ABSTRACT

This essay examines rhetorical education for children of immigrants at North Bennet Street Industrial School (NBSIS) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. NBSIS, located in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of Boston’s North End, taught children of elementary and grammar school age through a manual training pedagogy and specifically, the Sloyd method of handiwork. I analyze archival documents using frameworks of Sloyd, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and usability theories to argue that products made during manual training and Sloyd taught children of immigrants how to become citizen workers as defined by white, middle-class values. Students’ material works were products of US performance intended to develop students into industrious, moral workers; influence immigrants’ households and other users of products; and direct students to self-correct and strive to become better workers. This essay highlights that materials help define, assess, and regulate learning, especially for young learners, within complex historical contexts.

摘要

本文考察了19世纪末至20世纪初在北本尼特街工业学校（NBSIS）对移民子女的修辞教育。NBSIS位于波士顿北区的主要意大利居民区，通过手工培训教育法，特别是Sloyd的手工方法，教了小学和语法年龄的孩子。我使用Sloyd，工艺美术运动和可用性理论的框架分析档案文件，认为在手工培训期间生产的产品和Sloyd教会了移民孩子如何成为白人，中产阶级价值观所定义的公民工人。学生的物质作品是美国表现的产物，旨在培养学生成为勤奋的道德工作者；影响移民家庭和其他产品使用者；引导学生自我纠正，并努力成为更好的工人。本文强调指出，这些材料有助于在复杂的历史背景下定义，评估和规范学习，特别是对于年轻的学习者。