To my continued surprise and delight, this topic of split classes and country schools has taken on a life of its own in terms of reader responses and related developments. I’m particularly enjoying the stories I’m hearing from readers and elsewhere. And I’m also enjoying the thinking that the developments are generating.
I’m beginning to pin down some of my attractions to these stories. Here are (at least) three things that continue to intrigue me:
- The incredibly wide variety of the experiences. So many interesting and varied stories and memories! And yet almost all of them occur in the same broad ‘country school’ backdrop.
- The relatively recent nature – at least in historical terms – of the stories. For example, almost all of these appear to have occurred in my lifetime. (Insert your own joke here.) I admit I would not have predicted that.
- The remarkably favorable nature of the memories of these experiences. Most, if not all, seem to be shared with great fondness, not only for the times, but for the educational experiences, particularly the perceived nature of the authentic learning that occurred. Even allowing for the familiar ‘good old days’ syndrome all of us sometimes have, the near-universality of these good memories is delightful and fascinating. And unexpected? I’m not sure.
Along those lines then, let me relate three (of many) interesting developments, just since the last column.
Small World: Norma (Brashears) Tolbert wrote to share that the picture the News-Leader inserted to accompany the previous column is of the “Liberty School”, originally on the Springfield/Fair Grove boundary. Further, the gentleman cleaning windows in that picture is her husband Jerry! The building has been restored, moved to the Gray/Campbell Farmstead at Nathaniel Greene Park, and is now open to the public on weekends.
Unique Variation on a Theme: Sandy (Fowler) Maness of Republic wrote of her split-class experiences in Urbana during the mid-50s. The building was new, but it only had six classrooms, so two grades often shared a classroom and teacher. Of her four years of these experiences, the most interesting to me was her fifth-grade year. Due to a large 6th grade class that year, her class shared a class and teacher with the 7th grade!! THAT surprised me! I’ve not heard of any other such experiences that contained classes two years apart!
Fantastic Book! In a chain of serendipitous events, I became acquainted with Betsey DeLoache and her amazing book Country Schools: Past and Present. This book, which I now possess, chronicles all aspects of country schools, primarily in South Dakota, between 1907 and 2015. It is coffee table size, has over 600 pages, and is only Volume I of a two-volume set! It is amazing!! It contains pictures, histories, stories from both teachers and students, and more. Moreover, she describes some of the same features of these stories that I have listed above, particularly the overwhelming positive memories. If you enjoyed the few stories I have shared so far, you’d love this book!
The book is still new and not yet on Amazon. But I have secured Betsey’s permission to connect her and/or her book with interested parties. If you wish, feel free to follow up.
Still unexplored, of course, is the lingering educational question – what made these country schools work, and apparently so well? Is there a way to identify and bottle up these contributions in a way that can help us today?
This unexpected excursion has been informative for me. Not having been a product of country schools, I think I have failed to fully appreciate the contributions they have made to our educational history.
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