ERIC Number: EJ1345867
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Apr
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1443-1394
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Available Date: N/A
A Gendered Therapeutic Learning Landscape: Responding Creatively to a Pandemic
Foley, Annette; Weadon, Helen; McDonough, Sharon; Taylor, Rachel
Australian Journal of Adult Learning, v62 n1 p8-30 Apr 2022
Crafting has occupied the hands and minds of women over many centuries providing vital connections with cultural skills and with community. While the COVID-19 pandemic has isolated women in their homes, it has also provided opportunities for women to reconnect to crafting through virtual spaces. This paper draws on a thematic analysis of a focus group interview examining the experiences of regional women participating in a crafting group and identifies the ways in which they used craft to support their wellbeing. Drawing on the concept of therapeutic landscapes, the paper highlights that connection in a virtual craft group supports lifelong learning and wellbeing, brings women together in support through a community of women's practice and facilitates opportunities for producing meaningful and commemorative quilting projects This finding has implications for a society experiencing unprecedented levels of stress, mental illness and anxiety about the future.
Descriptors: Handicrafts, Females, Therapy, Well Being, COVID-19, Pandemics, Lifelong Learning, Social Support Groups, Communities of Practice, Motivation, Friendship, Computer Mediated Communication
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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