Date of Conferral

11-25-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Tiffany Cameron

Abstract

A 2022 Jamaican education report highlighted that student-centered pedagogy is crucial to educational outcomes. A problem exists in that there is limited research on how student voice practices within student-centered pedagogy are incorporated into teacher training. Before preservice teachers’ praxis can be transformed, greater understanding of their preconceptions about student voice is essential. Guided by conceptual change theory, the purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the preconceptions of preservice teachers in rural central Jamaica about student voice in their teacher education. Eight preservice teachers preparing for the secondary level in three Jamaican higher education institutions were purposefully sampled for completion of semistructured interviews. Data were thematically analyzed resulting in three themes: (a) importance of student voice, (b) active student representation voice, and (c) student voice impact and the role of the teacher. Findings revealed that the preservice teachers articulated the value and importance of students having a voice in their education, but they also held underlying beliefs in teacher control that contrast with student-centered pedagogy. By fostering awareness and dialogue about student voice among Jamaican preservice teachers, this study has the potential to empower the teachers to value both their own voices and those of their future students. The study can aid teacher educators in developing more student-centered curricula and pedagogy, thereby contributing to meaningful social change in the transformation of curricula and teacher training, shifting teacher and student roles.

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