The Japanese-American Photo Project: Exploring Hidden Local Histories in Learning Social Work Macro Practice through Participatory Action Research

This case study describes the Japanese-American Photo Project, an undergraduate social work macro practice class assignment at California State University, Fresno. It was simultaneously enacted and researched through the method of participatory action research (PAR). The project was initiated by the serendipitous discovery of a box of unidentified photographs owned by a community group. In the context of a democratic education classroom exercise, the goal of the research was to document an experiential activity in which students put into practice and assessed their grasp of macro social work practice skills. The conclusions of the research were recorded as videos, which were used in teaching other sections of macro social work practice.

The case of the Japanese-American Photo Project demonstrates how students can collectively activate their learning by overcoming challenges such as lack of funding and creating a project from scratch. The aim of the project was to empower students to develop a research process to understand what the significance of the photos was and how to use macro practice skills to engage with the communities in the pictures. This activity required learning about the ethics of the historical context of the pictures and being sensitive to the trauma survivors experienced. The research process called for reflection on one’s own socio-cultural position and how to perform macro practice in relation to community. In the end, the research showed that students found the Japanese-American Photo Project to be a meaningful learning exercise, though not without many challenges that impacted the final result.