Putnam patriot., 1930-12-04
State Educator
 To Rural Teachers
N. Searle Light. State supervisor of Rural Education. Speaks at Banquet
 Closing of Exsension Course

N. Searle Light. State Supervisor of Rural Education. made a stimuiat- ing address tc teachers al banquet closing their extension course in the Sociel Studies His remarks dealt with the ehild-centered school as he conceives it in theory and in prae- tice.
 According to Mir. Light there Ia no one way of doing a thing. especial ly in conducting a child-centered school. but many ways of doing thing. Do the thing in the way which best suits the conditions and needs of the case at hand" he said.
 The child-centered school must be concerned with the emotional expert ences of children and the attitudes which grow out of these experiences. The traditional school failed to do this. In one case the speaker ob- served first grade group which man ifested better habits of work and bet ter attitudes toward the problem at hand and toward each other than can ordinarily be found in a group of boys and girls in a conventional high school
 This child-eentered school requires that the teacher be a creative artist. Strange as it may seem the teacher is more important in this type than in the formal school. She must guide the activity and see that it takes the right direction and makes for the best attitudes possible.
 Tn this school the child does thing because he feels need for that thing in his activity. If he needs long division. for instances, before he can carry further his activity. then he stops and learns to do long division. Of course. all our arithmetic cannot be taught in this way but there Is no reason why as much as can be taught in such meaningful situations should not be taught that way. Then what is left over can be accepted by the children as something to be learned as such and thus taught In that way.
 Problems of Future
 We sometimes think that the child centared school makes for the set ting of tasks which deal only with the immediate present. However. this need net be the case and a skillful teacher can lead them to deal with problems having a bearing on the remote future.
 With this school it is essential that the teacher plan her work equally as we'll or even better than in a school which emphasizes subjects as such This plan will be accepted by the children if the teacher is skillful and suhfracted from and added to from time to time as needs and interests of the group make necessary.
 One of the last and most import ant statements made by the speaker was to the effect that each teacher knows her children and their needs better than any supervisor or any other person can ever know them.
 Mir. Light closed his remarks by commenting the teachers in these towns fEastford. Pomfret. Woodstock and Unionl for their enthusiasm and fine spirit. Their accomplishments last year demonstrated the value of these extension courses and as a re- suit they were instrumental in help ing to get nineteen ft9) such cours0s in the state this year He expre ssed his earnest desire to see all other groups iH the state with as fine spirit a. this group and added that his work would be far more pleas ant than it now is if this were reality