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A tacit understanding: the designer's role in capturing and passing on the skilled knowledge of master craftsmen

Wood N, Rust C & Horne G (2009). ‘A tacit understanding: the designer's role in capturing and passing on the skilled knowledge of master craftsmen’. International Journal of Design, 3(3), 65-78. http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/559/275

This journal article describes the outcomes of an AHRC funded project (2007–9) investigating how the expert knowledge of traditional Sheffield knifemakers may be elicited, and multimedia learning resources developed to support creative metalworkers in adapting traditional skills to new craft practices.

This forms part of on-going research investigating the transmission of tacit knowledge. It builds on previous papers: Fisher, T., Wood, N. and Keyte, J., ‘Hands on-hands off: on hitting your thumb with a virtual hammer’, comparing learning in the real and virtual worlds; and Wood, N. and Horne, G., ‘The new journeyman: the role of an expert learner in eliciting and transmitting skilled knowledge’, both at the DRS conference, Sheffield, 2008, and Wood N, 'Discourse through making: eliciting knowledge to support craft skills learning, EAD conference, Izmir, 2007', which discuss the development of the methods used through the author’s practice-led research.

The research has provided two contributions to our understanding of craft learning: an elicitation strategy that employs an expert learner to uncover the skilled knowledge of master craftsmen, and a transmission strategy based on the concept of ‘bridges’ to assist the design of learning resources for novices.