The Role of the Researcher in Challenging Educational Injustice: Using Photovoice with Young Adults with Disabilities in Rural Ethiopia

This chapter reflects on a long tradition of educational researchers who use the pedagogical potential of photography to challenge representational injustice (Fraser, 1997). It also responds to the question of the role of the researcher in photovoice projects and, in particular, to those many cases where the researchers themselves are not personally subject to the injustice that they are seeking to address. Apple et al’s (2010) seven tasks for scholars and activists engaged in critical research aiming towards social justice are applied to the principles and practice of photovoice in educational research. The chapter demonstrates the value of this list of tasks for describing the work of the researcher committed to representational justice, by examining the case of a participatory research process with young adults with disabilities in rural Ethiopia who were attending school for the first time. In this process, fundamental issues about representation, participation and power are addressed, and the specific pedagogical contribution of the photovoice process is considered. Findings focus on the narration of representational injustice and the skills and experience gained by the participants in the process. This approach has potential to strengthen the quality of photovoice research, and could conceivably applied to a wider range of visual pedagogies.