This thesis concerns the mediation of history in a public arena in society, namely in historical exhibitions in museums. The foci of the thesis are exhibitions on migration history, cultural encounters, “Us” and “the Others”, and in particular how relations based on the principles of class, gender and ethnicity are mediated. The research concerns two exhibitions – "Afrikafararna" (The Travellers to Africa) and "Kongospår" (Traces of Congo). In this thesis museums are viewed as arenas for public education and meaning-making. It explores how the historical contents as well as the forms of mediation in the exhibitions correspond to the task of promoting democracy that has been assigned to Swedish museums. This task is expressed in the intentions of the respective museums, in the general policies on culture and also in the policy documents for schools. Therefore the thesis also explores how pupils and teachers understand the mediation of history and use the museum as a source for learning. Exhibitions are regarded in this thesis as mediation processes of history. Three distinct phases can be seen in this process – the phase of production, the phase of mediation and the phase of reception. People connected to the different phases, such as curators, producers, museum educators, and pupils, have been interviewed. These interviews show how conditions, convictions and scope for action influence how the stories of migration and cultural encounters are told and understood. The contents of the exhibitions are analysed from a perspective of class, gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, the limitations and possibilities for the visitors to intensify their historical consciousness are discussed. The study shows how economic conditions and access to historical source material influence the way history is mediated, but also, and to a very large extent, convictions on pedagogy and concepts of history among museum staff. The latter two are determining factors when it is made clear that the way the historical source material is used results in the fact that history is mediated in a way that does not correspond to the intentions and goals to promote democratic values, such as equality, and active democratic readiness for action. The study shows that the exhibitions in question mediate patterns of subordination and asymmetrical relations between women and men and between Swedes/Scandinavians and Africans in their mediation of history. There are sometimes very distinct lines between “Us” and “the Others”. One of the exhibitions offers more space for individual meaning-making and reflection than the other, however, because of its problematization of the occurrence of African artefacts in Scandinavia and because there are more stories and more voices in the exhibition. The interviews with teachers and pupils show that the visits to the exhibitions are often isolated events that are rarely incorporated into the students’ education in a prolonged theme or perspective. Several students uncritically accepted the mediation in the exhibition, others were provoked and challenged, but the students had little opportunity to discuss these experiences in either the museum or in school. In summing up, several of the results of the analysis show that the mediation of history in the exhibitions cannot be described as corresponding to the demands of a democratic conception of education.

In order to help students find connections to the Core Knowledge curriculum and the principles of Discipline-Based Art Education, the author uses narrative and visual storytelling in the form of altered books to make meaning and relate the lives of students to the art content. The author uses methods of action research to plan a curriculum intervention, work with the students to create their visual stories, reflect on his instruction along with student learning, and collect students' responses through surveys. The author also gathers data through the students' journals and artworks. Through the project the author is able to give students choices and help them turn their learning environment into art practice. Ultimately, the author improves and develops his teaching practice as a result of this project.

This qualitative study explored the experiences of individuals living with a sibling diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and how these individuals make meaning of this experience. The data for this study was collected from five (5) individuals between the ages of 12 and 19, who shared their experience of living with siblings diagnosed with ASD. The data was analysed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis method (IPA). I conclude that although living with a sibling diagnosed with ASD is a challenging experience, the way one makes meaning from the experience contributes greatly to their interpretation of their experience thereof; and therefore, making it a positive experience. The participants in this study showed great maturity and resilience. The findings of this study will be useful to parents, professionals and those who engage with individuals living with a sibling diagnosed with ASD. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology in Research Consultation)

The purpose of this study was to document and understand the meanings associated with the visual elaboration (Painter, 2002a), of a particular house i.e. what was done to it after it was built and why, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, by successive occupants, including myself, over a period of nine decades. I used a case study, involving documents and artefacts and interviews with key informants. Taking an interpretive epistemological stance, I employed a narrative approach to inquiry (Kramp, 2004, Johnson-Bailey, 2004). The individual narratives resonated with recent anthropological findings. The house saw home managers exert their agency (Pink, 2004). Additionally, inhabitants left a signature on the structure (Dominy, 1997), and carried with them mementos from the home they had made there (Marcoux, 2001). Over time, through transformation processes, both individuals and the house were changed (Miller, 2001a). Further, the design legacy left by previous inhabitants acted as a form of agency on successive residents (Miller, 2001b), and through reciprocal accommodation the house and its occupants came to terms with each other (Miller, 2002). Additionally, six common themes emerged: epistemological orientation, economics, male and female, reminiscences and affect, childhood to adulthood and history and presence. My finding that an individual’s epistemological stance was related to her/his artistry supports an emerging vision in art education, that of art practice as research (Sullivan, 2005). This has implications for both research and practice. Firstly, the processes through which non-specialists work need to be more fully explored. Secondly, we require a changed view of art history where art images are understood as part of a productive visual culture (Marshall, 2007). This is a concept-focused analysis of art where meaning is demonstrated to be contextual and intergraphical, and is manifest in artworks that can be scrutinized across cultures and time. Thirdly, our concept of visual literacy must expand; if we construct knowledge and reality through making images as well as by decoding the meaning of existing visual images, then art practice is schools is imperative (Marshall). Finally, visual thinking is integrative (Marshall), and thus art integration and a new approach to art and learning are essential.