Research in Visual Arts Education - The National Society for ...

MEDIATED ACTION AND AESTHETIC LEARNING
Frameworks for art education research
In Sweden, there is no specialized programme for research education within
the field of visual arts education. Most students who want to prepare a doctoral
thesis within this area of research are directed to departments of education,
art history, psychology or child studies. This leads to a multitude of
perspectives and a healthy diversity of opinions (see Figure 2 above). But for
students with a primary interest in teaching and learning, the theories offered
are often too decontextualized and thus too far away from the complex realities
in the classroom. In science education, domain specific theories have
been suggested as a remedy for this predicament (Björn Andersson, 2006).
There is a growing interest in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) such as
it is described in the opening chapter of this report. Educational theories or
subject-matter knowledge studied separately do not guarantee an improved
classroom practice. It is only when they are combined and adapted to specific
contexts that they are likely to make a difference.
The University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm (Konstfack)
offers a four and a half year training programme for visual arts teachers
at the upper secondary school. Having passed this programme, students can
apply for another semester magister or a one year master programme. Like
undergraduate students in the teacher training programme, most graduate
students nowadays adopt a “double perspective”. That is, they use artistic as
well as scientific tools for analysing and creating knowledge, and they present
their degree project in the form of a written thesis combined with a
work of art (multimedia/design). A magister course for art teachers was
organized for the first time in 1982; during the last decade, 82 students completed
the course by presenting either an academic paper (49 students) or an
arts-based project (33 students). Now the teacher training staff are looking
forwards to a Ph.D. programme, where their master students will be able to
further develop their unique competencies.
In 2001, Professor Staffan Selander at the former Stockholm Institute of
Education (now a part of Stockholm University) started a doctoral school
(Sw. forskarskola) for the study of aesthetic learning processes. Eight doctoral
students were recruited, one from each co-operating arts school (including
technology and physical education) in the Stockholm metropolitan area.
Today seven of these students have passed their doctoral exam. The student
from Konstfack, Cecilia Andersson, presented in 2006 a thesis on street
art. As a spin-off, the Konstfack began to arrange research courses on, for
example, ethnography and visual culture.
64 NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION