59

E.—ll

different kinds of handwork used in schools for educational purposes, though the original meaning of the word is " cunning," "clever," " handy : " compare " sleight of hand." The word " slojd " is essentially Scandinavian, and an equivalent for it is not to be found in any other language. It is such a convenient term and embraces so much that it would be well to naturalise it in England and call it " sloyd." This word has already been adopted in France and Germany, and I believe in Belgium, Austria, and Bussia. There are many different kinds of sloyd, or handwork, practised in the schools of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and other countries. A table has been drawn up of these various occupations, and they have been compared under the following heads, by Herr Otto Salomon, Director of the Nails Sloyd Seminary for Teachers :—

It appears at once from a careful comparison of the manual occupations given in this table that, while several of them answer to the above tests in certain particulars, yet only the woodsloyd can answer all. I will endeavour to give a brief outline of the chief principles of the sloyd system as taught at the Naiis Seminary for Teachers, near Gothenburg, and which has thence been largely disseminated all over Scandinavia and Finland, and is taught even within the arctic circle. In Sweden alone woodsloyd is practised in about a thousand national schools, has been introduced largely into the secondary schools for boys, is being adopted in the higher schools for girls, and is even practised wdth admirable results in the universities. It has also been introduced into France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Bussia, and the "United States. A large number of Italians, elementary teachers, eighteen in number, have just been through the last course at Niiiis. It will probably be taken up in Abyssinia through the instrumentality of the Swedish missionaries; and even fardistant Japan is showing an interest in the subject. Are we English to be left hopelessly behind in the adoption of handwork as an important factor in education ? We have already accepted it—in a very limited way, it is true —in the adoption of the kindergarten system, the very soul of which is its response to the child's need of activity and production. Sloyd is the same principle at work, only in a form suited to the growing powers of our boys and girls. Sloyd aims at the following results: (1.) To implant respect and love for work in general. (2.) To implant respect and love even for the coarser kinds of honest manual work. (3.) To develop activity. (4.) To foster order, accuracy, cleanliness, and neatness. (5.) To encourage attention, industry, and perseverance. (G.) To develop the physical powers. (7.) To train the eye and the sense of form. The joining of the sloyd course should be voluntary on the part of the pupil; consequently the work should fulfil the following conditions : (1.) It should be useful. (2.) The preparatory exercises should not be too fatiguing. (3.) The articles made should offer variety. (4.) They should be executed without help. (5.) They should be real work, not play. (6.) They should not be knick-knacks, or so-called fancy-work. (7.) They should belong to the worker. (8.) They should be in harmony with his power and physical strength. (9.) They should be of such a nature that they can be finished with exactness. (10.) They should allow of cleanliness and neatness. (11.) They should demand thoughtfulness, and thus be more than a purely mechanical work. (12.) They should exercise and develop the physique. (13.) They should help to exercise the sense of form. (14.) Lastly, many tools and manipulations should be employed. Such are the results aimed at; but here a very important question arises—Who is to be the sloyd-teacher ? Teachers are already so overburdened with work that it seems too much to expect them to undertake another subject. But for them, too, a subject so novel, and necessarily so differently taught from ordinary school-subjects, would doubtless have its attractions ; and, indeed, it has been found in those countries where sloyd has been introduced that it is as great a relief to teachers as to pupils. Whether this be so or not, sloyd-instruction must be undertaken not by an artisan, who would naturally regard it merely from its mechanical side, whereas the main object of sloyd is not the teaching of any trade, but the development of the faculties and the acquiring of general dexterity. It must therefore be given by a trained teacher, who understands the nature of the material on which he has to work—viz., child-nature—and, if possible, by the same teacher who takes the other school-subjects. I may mention that by means of sloyd, which necessitates individual supervision and instruction, the teacher has an opportunity of obtaining an insight into the character and of establishing a personal relation between himself and his pupils which it is almost impossible to obtain by classinstruction. Numbers of teachers can bear witness to the truth of this statement. Sloyd also acts indirectly with beneficial effect on the other lessons, for it quickens the intelligence and causes children to think for themselves. It has been found in all schools where sloyd has been introduced that greater and more intelligent progress has been made in the ordinary school-work. The teacher

■6 -9-2 a a-aP, 3-w s 3 = Mo O _^° S o EH o o en Sf g n3 a _, is » c3 M « H « ,"> 3 a OTrt. 3 a o O „ to rt_3--H © SPSLS 02 tOrtO ■ M"S g.| -03 as OO a ,j Mr— a a £ o 3 oj "£ e^-e w S- rt. > o o — rt -M 3flrt? Smith-work Simple metal-work Basket-work Painting (trade) Fretwork Bookbinding Cardboard-work Turning Wood-carving Carpentry, wood, or sloyd.. No No No No Yes No Yes No, Yes Yes Yes Hardly Yes Hardly No No No, Yes No, Yes Yes No, Yes Yes Fairly Yes Fairly No No, Yes Faiily Yes No, Yes No, Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No, Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No, Yes Yes Yes Yea No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No, Yes Yes No, Yes Yes No No No No No Partially No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Hardly No Yes No Yes Perhaps Yes No No Yes Perhaps Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No Yes