Files and links (1)
Through the disability lens challenging disablement using photovoice as a social work pedagogy607.88 kB
Published Version (Advanced Access)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Through the disability lens: challenging disablement using photovoice as a social work pedagogy
Journal of Social Work Education, Vol.Advanced access
28-Jan-2026
Abstract
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 SocietyZalia 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; 1043-7797
- 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
Metrics
1 Record Views