oa Photovoice in onderwijs

Photovoice as a data collection method for quality control in secondary schools: “You could also take the elevator, but you wouldn’t be challenging yourself”

Schools are expected to invest in a systematic and structural improvement of their educational practices. Recently, schools are being given more autonomy in this process of quality control and hence are looking for ways to fulfill this task in data-informed ways. Digital environments such as Smartschool Analytics and Dataloop provide schools with mainly quantitative data. The research project described in this article – the practical research project Eerste graad vernieuwen (“Innovation of junior high schools”) explores the use of qualitative data collection methods within school quality-control systems. To this end, the project focuses on the innovation process in secondary education following the implementation of new curriculum attainment standards in 2019. This gradual process of educational innovation intends to lead to a socially more relevant system of education with more attention to each student’s individual needs. Hence junior high schools (for pupils age 12 to 14) started implementing innovative educational practices such as project learning, optional courses, flexible learning time, remedial activities and study orientation activities. The research project described in this article aimed at an evaluation of these educational practices. This article reflects on the use of one specific data collection method (photovoice) within the context of quality control in five innovative schools in Flanders, Belgium.