Learning remake, sustainable matter? An empirical analysis on what and how students learn in a remake school project

Author(s):

Hanna Hofverberg(presenting / submitting)Ninitha Maivorsdotter(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

30 SES 02 B, Teaching and Learning ESD in Secondary Schools

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-22

15:15-16:45

Room:

K6.18

Chair:

Paul Vare

Contribution

Creative remakes using recycled material are common educational projects of promoting environmental and sustainability actions. In the Swedish crafts subject educational sloyd for example, the curriculum states that students ‘should be given opportunities to choose and handle materials in order to promote sustainable development’ (Swedish National Agency for Education, 203). This is further expressed as ‘economizing on the use of resources, such as through repairs and recycling of materials’ (205). In relation to these curriculum writings remake projects are common, which means that students make new products from used materials, such as garments or fabrics. However, to date no research has been conducted on what and how students learn when taking part in such remake projects.

In this paper, the aim is to examine what and how students learn with materials when engaging in a remake project. The exploration is conducted in an educational sloyd class in Sweden.

The paper draws on a transactional theory of learning (Dewey, 1938/1997) informed by Bennett’s (2010) notion of actant. Dewey’s transactional learning theory is an every-present process. It involves observation of surrounding conditions, prior experiences are re-actualized and action is based upon foresight of the consequences. However, human-material relationships have not been frequently analysed in Deweyan ESE research, hence we use Bennett (2010) use of actant in order to further develop and add a ‘material’ element to the transactional learning theory. An actant can refer to any entity or process that makes a difference in the making process. In order to show how human and non-human entities transact in the learning process of making we have developed a theoretical concept using transactants as a theoretical object.

Method

Practical epistemology analysis (PEA) (Wickman & Öhman, 2002; Maivorsdotter et, al, 2015) is used as a method and offers an analytical framework that illustrates the lived experiences associated with acquiring or failing to acquire a certain subject content. Four PEA concepts are used as an analytical framework: (i) purpose, (ii) gaps, (iii) relations and (iv) encounter. In order to select the passages in the empirical data that respond to the research question, the analysis involves identifying the events in the classroom where the students work with the recycled material. The identification of an ‘event’ is theoretically grounded and draws on Dewey’s (1922/1996) notion that an experience – or event – has an obvious beginning, middle and end and leads to some kind of fulfilment or consummation. After selecting the events, the passages were analysed in depth using PEA with a focus on aesthetic judgements (Wickman, 2006). In this paper, aesthetic judgements are operationally defined as ‘utterances or expressions that either deal with feelings or emotions related to experiences of pleasure or displeasure, or that deal with qualities of things, events or actions that cannot be defined as qualities of the object themselves, but rather are evaluations of taste, for example about what is beautiful or ugly’ (Wickman, 2006, 9). When the PEA analysis had been conducted, the generated data is further analysed using the concept of transactants in order to explore what participates (both human and nonhuman) in the remake learning process and how this participation unfolds in the learning process.

Expected Outcomes

The findings show how students transact with the idea of a product, the material’s capabilities and the remake techniques, all of which are entangled in the learning process. The participating transactants show what twists up the learning process and makes it turn in a specific direction. The findings also show how ideas need to be embodied with the recycled material, that the product’s future function and working with limited resources are crucial aspects of the remake process. At last, educational sloyd has a tradition aiming for function but also form – which could be described as a historical tension. Drawing on the empirical data it possible to show how the tension of form and function is a living breathing tradition in the remake project. Hence, arguing that the general concept of recycling promotes environmental and sustainability actions is not possible. This is not to say that recycling as a remake project has no worth or relevance in and for Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE). However, when this general idea of recycling is framed into a specific learning practice, such as a remake project in educational sloyd, we need to be attentive to how the learning process unfolds and what the students learn, rather than assuming that remake always promotes environmental and sustainable actions.

References

Dewey, John. 1938/1997. Experience and education. New York: Touchstone. Bennett, Jane (2010). Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke University Press. Maivorsdotter, Ninitha, Quennerstedt, Mikael and Öhman, Marie (2015) “Students’ Aesthetic Experiences of Playing Exergames: A Practical Epistemology Analysis of Learning”. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 5(3), 11-24. doi: 0.4018/IJGBL.2015070102 Swedish National Agency for Education. (2011). Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and the recreation centre 2011. Stockholm: Ordförrådet AB Wickman, P.-O. 2006. Aesthetic experience in science education: Learning and meaning-making as situated talk and action, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Wickman, P.-O., and Östman, L. 2002. “Learning as discourse change: a sociocultural mechanism”. Science Education, 86 (5), 601-623.

Author Information

Hanna Hofverberg (presenting / submitting)

Uppsala University

Department of education

Malmö

Ninitha Maivorsdotter (presenting)

Skövde University, Sweden

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.