Visual Voice:Inspiring Dialogue Between Children and Adults

Anna RobbMargaret Bruce Dr Ann HodsonBASPCAN 2015

University of Dundee

Introduction

The professional world is dominated by the written word, reports, case notes, assessments, guidance and leaflets (to name but a few examples).

Drawing on research by Robb, Bruce, and Hodson the workshop will highlight the power of visual media as a means of creating dialogue between adult and child, and between professional agencies.

University of Dundee – Education, Social Work and Community Education

• Shared understandings• Professional

discussions• Mirroring practice• Taking the academic

perspective and applying it to the real world

Art, inclusion and voices in the classroom

“… a trail of glitter…”

• Research (Bruce 2014)• the views of children in formal child protection meetings

• Range of formats used by children to convey their views to decision makers e.g. pictures and letters

• Power of the visual image created by children• impact on the outcome of the meeting.

Describing pre-birth assessment

Social worker used imagery to convey possible post-birth scenarios

Multi-agency team tasked with finding pictures to convey what they did

Permission to play

• Using materials other than written word can feel superficial (Lomax, 2012; Pimlott-Wilson, 2012)

• Images can be powerful (Bruce 2014)

• Permission to play?• • Or ……permission to express something in a different way

Workshop• Introductions• Select a scenario or create your own from practice.• Create an image/visual representation of this difficult message

or of your role…

• Think about:• Choice of materials• 2D or 3D visual representations• Scale• Use of colour

Reflection

References• Pimlott-Wilson, H. (2012), ‘Visualising children’s participation

in research: Lego Duplo, rainbows and clouds and moodboards’, International Journal for Social Research Methodology, 15:2 pp135-148.

• Lomax, H. (2012), ‘Contested Voices? Methodological tensions in creative visual research with children’. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 15:2, pp.105-117