Visual methodologies, sand and psychoanalysis: employing creative participatory techniques to explore the educational experiences of mature students and children in care

Mannay, Dawn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7368-4111, Staples, Eleanor and Edwards, Victoria 2017. Visual methodologies, sand and psychoanalysis: employing creative participatory techniques to explore the educational experiences of mature students and children in care. Visual Studies 32 (4) , pp. 345-358. 10.1080/1472586X.2017.1363636

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Abstract

Social science research has witnessed an increasing move towards visual methods of data production. However, some visual techniques remain pariah sites because of their association with psychoanalysis; and a reluctance to engage with psychoanalytically informed approaches outside of therapy based settings. This paper introduces the method of ‘sandboxing’, which was developed from the psychoanalytical approach of the ‘world technique’. ‘Sandboxing’ provides an opportunity for participants to create three-dimensional scenes in sand-trays, employing miniature figures and everyday objects. Data is presented from two studies conducted in Wales, UK. The first, exploring mature students’ accounts of higher education, and the second, exploring the educational experiences of children and young people in public care. The paper argues that psychoanalytical work can be adapted to enable a distinctive, valuable and ethical tool of qualitative inquiry; and illustrates how ‘sandboxing’ engendered opportunities to fight familiarity, enabled participatory frameworks, and contributed to informed policy and practice.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races L Education > L Education (General) N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
Uncontrolled Keywords:	children; care; sandboxing; qualitative methods; students; visual methods; young people
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	1472-586X
Funders:	Welsh Government, Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP)
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 July 2017
Date of Acceptance:	27 June 2017
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 18:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/101968

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