Call for Chapters: Utilizing Visual Representation in Educational Research

Edited by: Harriet J. BessetteKennesaw State University
Camille Sutton-BrownKennesaw State University

Announcing a call for book chapter proposals for a forthcoming edited volume focused on visual and image-based methodologies that can be used to expand how educators approach, design, and innovate research for the purpose of informing and improving teaching and learning.

Exploring how data can be utilized, collected, and rendered useful in the education arena is of utmost importance to those most closely involved in the generation of research for improving educational practice. Innovative methodologies are important for preparing future researchers/scholars and teachers in developing and sustaining professional knowledge. To date, while visual methodologies are explored in various volumes related to general areas of social science, few texts exist where visual methodologies are explained or well-understood in the field of education, specifically.

This work will focus on the functions, cultures, and outcomes of teaching and learning using visual data (i.e., participant-generated drawings, photo-elicitation, film, etc.) and the methods that frame this approach. It is intended for teachers, researchers, and teacher-researchers – in higher education as well as at PK-12 levels – who are ready to engage with innovative, and often compelling, research methods that make data collection across data sources both accessible and equitable. We would like to know more about how our colleagues in education have conceptualized, generated, and executed research utilizing visual data in their own schools, classrooms, and/or districts, and what they learned from these investigations.

We invite manuscripts from emerging scholars, practitioners, researchers, and thinkers from academia, that address a wide variety of timely issues, including those that arise in higher education and PK-12 settings. Chapters within each section will focus on some of today’s key educational practices and the ways in which visual methodologies can provide innovation in the design of educational research. In all instances, each chapter within the volume will reflect the importance of using credible, confirmable, reliable, and triangulated interpretations as a foundation for any claims, findings, or assertions related to pedagogical innovation, student mindfulness, and critical pedagogy.

We are soliciting chapters that highlight practical, yet compelling, examples of engagement with visual data and methodologies in four broad strands: (a) the nature of visual methodology; (b) pedagogical innovation; (c) student engagement, self-determination, metacognition, and mindfulness; and (d) critical pedagogies, critical race theory, and exploration of issues of social justice among historically denied and underserved participants. We expect that each chapter will be accompanied by visual representations, such as subject-generated drawings, sketches, collages, and photographs, as well as analysis.

This volume is expected to be published December 2022.

Submission Process

Please submit a 500-1000 word (including references) synopsis/proposal of your chapter by September 15, 2020 to Harriet J. Bessette (hbessett@kennesaw.edu) and Camille Sutton-Brown (csuttonb@kennesaw.edu) for consideration. You will be informed if your proposal is accepted by December 15, 2020. You will be required to submit an electronic copy of your full chapter draft (approximately 5,000-6,000 words-exclusive of tables, figures, and references) by April 15, 2021. Feedback to authors will be given by October, 2021. Final drafts are due by March 15, 2022 and submission of your complete manuscript to IAP is due by July 15, 2022.

Tentative Schedule for Publication:
Chapter Proposals:
September 15, 2020

Notification of Invitation to Contribute Chapter:
December 15, 2020

Submission of Draft chapters for Blind Peer Review:
April 15, 2021

Return of Blind Peer Reviewed Chapters to Authors:
October 2021

Final Drafts Due:
March 15, 2022

Submission of Final Chapters to IAP:
July 15, 2022

Anticipated Publication:
Winter 2022