Facilitating leadership exploration in MSW students through community-based participatory photovoice project

Abstract

ABSTRACT While a wealth of conceptual literature attempts to describe the relationship between leadership and social work, there is a dearth of empirical research on teaching leadership skills to emerging social workers. This qualitative study focuses on the impact of using a community-based participatory project—photovoice—as a method to teach specialized community practice in graduate social work education. The study participants consist of masters of social work students at a Hispanic Serving Institution based in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The data sources of the study are reflection papers that students wrote after completing a photovoice project as part of the course requirement. We sought to understand what students learned from implementing and evaluating a photovoice project. Through inductive thematic analysis, findings show that students gained experiences with professional leadership and management skills. The team constructed two themes that capture the essence of what students learned: (i) navigating leadership qualities and (ii) deconstructing preconceptions of leadership.