Learning by Doing

Learningjby Doing

By Prof. ]. C. Hogienson, Utah Agricultural College

"Be Prepared" is one of the laws of the boy scouts. It is expressed in another way by the motto of the Utah Agricultural College, which is, "Labor is Life." These two laws, if one would be successful, hold true, no matter what one's station in life might be. For instance, one month last year, eighty scout masters from different parts of Utah and Idaho spent a week at the Agricultural College, in one of the short courses, actually doing the things exactly as they are expected to have their scouts do them at home. These men went home filled with new ideas, enthusiasm and inspiration, and will no doubt fill the boys who come under their charge, with new desires and ambitions. So with the vocational teacher, the dairymen, the auto mechanic, the farmer, the housewife, the inspector, each receives much of value to take home with him. The work of the scout or scout master takes him largely out into the realm of nature, than which there is no greater teacher. There is nothing which broadens one's life so much, or which, when understood, brings one so much real joy and satis- faction as to be acquainted with at least some phases of nature. The birds then inspire by their sweet songs and their gay plum- age. The meadow lark's varied notes thrill as she passes by; the trees inspire by their majestic and stalwart growth, their giant strength and artistic beauty; the shrubs by the variety of colors of their foliage and flowers; the flowers by their delicate tints of color and their variety of forms and shapes; the weeds, in- deed, by their number, their quick growth, and their persistency and determined tenacity to life; the grains, by their usefulness, their green and golden colors waving in the breezes; their seeds, so varied in size and shape and color; the grasses, by their carpet of green and the fragrant odor of newly mown hay. To know all of the various kinds, varieties, and species, is indeed a rare accomplishment, but the scout's work makes a good be- ginning. It makes him understand and anpreciate more thoroughly the beauties and wonders with which God has sur- rounded him. It causes him to see the clorv «f God and the majesty of his handiwork in a new and far greater light than

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ever before. This knowledge enables him to say with Shake- speare, I find:

"Tongues in trees, Sermons in stones, Books in the running brooks, And good in everything."

And with Tennyson: "Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, And hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower, but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I would know what God and man is."

And with Bryant: "To him who in the love of nature holds Communion with her varied forms, She speaks in various language; For his gayer hours, she has a voice of gladness, And a smile and eloquence of beauty, And she glides into his darker musings With a mild and healing sympathy, That steals away their sharpness Ere he is aware."

The vocational teacher has a great responsibility resting upon his shoulders. It is the duty of such a teacher to train the boys and girls who come under his care for usefulness in life, in such a way that they will fit most efficiently into the life of the community in which they live, and at the same time be able to get the greatest amount of joy, satisfaction, and remun- eration out of it. In other words, the vocational teacher must be able to fit the course to the child and the community instead of making the child and the community fit into a fixed course of study. The teacher, therefore, who is not in sympathy with, and who does not appreciate rural life, has no business teach- ing in a rural high school. He will draw his pupils away from the community instead of making them appreciate it more. The vocational teacher does not do his full duty to his com- munity, who, after he has taught there for six months, is not familiar with, and is not telling his pupils about the problems that confront the people of that particular community. In order to function properly, the teacher's influence must extend far beyond the four walls of the school room into every home from which his pupils come, it must enter into their everyday lives. The vocational teacher must sometimes be able to take