Engaging Student Teachers in Reflective Practice Through Photovoice

Abstract

This study explores the use of photovoice as a reflective practice tool for early childhood student teachers in a teacher preparation program. Reflective practice is crucial for professional growth, yet traditional journaling often feels disconnected from real-world experiences for student teachers. Photovoice, which encourages participants to capture and reflect on meaningful classroom moments through photography, offers an engaging alternative. This research investigates the aspects of student teaching that candidates find reflective, how their images express satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and how group discussions develop shared understanding. Using a constructivist framework, seven student teachers participated in a semester-long photovoice project. Data were collected through over 350 images, descriptions, and four group discussions. Findings reveal four key reflective themes: instructional resources, student engagement, classroom environment, and relationships. While photovoice enhanced critical reflection and community building, participants were hesitant to openly discuss negative experiences, reflecting challenges in developing self-assessment. The study concludes that photovoice holds significant promise for enriching reflective practice in teacher education by integrating visual analysis and group dialogue and recommends its inclusion in teacher preparation curricula as a strategy for fostering critical reflection and community building. Received: 25 February 2025 | Revised: 3 June 2025 | Accepted: 12 September 2025 Conflicts of Interest The author declares that she has no conflicts of interest to this work. Data Availability Statement The data that support this work are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Author Contribution Statement Amy Kelly: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration.