Over the last six months I have been turning my attention to Photography both as a personal development project and also as an education focus within school. There are massive learning opportunities within the whole area of photography. My interest in photography is no secret in school at in September I was approached by two pupils about starting a Photography Club.
With the paranoia surrounding UK education teachers are now especially cautious of using cameras in the classroom. This was different, it was about pupils using cameras not the teacher so naturally I jumped and the next day an announcement appeared in the school notices that the first meeting of the photography club would be the following week. To my surprise (actually horror) sixty seven pupils turned up. In hindsight it was sad that with the throes of curriculum development we had missed an art form so many pupils were motivated to take part in.
I have decided to look at six areas where photography could be used as a learning tool without swaying too far from the curriculum remembering the infinite benefits of introducing students to such an accessible art form.
1. Mathematics
I am not a so these are literally off the top of my head and there are probably a stack I have missed. There is symmetry, shutter speed fractions, Aperture and area of a circle, exposure calculations and finally frame rate when thinking of Moving Image.
2. Science / Physics
We probably all remember working with lens and light when we were at school. Photography if considered scientifically is understanding how light works. Curriculum wise we have lens, light, focal length calculations, refraction, spectrums and the list goes on.
3. History
This Christmas I received a number of photography books (including the “Genius of Photography” and the “Icons of Photography” it is amazing just how much history education uses photography.
Photographers such as brought photography evidence of the horrors experienced in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as well as the Normandy Invasions. In fact some consider photography to offer the real documentary evidence of the horrors of World War II.
4. Journalism
Probably the easiest area of the curriculum to introduce . From history through to modern day events we have relied on the photo to communicate much of life. In so many ways it is the photo that survives when the actual news story has long been lost. Take a look at these examples of 13 photos that changed the world, and there are many many more.
5. Moving Image Arts / Art
Photography is a stunning accessible art form and if a student is ever going to create a brilliant piece of Moving Image Art then they have to understand the art of still photography.
There really isn’t very much point to labour this point as these are the obvious curriculum areas where photography can be studied in detail from the history of art through to modern day photography techniques.
6. ICT
I was going to leave the list at just five subjects but I think it is important to acknowledge the transferable skills offered through the study of digital photography. Having taught Moving Image Arts for a number of years I am amazed at just how much a student’s ICT skills develop throughout the year perhaps even more than students who study ICT, different skills perhaps but essential ones.
From working with hardware (USB, Firewire) through to file compression, storage issues, file types there is an unseen learning process that takes place. I have one student in mind who had little ICT experience at the beginning of the course yet after two years was the proud owner of a Mac Book and was not only able to use the computer in her creative workflow but was also on her way to start a degree course in multimedia.
Conclusion :
This badly written, unedited and probably riddled with grammatical errors post (I’m too tired to proof read) has a single aim and that is to re-focus. Teachers are so tied to curriculum and have little time to develop and be creative yet often the creative opportunities can be right in front of us. With the expectation of a dozen photographers in the photography club sixty seven was a wakeup call.
The next challenge is to fund and offer opportunities students wouldn’t normally have at home such as access to Adobe Lightroom, or Apple Aperture…. we love challenges though.
Photo Credit : www.flixelpix.com used with permission.
One MAJOR idea that can be taught and proven are about differences. Set up a still life set in a small room and let each child enter the room one at a time. The assignment is to photograph the still any way they want. Once done, let the children see that the same thing is rarely seen the saw way, yet it doesn’t make that point of view right or wrong. This applies to their lifelong learning and could serve as an eye-opener! Great article, keep up the great work!!!