Lived time in “relay-method” based arts education

sharing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as an example

Abstract

This article explores the concept of lived time as an aspect of aesthetic pedagogy based on a phenomenological way of thinking. Starting off from the philosophies of Bollnow and van Manen, where time is seen as an existential phenomena, intertwined with other existentials, we used experiences from an ongoing project as examples to make understanding of the phenomenon possible. Lived time concerns reconsidering and revision of thinking, a process that includes personal, relational and emotional qual­ities. The specific aim of the philosophical study is to describe the phenomenon of lived time in aesthetic pedagogy from a pedagogue perspective. We embrace a holistic view of relations between arts and education, where education in arts, education through arts, education as art, and art as education function as different perspectives of aesthetic pedagogical situations. To get acces to pedagogues’ lived experiences of time in aesthetic pedagogy, a group interview was conducted. Six pedagogues engaged in the Alla har rätt-project, with educational as well as artistic backgrounds, were interviewed together via the communication tool Zoom. Intentions, experiences, the changing situation, as well as visions about the future constituted themes for the group conversation. The philosophical analysis, where the experiences of the interviewees were used as examples, resulted in a description of the phenomenon of lived time in arts-based education constituted by four themes: Lived time in meaningful arts education, Lived time as diminishing or disappearing in aesthetic pedagogy, Lived time and artworks in aesthetic pedagogy, and Lived time as didactic frame in aesthetic pedagogy.