Withinthe last few years, rural education in the United States has received a great deal of attention, and many plans have been suggested for the betterment of rural teaching. Conferences of state and national educators have been held for the purpose of discussing the rural school question, and out of the mass of school movements, discussions, and ideas which have been presented, there are some which might be made applicable to the situation as it exists in Porto Rico.
The following ideas seem to indicate the spirit which underlies rural education of the present day. They are the result of a conference held in Kentucky in 1914 by people who were especially interested in rural school problems:
First.—The greatest social need of the century is the organization and consequent up-building of the rural life of America.
Second.—This must be the outgrowth of the self-activity of rural life forces.
Third.—Outside forces can only assist in the work.
Fourth.—There is a need of raising the general level of living in the country in order to keep the brightest and best people from leaving the country in too great numbers.
Fifth.—To educate the young in the schools, to elevate their ideals, to arouse their ambitions without raising the level of living and offering them a broader field for the exercise of their talents, may do as much harm as good.
Sixth.—The school is only one of the agencies for community up-building.
Seventh.—There must be coöperation among the rural life forces, all working together for a common end.
Eighth.—The farmer, the country woman, the country teacher, the country editor, the country doctor, and the country business man must all join hands for better living along every line in the country.
Ninth.—The community is the proper unit for rural development.
Tenth.—The community must learn how to educate, to organize, and to develop itself.
In attempting to carry out the ideas expressed in the statements quoted above, emphasis has been laid upon educational rallies, school farms, farmers' Chatauquas, and other means which have as their aim the idea of arousing community pride and community coöperation, not only for the benefit and betterment of the school, but also for the benefit and betterment of the members of the community who are not of school age. A great deal of emphasis has been laid upon rural school extension work, that is, work carried on under the supervision of school officers but which really devotes its main efforts to adults who are living in rural communities. One of the most recent steps in this direction was the passing of the bill known as the"Smith Lever Act" by the Federal Congress in 1914, which ultimately carries with it an appropriation of over $4,500,000 for agricultural extension and rural welfare. Under this bill, Porto Rico receives $10,000 per year for extension work among the farmers, the work being carried out under the supervision of the Federal Experiment Station located at Mayaguez.
Another movement which is prominent in rural school affairs at present, is the tendency toward a larger unit of organization for taxation and administration. The rural schools of Porto Rico are already under the municipal unit of school administration, which probably will not be changed, as close supervision demands rather small units of organization. In the report of the Commissioner of Education for 1915-16 a suggestion is made that the appropriation of money for schools throughout the Island be determined by the school population in a given community and not by the taxable wealth of that community. It frequently happens that the wealthiest municipalities are the ones which are least in need of additional school facilities, and this recommendation tends to make the unit for school taxation and appropriation of funds an Insular rather than a municipal unit, as we have to-day. The idea, of course, is based upon the fact that Porto Rico is small enough so that every citizen should be interested in the education of all the children of the Island, and that the movements in education should be Insular in unit rather than municipal.
Demonstration schools for rural communities have been organized with a view to showing the people ina definite and concrete way what a school can do for a community. These demonstration schools are usually placed in a central location and put under the charge of the teachers of greatest experience and ability. All of the children in the different grades included in the rural school course have a course of study to complete in the schoolroom, and another equally emphasized course of study to complete in the home and on the farm.
Experiments and studies are being carried on which involve the use of every day throughout the year. To accomplish this end, the father and mother have become the assistant supervisors of the home work and the farm work, and they receive the advice, the suggestion, and the instruction of the rural supervisors of schools. While working to get the best possible results from the efforts made, and to establish the facts by samples, by photographs, and by financial relations of cost and return, these undertakings are accompanied by neighborhood meetings of many kinds which have had the effect of enlarging community interest, community support, and community improvement. Out of these efforts have come better social conditions, more harmonious relations, a development of better ideals, and a higher conception of life.
These demonstration schools, in addition to being a force among the people in the community where they are located, also serve as educational centers which are to be visited by the other rural teachers of the community in order that the inexperienced and untrained teacher may receive the benefit of theteacher of more experience. In addition, these schools also serve the purpose of experimental schools where many ideas are worked out and put into effect, and new methods of teaching as well as untried methods of farming are given a trial.
The rural school situation is being studied more to-day than ever before, for it is being realized that our country schools are not functioning to the best advantage. The social side of the task, extension work among the patrons of the district, consolidated and more efficient schools, and better trained teachers are only a few of the phases of this movement toward making the rural school a real force throughout the country. The movement is gaining ground each year, and though there are many problems to be solved and many difficult situations to be met, yet there is every reason to believe that out of this mass of experiments there will evolve the rural school of the future, which will be a more vital factor in the community than has been the case up to the present day.
Theanthropometric examinations given in the University of Porto Rico during the last two years have provided data from which to determine the physical development of the Porto Rican. A total of 1,412 examinations has been made, including 616 men and 796 women. These students ranged in age from fifteen to thirty years.
A comparison of the physical development of American and Porto Rican boys and girls of the same age shows that the Porto Rican surpasses the American in nearly every point, at the ages of fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen. At eighteen the physical development is about the same, but from that time there seems to be little additional growth on the part of the Porto Rican, while the American continues to develop up to and including the twenty-second year. This seems to confirm the generally accepted theory that a person matures earlier in the tropics than he does in a temperate climate. That the slighter physical development is the effect of geographic or climatic conditions, and is not entirely due to race, is proved by the fact that measurements of Chilean boys, who are of Spanish blood, more nearly approximate those of North American boys than they do those of Porto Ricans.The following tables show a comparison of the development of the Porto Rican students with the average development of American men and women. The measurements are in pounds and inches.
If it is true that the Porto Rican reaches the height of physical development at the age of eighteen, then we may consider that an average of the measurements of the men and women from and after that age will give us what is practically the representative physical development of the Porto Rican adult. These averages are found in the following table.
Table IIIRepresentative development of Porto Rican students at the University of Porto Rico, of more than 18 years of age.
For the purpose of comparing the Porto Rican boys with boys of Spanish blood, but of another climate, Table IV, which shows the comparative development of Porto Rican and Chilean boys from 16 to 20 years of age, is given. The measurements for the Chileanboys were furnished by the Museo Nacional of Santiago, Chili.
A study of the census of 1910 showing the distribution of the population of Porto Rico by race and by age periods gives some interesting information. If the situation given there is taken to be typical of general conditions, by considering the number of children of each class under one year of age, we find that the highest birth rate is among the mulattoes; next in order come the native whites of native parentage, next the blacks, and last the native whites of foreign or mixed parentage. The actual percentage of each class under one year of age is as follows: mulattoes, 3.9 per cent; native whites of native parentage, 3.6 per cent; blacks, 2.5 per cent; native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 2 per cent. The percentage of the population under five years of age in each class tends to confirm this statement. It is as follows: mulattoes 17.9 percent; native whites of native parentage, 14.7 per cent; blacks, 12.2 per cent; native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 9.5 per cent.
While the mulattoes have the highest birth rate, it is also true that, as a general thing, they are the shortest lived of any of the classes mentioned. The class which generally has greatest longevity consists of the negroes; next in order come the native whites of mixed or foreign parentage, then the native whites of native parentage, and last, the mulattoes. Thus the order, as regards length of life, is nearly the reverse of what it is as regards birth rate.
It is observed also that while native whites of foreign or mixed parentage have a comparatively great length of life and a comparatively low birth rate, their children, who fall in the class of native whites of native parentage, have shorter lives and tend to produce larger families, than did the parents. In each class the females outnumber the males, the proportion being 100 females to 99.4 males for the total population, which, however, includes the foreign-born whites, where the males outnumber the females. In the classes of native-born citizens, the difference between the numbers of the sexes is greater than the ratio for the total population would indicate, being the greatest among the mulattoes, where the ratio is 93.6 males for every 100 females. In each class it is found that the women enjoy greater length of life than do the men.
The following table shows what proportion of the total number of each class of the population falls under the age groups designated.
It will be noticed that above the age of 55 there is a larger proportion of women than men in each class. Judging the median age for each group to be the year which divides the total number of that group into twoequal divisions, so far as number is concerned, we find the following median ages: blacks, 23; mulattoes, 18; native whites of native parentage, 20; native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 22; foreign-born whites, 37. These results correspond exactly with the statements previously made regarding the longevity of each group. This would, of course, only give the median age for each class at the time the census was taken, in 1910, but as practically the same age distribution is also found in the census of 1899, it may be concluded that the results are approximately correct. This means that 50 per cent of each group does not live beyond the age indicated, and is sometimes known as the "mean length of life." Data for calculating the average length of life are not available.
A comparison of the age groups in the United States and in Porto Rico shows that the proportion in the younger ages is greater in Porto Rico than it is in the United States.
Undoubtedly the work of the Department of Sanitation and of the Institute of Tropical Medicine will do much to change the death rate within the next few years, and to prolong life. We may well expect the next census to show a much larger percentage of the population in the higher age groups.
FOOTNOTES:[1]The difference in numbers between men and women living together consensually is doubtless due to the fact that many men who have legitimate wives also have consensual wives or mistresses.[2]This would indicate that many of the divorced men had remarried and were listed in the census as married instead of divorced.
[1]The difference in numbers between men and women living together consensually is doubtless due to the fact that many men who have legitimate wives also have consensual wives or mistresses.[2]This would indicate that many of the divorced men had remarried and were listed in the census as married instead of divorced.
[1]The difference in numbers between men and women living together consensually is doubtless due to the fact that many men who have legitimate wives also have consensual wives or mistresses.
[2]This would indicate that many of the divorced men had remarried and were listed in the census as married instead of divorced.
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Transcriber's Notes: Blank pages have been eliminated. Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original. A few typographical errors have been corrected.