Historical Evolution of Design in Industrial Arts/Technology Education

1. Historical Evolution of Design in Industrial Arts/Technology Education Technology Education Seminar EDVT-5424 Donnie S. Coleman 22 October 2001

2. Reference Search • “Design is that area of human experience, skill, and knowledge which is concerned with man’s ability to mold his environment to suit his material and spiritual needs.” B. Archer, 1973 • Notable Designers: Leonardo Da Vinci, Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, Pierre Cardin, Gucci, Calvin Klein, ...

3. Renaissance Era • Natural Philosophy of Decartes, Leibnitz, and Rousseau advocated ‘natural processes’ • Johann Pestalozzi, Swiss Educational reformer • Neuhoff Industrial School in 1774 • Goal: lessening of the poverty and discontent in the world by educating the poorer children of Switzerland • Manual processes of general education • Promotes both livelihood and intellectual development.

4. Pestalozzi’s Precepts • Desire to improve conditions of poor children in Switzerland • Such improvement must come through education to be permanent. • Schools should directly prepare children for life in the home • Dedication to Rousseau’s doctrine of education according to nature • The manual labors of children could be applied to the cost of education • Employment of objects and manual activities as a method of teaching traditional subjects.

5. Fellenburg • Established both academic and trade schools using Pestalozzi’s methodology. • Academic school was comprehensive , not specifically vocational • Trade school made no attempt toward a liberal education, but emphasized skilled craftsmanship. • Manual activities seen as important elements to the education of children.

6. Russian System • Imperial Technical School, Moscow, 1868. • Victor Della Vos, Director. • Analytical treatment of processes and methods • Provided specific answers to the questions: • What does a person need to know to do a specific job? • What steps of a procedure are necessary? • What other related knowledge must accompany the manipulative instruction? • What is the best method of teaching this subject?

7. Russian System Methodology • Shop operations resolved into elementary operations and taught sequentially. • No emphasis on construction of useful articles • Taught in instructional shops prior to exposing students to the construction shops • Systematic and efficient instruction of large numbers of students. • Student progress easily evaluated. • Strong impact on the teaching of IA/TE

8. Sloyd System • Swedish: Sloyd means dexterity, manual skill, or artistic skill. • Traditional house sloyd refers to traditional Scandanavian home crafts, handcrafted items produced for domestic industry. • No connection at all with the idea of preparation for a particular trade.

9. Sloyd Schools • Industrialization in the 19th century removed the impetus to make hand crafted goods. • Availability of chemical dyes, yarns, and machines lead to a general decline in quality. • Loss of knowledge of older techniques and materials a widespread phenomenon, not just in Scandanavia. • Establishment of sloyd schools to preserve the tradition of hand skills and craftsmanship. • Items produced were sold - determined by demand, not necessarily educational value.

10. Sloyd in Schools • Uno Cygnaeus, Finnish Lutheran preacher/teacher • Sloyd in primary school as part of formal education • No emphasis placed on analysis or design, but used cultural tradition as the basis for craft objects. • Course content involved making common household objects of increasing difficulty. • Introduction of analysis by Otto Salomon at the sloyd school in Naas, Sweden was the birth of educational sloyd.

11. Salomon’s Objectives • To instill a taste for, and a love of, labor in general; • To instill respect for rough, honest, bodily labor; • To develop independence and self-reliance; • To train habits of order, exactness, cleanliness, and neatness; • To train the eye and sense of form; to cultivate dexterity of hand and develop touch; (Possible first trace of design?) • To cultivate habits of attention, industry, perseverance, and patience; • To promote the development of the physical powers; • To directly give dexterity in the use of tools; • To execute exact work.

12. Educational Sloyd Methodology • The instruction must go from easy to difficult • The instruction must go from simple to complex • The instruction must go from the known to the unknown • The teaching must lay a good foundation. • The teacher should possess educational tact. • The teaching should be interesting in character. • The instruction should be intuitive in its character: i.e., it should be given as far as possible through the senses, especially touch and sight. • The teaching should be individual in character.

13. Sloyd Methodology (cont) • The instructor should be a teacher and not a mere craftsmen. • The models must be useful from the child’s standpoint. • The work should not involve fatiguing preparatory exercises. • The work must afford variety. • The children must be capable of doing the work themselves. • The impact of sloyd education was profound, in both purpose and methodology. • Teachers from around the world came to Sweden to receive training in educational handcraft methods.

14. Manual Training • Established in late 19th century as a method of meeting the demands of society and the students by incorporating manual methods into general education. • Objective: to offer in addition to college preparatory work, trade-related courses. • New type of school an immediate popular success. • General high schools came to add manual training courses to their curricula, a break away from tradition and acceptance of a new theory of education. • John Ordway of MIT imported part of the sloyd system into the U.S. Models as the basis for projects discarded in favor of drawings.

15. Manual Arts • Prior to 1890 there is little evidence of concern for esthetics in trade or manual training. • Experimentation with the basic tenets of Russian and Sloyd systems lead to divergent views in manual training. • Preservation activities for sloyd and other traditions lead to development of design institutes. • The term Manual Arts arose around 1893 with the emphasis upon creative design as an integral part of manual training. • The first appearance of Design as a major component of industrial education.

16. Manual Arts Methodology • Design as integral part of instruction • Melding of technical skill with sensitivity to form and function. • Student involvement in design as well as manufacture • The Project was the goal and the tool skills and knowledge were a means to an end. • Study of media an processes as a basis of instruction, rather than industrial origin.

17. Industrial Arts • Name change suggested by Charles Richards, Columbia University in 1904 • New program adopted features significant movements • Russian System -- apply analytical methods to organizing teachable content derived from industry • Swedish Sloyd -- the theory of manual subjects as part of general education and as a craftwork tradition • Manual Training -- a sound course of study, occupational guidance, and vocational concepts • Manual Arts -- concerns for Design, handcrafts, student involvement in project planning, and production of useful articles. • All pursued for general educational purpose.

18. Technology Education • Name change form IA to TE around 1984 • ITEA Standards for Technological Literacy • Design mentioned in 3 of the 5 categories • Standard 8: The attributes of design • Standard 9: Engineering design. • Standard 10 The role of troubleshooting, R&D, invention, and innovation in problem solving. • Standard 11: Apply the design process.

19. Summary • Design content was explicitly stated at the origin of the Manual Arts movement. • Expanded to major components of Technology Education

20. Where to get more information • Design Education in Schools; Bernard Aylward • Designing today’s manufactured products, John R. Lindbeck • Practical Guide to Industrial Arts Education, John R. Lindbeck • Standards for Technological Literacy, ITEA

21. Feedback • Comments, Questions, Discussion