Episode: 11-Photovoice and Participatory Action Research with Dr. Meagan Call-Cummings

Do you think dialogue is crucial to research and a step towards social change? If yes, tune-in to this episode where Adam and Joe get into a deep dialogue with Dr. Meagan Call-Cummings (PhD, Indiana University), an Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. She specializes in critical, participatory, and feminist methodologies. She is also a mother of four, one of whom makes a special cameo during our podcast. She discusses her research and a current PAR project with high school students.

Meagan has done a lot of interesting work in her career and shared three of her great articles with us (Cited below), which adds to our discussion about “Who is Action Research?”.

Adam and Joe dive into the article by asking- “what is photovoice and how do the epistemological stances of photovoice and participatory action research align?”. (1:26)

Adam then goes deeper into the conversation to clarify his understanding of the challenges of traditional power structures mentioned in Meagan’s article, and uncritical research that “runs the risk of unintended consequences that may reproduce traditional taken for granted power structures meant to be challenged and disrupted by participatory approaches like photovoice.” (6:57)

Later in the episode, Adam, Joe, and Meagan discuss the tensions within Action Research between measurable, tangible outcomes or impacts, the intangible role of collaborative ethical process, and the role of scholarship, dialogue, and other ideas of change within P/AR. Adam stresses that “doing the things that we say that we want to do” is essential for true PAR. (14:34)

*Special thanks to Tabby for her guest appearance.

Here are the references:

Call-Cummings, M. (2017). Establishing Communicative Validity: Discovering Theory Through Practice. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(3), 192–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800416657101

Call-Cummings, M., & Hauber-Özer, M. (2020). Participatory Action Research as/in Adult Education: Offering Three Methods Anchored in Vivencia, Praxis, and Conscientization. International Journal of Adult Education and Technology, 11(4), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJAET.2020100103

Call-Cummings, M., Hauber-Özer, M., Byers, C., & Mancuso, G. P. (2019). The power of/in Photovoice. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 42(4), 399–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2018.1492536