Milford chronicle., 1925-11-13

Review of a definite treatise on
the One-teacher school IN DelaWale,
in which imperfections are outlined
and remedies recommended'-fronl
Every Evening, Nov. 6th'
Thomas Jefferson had unlimited
faith in the honesty of the Amerl-
can people, and his faith in their
common sense was such that he pc
1ieved the democracy, which he and
ed so largely in erecting, could De
maintained through the common
sense of his fellow countrymen ana
bv appealing to their reason. ne
nTedicted his faith-and his theory
of government-upon one INNS
namely. education, afforded by the
states. the ignorance of the people
of this nation could be eliminated
and that when that was done' the
democratic future of this country
would be fixed. Whether one agrees
altogether with Jeffersons luedls
of government, one cannot help DuC
agree with his philosophy tnat 10
grow strong and to be a nation OF
clear thinking citizens, we must De
educated.
These thoughts come to mind in
considering an important volume
which has Just come from the press
NV two Delaware men on the sub
iect of "The One-Teacher School IN
delaware" published by the Uni
versitv of Delaware Press, Newark.
The hook. written by Richard Wat
con Cooner and Herman Cooper,
was Drepared under the auspices OF
+be bureau of Education of the Ser
vice Citizens of Delaware, and is
devoted to the problem of non-at-
tendance in the rural schools. While
the volume may be termed a pre-
ciselv technical analysis of existing
conditions, it nevertheless is VIII
ten in an entertaining style, ana
should attract the citizen VINO is
interested in school affairs as well
as the student of pedagogics. IL is
a veritable thesaurs of informa-
tion of rural school matters in this
state. In addition, it lays down re-
medies for the imperfections which
have been found in the One-teacher
school system, after a painstaklng
studv. The work, above all, is de-
finitive: and it transcends so far
anv treatise of its kind that has to
do exclusively with the rural
schools of one state; while the bib
biography, which is a part of the
volume. exhausts the field of peda-
gOgics and allied subjects, and eYl-
IDENTIFY is intended for the use Of the
close student of school affairs rach-
er than the layman.
The authors go into the problem
of the rural schools so mlnutely
that this review cannot attempt to
survey every phase that is covered
Suffice it to say that it brings to the
front the old problem of trying to
educate the country boy and girl as
thoroughly as the city pupils are
trained. Many things, however,
contribute to the handicaps which
the one-teacher school faces.
Among these are such commonplace
obstacles as the weather, illness,
parental influence, outside work
and work on the farm. In a scien-
tific fashion, fortified by skillful IL
Illustrations and tables, Messrs.
Cooper bring before the reader all
non-attendance factors as they ap-
plv to the three counties in Della
ware; and with these factors as
foundation they have built up SUI
perstructure of analysis which in
cludes our states geographical as
poets as well as her early history.
It might be said that too much at
tention is given to Delaware's geo
graphy and history, but the authors
could argue that in order to deter
mine the underlying causes of non
attendance in our rural schools,