MBH4310 Art and Play Course description

This course offers insights into recent trends in the relationship between users of and professionals in the health and care services. The course will focus on looking critically at perceptions of user involvement, empowerment, and coordination between health care professionals and users. In particular, the course will discuss different traditions in understanding goal definition and redistribution of power, relational knowledge, and the concept of coproduction in the context of public services. User involvement in research will also be a topic of discussion.

After completion of the course, the student will have acquired the following learning outcomes, defined as knowledge, skills and general competence

Knowledge 

By the end of the course the student has advanced knowledge of 

• theories of art, play and learning that inform current thinking in early childhood education and care 
• different historical, anthropological and cultural approaches to understandings of child culture/children's culture in an international perspective 
• child culture and children's play culture with a focus on the interrelatedness between play and learning; and the inherent value of play 
• aesthetic expressions in children's everyday life, in the early childhood curriculum, in the arts for children and in media for children 

Skills 

By the end of the course the student is able to 

• engage critically and independently with academic studies on art, play and learning 
• engage with participatory interaction as a pedagogical process from both child and adult perspectives 
• analyse and deal critically with current theories, methods and interpretations concerning art, play and learning, children's perspectives, the roles of professionals and cultural diversity 
• reflect critically on the integration of art, play and learning and the implications for practice and research 

General competence 

By the end of the course the students have 

• developed their sensitivity regarding children's aesthetic practices as well as their own creative skills, values and practices and how these reflect their participatory interaction with children 
• developed their own methodological research practice and scientific approach 
• developed their creativity, improvisational abilities and playfulness in both scholarly approach and modes of artistic and academic communication 

In Nordic early childhood research, art and play comprise an essential foundation. This course provides an in-depth exploration of art, play and learning in early childhood settings, aimed at developing critical problematizing and reflection both in practice and in theory. The course addresses key issues in current research in view of their implications for practice and future research.  

In view of the international scope of the course, particular emphasis is placed on comparative approaches. 

Students will investigate and interrogate: 

• theory of the arts, play and culture 
• understandings of child culture/children's culture in relation to everyday life, play, the curriculum, the arts and modern media 
• understandings of interaction with children in early childhood education and care settings 
• notions of children`s agency and participation 
• discourses of cultural diversity and inclusion 
• the use of digital tools for play and learning 

the relationship between children`s creativity and opportunities for free play, exploration and imaginative play   

On completion of the course, the PhD candidate has achieved the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The PhD candidate

• is a the forefront of knowledge of conceptual understanding and theories of user involvement and professional input
• can critically assess how different perspectives of user involvement and professional coordination can be applied in health science research

Skills

The PhD candidate can

• critically reflect on the knowledge base for user involvement and coordination
• articulate problems that address the complex relationships between individuals, service provision, and society in health science research
• design a plan for including users in research design

General competence

The PhD candidate can

• discuss user involvement and coordination as concepts and practices based on critical thinking of empowerment, goal-setting, and relationships between professionals and users
• communicate and discuss topics from research about user involvement and coordination in the field of the health sciences
• demonstrate how critical insight generated from studies of user involvement and coordination can be applied in innovation processes

None

Candidates must write an essay on user involvement and coordination, based on empirical data and a theory of their choice. The essay must consist of up to 5,000 words and must be submitted no more than 2 weeks after the end of the course.

All

Pass / Fail

One internal and one external examiner will assess the answer papers submitted by all candidates.