Agricultural Education by H. A. Washburn

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Mar 10, 1904

Agricultural Education

By H. A. Washburn

All Our Schools to Be Agricultural

It is an inspiring thought that in our educational work, as we pray, plan, and work, we are being used of God in the development of his ideal in education, the excellence of which is to attract the attention of the world to the last great effort to save the perishing. That we are being led in new ways, none question; but that God is leading, we have full assurance. The development of the educational reform is doubtless, in some respects, at that stage where our health reform work was at one time, when in its humble character it attracted little attention other than ridicule. The living principles upon which we are working, however, will in their fruitage be seen in their excellence as truly as has been the case in our sanitarian work.

A Model School

As an end toward which we are to work, there has been placed before us a model school. “The system of education instituted at the beginning of the world, was to be a model for man throughout all after-time.” —“Education,” page 20. The work of the third angel’s message is to bring a people into harmony with God’s original purposes, and this directs our attention to the original system of education. While we have not always been accustomed to think of our first parents as being students in a school, we are told that, as an illustration of the principles of the divine system of education, “a model school was established in Eden.” “The garden of Eden was the school-room, nature was the lesson book, the Creator himself was the instructor, and the parents of the human family were the students.”

While there is much in these statements for profitable study, our attention must be directed to simply one phase of this school work. In the Bible record concerning this school we read: “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” The duty assigned to our first parents in this garden was “to dress it and to keep it.” Gen. 2: 8, 9, 15. This school, which was to be “a model for man throughout all after-time,” is clearly seen to be an industrial school, and the industry selected by the all-wise Creator was agriculture.

“It was his purpose that, as the human family increased in numbers, they should establish other homes and schools like the one he had given. Thus in course of time the whole earth might be occupied with homes and schools” of this character.

The ideal school, then, is an agricultural school. This should be the character of every school among us. Is it too much to say that this is what all our existing schools, though established otherwise, must become? Certain it is that we must never again establish another school without making it industrial, with agriculture as the first and chief employment. We may here appropriately quote instruction found on page 178, of “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI: “Some do not appreciate the value of agricultural work. These should not plan for our schools; for they will hold everything from advancing in right lines.” No one is qualified to act on the board of management or the faculty of any of our schools who does not feel the importance of this matter.

It may be supposed by some that the entrance of sin has necessitated a change in the original plan of education, and that the foregoing conclusions may not be correct. Regarding this we read that “under changed conditions, true education is still conformed to the Creator’s plan, the plan of the Eden school.” This was recognized after the fall by those who were loyal to God. “The people who were under his direction still pursued the plan of life that he had appointed in the beginning. Those who departed from God built for themselves cities, and congregating in them, gloried in the splendor, the luxury, and the vice that make the cities of to-day the world’s pride and its curse. But the men who held fast God’s principles of life dwelt among the fields and hills. They were tillers of the soil, and keepers of flocks and herds; and in this free, independent life, with its opportunities for labor and study and meditation, they learned of God, and taught their children of his works and ways.” These words impress upon us, as we seek to return to God’s original way of living, that our teaching must be such as to draw people from the cities, impart to them a love for nature and agricultural pursuits, and teach them how to obtain the necessities of life by the cultivation of the soil. The wonderful possibilities of such school work are evident when we are told that “thus might be set on foot influences that would go far in turning the tide of migration which now sets so strongly toward the great cities. Thus also our schools could aid effectively in the disposition of the unemployed masses.” Surely the serious conditions of the times demand that there be no longer delay in walking promptly in the direction marked out by the Lord for our schools. No longer can we establish schools in towns or near city influences. We do well also to take heed to the oft-repeated instruction that “extensive lands” be provided for our schools.

While agricultural education is an imperative demand of the times, we should also remember that this is a part of the preparation for our future life. The idea of our teaching our children “farming” as a preparation for the kingdom of God was at one time novel, to say the least, but our study of original conditions to which we are to return enables us to appreciate the statement that our students are in this way to be prepared “for a place on the Lord’s farm in the earth made new.”

Elementary Schools

It may be asked, Does this apply to our primary schools as well as to our institutions? The reply can only be, Yes, in principle. Some of the preceding statements must be modified; for it is evident that we can not at present dispense with all primary schools in the cities. We should, however, be working to the end that even these may be in the country. Important instruction is given on page 179 of Volume VI regarding agricultural instruction for the children. “A return to simpler methods will be appreciated by the children and youth. Work in the garden and field will be an agreeable change from the wearisome routine of abstract lessons, to which their young minds should never be confined.” “Study in agricultural lines should be the A, B, and C of the education given in our schools. This is the very first work that should be entered upon.”

“Nature was the lesson book” in the model school in Eden. “While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance.” This is instruction which we can hardly be said to have yet carried out in our schools generally. That proper nature study is intimately associated with agricultural work is indicated under the heading, “Nature Study Made Practical,” in “Education,” page 111: “As parents and teachers try to teach these lessons, the work should be made practical. Let the children themselves prepare the soil and sow the seed.” On page 119 we read: “Thus while the children and youth gain a knowledge of facts from teachers and text-books, let them learn to draw lessons and discern truth for themselves. In their gardening, question them as to what they learn from the care of their plants.” Other instruction also indicates that we must plan for our primary schools in the same manner as for our institutions, and consequently many of the conclusions drawn in following articles may be applied to the school work for our children.

H. A. WASHBURN.