Simple, Dark, and Deep: Photographic Theorizations of As-Yet Schools

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Postdigital Science and Education

Publication Date

10-1-2021

Abstract

Within the space of this collective image/text article, 18 photographic imagemakers and 4 respondents consider deeply and dialogically a quote from William Ayers’ 2016 book Teaching with Conscience in an Imperfect World: An Invitation. The resulting constellation of images and words (1) realizes a space within which works of art, specifically photographs, operate as centers of meaning to generate educational implications, and (2) theorizes a pedagogy that resists unilateral prescriptions and is instead anchored around openness, expansion, and individualization. The paper begins with a few short pieces from Sarah Pfohl, including an overview of Ayers’ book and ideas from writings on progressive education, object-based teaching and learning, and close/slow looking to position works of art as sites of rich meaning. While contemporary schooling often drives toward monolithic, numerical representations of the learners in its care, the article employs postdigital gestures to argue that learners have more in common with works of art than numbers, and thus, attention to artworks can open valuable implications for teaching and learning. The diverse group of images that follow offer an emerging portrait of teaching practice as a set of constantly shifting constellations moving across deep time and space from the intensely specific to the wide. Four texts think more about schools, education, and art. Finally, there is a postscript from Bill Ayers himself.

ISSN

2524-485X

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Volume

3

Issue

3

First Page

793

Last Page

830

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

Keywords

Bill Ayers, Close looking, Images, Mystery, Photography, Postdigital, School, Teaching

Scopus ID

85112631542

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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