Human-material relationships in environmental and sustainability education – an empirical study of a school embroidery project

Abstract

In recent discussions about the widening and opening up of anthropocentric perspectives in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) research, a recurrent issue has been what reasonably could be a subject of inquiry and an agent of knowledge. This article aims to showcase an empirical study of the relevance of human-material relationships in crafting learning processes by following an embroidery project with year 8 students in the Swedish craft subject of educational sloyd. How the human-material correspondence unfolds in the crafting learning process is analysed with the aid of Ingold’s practice of correspondence and Sørensen’s notion of participation, performance and imagination. Rather than assuming that materials contribute to certain environmental and sustainability aims, the analysis empirically demonstrates how the human-material correspondence unfolds. The analysis identifies three human-material relationships: attuning, troubling and tracing correspondence. Drawing on the findings, the human-material relevance for environmental and sustainability education and research is further discussed.

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Keywords:

• Environmental and sustainability education
• human-material relationship
• practice of correspondence
• learning crafting
• embroidery thread

Notes

1. Sørensen (2009) uses imaginaries as a spatial approach that focuses on the patterns of relations that social and material participants perform in practice. Her project concludes with a discussion about forms of knowledge and forms of presence. However, we have chosen to use the imaginary concept to further emphasise the thread’s participation when this is empirically visible. Rather than discussing forms of knowledge, we empirically show how the thread participates with a so-called ‘technical description’.

2. A thread is constructed from fibres that are spun together in order to create one unified thread. The direction of the first spinning is normally in an S-shape, which means that the thread goes diagonally from left to right. A number of threads are then spun together to make them thicker and stronger. The direction of this second spinning is in a Z-shape, i.e. from right to left, which is in the opposite direction to the first S-shaped spinning. Most importantly, this double spinning creates an intrinsic tension, which also constitutes the thread’s stability. When the thread is cut, the intrinsic stability created by the combination of the S and Z twisting is released and the single threads start to expand. Thus, in order to thread the needle, the cut needs to be kept together by force, for example by using saliva. When attempting to thread the needle, it is very likely that only one or two of the threads will make it through the eye.

3. The cotton fabric used is woven in plain weave, also called tabby. The warp and the weft threads (the vertical and horizontal threads in the loom) are designed as a grid where every other thread goes up and down. When dragging the thread through the fabric, there will be a tension in the thread from the density of the woven grid. When stitching, an inevitable twisting occurs in the thread. If attention is not paid to this phenomenon the thread may knot. The tendency for knots increases if the thread is too long.

4. As described in footnote 2, a thread is constructed from fibres that are spun together in order to create one unified thread. The spinning, both the initial making of a thread and the one that creates a thicker thread, put force into the thread. However, when the thread is completed, it has an intrinsic stability due to the S and Z spinning. But, when that stability is released by force, the thread twists and spins. By holding both ends of the thread and then pulling it to make it straight, the threads do not spin and can be divided.

5. The force that was put into the thread when it was constructed into either an S or Z spin has to be released. The thread’s tension is released when one end is fixed but not the other. The fingers combing the thread help it to become straight and untwisted.