Browsing by Author "Paulus, Aino"

The aim of this study was to investigate teaching of silver clay technique in the context of adult craft courses. In addition, information about challenges in teaching silver clay was collected. Theoretic background of this study consisted of studies and theories about learning and teaching of skills. Material was gathered in May to June of 2017 by individually interviewing three teachers who teach silver clay technique. The collected material was analyzed theory oriented, by using content analysis method. When classifying skills teaching, Romiszowski´s (1999) three phase method was utilized. The results of this study show that the silver clay teachers were mostly the same strategies and following Romiszowski’s (1999) three step model in their teaching. All the teachers introduced essential information for students to run the task in the beginning of the course. The information was shared by e-mail, paper copies or by organising a physical brief before the course. Explaining history and behaviour of the material as well as introducing the tools were considered essential by the teachers. In the second phase, every teacher said they would demonstrate working of silver clay concretely with the help of showpieces. Improvement of the students’s skills was supported by individual guidance and continuous feedback. When teaching silver clay, the teachers had faced various challenges, the most prominent of which were issues relating to people skills and unpredictability of materials. There is no previous research on silver clay teaching. Therefore, results of this study can be considered useful and applicable to teaching of the silver clay technique, but to teaching and planning of other craft techniques as well.