And yet, education in America seems in a state of disarray. I explained to those in my presentations that as a beginning teacher, I knew very little of what I was doing, and was lucky enough to seek help. I did so by attending the first organizational meeting of the New England Association of Woodworking Teachers in the fall of 2001.
While on my trip to New England, I visited North Benet St. School in Boston, and Buckingham, Brown and Nichols School in Cambridge. At both places I heard the word Sloyd mentioned, and so when I came home, I began research into a form of woodworking education that offered me a firm philosophical foundation that could be of value across education, from early childhood into our adult years. Shall I bore you with repetition?
Start with the interests of the child (and sustain them). Move from the known to the unknown, From the easy to more difficult, from the simple to the complex and from the concrete to the abstract. Theses simple principles offer a firm foundation in all subject areas.
When Otto Salomon founded his teacher training academy in Sweden, it was to offer both experience in woodworking and a firm foundation in progressive educational thought. Salomon lectured to the students at Nääs in four languages, Swedish, English, German and French, to make certain the teachers training to teach woodworking were fluent also in the philosophy of learning that was built by such notables as Rousseau, Comenius, Pestalozzi, and Froebel.
Yesterday we had a great art show at Suzanne Reed's studio. It is always a pleasure to see folks gathered for art, and I was pleased to see friends both old and new and to sell a few boxes and books.
Make, fix, and create. Assist others in learning likewise.
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