The Potential of Photo-Talks to Reveal the Development of Scientific Discourses

Cassie Quigley, Gayle Buck

Curriculum and Instruction, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.
Teacher Education, Clemson University, Clemson, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2012.32033                

Abstract

This study explores the potential of a photo-elicitation technique, photo-talks (Serriere, 2010), for understanding how young girls understand, employ and translate new scientific discourses. Over the course of a nine week period, 24 kindergarten girls in an urban girls’ academy were observed, videotaped, photographed and interviewed while they were immersed into scientific discourse. This paper explicitly describes how their emerging discursive patterns were made visible through this methodological tool. The findings are presented in vignettes in three themes uncovered during our analysis which are the following: Presented the recollection of the scientific Discourse, Described the understanding of scientific Discourse, and Created an opportunity for the translation into everyday discourse. Science educators can benefit from this methodological tool as a reflective tool with their participants, to validate and/or complicate data. Additionally, this methodological tool serves to make discourse patterns more visible by providing a visual backdrop to the conversations thus revealing the development as it is occurring in young children.

Keywords

Photo-Elicitation; Photo-Talk; Science Education; Early Childhood Education

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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