Kreativitet som glidande diskurs: Berättelser om Biophilia Educational Project

Abstract

ABSTRACT - Creativity as a sliding discourse: Stories about the Biophilia Educational Project. - In 2014, the three-year-long Biophilia Educational Project was initiated by the Icelandic artist Björk Guðmundsdóttir. The project links science, music and technology in a curriculum for 10–12-year-olds which has been implemented regionally in the Nordic countries as an alternative to conventional educational approaches. Adopting Michel Foucault’s notion of discourses as tactical elements, this article examines how the aims and potential benefits of the Biophilia project are discursively constructed by different actors involved in the process. The analysis draws on material from the project’s web site, from the funder’s web site, and from the web site of one of the local municipalities where the project has been implemented. It also draws on policy documents and on published media interviews with Björk. Results, discussed in relation to neoliberal discourses in education, show how meanings, especially regarding the term creativity, shift when different actors describe the project’s aims and objectives, and how contrasting subject positions are thereby produced. Key words: creativity discourse, music education, musical composition, neoliberal discourse, subject position