Discovering the beauty in life through photography in New Taipei City schools
The Alliance Cultural Foundation (ACF) has been running A New Vista for Children, a photography program for rural schools in Huatung since 2012, holding three exhibitions and inspiring many to volunteer with rural children. In 2017, the program was extended to six remote schools in New Taipei City. These schools have less than a hundred students, many of whom are children of new immigrants. The camera is used as a teaching tool to preserve memories for their childhood and surroundings, and the photography program is a platform for them to grow and shine beyond the usual school curriculum. It has benefitted students with special needs and learning difficulties with self-expression.
To ensure the sustainability of the program, the project carried out in three phases over three school terms. Volunteer teachers first carried out four photography experiential lessons before photography is fused into the schools’ curriculums with three to five volunteers helping out for eight to ten weeks. In the first half of 2018, also the third term for the current run, the teachers are using photography as a teaching medium in curriculum planning and arrangements. ACF invited volunteers to co-prep the lessons with the teachers, using the camera as a pedagogical tool to make learning more diverse and enriching.
A student with special needs at Tunshan Elementary wrote a card for volunteer Paul Lee, who embarked on skills-based volunteering to use his expertise in photography in bettering society. The student had made considerable effort to express himself, his heartfelt appreciation and new-found love for photography. Volunteer Hsu Chenchieh with ten years of experience with print photography said children have an innate ability to discover and create without boundaries, learning fast and well.
Viewing the photographs taken by the children and getting to look at the world through eyes of the children, Tsai Hsinyi, head of department at Laomei Elementary said the volunteers have taken the children onboard a journey of discovery with the cameras as wings of imagination. The images have shown perspectives unique to each child. Tsai also witnessed a volunteer holding the hands of the children and believed teachers are indeed playing a handholding role in the children’s lives. Seeing positive changes in the students made Tsai realize that photography has a therapeutic effect.
Chien Yuchu, teacher at Jinmei Elementary, said the students are more motivated to submit their photography works with captions that are carefully thought out, displaying much more enthusiasm and passion for learning with the lessons enhanced by photography immersion. She questioned if there is a disconnect between the essay topics in the usual curriculum and the students’ lives. The students were also observed to be more forthcoming when participating in the usual language and arithmetic lessons which followed after photography immersion classes. Tunshan Elementary’s teacher Hsu Rujing said the students with low self-esteem due to underprivileged backgrounds have new-found confidence with the praises given by the photography volunteers. The affirmation and joy is something she wishes to imbue in her teaching
Chien Yuchu, teacher at Jinmei Elementary, said the students are more motivated to submit their photography works with captions that are carefully thought out, displaying much more enthusiasm and passion for learning with the lessons enhanced by photography immersion. She questioned if there is a disconnect between the essay topics in the usual curriculum and the students’ lives. The students were also observed to be more forthcoming when participating in the usual language and arithmetic lessons which followed after photography immersion classes. Tunshan Elementary’s teacher Hsu Rujing said the students with low self-esteem due to underprivileged backgrounds have new-found confidence with the praises given by the photography volunteers. The affirmation and joy is something she wishes to imbue in her teaching
Photography as a craft and skill which combines aesthetics, observation, imagination and creation, similar to drawing and music, does not call for standard answers, allowing each student to find and shape their own style of expression. With a team of dedicated and sincere photography volunteers, the students are well guided. The volunteers have also established strong consensus and communication with the teachers in fusing photography into educational curriculums. Working with children who do not have much resources, the volunteers have their hearts on their utmost priority, to help the children to create a collection of stories of their childhood and growth journeys.
