Med livet på schemat. Om skolämnet livskunskap och den riskfyllda barndomen
Scheduling Life Competences. On the school subject Life Competence Education and the risks of childhood
Author
Summary, in English
The study draws upon a theoretical framework in which childhood sociology (James & Prout, 1997; Corsaro, 2005) is combined with critical discourse analysis (CDA, Fairclough, 2010). The empirical data has been collected by a variety of methods: such as policy documents at both a national and a local level; interviews with local key persons; as well as an ethnographic fieldwork and video recordings from classroom interaction. This methodological design offers the possibility to analyze Life Competence Education from different perspectives, with a special interest in how childhood is constituted within different formulations of this specific school subject.
The analysis shows a national concern for children’s vulnerable positions in the society. At a national level politicians and governmental institutes formulate Life Competence Education as a way for schools to improve children’s health and empower children to act as democratic agents. In local curricula this subject is formulated as a possibility for schools to organize values education and other mandatory cross-disciplinary subjects. Thus, when Life Competence Education is interpreted in the local school practice t is transformed into more of a solution of locally defined social and individual problems. Children’s personal experiences are often at center of attention when problem solving, risking exploiting children’s private relations. As a consequence, the educational setting transforms into a therapeutic setting. The analysis shows that the children, in classroom interaction, demonstrate their agencies opposing the values upheld by the teachers.
Publishing year
2011
Language
Swedish
Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Malmö högskola
Topic
- Educational Sciences
Keywords
- demokrati
- hälsa
- livskunskap
- värdegrund
- kritisk diskursanalys
- barndsomssociologi
- etnografi
- skola
Status
Published
Supervisor
- Ann-Carita Evaldsson
- Berit Wigerfelt
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 978-91-86295-10-3
Defence date
2 March 2011
Defence time
10:15
Defence place
Sal D 138, Lärarutbildningen, Nordenskiöldsgatan 10, Malmö högskola
Opponent
- Eva Reimers (Professor)