SCIENCE.-SUPPLEMENT. 



FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1887. 



SLOJD ' 

 I HAVE been asked to give some account of the 

 slojd system, as practised in Sweden, having 

 lately visited that country in order to study the 

 system both practically and theoretically. This 

 visit convinced me of its excellence, of its claim 

 to be regarded as an important factor in educa- 

 tion, and the need there is for something of the 

 kind in our own schools. 



The word ' slojd ' is essentially Scandinavian, 

 and an equivalent for it is not to be found in any 

 other European language. Its original meaning 

 is ' cunning,' ' clever,' ' handy ' (compare ' sleight 

 of hand'), but, as at present used, it means rather 

 the different kinds of hand- work used in schools 

 for educational purposes. ' Slojd ' is such a con- 

 venient word, and embraces so much, that I think 

 we shall have to naturalize it in England, and 

 call it ' sloyd.' It has already been adopted in 

 France and Germany, and I believe in Belgium, 

 Austria, and Russia. 



There are many kinds of slojd, or hand-work, 

 practised in the schools in Sweden, Norway, Den- 

 mark, Finland, Germany, and other countries, — 

 simple metal- work, smith- work, basket-making, 

 painting (trade), fret-work, book-binding, papier- 

 mache, needle-work, and finally vs^ood-slojd, which 

 consists mainly of carpentry, but in which carv- 

 ing and turning may play a subordinate part. 



Herr Otto Salomon, the director of the semi- 

 nary at Naas, has drawn up a table in which the 

 above occupations are compared, under the fol- 

 lowing heads : — 



l'^'. The children's interest gained ; 2°. Work 

 which can be used ; 3°. Order and precision ; 4°. 

 Cleanliness and neatness; 5°. Development of 

 sense of form ; 6°. Accordance with children's 

 capacity ; 7*^. Strengthening and developing of 

 the physical powers ; 8'='. Counterpoise to sitting; 

 9°. Capability of methodical exposition ; 10°. 

 General dexterity. 



It appears, from a careful comparison of the 

 results obtained by means of these various occu- 

 pations, that while several of them answer to 

 the above tests in certain particulars, yet only the 

 wood-slojd can answer all. 



I will endeavor to give a brief outline of the 

 chief principles of the method for the teaching 

 1 From the Journal of education, Feto. 1, 1887. 



of manual work which is followed at NSSs, and 

 which has thence been largely disseminated all 

 over Scandinavia and Finland, and is taught 

 even within the arctic circle. In Sweden alone, 

 wood-slojd is practised in eight hundred national 

 schools, has been introduced into the secondary 

 schools for boys, and is now being adapted even 

 in the upper schools for girls. 



It has also been introduced into France, Bel- 

 gium, Germany, Austria, Russia, and the United 

 States. It will probably be taken up in Abys- 

 sinia, through the instrumentality of the Swedish 

 missionaries ; and even far-distant Japan is show- 

 ing an interest in the subject. Are we English 

 to be left hopelessly behind in the adoption of 

 hand-work as an important factor in education ? 

 We have already accepted it — in a very limited 

 way, it is true — in the adoption of the kinder- 

 garten system, the very soul of which is its re- 

 sponse to the child's need of activity and produc- 

 tion ; and slojd is the same principle at work, 

 only in a form suited to the growing powers of 

 our boys and girls. 



Herr Salomon himself has treated of the results 

 aimed at by slojd, the choice and classification of 

 models, and the question who is to be the slojd 

 teacher, in a work which has already been trans- 

 lated into French and German, and will soon, I 

 hope, appear in English. 



S15jd 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 forms of honest manual work ; 3*^. To 

 develop activity ; 4". To foster order, accuracy, 

 cleanliness, and neatness ; 5°. To encourage atten- 

 tion, industry, and perseverance : 6°. To develop 

 the physical powers ; 7*. To train the eye and the 

 sense of form. 



The joining of the Hojd course should be vol- 

 untary 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". They 

 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 thought- 



