What About Students’ Experiences: (Re)imagining Success Through Photovoice At a High-Achieving Urban “No-Excuses” Charter School

Authors

L. Trenton S. Marsh, University of MichiganFollow

Abstract

The article highlights the use of photovoice, a method that gives power to creators of images to capture experiences that are central to their life. Students verbal considerations of success in the context of the “no-excuses” school is included, as is a sample of students’ visual data about what success is outside of the “no-excuses” context. The study reveals the “no-excuses” orientation fosters an oppressive definition of success in the context of classrooms. However, the photovoice component reveals students are able to resist the limited view as four emergent findings reveal how students make meaning of success: (1) human connection; (2) educative experiences; (3) original composition; and (4) survival methods. Lastly, implications about what educators and school communities may learn, if students were seen as active co-constructors in the design and implementation of their own education.

Recommended Citation

Marsh, L. Trenton S.. "What About Students’ Experiences: (Re)imagining Success Through Photovoice At a High-Achieving Urban “No-Excuses” Charter School." Intersections: Critical Issues in Education 2, 2 (2018). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/intersections/vol2/iss2/5