ABSTRACT

Students in social studies classrooms are faced with a barrage of images, many of which represent historical trauma and violence. Although photographs can be used as pedagogical tools to represent experiences of injustice and elicit deeper understanding, they also activate affective and unrelated responses in students. In this case study, I explore the responses of Canadian secondary students to a set of historical photographs found in textbooks and resources that focus on the Indian Residential Schools. Findings from the study indicate that student responses to images representing difficult knowledge are unpredictable. Students were affectively and emotionally provoked by the photographs to both accept and deny abuse, as well as make personal connections to their own experiences of schooling. These findings raise questions around the best ways to use photographs of historical injustice in classrooms, as well as the ethics of using photographs that represent the suffering of others.

摘要

社会研究教室的学生面临着一系列图像，其中许多图像代表着历史的创伤和暴力。尽管照片可以用作代表不公正经历并引起更深刻理解的教学工具，但它们也可以激发学生的情感和无关的反应。在本案例研究中，我探讨了加拿大中学生对以印度民居学校为重点的教科书和资源中发现的一系列历史照片的反应。该研究的结果表明，学生对代表困难知识的图像的反应是不可预测的。这些照片在情感和情感上激发了学生的热情，他们接受和否认虐待，并与自己的学习经历建立了个人联系。