Photovoice as an instructional tool—creatively learning social justice theory

Abstract

This article aims to provide a record of how the use of the method of photovoice facilitated an enriched teaching and learning experience for graduate students in a Theories of Social Justice in Health class. The course required students from multiple disciplines to learn about social justice theories and then apply them to a health issue/concern. For their final project, students chose a topic of interest and choose to complete a traditional paper or a photovoice project using one (or more) of the social justice theories examined in the course. Our manuscript describes four students’ and the professor’s experiences to document the positive impact the photovoice project had on their learning of social justice theory. Through this process, the students found the qualitative research method of photovoice to be a successful pedagogical tool for engagement and provided an experiential learning opportunity for co-creating and sharing knowledge.