Phototranslation: A teaching pedagogy to enhance health education student preparation

Photovoice is a method that has been used to give voice to those who are marginalized or underrepresented as a means to create social change. This process has been adapted for use as a teaching strategy to elicit higher levels of shared learning in both undergraduate and graduate courses. This adapted method as a teaching pedagogy has been termed phototranslation. Through this process at the end of the semester or quarter, students either select or take photographs that represent the major concepts learned and the relationship between these concepts. This translation of meaning and understanding requires students to analyze and synthesize the material learned, translate that meaning and understanding to a photograph(s), and present the photographs to the class for discussion. This higher level of learning through translation can assist in improving the competency of future health educators. The application of this process in a health education class will be presented.