Under ytan, vid ytan och ovanför ytan : analys av tanken bakom tre läromedel i slöjd

This thesis is based on the personal experience gained related to the planning and production of three web-based teaching materials for the teaching subject knownas sloyd at the comprehensive school in Finland. After the teaching materials had been produced and published on the Internet at the Finnish textile teachers' website KässäBoxi, the idea for this thesis emanated from the questions: Why do the three teaching materials look the way they do and why do other textile teachers comment that they are different? In earlier sloyd educational research it has been stated that a scientific paradigm affects the individual ideology of a sloyd teacher. The aimfor my doctoral thesis is to continue on the topic. As the area of interest comprises the thought behind three teaching materials in sloyd, the aim of the thesis is to show how teaching and educational ideologies in sloyd appear in the teaching materials at hand. The research approach has parallels to research about another, tangible phenomena, namely the iceberg. In a similar way as an iceberg, a teaching material has a profound base, but the base is not always completely visible to the user of the teaching material. In this thesis I strive to show what there is under the surface, on the surface and above the surface of three teaching materials in sloyd. The research approach is defined as qualitative and phenomenologic-hermeneutic. The analysis results in knowledge about how the producer of a teaching material affects the character of a teaching material by choices concerning for example the form, structure, language and illustrations of the teaching material. The analysis also shows how the producers' individual educational and teaching ideologies within the teaching subject at hand appear by means of traces concerning the view on the pupil and the teacher, and the view on planning and conducting teaching in sloyd. The thesis also results in knowledge about how sloyd educational scientific theories and demands from society, as they are stated in the national core curriculum, appear in the three teaching materials. The application of the sloyd educational scientific theory of individual sloyd activity as a holistic educative system is also widened in the thesis. This thesis contributes to future research on producing teaching materials by information about what aspects a producer of teaching materials needs to consider and how the aspects become visible in the teaching materials. This kind of knowledge is valuable to teacher students in sloyd, to teachers in sloyd who intend to plan and produce teaching materials and to teachers who tutor the planning and production of teaching materials.

Eleven som aktør i dialog med kunst : ungdoms erfaring med kunstundervisningens innhold og metode i faget kunst og håndverk i norsk grunnskole

Avhandlingen har sitt utspring i mitt engasjement for elevers møte med kunst i grunnskolen i faget kunst og håndverk og mitt syn på ungdom som kompetente bidragsytere til forskningen om fenomener som angår deres liv. Elevene er informanter til, eller aktører i, forskning på fenomenet dialog med kunst. Dialog med kunst er her definert som en helhetlig prosess som innlemmer alt fra elevenes møte med visuelle kunstverk til deres eget skapende arbeid. At avhandlingens fagdidaktiske problemområde er elevers praktisk skapende virksomhet, knytter undersøkelsen til slöjdpedagogisk forskning. Avhandlingens overgripende hensikt er å bidra til utvikling av fagdidaktikken i kunst og håndverk med utgangspunkt i elevenes erfaringer med kunstundervisningens innhold og metode på ungdomsskoletrinnet. Studien består av kasusstudier på to ungdomsskoler. Data ble innsamlet igjennom intervjuer, deltakende observasjon, dokumenter, prosessbøker og foto av formingsprodukter. Ungdoms dialog med kunst i skolen blir analysert og fremstilt ut fra et erfart og et operasjonalisert perspektiv. Funnene speiles i ulike fagdidaktiske tendenser, det vil si ulike hovedoppfatninger i debatten om det moderne samfunn, og i et virksomhetsteoretisk perspektiv. Resultatene fra undersøkelsen utfordrer oss til en fagdidaktisk nyorientering når det gjelder ungdoms møte med kunstverk i skolen, i retning av et mer ungdomskulturelt innhold og relasjonelle kunstmøter som er narrative, tolkningsorientert, opplevelsesorientert, dialogiske og flerstemmige. Undersøkelsen viser at elevene liker det praktisk skapende arbeidet, men at undervisningen i sterkere grad bør ta i bruk digital kunnskap og handle om hvordan kunst kan brukes som utgangspunkt for skapende arbeid, og den bør legge til rette for det læringspotensialet som ligger i dialogen elevene imellom. Elevene liker en undervisning som ikke bare handler om estetiske virkemidler, materialer og teknikker, men også om kommunikasjon og ytringsfrihet. Resultatene viser at det frie skapende arbeid består av tre likeverdige aspekter: det individuelle, det kulturelle og det sosiale. Både funnene og avhandlingens virksomhetsteoretiske perspektiv kan bidra til diskursen om kreativitetsbegrepet og identitetskonstruksjon i vårt moderne samfunn. Virksomhetssystemet blir i denne avhandlingen utviklet til en teori for skapende arbeid i faget kunst og håndverk, et overgripende fagdidaktisk rammeverk for bild/bildkonst og slöjdfaget satt inn i et nordisk utdanningsperspektiv.

Det planlagda och det som visar sig : klasslärarstuderandes syn på undervisning i teknisk slöjd

Sloyd as an activity concretizes man’s ability to, with the help of mind and body, reshape materials into objects and change her conditions for survival. The sloyd actor outside school works when the spirit moves her, while the pupil in school is expected to sloyd regardless of motivation. Subject teachers become experts on sloyd in educational settings, while the qualification requirements may set the class teachers’ voluntariness within parenthesis. All class teachers qualify to teach all core subjects of the national curriculum in Finland from preschool to grade six. The aim of the current thesis is to deepen the knowledge on how the science of sloyd education can support class teacher students’ future teaching in sloyd. In the empirical part of the study, Swedish-speaking Finnish class teacher students’ views on technical sloyd as one of their future subjects for teaching are examined. The class teacher’s qualifying skills in teaching technical sloyd are expected to take shape during only a few ECTS study points. The teacher students’ experience of the subject from the pupil’s perspective is supposed to move into a budding teacher subject. In a research-based teacher education, self-reflection and reflection as a dialogue are extended aided by research results. Intuitive thinking interplays with rational thinking during this time. The teacher student’s approach to make use of the autonomous free space in teaching is, in the current thesis, as considerations where the individual weighs the pros and cons in relation to various phenomena in sloyd and the school overall. The basis for an individual autonomy is shaped and is expected to interplay on the common arena of autonomy. In the exercise of their profession, the class teacher teaching sloyd is expected to oscillate between the sloyd educational practice and theory. The first step in this movement within the teacher education is the coverage of a selection of theories during the studies. The empirical part of the study is carried out at two separate occasions with directed open-ended interviews with fifteen class teacher students in the beginning and end of their first year of study. The data was analysed with a hermeneutic approach and a qualitatively oriented approach to content analysis. The results are mirrored against theory within the science of sloyd education. The results show that class teacher students have a versatile view of educational sloyd. The overall results overthrow parts of the researcher’s pre-understanding. The viewpoint of the students seems to broaden from a merely manual activity to seeing sloyd as an educational activity. In order for the results to gain significance in the teacher education of the future, a line of reasoning is conducted in order to recommend an extended dialogue and thirteen possible themes for enriching discussions are put forth as a result of the present study. The extended dialogue focuses on that teacher education should make conscious ventures to create opportunities for the students to take part in effective discussions on the subject of sloyd, complementing the existing dialogue between the teacher educator and the students. This thesis lends support to reflections on the following aspects of educational sloyd in these dialogues: the reasons for why the sloyd subject exists, the ambitions of the subject, the content and organization of the subject for students as well as for the teacher educators.

Riskivastuullisuus turvallisuuskasvatuksen kulttuurissa. Oppilaiden vastuullisuus, turvallisuustaju ja tuottamistoiminnan riskiraja peruskoulun käsityön opetuksessa

Riskit ja riskittömyys uhkaavat yksilöitä, käsityötä ja yhteiskuntaa. Käsityökasvatukselleon haaste toimia kulttuurissa, joka tavoittelee täyttä riskittömyyttä. Käsityössä kasvatetaan kekseliäisyyteen ja varautumaan sen aiheuttaman riskin kohtaamiseen sekä ottamaan siitä vastuuta. Tämän tutkimuksen tehtävänä on riskivastuullisuuden mallin rakentamiseksi selvittää, kuinka oppilaiden vastuullisuus selittää riskirajaa käsityön turvallisuuskasvatuksen kulttuurissa. Välinearvojen saavuttamiseksi on siedettävä välineriskiä, joka ei ylitä turvallisuuskulttuurin riskirajaa. Välinearvot ovat välineiden laatua lisääviä ominaisuuksia, joilla pyritään peittämään välineriskejä. Siedettävän riskin rajan ratkaisemiseen tarvitaan tietoa käsityön tuottamisesta ja todellisuutta havainnoivien tiedonalojen tietoa. Viime kädessä ratkaisu tehdään rakentavalla ajattelulla, johon kuuluu välinearvojen tavoittelua ohjaava käsityötaju ja välineriskeihin varautumista ohjaava turvallisuustaju. Käsityössä onnistuminen kannustaa kohti uusia haasteita ja epäonnistumisen riski asettuu mittasuhteisiinsa. Kekseliäässä käsityön kulttuurissa kokeillaan omia ja ympäröivän todellisuuden mahdollisuuksia ottamalla oivaltaen riskejä, jotka saavat aikaan rakentavan kokemuksen riskistä. Käsityö on riskioivallusten oppiaine. Tutkimustehtävän toteuttamiseksi tässä tutkimuksessa rakennetaan uusi riskivastuullisuuden malli, jossa vastuullisuus selittää riskirajaa. Mallin vastaavuutta selvitetään valtakunnallisesti peruskoulun käsityön 6. ja 9. luokan käsityön opetuksessa (n = 393). Aineisto on analysoitu rakenneyhtälöanalyysein konfirmatorisella faktorianalyysilla ja polkumallinnuksella. Tutkimusaineisto ja riskivastuullisuuden malli vastaavat toisiaan. Vastuullisuuden selitysosuus turvallisuustajun ja käsityötajun ratkaisemasta riskirajasta on mallin mukaan 35 %. Oppilaat osoittivat tuntevansa oman tuottamisensa vaikutuksia ja vastuuta niistä. Vastuullisuus osoittautui tärkeäksi riskirajan selittäjäksi, joten käsityön turvallisuuskasvatuksen kulttuuri voi kohota uudelle tasolle riskivastuulliseksi. Käsityön turvallisuuskasvatus on kokonaisvaltaista turvallisuustajun kasvatusta. Riskivastuullisuus luo turvallisuuskulttuuriin yhteisen käsityksen siedettävän riskin rajasta. Oppilaiden mahdollisuuksia kekseliääseen tutkivaan tuottamiseen on vahvistettava eikä rajoitettava. Riskivastuullisessa käsityön turvallisuuskasvatuksen kulttuurissa opettajan tehtävänä ei ole estää mitään tapahtumasta vaan saada mahdollisimman paljon tapahtumaan, sillä vastuullisuus kasvaa vastuuta ottamalla. Se on kasvatuksen – käsityökasvatuksen – keino turvallisuustyössä.

Företagsamhet i skola och utbildning : lärares tankar om förutsättningarna att nå målen i temaområdet Deltagande, demokrati och entreprenörskap

Developing students’ enterprise and proactive approaches to life have been goals of Finnish public education since its introduction. Still, education in Finland today is criticized for not reaching these goals and for overlooking the development of students’ enterprise. The role of enterprise education is ambivalent. On the one hand, enterprise education is advocated as the solution to many of the alleged problems in public education; on the other hand, the pedagogical ideas that enterprise education builds on appear to coincide with the contemporary understanding of “good education.” The thesis discusses what sets enterprise education apart from other types of education and teaching. Notably, the pedagogical foundations for enterprise education are not necessarily solid or sufficiently explored. Thus, the overall aim of the thesis is to explore the conditions for developing enterprise in education. Sloyd, as a school subject that promotes handicraft-based education, has long been attributed as having the potential to develop students’ character and person; similarly, it is also identified as being well suited for developing student enterprise. Enterprise education is not specific to sloyd, however. In fact, developing enterprise is a cross-curricular goal for basic education. In a subject-focused educational structure and culture, the development of an enterprising mindset in students is a common concern for all teachers. Thus, an understanding of the conditions for enterprise education must not be limited to one school subject; rather, the nature of the phenomenon requires a cross-curricular approach. Altogether, the conditions for enterprise education appear to be in need of further research. In addition to a subject-focused structure, other influencing factors that are mentioned in discussions on enterprise education include the need for a more enterprising working culture in school. Importantly, another key factor is the individual teacher’s pedagogical philosophy, which constitutes the frame of reference that informs how he or she understands and interprets his or her profession. Notably, the conditions for enterprise education are poor unless a teacher’s pedagogical philosophy emphasizes a focus on enterprise. The empirical research uses a hermeneutical approach and focuses on exploring teachers’ views on the conditions for reaching the national goals related to students’ enterprise. The interview study was conducted among class and subject teachers around Swedish-speaking Finland. The study shows that teachers view themselves as the most important factor for a focus on enterprise. Teachers have also identified a vast number of contextual factors that influence, support, or counteract a focus on enterprise. Structure, culture, resources, and curriculum, as well as numerous societal factors, all interact to affect the conditions for enterprise education. The prevailing culture of subject focus poses a challenge to enterprise education. At the same time, however, a focus on enterprise can be seen as a natural tendency in grades one to six. Indeed, teachers of all grade levels interpret the development of a proactive approach to life as one of education’s core values. Altogether, the thesis offers a deepened and nuanced understanding of the conditions for enterprise education. While the public education system in Finland seems to have some favourable basic conditions for enterprise education, multifaceted challenges must be faced if the national goals related to enterprise are to be reached.

Forming i barnehagen i lys av Reggio Emilias atelierkultur

Forming (Arts and crafts) and children’s creative action with materials and tools are less in use in the kindergarten than before. Political focus on children’s early learning has led to shifts in kindergartens toward other specific disciplines, and requirements for individual testing also of the smallest children’s competencies within these. Kindergarten teachers, educators, researchers and participants in social debate have pointed out that there are epistemological contradictions in descriptions of kindergarten quality as well as between current kindergarten policy documents and requirements for the kindergartens’ staff. Meanwhile, the content and methods in many kindergartens are inspired by practice and philosophy in the municipal kindergartens in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Correlation between kindergartens’ formingprojects and experiences from Reggio Emilia is actualized in particular through the workshop and the studio’s role in children’s learning processes. One starting point for the thesis’ problem area is a documented need for more knowledge about kindergarten’s educational content. The overarching goal of the thesis is to develop new knowledge about how learning takes place in kindergarten through examining the field of forming in kindergartens inspired by Reggio Emilia’s atelier culture. The thesis is theoretically anchored within pragmatism, and ties kindergarten’s aesthetic operations with materials and tools to socio-cultural perspective, social constructivism and post humanistic theory. The empirical material is obtained through a qualitative study with ethnography as methodological approach. The fieldwork is conducted in kindergarten, with two leading research questions: 1) How is atelierism perceived and unfolded in Norwegian Reggio Emilia-inspired kindergartens, and 2) how is forming perceived and unfolded in Norwegian Reggio Emilia-inspired kindergartens. A comprehensive and multifaceted material is analyzed, and the results are presented in the form of three themes: The physical environment, Relations and actions in interplay, and Expression forms and forms of expression. Each of these topics are supported by examples from kindergartens’ adult voices and the constructed empirical material. Insights into how learning takes place in the kindergarten subject of forming with inspiration from the Reggio Emilia atelier culture is discussed in the tension between educational philosophy, Nordic kindergarten tradition and neoliberal trends that kindergarten teachers must adhere to. Learning potentials in children’s opportunities for action in forming in light of the atelier appears in the results of the empirical study. The educational context described is characterized by experimental and playful actions where children’s sensations, curiosity and resistance are interacting with the identity of materials and tools. The results imply aesthetic, ethical, democratic and ecological reflections, which are also valid on a practical action level. The thesis contributes to description and understanding of kindergarten’ content and young children’s learning, the importance of atelier culture as inspiration for the kindergarten, and the further development of methodology and documentation of knowledge expressions.