Pupils' Research into School Culture: A Photographic Approach to Evaluation

Abstract

Pupils are given a camera as a research instrument to explore the culture of their school as a learning organization. In researching through photographying they can become active participants in evaluation and development, and the results in the form of photo presentations offer valuable insights into how young people experience school life through the eyes of a camera. The pupils' photographic images convey a different meaning from what they would express verbally or answer in a questionnaire. Moreover, the pupils have to collaborate and work toward consensus building in deciding on images they find worth being photographed and form little communities of action researchers when they explore their daily school settings from a different perspective. By doing this kind of action research through taking photos, they have the opportunity to interrupt the usual school pattern teacher asks, pupil answers, teacher evaluates according to a right/wrong system. In this sense, photos used as a means of self-evaluation can become a valuable instrument leading to institutional change.