During this phase, the primary school research team conducted mentoring sessions for child researchers, which were divided into three separate sessions. These sessions occurred at different times, including regular class activities, break times, and art performance rehearsals. In each session, child researchers received the following instruction: “You are allowed to explore the school environment for 5-10 minutes [adjusted]. During this time, capture images that depict happiness, joy, and cheerfulness, as well as issues, sadness, and difficulties within the school. The images can include anything – people, objects, situations, or places.” Following this activity, child researchers engaged in individual interviews and group discussions to share insights into the photos they had taken. Additionally, collaborative analyses were conducted to comprehend the findings obtained from both the images and interviews.
In contrast, the mentoring sessions for junior high school students occurred three to four times, with each photo-taking session lasting 15-20 minutes. Subsequently, individual interviews were conducted to elicit detailed descriptions of each photo, organized in turn by the students. Participants were granted the freedom to explore the school environment during the photo-taking process, capturing moments of happiness and sadness during their time at school. Interview sessions were scheduled separately based on the students’ availability and class time to minimize disruption to their learning process. This photovoice phase unfolded from April to May 2023, followed by a focus group discussion (FGD) in May. During the FGD, students deliberated on the most frequently captured photos, addressed concerns, and explored interesting images that were not selected during the individual interview sessions.