Using Photographs of School Buildings in Visual Diaries As a Reflective Tool in Teacher Training

This paper presents a study aimed at exploring the use of photography as a basis for creating a visual reflective diary for students in teacher training programs. The study investigates the advantages in creating visual reflective diaries, based on still photographs of a high school building in Tel Aviv, Israel, during various stages of the students' placement. The study is based on participatory research methodologies, in which the students contribute to the construction of knowledge, by introducing personal narratives to the visual diaries.

The study will focus on analysis of selected photographs taken by the students during the course of the semester, in conjunction with written narratives. The aim of the proposed model is to create an alternative approach for modelling student supervision in their second year of teacher training, allowing freedom of expression that encourages the students to engage with their emotions and inhibitions through an introspective process of visual and verbal articulation. The paper will present and  analyze the visual samples of the students and related narratives and will discuss how the implementation of visual diaries in a teacher training process empowers students and enables a successful socialization and acclimatization with their future roles as teachers.