Stitching Serenity: Exploring Theories of Well‐Being Through Embroidery

Abstract This study investigates how embroidery as a tactile form of inquiry can enhance students' understanding of well‐being concepts. Drawing on Bereiter's (2002, Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age ) idea of naturalising abstract knowledge objects, we examine how students materialised their theoretical mind maps through embroidery. To test and develop the idea of materialisation we offered a textile course in the first year of the craft teacher master's degree at the University of Helsinki, in Finland. As co‐teachers, we guided students in formulating personally meaningful and academically stimulating research questions. Students conducted literature reviews and integrated their findings into embroidered works, using various techniques to express theoretical concepts. We explored how the research questions influenced students' engagement and how various aspects of well‐being were embodied in embroidery. Our collective case study included 15 pieces of work and data‐driven analysis of written and embroidered outputs. Results revealed two types of knowledge construction, that is, experiment and explanation, capturing the overall contents of students' inquiry processes. Our findings indicate that the tactile and creative nature of embroidery deepens engagement with theoretical concepts, facilitating a unique and embodied form of knowledge construction. This study contributes to discussions on arts‐based research methodologies and the role of craft in academic inquiry.