Craft & craft education

Crafts and craft education as expressions of cultural
heritage: individual experiences and collective values
among an international group of women university
students
Sirpa Kokko • Patrick Dillon
Published online: 6 July 2010
Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
Abstract This paper explores relationships between crafts, craft education and cultural
heritage as reflected in the individual experiences and collective values of fifteen female
university students of different nationalities. The students (all trainee teachers) were
following a course in crafts and craft education as part of an International Study Programme
in Finland. Data were collected from a small group activity and individual autobiographical
essays. The essays were analysed qualitatively using Atlas-ti. Key statements were con-
solidated under three headings: personal values and meanings placed on crafts; cultural,
community and family influences; and crafts at school. The outcomes of the group activity
and the essays are discussed under these headings. Concluding perspectives are offered on:
intellectual foundations for crafts in educational systems; competition between beliefs,
ideas, and forms of behaviour in respect of the practice of crafts and perceptions of cultural
heritage; and tensions among the aesthetic and economic dimensions of crafts.
Keywords Crafts Á Craft education Á Cultural heritage Á Cultural patterns Á
Comparative experiences Á Comparative values
Introduction
One of the defining characteristics of humankind is the multitude of ways in which it has
adapted to different environments. People through the millennia have generated styles and
techniques based on local values and economic necessity giving rise to distinctive local
cultures and associated ways of doing things. We call these intricate relationships between
people, the places in which they live, the ways they conduct their lives, and the traditions
and rituals that bind it all together ‘cultural heritage’.
However, the interrelated processes of globalisation and technological change are
strongly affecting cultural heritage in different regions of the world. Globalisation leads to
cultural fusion resulting from markets coalescing and competition between behaviours and
S. Kokko (&) Á P. Dillon
University of Eastern Finland, PL 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
e-mail: sirpa.kokko@uef.fi
123
Int J Technol Des Educ (2011) 21:487–503
DOI 10.1007/s10798-010-9128-2

symbols that formerly seldom came into contact. Technological change increases the stock
of scientific and technical knowledge, increases in the number of people with access to it,
and increases the use of this knowledge to create new products and processes. On the one
hand, these changes are associated with economic growth, wealth creation and increased
mobility leading to a wider appreciation of cultural forms. On the other hand they threaten
to overrun tradition and create bland uniformity.
For the purposes of this paper, culture is taken to be the relationship between a given
group of people and their environment. It includes patterns of production and consumption
and the beliefs, values and structures that maintain these patterns. Cultural heritage is taken
to be a culture that can be identified with a particular place and time and where the patterns
of production and consumption and the beliefs, values and structures together constitute a
distinct tradition.
Culture and cultural heritage are complex manifestations of collective human behaviour
and they are difficult to study and describe in their entirety. Certain facets of culture, are
however more accessible, in particular, its ‘material’ aspect, because this involves tangible
goods and services. Thispaper concentrates on one aspect of material culture, crafts. So called
‘crafts’ and ‘craft traditions’ are not only manifestations of cultures, they often help define
them (Lucie-Smith 1981; Kupiainen 2000). Crafts are artefacts made by people typically, but
not exclusively, from the primary resources of their local environment (e.g. minerals, plant
materials, animal materials). The artefacts generally have practical utility and/or decorative
qualities. Pottery, textiles, and utensils are examples of craft artefacts. Craft traditions include
the skills needed to make the artefacts and the lifestyles associated with the expression of
those skills, including the ways in which the skills are passed from one generation to the next
(Dormer 1997a; Greenhalgh 1997; Ihatsu 2002; Lucie-Smith 1981).
Researchers have concluded thatthe concept ‘craft’has manyconnotationsand its definition
depends on social and cultural contexts (Dormer 1997b; Ihatsu 2002). In the Western world
especially, crafts are no longer solely utilitarian and are practiced for many reasons. Depending
on context there is variation in the kinds of activities that are included in ‘crafts’ and ‘craft
traditions’ (Greenhalgh 1997; Kupiainen 2000). However, the difference between crafts and
manufactured products is clear; a craft object is substantially handmade (Metcalf 1997). This
distinction in turn generates some ambiguity between the terms art and craft. Typically, art is
seen as a manifestation of creativity, originality and innovativeness and is thus valued above
craftwhichisseenasanactivitydemandingmeremanualskills.Increasingly,craftpractitioners
seek the status of art for their work. This requires acknowledgment from those in a position to
define and evaluate art work (Metcalf 1997; Ihatsu 2002).
In this paper, the term ‘craft tradition’ is used to denote the craft artefacts and the
associated lifestyles and structures at a given time and a given place. Craft traditions are
localised formulations of prescriptive knowledge. Information about these traditions,
cultural heritage information, resides in artefacts, tools, practices (e.g. designing, cooking),
modes of communication (e.g. symbols, language), lifestyles, and combinations of these
(e.g. agriculture as a combination of tools, processes and lifestyle). These localised for-
mulations are passed from generation to generation through practices in the home and the
workplace, and through the curricula of school, colleges and universities (Dillon 1993;
Dormer 1997a; Ihatsu 2002; Kokko 2009.)
This paper addresses the following research questions:
1. In a self-selecting group of female university students from Europe and North
America, what are the similarities and differences in their formative experiences of
crafts and craft education?
488 S. Kokko, P. Dillon
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2. How do they articulate these experiences in their autobiographical writings and in
negotiating a hierarchy of values for the crafts in a group exercise?
Context of the research
Young people’s perceptions of crafts, and the values they place on them, are substantially
shaped by their experiences in the home and in school. There is a tension between the
globalising tendency towards uniformity, and the distinctiveness of local traditions
(Simandiraki 2006). In a group of university students from Europe and North America, we
might expect the tension between uniformity and distinctiveness to be reflected in simi-
larities and differences in their formative experiences of crafts and craft education. Their
formative experiences, both informal (in homes) and formal (in schools) will significantly
influence the values they put on crafts.
The research was conducted with fifteen international exchange students following a
course in crafts and craft education at the University of Joensuu (University of Eastern
Finland from January 1, 2010) as part of the International Study Programme in Educational
Sciences (Faculty of Education 2008–2009). This is a non-degree study programme that
offers content for students studying or interested in educational sciences. Most of the
courses are part of the regular curriculum of the Faculty. Courses are available at ele-
mentary, intermediate and advanced level. The purpose of the programme is to offer
exchange students the choice of a wide variety of courses during their relatively short stay
(3–9 months) in Joensuu. Students may choose courses that are available during their
exchange period according to their own interests.The ‘Finnish Craft Educaton’ course that
these students followed was an optional course, so the student group was self-selecting.
The students were all women and their ages ranged from 21 to 27. Their main field of
studies was Education as they were trainee teachers. Four of the students were from
Germany, three from the Czech Republic, two from the United States of America, two
from Poland, and one each from Italy, Latvia, Russia and Spain.
During the course the students gained some theoretical and practical knowledge of
crafts. The course consisted of lectures about craft as a cultural activity and craft education
in Finland, visits to craft classes at the University’s teacher training practice school and
visits to local craft exhibitions. Since the course consisted of only 18 h contact time, it was
possible only to introduce a few craft techniques. Due to the Finnish context, the students
were introduced to a special form of Finnish crafts, rugs. They were told about traditional
and modern Finnish rugs and worked on a small rug project of their own. In addition, they
were introduced to felting and macrame´. As part of the course the students wrote an essay
which will be explained in more details later in this paper. The evaluation of the course was
pass/fail and gave the students 1.5 ECTS (standard European credits).
The purposes of the research and the processes involved were explained to the students
at the beginning of the course. It was explained that the research would utilise materials
that were integral to the course and that the processes of research, i.e. the activities
involved, were relevant to the course. Permission was sought from the students to conduct
the research and to use the outcomes, anonymised, for publication. It should be noted that
the researchers were also the instructors of the course.
The research was conducted in the narrative tradition. It assumes that we make sense of
experiences by structuring them as stories. It is phenomenological in that there is an
assumption that the nature of the phenomena (in this case crafts and crafts education) is
Crafts and craft education as expressions of cultural heritage 489
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meaningfully experienced and can be represented in personal stories and narratives
(Gallagher and Zahavi 2008).
Methods
Data were collected from two sources:
1. An activity for small groups designed to elicit the values the international students
collectively placed on crafts.
2. Individual autobiographical essays structured around a number of leading questions
designed to elicit experiences of crafts and craft education in the students’ home
countries.
Values placed on crafts
This activity was about prioritising values with respect to crafts using a method ﬁrst
developed for environmental education (Dillon and Beney 1994). Ten statements repre-
senting alternative stances on the value of crafts were presented on individual cards. These
statements were based on the practical and theoretical understanding of the researchers
about various aspects of crafts. Working in small groups, students prioritised the statements
and arranged them hierarchically in pyramids with what they considered to be the most
important statement on the top, the next most important statements on the second tier and
so on. In order to give the students the possibility of statements other than those formulated
for the activity, one blank card was provided for them to add their own statement to the
hierarchy. The ten statements were:
The value of crafts lies in:
• Their aesthetic qualities
• Their economic potential
• The way they connect us with culture
• The possibility for self-expression through them
• Their educational potential
• How they develop our understanding of the material and technical world
• Their potential as a hobby
• The way they connect us to femaleness/maleness
• Their social nature
• One blank card for participants to add their own statement to the hierarchy
In a plenary session each group had to justify its priority pyramid and explain the
thinking behind it. The pyramids were photographed and the plenary discussion audio
recorded.
This activity was conducted during the ﬁrst meeting with the students, before they were
exposed to theoretical and practical information about crafts during the course.
Autobiographical essay
This activity explored the students’ personal experiences of crafts in their local cultures
and societies. They were asked to write an autobiographical essay about their personal
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experiences of making crafts at school and outside school in their home countries. The
essays were a formal component of the course but were not graded. The following ques-
tions were suggested to guide the writing:
• What kinds of memories do you have about working with crafts at home and at school?
• What role have crafts had in your life?
• What do crafts mean to you?
• Where and with who have you learned to make crafts? At what age?
• What has been the role of crafts in your family?
• What kinds of craft products have you made at school and outside school? For what
purposes?
• How was craft education arranged in your school?
• Did boys and girls study similar crafts?
• What kinds of memories do you have about the craft lessons, the teachers of crafts, the
products made during the lessons?
Students were asked to add some personal information: name; year of birth; home
country; size of school; rural or urban location. They were also asked to reﬂect on simi-
larities and differences between craft education in their home countries and what they had
learnt about craft education in Finland. The essays were analysed qualitatively using Atlas-
ti. Each essay was imported as a primary document and numbered 1–15. [Extracts from the
essays given below carry this number plus information about the home country of the
writer (e.g. Italy 8).] Key statements were categorised against an initial set of codes derived
from the guidelines for writing the essay. The essays were broken down into sections and
organised against the initial codes. The codes overlapped many times which means that the
same piece of writing might be placed in more than one category. Finally, codes were
consolidated into key categories to which statements were assigned. The key categories
were: personal values and meanings placed on crafts; cultural, community and family
inﬂuences; and crafts at school.
Outcomes and their interpretation
Priorities for the values placed on crafts
Students worked in four groups to produce their priority pyramids. An example of a pri-
ority pyramid is given in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 An example of a priority
pyramid
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Table 1 shows the statements representing alternative stances on the value of crafts
ordered from the most to least important. Three of the four groups thought the possibility
for self-expression through the crafts to be most important by placing it at the top of the
pyramid. The fourth group placed this statement on the second tier of the pyramid. All four
groups placed the statement about the economic potential of crafts on the bottom, least
important, tier of the pyramid.
The ‘own statements’ added to the hierarchy were: ‘therapy’; ‘a way to spend your
money’; ‘their usefulness’; and ‘part of life and history’ and ‘understanding of the process
of development’ (this group added two cards). None of the groups placed their own
statement at the top of the pyramid. Two groups placed it on the bottom, one in the centre
(see Fig. 1). The group who added two statements placed them on the second tier.
The priority pyramids were compared for similarities and differences. The recording of
the plenary discussion was analysed against the categories derived for the autobiographical
essays.
Autobiographical essay
Based on the Atlas-ti analysis, the key statements were consolidated under three headings:
personal values and meanings placed on crafts; cultural, community and family inﬂuences;
and crafts at school. The consolidated statements are given in Table 2.
In the following we give some interpretation of the students’ perceptions of various
aspects of crafts. We draw on data from both of the above mentioned activities. Direct
quotations from students are in italics.
Personal values and meanings placed on crafts
Both in discussion around the priority pyramid activity and in the autobiographical essays,
it was apparent that there was no commonly agreed understanding of the term ‘crafts’,
highlighting once again the importance of local cultural and social contexts. The experi-
ences gained by the students during the course, of theoretical and practical knowledge of
crafts, inﬂuenced their perceptions as may be seen in the following extract from a Polish
student’s essay:
Although in different languages word ‘craft’ means different things or even does not
exist at all I think that after Finnish Craft Education course everybody at least feels
Table 1 Hierarchy of statements representing values placed on crafts
Statement of value 1st tier 2nd tier 3rd tier 4th tier
The possibility for self-expression through them 3 1
Their social nature 1 3
The way they connect us with culture 3 1
Their potential as a hobby 2 1 1
Their educational potential 1 3
Their aesthetic qualities 1 3
How they develop our understanding of material and technical world 1 3
The way they connect us to femaleness/maleness 1 3
Their economic potential 4
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Table 2 Key statements from the analysis of autobiographical essays using Atlas-ti
Personal value placed on crafts
Importance: many students claimed that they view crafts as important. The importance was justified with
the aspects listed below:
Skills and learning: learning of skills; permanent skills; valuable skills; combines brain and hand; a way
of learning to concentrate; strengthens self esteem.
Creativity: a form of creativity; a form of artistic expression; a form of self expression.
Way to have fun: nice work; joy and fun; a form of relaxation; calming; to enjoy while watching
television or listening to music.
Social aspect: a social activity.
Usefulness: source of useful and aesthetic products, especially for presents; important to see the practical
result of work.
Keeping traditions alive: important for keeping local culture alive; many craft products made for festivals
and celebrations and thus strengthen cultural habits (Christmas, Easter, Mother’s day, Father’s day,
Thanksgiving); important for future profession (trainee teachers).
Lack of importance: crafts were not important for some of the students: there is no time for these
laborious activities; other free time activities are valued more; there is no equipment or place for
practicing crafts.
Cultural, community and family influences
Most recognize long craft traditions, some are still kept alive, especially in rural areas, but the generally
view is that they are vanishing—globalization, time allocation, and cheap imported products were given
as reasons.
Italy: living craft tradition in small villages; know-how passed from generation to generation; men’s
crafts are for making money, women’s for household.
Poland: Craft Association to support craft activities.
Russia: ‘‘you put your heart and soul into it; you give a part of yourself to it’’. Craft products carry
memories about people, situations, emotions and feelings—when you give handicraft as a present you
give part of you to be remembered by the one who receives the present.
USA: artistic craft work for sale—a student is selling her products through website globally.
Students reflected on the big role of crafts in Finnish culture: they see craft products everywhere and
observe that people make handicrafts. Many say they observed people knitting. The students got
interested in these activities and wondered why they are not so prominent in their home countries.
Importance of guidance, support and feedback from an adult widely recognized.
Grandmothers especially important for many: showing how to knit, crochet, sew, embroider.
Mothers have less time, for some students mothers who are interested and skilled were important.
Grandfathers and fathers were less important than their female counterparts: only two students (from
Czech Republic and Germany) made crafts with male members of their families.
Wider family: some students had crafts as hobbies in their homes; for an America student an aunt was
important because she makes and sells jewellery.
Friends: for some students friends taught craft making skills, for others they practiced with friends.
Neighbours: an important inspiration for a student from Germany.
Clubs: one student (Spain) had started a club; an American student had done a lot of crafts in scouts; a
German student said there were more possibilities for crafts in after school clubs.
Social context of crafts widely recognized: crafts connect people; the importance of making crafts
together; constructing relationships; strengthening family ties, connecting to female family traditions.
Crafts at school
For many crafts in the curriculum are less well defined than in Finland: in some cases crafts are part of
other activities at school, e.g. cooking, gardening; in some cases the emphasis is on hobby craft
activities rather than traditional craft making skills, e.g. crafts for decoration; some thought that crafts
are taught more in rural than in urban areas
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what craft is. It is really hard to find Polish equivalent for ‘craft’ but in spite of that I
think I understand it correctly. Not negotiable thing about craft for me is the fact that
craft is handwork. (Poland 10)
As can be seen in Table 1, the students valued crafts as a means of self-expression. Two
of the groups explained that they saw a connection between the potential of crafts as a
hobby and possibilities for self-expression through them: ‘If you have a hobby you like it
and you express yourself through what you do’. Interestingly, the card ‘aesthetic qualities’
was placed lower in the pyramid, mainly in the bottom tier, which implies that the students
did not necessarily link self-expression with aesthetics. (However, many wrote about their
appreciation of the aesthetic quality of handmade craft products). A related matter is the
link between crafts and art. Only the two American students articulated the artistic element
associated with crafts:
I think that I place almost everything that requires an artistic approach to fall under
the handicraft label. (USA 14)
In the U.S., crafts are considered to be an art form and many people sell their wares
to make money on something that they would have made anyway. (USA 15)
According to the essays, many of the informants valued crafts highly giving different
personal reasons. One of the most appreciated aspects of crafts was the learning of skills.
One German student had a rich history with crafts but she had realised that this was not so
common with her peers:
Looking back I realise what a rich treasure I carry since my school years. In my
opinion my handicraft skills and the joy they give to me is as important as any
Table 2 continued
For most crafts in education have lower status than in Finland, e.g. ‘‘That was a subject no so much value
for the children, because was easy to pass without a big effort’’ (Spain); academic subjects more valued;
money, teacher’s capacity, culture and tradition were mentioned as reasons for low status.
Poland and Spain: part of the teaching was theoretical.
Germany: the system is similar to Finland with textile and woodwork in the upper classes: one student did
not enjoy the lessons because the tasks were too demanding for her and her mother helped at home;
some students liked textiles because it built on what they had learned at home.
Russia: ‘‘handicraft lessons were the only ones where we could relax and enjoy your work, create things
according your design, wish and ideas and no one said it wasn’t right or the result was wrong… But in
my opinion despite all the very detailed curricula in crafts in Russia, teachers don’t take this subject too
serious. Usually in most schools, if of cause it’s not a specialized one, craft courses are thought to be
minor or optional subjects and not much attention is paid to these ones. But usually craft lessons are the
most favourite ones among pupils because at this lesson they have an opportunity not to think about
marks and just get the pleasure of doing it, enjoying the process and that’s why pupils really love this
subject.’’
A subject which is popular among pupils: Important influences on quality of experience; motivation and
qualification of teachers; classroom organization; availability of resources, equipment, materials;
atmosphere of lessons. Products made at school were often linked to festivals and local cultural events,
e.g. Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving) and were recognized as important for keeping these traditions alive;
craft products made at school are typically kept as memories or given as presents. For most there was no
gender segregation at school unless studies were optional and then single sex groups were the norm;
typically textile teachers were female and woodwork and technology teachers were male. There were
some comments about teacher training: in the Czech Republic teachers have ‘some lessons’, in Latvia
‘a short course’ in Spain ‘some more courses’. Many of the students (who are training to be teachers)
felt insecure about teaching crafts.
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academic skill I learnt all those years. These skills I will always remember. I am not
sure if I can say that about historical facts, biology knowledge or mathematic skills.
(German 4)
The potential of crafts as a hobby came out relatively strongly in the pyramids, being
placed twice in the second tier, once in third and once in lowest tier. The explanations these
students gave to the meanings of crafts as a hobby reflect the changing role of crafts from
fulfilling the everyday material needs of people to meeting the personal needs of indi-
viduals. Group 1 wrote ‘therapy’ in the blank card and placed it in the middle of the
pyramid. This group shared an idea about the therapeutic value of present-day crafts. Also
in the essays therapeutic meanings were linked to crafts, such as a way ‘to relax’, to ‘calm
down’ or just ‘to have fun’. The aspect of strengthening one’s self-esteem became
apparent. Consider the following extracts:
Doing crafts have a calming effect on me, and have given my self-esteem a much-
needed boost. (USA 15)
From that point I’ve been embroidering without any stop, it’s usually something that
I do in the evening because it relax myself and it make me feel very good and in a
perfect mode to go to sleep then. Craft are now a really important part of my life and
I really like to do it, seeing the result after lot of work make me feel proud of myself
and that’s good. (Italy 8)
All the groups placed the card about the economic value of crafts in the bottom tier of
the pyramid. Group 2 thought crafts are actually ‘a way to spend your money’ which they
wrote in their blank card placing it in the bottom tier. However, their perception about
the economic value of crafts was not altogether evident. An influence here may be the
(im)possibility of producing self-made crafts for commercial purposes since in the
industrialised western world craft products have to compete hard with manufactured
products. However, one of the American students was selling her self-made products
through a website. This reflects Campbell’s (2005) observation that the economic potential
of craft artefacts depends on ‘special values’ associated with them and probably the student
in question had managed to design products that carried these kinds of values.
Notwithstanding the low value given to the economic potential of crafts, many of the
students conceived crafts as useful. Group 3 added ‘their usefulness’ in the blank card, but
nonetheless, placed it at the bottom. One aspect of ‘usefulness’ mentioned by many of the
students is the potential to use self-made crafts as personal gifts:
So you can say it is a nice hobby for me. Besides that you mostly get useful things as
results, for example new bags which you can use for yourself or give to others as a
present. (German 5)
Handicraft means to me that you learn new ideas and use it to create something
beautiful and pleasant as liked for themselves and others. The work consists of hand
and their idea. (Latvia 9)
Self-made crafts differ in many ways from the manufactured products. They are valued
higher because of the personal involvement and physical engagement they demand. There
seems to be a common understanding that they carry personal meanings with them (Hickey
1997). As the Russian student explains, self-made crafts carry a lot of personal emotions
with them since the craft making process is often very intensive and demanding:
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For me handicraft means a lot. It’s a part of my life. They say when you do handicraft
you put your heart and soul into it; you give a part of yourself to it. When I do handicraft
I feel the same. Sometimes when I look at my work I can go through my life again and
feel all the emotions I experienced at this moment or period of life. (Russia 12)
Handmade crafts have traditionally had a special value as gifts in many cultures (Hickey
1997). This value persists in contemporary crafts as hobbies and in so called ‘tourist crafts’
(Kupiainen 2000). Handmade gifts strengthen the personal bond between the maker and
the person whom the gift is made for. Craft gifts which are used as a means to strengthen
relationships between people are part of the social nature of crafts. ‘The social nature’ of
crafts’ was placed fairly high in the priority pyramid activity, once on the top and three
times in the third tier.
Some of the students practiced crafts actively as a hobby. For example, a German
student was especially active in various forms of crafts and she spread this enthusiasm to
her fellow students. The Italian student practiced cross-stitching which she had learned
from her mother. The Polish students seemed to be involved with making crafts regularly.
As mentioned before in this paper, an American student was selling her self-made craft
products. Surveys of crafts as a hobby suggest that participation in amateur crafts is
increasing in England (Mason 2005) and in Finland (Myllyniemi 2009). However, in
discussion, these students did not perceive crafts as a significant part of their leisure
activity; other aspects of their lives took prominence:
But not so much free time and handicraft are forgotten because… other things more
important. (Latvia 9)
But because of my university studies I do not have the time to do handicrafts often.
Furthermore I am at home only on the weekends and in my flat where I live during
the week I do not have the necessarily items. (German 5)
Lack of time and lack of adequate equipment and materials were the main reasons
mentioned for not making craft products. Lack of sufficient know-how was mentioned by
several students. Although some of these young people had learned certain craft making
skills in their homes, most of them had not got any structured guidance about how to
pursue their interests.
Cultural, community and family influences
In the priority pyramid activity, students were looking at ‘value and meaning of the crafts’.
As one of the students mentioned: ‘Somehow all the cards are connected’. Some con-
nections seemed to be stronger than others. Two groups discussed the placement of the
cards ‘their social nature’ and ‘the way they connect us with culture’ since they saw that
these meanings are closely connected. These cards were placed relatively high in the
pyramid: three of the groups placed the card about cultural connections on the second tier.
The students valued crafts as a means of sustaining cultural heritage. They were aware of
the forms of crafts that represent their own local cultures and keep the cultures alive.
However, they also expressed concerns about the future of these cultural forms. Consider
the following extracts:
In the place where I live craftsmanship is still a very popular work and lot of family
use it like the only way to survive economically speaking. Although, there is no
official craft education inside school or public place! Crafts worker usually have their
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apprenticeship inside their Family and if someone else wants to work in this area
he/she should ask to some other Family to teach him/her how to do it. In lot of case
the craft as an only work for the family is done only by the men, and in general we
can say that only men’s craft are considered in my place as the real craft. All the
work that women can do is only considered as female work to make only the house
more pretty and it’s, in the most of the case, done by a woman for her family, so it’s
difficult to find this kind of products in a public shop and to buy them there. (Italy 8)
My parents have led me and my brother and sisters to know and learn Czech
traditions and do what we were interested in. Specially pensioners do old Czech
techniques of craft, but number of people who know them is being reduced. In an
ancient history was trade or craft inherited from one generation to another, but for
example my mother already has known only half of our family know-how for
something unique. It is due to globalization… another example my grandmother
always made home-made dumplings-typical food, but my mother can buy them,
because preparation takes two hours. We slowly losing our pure traditions, but it is
still essential for me to keep some of them as clear and natural as they might be for
my children. (Czech 2)
It is apparent from the essays that despite strong globalising processes, cultural heritage
is still valued in the respective countries and efforts are made to maintain traditions. There
is still some inter-generational transfer of the skills of material culture. Learning skills
through observing, mimicking and through guidance from a skilful practitioner is a widely
practiced form of apprenticeship with long traditions (Ferguson 2008; Patterson 2005;
Sennett 2008). But it is a slow and demanding process (Greenhalgh 1997). Informal
learning in the home makes an important contribution to these traditions, especially in
those countries where crafts have no official status in the curriculum, as is evident, for
example, in a Polish student’s explanation of how she learned crafts from her grandmother:
I could sit hours looking as my granny knits. Later on I found out, that she is also
crocheting, so of course I wanted to learn it too. I didn’t put so much effort as to
knitting, but I could also make basic napkin… I have really nice memories with all
those situations, because I was full of feeling that I can do whatever I want and at the
same time express myself. Moreover, it was great to build up my relations with
relatives and I believe it influenced my future, maybe not radically, but for sure a
little. Although, you probably noticed that all those things happened just at home.
There is none activity which I was doing at school… (Poland 11)
The students were mainly learning textile craft skills from their mothers, grandmothers
or other female relatives or friends. These stories tell on the one hand about the processes
of passing a tradition from generation to generation, and on the other hand they highlight
the gendered nature of craft practice:
My mum has always been doing all different kinds of handicrafts and as a child
I always wanted to be able to do the things my mum did, so she taught me. She never
made us learn any technique she just did it herself and thereby functioned as a role
model. (German 4)
One card in the priority pyramid activity was ‘The way they connect us to femaleness/
maleness’. All the groups put this card in the bottom tier. When asked about the placement
of this card, some students said that they did not understand what was meant by it. Others
123

said that they did not see any link between gender and crafts. This suggests a lack of gender
awareness among these students (see Kokko 2009) since, in the autobiographical essays,
the gender-orientation of crafts in their cultures and homes came out strongly:
There is also male-craft tradition in my family. My grandfather was a carpenter and
although he died before I was born my dad ‘inherited’ some knowledge of wood-
work, although he is a doctor. (Poland 10)
An Italian student admired her fathers’ craft skills and wanted to learn them together
with him, but the father had not wanted to pass on culturally masculine skills to his
daughter:
My father is a quite good crafter; he can work and create something really pretty
from wood and from stone. Unfortunately these kinds of works are considered by
him as a male work and so he has never tried to teach me how to do although I kept
asking him to do it during my childhood. Later on I’ve realized that this kind of work
is not really for me: to do it is necessary to have lot of strength and I really don’t have
it! (Italy 8)
Craft traditions appear to be gendered worldwide. Textiles have belonged to the female
spheres of life for centuries and hard materials like wood and metal are parts of traditional
masculine spheres (Barber 1994; Ferguson 2008; Parker 1984). The gender-based division
of crafts is persistent, regardless of the many cultural and social changes that have
occurred. Kokko (2009) has researched the links between crafts and gender in the
upbringing and education of girls in Finland. Her study reveals the various processes and
practices that have socialised girls to learn textile crafts as part of their female roles. The
processes are maintained in practices informally in upbringing and formally in education.
Crafts at school
In Finland ‘crafts’ is a standard school subject unlike in many other European countries
(Eurydice 2009; Kokko 2009). The students were generally astonished at the value crafts
are given in Finland and in Finnish schools; many would like to have had more craft
education at school—in Finland they noticed what they missed:
If I look at Finland and its curriculum I immediately understand that craft is valued
differently in its society. It is not merely something old fashioned grandmothers and
housewives do. It can be something modern, creative and precious. By giving craft a
distinct place in the Finnish curriculum the state clearly declares it to be of importance.
Cultural heritage is preserved and traded from one generation to the next. The skills
learnt in this subject are considered as valuable as any academic skill. (German 4)
While analyzing ‘Polish craft education’ and Finnish craft I found out that handi-
crafts play huge role in lives of Finns. By an amount of hours of textile and
woodwork at school, by separate chapters in national curriculum, by different
exhibitions and sales of handmade object we can easily feel that craft means more to
Finnish people than just a subject in school, or just ‘work to be done’. Craft is
deﬁnitely part of Finnish culture and is present everywhere. The picture of girls
knitting during a break between lectures does not surprise me anymore. Polish craft
does not have such strength… (Poland 10)
123

The students reflected on their experiences of craft education at school and they
described the role of crafts in the curricula of their respective countries. In all the cases, the
role of crafts is less well defined than in Finland. In some cases crafts are part of other
activities at school, e.g. cooking, gardening; in some cases the emphasis is on hobby craft
activities e.g. crafts for decoration. In some cases education about crafts is included in
teaching of art, design and technology, home economics, cultural and humanistic studies
(for further information see Eurydice 2009; Rasinen et al. 2009). A general explanation for
the lack of crafts in the curricula was mainly the low appreciation given to non-academic
subjects. So-called academic subjects are valued higher and performance in them is con-
sidered important to the future of pupils, as became apparent in these essays:
I think that the biggest obstacle to my school system being able to adopt a better craft
education plan is the No Child Left Behind Act. Because of this act almost all of the
craft education, physical education and music education have been taken out of
elementary schools. The reason that all of these have been taken out is because in the
end of year tests that the government uses to decide how the schools are doing they
are mainly testing for math and reading. So now most of the teachers’ time is spent
teaching these two subjects and teaching the others if there happens to be a free
minute. (USA 14)
The biggest problem inside Italian school is a time problem, and so it happened that
subjects like craft education, taught until 1950, are been cancelled from the school
curriculum to give more hours to subjects considered more important. (Italy 8)
Another significant issue is that craft teaching requires a lot of materials and equipment
and adequate rooms. Consequently, high-level teaching demands considerable financial
investment which many of these students thought to be an obstacle to craft education in
their respective countries:
I think that here, in Finland, the craft in the school is much more value than in Spain.
In Finland the schools are equip with the best machines and instruments and also the
material is new and varied. All in the craft rooms are care, tidy and clear. In Spain we
don’t have so many machines and the material is old and limited, without variety,
and is very usual that the parents have to buy the material for the craft lessons. For
me the craft education in Finland was surprising apart of the material and resources,
the high level, skills and competences of the children, and the autonomy and
responsibility when they are working, and also the final result of the project elab-
orated. They are so beautiful and made with good taste. I hope and wish that one day
in Spain we can be similar than here, but I think this is hard because we don’t have
the wool and wood culture and we don’t value so much the craft education in the
school. (Spain 13)
As a consequence of the lack of materials, the forms of crafts that some of the infor-
mants had practiced at school were the making of small hobby craft items for decoration.
Most of the students told about the role of crafts in preparations for celebrations and
festivals. In this respect, crafts have an important role in maintaining cultural habits
connected to various festivals:
During the last ten years in Italy there were been lot of trying to change the national
school law… In general we can say that inside primary school craft education is used
only before Christmas or Easter to produce some little work to bring home to the
123

parents. In contrast to this in the secondary school there is a new subject call
technology, and inside this pupils have to study different kind of material and their
different use, so it can happen that sometimes pupils can also try these material and
built something with them; in this can they have to buy all the necessary stuff
because school doesn’t offer this kind of support. (Italy 8)
In the priority pyramid activity the cultural and social aspect of crafts was valued
highly. Crafts and craft education was seen to be a means to passing on local cultural
heritage and of making pupils more aware of the world heritage of crafts. The European
students were from European Union (EU) countries. The EU has policies for cross-cultural
education. A Czech student explained that craft education in her country is included in
cross-curricular subject ‘Education towards Thinking in European and Global Contexts’.
She writes:
A fundamental component of this European dimension is educating future European
citizens to be responsible and creative individuals who, as adults, will be capable of
mobility and flexibility in society and employment as well as in personal life.
Instruction develops an awareness of European identity while respecting national
identities, and opens up horizons for exploration and for the prospect of living in
Europe and the world and learning about all the possibilities this offers. (Czech 2)
This student compares these policies to the Finnish curriculum of craft education, giving
as an example the following extract from the Finnish National core curriculum for basic
education (FNBE 2004):
The instruction is implemented through projects and subjects areas corresponding to
the pupil’s stage of development, and use s experimentation, investigation, and
invention. The instructional tasks in craft are to guide the pupil in systematic,
sustained, independent work, and to develop creativity, problem-solving skills, an
understanding of everyday technological phenomena, and aesthetic, technical, and
psychomotor skills. The pupil receives an introduction to the cultural traditions of
handicrafts among the Finns and other peoples. (Czech 2)
A detailed comparison of the curricula of different countries is beyond the scope of this
paper (but see Mason et al. 2000; Eurydice 2009; Rasinen et al. 2009). However, the Czech
student noted significant differences between curricula of her home country and that of
Finland. The students from Germany, Russia and the USA noted some similarities, for
example, the division between textile craft and (technical) wood work and metal work. In
Finland, the choices are typically gender-based: most of the girls choose textiles while
most of the boys choose technical work (Kokko 2009). However, Garber (2002) in her
discussion of the status, rationale and future of craft education in Finland emphasises also
the importance of teaching reflection on and interpretation of heritage, culture and his-
torical understanding. Po¨lla¨nen (2009) discusses some recent changes in Finnish craft
education and considers how it might be contextualised through different pedagogical
models. Po¨lla¨nen’s pedagogical models are: ‘craft as product-making’, ‘craft as skill and
knowledge’, ‘craft as design and problem-solving’, and ‘craft as self-expression’, to which,
in the light of the research reported in this paper, we might add ‘craft as cultural heritage’.
The declining status of crafts in the curriculum of the respective countries has, as a
consequence, changed the requirements of teachers of this subject (see Eurydice 2009;
Garber 2002; Rasinen et al. 2009). The students taking part in this study were themselves
prospective teachers and expressed a concern about their teacher education in regard to the
123

know-how in crafts. They also reflected on the expertise of their own teachers during their
school years.
It’ll be really useful teach craft education inside Italian school but I think that now
it’s impossible because there isn’t enough teachers who have a real craft knowledge.
(Italy 8)
But in my opinion despite all the very detailed curricula in crafts in Russia, teachers
don’t take this subject too serious. Usually in most schools, if of cause it’s not a
specialized one, craft courses are thought to be minor or optional subjects and not
much attention is paid to these ones. But usually craft lessons are the most favorite
ones among pupils because at this lesson they have an opportunity not to think about
marks and just get the pleasure of doing it, enjoying the process and that’s why pupils
really love this subject. (Russia 12)
Conclusion
The generalisations derived from this research must be viewed in the context of the small
sample, the arbitrary nature of the group which was composed entirely of women, the
differential representation of the home countries, and the limited experience of craft, design
and technology of the participants. The experiences of this small group of students should
not be taken as representative of the state of affairs regarding crafts and craft education in
their native countries. Rather, the research shows how individual experiences and collective
values are highly dependent on personal histories, and how these histories influence both
perceptions of crafts and craft education and the values that individuals place on them.
In the preceding section, outcomes were discussed as they were presented. Many of the
outcomes were predictable and confirm earlier work. However, the research also revealed
some contradictions, dichotomies and paradoxes and it is these that form the focus of the
conclusion.
The fact that the students opted to take the course indicates both their interest in and
willingness to engage in craft activities. However, few of the students came to the course
having examined their stance on crafts. Their initial response was associative in that they
recognised that crafts had some utility in developing motor skills, as a social activity and in
contributions to traditions, celebrations and festivals. However, the wider cultural signif-
icance of crafts emerged only through discussion and reflection within the course itself.
The implication is that crafts lack an intellectual foundation in educational systems, which
itself is a manifestation of their perceived academic status.
Much of the intellectual ‘value’ that emerged from the course came through the com-
parative dimension, of participants sharing experiences, recognising similarities and dif-
ferences, and thus coming to understand what is culturally distinctive about their own craft
heritage. As Simandiraki (2006) observes: ‘‘… although international education is difficult
to define, its promotion of cultural diversity is widely accepted. Cultural heritage is the
backbone and the product of cultural histories; it is, therefore, essential to national identity
construction.’’ The experience of our course suggests that crafts have a special role in
cultural heritage education (itself an important dimension of what has become known
throughout Europe as ‘citizenship’) by both enabling students to engage practically with a
tradition through making and to understand how tradition shapes individual, family and
community identities.
123

Dillon (2008) has defined these relationships in terms of ‘cultural patterns’, manifes-
tation of competition between beliefs, ideas, and forms of behaviour and the arenas in
which transactions take place between the people who hold or practice them. This defi-
nition implies fluidity: cultural patterns are not fixed entities but are constantly changing
which is perhaps another reason why it is difficult to devise a craft curriculum which has
stable academic content as well as practical application. The international students who
took part in this study spent some time surrounded by Finnish culture where crafts are
valued higher than in their home countries, and they came to value crafts and wanted to
learn more about them. The students were inspired by making crafts and taught each other
some skills (e.g. knitting). At the end of the course there was an unanimous view that the
status of crafts in schools in their home countries needs to improve. However, to be
meaningful in terms of cultural patterns, craft curricula would have to be locally adaptive
to ‘‘reflect the particularity, subtlety, idiosyncrasy, and patina of locality at scales, at time
frames, and through modes of organization appropriate to those places and the enterprises
within them’’ (Dillon 2008).
In the time-sensitive and money-orientated cultures of Western world, behaviours
compete with each other and where there is competition there are tensions. Whereas many
of the students enjoyed crafts and came to value them in their own right, they did not
perceive them as a significant part of their leisure activity; other aspects of their lives took
prominence. Similarly, in the priority pyramid activity all groups placed the card about the
economic value of crafts in the bottom tier of the pyramid, but in discussion recognised
that craft as a profession had to be economically viable. As Liebl and Thirthankar (2004)
point out, no traditional craft skill can live on unless it has a viable market. Within these
tensions we may find a generational dilemma, captured through the old adage that young
people chop down trees but older people plant them. Older people are seen as the custo-
dians of craft traditions and in this sense the ‘value’ of the traditions transcends monetary
concerns. Younger people have their lives to lead and livings to make.
Few young people see crafts as offering a viable living. Where they do the crafts are
often seen as a manifestation of ‘art’ (as in the case of the American student selling her
jewellery though the Internet). And here lies another paradox. Many of the students wrote
about their appreciation of the aesthetic quality of handmade craft products, but in dis-
cussion saw the economic potential of the products only through legitimisation as art.
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