Coda: posthumous conversations. A reading group to discuss the work of Dr Elee Kirk

• Published in: Children's geographies 2018-09, Vol.16 (5), p.571-577
• Main Authors: Hackett, Abigail, MacRae, Christina, McCall, Katy, Penfold, Louisa, Wallis, Nicola, Bates, Elaine, Cooke, Lucy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: children; Children & youth; Digital photography; improvisation; Museums; Photography; visual methods; Young Children
• ISSN: 1473-3285; 1473-3277
• DOI: 10.1080/14733285.2018.1497142

In May 2017, a group of museum researchers and practitioners met to discuss the writing of Elee Kirk (1977-2016), whose pioneering doctoral study of young children visiting a natural history museum connects with our own work and practice in a number of different ways. Kirk [2015. "Budding Photographers: Young Children's Digital Photography in a Museum." In Museums and Visitor Photography: Redefining the Visitor Experience, edited by T. Stylianou-Lambert. MuseumsEtc] advocates for research that views children's everyday museum visiting 'beyond their potential for learning' (p. 238). This paper offers edited transcripts of the discussion sparked by reading Kirk [2015. "Budding Photographers: Young Children's Digital Photography in a Museum." In Museums and Visitor Photography: Redefining the Visitor Experience, edited by T. Stylianou-Lambert. MuseumsEtc], documenting the conversation under a number of themes that emerged during the discussion, and reflecting on how each are picked up in more detail by the papers in this Special Issue.