Sloyd: & Woodworking Classses Over the Years

Above: LCC students in the Sloyd Room, 1910

LCC Archives

BY JANE MARTIN, LCC ARCHIVIST

Barely mentioned in LCC’s written history, woodworking classes called “Sloyd” began in the school’s first decade and continued until c. 1960. Older alumni may recall the “Sloyd Room” in the basement, where they learned to use basic hand tools under the supervision of faculty members Walter McBroom, and later Rev. Frank Gilmore.

The name “Sloyd” was derived from the Swedish slöjd, meaning handiwork or crafts, and refers to a once well-known program of manual training for school children that was developed in Sweden in the late 19th century. Spreading quickly to England and North America, it was an ambitious concept that required specially trained instructors and proper equipment and space. Not intended as vocational training, the program viewed the development of specific hand skills as an aid to character-building and the mental and physical development of the whole person.

Now we can only speculate to what extent the original concept of Sloyd was adopted at LCC, and for how long it was maintained. After its impressive start, the Sloyd movement had fallen out of favour in Canada by the end of the First World War, whereas some form of woodworking or carpentry instruction was maintained at LCC for decades. We conclude that the term “Sloyd” at the school became a lingering anachronism, with its origin largely forgotten today.