aalto1 untyped-item.component.html
(Role)Playing with disturbances: The museums as a space for neurodivergent learning
Loading...
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
Electronic archive copy is available via Aalto Thesis Database.
Location:
Authors
Date
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
63
Series
Abstract
This thesis project explores the necessary conditions for neurodivergent participation in learning environments. The contention is that neurodivergent learning experiences intersect well with the aesthetic, somatic, and relation dimensions within external learning environments. Our focus lies within a Danish context, contributing to the discussion on the Danish Inclusion Law and a Danish museum context. Approaching the field of neurodivergence from an outside perspective through arts-based methods, we conduct facilitations to generate experience and reflections upon this area of research.
Drawing on qualitative interviews as an additional method, the research establishes three key conditions for inclusive learning in the external learning environment: safety, clarity, and flexibility. These low-threshold but crucial forms of care (such as clear communication and a sense of predictability) creates a possibility for curiosity, exploration of agency, and, importantly, a negotiation of established (and sometimes restrictive) roles from the normative classroom. Building on this, the analysis develops a design process centred around the concept of roleplay, a theme implicitly and explicitly emphasized by the interview participants as valuable in the external learning environment, but not previously qualified to the extent that this thesis sets out to do.
Evaluation on the design reveals the potential impact of introducing alternative entryways into museum learning as well as the importance of it. The overall process enhances a discussion on how the explored knowledge and design method facilitates bridgebuilding between different learning spheres and the question of universality of the museum.