Facilitating leadership exploration in MSW students through community-based participatory photovoice project

ABSTRACT

While a wealth of conceptual literature attempts to describe the relationship between leadership and social work, there is a dearth of empirical research on teaching leadership skills to emerging social workers. This qualitative study focuses on the impact of using a community-based participatory project—photovoice—as a method to teach specialized community practice in graduate social work education. The study participants consist of masters of social work students at a Hispanic Serving Institution based in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The data sources of the study are reflection papers that students wrote after completing a photovoice project as part of the course requirement. We sought to understand what students learned from implementing and evaluating a photovoice project. Through inductive thematic analysis, findings show that students gained experiences with professional leadership and management skills. The team constructed two themes that capture the essence of what students learned: (i) navigating leadership qualities and (ii) deconstructing preconceptions of leadership.

KEYWORDS:

• Leadership development
• participatory action research
• photovoice
• social work education
• thematic analysis
• social work leadership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Caitlin Caswell

Caitlin Caswell (she/her), LMSW, is a Doctor of Social Work candidate at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana and a program evaluator at a youth development and empowerment organization in Memphis, Tennessee. Her research focuses on youth-engaged social change using participatory, qualitative, and arts-based methods.

Inci Yilmazli Trout

Inci Yilmazli Trout is a PhD candidate at the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, and an adjunct faculty member at Erzurum Technical University in Turkey. Her research focuses on student experiences in higher education using qualitative and arts-based methodologies.

M. Candace Christensen

M. Candace Christensen (they/them), PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, Michigan and uses community-engaged, qualitative, and arts-based research methodologies to study the root causes of gendered, racial, and anti-LGBTQ+ violence.

Shaniek Tose

Shaniek Tose, LCSW-A, is a graduate of the United States Army-University of Kentucky Master of Social Work program. She is a Behavioral Health Officer stationed in South Korea and has used photovoice in her work with clients and military communities.