Rooted in social justice, community involvement, and the empowerment of marginalized people, Participatory Action Research (PAR) stresses participation and action—components that speak to its democratic approach and emphasis on effecting social change. PAR empowers participants to pursue inquiry collaboratively to combat the challenges facing their communities. As a result, individuals in the community would not be study “subjects” but rather active contributors to the research and formulations of actions to be taken. Additionally, rather than just collecting data that could be disassociated from the community in which it was gathered, participatory action research would aim to identify social issues and enact change in that community (Mills blog, 2021).
Photovoice is an evidence-based practice of participatory action research (PAR) that engages students and community members in research with the ultimate goal of advocating for social change. Photovoice involves the identification of a social problem identified by students, training, taking photos relevant to the social issue of focus, and developing narratives to accompany photos in community presentations.
