Beyond words: using photovoice to explore pre-service teachers’ understanding of inclusive practices for emergent bilingual children

This study examined how twenty-five pre-service early childhood teachers conceptualized inclusive practices for emergent bilingual children through photovoice methodology. Participants documented inclusive practices during seventy-five hours of field experience in linguistically diverse classrooms, then engaged in structured reflection using the SHOWeD protocol and collaborative exhibition. Data analysis integrated visual documentation, written reflections, and exhibition feedback through constructivist grounded theory. Analysis revealed that participants identified inclusive practices across environmental design, collaborative learning, cultural affirmation, and technology integration. Exhibition feedback facilitated peer recognition and validation while prompting connections to personal classroom experiences. Despite recognizing inclusive practices, participants demonstrated persistent deficit orientations toward multilingualism, interpreting supports as individual accommodations rather than universal design principles. Participants expressed implementation anxieties and uncertainty about facilitating translanguaging practices, revealing gaps between theoretical knowledge and practical application. While photovoice methodology demonstrates clear value for documenting and analyzing inclusive practices through collaborative visual inquiry, teacher preparation programs require comprehensive approaches that combine this analytical capacity with sustained intervention to transform deeply embedded assumptions about language and learning.