Art Advocacy: Youth Voices in Jordan

• In Event: Lived Experiences of Youth navigating school systems in the Middle East

Proposal

This presentation will share the outcome of an ongoing research project that is a part of the Disability Under Siege Network. Beginning in July 2022 and concluding in March 2023, the project is an effort to amplify the voices of youth with disabilities living in Amman, Jordan. In accordance with global and national priorities Jordan’s government has been heavily investing in projects to promote inclusivity in partnership with multiple governmental and non-governmental agencies (Benson, 2020; 2022). Developing more inclusive communities, schools and changing attitudes is at the forefront for many Middle Eastern countries. The aim of this project is to not only provide a public platform within Jordan for the youth to share their experiences, but for other researchers and advocates to build on the ideas and methods used.
This project is in response to the prevalent narrative of disability within Jordan that excludes and ‘others’ disabled persons through a lack of visibility and representation. To counter the resulting negative stereotypes, this research brings together disabled and non-disabled youth (ages 14-18) through conversation and art. Students with disabilities are spending a week documenting their lived experience through photography; while youth without disabilities share their current understanding of disability and learn more through interactive workshops. The two groups will come together in conversation, to disrupt the current narrative surrounding disability in Jordan.
This research project aims to answer the following questions;
1. What is the lived experience of youth with intellectual, physical and learning disabilities in
Jordan?
2. How do non-disabled youth define and understand disability in their communities?
3. How can dialogue between youth with disabilities and their peers alter perceptions and increase acceptance?

The information gained through this project is going to be disseminated through a multimedia art show in March 2023 that aims to create conversation in the larger Amman community and among education policy makers, with youth being the leading advocates. The opportunity to work in collaboration on an innovative project designed to co-produce knowledge with disabled and non-disabled youth, artists and impact the wider Amman community is invaluable.
Through unique data collection methods this project aims to not only contribute to the academic conversations, but develop partnerships with advocacy focused organizations to create similar projects to share youth messages with a wider audience. There is a growing art movement in Amman, and this project will capitalize on that to create a road map for future participant action research and activists in Amman, as well as in similar regional contexts.
Concurrent innovative and rigorous qualitative methods are being used to best capture student voice. Photovoice, concept-mapping and focus groups to gather data from both participants with disabilities and without. These methods are recognised as credible mechanisms for securing evidence in diverse field settings (Creswell, 2014; Goodyear et al., 2005; Sutton-Brown, 2014).
Photovoice provides a methodology that centres the experience of youth with disabilities, in order to create a cultural shift in how Jordanians think about and interact with disability. Understanding the power of individual connections and representation this research builds on the foundations of photovoice methodology rooted in critical research methods (Sutton-Brown, 2014). In addition, photovoice has often been an empowering tool for populations (Latz, 2017) engaged in research, providing a way to share narratives and experiences of marginalized groups like youth with disabilities.

Students with disabilities are documenting their daily lived experience in the community using digital cameras. This will include sharing both barriers and successes at school, home and in their neighbourhoods. These photos inform the interviews that will provide intimate reflections on what it is to be disabled in Jordan.

To create connections and conversations that further the empowerment of youth with disabilities, guided conversations with non-disabled youth are being facilitated. The youth without disabilities are participating in interactive workshops that use concept mapping as a way to explore and develop their understanding of disability. This build on previous needs-assessment work (GIZ, 2021) that revealed non-disabled youth frame individuals with disabilities as helpless, sick and objects of pity.

Concept-mapping is a tool regularly employed by teachers to support students in learning new academic concepts; it has been more recently used in community-based research projects in the public health sector (Vaughn et al., 2017). Concept-mapping has been shown as an engaging way to not only define community-based problems but create targeted solutions through the unique insights that can be gained by engaging key stakeholders (ibid). Youth without disabilities must be a part of changing the narrative about disabilities as allies and advocates and this process aims to develop a community of youth advocates both disabled and non.
By disrupting traditional attitudes of non-disabled youth and empowering youth with disabilities this research aims to find new ways of constructing disability in Jordanian society. Research throughout the region identifies cultural and societal barriers to inclusion (Abu-Hamour & Al-Hmaouz, 2014; AlKhateeb, Hadidi & Alkhateeb, 2015) but neither the academic research nor concerted NGO efforts have created lasting change. By amplifying the voices of disabled youth in Amman and providing them a platform to share their experiences the aim is to create more inclusive spaces in their schools and communities through shared dialogue. This project is relevant for the academic community for the insights the unique methodology will provide but also for organizations hoping to develop advocacy and inclusive projects throughout the region.

Author

• Sarah Benson, University of Birmingham