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The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching of photography in the elementary school as a means of enhancing the development of visual awareness in children. Studies have shown that children's visual perception development can be advanced through training programs that encourage observation and responsive selection of visual stimuli. Because perceptual development is one of the goals of art education, the development of art curricula that can best account for children's perceptual growth is warranted. The photography curriculum developed in this study attempts to enhance the perceptual development of children.In Chapter I, the problem area was discussed and procedures for conducting the study were established. The problem was two-fold and questioned first whether or not a taxonomy of visual perception skills could be developed and used for the identification of educational goals and objectives, and second what black and white photographic projects should be included in a visual perceptual curriculum. Strategies were presented to insure a detailed and systematic examination of the perception and photography areas.Chapter II included an examination of the background literature pertinent to the development of the problem. The two areas covered were: 1) children's visual perceptual development, and 2) the teaching of photography. An analysis of selected perceptual theories and conditions important to the development of a taxonomy was presented in Chapter III. Due to the excessive number of perceptual theories found in the literature, only the theories of Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Eleanor Gibson, James Gibson, June McFee, Viktor Lowenfeld, along with some of the theories concerning Gestalt psychology, perceptual orientation, perceptual sets, and motivation were included. None of these theories attempted to provide all the answers to perception, but each was used as an empirical base from which a taxonomy of visual perception skills was developed.In Chapter IV a taxonomy was presented for classifying the various visual perception concepts and skills into an organized structure. Taxonomic systems have been used in diverse educational situations for identifying goals and objectives. From an analysis of the visual perception literature, the major components of perception discussed by the various authors were isolated and organized into a workable list. Each component was defined and analyzed to determine similarities and differences. From the analysis the following major categories were chosen to comprise the taxonomy:1.00 Perception of Form2.00 Perception of Space3.00 Perception of Movement and Events4.00 Perception of Illusions5.00 Perception of RepresentationsFinally, in Chapter V the material presented in the previous chapters was synthesized into a photography curriculum for the elementary school. The taxonomy developed in Chapter IV was the system used for identifying the major goals and objectives required for enhancing the perceptual development of children. If the goal of art education is the development of children's visual awareness, then a properly structured photography program may provide the necessary educational experiences for this development.Based on the study and a review of the literature, the author concluded that photography can be singled out as a potentially viable method for stimulating visual awareness in children. However, photography remains one of the least understood and investigated communication mediums. Children today live in a highly visual society that constantly bombards them with instant communication media. Therefore, further investigations need to take place to reveal the educational potentialities which photography has for the elementary school curriculum.

We have become increasingly dependent on our smartphones and use them for entertainment, navigation, to shop, and to connect among other tasks. For many, the camera on the smartphone has replaced a dedicated digital camera, especially for the adolescent. With advances in smartphone technology, it is has become increasingly difficult to determine differences between smartphone camera and digital camera photographs. To date there is little research on the differences between photographs taken by smartphone and digital cameras, particularly among adolescents, who are avid photographers.This study used a qualitative task-based research method to investigate differences in photographs taken by adolescents using both types of cameras. Twenty-three adolescents ages 15 to 17 attending a regularly scheduled high school photography class participated in the study. The students were invited to capture a typical day in their life, first using their digital camera or smartphone camera and then switching to the other type of camera. Data were collected by way of written reflections, student interviews, and the participants’ photographs. The three data sources were coded, analyzed, and triangulated to provide results for this study. Results suggest that, for these particular participants, marginal differences exist between the photographs taken with a smartphone camera and a digital camera. Analysis also suggests there were minimal differences across specific categories of focus, color balance, and thoughtfully captured images between the smartphone and the digital camera photographs for this population of students. The study concludes that teenagers ultimately use whatever capturing device is available to them, suggesting that it is the photographer who controls the quality of a photograph—not the capturing device. Educational implications of the study focus on the use of technology in the art classroom, and suggestions are offered for photographic curricula based on the results of this study. In addition, an examination of different pedagogical styles, such as reciprocal and remote teaching and learning models, finds them particularly appropriate in supporting photography education for adolescents.

To determine professional and educational backgrounds of photography teachers in Texas secondary schools, a questionnaire was sent to all eighty-seven. Sixty-five responded. The study found that the majority (a) were not certified to teach industrial arts as required by the state; (b) taught only three classes of photography; (c) did not handle publication photography; (d) had less than the required twelve hours of photography education; (e) had some professional experience; and (f) planned to continue their photography education although their school systems did not require it. The study (a) concluded that students receive a basic, technical education in photography, but the program suffers from lack of money and administrative support; (b) recommended that the state agency reevaluate its approach to and implementation of the program.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the for the degree of Master of Technology in Photography, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / This dissertation is a self-study that involves inquiring into my mentoring practice to change and improve my situation and find a sense of belonging. The centre of the inquiry into 'self' lies in the search and claiming of an identity that consolidates the development of my artistic, mentoring and research practices during my 'first time' employment experience, as a junior lecturer in a Photography program, 2009-2011. I reflect on three years of lecturing experience in a tertiary education setting at the Durban University of Technology, in which doing a Masters was obligatory. I entered this position, with little experience in research and lecturing or photographic expertise. During this study, I made myself known as osmosisliza, the name of the ‘cyborg’ who journeys in cyberspace. I claim to be a ‘photographer horticulturalist’, a mentor concerned with cultivating collective online spaces, to create movement to connect in cyberspace for social learning purposes. I ask “Who is osmosisliza?”. My class motto is “what you think, know and believe helps us all to be more”, a personal belief for building knowledge through exchange and collaboration with others. I employed a variety of free Web 2.0 applications, like Gmail, Blogger, Buzz, Picasa Web Albums, Google Bookmarks and YouTube to create online spaces in which I could position my living educational theory. I called this place the Google Lens (GL). The Google Lens formed the mechanism to cultivate communities of practice for social learning, to develop confidence, motivation and engagement. The Google Lens was also the repository for qualitative and quantitative data. Mostly I analyse verbal and visual text, writings, photographs and video exchanges between learners and myself archived in the Google Lens to address my research question and sub-question. Through the lens of Google I did action research to improve my practice, and analyse my development as a newcomer to academia. I investigate how successful I was in using the Google Lens to achieve my mentoring goals. I also made photographs during the process of this inquiry to visually address abstract identity dilemmas, concerns and thoughts in my place of work, to engage my ‘I’ in my ‘eye’ as photographer. I exhibit these in cyberspace. I call these electronic postcards. Electronic postcards are blog posts in a weblog called osmosisLIZA. I made 98 blog posts and sent 98 electronic postcards in this dissertation. An electronic postcard consists of a photograph, an illustration, labels and a text heading. In this document the electronic postcards run alongside the writings for this self-study, functioning as text and message of the experiences of a developing academic as well as evidence of the developmental questions I was continuously asking to improve my practice.