Klassesamtaler som eksistensielt drama - der psykisk helse oppstår mellom oss

Author's version of an article in the journal: Nordic Studies in Education. Also available from the publisher at: http://www.idunn.no/ts/np/2012/02/klassesamtaler_som_eksistensielt_drama_-_der_psykisk_helse_?highlight=Ulland#highlightThis article presents a qualitative study of a mental health promotion initiative at the interface between culture, health and education. In this initiative the aim is to facilitate conversations about various life issues in mainstream classes in high school. The study shows that the conversations set off thoughts and feelings with the students which are considered to be positive and meaningful and that the initiative contributes to an increased experience of openness and cohesion in the class. Through the use of Bakhtin's dialogue philosophy, Løgstrup's ethics of proximity and Lakoff's and Johnson's metaphor theory, we note how the talks establish a space for an existential drama. The students open up, they put themselves at play, they exist: ethically, cognitively and emotionally. On this basis it is reasonable to say that mental health arises between the students