#IDEAcon 2020

In this presentation, learn about Photovoice, a pedagogy rooted in social justice that allows students to share their stories through photography. Hear how groups of middle school students used photography and video to share their stories of struggle and perseverance through issues of race, gender, identity, community, mental illness and power. Learn how you can use photography, video, and Adobe Spark in your school to empower students, create empathy and community, foster creative expression, and amplify student voice. First I will share the stories of my most recent group of students that participated in the photovoice program I taught with an artist in residence, college student mentor, and community organization this past year. I will discuss the classroom practices that we used in this program, sharing students’ digital photo journals and dialogue that arose as we journeyed through the program. Then I will show students’ final pieces and captions, describing how students’ photography practices and ways of thinking expanded through class critiques, peer discussion, creative play with photography and editing, exposure to photographers in our community, and the photo journaling and caption writing process. Finally, I will cover implications for the classroom and community, detailing different ways this program could be incorporated into various content areas and programs. I will also detail the equipment and software we used, and discuss the learning experience I had as a teacher facilitating this process.