”Vi får lära oss helt nya sätt att tänka nu!”

Abstract

This study investigates the potential to encompass questions about transgender and gender fluid identity in the school subject visual art in compulsory school years 7-9. A qualitative semi structured focus group interview was made with five visual art teachers who discuss visual art in relation to its potential to support personal development, exploration of identity and gender orientation in art education. The article discusses in what way visual art as a school subject can function as communicative support for pupils withgender fluid identity and in what way transgender individuals and individuals with gender fluid identity can be included in the arteducation in school. The results show that the visual art teachers believe that the subject visual art is a significant tool for pupils in communicating an inner dialogue with an external world. The results also show that multimodal methods give pupils the opportunity tobe exploratory and uncertain as well as support them in communicating what is unsaid and unwritten when exploring ongoing changes in gender identity. Visual arts can thus be a forum for pupils to talk about questions concerning transgender and gender fluid identification and serve as a democratic tool to counteract exclusion.

Keywords

• art education
• compulsory school
• gender fluid identity
• inclusion
• visual art