Through the disability lens: challenging disablement using photovoice as a social work pedagogy

Melissa D'Or; Zalia Powell

doi:10.1080/02615479.2026.2621678

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Through the disability lens: challenging disablement using photovoice as a social work pedagogy

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Through the disability lens: challenging disablement using photovoice as a social work pedagogy

Melissa D'Or and Zalia Powell

Journal of Social Work Education, Vol.Advanced access

28-Jan-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2026.2621678

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Abstract

Social work

photovoice

social work pedagogy

disability studies

disablement

ableism

Photovoice as a qualitative research methodology can be used to examine pertinent and sensitive issues using images captured by participants. Photovoice has been utilized in a range of disciplines as a creative and engaging teaching method. This article presents an example of a photovoice assessment task used in social work education as a pedagogical tool to examine disablement and ableism. In this assessment, students took photographs to symbolize an issue in their community where barriers for participation by a person with disability were identified. Engagement in this task promoted critical reflection, aiming to develop the student’s self-awareness of biases, assumptions and stereotyping that create societal barriers for people with disability. The task was found to enhance students’ understanding of the issues that underpin disablement and ableism. Since the introduction of the assessment in 2023, variations have been adopted to improve the student experience including the provision of an hour-long preparatory workshop. Ethical approval will be sought to develop a pre and post assessment task survey to evaluate student learning engagement and effectiveness of the task for demonstration of social work student competencies.

Details

Title: Through the disability lens: challenging disablement using photovoice as a social work pedagogy
Authors: Melissa D'Or (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Zalia Powell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Publication details: Journal of Social Work Education, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2026.2621678
ISSN: 2163-5811
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Organisation Unit: School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991202850502621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Education & Educational Research; Social Work