Craft teachers’ graduation theses in Latvia

Abstract

Cultural heritage is taught as part of the craft curriculum from the beginning of general education in Latvia. At the end of the craft teacher training programme, students complete a final thesis in which one of the tasks is to develop teaching content for the chosen theme and class. This article asks how traditional culture is reflected in students’ final theses, using content analysis as the research method. 210 final theses containing studies on traditional crafts were selected for the study. The research findings identified four types of traditional cultural expressions: technique-, artefact-, ornament- and research-focused theses. The final theses examine both Latvian traditional culture and the traditional cultures of other nations.

Keywords: artefacts, craft techniques, design, teacher education, traditional culture