New Publication on Visual Discovery and Child Labor

Lesson Launch Blog

By Paul E. Binford

Last week, my co-author (Megan Mauney) and I published a journal article in The Social Studies entitled, “Using Visual Inquiry to Engage Students in the Synthesis of Primary Sources on Child Labor.” As you might infer from the journal’s name, The Social Studies is one of the stalwart publications in the field. Needless to say, we are delighted to have our article published in this venue, which is now an electronic journal.

In my work with social studies teacher education candidates and classroom teachers, they often gravitate toward a teaching and learning strategy known as Visual Discovery (a TCI strategy). When my teacher candidates create a unit plan, they invariably use Visual Discovery for one of their lesson plans. The use of photographic primary sources has a broad appeal across nearly all grades levels and disciplines. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons is, as John Medina makes clear in Brain Rules, vision is our dominant sense!

Our article walks you through a lesson about child labor in Mississippi, during the early twentieth century, which begins with a historical photograph. First, we provide background information on the photographer, Lewis Hine and child labor along the Gulf Coast, which—to no surprise—involves the seafood industry. In addition to the specific photograph used in the lesson, there is a link to additional photographic resources. You will also find a reading handout on oyster shucking with reader supports embedded . Finally, there are suggestions and tips about the climatic ending to the lesson—an “Act-It-Out.”

We hope you and your students will explore and experience the benefits of Visual Discovery.

If I can support you and your school in using this engaging strategy, please reach out!

Lesson Launch

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For more information about this Lesson Launch blog post, or if you are interested in arranging professional development, please contact the author at: theringoftruth@outlook.com.