Creating change together using Photovoice
Academic reading is both a crucial skill for success at university, and a real challenge. It can be time-consuming and demoralising, as well as empowering and enriching, especially for mature students. This group could both experience the challenge more acutely because of the gap they have experienced in their education, and the life responsibilities they have – and potentially also experience the enrichment opportunity of reading for those same reasons. The LITE Fellowship project ‘How do mature students experience academic reading’ used a Photovoice research method to investigate these issues in a way which begins to break down the boundary between researcher/participant and student/staff right from the beginning.
In this blog, we – the research lead, Catherine, and some of the student participants who co-created the research - will discuss our experience of working together in partnership and how this was enabled by the Photovoice research method. By outlining the challenges, insights and joys we have been experiencing during the project, we hope to inspire others to try this creative, participatory research approach.
Written by Catherine Bates, Farah Batool, Faith Castle, Mardhiah Eka Citra, Bev Freeman, Stacey Holman and Shahang Jamil.
What we did
Photovoice is a participatory action research method, which involves participants exploring their experience of a shared issue in small groups (of about 4-5 people) over a few sessions (see Breny and McMorrow, 2020 for a helpful step by step guide to the method). For us, the first session involved participants and Catherine co-creating ground rules to build a space of trust, confidentiality and sharing. We also learnt about and started to test out the Photovoice method – taking photos to help to reflect on the lived experience of an issue. After this, the participants took photos in their own time, which helped them to reflect on their experience of academic reading, and brought these to the next session. Each photo was discussed in depth with the group to enable the sharing of experiences as a whole group. Each small group met 3 times before then meeting with the other groups to co-create a final exhibition of the photographs with captions to encapsulate key points and themes, established through collaborative discussion and reflections.
What worked well?
Eka sums up a key group reflection on this:
“Using the Photovoice method in our research allows us to explore feelings and perspectives that go beyond words. Through photography, participants can express emotions and experiences that are often difficult to describe verbally. Images bring a richer, more personal dimension to their stories, offering wider nuances and deeper meanings about their learning journeys. This approach helps us to see how they feel and live through their academic reading experiences, even capturing moments and achievement in ways that spoken words alone could never fully express.”
We also found that the discussion about the photos helped build confidence. Different perspectives on the same photo added insight and the dialogic approach of sharing stories helped develop deeper thinking. Making the time to step back from the busy-ness of our lives and reflect really helped with our wellbeing. We connected with each other and could recognise challenges, achievements and the complexities of life together.
Meeting multiple times worked really well – it helped to build friendship and community which contributed to the depth and richness of the research findings but also benefitted participants, who realised ‘It is not only me’ who has reading challenges, leading to a significant mindset change: ‘I am not on my own – my voice is being heard’.
What were the challenges and how were they addressed?
Shahang shares her experience, also summarising others’ reflections:
“Participating in Photovoice was meaningful, at the same time emotionally challenging. The way the researcher set the tone from the beginning had a significant influence on how I experienced the process. Looking back at my memories through photographs stirred emotions I hadn’t expected, and there were moments when I felt quite exposed. Some memories carried a heavy weight and connecting them to my academic reading made me realise how much I had been holding quietly in the background. I also felt pressure to “take the right photo,” which added to my own expectations of myself.
The small groups created by the researcher worked alongside this supportive environment to make a real difference. The space felt safe, respectful, and encouraging, which helped me open up. Discussing our photos within the groups helped me feel more confident, less alone, and better able to reflect deeply and grow through the process.”
As well as the challenge of self-expectation and confidence Shahang raises, Faith reflects that “time was perhaps the most significant challenge the group faced”. Not all participants were able to attend all sessions, and participants were included in different ways, for example through individual online meetings. While highlighting time as a challenge, we all reflected on the importance of the time spent to have deep dialogue about the photos and hear different perspectives. This enabled the group to learn from and support each other and was really necessary for developing the research together, in partnership.
Key learning points and recommendations
Learning 1: It was important to spend time in the first session to build trust in the group through co-creating ground rules, discussing the reasons for and risks of the research and making yourself vulnerable, finding shared ground and getting the opportunity to try out the Photovoice method. This helped build confidence with each other and individually to go and take the photos outside of the session. Faith reflected: “With Catherine's leadership and facilitation, the group were quick to find common ground and make connections between their own experiences and each others'. Facilitators in this type of project therefore need to be confident in creating a comfortable environment for conversation, supporting students in identifying commonality and providing space for them to discuss this in the early sessions."
Learning 2: This project worked well because the groups were kept so small (between 3-5 people). It would have been more difficult for people to be vulnerable and engage with deeper reflections in a larger group.
Learning 3: The creative nature of the method felt a bit intimidating at first, but the community approach taken helped to build confidence and participants felt they learnt a new skill – and learnt through the different approaches others took. Faith shares: “As a neurodivergent student, I particularly enjoyed seeing how others embraced the creativity of the project. I often interpret briefs as literal, so to view others' methods and hear their thought processes has helped me to understand better how to creatively participate in Photovoice in the future”. Others also learnt from Faith’s focused approach – the exhibition validated and celebrated the range of approaches and reading strategies.
Learning 4: The creative, community nature of the research became a really helpful approach for sharing reading strategies as well as experiences. As Faith says: “Sharing our challenges with reading alongside strategies to overcome these felt validating. To hear that peers also experience the same difficulties erased a feeling of 'it's just me' and replaced that with a sense of belonging and being part of a group who creatively worked to improve their own outcomes”.
We have found Photovoice to be a really positive method for deeply meaningful, creative and reflective student-staff partnership work because of the way it enabled community-building, belonging and continuing dialogue. We would love for you to be part of our ongoing project and to engage with our digital exhibition: How do mature students experience academic reading – A Photovoice Exhibition. Thanks for reading!
Reference
Breny, J.M and McMorrow, S. L. 2020. Photovoice for Social Justice: Visual Representation in Action. London: Sage Publications.