Blog
In 2026, Photovoice Worldwide had the opportunity to continue our partnership with NSVRC by offering photovoice training to participants in Virginia and North Carolina. Building on feedback from trainings offered in Kentucky and South Carolina last year, we designed a hybrid virtual/in-person series.
In part 2 of this “Back to School” series we explore how photovoice can be a powerful tool to use in the classroom with older students as well. Since photovoice is a highly adaptable method, teachers can feel free to pull pieces of it into their teaching, or it could be used in combination with other classroom assignments.
After all the summer fun, it’s time for students (big and little) to head back to school and for everyone to return to a regular routine. With new classrooms and classmates, back-to-school “season” can be a time for students to look closely at the world around them and set intentions for the year. This presents an ideal opportunity to bring some of the best photovoice elements into many different subjects or a viable option for classroom assignments.
Photos and captions generated by photovoice projects can bridge research and community action by centering those most affected by an issue as co-creators of knowledge, empowering them to inform policies and programming, and advocate for change. The process includes 4 steps: answering questions with a camera; communicating in a group; observing commonalities; and communicating to power.
Photovoice was developed in the early 1990s by Dr. Caroline Wang and Dr. Mary Ann Burris. Their first project took place in rural Yunnan Province, China. In that project, 62 village women volunteered to document their daily lives through photographs. Their images highlighted issues such as women's health, access to childcare, girls' education, sanitation, and economic opportunities.
Photovoice is more than a creative method; it is a powerful way to generate mutual learning, strengthen communities, and inform real-world decisions. By inviting individuals to become participants/co-researchers and document their lived experiences through photography and dialogue, photovoice shifts research from studying people to learning with people.