Fotografia i „mała ojczyzna” − wykorzystanie fotografii dokumentalnej we współczesnej edukacji humanistycznej

Abstract

The paper Photography and “the small homeland” − the use of documentary photography in contemporary humanistic education ... must be seen as an attempt to enhance the importance of photography in the process of education and self-education. The two main, sometimes interpenetrating and complementary, adopted forms of expression: photography and „the small homeland”, remained in the centre of the discussions. Numerous cognitive and socioemotional values of photographic images have been invoked, e.g. 1) bearing witness to the times, 2) the record of current world events, 3) pictorial presentation as a good means for analysis, 4) a source of self-education – a component of emotional intelligence training, emphatic skills and sensitivity (to experience other men and art) learning. The use of iconic texts in the classroom (i.e. The Polish language, History, Art classes), or in the form of extra-curricular activities (i.e. photo contests) has been profusely justified. Firstly – a positive impact of photography on the important process of education and personal identity formation of the youth. Secondly - the requirements of modern times, imposing the need for change in the study and the perception of the image of „small homelands”. Furthermore, efforts have been made to prove that a human document, especially a documentary photography, serving to maintain links between the present, the future and the past, thus removes the „space of oblivion”.