Current practices in the education of teachers for rural children

Abstract

The education of teachers for rural children constitutes one of the most serious problems of public education in the post-war period. In order to find out what is being done in the pre-service and in-service education of rural teachers in seven states included in the Midsouth Conference on Rural Life and Education, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, a questionnaire was sent to all state teachers colleges for whites and to colleges of education of state universities in these states, and letters of inquiry were sent to state departments of education. Replies were received from fourteen state teachers colleges, six state universities and six state departments of education. The returns show that all state teachers colleges and colleges of education of state universities represented in the study provide programs for the pre-service education of teachers for elementary and secondary schools. Curricula generally vary in length from two-year programs to four-year programs, with a rather distinct tendency toward the latter. One college, however, offers a one-year curriculum, and twelve institutions provide a fifth year of training leading to the Master of Arts degree. The programs of teacher education in the state universities are generally four years or longer in length. Generally no curriculum distinction is made in the education of teachers for rural and urban schools in the institutions reporting. For example, no college has a distinctly specialized rural curriculum, but fifteen institutions report that they emphasize rural aspects in their regular professional courses for teachers. In five of these institutions the amount of rural emphasis is pronounced, while in the other ten colleges it appears rather incidental. Several colleges offer courses in agriculture, community planning, family relationships, nature study, rural sociology, and rural economics which prospective rural teachers may take. In some instances some of these courses are needed to meet state certification requirements. Many educators believe that student teaching in off-campus rural schools is a prerequisite for the education of teachers for rural children. On the basis of the returns, all teachers colleges provide campus training schools. Ten institutions have provisions for student teaching in nearby rural schools, and two colleges have campus one-teacher schools for demonstration purposes and student teaching. Off-campus