Research at the Faculty

Curriculum studies is the study of teaching. Research in curriculum studies at the University focuses broadly on (relationships between) content, teachers, and learners, and on questions such as why teaching is structured as it is, on what objectives and content are selected, on how teaching can be carried out, who the teaching is intended for, and when and where teaching can be carried out. Drawing on research on teaching and/or learning environments, aspects that condition teaching and learning processes are also studied. These may include, for example, historical contexts, social ideas, educational organisations, the physical environment, how teaching can be understood and experienced by different actors, as well as the norms, values, and patterns of action that may determine different choices and approaches.

Research in education conducted at University of Gävle addresses three levels: individual and group level, activity level, and societal level, all with a particular focus on learning processes. This is manifested in research which has explicit interests in processes, forms, and content of teaching, as well as in learning and in fostering. Projects pay particular attention to social sustainability and social justice, inclusive processes, study and career guidance, special needs education in learning, health education, assessment research, leadership research, learning in working life, studies on identity development, comparative studies, the different conditions of subject studies and educational action plans, and to curriculum theory research. The interest in learning processes thus moves across the different levels, both within and outside the education system, both nationally and internationally, and hence provides exemplifications of how humans are shaped and changed by different social, cultural, and historical contexts.

Art Education is an interdisciplinary subject and field of knowledge in which aesthetic, pedagogical, and theoretical aspects of image communication, image analysis and practical image-making processes are of central importance. The subject explores and problematises the role and place of images in society within education and within a broader societal context. Research in art education takes an interest in visual culture in a broad sense as well as in more subject-specific issues in relation to learning, teaching, and knowledge development in the context of both voluntary and compulsory schooling.