Pål André Aarsand
About
I am a professor in sociology of education with a research interest in young people’s everyday life and, in particular, how they participate in various digital media practices. I teach courses at Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. level, mainly within science of education but also within Childhood Studies. I supervise master and Ph.D students with a particular interest in everyday life of young people with ethnographic, ethnomethodological and socio-material perspectives
I am a member of two research groups:
- Critical Childhood and Youth Studies (CCYS) which runs the Child & Youth Seminar.
- Learning in Everyday Practices (LiEP) that runs a monthly research seminar month and that together with Center for Academic and Professional Communication run the Discourse Seminar.
I am editor-in-chief of the Nordic Journal of Pedagogy & Critique and an editorial board member at at journals Research on Children and Social Interaction and Reading Research Quarterly.
Research
My research concerns the everyday life of children and youth with a particular interest in digital media practices. I take a discourse analytical approach to young peoples participation in digital media practices. I am interested in research as a social practices as well as ethical dilemmas in ethnographic and ethnomethodological research with children. I have published on phenomena such as digital literacy practices, gaming, playing, learning, identity work, children's cultural heritage and qvalitative research methods.
Children's cultural heritage
The project explores how to integrate Swedish children’s cultural heritage and make it an indisputable part of Swedish cultural heritage. The focus is on how to collect, preserve and archive children’s own cultural expressions for the future.
Inspect - Societal Security after COVID 19: Inquiring Nordic Strategies, Practices, Educational Consequences and Trajectories (2023-2025)
The aim of the INSPECT project is to understand the medium to long-term consequences of COVID 19 and to develop knowledge and prepare the Nordic schools to ensure societal security going forward.
Publications
2025
-
Sparrman, Anna Margareta;
Aarsand, Pål André;
Hrechaniuk, Yelyzaveta;
Sjöberg, Johanna;
Ågren, Ylva;
Orrmalm, Alex.
(2025)
Att digitalisera barns kulturarv.
Academic chapter
-
Willbergh, Ilmi;
Aarsand, Pål André;
Torjussen, Lars Petter Storm;
Hausstätter, Rune.
(2025)
Nordisk pedagogikk 2015–2025 – utviklingstrekk ifølge nordiske forskere
| Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Editorial
2024
-
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2024)
Talking Fanart: Small Stories About Drawings and Games.
Children & society
Academic article
-
Ågren, Ylva;
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2024)
Young people's digital drawing practices as cultural heritage.
International journal of cultural studies
Academic article
-
Hrechaniuk, Yelyzaveta;
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2024)
Making and Knowing Digital Pictures: Young People Displaying Visual-digital Literacies.
Young - Nordic Journal of Youth Research
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål André;
Bowden, Helen Melander.
(2024)
Mobile phones and moral order: Children’s appropriation of and accounting for digital media rules in schools.
Global Studies of Childhood
Academic article
2023
-
Sparrman, Anna;
Sjöberg, Johanna;
Hrechaniuk, Yelyzaveta;
Köpsell, Linn;
Isaksson, Karin;
Eriksson, Maria;
Orrmalm, Alex;
Venäläinen, Päivi;
Ågren, Ylva;
Coulter, Natalie.
(2023)
Archives and children’s cultural heritage.
Archives and records
Academic article
-
Erstad, Ola Andres;
Kucirkova, Natalia;
Mangen, Anne;
Aarsand, Pål André;
Blikstad-Balas, Marte.
(2023)
Reading in the digital age: Differences and commonalities across research approaches.
Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2023)
Drawing Minecraft: Small stories on metagames.
Academic chapter
2022
-
Sparrman, Anna Margareta;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2022)
Children’s cultural heritage: The micro-politics of the archive.
Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift (NKT)
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2022)
Digitalisering av utdannings- og oppvekstpraksiser.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Editorial
-
Evaldsson, Ann-Carita;
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2022)
‘I’m just imitating the idiot’ — Exclusionary acts of status degradation through embodied stance-taking and category work in boys’ game performances.
Research on children and social interaction (RoCSI)
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Aarsand, Liselott.
(2022)
«Innenfor», «utenfor» og «i grenseland»: samtaler om sosiale normer og vurderinger i en pandemi.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2022)
Children's digital gaming culture.
Academic chapter
2021
-
Willbergh, Ilmi;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2021)
Nye hovedredaktører tar over Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Editorial
-
Farstad, Ida Engan;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2021)
Children on the move: Guided participation in travel activities.
Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Schofield, Daniel.
(2021)
Deltakerperspektiv i studier av barns og unges mediepraksiser.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Sørenssen, Ingvild Kvale.
(2021)
“And then it’s my turn”: Negotiating participation in tablet activities in early childhood education and care.
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
Academic article
2020
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Melander, Helen.
(2020)
Digital literacy practices in children’s everyday life: Participating in on-screen and off-screen activities.
Academic chapter
-
Bowden, Helen Melander;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2020)
Designing and assessing digital games in a classroom: an emerging culture of critique.
Learning, Media and Technology
Academic article
2019
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Sparrman, Anna.
(2019)
Visual transcriptions as socio-technical assemblages.
Visual Communication
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2019)
Categorization Activities in Norwegian Preschools: Digital Tools in Identifying, Articulating, and Assessing.
Frontiers in Psychology
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2019)
Doing Data Analysis – Collaboration, Creativity and Critique.
Academic chapter
-
Sørenssen, Ingvild Kvale;
Aarsand, Pål;
Hoveid, Marit Honerød.
(2019)
Beyond binaries: Enacting agency in video observations in ECEC.
Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy
Academic article
2018
-
Øygardslia, Kristine;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
“Move over, I will find Jerusalem”: Artifacts in game design in classrooms.
Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
Academic article
-
Danby, Susan;
Evaldsson, Ann-Carita;
Melander, Helen;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
Situated Collaboration and Problem Solving in Young Children’s Digital Game Play.
British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET)
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
Spilling til bekymring: Ungdommers standpunkter til og begrunnelser for bruk av digitale spill.
Popular science chapter
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
Framing and switches at the outset of qualitative research interviews.
Qualitative Research
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
The joint production of confession in qualitative research interviews.
Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
The Micro-Politics of Time in Young People's Talk About Gaming.
Academic chapter
2017
-
Melander, Helen;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2017)
Practices of Remembering: Organizing Math Activities in a First Grade Classroom.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2017)
Children’s media practices: challenges and dilemmas for the qualitative researcher.
Academic chapter
2016
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Melander, Helen.
(2016)
Appropriation through guided participation: Media literacy in children׳s everyday lives.
Discourse, Context & Media
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2016)
Children’s media practices: challenges and dilemmas for the qualitative researcher.
Journal of Children and Media
Academic article
2015
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2015)
Children’s Games in the New Media Age. ChildLore, Media and the Playground.
Children & society
Book review
2013
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Melander, Helen;
Evaldsson, Ann-Carita.
(2013)
Om media literacy-praktiker i barns vardagsliv.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2013)
Children´s digital gaming cultures.
Academic chapter
2012
-
Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Lärandepraktiker i familjen.
Non-fiction chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Spelande i familjen.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Med lärandeblick på familjers vardagsliv.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Family Members as Co-researchers: Reflections on Practice-reported Data.
Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Familjeliv och lärande.
Studentlitteratur AB
Anthology
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
The ordinary player: teenagers talk about digital games.
Journal of Youth Studies
Academic article
2011
-
Aarsand, Pål-Andre.
(2011)
Digitale medier i barn og unges hverdag.
Barn – forskning om barn og barndom i Norden
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2011)
Barns spilling. Om digital spillkompetanse i ulike praksiser.
Barn – forskning om barn og barndom i Norden
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson;
Aarsand, Pål-Andre.
(2011)
'How to be good': media representations of parenting.
Studies in the Education of Adults
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Willbergh, Ilmi;
Aarsand, Pål André;
Torjussen, Lars Petter Storm;
Hausstätter, Rune.
(2025)
Nordisk pedagogikk 2015–2025 – utviklingstrekk ifølge nordiske forskere
| Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Editorial
-
Willbergh, Ilmi;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2021)
Nye hovedredaktører tar over Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Editorial
-
Farstad, Ida Engan;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2021)
Children on the move: Guided participation in travel activities.
Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål-Andre.
(2011)
Digitale medier i barn og unges hverdag.
Barn – forskning om barn og barndom i Norden
Academic article
-
Øygardslia, Kristine;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
“Move over, I will find Jerusalem”: Artifacts in game design in classrooms.
Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2024)
Talking Fanart: Small Stories About Drawings and Games.
Children & society
Academic article
-
Danby, Susan;
Evaldsson, Ann-Carita;
Melander, Helen;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
Situated Collaboration and Problem Solving in Young Children’s Digital Game Play.
British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET)
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2011)
Barns spilling. Om digital spillkompetanse i ulike praksiser.
Barn – forskning om barn og barndom i Norden
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Sparrman, Anna.
(2019)
Visual transcriptions as socio-technical assemblages.
Visual Communication
Academic article
-
Sparrman, Anna;
Sjöberg, Johanna;
Hrechaniuk, Yelyzaveta;
Köpsell, Linn;
Isaksson, Karin;
Eriksson, Maria;
Orrmalm, Alex;
Venäläinen, Päivi;
Ågren, Ylva;
Coulter, Natalie.
(2023)
Archives and children’s cultural heritage.
Archives and records
Academic article
-
Ågren, Ylva;
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2024)
Young people's digital drawing practices as cultural heritage.
International journal of cultural studies
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2019)
Categorization Activities in Norwegian Preschools: Digital Tools in Identifying, Articulating, and Assessing.
Frontiers in Psychology
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Melander, Helen.
(2016)
Appropriation through guided participation: Media literacy in children׳s everyday lives.
Discourse, Context & Media
Academic article
-
Erstad, Ola Andres;
Kucirkova, Natalia;
Mangen, Anne;
Aarsand, Pål André;
Blikstad-Balas, Marte.
(2023)
Reading in the digital age: Differences and commonalities across research approaches.
Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson;
Aarsand, Pål-Andre.
(2011)
'How to be good': media representations of parenting.
Studies in the Education of Adults
Academic article
-
Sparrman, Anna Margareta;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2022)
Children’s cultural heritage: The micro-politics of the archive.
Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift (NKT)
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2022)
Digitalisering av utdannings- og oppvekstpraksiser.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Editorial
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Family Members as Co-researchers: Reflections on Practice-reported Data.
Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy
Academic article
-
Evaldsson, Ann-Carita;
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2022)
‘I’m just imitating the idiot’ — Exclusionary acts of status degradation through embodied stance-taking and category work in boys’ game performances.
Research on children and social interaction (RoCSI)
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2016)
Children’s media practices: challenges and dilemmas for the qualitative researcher.
Journal of Children and Media
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Aarsand, Liselott.
(2022)
«Innenfor», «utenfor» og «i grenseland»: samtaler om sosiale normer og vurderinger i en pandemi.
Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2015)
Children’s Games in the New Media Age. ChildLore, Media and the Playground.
Children & society
Book review
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
Framing and switches at the outset of qualitative research interviews.
Qualitative Research
Academic article
-
Sørenssen, Ingvild Kvale;
Aarsand, Pål;
Hoveid, Marit Honerød.
(2019)
Beyond binaries: Enacting agency in video observations in ECEC.
Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Sørenssen, Ingvild Kvale.
(2021)
“And then it’s my turn”: Negotiating participation in tablet activities in early childhood education and care.
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
The ordinary player: teenagers talk about digital games.
Journal of Youth Studies
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
The joint production of confession in qualitative research interviews.
Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice
Academic article
-
Hrechaniuk, Yelyzaveta;
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2024)
Making and Knowing Digital Pictures: Young People Displaying Visual-digital Literacies.
Young - Nordic Journal of Youth Research
Academic article
-
Aarsand, Pål André;
Bowden, Helen Melander.
(2024)
Mobile phones and moral order: Children’s appropriation of and accounting for digital media rules in schools.
Global Studies of Childhood
Academic article
-
Bowden, Helen Melander;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2020)
Designing and assessing digital games in a classroom: an emerging culture of critique.
Learning, Media and Technology
Academic article
Books
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Familjeliv och lärande.
Studentlitteratur AB
Anthology
Part of book/report
-
Sparrman, Anna Margareta;
Aarsand, Pål André;
Hrechaniuk, Yelyzaveta;
Sjöberg, Johanna;
Ågren, Ylva;
Orrmalm, Alex.
(2025)
Att digitalisera barns kulturarv.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Lärandepraktiker i familjen.
Non-fiction chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Spelande i familjen.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2012)
Med lärandeblick på familjers vardagsliv.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Melander, Helen.
(2020)
Digital literacy practices in children’s everyday life: Participating in on-screen and off-screen activities.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Liselott;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2019)
Doing Data Analysis – Collaboration, Creativity and Critique.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Schofield, Daniel.
(2021)
Deltakerperspektiv i studier av barns og unges mediepraksiser.
Academic chapter
-
Melander, Helen;
Aarsand, Pål.
(2017)
Practices of Remembering: Organizing Math Activities in a First Grade Classroom.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2017)
Children’s media practices: challenges and dilemmas for the qualitative researcher.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål;
Melander, Helen;
Evaldsson, Ann-Carita.
(2013)
Om media literacy-praktiker i barns vardagsliv.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
Spilling til bekymring: Ungdommers standpunkter til og begrunnelser for bruk av digitale spill.
Popular science chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål André.
(2023)
Drawing Minecraft: Small stories on metagames.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2018)
The Micro-Politics of Time in Young People's Talk About Gaming.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2022)
Children's digital gaming culture.
Academic chapter
-
Aarsand, Pål.
(2013)
Children´s digital gaming cultures.
Academic chapter
Teaching
Courses
Outreach
2025
-
InterviewAarsand, Pål André; Vari, Judith; Velez, Christine. (2025) Emotions and Video Games: an Interview with Pål André Aarsand.
2024
-
Feature articleErstad, Ola Andres; Mangen, Anne; Blikstad-Balas, Marte; Kucirkova, Natalia; Aarsand, Pål André. (2024) Ulike lesemåter er viktigere enn krangling om skjerm.
-
Conference lecture
2023
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål André. (2023) Fanart as a gaming practice: children's talk about drawings and Minecraft. Barnenettverket I Norden (BiN)
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål André. (2023) Barns hverdagsliv, digitale mediepraksiser og literacies. Högre seminarium
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål André. (2023) Teenage gaming as heterogenous network practices: accounting for the creation of fanfiction. Digitalization and Technologies in Education – Opportunities and Challenges
2018
-
Conference lectureSørenssen, Ingvild Kvale; Aarsand, Pål. (2018) Relational practices with iPads. Sociomaterial perspectives to explore inclusion and exclusion in a kindergarten setting. Childhood and Materilaty
2017
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål. (2017) Digital literacy practices in early childhood education and care. Gjesteforelesning
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål. (2017) Digital literacy in early childhood education and care: Learning to be a visual reader. Seminar
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål; Sørenssen, Ingvild Kvale. (2017) Digital tools in early childhood education and care: children´s participation in literacy practices. Seminar
2016
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål André; Aarsand, Liselott Assarsson. (2016) Opening up the opening: Exploring framings of qualitative research interviews. PAperpresentasjon
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål André; Hoveid, Marit Honerød. (2016) DIGITAL TOOLS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE: FACILITATING LEARNING IN PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES. Presentasjon
-
Conference lecture
2014
-
Conference lecture
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål. (2014) Observation in and across sites: Video recordings in the study of children’s media practices. International conference on Media Education Futures
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål; Evaldsson, Ann-Carita. (2014) "I'm just imitating the idiot" Embodied stances and category work in game arguments. Paper presentasjon
2012
-
Conference lectureEvadsson, Ann-Carita; Aarsand, Pål. (2012) Contesting the rules of the game: Participation, stance and category-work in boys’ games. DARG Conference
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål; Melander, Helen; Evaldsson, Ann-Carita. (2012) Media literacy practices in children’s everyday life. ECER
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Pål; Sparrman, Anna. (2012) Visual transcription as theory (and methodology). Darg Conference
2010
-
Conference lectureAarsand, Liselott Assarsson; Aarsand, Pål-Andre. (2010) How to be good? Media images, parenting and learning. NERA conference