Blog Post by Pen Williams
Reflecting on the time I spent in Sparks Bristol with the exhibition of photographs by the participant-photographers who worked with me on my doctoral project, the phrase “It’s not my exhibition” is probably the one I uttered the most.
The project picked up on preliminary interviews that I had conducted with post-16 leaders in the Bristol area on the challenges of delivering citizenship education to post-16 students. While there is no statutory guidance for delivering citizenship at key stage 5 in England, the Department for Education (DfE) does place importance on citizenship, and it is acknowledged as a key ‘life skill’ for post-16 learners (Craig et al 2004). Despite this, post-16 leaders generally felt that time and logistics, subject knowledge, and practitioner confidence were key challenges to delivering citizenship and expressed sadness and regret over the lack of time spent on global and environmental topics. Overall, there was a tension between a will to ‘do more’ and a lack of resources and opportunities (of all kinds) to do so.
The subsequent intervention was therefore designed to engage small groups of post-16 students in a creative workshop-style exploration of citizenship. Participants were asked to represent themselves (Strack et al 2004) as citizens and communicate the matters they identified as important through the creative process of photovoice, enabling a response which represents them without restricting them to a text, thus promoting engagement (Grant et al 2009).
Photovoice is a method of gathering data which involves participants documenting and representing their experiences through the generation of photographic images and the stories attached to them. As a research method it is particularly accessible to young people due to the use of digital images and technology for sharing and commenting on these images. It has proved very effective in engaging young people, especially from (but not limited to) urban contexts (Delgado 2015). It has also been shown to promote community and civic engagement. The project ran with 6 groups across 4 education settings in the local area, involving more than 50 post-16 students. The photos were taken, titled, captioned and shared with the group in order to begin to identify themes.
The focus on voice and engagement which is central to photovoice as a participatory research method culminates with a public sharing of the photographs and the accompanying text in an exhibition – giving voice to the participants and facilitating consideration of issues of their civic and community engagement (Powers et al 2012) as global citizens.
Having worried about the logistics – financial, practical and aesthetic – of the exhibition from well before there was anything to exhibit, this final stage felt somewhat ambitious and a lot like a leap of faith. I felt strongly that the participants in the project should have the opportunity to contribute to a public exhibition, but I could not see how this would be possible given a lack of funding – at least to a standard befitting the time and personal investment the participants would be committing. Enter the TLC collaboration grant which enabled me to rent the space, pay for printing and display materials and provide refreshments at the event launch on July 10th.
It is hoped that in developing this small intervention where participants can step back, reflect, and take time to consider themselves as citizens and what this means for their local, national, and global priorities they can engage with issues outside of their geographical and generational experience. The exhibiting of their photographs provided a forum to give them voice and spark wider recognition of young people’s concerns and priorities.
To see all the images exhibited at Sparks, visit the online gallery https://citizenshipgallery.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/the-bigger-picture-and-the-everyday-online-gallery/
References
CRAIG.D.K.R., WADE. P. AND TAYLOR.G. (2004) Taking Post-16 Citizenship Forward: Learning from the Post-16 Citizenship Development Projects. NFER
DELGADO, M. (2015) Urban Youth and Photovoice: Visual Ethnography in Action. Oxford University Press, Incorporated
DfE (2023) 16 to 19 study programmes guidance: 2023 to 2024 academic year. Available at: www.gov.uk
GANT, L.M., SHIMSHOCK, K., ALLEN-MEARES, P., SMITH, L., MILLER, P., HOLLINGSWORTH, L.A. & SHANKS, T. (2009) Effects of Photovoice: Civic Engagement Among Older Youth in Urban Communities, Journal of Community Practice, 17(4), 358-376, DOI: 10.1080/10705420903300074
POWERS, M. C., FREEDMAN, D. A., & PITNER, R. (2012) Final snapshot to civic action: A photovoice facilitator’s manual. University of South Carolina School of Social Work
STRACK RW, MAGILL C, MCDONAGH K. (2004) Engaging Youth through Photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 5(1), 49-58