Student Perspectives in Policy and School Improvement Research: The Promise of Photo-Elicitation Techniques

• In Event: 25.027 - Multimethod Approaches to Research for Social Justice and Equity in Education

Abstract

Objectives

Although various measures of student success are often used as data points in scholarly and policy debates about how to improve schools, the policy and school-level changes that stem from these discussions are presumed to be taken on behalf of students without very much effort to meaningfully include students’ perspectives on the proposed changes. In keeping with this year’s AERA call, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the promise of photo elicitation-based data collection to authentically leverage student voice in research on policy and school improvement in ways that promote social justice.

Theoretical Framework

In addition to the methodological literature on photo elicitation, described below, this study draws on the literatures concerning participatory action research and student voice. Participatory action research is a community-based research method that emphasizes action and broad participation, and seeks to co-create new knowledge between researchers and participants by attempting to produce change in the community (Chevalier & Buckles, 2013). One particular branch of participatory action research, known as youth participatory action research (YPAR), focuses on teaching youth to confront and resist the forces that reproduce inequities (Cammarota & Fine, 2008). Recently, scholars of education have been more attentive to the potential of incorporating “student voice” into school change efforts in order to generate more authentic and inclusive reform initiatives (Mitra, 2014).

Data Sources

Reflexive photo elicitation and Photovoice (a related method) are forms of participatory action research (Wang, 1997). Photo elicitation, in its simplest form, involves inviting research participants to take photographs of a space (e.g., a school) under a broad prompt (e.g., places where you like to have fun) (Harper, 2002). Researchers then ask participants to talk about the photos they took, and ask questions to fully elucidate participants’ experiences.

This paper draws on data from two separate studies. One study focuses on notions of caring and belonging in a middle school, on draws on observation and interviews as well as photo-elicitation interviews. The other study explored how students collectively participate in and influence the policy-making process for state-level K-12 education decision making. This study expands on traditional photo-elicitation methods by making use of social media as well.

Findings and Significance

Photo elicitation is a data collection method with the potential to authentically leverage student voice in research on policy and school improvement in ways that promote. Photo elicitation provides researchers and students with an opportunity to dig deeper into their experiences in their education environments and explore the ways in which they may be inequitable. As students are more and more likely to enter the policy realm in meaningful ways, interview techniques that make use of students’ photographs and other media are critical to understanding their social world. Moreover, students are engaging in social justice related efforts via social media, and research techniques that allow students to speak about their schools and policies that intersect their lives in a way that feels relevant to the students is important for authentically incorporating student voice in school improvement and policy change efforts.

Authors

• Jeff Walls, Washington State University

• Samantha Elizabeth Holquist, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities