Abstract:
Photo-elicitation interviews (PEIs) empower participants and dilute the power imbalance of a standard face-to-face interview, yet are less likely to be used in educational research due to difficulties employing this method. PEIs offer strength as a data collection method with their ability to draw data of considerable depth and value, unattainable in a verbal interview. By shifting participant focus to the photographs and prioritising their interpretation, the PEI creates a more relaxed atmosphere in which the participant has authority. Resistance in employing this method in educational research stems from perceived ethical challenges. Despite this complexity, photo-elicitation facilitates meaningful data production capturing the voice of vulnerable populations, including children and young people. This paper critically analyses the use of PEIs in seeking to understand how innovative practice and school culture influence students’ sense of belonging within an ethnographic case study in a year 10-12 Australian school. Participants included 6 Year 11 students and 3 teachers. Each were given a disposable camera for a week to capture a minimum of 5 images depicting aspects of the school experience that helped students to feel a sense of belonging. Participants then individually interpreted these images, explaining the embedded meaning, in follow up interviews. The challenges of this process included negotiating the ethical terrain to gain approval, and the difficulties encountered when completing the data collection process. However, the rewarding data set gained by persisting through these challenges captured staff and student perspectives, and generated multiple, in-depth accounts of how the school facilitates students’ development of a sense of belonging. PEIs offer an avenue in which the vulnerable voice is given genuine priority and authority, which may normally be out of reach to them. Thus, photo-elicitation has much to offer educational research, and the barriers to its use are not insurmountable. By illuminating this process and how challenges can be navigated, we can show the strength of PEIs in gaining depth of understanding of the experiences of those involved in schools for the purpose of school improvement.