During the early stages of construction of the theory, a possibility sprang to mind which I captured in this memo:
"Although the images have been used throughout the study to provide a focus for discussion and to stimulate participants’ contributions, they constitute an aspect of data in their own right. If that is the case, then they ought to be able to stand up to the theory. Is it possible therefore to return to all images, place the emerging theory alongside them and see how it fits?"
During constant comparison, I was back and forth between interview data, codes and categories regularly, but rarely felt the need to revisit the images. Since they provided the raw materials with which the foundations of interview data had been built, surely they would fit the theory intimately? In the end I decided not undertake this exercise, since if I did it, it would be my interpretation of the contents of the images, not only with the history I bring as mentioned in Section 1.4, but also with a degree of intimacy with the theory that other, more independent observers would not have. Given the opportunity then and with a theoretical framework written in age-appropriate language, conducting this exercise with students similar to the respondents, but who would bring a fresh, untainted perspective might both add robustness to the theory and provide the imagery with a new role.
Participants understandably tended to capture images from within their peer group setting; they might well be intimidated encroaching on situations involving older students. However we have a number of projects within school where older students work with younger ones, the 'buddy' system of Year 13 students with Year 7s, our Year 12 learning mentors with Years 3 and 4 and also Year 12/13 assistants who work with Tea-time after school club. It could be interesting to see whether taking the more distant and detached stance that these students might be able to take, rather than the intimacy that comes with working in friendship or peer groups, might generate different insights, possibly even extending the theory.
As discussed in Section 5.3, I feel that the informal/non-formal learning students experience is under-represented, perhaps even under-appreciated. I offered the possible explanation that the proportion of time spent in school and that this study originated from someone in school may have unduly biased the perspective of the participants. One way that might be addressed would be to originate the project in precisely the same way, through some other channel, for example a Guides/Scouts troop, a sports club or some other interest group. Given the cameras with the same proviso that they take them away with them and can take photographs from any setting, would they still home in on the activities they undertake in and associate with school? Would the link with school be broken, allowing them the freedom to explore other avenues, or would the context within which the study was launched once more dominate?