers for rural schools.
The school cannot determine the
class of schools in which its gradu-
ates shall seek service. Personal
inclination and fitness as we'll as
pecuniary inducement will always
determine this matter. When school
boards of our cities and villages are
offering full-course graduates $45
to $50 month to enter their service
amid most attractive environment,
they cannot be blamed for accepting
such inducement instead of a less
sum amid less attractive surround
ings. While it is true that the rural
schools need and deserve the best
qualified teachers, yet the sacrifice
cannot be expected of highly trained
teachers. 1t should be made by the
patrons of those schools in taxing
themselves sufficiently to employ
such teachers. But many rural
schools do obtain very efficient and
fairly we'll trained teachers by en-
ploying the undergraduates of the
Normal School. A very large pro-
portion of the students of the Nor
NAL School at RIVER Falls come
from rural communities in Western
Wisconsin. Probably nineteen out
of twenty students enroll in the
school at first solely to fit them
selves to teach in rural schools, and
when they have enough credits to en-
title them to second or third grade
teachers certificate they return to
their homes to teach in their own or
neighboring school districts. Dur
ing the thirty-three years since the
opening of the Normal School at
River Falls, approximately five
thousand different studeH have
received instruction from its teach
ers. Of this five thousand, about
eight hundred have been graduated
from it's advanced and elementary
courses. Therefore, it is safe to
say that thirty-five hundred and
more of the forty-two hundred who
did not complete the course of study
returned to teach in rural schools.
Thus the Normal School has sup
piled the rural schools in West Wis
consin more than one hundred teach
ers annually. These teachers must
have been incomparab1y better
teachers because of the training
they had received during their stay
of, on the average, one and one-half
years in the Normal School. Be-
sides this large body of undergrad
yates that have done service in the
rural schools, a majority of the
graduates have taught in rural
schools between their enrolment
and graduation. Furthermore,
many of the students after gradua-
ton have chosen to seek service in
rural schools.
The preparation for teaching that
these young people receive is much
as follows: First, on entering the
school, they are placed under
the instruction of the highest paid
and most experienced teachers of
the faculty and are re-conducted
over their common school studies.
They are required to review them
from an entirely different viewpoint
namely, that of teacher who must
organize the facts of topic and
present them to immature minds
These students thus learn to teach by
observation of the work of teachers
of maturity, ripe scholarship, broad
culture and extensive and varied ex,
perience in public school work
They also learn by observing the
teaching of the critic teachers
in the training department in
presenting these same facts tc
young children. Later, they are re-
quired to do a certain amount Of
practice teaching under the observa
ton and kindly criticism of expert
teachers. In classes in school man
agement and methods, they are
taught the theory and method of
successful school management and
school discipline. Thus their knowl.
edge ard understanding of the stud
les ofthe common school curriculum
are broadened and deepened, and
their ideals of good teaching are
greatly elevated, and their knowl-
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