A delegate’s perspective: review of the Second International Visual Research Methods Conference 13-15 September 2011

The Second International Visual Research Methods Conference was interdisciplinary, innovative, questioning and poignant; therefore when approached by Visual Methodologies to provide a review, I was pleased to accept the invitation. Firstly, it provided an opportunity to revisit the experience of the conference; and its ideas, techniques and concepts. Secondly, being part of the inaugural publication of this post-disciplinary visual journal resonated well with the collaborative ethos of the conference; and I expect to see many conference papers as forthcoming contributions to Visual Methodologies. Unfortunately, I could not report on all of the sessions, exhibitions and films; at best the review is selective and subjective. However, my review should offer an insight into the valuable methodological, ethical and theoretical contributions generated by the event

Participatory visual and digital research in action, by Aline Gubrium et al [Book Review]

This first page of this edited collection states that we have moved to ‘a new participatory turn’ (p. 15) and I think to myself, that’s interesting as it’s not really ‘new’ anymore; I thought we had moved beyond attractiveness of the visual to a post-popular juncture where researchers and practitioners are discussing the limitations of participatory visual methods (Packard, 2008). However, despite this, perhaps out-of-place, initial claim, the book itself is highly reflexive and does not present an easy marriage between the digital, the visual and the participatory, but instead seriously considers how the ‘imagined ideal of participation and the actual practice on the ground often manifest quite differently from one another’ (p. 21). The book presents a series of chapters that recognise the tensions between giving voice and the ethical concerns that mean voices are kept hidden;the values of creative forms to reach new audiences and break down barriers; and the importance of building a shared vocabulary so that researchers who apply multimodal participatory techniques can work together to refine and improve their craft

Visual Methods in Social Research

It was a pleasure to take up the invitation to review this second edition of Visual Methods in Social Research, as I had gained so much from reading the first edition and looked forward to returning to the updated volume. In the original book, Marcus Banks (2001, p. 7) argued that ‘our initial understandings or readings of images are always pre-scripted’ and he suggested that we ask particular questions about found images, ‘what the image is of, what is its context?, who took it or made it, when and why?, how do other people come to have it, how do they read it, what do they do with it?’. Drawing on Hindu philosophy, Banks encouraged readers to locate this more productive seeing in relation to ‘darshan’; the ability to see and understand multiple points of view and schools of thoughts; and I have carried this philosophy in my own work with visual and creative methodologies (Mannay 2016)

Accessing the academy: developing strategies to engage and retain marginalised young people on successful educational pathways

For young, non-traditional students, higher education pathways are often characterised by initial aspirations and later disappointments when classed, gendered and relational positionings conflict with students’ identities and contribute to their withdrawal from academia. This paper discusses an innovative ‘group encounter’ that engendered an opportunity for young marginalised students to gain access to a successful learner identity creating inclusive spaces in place of divided communities. The central argument of the paper is that if we intend not only to widen access at points of entry but rather engender a space where academic journeys can be successfully completed and projects of social mobility achieved, there is a need to create inclusive spaces for young people in place of divided communities

What students want? Exploring the role of the institution in supporting successful learning journeys in online distance education

There have been numerous initiatives to increase access to higher education for those residing in marginalised locales in Wales. However, entrance in itself does not guarantee success and it is important for educators and policy makers to explore issues of retention. Classed and relational positionings often conflict with non-traditional students' education trajectories and sometimes contribute to their withdrawal from academia. In response to this challenge the current paper focuses on the accounts of non-traditional students in Communities First[1] areas who took an undergraduate social science module with The Open University in Wales. Importantly, rather than reading these barriers to progression as students' individual difficulties, the paper considers how educational cultures can create and perpetuate disadvantage. Exploring students' accounts of pedagogy and administration, the paper focuses on online provision in distance learning and offers a range of strategies that could potentially improve the delivery of an Open University module and students' experiences in future presentations