I am considering a major shift in my project. I have really enjoyed the courses and my work so far but I felt by now something more would be in place in my project that just hasn't solidified. Maybe it's still lacking a 'critical' edge of an MA project, not sure.
Just this week I finally experienced the light bulb moment that I had been waiting for and it's more of a change than I imagined. I was researching Wendy McMurdo again because I love her work and I came across some of her early work (1990's) when she first studied technology in the schools. She ended up going to some museum field trips and capturing some images like this one:
Fig. 1: McMurdo 1999. Girl With Bears
Mcmurdo talks about that moment of anxiety where the kids kept asking the guards, "Is it alive or not?" She then goes on to say they don't even do those museum trips anymore and kids now turn to technology for similar experiences (see my previous post about McMurdo's work here: https://sladecrj.blogspot.com/2019/07/wendy-mcmurdo.html)
This got me to thinking- those angst producing museum trips were once or twice a year, but with the current generation, excessive technology, and the bombardment of the constant image consumption- these children may be feeling that cognitive dissonance on a very regular basis. Without any guidance on what to do about it.
Fig. 2: Wavebreakmedia
AT the same time I tuned into the 'Living Image Symposium' presented by Falmouth University when something Gary McLeod mentioned that caught my attention- it was the chart on visual literacy by Joanna Kedra. In fact I was so caught up in visual literacy that I went right to Joanna Kedra's research and didn't even listen to the rest (Sorry Gary! lol). You can see a copy of Kedra's chart here:
That's when it connected altogether for me. I would love to do some work with elementary children and emotional visual literacy. This is a good match for my undergrad studies as well as I graduated in Elementary Education with certifications in both Instructional Media Technology and Literacy (I taught in the school system for 5 years before quitting to stay home with my own children).
Not completely sure on my methodology or pedagogy but here is a VERY ROUGH outline of my idea:
Children
in today’s society are visually bombarded with images on a daily basis. Use of multiple technologies, educational or otherwise, has offered them access to unlimited visual information to be consumed freely, often placing them before visuals, without guidance
or instruction on how to understand, interpret, or process them.
My project:
would presume that age appropriate, intentional, cognitive guidance, both intellectually and emotionally (i.e. mental health) in processing images can be taught and developed with children in grades k+ to help them be self governing with a greater sense of
self evaluation in their own image production and consumption.
My study would:
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Develop a method of assessing skills in emotional visual literacy in children
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Pre and Post assess a contained group (or multiple groups) of children and their current visual emotional literacy at the beginning and end of the program.
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Provide intentional instruction coupled with self exploration in the skills of understanding, interpreting, and thinking and learning with images, as well as recognizing a variety of emotions they may exhibit - which may be different for each child, based on personal experience.
Children would be given the opportunity to view and evaluate age appropriate images, and also given a device in which to create, and examine their own images.
Guidance instruction may include things like:
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How to express something visually (i.e. view and/or create photographs showing hunger, love, confusion, friendship, understanding, etc)
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Emotion Identification: how does an image feel to you (happy, sad, hungry, afraid, etc)
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Tell a story in a single image
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Write or express a story from a single image (not your own)
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How can awareness of 'context' change meaning and perception of an image (marketing, manipulation and media awareness could have some possibilities here).
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How to take charge of your own image viewing- analyze and act
Children will be able to create a personal collection in a portfolio of their own and also given the opportunity to present images in a public display, in their own community.
Just beginning with all the research involved. I am imagining to work with a small group of students (or a couple small groups of varying ages if necessary ) throughout the school year (August-May) - with some sort of community show at the end (possibly turning the school itself into a bit of a gallery). Maybe even a book.
Places to start:
•Core Standards - Each State in the United States has Core Curriculum or Standards that are to be taught in each grade or student level. If I am hoping to work in the public school system then I must find a place for my Emotional Visual Literacy within these standards.
•Contacting Local Schools and teachers to find a good fit for my research and program.
•Explore funding options for cameras, portfolios, prints, etc.
•Research on Visual Literacy itself, and any other similar projects including pedagogy and methodology.
•Also I would love to find some past examples of similar projects to research or ideas on creating an assessment of some sort. Have to be pretty basic when working kids.
So much to process!
Figure 1. Wendy MCMURDO. 1999. From: Dale Berning Sawa. 2018. 'Wendy McMurdo's Best Photograph: Two Bears Eye Up a Little Girl.' From: The Guardian 16 August [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/16/wendy-mcmurdo-best-photograph-girl-bears-museum [accessed 11 July 2019].
Figure 2. Wavebreakmedia. Happy Kids Using Technology While Sitting On the Couch. Envato [online]. Available at: https://elements.envato.com/happy-kids-using-technology-while-sitting-on-the-PVAW45L [accessed with rights 15 July 2019].
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