Course Objectives

Arts and Crafts will help provide students with knowledge and understanding of how young children explore, shape and express themselves using materials and tools. The course will provide students with insight and skills in the selection of materials and processes designed to stimulate children’s interest in arts and crafts.

Knowledge of the Subject

Through their own creative work in two- and three-dimensional materials, students will acquire practical and aesthetic experience. The practical work will be documented by the students. The techniques and materials chosen will be suitable for use in working with small children. During the teaching practice period, students will be able to experiment with arts and crafts’ techniques in working with children.

During the course, the student will gain experience and understanding of:

· The creative processes involved in two- and three-dimensional arts and crafts work, working with a variety of materials and techniques.

· The development of children and how they use materials to express themselves.

· The concepts of creativity, fantasy and aesthetics, viewed in relation to the development of children.

· Various forms of expression in the arts and cultural sphere.

· The aesthetic and pedagogical significance of the physical environment.

Pedagogical Work with Children

Students will gain insight into how creative processes yield an opportunity to process impressions and facilitate learning. An important part of the target area is knowledge of children’s actions and activities in creative art and crafts work. The expressive forms used by children will be viewed both in a historical perspective and in relation to the current curriculum for pre-school teacher education.

The students will be able to:

· Take as their starting point a child’s needs with regards to exploring and creating products using materials.

· Plan, execute, evaluate and document the creative processes of children.

· Gain knowledge regarding the evaluation of a kindergarten’s aesthetic and educational environment.

Cooperation and Reflection

The students will practice recognising the relationship between the actions and practical organisation carried out by adults, and the experiences and activities of children and their identity and personality development.

Students will have the opportunity to:

· Reflect on children’s encounters with materials and with each other.

· Analyse and critically evaluate the possibilities and limitations of arts and crafts activities in indoor and outdoor areas of kindergartens.

· Reflect on the connection between the images and styles prevalent in society and those used in children’s perception and modes of expression.

Course Description

The subject is based on values and traditions within art, architecture, design and handicrafts. The subject stresses visual and tactile expressions in two- and three-dimensional forms. Students will be introduced to examples of creative work ranging from a child’s first scribbling to our culture’s advanced works of art.

The course will help students develop into competent communication partners for growing children, in particular in the context of creative arts and crafts activities. Students will develop professional competence through experience with their own creative work, through an investigation of theories concerning the development of children and through their own practical work with children. Students will be trained to understand how children perceive their surroundings, and thereby gain insight into the needs of children. Students will learn how the shaping of the kindergarten may promote the mediation of cultural and aesthetic values which are significant for the exploration and play of children.

The course in arts and crafts consists of three course units:

1. Knowledge of the Subject
2. Pedagogical Work with Children
3. Cooperation and Reflection

Learning Methods

This 10 ECTS course requires 6-7 hours of work per week, and includes varied learning methods such as:

Students working independently, individually and in groups, on assignments and documentation; introduction and guidance given by the teacher.

Independent study of course literature. Lectures given by teacher.

Internet-based studies organised into intensive units. Assignments and contact with the students between periods will take place mainly via the Internet.

Obligatory work

The practical part of the course is obligatory. All assignments given throughout the year must be completed.

Assessment Methods

Throughout the course, students and teachers will participate in an informal assessment of assignments, course plans and teaching and learning methods. The Academic Affairs Committee will formalise the group’s assessment of the course. Practical creative work may, in some parts of the course, be carried out in groups, but the portfolio with didactic-theoretical descriptions is to be kept individually by students.

Final Assessment

A final formal assessment is made when the following work has been submitted at the end of the second semester. The documentation portfolio must also be submitted at the end of the first semester.

1. The student’s portfolio with documentation (pass/fail).

2. The student’s written didactic/theoretical assignment (1/3 of final grade).

3. Two of the student’s practical creative pieces of work including documentation; one product will be selected by the student (2/3 of final grade).

Assessment criteria: Aesthetic crafts, dedication, creativity, quality of documentation and professional level.

A single grade will be recorded on the diploma.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean