There has been an increasing recognition that new methods are required to successfully involved children in research (Bird et al., 2013). This has led to the exploration of using visual methods in researching with young people (Carrington et al., 2007). In this workshop a range of methods and uses will be explored. Participants will be given the opportunity to experience these methods.

Photovoice (Wang and Burris, 1997) has been adapted to elicit young people’s experience of education and how their view can be different from the adults around them (Capewell and Ralph, 2015). Although traditionally used in communities to understand community health issues it has been adapted to encourage young people to express their experience and identify barriers and enablers when living with a chronic conductive hearing loss. The activity of creating images and writing captions then discussing them with a researcher enables young people to be in control of what is discussed and for them to lead the researcher in understanding what is important to them.

Diamond-ranking (Woolner et al. 2012, 2014; Clark et al., 2013) is a recognised thinking skills tool designed to facilitate talk and encourage people to consider their values on a topic. Participants ranking photographs according to a chosen criterion enables investigation of both current experience and of desires and preferences. Diamond 9 has been developed to engage young people in the research process. The method involves a subset of nine photographs. Diamond ranking is valuable for extracting constructs and facilitating talk. When ranking items – for example, statements, objects or images – the participants are required to make obvious the overarching relationships by which they organize knowledge. In the classroom context, diamond ranking has been used as a tool to elicit pupils’ beliefs because it is considered to be motivating for pupils; it also increases the response rate and the authenticity of their answers (Baumfield et al., 2013; Hopkins, 2008).

US social anthropologist Margaret Mead (1951) was the first scholar to describe the importance of the visual image of teachers. Since the 1950s, a body of research has been published in Europe and the United States, which analyses the historic and modern perspectives of the appearance of the pedagogue. Research, dominated primarily by British and American studies, has been supplemented by a 2012 study of ten nations (Bulgaria, Greece, Mexico, Pakistan, Serbia, Slovenia, England, South Africa, Turkey, and Latvia), in which the drawings and descriptions of the “typical teacher” by 1053 15-year-old pupils were analyzed (Kestere, Wolhuter, Lozano, 2012). Kestere developed the methodology for identifying and comparing the main visual components of the image of the teacher:  body (gender, age, skin colour, height, weight, hair, health, and adornment), attire (clothing, jewelry, accessories, and shoes) and non-verbal communication (body language, including gestures and facial expression, position in the classroom). Together with students, Kestere researches visual images of teachers using many types of sources: e.g., photographs, textbooks, fiction books, manuals, movies, press, cartoons, drawings, homepages and toys.

Ribeiro de Castro uses photos and photo analysis in both research in History of Education classes and as a professor in teachers’ training and psychologists’ education, especially when developing disciplines of Research Methodologies. The aim is mainly to use photos as sources of data for research but also as sources to understand family social conditions, school environments and pedagogic models. In Psychology courses she stresses the importance of using photos and private albums to understand familial dynamics and interpersonal relationships, mostly for clinical use. The use of photographs is really very useful as a way of seeing what is often not seen or what is really absent.

The aims of this workshop are to enable participants to understand the range of visual methods which have been used with young people in educational research. There are strong theoretical underpinnings for the use of the images which will be discussed in the workshop. The researchers all have a belief that young people are capable of expressing themselves and analysing their experiences and learning, when provided with the appropriate opportunities. By drawing on research from across Europe (Finland, Latvia, Portugal and UK) this workshop demonstrates the applicability of visual methods in a range of cultures and using different languages. This is an opportunity to talk to researchers active in the field of combing visual methods with researching with children. Through participation in a range of activities, participants will be able to identify the benefits of using visual methods in a range of contexts. There will be the opportunity to discuss the potential pitfalls and how these can be minimised.

The use of specific examples will provide participants with direct experience of the methods that have been used and described. A photovoice activity in which participants individually create images and provide captions which summarise their experience of schools and then discuss the meanings with others provides insight into how the methodology works. The Diamond-ranking activity provides participants with how the methodology works. They will be asked to rank photographs according to a chosen criterion to enable investigation of both current experience and of desires and preferences. There will be opportunity for participants to complete a collaborative diamond ranking task. The participants, working in pairs or threes, cut out pictures and stick them onto a piece of paper in a diamond shape, ranking them by position so that the preferred picture is at the top and the most disliked is at the bottom. The participants also annotate the diamond with comments and explanations. This makes their understanding available for analysis and comparison. In workshop, participants will be asked to draw a typical teacher and their drawings will be compared with images of “typical teachers” in sources created in various countries of the world.

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