Bildprojekt i förskola och skola : Estetisk verksamhet och pedagogiska dilemman

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores art education at the preschool and primary school levels. My primary concern has been to analyze art practices in different pedagogical settings; the major questions are:- How are art activities performed; what kind of mental tools do teachers offer and what kind of guidance do they provide?- How do teachers talk about art and art making in their art activities?- Is there a "poetic" or aesthetic dimension in preschool and primary school art activities?The analyses are based on micro-analyses of videotapes of all art activities at five preschools, five primary schools (second grade) and five. art-galleries; all settings were videotaped during one entire week. A basic premise is that classroom discourse provides children with tools for thought (Vygotsky, 1962). Thus the primary focus has not been, on the art products, but rather on the teaching and learning processes revealed in teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil dialogues. Most of the data consists of nonverbal and verbal discourse. All the art activities have been classified into "art projects" and "other projects" in terms of two criteria: (i) pupirs participation, and (ii) artistic tools (mental and/or technical tools) offered.The analyses show that art activities are often made subordinate to goals other than artistic learning, such as diagnosis, decoration/entertainment, concept-training etc. Thus in institutional settings, aesthetic goals are often pressed into verbal intellectual or other academic forms. The empirical chapters present a series of pedagogic dilemmas showing how ambitious teachers try to accomplish two or more things at the same time, integrating art activities 'With something more "useful" In this process, the art activity often loses its aesthetic dimension. It is suggested that pedagogic dilemmas are caused by our implicit theoriesabout child development and aesthetics.