This presentation was part of a collaborative project reporting on our learning from a course run by the Cape Higher Education Consortium

1. Drawing
meanings from drawings
@ HELTASA CONFERENCE 2013
Veronica Mitchell

2. 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:

3. Process @ CHEC
Not the usual
Silence / Astonishment
Uncertain / unfamiliar
Some:
Started to draw
Just sat - hesitated
Shared concern
Draw your
research journey !
Diversity surfaced in
response
Experience from
an emerging
scholar

4. Process @ CHEC
Elements – what / how /
where
Symbols
Spacing
Personal narrative
Exposure ?
Where do I begin ?
What do I want to share ?
15 mins means haste

5. Climate of trust
Open communication
Shared vulnerabilities / interests / responsibilities
Flattened hierarchy
Honesties

6. 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
Jewitt,C & Oyama,R. 2001. Visual Meaning: A social semiotic approach. In (eds.) T.
van Leeuwen & Jewitt, Handbook of visual analysis. London: SAGE.
Emergence of self

8. My
intended
outcome
My
Journey
Vectors – lines of action

9. Interpretation
Tends to be subjective
Influenced by our own filters / frames of reference
Own limitations: drawing meanings from visuals

11. Hidden meanings
My
representation
s
Perspectives
Social – relationships – point of view
Moral – what I value - symbols
Political - who has the power / spatial
choices

12. “ 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.

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

14. 15 minutes
my time
my space
my choice – what gets included
where it is placed
how it is represented
my emotions
my revelations

15. Dialogue beyond text and conversation
A dialogue with myself for
others
Auto-ethnography?

17. Exploring a liminal space
“[where] an individual stays for a time, and then
Van Niekerk, L. & Savin-Baden, M. 2010:32.
emerges into a new place or position
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.

18. “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

19. Visual images offer:
Thank you
Conclusion
• Deep meaningful & critical
insights
• Shifting power relationships
• New opportunities for teaching,
learning & research
• Expanded data collection &
analysis