The right to inclusive education is enshrined in article 24 of the UN Convention of the rights of persons with disabilities (UN, 2006) such rights are also acknowledged in key educational policies operationalised at local, national and European level. Reference to the common principles of inclusion, social justice, equitable education systems and the responsiveness of schools towards diversity are often made, but research published in a variety of different countries questions the extent to which this is happening (see, for example, Armstrong et al, 2011; Gyimah et al 2009). 

To explore this further a three year research project was set up to bring forward the varying perspectives of children, young people and educational professionals such as teachers regarding concepts of inclusion and exclusion. The options for adopting practitioner research, interviews or focus groups were discussed, but all four members of the research team have an interest in multimodal methodologies (Kress, 2011a, 2011b; Kress and van Leeuwen, 2001; Pink 2011) and particularly in visual methodologies such as photo elicitation (Allen; 2011; Boxall and Ralph, 2009; Prosser and Loxley, 2007). Visual methodologies are located within a constructivist and interpretivist paradigm, they can utilise visual representations of what individuals think and feel about a topic, issue or experience. These methodologies can also provide a way to elicit individuals’ views and provides a route for accessing different types of data, such as the emotional responses of individuals to situations and experience that “evoke a different kind of information” and “connect an individual to experiences and eras even if the images do not reflect the research subject’s actual lives” (Harper, 2002:13). 

Sensoy (2011) points out that photographs and photo essays are frequently used in research in which people want to tell a story with pictures as it is a way to access life experiences. This approach can be particularly beneficial for those for whom linguistic communication is more complicated because of their age, a physical disability or language difficulties. This is relevant for the project since we are asking children and young people, many with special educational needs to contribute their views and experiences. So in designing the process of the data collection we engage with the work of Woolner et al (2010:8) who suggests that inviting children to take and/or annotate photographs can be emancipatory and collaborative since “stakeholders are offered the opportunity to voice their opinions and their various perspectives explored”. 

To access the voices of children and young people and enable the adults who work with them to ‘hear’ their experiences the photo elicitation project invited pupils studying in primary, secondary, further education and special schools in England to take photographs during their everyday school activities that represented for them inclusion or exclusion. These photographs were ‘cartoonised’ to anonymise them and then shared with other children and young people, teachers, other school professionals and academics in North West England and their views and opinions solicited. We wish to offer this workshop at ECER in order to engage a broader range of individuals and explore the similarities and differences of Europe wide perspectives on inclusion and exclusion, facilitated by the sharing of visual materials.

Louisa Allen (2011) ‘Picture this: using photo-methods in reach on sexuality and schooling’ in Qualitative Research Journal, 11 (5) 487-504. Armstrong, D., Armstrong, A.C. and Spandagou, I. (2011) Inclusion: By choice or by chance? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2011 15 (1): 29-39. Barthes R. (1986) The Responsibility of Forms, Oxford, Blackwell. Boxall, K. and Ralph, S. (2009) Research ethics and the use of visual images in research with people with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 34 (1): 45-54. Barthes, R (1980) Camera Lucida: Reflections on photography. trans. Richard Howard (New York: Hill and Wang, 1981 Gyimah, E., Sugden, D. and Pearson, S. (2009). Inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools in Ghana: influence of teachers’ and childrens’ charactersitics. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2009, 13 (8): 787-804. Harper, D. (2002) ‘Talking about pictures: a case for photo-elicitation’ in Visual Studies, 17 (1): 13-26. Kress, G. (2011a). Discourse analysis and Education: A multimodal social semiotic approach, accessed, 07.06.12., available at http://www.linguita.com/a4content/ebooks/discourse/cda.pdf#page=234, Kress, G. (2011b). Partnerships in research: multimodality and ethnography. Qualitative Research, 11(3):239-260. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. London, Arnold. Pink, S. (2011). Multimodal. Multisensory and ethnographic knowing: social semiotics and the phenomenology of perception. Qualitative Research, 11 (3): 261-276. Prosser, J. (2007) Visual methods and the visual culture of schools. Visual Studies, 22 (1): 13-30. Sensoy, O. (2011) ‘Picturing oppression: seventh graders’ photo essays on racism, classism, and sexism’ in International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 24 (3): 323-342 United Nations (2006) Convention on the rights of humans with disabilities, available at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml, accessed 23.01.15. Woolner, P, Clark, J., Hall, E., Tiplady, L., Thomas, U. and Wall, K. (2010) Pictures are necessary but not sufficient: Using a range of visual methods to engage users about school design. Learning Environments Research, 13 (1) 1-22 (online version).