Critical issues in visual methodology

This is a call for papers for a journal special issues. I doubt if I will be submitting, but this is an opportunity for a few first thoughts.
Methodology is the process of conceptualising and producing evidence to support an investigation being carried out. Much of this evidence is in words, written or spoken. The emphasis on visual methodology is instead on evidence which can be seen. Ethnography is an old methodology based around observing societies and communities. Anthropologists focused on distant traditional societies (Africa, Melanesia, India) until social change gave them different agendas. Sociologists studied groups closer to home, in our own society. Observation had a number of drawbacks. Notes kept in field diaries were filtered through the assumptions of the ethnographers, who recorded what they decided, in the way the decided, and may well not have recorded much that was important. Men were in particular unable to obtain much data on women's lives. They wrote up their notes, often years later, in accordance with existing theories such as functionalism or structuralism. We wonder today how much credence to give their accounts.
This introduces us to issues of research on education. Much research has been based on interviews, recording what teachers in the main think about teaching. Their views need not tie closely up with what actually happens, or with what they actually do. Observation, or perhaps video recordings, can help to fill in this important gap.
The following are some fairly random thoughts on how visual methods might apply to educational research in order to broaden the perspective.
• Observation of schools and classes. The ethnographer, notebook in hand, becomes a commentator on what he or she sees. We know however that people see what they look for, and experience of Ofsted confirms the vision of some observers is very limited. Quality observations require highly trained and intelligent minds.
• Use of video to record events and participants is currently very simple, requiring little more than mobile phones. Pupils can make their own videos. The researcher is advised to encourage wider discussions of the visual material by interpreting it with a representative group of interested parties.
• Video (reflexive) diaries are now easily possible. Computers have inbuilt cameras which can record users. A reflexive diary might record regular thoughts when having to type these thoughts might discourage regularity. Better still, the research could link with a critical friend for regular online conversations which prompt reflexivity through questioning and prompting. A devil’s advocate technique could also be helpful.
• Drama and roleplay are very effective pupil activities which can be caught on video. An educational point is likely to be remembered if part of an enjoyable event, and problem-solving role-play can be part of co-constructivism of knowledge.
• Photographs can represent outdoor work/Forest School activities, displays, school and classroom environments. They can be used as stimulus for discussions.
• Wall of comments: pupils and students can explore, discuss, and make suggestions about a wide range of topics putting their ideas on pop-it notes which are then stuck onto a ‘wall of comments’. These can be sifted, sorted, ranked and reordered to form an argument. Again, this emphasises co-constructivist knowledge-building.
• Creative artifacts (pictures, sculptures) can also become stimulus for discussion..

Any further ideas, please add to Comments. How to incorporate visual data into theses is very easy in electronic academic writing, but tests the limits of the traditional paper thesis. This might encourage Universities to experiment with new forms of thesis using digital technology, thereby encouraging hyperlinks to visual and auditory material..

Dialogue

A few things have come together to give some consideration to dialogue. But definition it is two or more people talking openly together, discussing ideas and seeking solutions. It is not one giving a monologue to the other, or each giving monologues to each other, in which minds are fixed and unchangeable. Dialogue consists of conversation partners who are happy to share and find answers together. Put one way, the topic of dialogue is something unresolved, with conversation partners wishing to compare and develop what the 'know' and think.
A long history in inter-faith dialogue throws up some questions. There are points that are not open, as the beliefs of each are not unresolved. The so-called dialogue is actually monologue, with each giving their point of view or belief system for the other to appreciate. True dialogue seeks new resolutions, insights and works to constructing new 'knowledge' (that is, shared understandings of the aspect being discussed). Dialogue therefore carries unacceptable dangers and challenges to what I will call the decided, committed and closed  minded [I do not regard these as synonyms] who are unlikely to want their paradigm to shift.
In philosophical terms, dialogue describes the form of writing in which two or more characters ask questions and seek answers, the written dialogue allowing multiple voices and arguments being put, weighed and emended. Socratic questioning is a case in point. This is a process of constantly revising what we think we know and subject it to rational discussion and verification.
Dialogue emphasises external challenges to our ideas and assumptions. We also do this by reading so long as we internalise and test what we read and are prepared to be changed by it. Fiction and theatre are as important as these explore emotions and assumptions in vivid and accessible ways.
Is thinking an inner dialogue? In a way we way up pros and cons and 'talk to ourselves', but although we can challenge ourselves by cues such as "How do you know? Prove it! Suppose the opposite is true", it is not like having to respond to a real person. It is a pale imitation, and the term dialogue might not be appropriate. The inner conversation could be externalised by taking a leaf from both fiction and philosophy. If the issue for exploration is the subject of a story in which characters debate prose and cons, and the writer honestly lets the dialogue go where it wills and does not lead it in a pre-decided direction, this may be potentially mind changing for the writer, and by extension for future readers.
For educational research, the sort of dialogue in which many voices declare their interest and point of view, and a win-win solution is sort, then the result is more likely to be helpful than if this is not the case. Such a win-win conclusion is not a compromise, which is a win some lose some ending. Nor is it consensus, which is either a majority decision (with a disappointed minority), or an acceptance of the views of those who should loudest and longest, or a watered down lowest common denominator that everyone can accept. It is a different way of thinking, rejecting competitiveness and assertiveness to seek social and personal justice. Everyone is concerned about everyone else getting as much as possible from the deal which can itself expand and improve through this process. Win-win may however be seen as a defeat by the opinionated and dogmatic, including and maybe especially politicians.

So-called spirituality in nursing.

I have written before on secular spirituality (Bigger, 2008), that is describing the deep inner selves people have. My model distinguishes this representation of the inner self from belief in [God, the supernatural] and the associated doctrinal content of religious creeds. The problem is that the term spiritual has for centuries linked with religious piety so misunderstandings are easy. Although originally the spirit was the breath, the evidence of life itself and the question is, what can life be at its deepest and fullest. Ours is the first century trying to express this in humanistic and not religious language. We have to make the choice whether to reclaim the word spiritual, or jettison it.

Wilfred McSherry (2006) applies spirituality as a practical concept to nursing and health care. He argues that nursing was a spiritual enterprise of caring (a vocation) but has become mechanistic. Spirituality contains the word ritual within it (actually this is etymologically irrelevant, a coincidence) so  justifies references to religion. However he attempts a definition of everyday spirituality using a football made of hexagonal panels as his model (that is, a representation of thought map). Laying aside ‘belief in God or Supreme Being’ we are left with thinking, feeling, relating and expressing.

Thinking – self awareness, view of the world, attitudes, meaning, purpose

Feeling – hope, inner strength, security, fears, expectations, experiencing life

Relating – harmonious relationships, trust, forgiveness, love

Expressing – creativity, expressing values and beliefs

Of course these intertwine and operate together. Our attitudes and sense of meaning involves other people; our feelings are tied into our relationships with others, and we express our deep thoughts and concerns to others. So this list is well described by the philosopher John Macmurray (1961) as Persons in Relation.

This list is expressed in positive terms, what a human could be at best. It could also be described as inner psycho-social (or personal/relational) wellbeing. The list could have a negative aspect where these criteria are missing. McSherry (2006:59) calls this spiritual distress, or the lack of personal/relational wellbeing or personal/relational dysfunction.

McSherry argues that nursing should take an holistic view, and embeds his view of broad spirituality within this. This perhaps overcomplicates something which should be simple. Nursing involves caring, which includes not only caring for but also caring about. This means that doctors, nurses and all other staff aim to identify and satisfy reasonable needs, emotional as well as physical. Given the nature of ‘emotional work’, this needs to be interpreted unsentimentally. That this caring does not always take place is receiving considerable publicity at the moment. The message to care about patients is simple; clouding it with the language of spirituality just obfuscates the issue.

Reference: WIlfred McSherry, Making Sense of Spirituality in Nursing and Health Care Practice, Jessica Kingsley, 2006.

Adoption

The children's charity Barnado comments (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12258379) that interracial adoptions are being resisted and blocked by adoption gatekeepers, and that numbers of children being adopted has to rise dramatically. Keeping children in care is, according to research, the greatest social, educational and economic disadvantage a child can have. I have written about this at http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/872.

My wife and I tried to adopt in the 1970s, asking for any child of any ethnicity up to the age of 8. We were passed fit after a range of unreasonable demands which we bore stoically. For example, having rushed home from work and tidied up for the social worker, we were accused of being houseproud, and not to forget that children are messy.

The point of this blog is to say that despite being willing and suitable adopters, no child was found for us over a five year period. On having to move jobs and house, that would have required us to start again with a different authority, and we gave up, being then too old at 40 to be considered. So, two or three 'looked after' children in care missed out on having a caring home. We also have missed out on having grandchildren, but that is another story.

Creativity

I am sifting and sorting books to decide which to get rid of, largely so I can by more with a clearer conscience. One was on creativity and 'creative quotient', which prompts this post.

What is creativity? The statements and definitions are scattergun, and lead me to the conclusion that creativity is seen as anything that is not boringly simple. I don't wish to summarise all the points made, but rather have some new thoughts about creativity. I would stress though that formalising these vague notions into a creativity questionnaire is a no-hope exercise.

First, creativity is not the same as artistic. Being able to draw a line and recognisable representations is a skill: doing something unexpected with it approaches what we are looking for in creativity. Creativity is about the brain making surprising associations, especially ones which are meaningful.

The route to creativity is to free the mind from conventional thinking. Ambiguity is feared by people who wish to know for certain, but ambiguity is central in creativity. Easy certainty is the enemy of creativity. However, education encourages certainty, looking for right answers, which may be simplified by the adults involved to be understood by the children. In so doing, the ambiguity is removed. The children are given a sanitised account.

The key to creativity is to allow children to be inventive; and adults also, remembering that their impulse to convention has been developed throughout their lives producing self-consciousness when doing anything unconventional. This suggests an unregimented curriculum with time for experimentation, art, drama, literature, and making things. This is exactly what we do not have currently.

Knowledge today requires creative response. Science cannot tell us what it means by real. History cannot give us answers, but can only repeat old simplifications. Geography cannot open up the problems of land ownership and empire. Land ownership not only throughout the old empires but also closer to home may have legal title but not moral title, after land grabs, dispossessions, and hegemony of the powerful. In Scotland, my own forebears, the Macmillans, where dispossessed and took refuge in Canada (from the Camerons, incidentally). Aristocracy have accumulated wealth and acres in ways neither just, proper or moral.

So, we need to open up the curriculum, develop new ways of looking at what has always been asserted. It is wrong, and the curriculum is based on and reaffirms lies.

Creativity is mental, intellectual, and spiritual. It describes new ways of interpreting the world and expressing new ideas. The status quo, the powerful, the wealthy, the vested interests have much to fear and will resist it. But our youngsters will be managing the world in 20, 30 and 40 years. We need to help them develop the sort of vision which will help them improve the world.

The Anthropology of Experience.

edited by Victor W Turner and Edward M Bruner, with Epilogue by Clifford Geertz. University of Illinois Press (Urbana & Chicago), 1986.

These are mainly developed conference papers, tied together by the phrase 'anthropology of experience', which revealed the term 'experience' to be very pliable, or in Geertz's words, 'elusive' and 'the asses' bridge all must cross' [374]. The anthropologist/ethnographer needs to uncover people's authentic 'experience' by patiently 'scratching surfaces' (Geertz again). Turner includes a paper on 'Dewey, Dilthey, and Drama' [33-44]. Social drama, whether ritual or 'its progeny', theatre, helps to dismember, reconstruct, and refashion experience. He distinguishes between  indicative mood (the description of what is) and subjunctive mood (glimpse of what might be): the latter is liminal, reflexive, experimental, focusing on and renewing meaning.

Anthropology is the study of humanity and the human condition. What people do is easy to observe and describe. How to study people's experience is more tricky. The experience of being a woman is one example, and is the basis of feminist research, normally written by women. The anthropologist rarely writes about himself or herself, but about 'other', so investigating the experience(s) or these 'others' is challenging. The ethnographer can be 'native' (i.e. an insider) but then there is no guarantee that one individual will experience life as others do. So to find the experience of 'others', much scratching the surface needs to be done (and then can we ever escape our own horizons?).  Anthropology of experience focuses on authenticity, how ethnological description is 'real' to experience, whereas outsider observation is complexly filtered.

We could look therefore at instances where anthropologists focus on life as experienced, as frail, oppressed, in power or under power. There has been an emphasis on the world as experienced locally. Ethnomusicology - the study of ethnic music. Ethnogeography, place as understood locally. Ethnomathematics - maths as experienced locally. Ethnobotany, medicinal plants as understood locally. We could add new categories: ethnoreligion - religious belief as locally held. Ethnohistory - history through local eyes.

For Turner, performance (social drama) was part of the picture. How is/was social life experienced? With what tensions, strategies for power and rebellion? How is change carried out? Their solutions may be flawed, but we can ask, can we research today how life is experienced? Using in depth interviews, insider accounts, focused observations?

One historic solution was to use phenomenology, the study of how we assume life to be (the term means 'study of appearances'). We might not know but we construct our world view, and construct what we think experience means. We may be mistaken, but it is all we have. We can improve our conclusions by triangulation - that is by drawing on the opinions of others as well as ourselves. We may try this way to step into someone else's shoes and experience life as they did. But of course we may be fooling ourselves.

We might use fiction to distance ourselves from the action. Construct a scenario in which human experience (or animal experience for that matter) can be examined and explored, creating results that are generalisable to all (that is everyone can identify with it. We are here entering into creative and controversial methodological methods. We may have to eventually admit that experience cannot be understood. If we find it hard to be clear and accurate about our own experiences, being equally clear about other people's experiences is possibly impossible. Nevertheless, the task of studying subjective experience is worthwhile, as since this is where personal meaning is found. Qualitative methodologies have been developed to add rigour to how we personally deal with the chaos of our world.

Teaching, learning and psychotherapy

George Kelly from the 1950s based his psychotherapy on ways in which people construct their sense of self, self awareness, self construct (and through these self confidence and related features). He called this Personal Construct Psychology (PCP). Children are constructing their self understanding from birth, and they are helped or hindered by those around them, especially significant adults (parents, teachers, friends, enemies). Our model of learning should first and foremost embrace self understanding. This focuses on relationships and our place in the world. The mechanisms may be literature, or drama , or art, but always to see new aspects of self. This might suggest that the main purpose of education is self understanding, producing rounded individuals. Anything else is its context.

Transaction Analysis (TA).

TA by Eric Berne provided a therapeutic solution to observations about human transactions. This can be simplified as having three Ego states:

 Parent, Adult, Child.

These are modes, not age related so two adults could engage with each other in child to child mode. A transaction is a unit of interaction. Parent to Child is authoritative/ authoritarian, child to child is immature, adult to adult is mature. Every transaction can thus be codified. If one of you chided me petulantly (parent mode) and I cheeked you back (child mode), then we have a way of altering things by recognising this and each moving to adult mode. You could make a point rationally (adult mode) and I could answer seriously (adult mode). Things go wrong when inappropriate 2 way transactions take place. A teacher indulging in child to child arguments with children will fail. Equally a teacher who is able to talk to a 6 year old adult to adult is more likely to succeed.

Berne also spoke of people having a life script. We may have to take up a new script if our usual one fails us. Like a B movie, life might be bad because the script is awful.Psychotherapy, and education, can help people revise or rewrite their life scripts.

Carl Rogers is known for Person Centred Therapy, where progress can only be linked to detailed discussions between client and therapist. This replaces grand theory such as promulgated by such as Freud or Jung. In school, children present with complex individual issues, and the teacher's first task is to decode these to remove any blocks to progress. Again, teaching content is simply its context.

Paul Moustakos called this phenomenological therapy. It is in fact progress by deep discussion, getting as much information from patients as possible before diagnosis. The parallel for teaching children is patient listening to children's ideas and thoughts and interacting with them respectfully without putting them down.

The subject curriculum is not unimportant. In fact it is so important for this to be done well that we need pupils  to be in good heart, motivated, comfortable with learning, curious and hungry for understanding. This is where helping children to learn how to learn is the launchpad to their later success.

Postscript, 24 hours later.
The Education Minister Michael Gove disagrees with me, which makes me think I am probably right.