From Community to Individual. Re-Thinking Photovoice Methodology for Education Research

Abstract

There are scholar opinions warning that both quantitative and qualitative methodologies share strengths and weaknesses when applied to academic learning research ( Richardson, 2000 ; 2013 ). The present article aims to shed light on the use of visual methodologies to investigate learning in academic contexts. An argument is made that education and learning research can benefit from the integration of visual data. This positional article grounds on two pillars. The first is to support and emphasize the value of photovoice methodology in the field of education and learning research, specifically. The second is to provide a framework to conduct a photovoice project. Drawing upon a research study conducted by the author, the article unfolds the main phases in applying photovoice to research learning patterns in higher education. Thus, the paper discusses the essential features of photovoice in the context of learning research, presents the main stages in applying the methodology: recruiting the participants, organizing the initial group meetings, data collection and analysis. Benefits of applying photovoice in educational contexts are pointed out.

Keywords: Photovoicenarrative-photovoicelearning patternseducation research

1.Introduction

‘Seeing is a great deal more than believing these days’, states Nicholas Mirzoeff in the beginning of

his work An Introduction to Visual Culture (2009). The fascination for visual information strengths the

intention of the article to shed light on the use of visual methodologies, specifically the photovoice

method, to research academic learning. Photovoice methodologies (PVM) emerged from the fields of

health and community research to become a vital tool due to accuracy in gathering data (Graziano, 2004).

Since its inception in the early 90s, PVM has gained in popularity (Sutton-Brown, 2014, p. 169). In spite

of this fact, the association of PVM with the ‘soft’ area of learning studies is rare and poorly explored by

the scientific literature and research studies in the field. In photovoice, members of a target community

apply specific photographic techniques to document and capture representative experiences of their

individual and collective life.

The purpose of this article is to broad the use of PVM into the field of education and learning

research. The key argument for this initiative of moving from challenged groups to challenging processes

is twofold. First, although there is a significant amount of research on learning, the diversity and

complexity of the process at individual level keeps it on research agendas, especially in the context of

new generations facing serious learning difficulties in the context of learning experiences provided by

contemporary schools and schooling. Second, the recent tendencies in learning conceptualization (e.g.

authentic learning), as in the works of Herrington and Oliver (2000), Slavkin (2004), Rule (2006),

Herrington and Herrington (2006), Lombardi (2007) and others, make an argument for a deeper

understanding of learning as a lived experience and the author believes that PVM can really contribute. In

my work on learning patterns, I drawn from these works in attempt to move to a deeper understanding of

complex and subjective learning experiences.

In the subsequent sections, the article unfolds a discussion on the unique attributes and benefits of

photovoice as a research method and continues by approaching a particular research on learning patterns.

2.Uniqueness of PVM Reframed in a Learning Research Context

3.Case in Point: Photovoice to Research Learning Patterns

In the context of this study, the author applied photovoice to document the subjective experience

of academic learning in relation to learning strategies. Undergraduate students captured and presented

their learning experiences by using photograph elicitation and narrative techniques. Photographs depicted

individual and collective learning experiences in different settings: classrooms, libraries, and individual

study. The selection of learning experiences was twofold: based on researchers prompts, and based on

students’ choice. To support learning inquiry, the authors coupled PVM with experience sampling

methodologies (ESM). At the end of data collection process, the pictures were analyzed and made the

object of collective analysis during group interviews. The participatory phase of data analysis was

followed by content analysis conducted by the author.

3.2.Steps in Photovoice Method

For the research study conducted, photovoice involved four distinct stages, as Sutton-Brown

(2014, p. 171) suggests: (1) recruiting participants; (2) initial group meetings; (3) taking pictures; (4)

meetings with subjects to discuss and analyze the pictures.

3.2.1.Recruiting Participants

During this phase, undergraduate students from three regular universities were attracted and

selected to contribute in the process of data collection and analysis. The photovoice participants hold the

responsibility of creating the photographs that will eventually become the object of further discussions

and analysis.

Because of the participatory nature of the PVM, the recruitment process is capital in order to

support authentic dialogue between researchers and participants. The participants in our research reflect a

purposive sampling selection based on conventional means (flyers, posters, and on-line ads). The

selection followed to accomplish the goal of recruiting a heterogeneous group in order to provide a

broader perspective on learning patterns. The heterogeneity was appreciated from the perspective of

students’ field of study, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM disciplines),

socio-humanities, and economics. Forty-nine students ageing in range from nineteen to twenty-three years

(M_age=21,7) were chosen from a pool of eighty-seven subjects to participate in our photovoice project.

Twelve of them (eight females and four males) abandoned the project. The participation was voluntary

and the subjects were able to discontinue at any time throughout the project. At the end of the project, the

participants received financial incentives.

3.2.2.Initial Group Meetings

Wang and Burris (1994; 1997) support the need of initial group meetings to discuss theoretical,

practical, and ethical aspects of PVM and ESM. A primary role of these meetings is to learn more about

photovoice and to give a prompt to guide the selection of experiences to be documented. During the

preliminary group meetings, the subjects were familiarized with the process of data collection and

procedural ethics in photovoice. A prompt to guide the selection of events to be captured was adopted:

‘Take photographs of objects, people (including yourself), situations anywhere in your faculty and home

environment able to describe the way you learn and what learning means to you’. After the initial

meetings, the participants signed a written informed consent.

3.2.3. PVM in Action: Data Collection

The success of a photovoice project depends on a number of factors such as the nature of the

investigated phenomenon, the period, and the availability of participants to take photos (Sutton-Brown,

2014, p. 175).

The participants were provided with a time frame to take photos, upload them by using the Survey

Gizmo platform, and write narratives. The subjects used their own mobile phones to take pictures.

Random and event-based sampling were considered suitable approaches. The author guided random

sampling procedures. For example, the subjects received a text message in the morning saying to capture

learning experiences or situations from that specific day at the faculty or in individual study settings. The

participants were responsible for even-based sampling. Thus, they were encouraged to take pictures

whenever they feel they experience a relevant situation to describe academic learning.

This stage resulted in a great number of pictures (692 and the corresponding narratives) to be

discussed and analyzed during the next stage of the project.

3.2.4.Data Analysis

In traditional research methodologies, data collection and analysis are distinct parts of the

research. In participatory research and in PVM, the borders between them are less obvious.

Both the researcher and the participants contributed to the analysis process. The subjects were

invited to participate to focus groups to discuss and analyze the pictures. A number of nine focus groups

were conducted. In the beginning of the discussion, a set of ten pictures were selected by the participants

according to individual and collective relevance criterion. To ignite the discussion the SHOWeD

technique was applied (Wang, 1999). SHOWeD is an acronym of the questions to be asked: What do you

See here? What is really Happening? How does this relate to Our lives? Why does this problem or

strength exist? What can we Do about it? The technique sparks critical thinking. The focus groups were

typed and transcribed. IPA was performed. A first step refers to reading and re-reading the data (interview

transcripts and narratives) based on a line-by-line analysis of the participants’ meanings and

understandings of their lived experiences. The second consisted in applying the noting strategy.

See Full Size >

After re-reading the transcriptions, the researcher marked relevant quotes of participants. To

facilitate the identification of the emergent learning patterns, I associated comments to the identified

quotes. In the third step, I grouped the quotes and comments according to their conceptual and

experiential convergence. Six themes were revealed (processing strategies, conceptions of learning, and

orientations to learning, regulation strategies, positive emotions, and negative emotions). Those entail

twenty-one categories (the corresponding learning components and achievement emotions, according to

the learning pattern model – see Vermunt (1996), Vermunt & Vermetten (2004) and Gibels, Richardson,

Donche, and Vermunt (2014). for a more detailed discussion on this subject matter). In the last step, the

emergent themes were gathered in clusters according to the model of learning patterns (Gibels et al.,

2014, p. 15). Exploratory comments were associated with quotes and themes.

4.Conclusions

The present paper aimed to empower the use of photovoice in education research. With the

exception of studies focusing on nursing, health, and education of vulnerable populations, PVM has not

been widely harnessed in education and learning research.

Theoretical and methodological aspects were discussed. The article argued that PVM could be

enriched by using experience sampling methodologies and interpretative phenomenological analysis. A

corpus of benefits is a pivotal argument to support the integration of PVM in education and learning

research. Summarizing, PVM emphasize the subjective contribution of participants and gives them the

opportunity to become co-researchers. Intensive longitudinal studies can be designed based on PVM.

Drawing upon a study conducted by the author, a framework to apply PVM was proposed and discussed.

In summary, photovoice is a participatory research method effective in assisting subjects to

document real experiences in learning, increasing critical and reflective skills. Through PVM, the goal of

empowering participants is achieved. The use of PVM in educational research contexts was not extensive,

but proved utility and reliability.

Acknowledgements

The research project presented in this paper was funded by Young Researchers Excellence Fellowships 2015 Competition - Project financed by the University of Bucharest Research Institute (ICUB).

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