Student researchers in the middle : using visual images to make sense of inclusive education

Using ‘visual narrative’ theoretically and practically, this paper explores issues of inclusive education, during a period of curriculum reform and renewal in Australia. In Australia, the middle years of schooling, Years 5 to 9, are well researched and known as a period when students disengage with learning and participation in schooling. Research in the middle years affirms the importance of engaging with ‘student voice’. In this special edition, we are aiming to highlight how the use of visual imagery can be a rich source of understanding, illustrating students’ self-knowledge of schooling. Methodologically we refer to our research approach as ‘visual narrative’. Other writers in this edition use the term ‘photo voice’. For researchers it is important to highlight the differing orientations that ‘visual narrative’ and ‘photo voice’ signify. The terms are not mutually exclusive but highlight differing research possibilities and emphasis. Our argument, through the use of visual narrative produced by middle years’ students, is that visual texts open out some innovative possibilities for understanding inclusive education and supporting new relationships with our research community. Such approaches are not new; however, in a field such as special education that purports to support marginalised groups, liberatory research methods are under-represented. This paper aims to open out these discussions and provide a way forwards for teachers and researchers interested in breaking apart why it is that inclusive education remains a never-ending struggle.