Performing Knowledge

The displacement of knowledge transfer to competences as the ultimate aim of education represents a fundamental change in the diverse systems of education, especially in schools. Consequently, the attainment of knowledge for its own sake has been superseded by the acquisition of skills that can be used in practice in which unpredictability plays a major role. (Cp. BÖHLE, PFEIFFER, SEVSAY-TEGETHOFF (ed.) 2004) Competencies are meant to facilitate active, open-minded, exploratory, dialogical and empathical approaches to situational challenges in society, in school and in private life. The competence regarded as the most important in this regard is the ability and willingness to learn from one´s own experiences. This presupposes awareness of oneself, and it requires the ability and sensitivity to be guided by events and occurrences that arise individually in one’s personal experience. BÖHLE et al. comment that there are parallels to artistic practices (ibid. p.67). 4. Theoretical framework: The paradigm shift concerning the learning goals entails not only a revision of instructional practices but also a revision of the means of instruction. Here a kind of iconic paradigm shift is to be carried out. Accordingly, no longer needed is the imaging or illustrating of subjects to be learnt keeping them abstract; rather, in place abstractions of the contexts and settings of learning are foregrounded. Here we follow the phenomenological concept that cognitive experiences of sense in the modus of a “Eureka!” cannot be abstracted from experiences in the real world. (Cp. Waldenfels 2002, S.165) Considering this we draft our hypotheses that especially settings of learning based on art works or based on artistic principles can be used for didactics starting from individual experiences. Within classroom lessons teachers use works of art usually in order to mediate ideas and theories about subjective realities. Pictures, sculptures, installations are meant to be representations of insights or illustrations of certain imaginations in general. Here we will interpret works of art as translations of theories in special settings of experience. We generally concentrate on such art installations, performances or other artistic efforts and styles that depend on the spectator to complete them; that is, to make them visible. (Cp. Eco 1977) But we also take into account that works of art themselves can make something appear. Martin Seel (2002) describes it as a “staging” or performing character of art works as not only condensing real things, topics, and constellations, but also producing visibility. Here the thesis is to be discussed, that these processes are invoking as well an apprenticeship by corporal means of understanding as they are provoking theories. 5. Methodology/research design: In the session of a seminary on research methodologies the ethnographic approach is visualised by works of an artist. The students explore the most important outlines of the ethnographic approach by interpreting the pictures. A few examples of their interpretations will be presented