Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ARPED (Artisan pedagogies: investigating craft experts as educators)
Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2024-03-31
This project set out to investigate how expert craftspeople hone their educational skills: how they guide, support, and provide feedback to those learning their craft. It is often assumed, in public discourse and academic research alike, that this process is straightforward: once a craftsperson has acquired a skill, they can simply turn to others and help them learn. The project questioned this apparently simple transition from craft expertise to craft education, revealing its complexity and thereby valorising the often invisible and undervalued work of the craft expert as educator - especially in contexts where education is not formalised.
Drawing on long-term ethnographic research with dry-stone wallers in Switzerland, and using methods that enable the fine-grained analysis of social interactions in contexts of work and learning, the project examined the complex, in-the-moment, and activity-grounded ways in which exchanges around craft learning actually take place.
While policy initiatives increasingly promote crafts as resources for sustainable development, they often rely on overly simplified assumptions about how intangible heritage is transmitted. What is needed is more careful attention to the diverse forms of learning and teaching that emerge from within diverse practices, in order to better recognise the everyday pedagogical labour of craft experts.
The project responded to this challenge by developing the concept of “artisan pedagogies”, understood as the specific pedagogical forms that develop outside formalised educational contexts and in response to the situated demands of craft practice. Through close observation of how learning happens in situ, the project made visible the pedagogical labour linked to craft expertise: how experienced practitioners bring learners to see and feel materials and tools; how they render learning accessible through words and gestures; and how they convey work ethics as an integral part of the learning process.
Drawing on long-term ethnographic research with dry-stone wallers in Switzerland, and using methods that enable the fine-grained analysis of social interactions in contexts of work and learning, the project examined the complex, in-the-moment, and activity-grounded ways in which exchanges around craft learning actually take place.
While policy initiatives increasingly promote crafts as resources for sustainable development, they often rely on overly simplified assumptions about how intangible heritage is transmitted. What is needed is more careful attention to the diverse forms of learning and teaching that emerge from within diverse practices, in order to better recognise the everyday pedagogical labour of craft experts.
The project responded to this challenge by developing the concept of “artisan pedagogies”, understood as the specific pedagogical forms that develop outside formalised educational contexts and in response to the situated demands of craft practice. Through close observation of how learning happens in situ, the project made visible the pedagogical labour linked to craft expertise: how experienced practitioners bring learners to see and feel materials and tools; how they render learning accessible through words and gestures; and how they convey work ethics as an integral part of the learning process.
Over the course of the project, I carried out ethnographic research on dry-stone walling practices in Switzerland, with a focus on how learning and teaching take place in the craft. This included multi-sited fieldwork, combining participant observation, video-based interaction analysis, and interviews with a range of actors – from professional dry-stone wallers to trainees and professionals in the heritage field. I also enrolled in several courses organised by the Swiss Association of Dry-Stone Wallers, in order to gain a first-hand understanding of the craft and experience of learning. I adopted a multimodal methodological framework, meaning that I paid attention to the richness of interactions that take place between a craft expert and learner - not just words, but gestures, direction of gaze, body posture, or shared attention on an activity. Video recordings of interactions enabled me to pay close attention to how these different forms of interaction work together to enable learning. The result was a detailed, practice-grounded understanding of how craftspeople guide others into skilled forms of perception and action.
In parallel to the empirical work, the project developed an interdisciplinary methodological framework combining ethnography and interaction analysis. I was trained in the use of video data and multimodal transcription, participated in advanced seminars and workshops, and collaborated with international researchers working on vocational education and heritage.
The research was presented at international seminars (e.g. University of California, Berkeley; University of Gothenburg), conferences (e.g. Royal Anthropological Institute; Rovaniemi Craft and Ecology conference), and Swiss academic networks in anthropology and adult education. I also organised a workshop on video methodologies in craft research and co-developed a panel for the International Conference for the Craft Sciences (October 2025).
Publications, either already published or forthcoming, address key concepts in the scholarship on the anthropology of learning, including the concept of education of attention, and the concept development as part of this project of artisan pedagogies - pedagogical practices that emerges from specific forms of technical expertise. Publications also address the significance of forms of intangible heritage to address sustainable development goals, with the example of dry stone walling as a practice that has found new significance to tackle pressing environmental issues. The project is also leading to the development of a book manuscript "Craft Alterings" that reflects on anthropological approaches to the study of craft and apprenticeship.
Developing on the themes of the project, I am developing grant applications further investigating issues of vocational training, and the significance of forms of intangible heritage to tackle sustainable development goals.
In parallel to the empirical work, the project developed an interdisciplinary methodological framework combining ethnography and interaction analysis. I was trained in the use of video data and multimodal transcription, participated in advanced seminars and workshops, and collaborated with international researchers working on vocational education and heritage.
The research was presented at international seminars (e.g. University of California, Berkeley; University of Gothenburg), conferences (e.g. Royal Anthropological Institute; Rovaniemi Craft and Ecology conference), and Swiss academic networks in anthropology and adult education. I also organised a workshop on video methodologies in craft research and co-developed a panel for the International Conference for the Craft Sciences (October 2025).
Publications, either already published or forthcoming, address key concepts in the scholarship on the anthropology of learning, including the concept of education of attention, and the concept development as part of this project of artisan pedagogies - pedagogical practices that emerges from specific forms of technical expertise. Publications also address the significance of forms of intangible heritage to address sustainable development goals, with the example of dry stone walling as a practice that has found new significance to tackle pressing environmental issues. The project is also leading to the development of a book manuscript "Craft Alterings" that reflects on anthropological approaches to the study of craft and apprenticeship.
Developing on the themes of the project, I am developing grant applications further investigating issues of vocational training, and the significance of forms of intangible heritage to tackle sustainable development goals.
> Societal and policy relevance
The project highlights how everyday forms of teaching in craft contexts can inform broader understandings of vocational learning, by making visible the pedagogical forms that are developed by craft experts, and for use as part of specific practices. Insights can be used in more formalised educational settings to recognise the unique educational contributions of professionals who might not have trained as educators.
It contributes to European and international debates on the role of heritage in sustainable development, offering concrete insights into how craft knowledge can be leveraged in efforts of sustainable development.
> Progress beyond the state of the art includes:
- A theoretical rethinking of the relationship between craft expertise and craft education, by revisiting the key concept of education of attention, and developing the new concept of artisan pedagogies.
- The development of a methodology at the cross-roads of anthropology and interaction analysis, involving a new approach to the use of video and focus on interactions in research on craft apprenticeship.
- Contributions to the field of interaction analysis, by proposing how such analysis can incorporate insights from an approach to embodied and situate forms of learning.
> Expected and achieved results:
- Publications in leading journals (published and forthcoming), on issues of intangible heritage, vocational education, and the craft of dry stone walling as practised in Switzerland.
- Development of a monograph (Craft Alterings, under contract with Routledge), developing the project’s main insights into a novel anthropological theory of craft practice
- Grant proposals including in interdisciplinary partnerships with scholars from anthropology, the craft sciences, education sciences, and heritage studies.
> Wider impact of the research
The project has potential to influence how institutions – such as professional craft associations, heritage bodies, and adult education networks – conceptualise and recognise the educational role of experts.
The findings can lead to the development of new applied research on vocational education, addressing the specific pedagogical expertise of professionals, leading to possible contributions to policy development in vocational training.
More broadly, the project contributes to the societal goal of recognising and sustaining diverse forms of knowledge, including practices that have been marginalised by modern technologies or from formal educational settings.
The project highlights how everyday forms of teaching in craft contexts can inform broader understandings of vocational learning, by making visible the pedagogical forms that are developed by craft experts, and for use as part of specific practices. Insights can be used in more formalised educational settings to recognise the unique educational contributions of professionals who might not have trained as educators.
It contributes to European and international debates on the role of heritage in sustainable development, offering concrete insights into how craft knowledge can be leveraged in efforts of sustainable development.
> Progress beyond the state of the art includes:
- A theoretical rethinking of the relationship between craft expertise and craft education, by revisiting the key concept of education of attention, and developing the new concept of artisan pedagogies.
- The development of a methodology at the cross-roads of anthropology and interaction analysis, involving a new approach to the use of video and focus on interactions in research on craft apprenticeship.
- Contributions to the field of interaction analysis, by proposing how such analysis can incorporate insights from an approach to embodied and situate forms of learning.
> Expected and achieved results:
- Publications in leading journals (published and forthcoming), on issues of intangible heritage, vocational education, and the craft of dry stone walling as practised in Switzerland.
- Development of a monograph (Craft Alterings, under contract with Routledge), developing the project’s main insights into a novel anthropological theory of craft practice
- Grant proposals including in interdisciplinary partnerships with scholars from anthropology, the craft sciences, education sciences, and heritage studies.
> Wider impact of the research
The project has potential to influence how institutions – such as professional craft associations, heritage bodies, and adult education networks – conceptualise and recognise the educational role of experts.
The findings can lead to the development of new applied research on vocational education, addressing the specific pedagogical expertise of professionals, leading to possible contributions to policy development in vocational training.
More broadly, the project contributes to the societal goal of recognising and sustaining diverse forms of knowledge, including practices that have been marginalised by modern technologies or from formal educational settings.