Photovoice

“Harper and López-Robertson offer a timely and highly engaging collection of studies that demonstrate Photovoice’s power and promise as a participatory research method and critical instructional practice capable of transforming how students, particularly those most marginalized in educational spaces, come to understand themselves as agentive knowers capable of impacting and altering the world around them. The studies serve as windows through which we witness students—from kindergartners to college freshman—deploy Photovoice to achieve multiple aims including pushing back on others’ views of their communities, their families, and themselves by re-authoring and re-stor(y)ing those narratives with/through their own words and images.”

—Michelle L. Bryan, PhD, Associate Vice President for Access and Opportunity, Associate Professor, Higher Education Leadership, College of Education, University of South Carolina

“As a teacher-educator in literacy and literature, I have long sought multimodal tools that extend beyond traditional written responses to literature. This book has demonstrated itself to be a powerful discovery, offering unique and timely resources for teaching and researching readers’ responses and thought processes, with rich examples that bring its concepts to life. Each chapter provides a multimodal perspective that invites readers to explore their voices through a variety of formats, such as voice diaries and progress recordings, offering a rich alternative to conventional written reflections.
 What makes this book stand out is its foci on diverse participants, showcasing how language practices from diverse cultural contexts can be integrated into the process of recording and interpreting learners' responses and reflections. The chapters also offer innovative ideas around photovoice, demonstrating how words and images can work together to communicate complex ideas. This includes exploring how these combined modalities can be used to represent different groups, communities, and settings, as well as to address community needs and social issues.
 For anyone interested in the intersections of language, culture, and visual storytelling, this book is an essential and thought-provoking read. It provides a fresh and dynamic framework for engaging with literature and the lived experiences of readers, offering insights that will enhance both teaching and research in the field.”

—Yoo Kyung Sung, Professor, University of New Mexico

“In this timely edited volume, Harper and López-Robertson offer a compelling exploration of Photovoice as a transformative participatory research tool connecting educators, students, and communities. The book features ten research-based approaches to using Photovoice in a variety of contexts, from primary school through higher education. Each project addresses a unique purpose, ranging from answering questions like “Who am I?” to researching and acting on community-based issues like water pollution or political divisiveness. This holistic systems approach will appeal to a diverse group of readers from varied backgrounds such as teachers, teacher educators, researchers, community organizers, or others who recognize and wish to leverage the power of multimodality—especially photography—to interrupt deficit narratives while exploring diverse perspectives. Each chapter includes details sufficient to replicate or inspire similar work in other contexts that rehumanizes learning spaces by building much-needed bridges between schools, families, and communities through the power of photos. Overall, this volume is an innovative resource for anyone seeking to utilize photography to foster equity, voice, and connection in educational settings.”

—Melissa S. Wells, Associate Professor, University of Mary Washington

Acknowledgments

Foreword – Dr. Laura Rychly

Introduction to the Collection

Chapter One
Digital Diaries of PhotoVoice: Exploring Perceptions and Actions of Primary Students Towards Water Pollution
Emily Sein Yue Elim Hui and Sally Wan Wai Yan

Chapter Two
PhotoVoice with Young Multilingual Learners
Rebekah J. List

Chapter Three
Using Photos to Construct Youth Narratives: “Nasty”—My Community or Me?
Deborah D. Morbitt

Chapter Four
The Impact of Support on the Latinx Experience Around College and Career Readiness in an Urban School
Sandy G. Mason and Vera J. Lee

Chapter Five
PhotoVoice: Centering Community-Based Literacies in First-Year Writing
Jennifer Fike and Madina Djuraeva

Chapter Six
Visual Voices: Students’ Journey From Exploration to Activism Through PhotoVoice in the Borderlands
Elizabeth Astorga Gaxiola

Chapter Seven
Échale Ganas: Exploring the Support Systems of Latinx Early Educators in Teacher Education Programs
Aura Pérez-González

Chapter Eight
PhotoVoice: Possibilities and Hope for Course Evaluation and Student Critical Reflection
Carolyn Brennan, Kristen French, Meilan Jin, Adilene Landa, Charlene Montaño Nolan, and Margarita Ruiz Guerrero

Chapter Nine
Through the Eyes of Families: Understandings of Community Through PhotoVoice
Betül Demiray Sandıraz

Chapter Ten
Capturing Divisions: A PhotoVoice Exploration of the Impact of Political Division on a School District Community
Tabitha Dell’Angelo and Jodi Empol Schwartz

Afterword – Dr. R. Mark Epps

Editor and Author Biographies

Index

Rebecca G. Harper

Dr. Rebecca G. Harper is a Professor of Language and Literacy in the College of Education and Human Development at Augusta University where she teaches courses in literacy, qualitative research, and curriculum, and serves as the EdD program director. Her research focuses on writing and critical literacy, and the ways in which authentic literacy can foster engagement, agency, and empathy in students. She is the Director of the Augusta University Writing Project and the author of Content Area Writing that Rocks (and Works)!; Write Now and Write On: 37 Strategies for Authentic Daily Writing in Every Content Area; Writing Workouts: Strategies to Build Students’ Writing Skills, Stamina, and Success; Literacy Practice in Sports and Coaching: Developing Literacy Competencies in Interdisciplinary Environments; and Write From the Beginning: 42 Joyful Lessons to Foster Skilled Writers Every Day.

Julia López-Robertson

A former early childhood bilingual teacher, Julia López-Robertson is Professor of Literacy and Teacher Education at the University of South Carolina. Dr. López-Robertson’s research agenda focuses on advancing understandings about emerging bilingual/multilingual students and their families and on the transformation of teacher education to support equitable teaching for all children. Dr. López-Robertson is the author of Celebrating our Cuentos: Choosing and Using Latinx Literature in the Elementary Classroom and Re-envisioning Family Engagement and Literacy in Early Childhood Classrooms.