Why Do We Need the Visual? Understanding Educational Practices Using Visual Data and Methods.

The centrality of images in the study of the social has been recognized from different disciplines and areas of knowledge (such as history, anthropology, photography, sociology, art history, sociology, cultural studies, communication sciences). Gradually and with different temporalities according to the disciplines, the legitimacy of the production of research and academic texts that integrate images in their making - either as pillars of the production of evidence, as key elements in the production of their arguments (Pauwels 2015) and/or in the communication, dissemination and circulation of knowledge generated in research and interventions - has also been consolidated. However, sociological researchers on education have been more reluctant to integrate the visual -such as photographs, maps, scrapbooks, drawings, videos, etc. This task demands engaging with different disciplines and learning new competences (such as producing, archiving, and analysing images). This session aims at making visible the theoretical, methodological, and analytical contributions of the integration of the visual to study discourses, practices, and meanings in formal and non-formal educational settings and practices. We are particularly interested in discussing with those who conduct this kind of research: i) what epistemic and theoretical opportunities has offered the visual in their studies; ii) what kinds of methodological advantages and obstacles researchers face when integrate visual methods and/or data; and iii) what kinds of analytical contributions has brought about the integration of the visual. In this way, we want to promote critical dialogues between visual sociology, visual studies, and sociology of education.