Arts Education in Swedish Teacher Training--What's at Stake?

Overview & Synopsis

Swedish teacher education has undergone several reforms in recent decades aimed at incorporating teacher education into the university setting and strengthening the teaching profession. In view of earlier research that has shown how arts education in schools is ruled by dominant knowledge ideologies, the purpose of the project is to critically scrutinize current discourses related to arts learning and arts education in teacher education. The study is based on social constructionist theory and data were collected by various means, including 19 focus group interviews with teachers and students at 10 Swedish teacher education institutes. Our analysis shows that an academic discourse focusing on theory, reflection and textual production has pushed aside skills-based practice. A second discourse, characterized by subjectivity and relativism vis-a-vis the concept of quality, is also found in the material. Finally, a therapeutic discourse is articulated and legitimized based on an idea that student teachers should be emotionally balanced.