The craft process developing student decision making

Abstract

In enterprise education, learning is problem-focused and holistic. A learning process that encourages people to learn by doing develops their problem-solving skills, participation, interaction, and decision making. Craft making includes practice, development, creativity, innovativeness, and the problem-solving process, and the craft teaching aims to promote students’ substance skills of crafts and the skills they need in everyday life. Craft skills make people more active and help them to find practical solutions. Decision making seems to be one of the connecting themes between crafts and enterprise education. In this study, we examine school students’ decision making during a craft process. The study was conducted during the spring term of 2013 and examines how the students make various decisions during the craft making process. Eight 13-year-old students were interviewed and the interview data analysed using thematic analysis. The results indicate that the quality of the students’ decision making during a craft process is dependent on their personal goals, self-confidence, and previous experiences. In addition, there is a connection between the students’ decision making and the social environment when they want to emphasize their own personality or similarity to their peers.