Wonderful and Dangerous Entanglements Between Youth Culture, Contemporary Art and Present Pedagogics

Abstract

The article aims to describe and discuss how a particular affinity can be identified between contemporary art, trends in children’s and young people’s culture, and present pedagogical approaches found in afterschool clubs, gymnasium and Social Education in a Danish context. Methodologically, inspiration is drawn from self-study research, involving several analytical sessions in which the authors of this article engaged in collaborative analysis of empirical cases chosen from their own practice. The selected cases are discussed through three thematic lenses: creativity, reflection, and time. Theoretically, the article refers to distributed aspects of creativity, the role of craftsmanship, and the apparent acceleration of society. The article concludes that pedagogical methods derived from contemporary art meet young people’s need for participation, inclusion, and influence but also contend with conditions in present society, such as limited time for immersion, a general acceleration of society, academization of our educational institutions, and a general downgrading of manual techniques.