Photovoice is a community and participatory action research method developed by Wang and Burris (1994). Rooted in grassroots empowerment education, critical feminist theory, and documentary photography, it aims to enable people with little money, power, or status to communicate needed changes to policymakers. Several examples of Photovoice projects can be found in fields outside of education, focusing on a range of social issues including homelessness, physical ailments, mental and psychological illness, and gender discrimination. A handful of studies in the United States have demonstrated use of Photovoice with adolescents in out-of-school educational settings (Adams, Brooks, & Greene, 2014; Chio & Fandt, 2007; Farley, Brooks, & Pope, 2017; Strack, Magill, & McDonagh, 2004; Wilson, et al., 2007; Zenkov & Harmon, 2009). Similarly, an organization called The Viewfinder Project ("The Viewfinder Project," 2010) uses some parallel methods to PhotoVoice, and provides its curriculum to those who are interested in initiating a group project in their community. There is a gap in the research that examines the in-school literacy experiences with the use of Photovoice methods. As ethnographers of their community, students can use images as powerful, visual representations that help to elevate the significance of the social issues they see and experience. PhotoVoice is an engaging approach for integrating and developing reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills throughout a unit.
Getting Started
Teachers can start PhotoVoice projects by looking at examples of projects on the Internet. My favorite PhotoVoice websites include:
www.photovoice.org/
www.photovoiceworldwide.com
www.pwhce.ca/photovoice/pdf/Photovoice_Manual.pdf
www.photovoicewyoming.com/
After looking at and discussing a few PhotoVoice projects, students read about how others have implemented these projects in their schools and communities. This activity serves as an opportunity to engage students in using content area reading strategies to analyze and discuss the articles. Examples of content reading strategy protocols can be found at www.schoolreforminitiative.org/protocol-alphabetical-list-2/. I like to use 4 As, Save the Last Word for Me, Text Rendering, or Coding the Text with this kind of discussion. In this phase of the project, it is important for participants to learn about what PhotoVoice is, see how people have used it, and ask any questions that they have about how to engage in this kind of project.
Choosing Research Questions
Sometimes, the teacher chooses a question for students to research. Other times, participants choose their own research question. In our summer workshop, we asked our teachers to develop the research questions for our project. I use a Microlabs protocol (www.schoolreforminitiative.org/protocol-alphabetical-list-2) to discuss in small groups the following three questions:
If I could change the world, what is the one thing that I would do?
If I could change my community, what is the one thing that I would do?
If I could change my school what is the one thing that I would do?
After discussing and debriefing the Microlabs activity, list the themes that emerged from the small group discussions. I use an affinity mapping process (www.schoolreforminitiative.org/protocol-alphabetical-list-2) to group discussion themes into overarching themes.
Taking Photographs
In the next phase of the project, students take photographs that represented how they conceptualize answers to the research questions. They spend time together talking about the research questions and brainstorming possible images that could represent their answers. Then they go out into schools, communities, and homes to gather images that either concretely or abstractly represented their answers.
They bring their photographs to the next session and told their stories around them. Carolyn Wang, who developed PhotoVoice, asks her participants to discuss their photographs with the following questions in mind:
What do you see happening here?
What is really happening?
How does this relate to our lives?
Why does this problem/condition/asset exist?
How could this image educate the community/policymakers, etc.?
What can we do about it?
After they discuss their photographs, they often have new ideas for photographs, so students collect and discuss a second round of images. This second round of images allows students to go deeper in an understanding of the research questions.
In the final phases of the project, students write about their photographs and how they represent answers to the research questions. From these writings, they develop powerful captions for the photographs that capture the essence of their understandings and beliefs. After writing, work with students to group the photos by theme and decide how to arrange a display for a photo exhibition. Coach the students in how to talk about their work and perspectives. Invite people who can have influence over making changes in the school or community concerning the issue, making sure that the invitees are likely to be supportive and respectful of the students.
Bibliography
Adams, S. R., Brooks, K., & Greene, M. (2014). Using PhotoVoice to empower K-12 teachers and students through authentic literacy engagements. Writing and Pedagogy, 6 (3), 649-664.
Chio, C.M., & Fandt, P, M. (2007). ‘Photovoice in the Diversity Classroom: Engagement, Voice, and the “Eye/I” of the Camera’. Journal of Management Education, 31, 484-504.
Farley, L., Brooks, K., & Pope, K. (2017). Engaging students in praxis using photovoice research. Multicultural Education, 24(2), 49-55.
Strack, R. W., Magill, C., & McDonough, K. (2004). Engaging youth through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 5(1), 49-58.
Wang, C., & Burris, M. (1994). Empowerment through photo novella: Portraits of participation. Health Education Quarterly, 21, 71-186.
Wang, C., & Burris, M. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education and Behavior, 24, 369-387.
Wilson, N., Dasho, S., Martin, A. C., Wallerstein, N., Wang, C. C., & Minkler, M. (2007). Engaging young adolescents in social action through photovoice. Journal of Early Adolescence, 27(2), 241-243.
Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (2009). Picturing a writing process: Photovoice and teaching writing to urban youth. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(7), 575-584.
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