Cultural dialogues in European art education: Strategies for enhancing children’s culture and constructing diversity

Abstract

The aim of our article is to discuss the potential of art education to enhance children’s culture. In so doing, we are contributing to a debate that began at the InSEA congress in Rovaniemi (2010) during the symposium on cultural diversity. The article is based on recent research and art pedagogy projects conducted by the writers in five European countries: Finland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. When comparing and evaluating these projects, we focus on the space given to children’s culture and on the power art has in constructing childhood as a social and cultural phenomenon. It was evident from the projects that enhancing children’s culture can be achieved in multiple ways, as cultural dialogues that can produce new understanding and places for further cultural encounters. The projects also made visible how childhood can be constructed and reconstructed through art both by and for children. The projects emphasized the responsibility art educators have for organizing art education that enables the social and cultural participation of children.

‘Our stories were pretty weird too’ – Children as creators of a shared narrative culture in an intercultural story and drawing exchange

“…In other words, the community supported the individual to grow his potential, and the individual could contribute his ideas to the community (Dewey, 1927;Koivula & Hännikäinen, 2017). Prior research concurs with our findings that children's joint activity and collective thinking can produce new, shared cultural knowledge (Koivula & Hännikäinen, 2017;Mercer, 2013;Rusanen et al, 2011).…”

“…Imagining positive encounters with another cultural group has shown to increase children's positive attitudes towards that group (Miles & Crisp, 2014). Other studies have shown that creating works of art together can promote encountering between two cultural groups, because the creative process opens up opportunities to negotiate shared realities (Askins & Pain, 2011;Einarsdottir et al 2009;Rusanen et al, 2011;Siim, 2020). What is important is that the children or young people have the freedom to lead the creative process, as adult-led projects may block the children from engaging in shared negotiation (Askins & Pain, 2011).…”

“…According to contemporary research, making art provides a site where children can actively create new understandings that can lead to further encounters (Askins & Pain, 2011;Rusanen et al, 2011). For example, oral storytelling or drawing can be seen as open-ended spaces for narration (Einarsdottir et al, 2009;Siim, 2020).…”

Cultural participation for, with and by children – Enhancing children’s agency through art pedagogy, visual knowledge-building and learning

“…In earlier research, I described methods to promote the development of visual knowledge-building and learning through visual and multimodal tools. These studies describe children's activities in different creative projects, both within and outside of preschool and primary school that give children access to learning environments and monitor meaningful activities through the use of art as a cultural tool (Rusanen et al, 2011). Through communicative and participatory forms, children take part in cultural activities and visual art education in early childhood and primary school educational settings (Häikiö, 2007;Karlsson Häikiö, 2012, 2017bKarlsson Häikiö & Ericson, 2017).…”