Role of Craft Education in Design Pedagogy

2017

This paper demonstrates the manner in which craft enhances discussion in design education and how ‘experienced knowledge’ from materialised form processes raises perspectives relating to interactions between people and products. The sustainable perspective of the crafting approach to design education is connected to the perception and awareness of materials and forms in ways that also go beyond the making of physical products. By choosing craft as the core subject of this paper, the authors raise questions about: (i) the role of materialisation in design thinking and (ii) the concepts of culture and aesthetics in design. The perspectives of Howard Gardener’s theory of “multiple intelligences” (2011), and ‘material-agency’, from the two last decades of practice-based and practice-led research, are used to frame the discussion in this paper. The use of the concept ‘material-agency’ emphasises the role of craft and the way it describes how materials and materialisation processes affect...

The central idea of the present article is to describe pedagogical practices that allow one to acknowledge nature of design learning and role of material artifacts in design process. This article emphasizes the essence of craft education as design oriented activity and as a form of design based learning. Designing is inherently included into craft processes and craft can be seen as the way to materialize the design thinking. It is argued that design learning provides students important opportunities to work with complex design tasks within authentic and meaningful learning contexts. The focus is on the nature of authentic design problems and materialization of conceptual ideas in design learning. Further, the Learning by Collaborative Designing (LCD) –model is explicated. Finally, the implications of design learning and possible future directions for craft education in Finland will be discussed.

The craft education – previously textile and technical work - has been an independent and obligatory school subject already when the Finnish school system was established in 1866. The craft education has had the official and equal position within other school subjects for a relatively long time. Moreover, from the very beginning craft education has been separated from art education, which is not very common in other countries. To compare with other countries, thus far the craft education has been able to keep a quite steady position in Finland (Garber, 2002). The holistic craft processes emphasized in National Curriculum for Basic Education 2004 highlight the iterative nature of design process; ideation, testing and making as well as reflective and evaluative aspects related to craft design (Fnbe 2004, 242). Designing is essentially included into craft processes and craft can be seen as the way to materialize the design thinking. In this article, I would like to put emphasis on the essence of craft education as design oriented activity. I would like to argue that craft education, as a form of design based learning, have a lot of potential to offer for integrated and inclusive curriculum, especially in elementary level of education.

Design programmes are undergoing continual pedagogical and curriculum development, especially as the role of the designer evolves and broadens and as new technologies become accessible and mainstream. As a relatively new academic option, product design at AUT was in a strong position to respond to these changes without the constraints of history and tradition. However as the programme became more established, an opportunity to reflect on the character, content and approach was appropriate. One result of this was consideration of the importance and contribution of 'craft' in the programme and how to make this more explicit. This has been achieved by presenting three thematic pathways to expose students to different design approaches. This paper outlines the structure of these pathways across the three-year programme. Specifically we discusses the pedagogical approach of the 'emotional' pathway, and present project case studies from each year of study to demonstrate how the 'emotional' theme is aligned with overall learning objectives to show the development of a curriculum that acknowledges the traditions of the past while embracing emerging disciplinary challenges for new design graduates.

FORMakademisk, 2015

This paper describes the views of student teachers of craft about the future of craft as a school subject. The study was conducted at the University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education, in Rauma in 2014. The literature review revealed that the subject of craft in Finnish basic education is understood as a dialog between the maker and the materials. However, teaching and learning craft in schools and in teacher education has a strong gender-based tradition. The aim of this study is to investigate student teachers’ understanding of craft as a school subject in the future and their solutions to teaching craft in basic education. The data were collected from essays (N = 20) written by student teachers of craft. The essays were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. The results showed that the student teachers of craft viewed holistic craft, reflective action readiness, entrepreneurial behaviour, multiple skills, the use of versatile materials, and craft as sources of pleas...

15th Annual STS Conference Graz 2016, 2016

https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2022/researchpapers/25/, 2022

The design profession evolved during technologically transformative times of industrialization. While the requirements of mass production have been the major paradigm shaping the nature of industrial design education in industrialised countries, developing countries also embraced it despite their late and peculiar processes of industrialisation. The idea was that the industrial sectors in these countries would also need industrial designers who are able to design products for mass production. This, in turn, caused the ignorance of crafts or at best the view to keep them as a source of product ideas that would appeal to tourists or export markets looking for "authentic" products. In this paper, we will explore the past and current ways of linking with crafts in design education in three countries with different historical backgrounds and industrialization experiences. We identify some of the notable differences and overlaps in the integration of crafts in design schools in three different countries and show reciprocal influences between crafts and design schools with a modernist tradition.

2016

This proposal aims to investigate and validate the design action by interpreting a culture of making (La Pietra, 1997) applied to the case of the development of straw articles, typical from Fafe region (Northern Portugal), supported by the concept of design experience (Brown, 2005). The first part explores the technique of straw utilization in order to understand their leverage on design method. The second part presents arguments that sustain that the technique can reach a new existence, if framed in connection with Academy and business reality. To support this idea, the authors present a project, initiated with the participation of 30 undergraduate design students. As a result, the projects scope is focused on the exploitation of the straw concept, moving towards its application in different scenarios. Methodologically the authors use the logic of meta-design (Mendini, 1969), connecting the Academy to the community. In educational terms it is intended to guide design student learn ...

2017

In this study, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the subject Art and crafts in general education in Norway is examined through a survey and qualitative interviews with teachers. The finding that traditional craft is prioritized above ICT is here presented and discussed. The results show that several teachers view their pupils as “digital natives” who will master the digital tools anyway, while they fear that material knowledge, motor skills and craftsmanship will be lost. The writings of Vetlesen (2015) and Sennett (2008) on the relationship between craft and technology is used to shed light on the teachers’ priorities. The term “digital natives” is discussed against Nordkvelle and Fritze’s term “medialized”, which raises the suggestion that mastery of ICT does not apply to a whole generation. This leads to the conclusion that the subject Art and crafts should include both ICT and craft.

2023

In Latvia, the aim, content, and name of the subject of craft education have changed several times. The most recent transformation to "craft education" has been made following the general education reform, which has been gradually implemented since 2020. This study aims to investigate how the purpose and content of craft learning in Latvian comprehensive schools have changed as a result of this reform in comparison to the previous period. A qualitative study was carried out by analysing normative documents and interviewing design and technology teachers (N = 9) with at least 10 years of experience. The document analysis shows that the goal of teaching craft education has shifted from using craft as an opportunity to improve the quality of the living environment through creative involvement in techniques to producing valuable objects for oneself and society through the design process. The most significant change in the content is that craft is taught through the design process. Moreover, every pupil learns all the techniques; previously, students chose textile or woodwork and metalwork techniques from grade 5. According to the interviews, the skills acquired in each technique are at a lower level compared to the previous period, as the number of hours allocated to each technique does not allow pupils to pay in-depth attention to the tasks. The products made by the students have also become more straightforward. Finally, more time is spent on idea generation, planning, and evaluation.