Bildlärares upplevelser av att bedöma elevers skapandeprocesser

Abstract

In recent decades, the assessment criteria in the Swedish upper secondary high school art curriculum has included several notions of creative processes. These processes can be intimate. There is a lack of knowledge of how art teachers experience planning, teaching as well as assessing and grading the creative processes of high school students. Previous studies have focused on how to define creative processes, how to assess art students in general. The studies show creative processes of either younger children or university students. They show the effect of teachers not having access to matrixes of what to assess. They show different methods for art assessment. The aim of this study is to illustrate teachers’ lived experiences of designing a space for students to develop creative processes, as well as how the teachers’ experience the assessment of these processes. The study was conducted with four art teachers at a Swedish upper secondary high school. Based in Phenomenological theory and methodology, using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study was designed using semi-structured interviews in order to capture the teachers’ lived experiences. The four teachers described a similar definition of creative processes, which they fractionate into different phases. The phases vary but the process generally starts with collecting inspiration and end with presenting a final result as well as (often written) reflections. During the process, students are expected to experiment. The planning, execution and assessment of students’ processes are affected by different circumstances. The teachers’ have nuanced experiences of the assessment of students’ creative processes. They appreciate the Swedish high school curriculum as a source for what to plan and assess. They see formative assessment as a great tool for helping students learn and further develop their creative process. The teachers’ view of grading is generally negative, but they accept the existence of summative assessment and their role in grading students creative processes. They try, however, to limit the occasions for grading during the school term. This study fills an empty space in current research as a phenomenological study of art teachers’ experiences of assessing high school students creative processes.