Can PowerView Method Be Useful in Increasing Equality Between Students and Teachers in Youth Participatory Action Research Projects?

• In Event: Paradigm Shifts: Youth Participatory Action Research and the Disruption of Hegemonic Structures

Abstract

In many Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) projects, teachers as facilitators and collaborators are often viewed by students as authority figures rather than as partners. In this paper we present findings from using PowerView, a new method we developed, as a tool to increase equality between students and teachers in YPAR projects. By asking students participants in a Photovoice YPAR project to turn their cameras toward their teacher-facilitator and capture images that represent their point of view of her/him hierarchical power-relations between them were subverted. We argue that turning the student's camera/gaze backward at the teacher/serial-observer can disrupt research classroom power relations and help students and teachers alike to establish a more equal research space.

Authors

• Avy Dwight Hemy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

• Assaf Meshulam, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev