Trends in craft education and the value attached to craft

Abstract

The future of making and the contribution of craft to the creative industries and wider creative economy are dependent on the quality and breadth of education and training on offer. A wide range of industries, including film, theatre and the automotive industry, reap the benefits of craft skills shaped from an early age and developed in the formal education system. Yet Crafts Council evidence shows that the pipeline of future makers is at risk from a weakening emphasis on formal craft education and training.

Professional making is dependent on the value we as a society attach to craft and creative education and the extent to which public policy supports and sustains its evolution and development. The paper explores Crafts Council evidence of trends in craft education and training. Setting these trends in the context of the wider literature about creative education, it asks to what extent we can find evidence to demonstrate the instrumental value of that education. The paper includes consideration of the growing body of inquiry into how haptic learning, a defining characteristic of craft, can increase broader engagement and achievement. The literature reveals how this understanding is being applied not only in craft but in an increasing range of disciplines. The paper asks what this evidence about craft and creative education indicates about future research needs.

For the purposes of this paper, the definitions of instrumental and intrinsic values are taken from Brooks et al (2004).
‘Instrumental’ is taken to convey an “output-oriented, quantitative approach” to valuing art, while ‘intrinsic’ refers to the “communicative power” of the arts.

The paper addressing the following questions:

• What do we know about recent trends in craft education and training?
• What evidence is there on the instrumental value of creative education?
• What does the literature tell us about the understanding and value attached to haptic skills?
• What does this evidence indicate about future research needs?