Emals’ yearly research seminar during the research days “Forskningsdagene” was conducted together with the research group for aesthetic learning processes ForEst (Forskningsgruppe for estetiske læreprosesser) this year, September 29. We had approx. 50 participants. The event was conducted as a hybrid on-site and on-line event, inviting researchers, university colleagues and students to listen in on the research-based presentations. This years’ theme for the “research days” was Energy, so to manage the long day we offered free lunch to the participants, while the topics of the seminar evolved more around the current topics in art education and embodied knowledge. The program for the day included the following titles; Time: Presenter Titel:…

EMAL arranged a session called “Embodied making and Learning” at the Biccs Conference in Mariestad on September 20-22, 2023. This second edition of the conference was truly international with 103 contributing researchers from 15 countries in 4 continents. Embodied Making and Learning session description: Craft practices are present in all sections of society and in multiple forms and levels. Doing something well, considering the environment, others’ well-being and the common good, is empowering and a source of joy and can become a livelihood. Learning to do something well takes time and patience, requires thought and concentration, and grows endurance and persistence. However, craft learning seldom happens in a vacuum but…

Written by Kari Carlsen Professor Alison Clark and Professor Kari Carlsen, members of EMAL-Early Childhood Education (ECEC), at the USN Department of Visual and Performing Arts Education, are engaged in a research project in collaboration with members of two Icelandic universities; the University of Iceland and University of Akureyri, the first meeting was conducted during 4.-10.th May, 2023. The stay in Iceland was very well prepared by our Icelandic colleagues, Anna Magnea Hreinsdóttir and Kristín Dýrfjörð. Alison and Kari participated with presentations on the yearly Rannung conference for preschool staff in Reykjavík, with 150 participants Friday the 5th of May. This was arranged as a breakfast conference from 8.30 -12.00,…

USN, in the form of researchers in the EMAL research group, is a collaborating partner in the research project “Materiality, maker practices and design studio pedagogy at the digital age” (MakerStudioPeda) research project, initiated and lead by Maarit Mäkelä at the Aalto University and Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen at the University of Helsinki. Other collaborative partners are Jessica Hemmings, University of Gothenburg and Flemming Tvede Hansen, Royal Danish Academy. The MakerStudioPeda project analyses pedagogical processes and practices of systematically educating creativity in university-level design and craft teacher education. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland and is now in its third year. The project had its summer school meeting, gathering…

We have a new book edited and written by members of the EMAL research group recently, it is in English and published by Springer: Expanding Environmental Awareness in Education Through the Arts; Crafting-with the Environment. Editors for this book are Biljana C. Fredriksen and Camilla Groth And the link to the book: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-4855-8 Abstract: This book presents diverse processes of crafting that bring humans, more than-humans and the environment closer to one another and, by doing so, addresses personal and educational developments towards ecological awareness. It discusses the human-material relationship, introduces posthuman theoretical entry points and reflects on the implementation of such theoretical perspectives in education. The practical examples of…

The Body Based Practices PhD Course was held at Notodden campus again 11-14 of April, with both national and international student researching their practices from an embodied perspective. The 7,5 ECT course is offered by the Culture studies doctoral program and runs once a year, in the spring semester. The course is constructed of both theoretical lectures and practical tryouts in which the students could reflect on their own research questions and practices. In the Body-based Practices course thinking and learning are viewed as embodied practices, and the course content builds on the tradition of phenomenology, including new research and theory from the area of Embodied Cognition that is now…

Members of EMAL, who work in the research project Maker-Centered Learning: Cultivating creativity in tomorrow’s schools (MAKER) presented preliminary results at the Nordic Educational Research Association (NERA) Congress 2023, 15-17 March. This years theme Digitalization and Technologies in Education – Opportunities and Challenges was fitting for the research projects aims and thus the group collected contributions to form an special theme symposium. The symposium had the following theme:  Research based practices in educating for innovation and creativity, and was a collaboration with researchers from Oslo-met, Helsinki University and University of South-Eastern Norway. Symposium Abstract   Digitalization has brought a new dimension to education, bringing technology into the curriculum on several levels…

Emal members that are part of the Maker Centered Learning project met Icelandic school makerspace researchers from the AUSTVEF research group in Reykjavik in a joint seminar and public presentation on October 26. Before the open presentations vi had a round tour of the University of Iceland and the Mixtúra Makerspace that had recently moved into the premises of the university. Image: The Mixtúra Makerspace offers professional development courses in maker activities for teacher students and in-service teachers. Image by Camilla Groth. Image: In addition to introducing ready-made commercial packages, they also promote “on the wheels” makerspaces that schools can borrow to cut costs of investing themselves. Image by Camilla…

The third and last craft science workshop in the series of three (see earlier blogs) was arranged on October 11-13 in Mariestad, Sweden by the Craft Laboratory and University of Gothenburg partners Gunnar Almevik and Tina Westerlund. Over three days the group of 20 researchers and teachers shared craft related information and knowledge through lectures workshops and discussions. The lectures involved themes such as artistic research in woodwork using only preindustrial tools, Research on the value and appreciation of crafts in society and IPR in Crafts. In hands-on workshops on plant propagation and masonry and plastering the participant were discussing learning a craft as a novice from a master and…

Edited by Tina Westerlund, Camilla Groth and Gunnar Almevik, this book gathers research made and authored by craft practitioners from a wide range of craft contexts. The book is open access, and you can download your free copy from the publisher Kriterium’s site, and you can buy your printed copy of the book there too. Abstract: The field of ‘Craft Sciences’ refers to research conducted across and within different craft subjects and academic contexts. This anthology aims to expose the breadth of topics, source material, methods, perspectives, and results that reside in this field, and to explore what unites the research in such diverse contexts as, for example, the arts,…