ABSTRACT
This chapter examines key elements of working with visual methodologies and practices. It addresses educational research in South Africa when questions regarding the social responsibilities of the academic researcher are prominent. Visual methodologies must not be reduced to one practice or one set of tools, and this set of methodologies and practices must be appreciated in all its complexity. The chapter explores various approaches, including, drawings, photo-voice, photo-elicitation, researcher as photographer, working with family photos, cinematic texts, video production, material culture, and advertising campaigns as visual methodologies. The chapter comments on the interpretive process, the types of issues that might be addressed, limitations to visual research, and ways in which the visual can serve recursively as a mode of inquiry, as a mode of representation, and as a mode of dissemination. Visual studies have a great deal to offer educational research.
