Browsing by Subject "Bildkonst - och färdighetsämnen"

Aim: The study aims to analyze descriptions of visual arts education in grades 1–6 in Swedish-speaking Finland. My research question was as follows: How is visual arts education described in grades 1–6 in Swedish-speaking Finland? The purpose of the study is to find out how different schools describe their visual arts education in order to identify any differences and similarities. Methods: The study was conducted as a qualitative discourse analysis. The content analyzed was descriptions of visual arts education in primary schools in Swedish-speaking Finland. A total of 68 schools participated, with 19 schools not providing any descriptions. The descriptions are part of the school network BRAVO!, which works to strengthen the position of arts and crafts subjects in schools. The five discourses identified highlight differences and similarities in the descriptions. Results and conclusions: The results show that smaller schools more often described emotional and opinion-based goals, while larger schools had a more structured and objective description. However, the discourse regarding school size did not prove to be decisive in relation to the discourses of school attitudes or the visibility of visual arts. Many schools described working across subjects and integrating visual arts into thematic units or other subjects. Most schools also described displaying students' artwork around the school. The conclusion of the study is that the discourses provided an overview of schools' visual arts education, and the analysis of the material has provided a broader insight into how visual arts education is described today. The interesting aspect of the study was being able to point out these differences while simultaneously noting that each school, despite its differences, still carried out a relatively similar visual arts education.