"Learning Through Pictures: The Integration of Reflexive Photography in Social Justice Education" in International Research in Education 8 (2), 57-76.
This article explores the use of reflexive photography as an experiential teaching method in teaching social justice education in an undergraduate social work program. Using critical auto-ethnography as a method, it discusses how this was built into a second-year Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) course by way of planning and application. Drawing on Freire’s concept of reflexive practice and based on the experiences of a social work educator teaching this course, the paper describes how (a) the course was designed and executed to realize student knowledge, (b) reaffirm the importance of reflexive practice for knowledge building and (c) for social transformation. On the basis of reflection from its application and student experiences, the author discusses the potential effect that integrating arts-informed teaching methods have on social justice oriented approaches to social work practice, the development of students’ practice and professional identity.
Lorne Foster is a York University Research Chair in Black Canadian Studies and Human Rights and Professor in the School of Public Policy & Administration. His teaching and research interests include anti-Black racism in law enforcement; discrimination in public and social policy, policy reform, human rights, and social justice.
Other publications from this author include:
- "Multilingual Research: Reflections on Translating Qualitative Data" in The British Journal of Social Work (2020)
- "Discourses of Migration and Belonging: How Language Shapes the Return-Thinking Processes of Ethiopians in Canada" in Clinical Social Work Journal (2019)
- Racial Profiling and Human Rights in Canada: The New Legal Landscape (2018)
- Workplace Diversity and Human Rights Primer: Building Inclusive Organizational Practice and Culture (2018)
- Labour and Human Rights in China and Canada. APDR Working Papers Series, Vol. 4: Trade and the Right to Labour (2017)
- Writing Justice: Voicing Issues in the Third Media, Multicultural History Society (2011)