subversive implementation of the hands...

I had a young friend here to visit yesterday with her husband and accompanied by her parents who had been my best friends when I moved to Eureka Springs. It was a very pleasant reunion. As a professional matter, I will not name her in the blog, but my friend is a first grade teacher in the poor area of a fairly large mid-western city and she's very well aware of the problems that face American education. Nearly every year, her administration orders some new program that is supposed to make things better. When she finds one to be working in her own classroom, they change the next year anyway, saying, "We don't do that anymore." And so the changes keep coming, rolling down from the top, devised and imposed by administrators sincerely trying to gain control of a system that is out of hand. And in the midst of that, teachers burn out, resign, and move on in desperation and despair.

My friend stated, "I wish someone knew what to do." And that was my invitation to raise my hand, and to suggest, "I do know what to do." Even in the face of administrators who just don't get it, who are driven by fear, I do know what to do! Teachers can and must liberate their children's hands. The use of the hands is the pathway to the development of mind. If crafts are denied you in the teaching of literature or math, begin a program of advanced deliberate sneaky subversive doodling. We learn more efficiently with greater lasting effect when our hands are engaged, and while administrators can attempt to control many things, the solution for the problems within American education are not ones that we can expect to be delivered from the top. The simple revolution I propose is all about getting a grip, gaining and offering a renewed understanding of the role of the hands in learning and thus re-energizing American education.

Preposterous?

It may seem truly absurd and egotistical for a woodworker in Arkansas to make suggestions for such subversive change, but I am actually not alone in what I propose. Nearly all the great educators have led us by the hand to this point. You can find the seed of what I present in the writings of Dewey, Montesorri, Froebel, Pestalozzi, Cygnaeus, Comenius, and so many more including those who were the founders of the industrial arts movement in the US. And so, I am not alone but stand on the shoulders of giants. If you don't believe me, do your homework. Then put your children's hands to work. Devise motions, gestures and hand signs through which children can express their engagement. Encourage them to doodle and engage with manipulatory objects. Let them knit. Let them make cake. Let them eat it too. When administrators realize what you've done, you may be required to explain a few things. But the impact on student learning will be self-explanatory. When the administrators begin to understand the impact of the hands, we can then move toward what schools could have been in the first place, workshop-laboratories for the development of intellect, character and creativity.

Make, fix and create.