Assignment10

QUESTION 1Write a note on the significance of

handwork.
Handwork and crafts are to have a specific task
within the context of the curriculum,namely to
awaken creative powers which would find fruitful and
useful application in as manyways as possible in
later life and work.The practising of handwork is not
meant to provide ust a pleasant past!time but to
specificallyhelp the young child to develop a
healthy imagination and harmonise his unfolding
will andfeeling life. "or the older child, the teenager,
the enhancement of these soul faculties willform the
basis for an active thinking life and possibility to
form sound udgment. Again andagain #udolf
$teiner points out that such adult %ualities&for
instance, sound udgment, to have balanced
thinking&depends far more on whether a child was
taught to use his hands, his fingersin a right and
practical way. This leads to the exercising of logical
thinking in later life.The reason for this is based
on one of the fundamental precepts of true
teaching, namely thatwhen we engage the child in
physical, practical activity, such as handwork or 'raft
work, we areworking on the (soulspirit nature) of
that child. However, when we address the
(soulspiritn a t u r e ) , f o r i n s t a n c e , i n s t o r y ! t e l l i
ng, the healthy results are to be found in t
h e ( b o d i l y organism).*t is conse%uently no less
important for the handwork+craft teacher to be
familiar with the natureof soul life and the
development of the child than for the class
teacher. oth should work inaccordance with
how the child is at any time, how he or she
perceives him or herself and theworld. The three
phases of development from play in which the
child experiences the world is-ood upto the age
of / , through the experience of beauty the school
child from / to 1 to theattainment of truth the
adolescent years help the child transform what
was play into the basisfor his+her motivation in the
realm of work. This -olden 2ath in education forms
the guidelinein handwork as well. The younger child
learns by play to fashion simple toys, developing
whathe or she makes out of stories. The
handwork teacher then gradually leads the
child to theawareness of colour and form in
order to create artistic forms and to have a
sense for what is beautiful. 3ater with the older
child and the teenager, the sense for what is
practical is awakenedand developed out of the
artistic way of working4 by learning to respond to the
materials, by thedevelopment of manual skills and
the correct use of tools. That all articles made in
handworkshould express beauty in some form goes
without saying. *t is however, e%ually important
thatthe functional aspect, the way to use the article,
is also apparent in the particular design given tothe
article. This is a new and ob ective discipline
inherent in all practical 5 activities and
isessential to all true 'raft 2ractice.6hat follows is an
attempt to outline the essential elements and
practice of the "ormal Hand6ork 'urriculum. *t is one
with which we may be familiar. However, * believe
due to changingcircumstances of today, we could
benefit from a rethink and adaptation into our
present time.#enewing The 'raft 'urriculum in view
of the increasing occurrence of many basic
learningand behavioural problems presented by
children throughout the school, are we not
challenged
to provide an education more consciously focused o
n the (experiential)7 An education that isartistic,
practical and intellectually stimulating7 2erhaps too
much of our education is directed at
the Thinking 8an and rarely descends to
creatively satisfy the 6ill 8an. The renewed
'raft'urriculum is an attempt to lead the child+pupil
on a path of education that ascends from
belowupwards. *t is essentially a path that offer an
education of the 6ill. *t would appear that if we areto
address the lameness of the 6ill that is so
apparent we would need to be more creative
inadopting and applying a practical approach to our
teaching in all classes throughout the school.* have
therefore taken the
liberty to augment the traditional hand
work curriculum withs u g g e s t i o n s f o r a v a r i
ety of practical activities that could be
s e e n a s p a r t o f a 9 e w :evelopmental 'raft
'urriculum, see (A :escent *nto 8atter)$oft and Hard
Handwork. $omeconfusion has, unfortunately, arisen
regarding the different areas of handwork. Handwork
refersto the soft material work using mainly
unprocessed raw materials. Handcraft includes
clay,wood, paper, leather etc. and is mainly
taught to children from 15 years onwards.'raft is
aspecific type of work and only applies in 6aldorf
schools where pupils have already achieved
ageneral knowledge and range of skills in the
use of different materials and tools, which
theynow apply to a specific craft,such as
weaving. Hand6ork 'hildren are first
introduced tohandwork by way of soft natural
materials. Here, in response to the subtle
direction of theteacher, the child creates out of his
or her feelings, whilst being shown and guided how
to carefor the materials and the simple tools used.
The sensitive use of colour plays an important partin
the child)s en oyment of the handwork lessons4
helping the child form a meaningful,
personalrelationship to colour can also serve to
bring that child)s feeling nature into harmony.
This inturn can work beneficially on the
breathing and blood circulation of the child. ;
Hand 'raft3ater in handcraft, using harder materials,
for instance various types of wood, stronger forces
ofwill are needed. The limbs and the whole body are
engaged in this activity. There is a differencein the
experience of making soft toys, a stuffed animal, for
instance, to that of an animal carvedout of wood. *n
the first instance, soft material, flat pieces of
material, receive their nature from inside.*n the case
of carving an animal out of wood the hard material
receive sits nature from outside.Again in the first
instance, the child makes manifest in the stuffing of
the animal, the filling
out processes in his or her own body.*n woodwork,
however, a person works like the action ofwater,
sculpting the rock over which it flows. A child is only
really ready for this sort of activityfrom about the
twelfth year on, after the child)s formative forces
have developed his or
her body. <nly then is it possible for the growing hu
man being to harness these inwardly actingforces
and work with them outwardly, fashioning his or
her materials. 'raft6ork "inally, incraftwork, the
adolescent should have a chance to find a
growing sense of confidence andability in the
realm of work. 'orrespondingly, the desire to find
where he or she can contributesomething in the
world around can awaken an interest in the practical
affairs of life. $ee furtherunder the handwork and
craft curriculum notes. To sum up, it could be
stated that while allhandwork engages the whole
human being, it is essentially in the following ways
that handworkaffects a growing child4= it lifts motor
activity to the realm of skill= it transforms will power
into beauty of form= it changes what
would otherwise be an insignificant activity into a
virtue.<nly when the pupil, the crafts person
responds sensitively to the nature of his or her
materialsand the correct use of his or her
tools, is motor activity raised to the realm of
skill <nly inworking artistically with design, colour
and from is will power transformed into beautiful
form.
And only when these two aspects are combined
in work that also allows the person to have
asense of fulfillment, a sense of true purpose in his
or her work, can what might otherwise
be aninsignificant act be raised to the status of a
virtue. These then could perhaps be called the
ThreeTransforming 2owers of handwork, powers
that are essential for the unfolding of true
humandevelopment.HA9:6<#>A9:
'#A"T$ '?##*'?3?8 6H@4True education aims to
serve the needs of the whole human being4 Head,
Heart and Hands are brought into a particular
relationship with each other in the practice of
handwork and crafts. *nthese lessons, pupils have
the opportunity to (tangibly grasp) the world and give
expression totheir latent creativity. Handwork and
craft activities not only serve to educate the pupils in
thenature and processes involved with the different
materials, the use of tools and e%uipment,
etc., but there is also inherent the therapeutic aspect
from which the pupils benefit. "or it is in thevery
nature of handwork+crafts to ring <rder and
to estow <rder. To bring order to
thematerials used and to bestow order upon the
maker. *n the practice of ceramics, for instance,
a potter not only leaves his imprint, his thumb print
on the clay, but is also inwardly impressed bythe
creative process at work. y (impressed), is
meant the formative element working to)-
round) and give ($hape) to the newly
released Astral ody, particularly so in the
young person.*n addition to the educational and
formative benefit that crafts can offer there is
the definiteelement
of manual skills training and, for
the older students, a useful
introduction to anexperience of real work.
Apart from these benefits, the involvement in
craft work offers the pupil the challenge to learn to
work from the conceptual through to the material. *n
this processthe pupil will be guided to experience
and become conscious of exercising, at the
hand of thework place, very human attributes, both
on an emotional and intellectual level.