Children as observational film-makers: a Deweyan approach to researching primary school children's experience as they make art

ABSTRACT

Dewey’s philosophy of experience has aesthetic experience at its core as he melds artificial dualities between thinking and experiencing [Dewey, J. 1934. “Art as Experience.” In John Dewey the Later Works, 1925 – 1953, Vol. 10. 1988, edited by J. Boydston, 1–352. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press]. This deeply empirical approach underpins a form of art education research, which draws on participant observational film-making in social anthropology. Pedagogy for developing a video camera technique enables primary school children (10 to 11 years old) to use cameras in an observational style. Despite methodological dissonances in this approach, observational film-making offers an empirical means to ensure that vital qualities in children's experience making art such as the aesthetic and material are not lost through the scientificity of education research.

KEYWORDS:

• Dewey
• art
• experience
• video
• observational film-making

Acknowledgements

The research described in this paper was undertaken when studying for a PhD. I was supported by a scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Doctoral Training Partnership at the University of Cambridge. I thank Professor David MacDougall of Australian National University and Professor Richard Hickman of the University of Cambridge. I also acknowledge the contribution made to this research by Alexi Hickman, Ana Zandi, Bella Antunes, Carla Roth, Laurie Pattison and Luke Arnone.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 We used four Canon XA25 video camera kits. Each kit came with a Sennheiser EW100 G3 radio microphone receiver, transmitter and lapel microphone and a Rhode cardioid shotgun microphone. The Canon cameras record onto standard SD cards. I quickly realised that children would need additional tools to help hold and steady the cameras. I therefore purchased four mini-tripods to use on desktops and four additional hand brackets. Both could be screwed into the base of the camera.