School Cultures: Digital Images and Artifacts from the Classroom

Michael Svec, Ph.D., Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Highway, Greenville, SC, 29613 michael.svec@furman.edu

ABSTRACT

This poster describes the creation of a digital archive for use with in-service teachers as a means to engage them in analysis and reflections centering on the culture of their own classrooms. Through comparisons of their space, and materials with those of other schools in different times and countries, teachers examine their underlying cultural messages and then become more deliberate in the creation of their classroom culture.

Project Goal The pedagogical goal for this digital archive emerged from a graduate course, Culture of American Schools, for practicing teachers. The function of the archive is to provide materials that will be used to engage the teachers in reflections centering on the culture of their own classrooms. Through comparisons of their space, materials, etc. with those of other schools in different times and countries, teachers can examine their underlying cultural messages and then be more deliberate in the creation of their future class cultures. The course assumes that artifact analysis is part of a process to help teachers embrace the centrality of culture in school learning (Hollins).

Freire (2005) explains that “[i]t is necessary, for example, to observe well, to compare well, to infer well, to imagine well, to free one’s sensibilities well, and to believe others, without believing too much what one may think about others.” Woven into the culture course are opportunities to observe, infer, and compare their school and classrooms with others. The classrooms of the teachers in the course provide one set of comparison, but digital artifacts from European and Chinese schools as well as historical artifacts provide another source of data.

The archive consists of 1) images of schools and classrooms, 2) scans of classroom documents including sample of student work, parent communications, etc., and 3) movies of instruction and other school activities. Materials will be collected from contemporary schools, historic images, and international school settings.

Artifact Analysis The theory of multimodality (Kress, van Leeuwen 2001) allows for ideas to be represented visually as well as in writing. The artifact analysis combines multimodality with ethnography as a method to explore the symbolic and technological expressions of a school or classroom culture. Pahl and Roswell (2010) articulate a theory of critical artifactual literacy that uses artifacts, spaces and the stories they tell as a means to lever more power for the meaning makers.

Teachers produce an artifact analysis and share it on a class wiki. In collaboration with their students, the teachers identify several artifacts in their classroom to explore the meaning of those objects. The teacher then continues to analyze how the objects connect the community, lead to discussions, and convey values and beliefs. The inquiry concludes with a reflection on how to further engage students in defining the classroom culture in part through the expression of the objects and the stories they tell.

The digital archive is used as a source of images and objects for use in class to develop the skills necessary for the completion of the assignment. In addition the objects and images gathered by the teachers are then added to the archive to expand the contents of the archive.

Technology Infrastructure Furman University’s Library is home to the Digitcenter which helps faculty create collections and customize material to fit instructor’s teaching needs. The Digicenter also provided copyright policies and digitization standards. Digitized collections are made available through a web-based digital asset management system, LUNA Insight www.lunaimaging.com . Images from the archive were accessed during class for analysis and discussion. The search features allowed instant access to additional images to test tentative claims about values expressed through artifacts in various classrooms.

Conclusion Schools are important cultural institutions, yet the recognition of the influence of culture on children and teachers is largely ignored in teacher preparation and professional development. An anthropological perspective on teaching and schooling can empower teachers and their students. Exposure to anthropological research helps teachers recognize the role of culture in their classroom and better build a sense of belonging for their students and a stronger connection to the community. This digital archive provides material for analysis as well as a product that teachers can use to improve the culture of their classrooms to be more inclusive. The archive as well as the teachers’ classrooms become the data upon which inquiries and reflections emerge ultimately leading to a transformation of the teachers’ professional practice.

Works Cited Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press. Hollins, E.R. (2008) Culture in school learning (2nd ed). New York:Routledge. Kress, G.R., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001) Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. London: Arnold. Pahl, K. & Rowsell, J. (2010) Artifactual Literacies: Every object tells a story. New York: Teacher College Press.

Acknowledge This project and poster were completed with the support of the

Archives that Count project provided by the Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Grant 2011-12.

Comparison of an American Biology classroom on the left with a Czech physics lab on the right. Teachers noted the class size, orientation of the students toward the teacher, technology, and classroom decorations (attitude posters vs. content posters).

Comparison of a Czech 2nd grade classroom on the left with a South Carolina 2nd grade classroom on the right. The colors, quantity of decorations, technology, and engagement of the students was noted. American teachers were also concerned by the lack of a visible classroom management plan resulting in a discussion of communicating behavior expectations.

The entrance to one school in South Carolina features winners of the high school’s beauty pageant While the entrance to a private high school in Guilin China includes academic achievements. Both images highlight achievement although they differ in who is highlighted and the expectations for achievement.

Coding File name Title 2-10 words (native

language) Creator Name of photographer Description Paragraph format Location City, state, country Date original Format original

Subject Broad description, controlled vocabulary

Activity Controlled vocabulary Objects Controlled vocabulary Source Publisher

The artifact assignment was first assigned in the Spring 2012 and has been completed. The digital archive is currently being constructed based on the Spring semester results. The controlled vocabulary is being constructed based on teacher and the instructor’s observations.