Drawing meanings from drawings

@ HELTASA CONFERENCE 2013Veronica Mitchell

Emerging scholars in

CHEC course

facilitate group introductions

support group members

learn to develop own practice

• Talking to each other

• Sharing

• Developing CoP

• Engaging with difference

• Learning by doing

• Vehicle for reflection

Using visual images to:

Process @ CHEC

Not the usualSilence / AstonishmentUncertain / unfamiliar

Some:Started to draw Just sat - hesitatedShared concern

Draw your research journey !

Diversity surfaced in response

Experience from an emerging scholar

Process @ CHEC

Elements – what / how / whereSymbols Spacing

Personal narrativeExposure ?

Where do I begin ?What do I want to share ?

15 mins means haste

Climate of trust

Open communicationShared vulnerabilities / interests / responsibilities

Flattened hierarchyHonesties

Jewitt,C & Oyama,R. 2001. Visual Meaning: A social semiotic approach. In (eds.) T. van Leeuwen & Jewitt, Handbook of visual analysis. London: SAGE.

Social semiotics of visual communication

“ involves the description of semiotic resources, what can be said and done with images

(and other visual means of communication) and how the things people

say and do with images can be interpreted

Emergence of self

Vectors – lines of action

My intended outcome

My Journey

Interpretation

Tends to be subjectiveInfluenced by our own filters / frames of referenceOwn limitations: drawing meanings from visuals

Hidden meanings

Perspectives

Social – relationships – point of viewMoral – what I value - symbolsPolitical - who has the power / spatial choices

My representation

s

Rohleder, P. and Thesen, L. Interpreting drawings: Reading the racialised politics of space. In Community, Self and Identity: Educating South African university students for

citizenship. Eds: Leibowitz, B., Swartz, L., Bozalek, V., Carolissen, R., Nicholls, L. and Rohleder, P. Cape Town: HSRC Press. Pp 87 – 96. 2012.

“ Drawings ....promote equity and give voice

Voice √Shifts power relations

Rohleder, P. and Thesen, L. Interpreting drawings: Reading the racialised politics of space. In Community, Self and Identity: Educating South African university students for

citizenship. Eds: Leibowitz, B., Swartz, L., Bozalek, V., Carolissen, R., Nicholls, L. and Rohleder, P. Cape Town: HSRC Press. Pp 87 – 96. 2012.

“a medium of communication in which most students could participate as equals

?

15 minutes

my time

my space

my choice – what gets included

where it is placed

how it is represented

my emotions

my revelations

Dialogue beyond text and conversation

A dialogue with myself for others

Auto-ethnography?

Van Niekerk, L. & Savin-Baden, M. 2010:32.Relocating truths in the qualitative research praradigm. In New approaches to qualitative

research: Wisdom and uncertainty (eds) M. Savin-Baden & C. Howell Major. New York. Routledge.

Exploring a liminal space

“ [where] an individual stays for a time, and then emerges into a new place or position

“ critical reflection compared to mere reflection … involves critical thinking

about our experiences within their social and political context and also a deeper understanding

of how to use this knowledge to improve our practices in the future

Zembylas, M. (in press). The place of emotion in teacher reflection: Elias, Foucault, and critical emotional reflexivity

Thank you

Conclusion

• Deep meaningful & critical insights

• Shifting power relationships• New opportunities for teaching,

learning & research• Expanded data collection &

analysis

Visual images offer: