We would like to propose a renewal of the view of art education at the preschool level. It is not given enough attention. The project wishes to change the teaching situation from being dominated by teacher’s perceptions of what is "good" and "bad" or even "right" and "wrong" in relation to what is created, to something more informed. Opinions are often conveyed to the children as knowledge or rules. At the same time, there seldom exists an actual knowledge of art to build these opinions upon. This is a pity, because within progressive contemporary pedagogical knowledge there could be space to see art as an area where the children are actually competent. Where children can develop and discover skills more on their own terms. Where they can explore who they are or want to be. Where it is their experience that is at the centre, not an outcome that matches other's conceptions of beauty or skill. The project wants to research a meeting between contemporary art and pedagogy at the preschool level. We want to see how contemporary art can be used as an educational tool to increase the quality of the teacher's art competence in the workplace. Contemporary art has liberated itself from the criteria of conventional beauty while continuously researching its own boundaries, visual as well as contextual. Viewing the children’s processes in this light might teach us to actually see them as researchers in their own right. Through dissemination of the results, other workplaces can take part of and implement the knowledge from the project. We want to work based on the children's creativity channelled through collaboration with contemporary visual artists who chose materials and methods. Collaboration takes place in the presence of educators from preschools and the project goal is to educate the staff. Art teaching needs to be renewed and updated to match today's views on non-authoritative teaching, children's equal influence on their study environment and participation in community building.
We would like to propose a renewal of the view of art education at the preschool level. It is not given enough attention. The project wishes to change the teaching situation from being dominated by teacher’s perceptions of what is "good" and "bad" or even "right" and "wrong" in relation to what is created, to something more informed. Opinions are often conveyed to the children as knowledge or rules. At the same time, there seldom exists an actual knowledge of art to build these opinions upon. This is a pity, because within progressive contemporary pedagogical knowledge there could be space to see art as an area where the children are actually competent. Where children can develop and discover skills more on their own terms. Where they can explore who they are or want to be. Where it is their experience that is at the centre, not an outcome that matches other's conceptions of beauty or skill. The project wants to research a meeting between contemporary art and pedagogy at the preschool level. We want to see how contemporary art can be used as an educational tool to increase the quality of the teacher's art competence in the workplace. Contemporary art has liberated itself from the criteria of conventional beauty while continuously researching its own boundaries, visual as well as contextual. Viewing the children’s processes in this light might teach us to actually see them as researchers in their own right. Through dissemination of the results, other workplaces can take part of and implement the knowledge from the project. We want to work based on the children's creativity channelled through collaboration with contemporary visual artists who chose materials and methods. Collaboration takes place in the presence of educators from preschools and the project goal is to educate the staff. Art teaching needs to be renewed and updated to match today's views on non-authoritative teaching, children's equal influence on their study environment and participation in community building.