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Title of Abstract:

Design as an integrated part of Sloyd Education (Ref #187)

Date:
25-10-2006 14:27:52
Status:
Accepted with revisions
Rating:
6
Details:
In the National Curriculum (The Finnish Board of Education, 2004) terms and concepts as planning, product development, searching for creative solutions as well as creative development and use of different manufacturing techniques are used when describing design in connection with the school subject sloyd. All these terms and concepts can be interpreted as different aspects of the concept design. Within the science of Sloyd Education and within Crafts Science basic research has been done to define the phenomenon of design.

The concept SLOYD is in the Nordic countries used as an umbrella for different educational crafts whose scientific basis is to be found in the university subjects Sloyd Education and Crafts Science. Characteristic for the sloyd activity is that it is made up of a holistic working situation; the person involved in the sloyd activity is supposed to be familiar with and to perform the whole sloyd process from the first briefing to the final end product.

My contribution to the ongoing research concerns design as an integrated part of sloyd education but it can as well be looked upon as design as an integrated part of craft. The aim of my research is to develop teaching methods for design theory and design practise within the sloyd teacher education. The research approach is qualitative and as the research methodology I will use the Soft Systems Methodology created by Checkland (1986) and adapted to the science of Sloyd Education by Lindfors (1999)

In the first stage of my research I have analyzed the content of the sketchbooks of six design students. Even if the sketchbook is a wellknown phenomenon and a natural, self-evident tool for artists, architects and designers it is difficult to find literature that describes the form and function of the sketchbook. That is why I found that there was a need to make a genre description to enable the introduction of the sketchbook into a sloyd educational context. The basis for the genre description was the analyse of the sketchbooks of six design students and my own interpretation and preunderstanding of the sketchbook as a part of the system that the whole design process represents. The definition of the sketchbook as a genre is made out of four different perspectives; a structural, a functional, a cognitive and an expressive perspective.

The next stage of my research is to look into the design process as a whole by, firstly, making an account of what kind of design knowledge the student is working on during the process and, secondly, to show the iterativeness and multi layered proceeding that is carachteristic for the design process of a singel student This will be made as an empirical analyze on the basis of reports written by five design students within the education of Fashion and Textiles at MA level.

Checkland, P. (1986). Systems thinking, systems practice. New York: John Wiley&Sons.

Lindfors, L. 1999. Sloyd Education in the Cultural Struggle. Part VIII. An outline of a sloyd educational theory. (Reports from the Faculty of Education, No. 4 1999) Vasa: Åbo Akademi University. Department of Teacher Education.



Reviewer Comments:

Review #1 : Left on 08-11-2006 16:34:30 #
The link to craft and craft practice is tenuous, and as such, the submission does not engage with the conference themes.

4
Review #2 : Left on 20-11-2006 14:53:06 #
The emphasis stressed within the paper is design, this is not the conference theme, but if the word design is there as a code for the idea generation of ideas for craft based practice then this is a different matter.
Clarification needs to be given, and a greater sensitivity to the use of words?

6
Review #3 : Left on 14-12-2006 16:40:50 #
The notion of a holistic sloyd system of eduction is of interest. This paper however appears to have design interests at its heart. There is value however in understanding the role of sketchbooks in craft practice especially the notion of drawing as a means of internalising and achieving depth in 'seeing' and the transformation of the self. However I am not sure that this is the proposal that has been submitted. There may be benefit in asking for a full paper on the basis that more care is given to the language used and to giving a stronger focus to craft pedagogy.

6

Public Comments:

Comment left by B.S. on 10-11-2006 14:09:12 #
I think here is a confusion of concepts, the link to craft cannot be tenuos because sloyd and craft are synonymes, with the small difference that sloyd is always performed in an educational context. In my research the connection to craft design, not industrial design, is strong because I have gathered my empirical research data from this area and then used it for the development of sloyd educational methods. Therefore I think that this submission should fit in under the theme The pedagogy of craft.