How work of hands aids Adolescent development (A Montessori Perspective)

Introduction

“Men with hands and no head, and men with head and ho hands are equally out of place in the modern community” – Dr. Maria Montessori, Appendix A, page 66, From Childhood to Adolescence

Dr. Montessori felt hands and head are equally important for human beings. Maria Montessori and Mario Montessori had a great reverence for hand when they talk about the education of the whole personality.

Hand is the tool for the mind to execute its ideas. It is the key for transformation of the world around humans. Hand helped human beings to create their own tool for their needs. It is the hand which made many things possible from the imagination of the minds.

Hand is the first artistic tool of the humans. It is through the hand humans expressed their love, desire and feelings to another human being and the world. Hand plays a major role in arts and music. We can see how each musical instrument requires a different way of using hands. Hands help us to express in dance forms.

So, we can see hands as a tool of transformation of the environment and a tool of expression from the inner most layer of the human being. Hence hands play a major role in the human beings both on physical side and also on the spiritual side. When we talk about spirituality, we can see how different hand gestures are used for prayers.

In Montessori education, the importance of the work of hands is very unique in each plane of development. In the first plane, hand is the tool for the children to experience the world around them. It is the tool of connection to the outer world and the gateway to their minds. In the second plane, Children connect to the supra-nature, inventions, and creativity of humanity through the tools created by the humans. In the third plane, students use their hands to work in land and experience hand as a tool of transformation of their own community. On the other hands, they use their hands to express themselves in different ways for their inner needs and the need of the community. From this, we can see how the work of the hands contributes to the holistic development of a human being. Even though we assume we know a lot about hands, it is very surprising to see and understand about hands from the scientific perspective.

Scientific understanding of Hands

“The hand at rest is beautiful in its tranquility, but it is infinitely more appealing in the flow of action. When the hand is at rest, the face is at rest; but a lively hand is the product of a lively mind. The involvement of the hand can be seen in the face, which is in itself a sort of mirror to the mind. – John Napier, Page 4, Hands

From the above words, we can understand the connection between hands and mind. Many times, we assume that the work of the mind as the greatest and most intellectual work. We do not make a connection between the hand and the mind. John Napier in his book “Hands” says that we take our hands for granted. This is so true; we can never imagine how many actions we do with our hands from carrying weights to holding the feathers which are strong, delicate, and fine movements are connected to the mind and soul.

When we think of hands, we can also think of the sense of touch. Touch helps us to experience the environment as a feeling. It is the only sense which has the most physical contact with the world. John Napier described human hand as the chief organ for sense of touch. He said that humans can see in the dark using their hands and touch.

John Napier explains that he looks at the hand at 3 levels – Structure – the physical basis, function - the integrated action of the physical part; and behavior – the deployment of function in the environment.

When he talks about the structure, he explains that each persons’ hand is unique in its expression and he relates the skill of the hand to the brain. “The hands, like the face, are prime areas for the expression of individuality. The skill of the hand lies in the brain and it is here that dexterity and adroitness (or clumsiness) originate. The hand is a mirror of the brain; therefore, there can be no such combination as dextrous hands and clumsy brains” – John Napier, page 24-25, Hands.

John Napier explains opposition as the most important movement of the human hand. He also explains about the Prehensile and non-prehensile movements. He also explains the importance of thumb. He said “Without the thumb, the hand is put back 60 million years in evolutionary terms to a stage when the thumb had no independent movement and was just another digit.” – John Napier, page 62, Hands

From John’s perspective, the most important behaviour in the history of human kind is the making of tools. Benjamin Franklin was the first to describe Man as a “Tool making animal.” Tool making is a significant feature of human species. Johan Napier describes tool making as an affair of the central nervous system and movement of activity from percept to concept. He also refers imagination as a basic to tool-making.

“Every stone tool is an act of imagination and—for Aristotle—of artistry, for, as he expressed it in Departibus tmimalium. Art consists of the conception of the result to be produced before its realization in the material. Toolmaking is a key function in a given fossil in that it supposes the presence of a number of contingent human characteristics such as the power and precision of the hands, bipedalism, and a large brain. The living great apes, whose hands are classed as true hands, never had a chance to deploy them as people have done. – page 99”

When we see hands from a scientific perspective, we come across the evolution of human hands over millions of years through the hard work of the past human beings. We can also see the current human hand as a gift from our ancestors. This also brings the question of our contribution to humanity by proper use of hands.

Work of hands in Adolescent community

Montessori describes Adolescence as a new social being. The aim of the secondary education is to educate the personality of the students so that the individual can become a fully functional individual who can be a contributing member of the society. The developmental task of the adolescent is to do adult work and to participate in the society.

“Education is after all seen as a response to all that is happening naturally within the child and growing adolescent, not something we impose upon the young of our species. Dr. Montessori’s instructed us to observe the child/adolescent as body, mind, and spirit and hoped that we would be awed by the power of its ability toward self-construction.” – Ludick, Work of the hands, page 92-93, NAMTA Journal

When we observe the adolescents, we understand the challenges they face in terms of intellectual capability due to the physical and psychological changes in them. On one side is the requirements of secondary education with huge curriculums and concepts to be learnt and on the other side is the needs and characteristics of the adolescents. Work of the hand can be the balancing element between these 2 things. Montessori brings the work of the hand in both the social organization and the education syllabus.

Hand as a tool of transformation

The prepared environment is a key to the development as it corresponds to the needs and characteristics of the adolescents. Prepared environment helps adolescents to form social relationships. The prepared environments bring the different aspects of the adult life (occupations/roles) to the adolescents. The residence, community, farm, shop, guest house – all of these requires the adolescence to work in different roles which involves both physical and intellectual work.

Maintenance of a physical space requires a lot of manual work. It becomes a necessity for the students to work on maintaining the space where they live. When there is no adult who will be responsible for their space, they realise the importance of doing the work. It becomes a purposeful work for the adolescents.

The work of hand in the practical life skills if the most purposeful work for the adolescents. When they work in cooking, cleaning, preparing the place for their study, arranging the community space for the day, they realize the importance of the simple preparations that are necessary for an adult life. When they work in kitchen and cook for the entire community, they realize the importance and contribution of different adults in different ways so that other community members can work on their study or other works. This gives them the confidence to live as an individual in any part of the world.

“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of Man” – George Washington

Adolescents live and work in the farmland. The land becomes their new home. The land gives them the protection necessary from the outer world. Adolescents get connected to the land through their work. The land offers adolescents an opportunity to understand the love for nature and the hard work of the farmers. Adolescents realize the necessities of the community and the land becomes their field of action. They use their hands to transform the farmland into a community of their own. They see the transformation of the environment as the magic of their hands. They understand the hard work of the people and the power of working with hands.

This gives them the confidence to live in the adult world. When they work with their hands and receive feedback from the land as produces, they understand that they can modify their environment through their presence and work.

“The independence has more educational value than practical value; that is to say it has a closer connection with the psychology of the adolescent than an immediate utility.” – Maria Montessori, The Reform of secondary education, page 81, AMI communications, 2011,1 and 2

The shop and the guest house are the great avenues to experience social life and economic independence. The shop provides them an opportunity to sell their products to the nearby people and it also brings an opportunity to buy produces from other farmers in the locality. Thereby adolescents get a chance to get involved in the commerce and exchange. The rural market places are great place to observe the work of the hands. Becoming a part of a local market students learn a lot about the place. To carry their produces to the market or the shop, display the produces and selling it to the customers all involves the work of the hands. This work is completely different from domestic work required by the residential space and the work demanded by the agriculture. The shop gives them a different kind of activity for their hands. When they do the activities necessary for the shop, they understand the full cycle of production to commerce. While they sell their products and receive the money from the customers, they experience economic independence which is psychological need of the age. Hence the work of the hands in the shop gives them an avenue for the development.

The guest house is completely different from the shop. While they sell their produces in the shop, guest house is a place where they offer their services to people. They experience service as a commodity in the guest house. The guest house gives an opportunity to meet different kinds of people who work in different areas of specialization. They get an opportunity to interact with people with different occupations which helps them to converse, ask questions and understand different professions. In terms of social life, when different kinds of people stay in the guest house adolescents learn to socialize, interact, and take care of people with different kinds of needs and personalities. This also gives them an opportunity to meet different personalities. But all these needs the work of their hands. Students learn to prepare the space for different people. In this process, they learn to beautify the space using different materials from the environment.

The study and work plan are another avenue where the adolescence need to contribute through their physical and intellectual work. The practical work in the study and work plan is the origin for their study. The practical work creates a need for the adolescence to build, modify, enhance the land and materials around them for a specific need of the community or the individuals living in the community. When the work arises from a need, the adolescents show a great interest to work. They see their work as a contribution to the community.

The work of the hands in the study and work plan is completely different from the work needed to be done for the social organization. Here the work leads the study of specific topics. The study contributes to the work and the work contributes to the study. This brings double joy in the heart and soul of the adolescents. They understand the relationship between the work of the body and the mind. The study and work plan offers an opportunity to experience a topic or a specialization through work of their hands and work of their minds at the same time. The practical work helps them to understand the different occupations which helps to understand themselves as a person. They come to know what skills they are good at, what skills they can learn and do and what skills they need help from their peers. This helps them to understand their personality through work. Hence the work of the hands in study and work plans helps in the valorization of the personality.

Hand as a tool of expression

Self-expression help adolescents to open-up by exploring different artistic forms through art, music, and language. Self- expression offers opportunities to explore as an individual and as a group. The work of the hands through art, music and language helps adolescents to express their ideas, thoughts, and their personality in different ways. Hence the work of hands in learning dance forms, in playing a musical instrument or using their hands as a body language during debates are the different ways of expressing their personality which helps in the development of the personality.

Self-care is another area where the work of the hands is necessary. Adolescents need to take care of themselves and their peers when they live in the community. They use their hands in self-care and helping their friends. Adolescents have a keen interest in skin care and hair care. They discuss a lot about these things. Taking care of each other and themselves also requires different ways of working with their hands. For example, adolescents love having different types of hairstyles for different occasions. They enjoy trying out different hairstyles with the help of their friends. This gives them an opportunity to serve themselves and the other.

Conclusion

In the paper “Work of the hands,” Ludick writes as

“Hand is recognized as an instrument of the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional aspects of the personality, all converging upon this characteristic organ which, by serving all, contributes to their integration and harmonious growth.” – Ludick, page 95, Work of the hands

Dr. Montessori wrote in the chapter “Functions of the university” in From Childhood to adolescence as

“True study and thinking require the same association as is required by manual work…work of the hand… It was always realized that anyone who does work that is too hard must join together with others. The first reform in education must be to offer a wider environment and to multiply the possibilities of working in association and of activity…the inert child who has never worked with his hands, who has never had the feeling of being useful and capable of effort, who never found by experience that to live means living socially, and that to think and to create, means to make a harmony of souls; he will become a selfish youth. He will be pessimistic and melancholy and will seek on the surface of vanity the compensation for a lost paradise. (From Childhood to Adolescence, page 92)”

Dr. Montessori wrote in the chapter “ErdKinder” - “Adolescent should have a life of activity and variety.”

In this essay, we saw how the ErdKinder environment provides different set of opportunities for adolescents to work with their hands as a tool for expression and transformation.

Adolescents transform themselves in physical, social, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of their beings when they transform the environment. This transformation of the body, soul and mind in an integrated way helps them to develop as a holistic individual. When adolescents are given the opportunity to work with their hands, heart, and heads, they become sculptors of their own life. Understanding the power of the hands helps them to become contributing member of the society.

“He who works with his hands is a labourer. He works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist – St. Francis of Assisi”

Adolescents express themselves through hands in different forms. This expression of the self-acts as a mirror to see themselves in the outer world. This helps them to build their identity as an individual. Knowing one-self who they are gives them to enter the adult world with confidence and self-awareness. This is a great asset for an individual.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. – Aristotle”

References

1. Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence

2. AMI Communications, Lectures of Maria Montessori on Adolescents

3. John Napier, Hands, Princeton University Press

4. Pat Ludick, The Work of the hand Essay,