Museums and Education in the North

In: Fristrup , T (ed.) 2020 , Museums and Education in the North . Fornvårdaren , no. 39 , Jamtli Forlag , Östersund .

Abstract

The transformation of museums and education in the north meets the contemporary political agenda on Lifelong Learning and the implementation of the 21st Century Skills Framework and emphasise a neo-liberalisation of cultural and educational politics in the Nordic countries. The Nordic foundation on democracy establishes a fundamental backdrop for a necessary recalling of cultural and educational purposes as the Nordic dimension begins to dissolve due to the exchange of transnational and more isomorphic co-productive arrangements. In Finland, they have reformed their educational system with an emphasis on content rather than outcomes and the essential distinction between "matter and meaning" has been revitalised as it used to dominate educational and cultural settings in the Nordic countries. The shift towards outcomes in Scandinavia establishes both (old) barriers to and (new) possibilities for collaboration between Museums and Education in the North. The project Museums and Education in the North (2017-2020) is funded by the Nordic Culture Fund and the Nordic Culture Point and managed by The Nordic Centre for Heritage Learning and Creativity (NCK) in Östersund, Sweden. In collaboration with partners from four Nordic countries, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, the purpose, pedagogy and performance of the national initiatives become the backdrop for further discussions regarding possibilities for and barriers to collaboration between cultural and educational settings in the North.