The Wisdom of Our Hands
The Wisdom of Our Hands

Author: Doug Stowe

Publisher: Linden Publishing

Published: 2022-02-22

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9781610355018

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A guide to living fully and humanely by learning the wisdom of authentic manual work. Most of us modern people live in a world of constant abstraction, immersed in our heads and our screens. But there is a deeper wisdom in working with your hands in the real world. In The Wisdom of Our Hands, craftsman and educator Doug Stowe shows how working with handcrafts, either professionally or as a hobby, is essential for a full education and a full life. Based on his 45 years as a woodworker and 20 years as a teacher of handcrafts, Stowe argues that human beings have a natural need to express themselves creatively through tangible work. The use of one's hands and whole body to make physical things promotes both physical and mental health and fosters a sense of mastery in both young and adult students. A life of craftsmanship is also an opportunity and obligation to define one's own values. Drawing on his experiences living and working in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a town dedicated to handcrafts and arts, Stowe demonstrates how craft work creates community, forges deeper social bounds, and fosters a saner attitude about the value of relative value of human labor and material goods. A quietly radical and spiritual blueprint for a deeper and more connected way of life, The Wisdom of Our Hands is a transformational book.

The Education of Man
The Education of Man

Author: Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2022-09-06

Total Pages: 62

ISBN-13: 150407887X

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Timeless words of wisdom from the eighteenth-century teacher who transformed the world of education with his groundbreaking ideas. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi rose to prominence during the Age of Enlightenment, bringing the spirit of equal opportunity and respect for human personality into the classroom, just as Thomas Jefferson imbued such virtues into the Declaration of Independence. The foundation of Pestalozzi’s educational philosophy rested on six principles: the inner dignity of the individual; the promise of potential in each child; love as the basis of education (as opposed to punishment); his doctrine of Anschauung, experience-based learning; appropriate action following Anschauung, and an emphasis on repetition of said action. This philosophical grounding influenced the great remaking of American education from 1830 to 1860, resulting in changes that have been felt through the centuries and remain relevant today. The Education of Man gathers Pestalozzi’s enduring thoughts on subjects as wide-ranging as humanity, teaching, poverty, justice, truth, and nature, including such observations as . . . People are led by custom and catchwords, but facts they are wont to overlook. The man who seeks to rule as a father before he has learned to love as a brother will never be a patriarch. Sooner or later, but of a certainty in the end, Nature will take her toll for what men do against her. Learning is not worth a penny when courage and joy are lost along the way. The world grows poor in seeking to avoid poverty; the man who strives for riches most earnestly is seen to be the poorest.

The Greatest Educators Ever
The Greatest Educators Ever

Author: Frank M. Flanagan

Publisher: Burns & Oates

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13:

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'The Great Educators' brings together the most influential and interesting educators of all time. With entries ranging from Plato to Jesus, and Froebel to Freire, this book provides a fascinating overview of the development of educational thought through the ages. Frank Flanagan writes engagingly and accessibly, considering each educator's unique contribution and placing it in a historical and intellectual context. A fascinating read for educators and students alike.

The Technology of Teaching
The Technology of Teaching

Author: B. F. Skinner

Publisher: B. F. Skinner Foundation

Published: 2016-04-26

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 099645392X

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On Parent's Day, in 1952, B. F. Skinner visited his daughter's fourth grade math class. As he watched the lesson, he became increasingly uncomfortable. Almost every principle of effective teaching that he had studied for more than 20 years was being violated in that classroom. Yet it was a typical class. The teacher showed how to solve the day's problems, then gave the students a worksheet to do. Some children began to work readily while others shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, or raised their hands for help. The teacher went from desk to desk, giving help and feedback. Skinner knew what was needed. Each student should be given a problem tailored precisely to his or her skill level, not to the class average, and every answer needed to be assessed immediately to determine the next step. The task was clearly impossible for one teacher. That afternoon, Skinner set to work on a teaching machine. Today's computers have made the mechanical machine obsolete, but the principles of how to design instruction in steps that lead from a basic level to competent performance are as valid today as they were in the 20th century. This book brings together Skinner's writings on education during the years he was most involved in improving education.