Images and symbols: resources for narrating educational work within the Italian Mental Health Services

Based on my PhD research project, which sets out to explore a context in which Medicine and Pedagogy work together, the current paper focuses on the use of images and symbols to narrate and elicit reflection on educational work in the Mental Health Services. To this end, I examine the outcomes of the collage-making component of my research, analysing the images used by the professionals (doctors, educators, nurses, psychologists, social workers) taking part in the study to describe their specific work within the Mental Health Service. After a brief overview of the overall methodological approach, I hone in on the role of images in drawing out symbolic dimensions that can help to construct narratives of the specific difficulties and challenges of educational work in Mental Health contexts. In addition, I present methodological considerations regarding the use of images and collage-making to explore and narrate inner meanings that are not directly accessible via other data collection techniques (Butler-Kisber, 2010). In relation to these dimensions of hidden meaning, I explore the symbols and images chosen by educators to represent educational work in Mental Health, also focusing on the accompanying narratives. Thus, the paper examines the use of images as a potential starting point for narrating educational work in Mental Health