The log cabin Democrat., 1916-01-13
PROBLEM Of THE
 RURAL SCHOOLS
DISCUSSED BY MIR. DOYNt
NORMAL SCHOOL PRESIDENT WRITES ON HIGHLY I'M
 PORTANT QUESTION.

One of the most logical and care fully-prepared studies of the rural school problem in this state which has recently appeared in print is paper on the subject by President J. J. Doyne of the Arkansas State Nor nal School, which is published in the latest quarterly bulletin of the Nor mal. Inasmuch as the subject is one of vital interest to almost every one of the Log Cabin Democrats readers and as the circulation of the bulletin is limited mainly to prospective stu dents of the Normal, this paper is republishing President Doyne's ar ticle below:
 Much has been written of late on this most important question, and the efforts of those who are vitally in- terested in it's solution have deen di- rected toward awakening those whose cooperation is necessary, if condi- tions are to be improved in the schools for eighty per cent of the children of our commonwealth.
 The basic aim of education, adap- tation to environment and prepara- tion for relatively complete living, demands that the training of the child shall, as nearly as possible be of such character as shall fit him to become a useful member of society. Hence the tendency to develop the practical along with the cultural has grown rapidly of recent years es- pecially. The city child rarely has an ambition to become a dweller in the country, making a living off the soil, and identifying himself with the yeomenry of the land. Unfortunate iy the reverse IS too often the case with the country youth. The drudg- cry of farm life, the monotony of his daily activities, the poor returns for his labor, the lack of social inter- course and the lure of the city, as he learns more and more of it's gar ish attractions and fatuous opportu- mites, prey upon him and make him more and more discontent with his lot, till finally the city claims him. Ere long he realizes his mistake yet clings to his new surroundings in the hope that all may yet be well.
 If these things are to be corrected, it must be done through the agency of the schools Their courses must be re-organized, their relation to home and community life must be established, and their influence must be made potent for bringing the lives of the community into closer re- lationship, awakening community pride, arousing latent powers, and pointing out the possibilities that their surroundings afford for develop ing progressive, prosperous and contented rural citizenship.
 Considering conditions as they ob- tain in many rural schools, the fol- lowing may be mentioned as some of the most serious apparent defects:
 WASTE OF TIME.
 In many schools pupils are re- quired to go over the same ground too much. The teacher who has carge of a given school fails to leave a definite report of the advancement made by pupils, and the teacher who follows must make his own classifi- cation of the pupils. Too often he takes it for granted that his prede- cessor has not done his work well, and hence the ground must be gone over again and pupils thus are re- |quired to mark time in many of their studies. Again, too little attention is paid to a definite program of reel tation and of study, and time is wasted in aimless work on the part of both teacher and pupil. It may be the teacher has his pet subjects and they are emphasized, to the neg lect of other subjects more impor- tant. The study of English, for ex- ample, is made secondary to mathe- matics; yetswho will concede that most of the work done in the later subject is comparable in it's after value to the work that should be re- quired in the former subject? In many other ways, such as change of classes, interruption during class work, leaving the room, too much talk on the part of the teacher, too little attention to assignment of reel tations, and too much thought about getting over a certain amount of ground within a specified time, this waste goes on. As result, the days go by, the pupils become dissatisfied and the school ends with far less ac- complished than was anticipated by either teacher, patrons or pupils.
 WASTE OF MONEY.
 To say nothing of the waste of money owing to the employment of an inefficient teacher, in most cases there have been purchases made o1 charts, globes maps and what-not, o1 no real value to the pupils and o1 but little help to the teacher. Again in many cases repairs are neglected La 4Lo UDoppv uica ponpd foolish