Two years later: preservice teachers' experiences of learning to use participatory visual methods to address the South African AIDS epidemic

Abstract

South Africa continues to struggle with the world's highest HIV rates, and the country's young people are amongst those most severely affected by this epidemic. The education sector, and especially teachers, are situated to be leaders in the national response and can provide emotional support as well as information on gender, sexuality, and HIV and AIDS. This article explores preservice teachers' experiences two years after participating in the Youth as Knowledge Producers (YAKP) research intervention, which provided them with training and practical experience in participatory visual methods for HIV and AIDS education. The article discusses participants' reflections on the methods, the continued influences of YAKP on how they think and approach teaching, and the barriers they experienced in securing further learning in this area. The research concludes that preservice teachers can benefit from short-term training in participatory visual methods for HIV and AIDS education by being exposed to a new pedagogical approach, and suggests further development in the integrated responses of higher education institutions in relation to the preservice teachers' HIV and AIDS education.