Reimagining qualitative research education: a look inside our summer school
This blog by Dr Sohail Jannesari was published on the King's website in September 2025. We are reposting a taster; you can read the full piece here.
Qualitative research education is more than just being taught how to conduct interviews. At the Introduction to Qualitative Research Summer School at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience we experimented with how research education can be more inclusive, more critical, and more human. This year’s course was one of our biggest yet, and its collaborative photovoice exhibition on the final day served as an impactful reminder of the power and diversity of qualitative research. We welcomed 53 participants from the UK and beyond, including PhD students, NHS clinicians, public health practitioners, people with lived experience, and academics new to qualitative research.
The Summer School aimed to deliver content on qualitative research methods while holding a space for curiosity, practical advice and getting to know other people. It had to model the kinds of values often discussed in qualitative theory that can be hard to practice in academic settings, such as self-reflection, relationship-based research, and researcher humility about whose truth is most important.
Our Summer School on a wall
Photovoice is a qualitative research method where people share their experiences and promote critical dialogue through photography. Throughout the week, we asked participants to take photos of their summer school experiences, building on the photovoice workshop they had on the first day. On the final day of the course, participants transformed our shared space into a photo exhibition, with each image a reflection of how they experienced the week. Some photos showed the learning environment itself, desks with notebooks and water bottles, a screen mid-presentation. Others zoomed out to capture community, food, and emotion.
Click here to read the rest of the blog and see our student's pictures.