Assignment #13: Think about photography for a little bit and about its materiality and the process of taking a picture. Make 3 connections to children. (I skipped the photographic lesson plan as I don't want to ask too much from you).
In a search for how to teach photography to children, I came upon several lists of "tips" for teaching children digital photography (i.e., http://digital-photography-school.com/13-lessons-to-teach-your-child-about-digital-photography; http://content.photojojo.com/photojojo-original/teaching-photography-to-children/)
Children can be easily taught to click a button, especially in digital photography, but I think it's important for children to also understand photography from a film point of view. Photography is a lot about physics as well as creativity. And while digital photography allows, as it seems, endless photograph-taking, it opens up both a venue for experimentation and laziness. Film photography, on the other hand, or teaching digital photography like it was film, allows each photograph to receive more attention - guiding children to look more rather than pushing a button seems rather important.
However, on the more positive side of digital photography, children can make lots of "mistakes" and enjoy experimentation. Allowing them to reflect on what they've just taken on a screen gives them another chance to approach a photograph differently, or for them to reach satisfaction with the first photograph.
The portability of a camera is also essential to photography. Children experience new things all the time, and because a camera can be so accessible these days, asking them to journal things that interest them is very plausible. Though writing is obviously essential to a child's education, they can learn that photography is both fun/creative and useful as a documentation tool - like a memory bank.
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