Page 38 - UD Research Magazine Vol5-No1

Lindsay Yeager
admires the book
José Mishaja developed to teach Ese’Eja children their native language. Yeager, a visual com- munications major
from Suffern, New York, served as a photographer and videographer on
the expedition.
“This trip truly helped me understand that education is more than just the
time that a child is sitting in a classroom. The [Ese’Eja] traditional form of educa- tion is completely informal. Each genera- tion learns about traditions, how to cook and gather food and other practices by
“A big concern of the elders is that their children and grandchildren are losing the knowledge of their culture and how to use the rain forest,” Rolón Dow says. “So we observed the everyday ways the children were learning outside of school—how to fish in the traditional way, for example—as well as in school.”
Along with their observations and interviews, she and Lehr provided 40 children and teenagers with simple digital cameras and asked them to photograph important aspects of their lives.
The result of that social science technique, known as PhotoVoice, was a treasure trove of images—taken by many
watching their parents and participating. Now they are being formally educated in a classroom supported by the govern- ment. There is clearly a mismatch between school and home.”
—Morgan Lehr, Senior Majoring in Elementary Teacher Education 36 | UD RESEARCH