Browsing by Subject "kuvataideprojektit"

Objectives. According to previous research people construct life stories to achieve an identity. We tell stories about ourselves and our personal experiences to each other, and those stories become part of me. The perception of one´s life story and past evolves when one grows older. Identity achievement refers to a sense of who one is as a person, continuity and sameness and direction in one´s life. We can observe identity development in life choices. Individuals also come to terms with their culture and vice versa through life narrative. The research guestions were: how did different art education books that relate to youth arts projects deal with identity and how did they aim to support identity development through artistic expression. My goal is to construct an overall picture of this theme in the shape of a literature review because I am convinced that it is possible to support identity formation and the well-being of a pupil through art in ways that are worth acknowledging and beneficial to a class teacher. Methods. This thesis is a systematic and discretionary review. I selected suitable youth arts projects and literature related to them that were published during last ten years. The book material was analysed by content analysis. I also considered how the results of the content analysis could be applied pedagogically. Results and conclusions. The books that were selected to this literature review emphasized different parts of identity. They aimed to support identity development through arts education and artistic expression, group meetings and through exploring life stories and considering the factors that relate to cultural identity. The objective of the education was e.g. to increase cultural knowledge. The processing of emotions related to gender and sexual identity supported identity formation in those areas. According to the results it was possible to strengthen identity through life stories, shared cultural experiences, cultural heritage and recognition. In youth it is important that one is recognized as a unique individual. Recognition, feedback, improving self-esteem, sharing experiences and telling one´s life story have a significant influence on identity formation. Autobiographical and artistic expression help to clarify who one is, where one is going and where does one belong.