A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Doing research on a school that is in a different country is very hard because you can’t truly understand what the country is like and how the school really looks. Luckily we live in a world of technology that allows us access to pictures of these schools and countries. During our research we have had the opportunity to look at pictures of the schools and the land that is surrounding them. 

One of the biggest things that I was able to take away from looking at these pictures of the school was that this school has many resources that others in the country don’t. To put it into perspective, imagine that you are going to travel to Canada and you have to cross the border as a security checkpoint that is what the main entrance to the Olive Grove Academy looks like. This shows me a lot about the school and how it wants the people from the outside to view them as a school. Many of these elite schools have very fancy entrances to welcome you into the elite spaces that are just beyond the gates.

Another picture that says a lot about the school is one that shows a massive wall that surrounds the campus. The power of a wall is something that is used to show separation between two things and there tends to be a good side and a bad side. The wall surrounding Olive Grove doesn’t allow the outsiders to view what the school truly looks like and this creates that very private feel and that only those who are worthy can get inside those walls.Fortunately we were able to gain access to the grounds within the wall and were able to see what the school really looks like.  

Why are all these pictures important in our research? Seeing these pictures allows us to see what our interviewees are talking about and what they are seeing. Creating this common ground allows us to understand the themes deeper than we would have been able to without the pictures.

Having done some research last semester regarding US elite schools these pictures are very insightful because it shows me whether or not these schools are trying to mimic the United States model. One of our biggest themes in our research is how these schools are teaching in such a way that allows its students to be westernized and have a smoother transition to US higher education. There is a school in the United States that is an elite boarding school that shares many of the same features as the Olive Grove Academy. This helps us understand that not only in the school curriculum they’re trying to prepare their students for the US higher education system but they are trying to prepare them for the living styles of Americans.

Overall, being able to have access to pictures of the Olive Grove Academy allows us as researchers to get a deeper understanding of this school, preparing their students to pursue a western education after their time in high school. It also allows us to understand what our interviewees are talking about when they are discussing events that happen on campus and where they spend their time. Therefore, in our research you can say that these pictures are worth more than a thousand words. More like a twenty page research paper that allows us to understand what the goals of these elite schools are.