Teaching photojournalism may not be obsolete, but it is changing

Last October, I wrote a post about how technology is changing the way in which we teach photography, especially as it relates to photojournalism.

Since then, readers have responded with great insight on the subject. Most recently, however, one respondent's comment prompts me to think hard about this issue.  Milwjill writes:

We need to develop a better pedagogy around teaching digital imaging. The educational strategies we used for years in the wet darkroom don't necessarily apply to the digital darkroom. Is anyone finding any good research on this? I don't want more "How to teach layers." I want more on learning styles, making connections between theory and practice, teaching technological flexibility and intuition, and so on. I look forward to any suggestions.

At the college I teach at we have given this issue a lot of thought. What we have had to struggle with, unfortunately, are not only pedagogical issues, but ideological concerns as well.

Education is deeply entrenched in the process of institutionalizing specialized conditions of knowledge. Sometimes, the institutionalization of teaching in traditional ways does not adequately address or keep pace with the ways in which students learn.

Historically, different disciplines have staked out and taken claim to teaching different skills sets to the point where even if there are overlaps between disciplines students find it difficult and frustrating to enroll in courses that do little more than teach from tutorials. 

In the realm of teaching digital media, the disciplines of art, video production, journalism, communication, and computer science are converging.  Although convergent is hard to deny many departments continue to compete for student enrollment by offering courses that offer the same foundational skill sets.  Little consideration, then, is given to not only to how students learn in a digital age, but also how to teach across converging disciplines.

At many colleges, the vocational mindset of teaching is the rule. This mindset is one that teaches skills without considering learning styles or theoretical perspectives. The vocational approach fails to consider the larger implications of  creating and consuming digital images in what appears to be a never-ending flood of digital images.

In my opinion, this mentality subjugates a capacity for optimizing learning experiences. What students are taught this year about a specific technology will probably be obsolete before they actually finish their education. Educators must consider how to teach in a world in which technology impinges on ways in which students apply knowledge in society.

What is needed are ways in which faculty across difference disciplines can collaborate with each other to find new models of teaching and learning. Dialog across the fields of computer science, digital arts, communication, video and journalism must take place before any substantive change can occur.

An interdisciplinary approach to teaching in the digital age, especially at the lower division level, can successfully provide students with a greater range of perspectives  and skill sets. 

For the past year, for instance, I have been teaching  a course  with a colleague in Art called Digital Media Foundations I. The course is the first in a series of foundational classes aimed at increasing recruitment and retention at the school, as well as eliminating course redundancies across disciplines. In the DMF sequence, comprised mostly freshman and sophomore students, instructors from art, journalism, video production and computer science team-teach various approaches to working with digital design, photography, page layout, web design, and audio and video editing. With one 90-minute lecture and a 3 hour lab each week, students integrate theory with applied techniques.

Evaluating and Measuring how students learn is based on several  pedagogical objectives. First to consider is the quality of the assignments presented to students. Each assignment is tied to larger constructs discussed in lecture and through journaling.  Throughout the week, students keep a journal of their visual experiences by collecting media, notes and original photography and artwork.

For example, in teaching digital photography some of the non-technical competencies explored include developing observational skills as well as understanding subject-photographer interaction. In teaching design and layout skills, students investigate the relationship between form and function as it applies to collage and book design. 

To address Milwjill concerns the design of the courses is very much centered on "making connections between theory and practice, teaching technological flexibility and intuition." At the same, getting the institution to think along these lines requires a great deal of patience.  There is always the possibility of a breakdown in implementing such a practical approach toward understanding student needs. Because institutions tend to be hierarchical, there is alway the risk of one discipline or department trying to take advantage over others for all sorts of reasons. When serious pedagogical differences cannot be worked out, the interdisciplinary approach of integrating theory with the applied fails.

Ultimately, teaching digital imaging demands that we not only help students understand how to create "layers" in Photoshop, but  why we do it.  In other words, we are always looking for ways to create learning experiences that make sense in the real world. Sometimes, however, that can be easier said than done.

Comments

[Maria Mann]

I've read with much interest this posting regarding teaching photojournalism in a technical world, as it has been the subject of numerous lectures that I have given in Universities, foundations and other organizations. It seems we are spinning around a theme that has been at the core of photojournalism for years, for a number of reasons. Technique over substance has been the fascination for many photojournalists who find only the graphic elements in disaster zones or any other story for that matter. We have left out the passion and the responsibility to document, to say something that will matter -- whether it be humorous, serious, cultural, entertaining or exciting.

The Digital Media Foundations I is a solid way to make students understand all the tools that are at their disposal, no matter how they evolve in the future. Photojournalists and editors have evolved along with them. My hope is that technology does not become an obsession and eclipse the real reason we supposed climbed onto the PJ wagon.

Make people learn and feel something. Some colleagues will surely wonder about Photoshop layers. I am more interested in the situational layering of elements within the image, the thing that makes us stay on a photo for a long time -- or the utter simplicity of faces, nature, shadows and light. But it has to mean something. Without an active interest in political science or a constant need to learn and teach about humanity, the technology will keep on progressing, but will we?