So much of Wendy Luttrell’s work resonated with me that I almost find it difficult to begin this entry. We share an interest in the space where image, voice and narrative intersect and how that space supports identity formation during the “between” moments of human life. We also agree this is important work that can be used to inform teacher practice and teacher development by acknowledging additional ways of knowing.
Her work in an urban elementary school, as she recounts in ‘A camera is a big responsibility’: a lens for analysing children’s visual voices, raises some significant points with regard to working with children in arts-based research. She highlights the challenge of “finding the line between children’s voices and those of adult researchers, who see to represent them.” The researcher unassumingly becomes the curator by making decisions on the information that is included or perhaps by the types of question prompts that are posed. While there may not be a way to remove the fingerprints, it speaks to a mindfulness of (and commitment to) the integrity of a child’s voice.
Littrell moved through this study with minimal restrictions or adult guidance. In the true spirit of photography, it is an exploration. This is something I’ve thought about a lot over the past few days in terms of my own work. While migration is the catalyst of identity schisms for all of the students I work with, I wonder if it is too restrictive. What if the themes were broader and more universal? I wonder where children might take us if given a camera to capture feelings of exclusion…and then belonging. I wonder what that voice might say, not only about individual experience, but also about society. What cultural and ideological conventions could we infer?
As part of Luttrell’s methodology of working with child photographers, debrief interviews were voice recorded and video taped. I find that this really elevates the research process to a form of analysis itself. Both types of recordings provide a richness that goes beyond word choice and delves deeper into values (listening for care) and the interactions between how they see themselves and how they want to be seen (interacting with the video camera). I am considering how I will record the interactions I will have with the student I am working with this semester.
Hi Lauren:
There’s a lot to think about in your text, so I will just comment on some of it here. I’m curious as to what you mean by the “between moments of human life.” Are there any other type of moments? When does a moment become an event- something with enduring significance and can it be separated from what it is between? I think I know what you mean when you talk about voice and image and narrative, but isnt’ image a dimension of voice that is just not verbal, or maybe better said a dimension of being.
Both you and Regina spoke to how Wendy’s work made you think about teaching, and I thin both your comments in that regard were really important and exciting.
I am also pondering your statement on mindfulness and “commitment to the integrity of a child’s voice.” This is very important, but we must always be aware that the child’s voice in our presence is already affected (inevitably) which doesn’t mean it doesn’t have integrity. An artist-researcher can be more or less self-effacing; the reason many artists examine mostly themselves is that they don’t have to worry about the integrity of representation but only of the integrity of self-representation. Where is the line between researcher and artist-resarcher, between objective and subjective, between empowering students to represent themselves and helping them figure out how they want to be represented. One of my students recently asked me, “What if I don’t know how I want to be represented?” How often is that a conundrum for us as well?
“Exclusion and belonging” is rich as a theme for a project, and the issue of migration certainly touches on both in equal measure. There is a study by a woman called Goodfellow entitled “Looking through the LD [learning disability] lens” in which she asks students with learning disabilities to photograph places in the school in which they feel unsafe and safe, and items in the school that represent how they feel. Like Wendy, Goodfellow uses these photos to elicit conversation and reflection. You might want to think, however, of what you gain and lose by using photographs rather than drawings.