#1045: From Exposure to Encounter: Methodological Reflections Concerning Sociotechnical Politics of Visibility for Black Learners

This conceptual paper introduces exposure as a sociotechnical and racializing process that mediates how Black learners are (mis)represented in educational video analysis. We argue that visibility is not a neutral act but a historically and politically constructed phenomenon shaped by technologies normed to whiteness—video methodologies, when uncritically applied, risk reproducing deficit narratives and objectifying Black knowledge-making. In response, we propose encounter as a methodological provocation—an ethical, relational stance toward video analysis that turns inquiry inward to understand how Black learners' strategies for navigating visibility. Through reflections on design contexts involving Black girls' digital photography and Black women YouTube content creators, we examine how exposure shapes our methodological approaches to understanding Black knowledge-making. Ultimately, our provocation for video-analytic approaches, which are accountable and relational, and that affirm Black learners' ways of knowing, is a methodological contribution to ISLS 2026's theme "Partnering with Purpose."