…photos help me remember, sometimes help me capture a feeling, notice some details I might have missed.

(Dauphinee, 2010 p. 1047)

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One exception can be just as informative as an army of sycophants...

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They were reading reality through the camera. The camera is a reader of reality …

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One exception can be just as informative as an army of sycophants...

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…now it is necessary for us to go into deepening the reading made through the camera.

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One exception can be just as informative as an army of sycophants...

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…in order to put another language in…

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One exception can be just as informative as an army of sycophants...

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…to discuss with the group lots of issues that are behind and sometimes hidden.Horton & Freire, in ‘talked’ book, 1990, p.88

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One exception can be just as informative as an army of sycophants...

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‘EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY.’USING PHOTO-ELICITATION AND VISUAL ANALYSISFOR DATA COLLECTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RESEARCH .

Dr Jens J. Hansen, Research Fellow, School of Education Jo Perry, Lecturer, School of EducationMIT School of EducationEighth Annual Research Symposium, 2011

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PHOTOGRAPHS…

visual images…evoke for research participants a different way of viewing their own reality and a different way of understanding how they see themselves and how others see them. In other words, individuals see themselves reflected in images in a way they may not see themselves reflected in words.

(Kendrick & McKay, 2004, p.112).

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OUR CONTENTION IS…

By adopting a systematic approach to examining images (through a number of strategies which range from being very simple to involving quite complex procedures), a deeper understanding of the overall image and portions portrayed within it can be achieved.

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A SIMPLE OVERVIEW One picture…a thousand stories…

…and importantly, what the picture implies, but can’t show, is that at least a thousand plus hours of study and hard work were involved…

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WHAT WE WANT TO DO...

We want to introduce discussion and strategies for examining visual data in a more rigorous and disciplined manner;

Previously we’ve outlined our ‘new take’ on accomplishing this using simple as well as sophisticated technologies but we’ve moved on;

This means we can introduce some (but not all) of our emerging ideas for the first time;

We know our ideas can be applied in education as well as other social sciences not only for research but as a means of helping professionals to transform their practice. 20

PHOTOGRAPHSWhat is a photograph and what is it

used for?How can it be used for research and

especially practice based research?What are the issues and the

implications of using photos for research?

How might we begin to make sense of all of these questions and what are the best strategies to use?

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PHOTO-ELICITATION

A method for QL research.When we use photo-elicitation the

artefact becomes a device for drawing out information from participants;

There are a variety of configurations. We can:show the researcher’s choice of pictures;discuss the participants’ choices of

pictures;take pictures collaboratively with

participants and then discuss them collaboratively.

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“We are not amused (despite the recent wedding).”

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WE WANT TO INTRODUCE FOUR SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR UNDERTAKING VISUAL ANALYSIS

First, there is the possibility of doing things manually with or without computer (we will show you this);

Second, you can use a mind-mapping/visual thinking programmes such as Inspiration (we’ll also show you this);

Third, you can import ‘adjusted’ pictures into specialised software (we could demonstrate this but due to time constraints, we won’t);

Finally, you can also generate analyses within specialised software using built-in capabilities (we won’t show you this either but you can ask us about it).

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Now let’s look at two separate computer mediated approaches…first with Inspiration

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ONE SOFTWARE PACKAGE THAT CAN BE USED IS NVIVO 9

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You can either import pictures that have been ‘doctored’ by imposing a grid onto a photograph…

Or you can use the software to highlight a section for analysis.

NOW THAT WE’VE SHOWN YOU THESE FEW STRATEGIES, LET’S LOOK AT WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE’VE CAPTURED…

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THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT FOCI FOR THINKING ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS:

1. Physical: spaces and shapes we see.2. Affective: what we feel about what we see.3. Cognitive: what we think about what we

see.

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WE’LL EXAMINE ONE DIMENSION ONLY HERE: SPACES AND SHAPES

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Do spaces between people &/or objects have meaning? Where seemingly, there had been at the initial viewing, no apparent or symbolic connections, what might we make of spaces between people &/or objects?

SPACES AND SHAPES We interpreted spaces which had the potential to

become part of the story of the picture. We wondered per se, why spaces were there?

Were spaces, or distances intentionally engineered by one or more players when, and for what reasons?

Were they indicants of social expectations or customs which were relevant to understanding the specific actions that were going on?

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AS CHARMAZ SO SIMPLY PONDERS

What’s happening here?” i.e. what basic socio-psychological processes are occurring within the photograph and/or may be implied by spaces between objects and/or people?

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HOW MIGHT WE PROCESS THE VISUAL DATA ABOUT SPACES? WE WRITE WORDS…

Physical Affective Cognitive

Write words about aspects of the spaces you see.

Write words about how those spaces affect what you feel about the scene

Write words about how the spaces determine what you know & think

Write words about the physical groupings you see.

Write words about how the groupings affect what you feel

Write words about how groupings determine what you know & think

Write words about the physical composition of the photo

Write words about how the photo composition affects what you feel

Write about how the composition determines what you know & think

Write words about the physical body language

Write words about how the body language affects what you feel

Write words about how the body language determines what you know & think

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PHOTOGRAPHS MAY, THEREFORE, TRIGGER PHYSICAL &/OR AFFECTIVE &/OR COGNITIVE INTERPRETATIONS

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Were groupings significant and how did they invite us to interpret actions and interactions?

Do all viewers see groupings and the relationships they suggest in the same way?

If there were differences in the ways viewers saw things, to what extent were such differences important or unimportant?

How might such difference inform our analyses?

As John Berger noted, “We are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves” (Berger 1972 p. 9).

What might a teacher’s learning story comprise here? What would you write?

Now what might your learning story look like?

What then, are the implications of this for:Educational researchers?Educators?Learners?

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IMPLICATIONS SUMMED UP

What we’ve shown you, we believe, has useful implications both for research and professional practice.

1) We can use images to prompt memories of particular events

2) We can look at pictures of children’s’ learning experiences for future planning.

3) We can use pictures for research purposes by analysing what’s going on in a systematic manner.

4) We can use pictures for engaging with parents and children – that is, they become a canvas for photo-elicitation.

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CONTACT DETAILS...

You can obtain further details about this presentation by contacting us: Dr Jens J. Hansen, Director of the Woodhill Park

Research Retreat, Phone +64 9 411 7703, jens@woodhillpark.com www.woodhillpark.com Research Fellow in Education, School of Education,

Manukau Institute of Technology, Extension 7015

Anna Jo Perry, Lecturer, School of Education, Manukau Institute of Technology, Extension 7137

jo.perry@manukau.ac.nz38