What Does Context Mean Anyways? Contextualizing Educational Research Through Photo-Elicitation

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Considering the Applications of Visual Methodologies and Arts-Based Research

Abstract

Although context is imperative in qualitative research, contextualization is a complex task. The multidimensional and socially constructed nature of context challenges qualitative researchers to not just pay attention to the conditions where a social phenomenon occurs, but also to carefully understand what are the meanings that people attribute to it. This paper reflects on the process of contextualizing qualitative research on teachers and teaching. Using photo elicitation, 13 teachers from Southern Chile took pictures to portray their understanding of teacher quality. Here, I analyze how photo elicitation (1) provides rich descriptions of the context where teachers work; (2) explore participants’ interpretation of that context, and (3) negotiates interpretations of pictures by contrasting participants interpretations with researchers perceptions of teachers context.

Author

• Maria Carolina Hidalgo Standen, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco Chile