"E— ld
16
one kind of work, and has, above all, for its object to increase the resources of the family. The Huusflid has for its object to accustom a man to help himself in situations where ordinarily the assistance of another is requisite. Both should be cultivated and encouraged. Above all, it is by cultivating in young people the love of work that we attain it in the most rational manner. 26th July : The temporary course at Dresden cannot give all the manual exercises in a regular and progressive style. A choice has had to be made so as to render the instructor as much as possible capable of undertaking himself this instruction with pupils. The first exercises should be extremely simple; the instructor will easily find a series of occupations which will allow him to follow a good method. The child ought to learn the use of measure, compass, and square. The work will give power to the muscles and accuracy to the eye. The child should above everything get accustomed to work with taste, to do good work. 2nd August: Manual work should be an element in a public school. This has long been the case in northern countries. (Details on the organization of these schools.) The expenses are not exorbitant. By expending a sum of 750 francs a workshop can be fitted up for forty scholars. In this workshop eight pupils could be occupied in carpentry, eight in woodcutting, six in w Tood-carving, six in basket-making, six in brush-making, six in binding, and three in pasteboard-work. There would be eight benches and all tools needful for their work. In a school where only wood-cutting, wood-carving, and basket-work are undertaken, the initial expenses would not exceed a sum of 100 marks. Almost all the new schools possess a special hall for drawing and one for gymnastics, so that it would be no difficult matter for every school to have at the same time a workshop. At the close of his address Clauson Kaas announced that every day, from 11 to 12 o'clock, he would himself give a practical lesson to children of from six to ten years of age. 9th August: Clauson Kaas shows a great number of articles made of pasteboard by children and adults. He explains in a few words that exercises in pasteboard-work can render important services to instruction in geometrical forms. Let us add a few words about the practical part of the course. We have already indicated the trades the elements of which are taught. Pasteboard-work has led up to the manufacture of copybooks, drawing-books, portfolios, geometrical forms, boxes for specimens, and fancy boxes. Two days were given up to bookbinding. The use of the circular saw was known by the greater part of the pupils. It is an unhealthy occupation, and wearisome when it is a matter of cutting out figures which are over elaborate, and usually in bad taste. Nearly all models for cutting out share in these defects. The professor, M. Dohnert, had taken care to choose as his models very simple objects, such as a watchstand and a matchbox. Clauson Kaas considers that cutting out in wood is one of the most beautiful and useful exercises for children. Our own opinion on this kind of occupation is just the opposite. It is an unhealthy exercise, for the child has to remain always in the same position, with the back bent and the chest compressed ; the eyes, nose, and mouth get filled, little by little, with fine sawdust. It is a wearisome exercise, since the work requires not the least reflection; the child follows mechanically with the saw the designs traced on the wood. Wood-carving is limited to very simple exercises from a model. It is a kind of work eminently fitted to develop the taste for the beautiful. I should, however, like to see this instruction based on drawing and modelling. Joinery has as its particular aim to teach the manipulation of the plane and saw, and the various ways of fitting wood. Generally speaking, wood-work would be entirely in its proper place in our normal schools. Metal work, as it is carried on in Dresden, requires a great number of tools, fire, &c, which would render its introduction into educational establishments very difficult. Finally, basket-plaiting, veneering, and mosaics in wood, and the use of the lathe, constitute supplementary branches. On Saturday, the 26th August, a general public meeting took place, in which the following principles were adopted : I. Instruction in manual work, which the leading educationalists have for ages past been desirous of introducing into the instruction of young people, completes the education of boys in a harmonious manner, and, while keeping constantly in view the purpose of education, bestows a very special attention upon the necessities of social life. 11. The educational value of instruction in manual work consists particularly in this, that, first, it develops the creative faculty which the child has within him; secondly, it borrows a lively interest from its intuitional character, and thus augments the pupil's desire to learn, and helps him to understand easily and promptly the thing taught; thirdly, it assists powerfully in the formation of character ; fourthly, it fits one for the accomplishment of the duties of social life. 111. The character and aim of manual work should be the only guides in following this kind of instruction. IV. Instruction in manual work should have for its foundation the principles of Froebel's kindergarten, and should be continued during the whole of the school curriculum. It is desirable that boys should find opportunity to pursue these exercises even after leaving the primary school. V. In the primary and superior schools instruction in manual work may render great service to various other branches of instruction—notably drawing, geometry, geography, and natural philosophy. In boarding-schools, the teaching of manual work is indispensable as a means of education and instruction. VI. The organization of workshops for instruction in manual labour ought to be recognised as answering to an imperative necessity which is felt everywhere. VII. The introduction of this instruction into the normal training schools for teachers is desirable because of its importance in the primary schools. What at first sight appears to us difficult—nay, even impossible —to perform, very often ends by seeming easy when reflection and a good will work together at it. Had we been shown at the commencement of the course the objects we ought to be able to make in six weeks' time we should probably have had little courage to set to work ; when the course was ended we were astounded at our own achievements, and we asked ourselves how it was possible that our unpractised hands had been able in so short a time to acquire the faculty of making passably well the articles in question. Have we become artificers in all these trades of the elements of which we have but skimmed the surface ? Far from that, no doubt. But we have at least learnt to use our hands, and we have gained the assurance that by practice we are able to construct a great many things that we should have judged ourselves incapable of making. We have seen by experi-
Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.
By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.
Your session has expired.