Dale Dougherty, Publisher of Make Magazine and originator of Maker Faires throughout the world, asked me for a simple directive for reshaping American education. I admit, none of this is easy, but we either invest in a quality outcome, or we doom our student population to mediocrity. Here goes:
The first thing to recognize is that the brain, even among college students is good for only a very few minutes of lecture. Even the best minds wander, and must. If you’ve paid any attention to your own mind during your many years of education, you’ll know this is true. No expert required.
The second thing to recognize is that hands-on activities are by nature real, and therefore engage all the senses (this was noted by Comenius,) create a better network of remembrance, connection and utility in the brain. This has been proven by research… Learning that takes place hands-on, meaning it was accomplished by being physically present, thus engaging all the senses, has much deeper and longer lasting effect. You can think of this as real estate, hands-on activities are noted in the full sensory and motor cortexes,
The third point as emphasized by educational sloyd was the relationship between the concrete and abstract. All abstract studies should be accompanied by concrete learning. We make a huge mistake starting kids to read before they’re doing real things…. reading is abstract, doing is concrete.
The fourth point is that teachers need to be drawn at least partly from the pool of those who didn’t necessarily do so well in school. Late bloomers are particularly important. A reason for this is that when faced with stress, as happens in many or most schools, teachers tend to fall back into positions most comfortable to them, often meaning the ways they themselves were taught. And those who go to college are generally the ones who learn best by rote, rather than by doing. We need doers in schools whose most comfortable fall back positions are getting things done rather than talking about it.
Fifth point, we need to rethink the place of manual arts in schools and make certain that administrators, school boards and parents know the value. A friend of mine and I came up with a list of 21 reasons woodworking education is still important in the 21st century. The New England Association of Woodworking Teachers distributed it to school administrators in New England. If you understand the value of woodworking education, you’ll likely better understand our need for all the arts. I will send that list in a separate post.
We need ways to convert desks to work benches, so I’ve been exploring the use of simple hand screws, clamped to tables as a way to safely hold wood. I’ve attached a photo.