Methods of teaching vocational agriculture in secondary schools

Front matter

THODS OF TEACHING 'OCATIONAL AGRICULTURE

SAMUEL H.DADISMAN j Wg i w i W WWocjaMBmagww

Class _^j.!:_jL

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Development of Agricultural Education 15

II Developing the Present Day Agriculture . 23

Preface

This book is the outgrowth of four years* experience in supervising classes for teachers of vocational agriculture. It is intended to be used as a text in training teachers and as a reference for those interested in better methods of teaching vocational subjects. It has been written to aid in developing better methods of presenting vocational agriculture. This book is not based upon theory alone, but upon processes through which the applications of these principles find their expression in class room and laboratory. Enough history of agricultural education is presented to give the teacher a fundamental understanding of the struggle that agriculture has undergone in finding its place in the curriculum of our public schools. The Smith-Hughes Act and state plans are presented as a background for the method of presentation. Other state plans are based upon the same general principles; namely, the project method and making the work less than college grade and suitable for those who expect to enter the farming profession.

The time has come when young men and women should learn in school how to maintain and improve the fertility of the soil, how to increase the yield of our economic plants, and how to raise domesticated animals on a more economical basis. They should also learn to meet market problems which are going to be a great factor with the future agriculturalists. The needs of country life will be satisfied only through cooperation and organization in developing a permanent agriculture. The future teacher of vocational agriculture must be trained to keep abreast of the improvements

12 Preface

in farm machinery and farm power. The social needs of farm life and the farm home should also be provided for through the schools. To aid in preparing teachers to satisfy these needs is the purpose of this book.

It has been said that the boys of to-day will be the men of to-morrow. It may as well be said that the school boys doing their project work will be the scientific farmers of the future. It is not the function of the school to attempt to show the specialist how to improve upon his work, but it is the function of the school to teach the average farm boy the scientific principles underlying the field of agriculture; to teach him the fundamentals of the supplemental subjects that he will need in his every day activities; to teach him to do the practical work; to teach him to keep business records of his enterprises ; and to give him the training and desire to be a leader in the community.

The project method above all other methods so far tried out in teaching vocational agriculture, when properly presented, develops greater interest and more initiative. It gives the pupil "stick-to-it-ive-ness" to carry his undertakings to completion. It provides a basis for reasoning and offers adequate opportunity for direct thinking to a logical conclusion.

When the student teacher has been trained through proper methods of presentation to feel the real need of a thorough training in science and agriculture and to fully understand and appreciate the value of carefully planning and properly presenting his lessons, he will be better prepared to visualize his subject and make his work more worth while to the community.

AN BPrECTIVE TRADE MARK

Chapter I The Development Of Agricui.tuea1, Education

Agricultural education is not a new thought. It had its beginning in the dim ages of the unwritten past. Agriculture was first carried on by slaves who were given instruction by their masters. The first definite reference given to this subject was in 1015 B.C., when King Solomon had his extensive gardens. These gardens were undoubtedly used for instructional purposes, as well as for adornment. The first school gardens in Persia were for the purpose of training the sons of the noblemen to instruct the slaves. These gardens were laid out by King Cyrus, 589-529 B.C., and the schools in connection with them were probably among the first to give a definite course in agriculture.

The Chinese Civil Service Examination included agriculture as early as 150 B.C. The superstition in early agriculture is shown by the fact that the Chinese buried hogs with the dead in order that they might have meat to eat on their road traveling to the next world. We find Aristotle writing about the value of agriculture from 82-22 B.C. He felt the need of impressing agricultural training upon the common people. Plato in his writing discussed the soil in its relation to agriculture. He also felt that the common

A brief study of agricultural education is made in order to develop a background for its methods of presentation,

16 Methods of Teachmg Vocational Agrictiltwre

people should Know more about the soil in order to raise better crops.

From the beginning of the Christian era until the nineteenth century, the schools devoted but little time to teaching agriculture. During this period instruction was largely based upon religion and superstition. There is a legend that King Alfred planted school gardens so that boys could have agricultural training. This is mentioned as the beginning of Oxford University. Thus agricultural education had its beginning in forestry and gardening.

In many of the European universities, gardens were probably used for instructional purposes. The first Italian, school garden was laid out by a wealthy nobleman in the year 1525. This movement was soon followed by Italians in Venice and Naples. That Italians are good gardeners can be traced back to the fact that much emphasis was placed on the school garden in the early part of the sixteenth century. About the end of the sixteenth century, there was established in Paris a botanical garden which was designed to meet the floral needs of the court. This garden! was undoubtedly used for instructional purposes as well as for adornment. The training in the flower gardens has had its artistic eff*ect upon the development of the French people.

The Jesuits in 1534 argued that learning should have some relation to living things and that material for education should not be drawn from books alone, but from the external world — from the heavens, from the trees, and evert from the usual occupations of men. The Jesuits seem to have had the idea that those who tilled the soil should receive some instruction that would aid them in their future agricultural pursuits. Comenius advocated the study of agriculture in 1560. He wanted a garden for every school where the children at times could gaze on the trees and herbs and be taught to enjoy them. No definite references

The Development of Agricvlfural Education IT

are given to where Comenius advocated the school children actually doing the work. He did, however, want them to study nature and about all living things.

Milton in his wide curriculum advocated the study of agriculture because it contained easy reading matter and enabled the students thereafter to improve tillage and to recover bad soil and wasted land. Hungary was teaching agriculture as early as 1630.

One of the first publications in agriculture in London was, An Essay for the Advancement of Husbandry Learning, written by Samuel Hartlib in 1651. His idea was to take the pupils as apprentices. He proposed to have four professors ; one to be sent to Asia, one to Europe, one to Africa, and one to America to make a study of conditions and use the material that should prove helpful to them. The great University of HaUe began teaching agriculture to farm folk in 1695. Its first teacher, Franke, said that he was much interested in the poor and farm folk. His first courses of study of agriculture were published about the end of the sixteenth century. The Hungary University of Science at Buda established a chair of agriculture and experimental grounds in 1777. Rousseau pointed out the importance of garden work as an educational factor. He would actually have the children do the garden work in connection with the school. Much emphasis has been placed upon Rousseau's methods of instruction in agriculture. It was about this time that Salzman rightly said, "School gardens have been laid out neither to draw the attention of passers-by nor to give great returns, but to instruct.'^ A Swiss educator, Fellenberg, took great interest in the peasantry of his country and established a school, the object of which was to traini definitely for a trade or occupation. Agriculture was the basis for his instruction and it is probable that Fellenberg used the apprentice method. Jethro TulPs Horse-Hoeing

18 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agricvltwre

Hushamdry, written 1751, was the basis for instruction in many schools.

As early as 1761 the National Society of Agriculture in France advocated the appointment of agricultural professors to arouse and enlighten public opinion with reference to agricultural affairs. This resulted in the establishment of a school of agriculture as early as 1763. However, agriculture was not placed on the program of the French schools until 1882, when instruction in agriculture was organized in primary, normal, and superior schools of the country.

The work of Thaer marks a new epoch in the history of German agriculture. He applied science and sound business methods so successfully on his own farm that farmers from all over the continent came to visit it. His instruction was given so well to hffe visitors that they soon began to teach his principles of agriculture in other places. Even Pestalozzi opened a school in Switzerland for instruction combined with labor in the fields. His students devoted their mornings to study and their afternoons to farming. He said that he wished to make his estate the central point of agricultural and educational efforts. Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten, recommended light gardening as one of its occupations and advocated the children actually doing part of the work. The Royal College of Denmark was not opened until 1773, but still her work in agricultural education excelled that of the United States until recently.

The first farm school established in Canada in 1868 was the beginning of agricultural education in that country. At this date Lesser Seminary was established and it was here that the children of artisans and peasants were taught farming and the various mechanical arts. As was also the custom in England, the pupils were grounded in the customs of the church. As early as 1836 we find a bill passed in the upper legislative assembly, which authorized the trustees of any

The Development of Agricultural Education 19

school district to collect money for leasing or purchasing land, farm utensils, seeds, grains, and grasses for the use of the school teachers. It laid emphasis on growing vegetables, fruits, grains, and grasses. A normal school was established at Toronto in 1847 in which agriculture was given a permanent place. Daily classes were conducted in agricultural chemistry, demonstration plots were laid out, and practical field demonstrations were conducted. The Governor General in 1849 offered two prizes of the value of twenty-five dollars to each of the two persons who passed the best examination in agricultural chemistry. The first agricultural reader for the use of schools in Canada was published by John Stimson of Niagara Falls in 1846. Ryerson published his First Lessons in Agriculture in 1870. MilFs Public School Agriculture soon followed. The latter was the first authorized textbook used in the public schools of Ontario, as well as the first to receive recognition as aii agricultural text in America. In 1874 the first agricultural college in Canada was established in the province of Ontario and the first summer school for teachers of agriculture was held there in 1893. Agriculture was made compulsory iii their rural schools as early as 1899.

The first authentic account of agricultural instruction in the United States was in 1671 when William Smith designed a model school for colleges. His plan was to teach the chemistry of agriculture, which was partly put into practice in the University of Pennsylvania. We find that in 1671 Governor Berkeley of Virginia said, "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these for three hundred years, for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the best government ; God keep us from both."^ * Dexter — History of Education in the United States, p. 10.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the early advocators of agricultural education. In his proposal relating to education of the youth of Pennsylvania, he said, "The youth should learn those things that are most useful in the several professions for which they are intended." He advocated gardens, meadows, and fields in connection with the schools, so that there might be accompanied with them practical exercises in agriculture and excursions to the neighboring plantations and to the best farms to observe their methods for the purpose of giving an opportunity to improve agriculture. "This subject is useful to all and not detrimental to any." We find that the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture in 1794 outlined a plan of community agriculture for the citizens of the State. Part of the plan was to create county societies with the country school masters as secretaries and the school houses as their meeting places. The societies also proposed to introduce agricultural books into the schools.

In Kings College, now Columbia University, husbandry and commerce were included in the curriculum in 1754. Agriculture was adopted by the Governor in the Laws and Orders the following year.

One of the first purely agricultural schools in the United States was founded in 1797 at Letham, South Carolina, by John D. Lahows. He left an endowment of a farm of six hundred acres of land, one hundred of which was to be in forest. The purpose of this endowment was for the education, boarding, and clothing of twelve poor boys and twelve poor girls of the district.

The first purely agricultural, industrial, and technical college was founded in 1821 at Gardener, Maine. The State Legislature granted a thousand dollars, which was probably the first state grant made in the United States for this purpose. A boarding house was established at which the

The Development of Agricultural Education 21

students could secure board and washing for $1.25 per week and a room with a chair, table, and a cot for $0.25 per week.

One of the very best examples of early agricultural education in the United States was in New Harmony, Indiana, in 1824. It was here that William McClure had the Pestalozzi methods of teaching put into practice. In spite of the expensive equipment ; dormitory, books, museum, shops, experimental plots, etc., religious strife and intolerance interfered with the experiment.

George Washington Gale established a manual labor institute in Oneida, New York, in 1827. His curriculum included practice, both in carpentry and agriculture. This retired minister took a number of boys from a farm and gave them practical instruction. He later founded Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois.

The first textbook in agriculture in the United States for use in the schools was the Agriculture Reader by Daniel Evans, published in 1824.

We find many sporadic attempts to get agriculture established in our schools during the last century. The farm school at Boston is one of the few that succeeded. Instruction was given in agriculture in this school in 1883, and has been taught there for thirty-seven years. From the many attempts during the last century to introduce this subject into the schools, no definite system of instruction has yet been established. From these early attempts to 1862 was the period of introducing agriculture into the academies. From all the schools mentioned, the Boston Farm School was the most important factor in the development of industrial education in that part of the United States.

The Michigan State Agricultural College was founded in 1857 and included six hundred and seventy-six acres of heavily timbered land. The Maryland Agricultural College

22 Methods of Teaching Vocatioiml Agriculture

began instruction in 1859, and it was conducted for three years as a private institution. However, the college did accept the land grant fund in 186S, but did not become a wholly state institution until 1914. The Kansas Agricultural College likewise had its origin as a sectarian institution. The New York State College of Agriculture had a separate department of agriculture as early as 1860.

The early attempts at instruction opened the way to establish agricultural instruction in the schools of the United States, which began on a permanent basis by Federal aid in the form of the land grants.

Chapter II Developing The Present Day Agricultuee

In planning the courses of study it is worth noting how the present system of agriculture has been developed. Mention has already been made of the introduction of it in the high school. The introduction in the grammar schools began in the form of nature study. They had been observing the robin for its beauty instead of as a destroyer of insects. More than two dozen elementary agricultural textbooks appeared, each expressing the individuality of its author, which depended upon his preparation and vision of the type of work. This is the reason we have had no definite course of study until recently. Secondary agriculture, varying iri content of course and method of presenting, has been introduced into the following types of schools: — township consolidated as in Illinois; county agricultural schools as iri Tennessee; Congressional district agricultural schools as in Arkansas ; judicial district schools as in Oklahoma ; union district schools as in California; junior high schools as in Vermont; and special agricultural schools of a secondary nature in connection with the state university as in Minnesota.

Many of the first courses in secondary schools were of a general nature following Dr. Warren's Elements of Agriculture. Other books soon followed. Then came the state courses as that of Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Texas with outlines for a four year course in agriculture. A survey made by the author in 1917 showed that the first year's work in the various states was called by nineteen different names. This clearly demonstrated the need of uniformity in nomenclature and content. However, according to the United States Bureau of Education there were only nineteen schools teaching agriculture in 1901, while in 1916 there were 2,175 schools teaching agriculture. Only 586 were teaching it with a vocational aim. Of the 41,074 pupils enrolled in the classes, 16,331 were girls.

During the reconstruction period after the Civil War, there was a great unrest from the course of study then in operation. Many of the leading educators believed that there was a need for a course in the high school which should function in the bread and butter aim of life for a large number of the pupils. Out of this unrest grew a course aimed to select from the science courses things that the pupil should know. Many began with the chemical elements that were foreign to the pupils. Others began with so much physics, zoology, or botany depending upon the teacher's preparation. Many textbooks soon appeared covering such courses. The method of presentation was also similar to that of the teacher's college experience. This method of presentation by specialists of so much of their particular subject, regardless of its application to the present or future usefulness of the pupils, caused the course to become unpopular. Another class of teachers started out to use expensive apparatus for this course and thereby caused its elimination in many schools which could not afford expensive equipment.

This course needed unification in order to give the pupil something worth while for future usefulness. Since the population of the world is directly dependent upon the products of agriculture, it seemed to be the logical core around which the material should be centered.

The general conception of the reorganized course was thali

Developing the Present Day Agriculture 25

to be worth while, it must fit into the child's needs at the time it is given. It must be something that will create an interest in the subject ; something that applies to the child's daily work ; something that he can contribute to as the work progresses. It must reach out into the field of biological, physiological, and other sciences which will illuminate the subject at hand with the proper methods of presentation.

This course has finally taken one of two directions. In some schools it has drifted into the purely science, or rather never been separated from it and is called general science, taught by the purely science teacher where agriculture is mentioned only incidentally. In other schools the course is called agricultural science and in many schools it is called general agriculture, where the sciences are used as the servants to illuminate the subject under consideration. In many of the up-to-date schools of the United States, this course is being taught in the eighth grade, paving the way for real agriculture in the high school. Gardens on the school ground were often found valuable in connection with this course.

The school farm has been one of the problems of the high school teacher. There has always been a variation in size of the school farm, from that of a small plot to ten acres. In 1917 the high school farms in California varied from a demonstration plot to twenty-seven acres, averaging two and three-fourths acres. The average size has been greatly reduced since that time. Many have no land on the school grounds for agricultural purposes. The school farms have been used as demonstrational, model and experimental farms. They are now being used in most places only for outdoor laboratory purposes. In some places where the pupil has not land at home or is boarding, the school farm is successfully used for project work. A few schools are still using it for plant propagation purposes. The proper size for the school farm seems to be only as large as can be utilized for strictly educational purposes.

By having the pupils actually do the work, came the idea of vocational agriculture, which means gaining knowledge necessary for successful farming. It has for its purpose the training of the youth so that he may be better prepared for scientific farming in a rural community and to give him the skill necessary in plant and animal production. Massachusetts in 1908 was the first state to recognize the vocational aim. This idea was soon followed by New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc.

The great desire of many of the parents has been for the school to train their sons and daughters for better positions in the trades and industries. The examples of good work being done in vocational agriculture, paved the way for the vocational act. Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia with others fostered the Smith-Hughes Bill and later the Smith-Sears Bill. The Smith-Lever Bill has done much to unify this work with a vocational trend.

When the agricultural courses in the schools are properly planned and are carefully carried out, they will be the most economical features in determining the future of the agricultural industries of the United States.

Before working out the contents of any course of study, one should have pretty clearly in mind the type of pupils he is going to teach, the material he is going to present and the best methods of presenting it. This is now being made possible since the Smith-Hughes Bill provides sufficient funds for the training of agricultural teachers.

THE OLD SCHOOL BUILDING

THE RURAL CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL BUILDING AT ROLLO, ILLINOIS

(The author was the first president)

MARKETING HIS PROJECT CABBAGE

Huntington Beach, California

I AM A SMITH-HUGHES PIG

I AM NOT

Chapter III Influence Of Agricultural Legislation

The greatest factor in fostering a definite system of agricultural education has been the government aid. The Patent Office was made a separate bureau in 1836 with H. L. Ellsworth, a practical fanner as its first commissioner. One of his duties was the distribution of seeds and plants, which was made through the members of Congress in franked envelopes. This method of distribution still continues. While a few yearly appropriations were made for this purpose, the first separate appropriation was made in 1854, when the sum of $35,000 was voted.

The Morrill Land Grant Act^ of 1862 granted to each state 30,000 acres of public land for each senator and representor in Congress to which the states were entitled by the apportionment in the census of 1860. All money derived from these lands was to be invested in securities bearing not less than 5 per cent interest. The state legislature might authorize a sum of not more than 10 per cent of the capital for the purpose of purchasing sites for colleges and experimental farms. All interest was to be used for the maintenance of at least one college, where the leading object should be to teach such branches of learning as related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote a liberal and broad education of industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.

The states that had public land within their borders could

* Bui 1918, No. 13, Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Education.

28 Methods of Teaching Vocational Agriczdture

locate and take up the actual acres, but if the state had no lands within its borders subject to entry, land script was issued instead. The script had to be sold and the individual purchaser might locate land in any state that had public land subject to this entry.

Various states managed their lands in different ways. Some as Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, and Maine sold their land at 50 cents per acre. Others as Florida, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, and Massachusetts sold their land for from less than $1.00 to not more than $5.00 per acre. North Dakota and some other states sold their lands for not less than $10.00 per acre. The states making the best use of their lands were New York, California, and North Dakota; while Rhode Island made the poorest use. In many cases the lands were rented and sold later. The income from such lands was used for the support of the agricultural and mechanic arts colleges. Only Kentucky, South Carolina, and Virginia divided the income between institutions for negroes and white people. Missouri divided her funds between two colleges. Nineteen states have independent colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts, while at the same time they maintain colleges and state universities. In twenty-six states the college of agriculture is part of the university. Seven states do not have state universities.

The Hatch or Experimental Station Act of 1887 provided for an appropriation of $15,000 made to each state for the purpose of conducting experimental and research work. This was the first government station act. However, the first experiment station supported by state aid was in Connecticut in 1875.

The Second Morrill Act passed in 1890 provided $15,000 annually for each state with an additional increase of $1,000 per year until the fund should reach $25,000. This fund was to be used only for instruction in agriculture and

Infl'aence of Agricultural Legislation 29

mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematics, physics, natural economic sciences with a preparation for such instruction.

The Adams Act passed in 1906 made provision for additional aid to be used for research. The $5,000 annual appropriation for each state, was to be increased until the sum of $30,000 is reached.

The Smith-Lever Act passed 1914 was for the purpose of encouraging agricultural extension work. This bill provided for $10,000 annually to each state. The act makes provision for additional money, based upon the rural population. The states must duplicate the appropriation granted by the government. The act provides for cooperative agricultural extension work. Instruction is to be given under this act only to persons not attending college. Part of this fund is used in the various states for the agricultural clubs, which are for demonstrational purposes.

Not any of the money is to be used for the purchase, erection, or repair of buildings, or the purchase or rental of land, or in college courses promoting agricultural trains; and not more than 5 per cent of the annual appropriation shall be used for the printing or distribution of publications. Part of the Farm Advisor's expenses is to be paid from the Smith-Lever funds.

"The Smith-Sears Act^ passed in June, 1918, provides for the rehabilitation and return to civil employment of disabled persons discharged from the military or naval forces of the United States."

It delegates to the Federal Board for Vocational Education the duty of re-educating the disabled persons in more useful employment which the Board shall deem them capable of following with profit. While the disabled persons are taking the special courses, compensation is being allowed

*Thc Smith-Sears BUI.

them and family allowance is being paid their families precisely as if they were still in active service. The total appropriation for this work is $2,000,000. When the course has been completed, agencies are ready to assist the re-educated persons to obtain positions in civil life.

The Smith-Hughes Bill signed February 23, 1917 marks another great epoch in the vocational education movement in the United States. It has two distinct functions, namely, to train for vocational agriculture, trades and industries, and home economics, and to aid in paying the teachers' salaries for these three subjects.

Beginning with the reconstruction period after the Civil War, a need was felt for better trained people in various industrial lines and the old saying, "As the tree is inclined so are its branches," or "As training, so will the person be," was gradually being put into practice. Our experience, profiting by that of Europe, shows that where industrial agriculture is finding its way, more efficient farming is being done. In Massachusetts for example, the same things were true with trades and industries. Some of the leading states, before the passage of the Smith-Hughes Bill, in vocational agriculture were Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Maryland. The work that these states were doing demonstrated the value of vocational agriculture.