Photographic Ethnography

In research to develop basic skills programs for the U. S. Army in Germany in 1979 and 1980, I directed a “photographic ethnography” of the “ambient literacy” in the environments that personnel encountered as they moved around on military bases, in offices, and in training facilities.

Later, in the mid-1990s, in research for the San Diego Consortium for Workforce Education and Lifelong Learning ( CWELL) I coordinated research in three San Diego communities where ABE/ASE/ESL classes were held. To understand the sorts of literacy materials students encountered in their communities, I once again directed a photographic ethnography in which a research assistant drove through the different communities and photographed the “ambient literacy,” that is, street signs, signs in store windows, billboards, etc.

Finally, also in the mid-1990s, I conducted an evaluation of a half dozen workplace literacy programs in the Chicago area. During this work I once again used photographic ethnography to study the environmental print encountered by management and workers in the offices and plants where they worked.

Across all three environmental contexts, the photographic ethnography revealed a wide array of signs, charts, pictures, schematics, and other information displays making up what today is called “multiple literacies.” This type of photographic study reveals the ambient literacy information displays that are relevant for adult language and literacy students to learn if they are to efficiently and effectively negotiate their environments at work and in the community. The photographs also provide materials for teaching as students view them and discuss the words and graphic displays found in their communities.

Photographic Ethnography and Environmental Analysis and Design for Learning.

In this research photographic ethnography revealed a lack of posters on the walls outside of classrooms in a U. S. Navy electronics training school. We decided to try to enhance student learning of their electronics coursework by creating a learning environment outside the classrooms using a variety of posters related to the classroom instructional topics and the equipment that an electrician encounters on the job. The goal was to have students engage in some incidental learning related to their training.

Two kinds of posters, Knowledge Questions and Problem Solving dealt with specific topics taught in the course. Two other types of posters, General Information and Motivational Information provided more general information than the specific course content addressed by the first two types of posters.

To evaluate the effects of the environmental design using posters, a survey of over 260 students was conducted. The results showed that students who had been in training longer recalled having seen more of the posters than students in the early phases of training. The posters most likely to be recalled were those dealing with General Information related to course content and Motivational Information rather than those dealing with Knowledge Questions about specific course content and Problem Solving. Overall, students rated posters easy to understand, useful, and interesting.

Reference: Sticht, T., Ellis, J., & Quellmalz, E. (1991, August). Enhancing Productivity in Navy Schools: The Use of Wall Posters and Computer-Based Instruction to Influence Learning. TR-91-11. San Diego, CA: Navy Personnel Research and Development Center.