introspection and the teaching of craft skill

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Introspection and the teachingof craft skillW.M. MacQueen aa Bolton Training CollegePublished online: 30 Jul 2007.

To cite this article: W.M. MacQueen (1952) Introspection and the teachingof craft skill, The Vocational Aspect of Education, 4:8, 19-27, DOI:10.1080/03057875280000021

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I N T R O S P E C T I O N A N D T H E T E A C H I N G O F C R A F T S K I L L

By W. M. M A G Q U E E N

Senior Lecturer, Bolton Training College

The need for personal analysis In a previous article x the writer suggested that, for effective craft skill teaching,

it is necessary for teachers to analyse their own experience in every conceivable relationship to the craft taught. I t is fortunate that the majority of teachers of craft subjects have previously enjoyed industrial experience in the field in which they teach. Appointing authorities are aware of the need for this kind of background. More than anything else it can provide the raw material upon which good craft skill lessons are based and built. I t can supply those links with industry which are so essential for authoritative teaching. I t can bring life and reality into the college workshop and classroom in such a way that the part-time student of a craft has little difficulty in recognising the relationship between his studies and his industrial employment. Many teachers, however, find difficulty in making full use of their past experience in industry, in their teaching. There are many reasons for this. The teacher who, as a craftsman, has used his hands as his main vehicle of expression may not find it easy to verbalise his craft processes. Even if he is particularly gifted in t h e use of language he is likely to find that existing terms are hopelessly inadequate for some of the ideas he wishes to impart. While a teacher of fitting, for example, may say that the flatness of a piece of metal can be assessed by the 'feel' of the file on it, the student who has not yet experienced that 'feel' must remain in doubt about what is meant. Probably the most startling discovery for the beginner in craft skill teaching, is the realisation that most craft expressions require experience for their full comprehension and that the students do not have this experience. Faced with this difficulty teachers might reasonably turn to reading but unfortunately the literature on craft skill teaching is almost non- existent. Almost the only source from which real literature can come is from the teachers themselves. In the past craftsmen have seldom committed themselves to paper and, where they have, the subject has usually been specifically technical and unconnected with teaching method. Some of the literature of psychology ~ contains much of potential value to teachers of craft skills. But here imagination is required in order to see direct significance with teaching. Psychological researches, by their very nature, are conducted in a limited field, and follow highly analytical lines. While manual skill can be researched upon with some degree of success, craft skill, became of its breadth and complexity, will always tend to elude most research techniques. Nevertheless teachers should refer to work which has been done and try to relate significant results to their

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2o Introspection and the Teaching of Graft Skill

own field. I t is not difficult for example to recognise the importance of Pro- fessor Bartlett 's statement: 'The common belief that "practice makes perfect" is not true. I t is practice the results of which are known that makes perfect. 'S There are, for teachers of craft subjects, less pointed works in psychology. In many of these, common human experience in day-to-day affairs is analysed at length, by introspection. We can read of our reactions in any kind of situation which a normal person might encounter. The processes involved in the recognition of an orange, the effects of sudden loud noises, the results of failing to post letters and the means whereby one's dog is recognised in one's own home are but a few examples culled at random from well-known writings. I t is unfortunate that conclusions are seldom drawn from these analyses, for the illustrations and analogies in themselves, while easily understandable, are of little value to the practising teacher. I f the effort and time which have been spent on this introspection about common experience had been focused on the more impor tan t aspect of learning, we might be in possession of much more psychology of value to education.

In the absence of direct help from reading, and because of the difficulties of finding adequate means of easy communication of ideas to his students, the teacher of craft skills is forced to rely on his own resources. These resources are not inconsiderable. They comprise his past industrial experience and his technical training. I t is not easy to use either past industrial experience or technical training with effect. The development of this essential teaching ability requires much imaginative effort and re-examination of self. Intro- spection has for long been a main instrument of psychological study. 4 I t is evident to the writer that introspection must also be a vital tool in craft skill teaching. This will be so until such time as a body of tested knowledge about the subject is so readily available as to make the use of introspection unnecessary.

Introspection

All persons at one time and another reflect on their experiences, emotions, pleasures and pains. I t is widely agreed that this reflection is a mental activity and that by it a person can form some estimate of how his own mind works and of what mental processes lead to considered actions. He can compare notes with other persons. Most people find on comparison that other people think and behave much as they themselves do. This is not surprising, but the fact that normal people tend to think and behave alike had to be established, and much of the work of introspection up to the introduction of experimental psychology was directed a t this end. This thought about experiences and performances and of their effect on self is introspection. Description of introspective experience can never be exact nor can it ever be easily understood. We can never have direct contact with a mind other than our own. Our experience of other minds must always be, at the best, second-hand. The limitation of language is also an obstacle. We are accustomed to speak in terms of things external to ourselves. Thus we say, for example, 'This sandpaper is rough' instead of, 'When I feel this

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w . M. MAC:QUEEN ~X

sandpaper the epidermis of my fingers communicates intermittent prickling pains which induce displeasure and make it difficult for me to stroke comfort- ably.' Again, the act of directing conscious attention to an experience of performance is likely to alter it. When we try to examine our reactions to, say, writing, our thought tends to stray not only from the physical movement of the hand but also from the subject matter of our essay. The statement that 'it is curious that introspection should be found of greater service to the psychology of performance than to the psychology of experience '~ is of significance here. I t is clear that a practical craft situation, about which it is desired to introspect, can always be created at will, and fairly exact repetitions of the same situation can be made without diffÉculty. In the case of introspection about, say, the emotion of anger, however, situations cannot be created at will nor can an experience of anger be repeated with any degree of exactness.

The main purpose of this article is to suggest a procedure by which a craft skill teacher can introspect about his performance and use the results of his introspection with success in his teaching.

Introspection in relation to the teaching of craft skill

Serf-analysis of craft skill performance, unless conducted in a logical, reasoned fashion may result in frustration or in wrong conclusions. Introspection for teaching purposes is best confined in the first instance to a small clearly defined item of craft work. The main reason for this is that, in this kind of investigation, an almost explosive growth of ideas tends to develop and if the origin of these ideas is wide or general it becomes impossible for the individual to cope with them. They become incomprehensible because of the often tenuous and ill- defined relationships which exist in the mind between resulting images, impressions, feelings, emotions and muscular sensations. Another essential feature for successful introspection is that it should be done while the skill under considera- tion is being performed. In the opinion of the writer, verbal expression of introspection in these circumstances is probably the truest form of teaching.

Reference to a particular example may help to make these suggestions more convincing to the reader. In this example it should be clear that the introspection of a skilled person about a particular craft process will of necessity differ in many respects from that of an unskilled person. Consequently the resulting outward expression of this experience in language and in other vehicles of explanation may be difficult to comprehend fully. As has been suggested earlier it is here that the fundamental barriers to easy craft skill teaching are encountered.

The example

Figure I illustrates the skill example chosen, namely that of sawing down the sides of the dovetail sockets on piece B. It should b e emphasised that the scope of this introspection is limited to this one operation which is only a part, albeit an important part, of dovetailing by hand. I t may also be necessary to mention here, for the benefit of those readers who are ignorant of the craft and

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22 Introspection and the Teaching of Craft Skill

kerr"

q : : 5ocKct

F I G U R E I

art in dovetailing, that the skilled craftsman does not need to 'fit' kis joints after sawing. He saws with such accuracy that the sawn surfaces go together without adjustment by more sawing or chiselling or other amateurish practices. Intro- spection on this operation begins with the fixing of piece B in a suitable position in the vice after marking out from piece A.

The introspection

Images of past experience result in the choice of a suitable vice position. These images are mostly muscular and are of two types:

(a) Recall of difficulty in sawing caused by lack of rigidity because the piece to be sawn projected too far out of the vice, either upwards or to the side.

(b) A sense of restriction resulting from too little of the piece being left free, above the vice, to work on.

The vice position chosen is the result of a judgment of balance between these two extremes. Past experience of using dovetail saws which have had their blades buckled by unskilled use in school workshops arises again naturally in glancing along the saw blade before starting to set e the body for sawing. While placing in position the right hand holding the saw and the left hand with thumb to act as guide, an image in the form of a check on setting out is experienced. The mating piece A is imaged in position against piece B so that the faces and edges are in correct alignment. A point oflnterest in this image is that it transcends reality, in that piece A penetrates piece B perfectly although the

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W ° M. M A G ~ U E E N 2 3

sockets on piece B are not yet formed. Such imagery occurs even though the fit has previously been assured by careful scribing transference from A to B at the setting-out stage. Body position and balance with hands and arms set for cutting give a mental sensation of solidity--of low centre of gravity. The saw arm (fight) 'anticipates' response of the saw in cutting. In this anticipation there are sensations of a questioning nature. Will the saw wish to 'drift' to the right or to the left of the mark in starting the kerf? Will there be a ring of hard autumn wood just at this point? Will the estimated slope of the saw coincide with that of the required dovetail socket? The left hand which is going to act as guide to the saw in starting provides several mental sensations. One of the most clearly defined is that of 'distance piece' between the body and the work. Another is an additional sensation of 'flexible rigidity' which combines with impressions of the general body position and spread of the feet. Flexibility arises from free movement of the thumb to locate the saw in correct relation to the m a r k on the wood and almost unconscious bending adjustment in the muscles of the arm. Rigidity is maintained by the firmness of grip on the end of the wood between the fingers and palm of the hand. Before beginning to saw there is an emotion of apprehension that the saw will evade the correct starting position--a few thousandths of an inch may make or mar the finished work in hardwood. Opposed to this there is an impression of confidence arising from experience of having sharpened and set the saw previously. In beginning the cut the outstanding sensation is that of concentration. The mind is wholly occupied in maintaining the saw in the correct position and at the correct slope. There is evidence of mental correction of movement in sawing:

(a) Increase or decrease of side pressure on the saw by the guide thumb.

(b) Slight 'easing back' of the saw and side pressure on the saw on both backward and forward strokes.

(c) "Movement of the head in order to get different views of the setting-out line in relation to the advancing saw kerr.

Once well begun, there is an experience of relief and a surge of confidence in completing the cut. An image of the saw blade in a horizontal position, 'square to the face' of the timber, accompanies the final stroke which ensures that the kerr is the same depth all the way through. Previous experiences again play a large part in inducing almost unconscious compensating pressures of many kinds as the saw encounters variations in the t imber in making this sloping kerf. Having cut one kerr there is a natural tendency to change the set of the body and to saw down the opposite slope of the same socket. Recall of past experience and the need for speed and accuracy resist this tendency, and the set of the body is used to complete all kerfs of the same slope before the change is made. Apprehension is felt keenly in sawing down the end sockets. This is the result of past experience of misjudgments in 'tightness' resulting in splitting off of end pins in final assembly. A sensation of extra concentration on 'taking a little of the line' with the saw is experienced here.

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Observations on the introspection

In addition to the mental impressions which accrue from the performance of this sawing-down operation, there are recurring images in a wider field related to the work on hand. Possibly because of their interference with immediate happenings they are rejected by the mind and are therefore fleeting and dis- connected. These secondary images seem to multiply outwards and are of two kinds. The first is of direct recall of past experience in assembly and final finishing of related work of a similar nature to that on hand. The second is imagery of the work on hand in various stages of construction which have not yet been reached. I t would be almost impossible to describe these peripheral images in any coherent fashion without the appearance of prolixity of explanation; but they are nevertheless important. They could be described as images of reflection and images of anticipation respectively. Of the two the latter are probably the more important. A person endowed with this anticipatory, speculative type of imagery to a marked degree is likely to be successful in skilled craft work. This type of mental process in connection with craft work is probably the result of apprehension about the awful finality of mistakes made in craft material, especially at more advanced stages in the work. It is easy to correct a word which is written or spoken wrongly or to make adjustments to a drawing or calculation on paper. But the wrong decision resulting in a wrong cut in wood, metal or stone may lead, not only to waste of time, but also to complete waste of material and all the difficulties which surround such a situation.

From the foregoing example it should be evident that in relation to the operation chosen many ideas have emerged which would prove valuable in teaching this element of craft skill. I f the teacher can succeed in making his own mental imagery understandable to his students then it is likely that they wiU gain educational advantage from it, in that they will acquire craft skill more quickly and with greater insight than they would by heuristic or imitative learning. The writer resorts constantly to introspection, especially in the preparation of teaching method. I t seems clear that the surest way of resolving difficulties for other persons is first of all to analyse one's own reaction to these difficulties and to one's own method of dealing with them. Dangers of failure abound because of the very expertness of the teacher. He tends to faii to recognise the existence of difficulties confronting his students because he deals with these almost unconsciously. There is especial need for the expert, whose processes have become largely habitual, to introspect.

Careful analysis of this example should show that stages of introspection in relation to a craft skill could be listed and that they could be arranged in the following sequence:

(a) Decision about a starting point for introspection. The choice of a particular element in craft skill around which to build up concepts.

(b) List of manual operations involved in the chosen element.

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W. M. MACQUEEN

(c) Reasons for the use of particular muscle movements. (d) List of mental images which give rise to muscular movements:

(i) related to the work on hand as it develops; (ii) resulting from past experience with similar work;

(iii) resulting from past experience of technical learning;

(e)

25

(iv) resulting from preparation for future developments in the work, in connection with the material, dimensional accuracy, finish, design and durability.

Analysis of (a), (b), (c) and (d) for teaching purposes.

Typical class questions which might emerge from the chosen example are: Why do I grip the timber in the vice in this way? Why do I glance along the saw blade before starting to cut ? Why do I grip the wood between the fingers and palm of the left hand and leave the thumb free to move ? Can you imagine piece A penetrating into piece B? Even if only a sound type of question is discovered and used, as a result of introspection, something very much worth while has been done, but as we have seen many ideas other than these leading to good questions have resulted for this study. One main idea which should be evident is that there is much that can be said about this simple operation that is of value to students, and that the teacher who contents himself when demons- trating by saying laconically, 'Watch me, this is how to do it', may not be very successful.

In considering this small snippet of craft work the non-technical reader may underestimate the complexity of the example chosen. Nevertheless it is but a very small item in the field of carpentry and joincry. Common constructional difficulties which confront the craftsman in making dovetails arc found in dealing with grooves, rebates and mouldings which occur frequently on the material to bc dovetailed. It may bc of interest to the reader to speculate about how the following three sets of dovetail joints could bc made. Figures ~, 3 and 4 show corners which have to bc dovetailed; each presents its own difficulties if the groove, rebate and moulding, respectively, arc to bc continuous around the article and yet no discrepancy is to appear in the work.

The craftsman who is sawing down dovetails for, say, a drawer, should bc capable, not only of making the fitmcnt of which the drawer is a part but also of completing the whole woodwork of the building in which it may bc placed. As a prelude to 'sawing down' the craftsman will have spent quite along time in dealing in mental fashion with all the problems of construction. This mental activity may occupy many hours of his leisure time in addition to his working time, and it is not uncommon for a craftsman to spend sleepless hours resolving the problems presented to him by some constructional obstacle. T. H. Huxley's description 7 of his mental state during his long brooding over perpetual motion schemes is an apt illustration of the kind of mental torment which can arise in relation to craft problems. 'On the spot' decisions about how to joint, cut or fit material arc seldom made, except in repetition work. The mind of the craftsman

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begins to probe the difficulties the moment the work is placed before him, either in the form of words or drawings, and is seldom at rest until the finished project leaves his hand.

1

FIGURE 4

Fxoum~ 3 FIOUI~ 2

I f this kind of mental activity, which is often introspective, is necessary for the craftsman in the execution of his work, how much more essential it is for the teacher of craft subjects in preparing and carrying out his teaching. The body is a thing of hinges and pivots and curved movements which has to live in an unnatural self-created world of straight lines and flat surfaces. Much of the work of craftsmen is concerned with the production of these straight lines and flat surfaces in one kind of material or another. I t is true to say that the straighter the line or the flatter the surface required, the greater the degree of craft skill necessary to produce them. Since our physiological structure makes us predis- posed to produce curved movements, the task of imparting craft skill, while it may not be in conflict with predispositions in the student's mental make-up, will certainly be in conflict with his physiological structure. Herein lies another

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W. M. MACQUEEN 2 7

v e r y i m p o r t a n t r ea son for ca re fu l se l f -s tudy a n d analys is on the p a r t o f t he

t e ache r .

REFERENCES

I. MACQUEEN, W. M. (I951), 'What is Craft Skill?' The Vocational Aspect of Secondary and Further Education, No. 6, Vol. III, p. 36. BoRon, London, Huddersfield.

2. e.g. COX, J. W. (I934). Manual Skill: Its Organisation and Development. Passim. London: Methuen.

3. BARTLETT, F. M. (I948), 'The Measurement of Human Skirl.' Occ. Psy., Vol. XXII , No. 2, p. 86.

4. MeDOUGALL, W. (1947). An Outline of Psychology, p. 3. London: Methuen. 5. WOODWORTH, R. S. (1943). Contemporary Schools of Psychology, p. 42. London: Methuen. 6. Ibid., pp. 36--7 . 7. HUXLEY, L. (x9oo). Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, pp. 2 i - 3. London: Mac-

millan.

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introspection and the teaching of craft skill

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