Under the Mango Tree: Photovoice With Primary School Children in Rural Sierra Leone

Abstract

In recent decades, photovoice has become a popular method in research that involves children as active research participants. This paper focuses on the procedures and methods of gathering and interpretation of data from a photovoice project with children in rural Sierra Leone. Photovoice in this project was an integral part of a more wide ranging multi-modal study on gender, well-being and schooling of primary school children. The inclusion of photovoice as an additional method of data collection added another lens through which we could understand children’s everyday experiences and encourage their active involvement in the research process. The paper discusses the steps of analysis, showing the benefits of the combination of visual and textual methods and presents reflections on the work with relatively young primary school children with no prior experience with photography.

Picturing safety and danger: Children's perspectives in rural Sierra Leone

“…The original plan was to conduct photovoice in all four case study communities however because of the COVID‐19 pandemic the fieldwork was interrupted and photovoice activity took place only in three communities out of four. At the time of this photovoice activity case study children attended class 2 and most of them were 7/8 years old, however, some were as old as 12 years (Samonova et al, 2022). In total, 30 children took part in the activity (see Table 2).…”

“…Moreover, relations that we built with children over the extended periods of fieldwork helped us to develop atmosphere of trust during the group discussions and supported children's willingness to share their thoughts with us. All conversations were audio recorded and later transcribed and coded using a qualitative software (Samonova et al, 2022).…”

Teaching children's literature to school children through digital educational resources

“…It is seen that different solutions are produced in accordance with the conditions at each step with a different dimension and developing with technology. Every segment of education in the field of academics, teachers, students and parents has tried to adapt to the 'education system of the changing world' that they have not experienced before (Samonova et al, 2022). It is known that the lessons that combine and develop with technology contribute to the expression of literature and also benefit the students in learning some terms, and it is known that one of these situations is digital and theoretical content (Simpson & Goodyear, 2022).…”