Joy in the making

For centuries in the Nordic regions, people in rural communities had to depend on and make the most of the resources that they had to hand for their day to day living. In the evenings communities would come together around an open fire. They would tell stories and carve freshly cut wood with a sloyd knife to make functional items for living such as; bowls, drinking vessels, utensils and toys.

Someone who saw great value in this tradition was Uno Cygnaeus, a Finnish Clergyman, educator and chief inspector of the country's school system. He introduced craft education (veisto) to the Finnish curriculum meaning students could learn about farm work, gardening, metal and woodwork. Based on this, a Swedish educator called Otto Salomon, later developed a system of general education with woodworking at its core for the Swedish curriculum. He called it Educational Sloyd. It spread throughout Europe and America and had a significant impact on the early development of manual training, manual arts, industrial education and technical education. Today it is generally acknowledged that Educational Sloyd laid the foundations of modern technological education.

While the term sloyd can literally mean any type of handcraft, woodworking sloyd was seen as the form of craft most conducive to the desired mental, physical and moral development in children. Salomon remarked that the practice had great educational value because "You naturally develop character as you learn with your hands in a comfortable, nurturing environment".

Students of sloyd learned about the use of traditional hand tools, specifically bench tools, the sloyd knife and the axe. They also learned how to select appropriate wood samples from forests and woodlands, the care necessary for working with wood and finally the need for collaborative efforts to accomplish a task. However, what was often considered the most important aspect of educational sloyd, was that the students were encouraged and equipped to enjoy the learning experience.