Traces the histories of rural education and rural technology in four countries. Suggests that the economic function of education is the transmission of technologically relevant skills, and that technologically appropriate curricula are a necessary part of economic development policy. 30 references. (SV)

Traveling schools provided elementary education for children in geographically isolated areas in New South Wales (Australia) from 1908 through 1949. Their success was due to the quality and dedication of the teachers and to the system of correspondence teaching developed within these schools. (LP)

Traces the history of Berea College's institutional mission, focusing on its long-term commitment to providing educational opportunity to Appalachia. Discusses the focus of each of Berea's presidents, including educating southern blacks after the Civil War; interpreting Appalachia to the nation; meeting Appalachian needs for secondary education,…

This book documents the history of the prairie schoolhouse through text and photographs. The prairie schoolhouse was a product of the Western Homestead Era, those years beginning late in the 19th century when the federally owned grass prairies east of the Rockies and the sagebrush country of the interior Northwest were opened to farming.…

This paper examines the comparable educational histories of the "Hispanos" of a mountainous area of New Mexico and the peoples of southern Appalachia. Presbyterian missionaries entered both regions following the Civil War and soon placed mountain people in the category of "exceptional populations," along with freed slaves,…

This book describes the teaching experiences of Helen Hussman Morris, who taught in a one-room school in rural Oklahoma during the early 1930s. Her story calls attention to some of the educational issues that were present in the 1930s and that are still being addressed at the local, state, and national levels, including curriculum, facilities,…

Between 1905 and 1925, the General Education Board (GEB) continued John D. Rockefeller's pattern of philanthropy for education and established its own philosophies of what programs to endow and what directions were appropriate for education. Programs that the GEB established and funded demonstrate their goals for education. Many of these programs…

The Chautauqua movement is described with a focus on its influences on American higher education. As the most influential wholly American institution in the social and cultural life of rural communities, its contributions to higher education included development of correspondence and extension courses and the creation of the summer term.…

This publication describes adaptations of teaching methods and instructional materials to meet the special needs of rural students in the late 1930s. These "newer" types of instruction were often child centered, and included: (1) grouping subject matter into broad divisions such as social studies and language arts rather than the traditional…

This paper recounts the story of Elsie Ripley Clapp (1879-1964), an associate of John Dewey and well known in progressive education circles, who became extensively involved in rural education in Kentucky and West Virginia. The first part of the paper gives an overview of Clapp's early life in the New York City area, her educational background, her…

The Annenberg Rural Challenge is a national effort to revitalize rural communities and schools and their long-standing values of community, democracy, and care for the natural environment. This collection of five essays presents a number of themes that are central to the Rural Challenge's philosophy. "Bringing It All Back Home: Reclaiming the…

The author reflects on a cross-country trip in which he discovered one-room schools, some abandoned many years ago due to consolidation, others still in operation. In addition to the valuable role that one-room schools played in educating rural youth, these schools offer a rich reflection of local history, language, and cultural practices.…

Describes Booker T. Washington's contributions to cooperative extension activities which have been overlooked by many writers. Indicates that his work as educator, in conjunction with Seaman A. Knapp, served a vital purpose to rural Black farmers and homemakers in the late 1800s. (JS)

Interlaken School (Indiana) was an elite boys' preparatory boarding school that combined Hall's definitive theory of adolescence and Spencer's theory of social evolution into both a philosophy and a pedagogy. Interlaken was portrayed as an isolated mythologized community that combined manual with mental development and believed that adolescent…

The factory model of organization that resulted from the ascension of industry and economic expansion between 1897 and 1921 was applied to education as well as business. National recommendations aimed to standardize rural education, but local application of these unilateral templates reflected local rural cultures. Examples discussed are…