What Leadership Looks Like: Using Photography to See the School Leaders that City Youth Desire

Abstract

In the city setting in which this article's investigation took place, high school dropout rates have remained above 50% for better than three decades. This article reports on a photographic inquiry into urban youth's perceptions of the very institution of school, revealing reasons behind the multigenerational school disengagement represented by these graduation rate statistics. Relying on visually based mechanisms with which city students are already proficient, the findings suggest that these tools can provide previously inaccessible data on school detachment as well as deepen our perspectives on what these youth believe about school leaders and leadership.

A different lens: Changing perspectives using Photo-Elicitation Interviews

“…Using photos in the interview process also promotes deeper reflection on the part of the participants (Clark, 1999;Zenkov, Harmon, Bell, Ewaida & Lynch, 2011). Interviews are often conducted weeks or months after photos are taken.…”

“…As a research tool, PEI is an especially powerful method for understanding school context through the eyes of students (Lutrell, 2010;Meo, 2010;Zenkov et al, 2011). In school research, children are the clients around which most policy decisions are made; however, researchers frequently leave children out of any discussion of the ways in which policies impact them or might best serve them.…”

A Review of Research Connecting Digital Storytelling, Photovoice, and Civic Engagement

“…When elders expect youth to become politically engaged, youth may very well begin to take on the role of political actors in their communities (Ginwright, 2010). At times, these encounters with the politically engaged can be discouraging but they may also contribute to building trust (Zenkov, Harmon, Bell, Ewaida, & Lynch, 2011) and widening youths' circle of support.…”

Untitled

“…According to Hogan and Kaiser (2005), youth "leadership is one of the most important topics in the human sciences and historically one of the more poorly understood" (p. 169). Research has been conducted quantitatively (Antonakis, Avolio, & Sivasubramaniam, 2003;Chan & Drasgow, 2001;Guerin et al, 2011;Oakland, Falkenberg, & Oakland, 1996;Ogurlu & Emir, 2013;Schneider, Ehrhart, & Ehrhart, 1999;Zacharatos, Barling, & Kelloway, 2002) and qualitatively (Close & Lechman, 1997;Ferguson, Kim, & McCoy, 2011;Haber, 2011;Hammond-Diedrich & Walsh, 2006;Hastings, Barrett, Barbuto, & Bell, 2011;Komives, Mainella, Longerbeam, Osteen, & Owen, 2006;Mortensen et al, 2014;Mullen & Tuten, 2004;Roach et al, 1999;Webster & Worrell, 2008;Zenkov, Harmon, Bell, Ewaida, & Lynch., 2011). These diverse explorations on youth leadership and its development revealed that adolescent leaders are motivated, socially and culturally competent, self-directed, responsible, compassionate, and community-oriented.…”