Young people and the hidden meanings of the everyday: time-space path as a methodological opportunity

Abstract

The article explores the ways in which young people use their everyday environments and how they give meanings to their surroundings. It concentrates on the potential of the re-interpretations of 1970s time-geography by applying the method of timespace paths to educational contexts in both universities and schools. The point of view is methodological. The piloting phase took place during a number of courses on environmental education of the university level and, based on the experience gained, the method was re-developed for secondary school levels. The data were gathered from eight schools in Finland as part of the 'Liikkeelle!' ('On the move!') project, funded by the Finnish National Board of Education, where the main aim was to take students' own neighbourhoods into account in teaching. The students were asked to make observations of their environment over a one-day period and to take photographs, which could all be used later as material for the construction of their unique time-space paths. The main contents of the paths have been analysed in the article, but more emphasis have been placed on an evaluation of the exercise in order to offer ideas for further development of these methods.

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