Jón Bjarnason Academy - 01.05.1935, Blaðsíða 24

be observed in one’s attitude toward dignity of form, manners,
beauty and truth. The acquisition of these qualities of char-
acter lie within the range of adolescent interests and emotions
and challenge the secondary school.
What of the practical arts? They typify the world of manual
labour and may be utilized to give an understanding and to
dignify those activities common to the broadest of all fields of
human endeavor. The learning process is by way of the mani-
pulation of materials, the product an attitude toward perfect
workmanship. Under wise instruction the point may readily
be reached where individuals will go beyond the instructor and
seek guidance from books. Any subject in the field of the
practical arts lends itself to the training of the hand and eye
and also to seeking information from the printed page. Manipu-
lation of materials and reflective thinking combine to shape
and mould new attitudes toward work and give that sense of
joy which accompanies good craftmanship. Because the goal
is immediate, adoles'cent interest in such activities is easily
aroused and for the more practical minded and less intellectually
brilliant, though not necessarily all such, may shape abiding
interests and attitudes.
This discussion represents an effort to show that worthy
abiding interests and attitudes are the objectives of adolescent
training. It undertakes briefly to indicate how the subject matter
of the curriculum may be made a means toward that goal
through finding or awakening interests and discovering indi-
vidual aptitudes, and through adapting subject matter of all
sorts to the purpose for which it is best suited. Space does not
permit discussion as to how attention may be concentrated upon
any secondary school activity up to the point where absorption
in turn leads the individual on and on to the joys associated
with perfect workmanship and teaches him that the joy of
real achievement is the product of intensive effort.
The adolescent challenges the teacher to discover and to
guide him. The curriculum is rich in materials but the selection
and the methods of their adaptation to adolescent needs rest
with the teacher.