Tímarit um menntarannsóknir - 01.06.2012, Page 55

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Kennaraskólinn í Nääs og fyrstu íslensku nemendur hans í uppeldismiðaðri smíðakennslu
hennar til þess að koma á uppeldismiðuðu
handverki á Íslandi.
Höfundar greinarinnar telja stærsta
ávinninginn af starfi þessara frumkvöðla
skólasmíðinnar á Íslandi hafa verið að
breyta bæði viðhorfum almennings, skóla-
fólks og stjórnmálamanna til gildis hand-
verks í skólastarfi. Má því segja að áhrifa
kenninga Salomons gæti enn í aðalnám-
skrám grunnskóla á Íslandi.
Vocational education was institutionalised
in the 19th century in many countries. The
main reason was the founding of general
educational systems and the beginning of
industrialisation. New methods for manu-
facturing and production demanded new
skills from citizens (Kantola, Nikkanen,
Kari og Kananoja, 1999). Pedagogically
aimed education in craftwork was estab-
lished at the same time as a school-based
system of formative education using the
term Sloyd.
The term Sloyd is related to the old
Icelandic word ´slægur´ with the origi-
nal meaning being connected etymologi-
cally with the English word sleight (as in
“sleight of hand”), cunning, artful, smart,
crafty and clever (Borg 2006; Den Danske
Ordbog, 2003 -2005; Nudansk Ordbog,
1990). Sloyd comprises school activities
which use craftwork to produce useful
and decorative objects. It is a pedagogi-
cal system of manual training which seeks
to develop the child in general, through
learning technical skills in woodwork-
ing or in sewing and knitting, and mak-
ing useful objects by hand (Borg, 2006;
Salomon, 1893). However, the meaning
of Sloyd in relation to education refers to
the discussions amongst philosophers of
those times about the value of craft for
general education (Borg, 2006). The pur-
pose of Sloyd was to use craftwork as a
tool in general education to build the
character of the child, encouraging moral
behaviour, greater intelligence, and indus-
triousness (Jón Þórarinsson, 1891).
Uno Cygnaeus in Finland and Otto Sa-
lomon in Sweden and Aksel Mikkelsen in
Denmark were major leaders in the devel-
opment of a systematic Sloyd model for
school education. They emphasized the
usefulness of constructing objects through
formal educational methodology (Kantola
o.fl., 1999). The Swedish educationalist
Salomon (1849–1907) further developed
these ideas for pedagogically based craft-
work. The model was later disseminated
by Salomon through thousands of teach-
ers from all over the world who attended
his classes. Salomon established his in-
ternational Sloyd school in Nääs in south
Sweden and it became a world training
centre for Sloyd teachers in 1875 (Bennett
1926; Thorbjornsson 1990).
Salomon´s school in Nääs had a not-
ed impact on the early development of
manual training, manual arts, industrial
Abstract
The Teacher College in Nääs and its first Icelandic
students in pedagogical craft