Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9405-9588
Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Education
First Advisor
Ryan Patton
Second Advisor
Jonathan Becker
Third Advisor
Sasha Waters Freyer
Fourth Advisor
Olga Ivashkevich
Fifth Advisor
Jesse Senechal
Abstract
Cameras are a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives, especially in schools, found in students’ smartphones and state-of-the-art surveillance systems. This research project emerged from an iterative redesign process of a Photography for Art Education course, structured around the camera’s dual nature as a tool for creative expression and social control. While cameras have long been used to address social issues through documentary techniques; this critical eye can be turned onto the apparatus itself. This study drew heavily upon the historical work of Allan Sekula (1986), who observed how easier access to cameras resulted in both democratization (for the People) and institutionalization (by the State) of photographic images. This tension between the desire to be seen and the fear of being watched, shaped the heart of the curriculum.
As a pedagogical autoethnography, this study examined how the author’s approach to camera instruction changed over time, through critical reflection. Data sources included course materials, personal artifacts, student perspectives, and historical research on camera-based instruction in the arts and other disciplines. A reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021) was used to identify themes in the students’ data, which drove the narrative analysis (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) of the overall class. Organized through three main units of the course — Body, Truth, and Power — each section provided an overview of the themes in students’ projects and reflections on their teaching practice. The study demonstrates how the camera in arts curriculum offers critical pedagogical possibilities beyond learning how to capture, edit, and interpret images.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-10-2024
Included in
Art Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Technology Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Philosophy of Science Commons, Photography Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons