sometimes snubbed?

Last night at my book signing at the Historic Arkansas Museum, a teacher enthusiastically introduced me to her school principal, and I offered my Wisdom of the Hands business card as an advocate of hands-on learning to a chilled response. Perfect counter-point to an evening of eggnog. It was an excellent reminder that as I prepare for my webinar with Michigan educators, that not all human responses are 1. patient, 2. rational, 3. open minded. Often people are swept up, dominated in their own thoughts, under pressures that cause them to respond in ways that limit their perceptions and their openness to new ideas. One only needs to watch American politics to get a sense of how polarized we can become over things like position and power, to the point that we become out of touch with reality.

So what does the craftsman's perspective derived from materials and personal growth offer to the probability that as I present to educators, I may also come under attack from educators who see things only in black and white and are unwilling to grasp the essential relationship between learning and the hands?

Last night's book signing was a small but gracious event. I and my books were a sideline to a museum sponsored competition for tasting eggnog. The "winners" where those whose eggnog was voted best, but it seemed that nearly all were winners of holiday spirit. Over all, those I talked with readily understood the concept of wisdom of the hands. After all, they were standing in the midst of hand crafted Arkansas products. Most had experience to draw upon... of making, fixing, and being in the wilds. There are things that some may not get yet quite yet, but the hands can be patient teachers. One does have to test what one learns in one's own hands for depth of meaning to come clear. There are trees that are not ready for harvest. There are boards in my own shop that still await their perfect use. And yet they are kept and cherished for their correct time to be cut and shaped to meaningful use. In particular, green lumber must be dried, aged and mature prior to successful use.

Life in a small town is special preparation for engaging the larger world of ideas. Here, when a new idea is offered, people often ask, "Whose idea is that?" And some will question my observations for the very simple reason that they aren't derived from the pre-approved sources. I'm not Harvard, and I'm not Yale. But I feel that I can give voice to Salomon, Froebel, Pestalozzi, Comenius, Montessori and others who lived and breathed education before the current round of No Child Left Behind trampling of the American spirit was allowed to infect American education.