Using Photovoice as Methodology,Pedagogy and Assessment Tool in Education: Graduate Students’ Experiences and Reflections

Abstract

Participatory visual methods are increasingly used in various disciplines. This article focuses on using photovoice as a methodology, pedagogy and participatory assessment tool in education through Chinese graduate students’ experiences with a photovoice project. The study investigated the efficacy of photovoice as a pedagogical and assessment tool, and the utility of photovoice as a participatory visual research method to examine impacts of globalization on China. A group of sixty Chinese students who studied an Australian transnational Master of Education program participated in this photovoice project. Analysis of the participants’ photographs, narratives, and reflections provided evidence that photovoice can be employed as an effective pedagogical and assessment tool. The findings showed that photovoice related learning was emancipatory and transformative. Photovoice offered opportunities for the participants to deepen understanding and enhance critical consciousness. The study suggests that photovoice as a participatory research methodology has educational and cultural appropriateness for Chinese students.