Origin of Manual Arts Press

(As noted by the website for the  National Association of Industrial Technology, based in Peoria, Illinois, the Manual Arts Press was founded in 1903 by a pioneer in industrial arts education in America, Charles Alpheus Bennett. Earlier, in 1899, Bennett founded Industrial Arts Magazine, which continued until 1939, when Bennett shut it down. During that 40-year period, though, the magazine served as a conduit for promoting ideas about industrial arts education worldwide.  For example, the first stirrings of the "homeworkshop movement" were recorded in articles on its pages. 

The following section, in blue background, is an example of an article in The Industrial Arts Magazine, combining "theory" and "practice", and, the the process, a brief history of the Dewey revolution in education..

 

 

The Project and Its Relation to Industrial-Arts Activities

 Emerson Wm. Manzer, Supervisor Manual Arts, Bronxville, N. Y.

Part I. The Pupil-Project-Teacher Combination

PRESENT-DAY industrial arts is enjoying a recognition that has been acquired through years of steady growth.

It has gone through the various sys­tems, such as the Sloyd and Russian, and has emerged with a system that is most fitting for present-day education. Along with this change in methods of teaching the subject, has gone the change in the project.

The exercise method gave way to the class project, and the class project has given way for the individual project.

Today we can go into almost any industrial-arts shop and find a variety of projects being made in the same class.

In short, the manual training of yesterday has been made over into a definite educational factor.

The development of the junior high school, with its far-reaching influence in public education, and its natural outgrowths, are responsible, in a large measure, for the progress industrial-arts subjects have made during the past ten years. There are other definite reasons that may be attributed to the success of the industrial-arts work of today:

1.    Common pedagogical principles of education are being applied to shopwork.

2.    Students are being made to realize that industrial-arts activities are just as important as English, science, or mathematics.

3.    The shop is recognized as a laboratory wherein scientific procedure is applied to shop subjects just as it is to physics or chemistry. Opportunity is provided for the spirit of amateur invention—creative effort.

4.    Various teaching aids are employed as motivating elements, thus giving the instructor more time for individual instruction.

5.    Teacher-training institutions are sending out instructors who are grounded in modern teaching skills and methods.

6.    Instructors with teaching experience are keeping pace with the growth of the subject.

Instructors in the field of the industrial arts and students in teacher-training colleges, who will later make their contributions to the profession, have a problem of great consequence before them. It is the problem of keeping their shopwork or classwork up to the present accepted standard. To accomplish this,

means the incorporation of the latest successful teaching methods in their daily work; it

means that objectives must be expressed, as Roberts puts it, "in terms of boy attributes and boy accomplishments rather than in terms of material accomplishments or industrial units to be mastered." It

means that more attention must be devoted to the actual teaching of pupils through the medium of industrial-arts subjects.

The pupil is the product of the shop and of our teaching—the project, whether it is merely a bread board or a beautiful center table, is just a by-product. But even though it is a by-product, its importance in the "pupil-project-teacher" combination is one of keystone significance.

If our objectives are going to be in terms of boy attributes and boy accomplishments we must turn our attention to another paramount issue in our particular field: The problem of choosing projects for shopwork.

The problem of choosing projects for shopwork is one that goes hand in hand with the problem of keeping shopwork up to the present accepted standard.

If we recognize the project as the keystone of our structure, we can continue to build safely upon the present foundation provided:

1.    That the choice of projects be such that they will aid in the achievement of the major and minor objectives of their specific activity.

2.    That the project be of such nature that it will afford opportunity for related subject matter.

3.    That the project be of such nature that it will not involve skills not yet attained by the pupil.

4.    That the project, when completed, will be useful, have good design, and have good construction.

5.    That the project be of such a nature that it will leave a residue of technical skill, defined by Robert W Selvidge, of Peabody College for Teachers, as a "thoroughly established habit of doing things in a most economical way." [Robert W Selvidge, How to Teach a Trade, 1923, p. ?]

6.    That the project be selected by the pupil of his own volition or through the psychological guidance of the teacher.

When a pupil selects a project to be made in his shopwork, he manifests an interest in the project, else he would not choose it. If, the choice is being made from a bulletin board full of suggestions that are within his ability to perform, or if the choice of a project is due to suggestions made at home and the instructor feels that the pupil's ability is too limited for the project, it is the proper time to use tact in directing the pupil into a different choice. Perhaps a modification of the pupil's suggested project will tend to satisfy him and retain the interest factor.

If the pupil and the project are in harmonious relationship it is the psychological time for teaching. Thus the "pupil-project-teacher" combination is best able to function. If the pupil chooses his project, and is very much interested in making it,  we have set up two inseparable bases of all education, namely, interest and attention. Interest in making a project always has the willingness to give attention to instruction. As the work progresses there are problems that arise, and a feeling of need to know is built up within the pupil. He comes to the instructor with a receptive mind, a mind-set, in W H Kilpatrick terms. When the pupil-teacher conference is over there is resulting satis­faction and satisfaction means learning.

[BOOK] The Project Method, the Use of the Purposeful Act in the Educative Process - group of 2 »
WH Kilpatrick - 1919 - people.umass.edu WH Kilpatrick The Project Method.- 1922 - Teachers college, Columbia university Cited by 77 - Related Articles - Web Search - Library Search  

The project is one of the standard teaching methods (Apel & Knoll, in press). It is generally considered a means by which students can

(a) develop independence and responsibility, and

(b) practice social and democratic modes of behavior.

The project method is a genuine product of the American progressive education movement. It was described in detail and definitively delimited for the first time by William Heard Kilpatrick in his essay, "The Project Method," which became known worldwide (Church & Sedlak, 1976; Cremin, 1961; Kilpatrick, 1918; Röhrs, 1977).

Manual training of yesterday was based upon a different foundation or educational principles. Every boy made the same project without having much choice in the selection of the project. In fact, many instructors had models of what they wanted the pupil to make nest. These models were hung about the walls so that an interest could be created. It was a cut-and-dried method. Each step being carefully directed. so much so that it became it matter of exer­cise in the execution of orders. "There is still evidence of this type of teaching. Photographs of manual exhibits still show that twenty boys made twenty foot-stools or twenty necktie racks from the same blue print. 

A modification of this type of instruction, however, is permissible because a fundamental principle of the learning process indicates that progress is made only when based upon instruction in the conventional order of procedure, that is, instruction in form and technique must precede the development of creative ability or be given parallel with it. This means that the first year and possibly the second year of industrial-arts work is the logical place for tool instruction and conventional order of procedure. This calls for project work, but it is still possible for the pupil to choose the project. Group choice in the starting grades can be easily obtained, but when this is the procedure there is still opportunity for the pupil to make individual modifications. This personal touch creates a deeper and a more creative interest in the project and opens the way for the intended instruction.

 

The introduction of individual ideas in a project leads to individual problems, and the individual problems lead to a desire to solve them. “When this occurs, there is built up within the pupil a sense of mastery and a real sense of achievement. This type of teaching is far superior to the telling method, for in most cases, if the teacher does not do too much of the problem solving, the pupil will "dig it out for himself." This does not mean that he will be called upon to discover all that the race has found out, but it does mean that lie should be given an opportunity to direct his own thinking, and to test his own initia­tive. After some thought has been provoked and no real progress is evident, the teacher can work with the individual pupil using psychological procedure in bringing to light a solution to the problem confronting him.

 

One of the best-tried methods of teaching that will aid the boy in his thinking and in the organization of his work, is the project method. It is within the plan of the combination we are dealing with in our efforts to keep the standard of the industrial-arts activities up to its present level.

 

 

THE general shop, with its related activities, has a splendid opportunity to depict for the student the relationship and interdependence of various occupations. Through the related subject matter used in this type of shop, the student can get a much wider radius of knowledge and specific information about the occupations being studied, and furthermore, through his actual participation in the occupation, which is the vitalizing element of all shopwork, he is able to build up a practical fund of information that will make him enjoy his work to the fullest extent. Even though this shopwork or participation is done only on a small scale, it provides interest and also it motivating element. A more vivid view into the great realm of industry is thus secured.

The contract plan and its guiding principles has proved to be a practical and efficient method for teach­ing the fundamentals of general shop subjects and the related matter pertaining to them. It not only supple­ments the class demonstration, but it also provides an opportunity for greater creative imagination and native ingenuity or inventiveness. It forms a practical guide to the student and places a direct responsibility on him for the completion of a selected contract. This re­sponsibility for fulfilling it specific contract is one of the strongest points in favor of the contract plan, for it makes the individual "dig for himself." This phrase is much used by leading educators who are in favor of a new plan of education; one that will displace the "hand-it-down" method of yesterday. It is recognized that the general educational growth of the student should be the real aim of teaching, and that the present method does not lend itself to this end. In the manual-arts subjects there afforded a wonderful op­portunity for each instructor to do his part toward this new plan of education. The related subject matter for all manual-arts subjects is very plentiful and is of such nature that students will enjoy reading it. When the contract plan is used, the assigned reading matter is done with very much interest. The reason for this is credited to the practical means of procedure and the interesting manner in which the sheets are arranged. A concrete example of this plan will be shown as a supplement to this article.

In this contract, which is a contract for a candle-stick pattern, each student is required to make his own design for his pattern. He is also required to make some investigations and possibly some research in

order to gather the necessary material for his contract topic. The "A" contract, for example, calls for a paper on "The linking of Candles in Colonial Days." It is quite evident that he will have to do much library work in order to get material for a good paper, one that will stand the test when it is presented before his classmates. This topic will make any student "dig for himself" and in so doing he will learn the "how" of getting material for a special topic. It calls for a concentrated effort on a certain specified problem and the grade received for his work will depend upon the quality of the material found. Oftentimes a student desires to write a topic on some phase of related work other than the suggested topic of the contract. Experience with many contracts has shown that some boys, through travel or in some other way, have obtained first-hand information about some industrial activity that will be more interesting to the class.

 

This flexibility in the assignment makes the work more dynamic, and develops initiative and resourcefulness, two worthy traits that ought to be inculcated in every growing boy.

The following contract has been used with success in the manual-arts department of the Wisconsin High School of the University of Wisconsin. This shop, which is experimental in nature, is under the guidance of the Department of Industrial Education and Applied Arts of the University of Wisconsin. Many problems of the profession have been tried out in the shops and the results published so that the manual-arts men at large can weigh the findings in their own shops. After considerable experimental work with various forms, it was found that the form of the following contract proved very satisfactory. The general organization of the sheets proved to be useful in motivating the plans of the instructor; it helped to vitalize the subject and created a desire to do more shopwork, and in many instances, extra reading references were requested by the students.

 

For an obituary see William T. Bawden, "A Tribute to a Great Leader," Industrial Arts and Vocational Education 31 (Sept 1942), pp. 291-292, 320, 18A.

The Manual Arts Press was founded a few years later, the result of the launching of the IEM.

Bennett -- knowing that industrial arts teachers needed both theoretical and practical textual material as teaching aids   -- conceived of the idea of assembling book-length materials from fragmented writing that had appeared first as articles and/or conference papers. Through his extensive acquaintance among teachers and supervisors Bennett encouraged those doing original, worthwhile things to write. When the first venture succeeded, other books followed, thus launching a important publishing institution. The field of industrial arts education is indebted to him, first for his own accomplishments but perhaps more for the long list of those whom he inspired to productive activity.)

 

These Two Bibliographical Indexes Are Examples of "From Theory Into Practice"

The selection reprinted below comes from the 1926 A Guide to Woodworking Projects: A Companion Volume to A Guide to the Study of Woodworking, by Paul  V. Woolley,  Head of the Manual Arts Department. Wilson High School, Muncie, Indiana. In 1925, just a year previous, Woolley compiled A Guide to the Study of Woodworking, which he subtitled, "A Handy Reference for Woodworkers, Teachers and Students of High Schools, Colleges and Industrial Schools". For more details.

(see more details on Wooley's two books in Woodworking Manuals, 1921-1930 but also continue reading below.)
 

In the 1925, A Guide to the Study of Woodworking, Woolley's aim is to make references "only to a few of the best books dealing with tools, processes, and materials."  In the 1926, A Guide to Woodworking Projects: A Companion Volume to A Guide to the Study of Woodworking, Woolley indexed books in print [in 1926] which deal wholly or in part with woodworking projects. 

Thus the distinctions between these respective books are significant: the 1925 volume focuses on "processes", while the 1926 volume concentrates on "projects".

For Woolley, writing the "Preface" for the Projects volume, his "theory"  is best described in the following manner:

In considering the teacher's problems of instruction, we should note that modern education does not demand so much that we become mere storehouses of information, as it does that we learn how to locate information when wanted for a given situation.

Woolley's  

purpose in this series of guides is to offer a systematic means of organizing information so that it can be found quickly when wanted, and that pupils may be taught to search for knowledge in a systematic manner.

Woolley's analogy,  about encouraging students to take advantage of  "accumulated knowledge" -- see below -- suggests the adage attributed to the 17th century English scientist, Sir Isaac Newton:  "If I have seen further than others, it is only because I was standing on the shoulder's of giants".

The appreciation and judgment are also aided in having at one's finger tips the creations of those who are older in training and experience—the books of the past centuries. The Guide is a new, but tested device which has as one of its purposes this feature of directing teachers and pupils to the accumulated knowledge and ideas of the past. It lists the woodworking projects found in the form of drawings and descriptive material in 20,000 pages of 118 books.

And I think that yoou'll agree that Woolley's motives are both noble and informed:

This method of indexing the bulk of the world's knowledge on a given subject is an outgrowth of an attempt to reduce routine duties in the schoolroom so that more time might be left for actual instruction. The production of these guides is based on an experience of ten years of teaching shop and academic subjects, preceded by a number of years at the bench, a four-year college course in science, and a special course in engineering, as well as subsequent study in a state university, a state normal, and one university abroad.

While each of these volumes are under 100 pages long, they achieve remarkable results: the projects volume -- in the form of drawings and descriptive material -- again, originally occupying 20,000 pages in 118 books.

In his Preface, Woolley notes that the

1. There are about 1200 different projects listed.

2. There are about 500 projects which call be found in only one certain book.

3. Many projects classify themselves naturally into such major groups as: Baskets, Benches, Bird Houses, etc.

4. There are about seventy-two different kinds of tables, seventy-five kinds of boats, fifty-three kinds of chairs, thirty-five kinds of stands, twenty-five kinds of toy animals, nineteen kinds of guns and twelve kinds of puzzles.

5. From the standpoint of popularity with authors, as a single project, the taboret leads the list with sixty-three references, foot stools have forty-eight and wren houses forty-eight references.

(Woolley provides no count for the Processes volume, but, in amount, it probably falls around  2/3 the latter volume, which makes the 2-volume set a guide to roughly 2,000 tools, processes, and materials and/or projects. )

"This method of indexing the bulk of the world's knowledge on a given subject is an outgrowth of an attempt to reduce the routine duties in the schoolroom so that more time might be left for actual instruction."

For emphasis Woolley quotes from Charles G. Wheeler, who -- in his book, Woodworking: A Handbook for Beginners in Home and School, Treating of Tools and Operations (Putnam, 1924, p. xi) -- says 

"The more he (the teacher) can be freed from routine duties the less likely he will be to go stale or become narrow; and the breadth and enthusiasm of the teacher react powerfully upon the pupils...."

(Significantly, Wheeler dedicates his book "to the Boy Scouts of America, from one of the advisors to the national court of honor." )

First, I think it worthwhile to point out that industrial arts educators -- according to a University of  Washington master's thesis, Industrial Arts in Education and Leisure, 1940, pp. 90-124, by Paul Hopkins Rule -- considered that the recreational benefits of shop instruction are more important than its vocational training benefits. (Ex: Charles Alpheus Bennett, mentioned above as the founder of both the influential Manual Arts Press and the journal, Industrial Education Magazine, published this article in his journal in 1929: "The General Shop-Recreational Activity".)

The extent of Rule's survey of the pertinent scholarship -- in both its breadth and depth -- is impressive, especially considering that it is for a master's degree. In the future, on the narrative section of this history, I will focus more directly on the matter. (I am indebted to Steven M. Gelbers' monograph, Hobbies: Leisure and the Culture of Work in America, New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, p. 235, for bringing Rule's work to my attention.)

Thus the theory -- make woodworking interesting by emphasizing its recreational benefits -- results in a practice of pointing students to published information sources for finding out about tools, processes, and materials and/or projects, and reduce an instructor's routine duties in the schoolroom so that more time might be left for actual instruction or to concentrate upon pupils' individual needs.

Such testimony goes a long way in helping us understand why woodworking, as a leisure activity for men, increasingly became a popular hobby.

(My intent on the putting "Home" above in red font is to show evidence that, in general, how industrial arts instructors were at the time, themselves, aware of the recreational potential of their courses.)

Second, that the theoretical policy that Woolley articulates reflects a movement in industrial education that ultimately laid at least part of the foundation that encouraged amateur woodworking -- as on leisure time activity -- to blossom.

Significantly, Woolley -- see below -- voices an opinion evidently shared throughout industrial arts education circles in the 1920s:

"Tell me what a boy does of evenings after school or during vacations and I will tell you what kind of a man he will be."

This growth in amateur woodworking in the latter part of the 1920s -- and more definitely in the 1930s -- is registered in several ways:

1. The home workshop movement

2. The formation of the National HomeWorkshop Guild  1933

3. The frequency of allusions to a growth in amateur woodworking recorded in the prefaces of woodworking manuals of the 1930s and 1940s

4. The publication in 1936 of the first of six volumes in the Index of Handicraft series.

I will deal with these issues in the near future.