HELP!!! I need to justify keeping photography in the school

from JoeUser Forums
Well, it has been a long, long, long time since I have written anything here. My bad. I have just been so busy. But the main reason I am here today is to put out a plea and cry for help.

I teach after school classes in photography to grades 3-8. I am not a licensed teacher; this is why my classes are offered after school and on a volunteer basis. Within 2 years the art studio I work for (financed by the public school district) will move to a different building. All the art depts. that are currently located at the studio have to give a proposal to the school district to justify the cost of moving the dept over and continuing to offer the classes. Some of the other depts. that also have to do this are pottery, printmaking, drawing, and painting. Now here is the biggest problem I will have in trying to get the photography dept moved... Out of all the art depts. at the studio, photography is the only one that is not taught to kids during the actual school day. The other dept's have licensed art education teachers that teach them. These other art classes are already included in the current school curriculum. So they will have a much easier time convincing the school board to move their dept to the new building (for most of these depts. the proposal to move is just paperwork - there really is no question... they will be moved, since they are already being taught.) However, the photography dept is a different story.

So this is what I need... If anyone has any good sources that will help me in this task, please let me know. I need all the help I can get. I am afraid that I am in over my head. The studio already has as the equipment for the darkroom (10 enlargers) so the only costs would be to actually move it, and then to keep it supplied. If the darkroom does not move to the new building then the studio is going to put all the equipment into storage, they will not sell it. I think this is a huge waste. They already have the equipment, they should put it to use.

One of the biggest problems I am having right now is justifying the need to show students how to work in a traditional darkroom. The school is trying to justify not moving the darkroom because everything is going digital. This is something that is happening in a lot of schools; only the school district is not proposing to even offer digital photography to the students. I could maybe understand the district's feelings on this IF they were going to offer some form of photography to the students. But this is not the case. I would certainly not like to see the traditional photography leave but sometimes you have to make a choice. BUT since they are not proposing to teach the students digital then I would like to fight to keep the traditional in the schools.

Here is the other big problem. The school wants to know why children in grades 3-8 NEED to learn photography. The district thinks this is something that does not need to be offered until high school. Now, when I started teaching these after school programs I was very skeptical about the ages they wanted me to instruct. I thought that maybe this would be over the kid’s heads. However, I have found some excellent students. These kids have fresh ideas and they LOVE learning something that their friends don't know how to do. It makes them feel special (which of course they are) and important. Also, I have found that the kids don't have any problems learning how to develop their own film and prints. In fact, most of the kids I teach have understood how things work in the darkroom faster and easier then my fellow college students.

So if anyone out there can help me, I would be so grateful. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Nikki
dragonlove
5,160 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I feel for your predicament. There are points for both sides. I understand their motives for saying photography could be offered at the high school level, and the argument may even make sense. Certainly there is no urgent need to teach elementary school students the workings of a darkroom. And remember this is a school board you're dealing with a.k.a. lack of funds etc...I've never gone through the entire site but www.digitaljournalist.org has much on their site and may be able to offer arguments you may want to use. I know the digital part sounds like justification for what the board had said. The movement towards digital photography and the like. But check it out.
Pictures are windows into the past and they are unique in that they capture, in the blink of an eye, a single unique moment in time. They're democratic in that they capture any and all in the view, with no distinction. They can be serene, and they can be cold and harshly real. And they're usually provocative. They have changed the course of history. Think of the South Vietnamese Loan guy who shot the VC (we presume) suspect in the head point blank. Or the picture of the dead GI being dragged through the streets of Somalia. These individual images, in an instant as quick as the picture themselves, altered the perceptions of millions of people and changed the way huge masses of people see things. That's powerful stuff. Now that's not to say the kids will be deprived if they don't learn to use a traditional darkroom, and indeed photography is going digital. It's a tough situation. I don't know all that's involved but can't you help move the equipment to the new place? Anyways photos are instruments to help us excercise and shape our minds and beliefs, and they DO have a place in any school system. I feel bad to say this but I think kids need to learn about the powers of the photograph, but not necessarily the mechanics behind developing them. Another thing about photographs is that they erase some of the need for trust when it comes to particular events or occurences. What I mean is that before photographs, people had to have a lot of trust in the people who tell them things. Imagine only reading what some reporter describes about an event, and you see there has to be a high level of trust to believe what you're reading. Images change all that. Tell the board how the current US administration bans photos of dead GI's returning to Dover. They know pictures can and always do change the way people think about things. So they shut them out almost completely. If you want to get real cheesy you can tell the board to look on the pictures on their desks at work and to recall how the picture was taken out of love and how they keep it on their desks as a sort of honorable tribute to the ones in the pictures. And a tribute like that was only possible because of the power of the photograph. Then again, if you continue your class you may end up with 20 10 year olds climbing the walls of Madonna's estate trying to get a photo of her in her shower. Good luck ma'am.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Thank you for your information! If you happen to think of anything else, I would love to hear it.

Nikki
dragonlove
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Before I come up with an answer, let me ask you a couple of questions (I may have to follow up).

What exactly are you teaching them now?
How is it currently justified? Why do they currently feel teaching darkroom photography to these kids is a good thing?

How is darkroom photography justified at the High School level?

When you say "The other dept's have licensed art education teachers that teach them. These other art classes are already included in the current school curriculum." do you mean that these other classes are taught during the day as well as after school? Or only during the day? Only after school?
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Niks~

Glad to see you up and about blogging..haven't heard from you in a while.

Let me look around...I'll see what I can find...

Love you lots!

Moo
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

Well, being a photographer, I hate to see any traditional programs axed.

The thing that people don't realize is that traditional darkroom opens the doors to other creative photography techniques.  Sure, you can teach digital darkroom, but nothing replaces a traditional darkroom and the lessons it teaches.

I started into photography when I was in elementary school.  Being able to take a picture and develop it myself was amazingly rewarding.  I learned a lot about tonal qualities, exposure and started developing a technical eye for a properly exposed image.

Young kids learn so quickly.  Photography and darkroom are as much technical as they are artistic when done correctly.  It seems like a real shame not to allow that learning process to start when a child is young. 

Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
"Before I come up with an answer, let me ask you a couple of questions (I may have to follow up).

What exactly are you teaching them now?
How is it currently justified? Why do they currently feel teaching darkroom photography to these kids is a good thing?

How is darkroom photography justified at the High School level?

When you say "The other dept's have licensed art education teachers that teach them. These other art classes are already
included in the current school curriculum." do you mean that these other classes are taught during the day as well as after school?
Or only during the day? Only after school?"

In answer to some of your questions.... What exactly am I teaching them now? Well, I offer after school classes/workshops on darkroom techniques. Basic information right now. How to work their cameras, develop their own film and prints. I am trying to show the kids how to "see" things from different angles. I will be expanding into alternative processes soon (if I can get the darkroom approved to move).

How is it currently justified? Well, since I use the darkroom for my personal art the school asked me if I would like to teach some after school classes? They figured that since it is already set up and supplied that some use should come out of it. This is one of the problems I am having in convincing the school board to move the darkroom. Right now it is being used just because it is there and already set up. They did not have to pay anything to (recently) to get it up and running. However, to move the facility and provide adequate space and plumbing will cost the school board. Also, they would have to commit to keeping the darkroom supplied. Right now, we are working off supplies from past school programs. There is only so much space available at the new facility and the board wants to make sure that all of it is used and not wasted on classes that might only use the room once in awhile. It's not like a normal classroom where anyone can come in and teach any subject; once the enlargers are set up the room will only be able to be used for photography.

Do they feel that teaching darkroom skill to the kids is a good thing? Well, I hope so. I just don't think they see it as a 'needed' skill. This is what I am trying to convince them of.

How is the darkroom justified at the high school level? Good question. I don't know.

Do I mean that these other classes are taught during the day as well as after school? Yup. Right now, photography is only offered to the after school programs.

I hope this helps to answer your questions. I thank you for taking the time to question me. This will be helpful when I present the proposal.

Nikki
dragonlove


Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
KarmaGirl

Thank you for your support. I will have to let you all know what happens.

Nikki
dragonlove