More than writing on the wall: An examination of writing and image in a Finnish primary and secondary level learning environment

Abstract

<p>This article is dedicated to the analysis of visual multimodality and agency in a school unit situated in Southwestern Finland. The school unit is approached as a node of intersecting discourses and its visible features are investigated as materialized discourses. The results indicate that writing is the preferred mode of visual expression in this learning environment and that there is a shift in modes from image to writing as students progress in the school system, which reflects the existing de jure educational discourses. Moreover, while teachers and school staff are the most active agents in the school unit, the assessment of multimodality indicates that students appear more passive than they are if research focuses only on writing. Moreover, not taking images into account risks reinforcing the traditional notion of writing as the only proper form of expression.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> discourse, education, identity, landscape, ‘schoolscape’, materialization, multimodality</p>