Browsing by Subject "Image analysis"

Objectives. Recently, an increasing number of comprehensive schools in Helsinki have launched social media accounts, which they use to share visual images during the school days. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse the ways in which schools portray themselves on the photo-sharing site Instagram, and how these visualisations represent the narratives of the Finnish comprehensive school and the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education. This analysis of Instagram images complements the research on the Finnish comprehensive school system, providing a new and authentic perspective on how schools wish to represent themselves through social media. Methods. This qualitative research is based on a data-driven visual content analysis. The material consists of 766 media images published on the Instagram accounts of seven comprehensive schools in the City of Helsinki during the three-month period between January and March 2021. The visual media were analysed using image analysis and thematic analysis. Results and Conclusions. The results of the analysis indicate that at the time of data analysis the visualisations by selected comprehensive schools in Helsinki are highly diverse. A series of images (Instagram carousel post) is the most common kind of post (83%). In half of the images (50%) there are no people. Of images containing people, groups of students (22%) are presented more often than individuals (5%). As a rule, the people in the images cannot be identified. The classroom (51%) is the most photographed learning place, and the next most frequent image location is outdoors (17%). Furthermore, five main themes emerge from analysis of the images: Steps of Learning (34%), Exhibition (24%), Our School (17%), Outdoor Activities (17%), and Current Topics (8%). The learning process, especially in arts, crafts, and home economics, is displayed in the images, as are the students’ learning outcomes.