Att vara och agera medborgare : En etnografisk studie i folkbildande praktiker
Pastuhov, Annika (2018-02-02)
Åbo Akademi - Åbo Akademi University
02.02.2018
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-12-3650-1
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-12-3650-1
Tiivistelmä
This thesis is directed towards examining the relation between the ideals of Nordic popular education, such as freedom and equality, and the expressions of these ideals in the popular education practices. This was explored by conducting a study that assumed the perspective of the participant (i.e. the party for which popular education is making knowledge and education accessible). More specifically, the interest of this thesis is aimed towards the relationship between citizenship education as an ideal and the expressions of citizenship education in study circle practices.
The purpose of this thesis is to contribute ethnographic knowledge about what expressions of citizenship can be identified within institutionalised popular education practices. The thesis draws upon a definition of study circles as arenas where the participants exchange experiences and explore knowledge concurrently with others in order to understand and change their living conditions. Citizenship in popular education practices is understood to consist of identification (i.e. being) and deeds (i.e. acting). Citizenship in this context takes place in social interactions where differences are encountered and private issues are translated into public concerns. In order to capture citizenship in its complexity and contextuality, an overarching research question was formulated for the present study: What expressions does citizenship take in study circle practices? This research question was specified through the following three questions: (1) How are the participants being citizens in study circle practices? (2) How are the participants acting as citizens in study circle practices? (3) How are private perspectives transcended in favour of common concerns in the study circle practices?
This ethnographic study was conducted examining three different popular education practices: a senior carpenter circle (13 participants), a philosophy study circle (9 participants) and an English study circle (12 participants). The data mainly consist of field notes, written during and after the fieldwork, and audio recordings of the meetings. The ambition was to illuminate popular education practices as observed first-hand from a citizenship perspective. The three mentioned practices were chosen to complement each other and to shed light on the different sides of the multitude of institutionalised study circle practices. The overarching aim of the analysis was both to explore what was said and done in each study group and to portray these data in a manner that at once accurately derives from the activities in the group and is still understandable to an outsider.
The citizenship of popular education is expressed in different ways depending on how the study groups perceive their shared identity and what the participants strive to accomplish together. In all three groups, the participants orient themselves and the practices of their groups towards their studies and thereby agree on what the group is supposed to be doing and how the socialising should take place. Through social interaction and cooperation, the participants gain new knowledge and deepen interests already chosen before entering the study circles. In all three cases, this was made possible because the groups consisted to a high degree of likeminded participants. The findings of the three studies are summarised and categorised through the notions of identity, involvement (delaktighet) and view on education (bildningssyn). This is developed into a discussion of different kinds of freedom within the citizenship of popular education in light of the three field studies—freedom from, freedom to and a temporary lack of freedom.
In the three field studies, the citizenship of popular education is expressed as counterweights and second chances in relation to the everyday lives of the participants at large. The study circles provide opportunities to be and act as citizens in alternative ways than everyday life makes possible. At the same time, participation in the study circles reinforce already existing perceptions the participants have of themselves. Participation also contributes to the deepening of interests already chosen before the participants sought out the study circles.
The purpose of this thesis is to contribute ethnographic knowledge about what expressions of citizenship can be identified within institutionalised popular education practices. The thesis draws upon a definition of study circles as arenas where the participants exchange experiences and explore knowledge concurrently with others in order to understand and change their living conditions. Citizenship in popular education practices is understood to consist of identification (i.e. being) and deeds (i.e. acting). Citizenship in this context takes place in social interactions where differences are encountered and private issues are translated into public concerns. In order to capture citizenship in its complexity and contextuality, an overarching research question was formulated for the present study: What expressions does citizenship take in study circle practices? This research question was specified through the following three questions: (1) How are the participants being citizens in study circle practices? (2) How are the participants acting as citizens in study circle practices? (3) How are private perspectives transcended in favour of common concerns in the study circle practices?
This ethnographic study was conducted examining three different popular education practices: a senior carpenter circle (13 participants), a philosophy study circle (9 participants) and an English study circle (12 participants). The data mainly consist of field notes, written during and after the fieldwork, and audio recordings of the meetings. The ambition was to illuminate popular education practices as observed first-hand from a citizenship perspective. The three mentioned practices were chosen to complement each other and to shed light on the different sides of the multitude of institutionalised study circle practices. The overarching aim of the analysis was both to explore what was said and done in each study group and to portray these data in a manner that at once accurately derives from the activities in the group and is still understandable to an outsider.
The citizenship of popular education is expressed in different ways depending on how the study groups perceive their shared identity and what the participants strive to accomplish together. In all three groups, the participants orient themselves and the practices of their groups towards their studies and thereby agree on what the group is supposed to be doing and how the socialising should take place. Through social interaction and cooperation, the participants gain new knowledge and deepen interests already chosen before entering the study circles. In all three cases, this was made possible because the groups consisted to a high degree of likeminded participants. The findings of the three studies are summarised and categorised through the notions of identity, involvement (delaktighet) and view on education (bildningssyn). This is developed into a discussion of different kinds of freedom within the citizenship of popular education in light of the three field studies—freedom from, freedom to and a temporary lack of freedom.
In the three field studies, the citizenship of popular education is expressed as counterweights and second chances in relation to the everyday lives of the participants at large. The study circles provide opportunities to be and act as citizens in alternative ways than everyday life makes possible. At the same time, participation in the study circles reinforce already existing perceptions the participants have of themselves. Participation also contributes to the deepening of interests already chosen before the participants sought out the study circles.
Kokoelmat
- 516 Kasvatustieteet [106]