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THE SWEDISH WORKSHOPS. GreyPam 1701
MANUAL TRAINING
OF
CHILDREN
IN SWEDEN
BBPOET
GIVEN
BYMRSANNAHTEETA-E.ETZIUS
COUNCIL
ATTHEINTERNATIONAL INLONDON,
OFWOMEN JUNE1900
*JK,
STOCKHOLM
AKT1EBOLAGS
AFTONBLADETS TRYCKERI
1900.
T
Th lie remarkable changes that have taken place in our
civilized societies, require new methods of education and in¬
struction for the young generation.
In former times, children learned in their homes, from
the parents and the surroundings, or as apprentices of trades,
the necessary knowledge and'skill to prepare them to become
useful members of their family, and good citizens. The children
were educated for practical life. Book learning had but small
place in their training.
In this century, a revolution has taken place in the educa¬
tion of the nations. The introduction of public board-schools,
with compulsory attendance, has raised book learning to become
the centre of education; it has grown to be regarded as the
most important of popular instruction. At the same time, the
great industries have done away with the former manual home
work, when every piece of dress and food was prepared at
home; and not the least feature of modern life is that such a
number of parents have to leave their homes, in order to work
from morning until night in the manufactories.
In consequence the children are left to themselves during
the hours free from school. They have been taught reading,
writing and arithmetic, and several other good things at school;
but the exercise of their practical and executive powers, which
in former times had been trained at home, are left undeveloped.
In order to repair these defects, technical education —
— has, to a certain
drawing, pedagogical slojd and cooking
degree, been introduced in many schools; but only a few hours
are given to this, while still almost the whole of school time
is devoted to book training.
Then, there is another danger of modern life. The chil¬
dren, whose parents are absent and cannot take care of them,
roam about in the streets during their free hours. The lessons
they there learn, and the temptations for a poor and hungry
child, all of which are the consequences of a vagrant life in
the streets, are so evident that I need only to mention them.
These dangers are of course worst in the centres of industry
and the great cities. By the bad example of older comrades,
the young are easily tempted into bad habits, and can early
glide into mischief.
The very education, which has sharpened their intelligence
without teaching them to love work, is an additional danger
to many of the young. The parents often are strangers to
their children, and confess that they are beyond their control.
In most countries — oven in England, France and Austra¬
lia — juvenile offenders have, as I learn from the »Beport
of the Howard Associations, increased in recent years. The
leagues of vagrant children and young roughs are becoming a
plague to their home and to their parents, and a danger to
modern society.
In order to make them inoffensive, or in the hope of
saving them, the States or communities take the neglected
children from their parents, and put them into costly »indu¬
strial schools*, or socalled »reformatory schools*, and »hom«s»,
or — in prison.
It is considered a charitable thing to take the children
away from bad parents. In this way, not only do the children
lose the consciousness of owning a home, but also the parents'
sense of responsibility gets weakened.
Great authorities on this subject tell us, that it is much
better to let the children remain even in bad homes, and to
force the parents to improve, than to take them away altogether.
The experience from the Reformatory schools is not en¬
couraging to continue in this direction. Young criminals are
expected to be reformed in the daily association with each other!
How much wiser would it not be to prevent the evil by
saving the children from entering the path of crime, rather
than afterwards to try to correct them at great cost in re¬
formatories and prisons!
But, by what means is this to be done?
The greatest charity is, as an experienced man says, to help
people to help themselves.
The whole system of education and instruction of the
young must be reformed.
As a step towards gaining this end, the institutions called
Arbetsstugor for bam — »Workshops for children* — were
founded in Scandinavia.
I had recognised, that the ago of the first schoolyears
were of the greatest importance for the training of the children
in a good direction. And I fully agree with the american
pedagogue Mr Charles Leland's conclusions, that the years of
7—14 are momentous for their development. This is in fact a
discovery of great bearing. Mr Leland tells us, that in those
years quickness of perception may be brought forth to an
astonishing degree in every mind and that almost in all chil¬
dren in this age handiness can become developed.
With this purpose, in the beginning of 1887, I founded
the first Swedish Arbetsstuga with the aid of money given
by a Memorial Fund of my father, »Lars Hierta's Minne->.
In a few years, one Arbctsstuga after another was esta¬
blished in different parishes of Stockholm and in many other
towns of Sweden.
At present, there are Arbetsstugor in every parish of Stock¬
holm, and altogether 38 in Sweden. This autumn, several new
ones are to be founded, so the number next year will be at
least 40,
The excellent influence these institutions have had upon
the character of the children has been proved everywhere, and
they are now becoming favourite schools with the children,
with their parents and with the governing bodies of the com¬
munity.
They have grown quietly, and with full liberty. Every
Arbetsstuga is managed by its own council and with its own
organization. Though there exists a healthy competition amongst
them, they are all founded on the same principles, which from
the beginning have proved successful. They are organized and
conducted by ladies, though some gentlemen also are members
of the councils. Thus, they are chiefly the work of Swedish women.
Kp the number of children, who need to be taken care of
is very large, the Arbetsstugor are organized with as little
expense as possible, in order that as many pupils as possible
may profit by them.
We have indeed succeeded to an astonishing degree in
maintaining the schools at a small cost, without failing to make
them attractive to the children
The parish generally provides the rooms gratuitously.
The teaching is given by a staff of young ladies who
mostly give their time freely, or for very small remuneration.
The head of every Arbetsstuga is a lady who, as a rule, gives
up the whole or part of her time to this work. We have many
young ladies who have devoted year after year to this noble
and blessed vocation.
Practical tradesmen are also engaged to teach the diffe¬
rent trades.
Boys and girls attend the Arbetsstuga separately every
other day; that is, three times a week each, for two conse¬
cutive hours. For the younger children, the classes are mixed.
The number of children attending one Arbetsstuga varies from
50 to 200. Ten to twelve form one class. They sit around
tables, as in a home. In some of the largest buildings each
separate trade is taught in a separate room Even small rooms
will do, with the simple and excellent new method of ventila¬
tion that has been invented by a Swedish pedagogue, Doctor
Sven Nilsson.
We are very particular never to choose such kinds of
work that will hurt the eyes of the children, a thing that
the German medical men complain of as being done in the
Kindergarten.
In order to counteract the restless dispositions so common
to children part of the plan of the Arbetsstuga is, that the
pupils shall make several of each sort of article before they
begin a new kind of work. This gives them handiness, rapidity
and perfection in work.
The ivorlt that is taught has been of various kinds: for
the youngest (from 7— 9 years), chip and bast plaiting and
needlework; for the elder pupils (10—14) various styles of bast
work, fret-sawing, brush-making, netting, weaving, basketwork,
shoe-mending, carpentering, wood-carving, metal work, &c. &c
Thus, the children have made numerous different kinds of
objects. They have plaited hats, made slippers, chairs, baskets
of many kinds, tables, shelves, baking troughs, mended shoes,
made waistcoats with the buttonholes, pantaloons, children's
dresses and aprons; they have woven mats, petticoats, aprons;
they have made iron and steel instruments, hammers and other
tools, rakes, spades, small iron beds, sledges, &c.
These numerous articles, of the children's own work, are
sold once or twice a year at a kind of bazaar in the Arbets¬
stuga, which is visited by the inhabitants of the parish and
the friends of the cause, or at one great public sale for all
such worshops of the city. These sales more than cover the
expenses of fresh materials for further work; they contribute
towards the maintenance of the Arbetsstuga. The work done
is not given to the children, but they get a meal instead, as
a reward, either dinner or supper, or both, for those who spend
the greater part of their day in the Arbetsstuga. The food is
well prepared, and is chosen with regard to the tastes of the
children, as well as to health and economy.
The expenses for food, service, materials, coals, gas and
the teachers' salaries are defrayed by the above mentioned sales
of work, by voluntary gifts and by contributions from the parish
and from the municipality. When the income increases, the
ladies still keep as economical in their management as before,
in order to be able to receive proportionately more children.
At present therefore, 1,500 poor children are taught and fed
in the twelve Arbetsstugor of Stockholm. The average cost of
each child has amounted to from 15 shillings to one guinea
a year, everything included.
The pupils wTho can do their work well receive, as a re¬
ward for good behaviour or dexterity, materials for »home¬
work*, as the children call it, for which a small payment is
given. They may thus get chips, or raffia bast for hat plaiting,
payed so much a yard, and also other materials. The money
thus gained by their own efforts is extremely valuable to them,
and they are most anxious to get this work, considering it a
severe punishment to be deprived of it. They put by the money
received in this way, in a savings bank by the help of the
headmistress. The children will often say to the teachers:
»please give us some home work, even if not paid for; we do
so want to have some occupation at home».
The home-work has proved to be a valuable means of
education; it teaches the young how to make good use of their
leisure hours. The parents too appreciate it highly. Thus,
unconsciously and quietly, many a child, through its enthusiasm
for work, has acted as a missionary at home and been the
instrument of reforming bad parents.
I may here quote what a Swedish sister af charity has
told us:
»I occasionally visited the home of a poor family living
9
4
in the outskirts of Stockholm. The husband was out of work
and a drunkard, the home looked dirty and desolate; almost
everything was pawned and misery reigned in the family.
A year after I came to the same place. Their home now
looked orderly and the furniture was restored; a certain well-
being seemed to prevail. I saw a great deal of raffiabast in
the room and asked what it was for.
»Father and I are making baskets out of it>, said a young
daughter who came forward. >I have learnt this work in the
Arbetsstuga and have taught father how to do it and it does
interest him so much. Mother sells the baskets and we earn
a good deal of money by it.
The husband had left off drinking and the family had
been able to pay their debts.*