'Snapped': Researching the Sexual Cultures of Schools Using Visual Methods

Visual methods are often marginalized in educational research and have not been employed to collect information about sexuality at school. This paper examines the viability and effectiveness of conducting research about the "sexual cultures" of schools in New Zealand using photo-diaries and photo-elicitation. "Effectiveness" is judged by what the visual methodologies literature purports are the benefits of these methods. These advantages include providing participants with greater autonomy over what and how data is collected. The paper argues it is feasible to employ visual methods to research sexuality in schools. Such methods offer participants alternative means of recounting their stories, can help illuminate an esoteric object of investigation like "sexual cultures" and engage participants less likely to volunteer for sexuality research. The use of visual methods is not without challenges however. Securing ethics approval and school participation along with problems with camera retrieval and protecting participant agency were some difficulties encountered in the current study. For those wishing to pursue less conventional research methodologies in educational settings, this discussion highlights potential benefits and struggles. (Contains 6 notes.)