Nykytaide yhteiskuntaopin oppimisympäristönä. Toimintatutkimus nykytaiteen tuomisesta osaksi lukion yhteiskuntaopin opetusta.

Abstract

In her thesis, Hautala explores what visual arts can give to the teaching of social studies, and what benefits the integration of social studies and visual arts could have in the upper secondary schools of Finland.

The thesis focuses on the utilization of the topics and methods of contemporary art in teaching. Hautalas thesis continues the tradition of multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary teaching in visual arts education. Päivi Venäläinens dissertation “Nykytaide oppimisen ympäristönä. Näkemyksiä nykytaiteesta, oppimisesta ja niiden kohtaamisesta” form the theoretical basis for Hautalas work.

The thesis was carried out as an action research based on two teaching experiments carried out in the form of artist talks in Vuosaari upper secondary school in Helsinki in October 2022. The research material includes interviews with the collaborating artists and teachers, and a student survey. On the first visit, visual artist and art educator Elissa Eriksson held a presentation about her artistic practices regarding money and power. On the second visit, media artist Timo Wright talked about his works related to globalization and the challenges of the changing world. In Hautalas thesis the collaborating artist, teachers and students engage in a dialogue with the curriculum of the upper secondary school and the research on visual art education linked to contemporary art.

Hautala proposes that contemporary art is particularly well suited as a partner in the teaching of social studies, as both in their own ways strive to explore the present and the contemporary. Hautala comes to the conclusion that contemporary art is an interesting learning environment for the studying of social sciences. The co-operation between visual arts and social studies benefits both subjects, and can help reach the knowledge and skill goals defined in the curriculum. Contemporary art brings a personal and concrete level to the teaching of social studies. What in the previous tradition of teaching has been told on a very academic, general or abstract level, becomes personal and specific through art. Contemporary art ties teaching themes to a certain phenomenon, time and place. As a result of her research, Hautala states that the contextualization related to contemporary art and the working methods of artistic work should be brought more into the teaching of all the subjects in the modern upper secondary school.