Disposable Cameras, Humour and Children's Abilities

Abstract

This was a two-phase qualitative study that investigated the humorous aspects of humorous photographs young children took in their school and home environment, which were examined in the context of the theory of the absurd and the empowerment theory. The participants in the study were six children -three boys and three girls -between the ages of four years, eight months and five years, eight months. During phase one, the children were given a disposable camera and were asked to take photographs of whatever they considered humorous and made them laugh in their school and home environment. Semi-structured interviews and the photographs were the main data sources. During the interviews, the children described the photographs and reasoned about their funniness. After six months, during phase two, the children revisited their humorous photographs and talked about them. This study asserts that kindergartners' humour definitions as presented in their photographs can be regarded within the framework of the two theories. More specifically, the children refer to incongruity, something out of the ordinary (a cognitive process), and act as social agents utilising relationships within their social milieu to produce and appreciate humour (communities of practice). The use of a camera is considered as a creative and empowering tool which involves children in research.

Lively Entanglements: The Doings, Movements and Enactments of Photography

“…In these contexts, rather than children being the objects of another's gaze, the colonized other who is 'captured', children are given cameras to record their own experiences and to speak for themselves. In this way the camera is seen as a democratic, creative and empowering tool (Loizou, 2011). It reverses the gaze, enabling children's own agency and vision.…”

The Study of the 5-6 Year-old Children's Appreciation the Humour at Preschool Education

“…In addition, the usage of drawing technique is also important in multiple fields. For example, drawings are used to gather information about the child's communication, expressing himself/herself and feelings, his/her problem solving, the problematic children's feelings and memory development (15). The quality of drawings in the picture and the content of the drawing reveal the perception of the child about himself/herself, the people around himself/herself (28).…”

Magical, Surprising and Humorous Sparkles for Creative Problem Solving

“…Loizou [7] suggests that there are two theories that best describe young children's humorous behavior: the Theory of the Absurd, which includes events that are out of the ordinary and violate children's existing schemata and the Empowerment Theory, which describes young children's ability to violate the expectations of adults and use humor to empower themselves. Sensory and perceptual shifts, such as peekaboo, that amuse babies and cause them to laugh do not constitute humor.…”

“…The student-teachers who worked in the Sparkle Street project attempted to activate children's more sophisticated sense of humor, in an intellectually and emotionally appropriate manner, while planning a plot for an interactive performance with school children from the preschools engaged in the practicum program as audience. Young children are amused by incongruities [7], such as the idea of a flying vacuum cleaner, or a mirror frame that could transport a person form the real world to fantasy, glitter rain etc., which are incongruities based on the violation of conceptual representations. Such incongruities guided the student-teachers' magical storytelling for their own and eventually for children's creative problem solving.…”