Dewey-inspired educational progressivism in the early 20th century is generally seen as an urban phenomenon. This article traces a tradition of rural progressivism during 1910-50, centered at Teachers College in New York City, and explores the implications of that tradition for educators and rural education reformers today. (Contains 47…

Until about the 1940s, schools and universities considered observation and direct experience of one's natural surroundings to be a worthwhile educational endeavor, leading to a nature-literate citizenry. Now, lab-based biological studies and environmental education in the classroom have mostly replaced nature study, reducing the possibility of…

The Country Life Movement in the United States (1900-1920) emerged in response to the migration of rural people to the cities and the rising obsession with scientific knowledge. Modernizing rural areas and their institutions was seen as necessary to sustain rural communities at the economic and social levels of urban centers. Liberty Hyde Bailey,…

Public education was introduced in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century to replace the informal community-based education system that had broken down as a result of immigration and war. At the beginning of the 20th century, as America changed from a largely rural agricultural society to the modern industrial economy, education…

To most settlers in rural North Dakota, the community was the universe, and the rural school served as a community center. The Christmas program was a universal favorite in rural schools, but it was only one of several programs for the public. Local customs, ethnic backgrounds, and a particular teacher's fondness for a holiday or season gave…

This bulletin is written to help answer questions on the rural school's part in good living, to be of use to teachers, parents, and supervisors in discussion groups or in individual planning. It points out that rural communities, from poor to average to well-to-do, are making new demands on education. It shows scenes from schools that are meeting…