Art keeps us in and with the World: Gert Biesta in Conversation with Lisbet Skregelid

This chapter is a conversation between Lisbet Skregelid and Gert J. J. Biesta. The point of departures are texts by Biesta that touch upon issues related to art and art education. In the conversation, Biesta tells about his concerns and worries about art and also education disappearing from art education. He refers to how art in education tend to be justified because of its usefulness for something else, and also how art sometimes becomes both too child – and student-centered focusing on expression and emergence and also too curriculum centered. Biesta proposes a world centered education that is holding the child in what he calls the middle ground as a place where human existence in and wit…

A call for dissensus in art education!

This article argues for the relevance of the term dissensus by the French philosopher Jacques Rancière in an art educational context in particular and an educational context in general. This argument is based on research referred to in this article, where the author made use of dissensus to analyse how encounters with contemporary art contribute to movements in youngsters’ ways of relating to artworks and the environment that surrounds them, as well as changes in the ways of relating to themselves and others ‐ what here is called events of subjectivation. As dissensus is seen as a premise for subjectivation, the author argues for initiating dissensus by introducing students to both art and …

Zoom in on Dry Joy—Dissensus, Agonism and Democracy in Art Education

Literature on art education often emphasizes dialogue as a preferred approach and as a way of practicing democratic education in museums and galleries. Dialogue-based tours in such contexts are often characterized by a sense of harmony and agreement. In contrast, this article discusses the democratic aspect and political potentiality when dissensus and agonism are used as central educational strategies. The point of departure for the discussion was a teaching session on the online platform Zoom with student teachers as part of their module on art and crafts at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway, in spring 2020. Artworks from the exhibition Dry Joy, in S&oslash

Encounters with the World through Cultural Schoolbag Workshops for Teacher Students

This article raises some questions about encountering the world and subjectivation in art educational practices. Gert Biesta recently criticised the continuing emphasis on expressive and self-centred approaches and pedagogies in art education (2017, 2018). Biesta calls for a world-centred approach to education in general, as well as art education practices that move the focus from oneself to a greater openness towards the world.
 In my own art education practice, I attempt to enable this shift from what I see as an emphasis on merely the self to an emphasis on the world—a more sustainable approach to art education. I practise turning students towards the world that explores the possibi…

Når kunsten tar over: Betydningen av kunst som overordnet prinsipp i skolen

This chapter examines what art as an overarching principle can be in a contemporary school context. The starting point is radical ideas presented by the Norwegian educator and psychologist Helga Eng in her book Kunstpædagogik from 1918. In the book, Eng argues in favor of a primary position for art in schools, including everything from the way teachers teach to the aesthetic environment in school. In this chapter, Eng’s extensive work is viewed in relation to the role of art in today’s school and society. The chapter examines the connections between Eng’s premises for art as an overarching principle and contemporary theoretical perspectives on art and education. The study contributes to an …

A/r/tography as approach to the development of sensuous sustainability education in the arts

This article presents a study conducted in the spring of 2020 by three researchers from the University of Agder with the aim of exploring and developing possible sensory-based approaches to sustainability in teacher education with a special focus on the arts. Due to the consequences that followed in the wake of Covid-19, the inquiries took an unexpected turn: Digital platforms, isolation and separate borders, became key focal points for the implementation of the project. Using a /r/tography as a methodological frame (Roussel, Cutcher, Cook & Irwin, 2018; Triggs, Irwin & Leggo, 2014; Irwin, 2013), the authors explore how everyday events characterized by affect (Massumi, 2015) and int…

Dissensuality and Affect in Education