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Towards making sense of self through emotional experiences in craft-art

The goal of this article and the research questions are to present how young craft students make sense of themselves through emotional experiences in craft-art. The study is based on the grounded theory method. The theoretical key concepts, self, emotional experiences and engagement in craft making are chosen based on how they support or resonate with the data and analysis. The data consists of several types of material that was collected in three schools: portfolios, participant observation, ethnographic interviews and students’ diaries. The data showed that students’ emotions were strongly present in the craft activity. Emotions were related to the students’ management of the stages of the craft process, the expectations towards the outcome, the students’ holistic bodily and mental feeling during the making and their engagement throughout the entire process. All these elements, reflected against pre-existing theories, indicate that while studying craft-art, the participants were able to make sense of themselves in many ways. The analysis led to the result: Through somatic experience and the emotional ownership of the craft process in which their own interests are materialized in a meaningful product, realisation of students’ own potential and a better sense of self becomes possible. This article is a part of the larger study that focuses on students’ craft making experiences in the context of Finnish Basic Education in the Arts (BEA).