CHAPTER IV
MANUAL TRAINING AND SLOYD
History of the movement—Its philosophy—The value of hand training in the
development of the brain and its significance in the making of man—A grammar
of our many industries hard—The best we do can reach but few—Very great
defects in our manual training methods which do not base on science and make
nothing salable—The Leipzig system—Sloyd is hypermethodic—These crude
peasant industries can never satisfy educational needs—The gospel of work,
William Morris and the arts and crafts movement—Its spirit desirable—The
magic effects of a brief period of intense work—The natural development of the
drawing instinct in the child.
Manual training has many origins; but in its now most widely accepted form it
came to us more than a generation ago from Moscow, and has its best
representation here in our new and often magnificent manual-training high
schools and in many courses in other public schools. This work meets the
growing demand of the country for a more practical education, a demand which
often greatly exceeds the accommodations. The philosophy, if such it may be
called, that underlies the movement, is simple, forcible, and sound, and not
unlike Pestalozzi's "keine Kentnisse ohne Fertigkeiten," [No knowledge without
skill] in that it lessens the interval between thinking and doing; helps to give
control, dexterity, and skill an industrial trend to taste; interests many not
successful in ordinary school; tends to the better appreciation of good, honest
work; imparts new zest for some studies; adds somewhat to the average length of
the school period; gives a sense of capacity and effectiveness, and is a useful
preparation for a number of vocations. These claims are all well founded, and
this work is a valuable addition to the pedagogic agencies of any country or