Doing visual research with school learners in South Africa

Abstract

This paper, based on a visual study of six urban schools in South Africa, primarily concerns relations between the researcher and those being researched. It opens with an argument for learner participation in research, then describes the study and justifies the methods used. Some methodological aspects are considered, for having primary and secondary school learners in a culturally and linguistically complex context take photographs of their school environment. These are accompanied by a discussion of how they were addressed in the study, sometimes with only partial success.