Unionville-Chadds Ford School District Parent & Teacher Present First-of-Its-Kind Photovoice Workshop 

Unionville-Chadds Ford School District (UCFSD) Gifted Teacher Eva Straub believes parents make the perfect partners. Her innovative collaboration with UCFSD dad and University of Delaware Associate Professor of Art & Design Jon Cox is proof. 

The two co-authored an article in Social Sciences & Humanities Open detailing their first-of-its-kind photovoice workshop designed to promote cultural literacy among Charles F. Patton Middle School gifted students.

Cultural literacy functions as the contextual shared knowledge that enables readers to fully comprehend the meaning conveyed within texts and communication. In this study, Cox and Straub collaborated with the literacy teacher and school librarian to enhance gifted students’ research abilities. As part of this process, the students were tasked with using photography to respond to the prompt: “What does culture mean to you?”.

During the four-day enrichment workshop, 36 gifted students used the photovoice strategy to critically examine the concept of culture. The students first learned about photographic techniques from Cox, a National Geographic Explorer, before capturing their own snapshots of culture. Participants later converted them into negatives and completed the historic cyanotype process. To finalize the project, the students wrote captions for their work and engaged in discussions that fostered a more active understanding of culture. 

The final submissions were unexpectedly deep, they said. “We’re all visual people. Photography is a universal language, and photovoice is really a methodology for getting people to open up in a different way,” reflected Cox. “The students took the project in so many directions.” 

For example, Cox’s son, Jesse McConnell Cox, submitted a photo of a creek that he said was a critical part of growing up. “I have always liked to come here to play games with my friends,” he shared.   

The success of this workshop is just one example of how hands-on, interdisciplinary learning empowers students to explore and critically engage with a subject. In addition to the teachers and administrators at CFPMS, Straub thanked Cox and third author Anna Slatinská for their support. “Working with professionals in our community brings expert knowledge into our classroom that teachers alone cannot convey.” 

For more information on Straub and Cox’s partnership, read the article on Science Direct. 

About the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District 

The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District is a high-performing public school system serving approximately 4,000 students in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The District consists of four elementary schools, one middle school, and Unionville High School, consistently ranked among the top public schools in Pennsylvania.