Bildundervisning i möte med samtidskonst: Bildlärares professionella utveckling i olika skolformer

The aim of this thesis is to describe and review the visual art teaching profession from a wider cultural perspective. This can lead to a better understanding of how teachers in 2000s Sweden manage change and relate to their task. This is a starting point for the formation of question areas that are of concern: the importance of their own specific interests in various visual art media for the development of their professional knowledge; what conditions different types of schools provide for the development of the subject and the strategies visual art teachers (in the study) use to develop their teaching on the theme of contemporary art. The theoretical framework is based on a socio-cultural perspective. Analysis combine cultural semiotic and frame factor models. Institutional art theory focuses on art’s audience and the art institutions which are central to contemporary art manifestations. The thesis is based on two case studies conducted by three separate teacher-training days at Bildmuseet in Umeå. 14 Visual Art teachers from four different types of schools: compulsory school, years 7-9, upper secondary school, folk high school and volountary art school (Swe. kulturskola) participated in the study. The investigations has generated data produced through interviews, observation, self-reports and images. Contemporary Art is involved in society’s constant change and mix of new medias. The changes concernes the visual art educational field. The opportunities different school contexts provides for education, has an impact on how knowledge is transformed. Conformity, solid structures, formes of assessment and low legitimacy shape resistance. Teaching in visual art is highly based on teachers’ own choices. A fragmented knowledge-culture with focus on manual or digital mediations leads to different knowledge-selection. This study highlights resistances that affect applying contemporary art on its own terms. Contemporary art’s starting points and new perspectives represent other paradigms than traditional art classifications. This sigifies tension between the artworld and the educational field. To reducie the tension, a dialogue and interaction between the fields on equal terms is recommended. The study identifies a lack of procedures and resources for formal continuing professional development. There is a need of developing the collective body of knowledge, covering both the theoretical and practical knowledge in the visual art teacher culture.