This blog is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
We use our hands to bridge between the concrete and the abstract, bringing abstract objects into scale as we visualize their creation. We use our hands to frame distant things, bringing them into more meaningful context. The simple gestures, above and below will be well known to you. You have used them yourself as you transition from the imagination to reality, of from reality to imagination. The use of the hands helps to create a sense of scale and proportion. Otto Salomon in Educational Sloyd suggested that education always move from the concrete to the abstract. The hands are a much overlooked tool for making that transition seamless and personal. The gesture above is the one commonly used to "create" objects. The gesture below is commonly used to bring distant objects into scale or to frame landscapes in painting and photography. Both are useful for engaging the imagination.
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