Page 31 - 2022_Magazine_89-2

Classroom Practice/Program

Handicrafts: Lessons in Sustainability

and Knowledge for Life

By Malin Ambjörnsson and Marianne Skardéus

The authors discuss the importance of ongoing instruction in handicrafts as a
way to support individuals’ creativity and help them adopt practices that increase
awareness of our impact on the planet.

After teaching handicrafts to pupils ages 9–13 at a compulsory school for the intellectually challenged
in Skövde, Sweden, Malin Ambjörnsson was still filled with fervor for handicrafts. Leaving her position
at the school and starting an enterprise called Mud Valley Design Craftroom, she sought to convey the
same message as she had offered at school—but now to adults. She wanted to support learners through
courses but also create a meeting point to inspire people to create and design. Malin is familiar with
many techniques, such as weaving, spinning, tangling, printing, knitting, needlework, and lace making.
All these techniques have been used in her teaching. But ultimately, the Mud Valley enterprise stands for
creativity, textiles, entrepreneurship, and environmental consideration.
Malin long ago left behind the old-fashioned way of
teaching craft in which all students were working on the same
item at the same time, such as sewing an apron or crocheting
a potholder. Today, the process in creating objects is the main
point: getting an idea, planning, doing, redoing, and, finally,
reflecting on the finished object. In this process comes learning
about materials, techniques, colors, and shapes and how they
can be used together to create something beautiful and useful.
Malin´s approach to handicrafts is much broader than
working in different materials and different techniques. It
is a question of conveying a message for sustainability
and knowledge for life. Malin points out that the finalized
product is not always the most important part of the learning.
Rather, it is the journey—the process—that is important.
Handicrafts is a subject where students are trained in many
skills—social skills, cerebral skills, creative skills, and design
skills. For example, youth today live in a culture of haste and
speediness; thus, practicing patience might be of value for
life. Similarly, learning to take care to achieve a product to
one’s own satisfaction will also be a meaningful life learning.
Furthermore, handicrafts are not just manual activities but are Vintange Belle - April Tallant, NC; Spring
deeply connected to social and natural subjects. If one is not 2022 DKG Fine Arts Gallery
content with the colors of the object he or she is creating, for
example, it is possible to dye it using knowledge from other
subjects such as natural sciences.

Collegial Exchange · 29