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February 2002
Paper modelling in school
Swedish schools every year present some "tasks of free choice"
which means that pupils are offered different projects where they can find
themselves interesting things to learn that are not on the ordinary
timetable. Last autumn the pupils in grade 5-6 of "Strömsskolan"
were given the chance to build the Bildrum paper model of the three-mast
schooner "Isolda" which can be downloaded for free from the
Gothenburg Maritime Museum.
The school "Strömsskolan" in Lilla Edet on the west
coast of Sweden is actually situated close to Lödöse where the Isolda
was built 100 years ago.
A group of boys choose the paper model project initiated and led by
the teacher Sören Sparre. The boys, aged 11-12, had none or little
experience of model building. Of course they found the task difficult as
Isolda is a detailed scale model and not a simplified "childrens
model". But the boys also found the model building exciting. And lots
of pride grew as the models grew.
The pictures commented below are photographed by Yngve Eriksson and
Sören Sparre during the autumn 2001.
For this spring 2002, Sören Sparre has introduced the same project to a group of girls. My own experience is that girls actually are much better model builders than boys, only that they don´t know it. Let´s hope that the girls find their way to self-confidence and to the joy of paper modelling. GS
