The aim of this thesis is to contribute to an understanding of the definition and posi­tion of aesthetic learning processes (ALP), as well as to illustrate and discuss its poten­tial for learning. This is achieved based on Ricoeur´s hermeneutic approach.

The first part concerns the Scandinavian concept of ALP, which has proven difficult to define. The lack of clarity and the ambiguity, which mainly derives from the two parts of the concept, namely aesthetic and learning processes, and from two fields, the artistic/aesthetic and the educational, has led to a medium-specific and a medium-neutral point of view. If ALP is to be a useful and meaningful concept, a greater degree of theoretical understanding is required. My hermeneutic interpretation suggests a medium-neutral point of departure, focusing the aesthetic aspect of the learning process, which shows itself in the form. My definition stipulates that in ALP meaning is created through an active reflection on previous and new experiences, where reason and emotions as well as imagination and creativity contribute to a form-expression, which carries meaning and moves the learner. This occurs within the aesthetic form-language, where fragmented pieces of content are formed and trans­formed into coherent wholes in a personally shaped experience.

The second part addresses the position of ALP in the Swedish school system. Four chrono­logical periods are presented: 1) The societal and pedagogical context that ALP emerges from, such as the development of a new view on knowledge and learning, also the notion and project Arts in School. 2) The establishment of ALP through a rapidly growing research field, based on political priorities connected to the expression a desire to learn. 3) The ambiguous concept of ALP in a non-electable position, the inability to create a theoretical understanding, and the neo-liberal nega­tive effects. 4) Finally, the current position of ALP, at the intersection between the past and the future. I argue that many teachers in school, as well as researchers at universities, associate ALP in a both medium-specific and medium-neutral way, which entails an exclusiveness that excludes most teachers in their positioning to this concept and moves ALP to a peripheral position in the school system.   

The third part, based on a school study, reports a strong correlation between the aesthe­tic quality in students’ form-expressions and their course grades. The higher aesthetic qua­lity in the form, the higher the course grade. Central aspects of ALP, such as intrinsic motivation, reflection and creativity, and the aesthetic formation of personal ex­perien­ces, generate deep conceptual learning, which harmonizes with the criteria of the highest grade. Students emphasize these aspects to learn and remem­ber. Based on the study, the concept of ALP offers a great potential for learning.