Learning situations in Sloyd ‒ to become more handy, dexterous and skilful

Abstract

This article provides examples of how students in a teacher training course in sloyd [sw. slöjd] develop their knowledge of sloyd during a workshop in woodturning. Several names from the definition of sloyd may be perceived as relatively the same, but in this article is the focus on three of the meanings included in the concept sloyd; handy [sw. händig], dexterous [sw. hantverksskicklig] and skilful in forming a crafted artefact [sw. konstfärdig]. It is of interest to explore how such skills, usually ‘hidden’ in the making processes, can be developed in learning processes. The study aims to describe how the sloyd skill develops in interaction with others and with the situations created in the physical environment during sloyd activities. The study, carried out by video documentation and microanalysis, shows that so-called practical knowledge requires support from several multimodal forms of interactions. From the video material, three sequences of microanalysis have been selected for this article. The results show that learning to do sloydwork is not something that takes place by only working on one’s own object. The students alternate between standing by and watch, or practice, or demonstrated, their skills when they work on each other's object. Body language and actions have an important role in how shared understanding is created for how for example the suitable handling of a woodturning tool should be implemented. The embedded meanings in the sloyd concept used in this article ‒ handy, dexterous and skilful in forming a crafted artefact ‒ show that knowledge of sloyd includes handicraft knowledge as well as pedagogic aspects.
Keywords: sloyd, slöjd, microanalysis, woodturning, handy, dexterous, skillful, multimodal