Music education for future teachers: communication through  
visual art in the evaluative tool portfolio  
Educação musical para futuros professores: a comunicação por meio da arte  
visual no portfólio como ferramenta avaliativa  
Verónica Asensio Arjona1  
veronica.asensio@ub.edu  
Marta Casals-Balaguer1  
Sandra Soler Campo1  
1 University of Barcelona, Department of Applied Didactics, Barcelona, Spain  
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE  
Submitted date: 07 jun 2025  
Final approval date: 22 jan 2026  
Publication date: 20 mar 2026  
Section Editor: Fernando Chaib  
Layout Editor: Fernando Chaib  
License: "CC by 4.0"  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2026.59551  
ABSTRACT: This article examines the role of the digital portfolio as a reflective tool for promoting visual and communicative art in  
the study of music didactics for future teachers. At the end of the academic year, students present their portfolio, which include  
reflections and graphic representations. The study analyses the portfolios of 90 students enrolled in a bachelor’s degree in early  
childhood education at University of Barcelona. The findings highlight that graphic resources are used as a means of  
communication, supporting teaching, and learning processes in music education. Various types of graphic resources are employed,  
and art contributes to both the personal and professional development of students. We conclude that arts-based methods are a  
powerful communication tool and, in the context analyzed, they foster students’ recognition, reflection, and the development of  
cognitive and linguistic abilities related to music practice and its didactics.  
KEYWORDS: Music education; Portfolio; Evaluation; Reflective practice.  
RESUMO: Este artigo examina o papel do portfólio digital como ferramenta de reflexão, promovendo a arte visual e comunicativa  
no estudo da didática da música para futuros professores. Ao final do ano letivo, os estudantes apresentam seus portfólios, que  
incluem reflexões e representações gráficas. O estudo analisa os portfólios de 90 alunos matriculados no curso de Licenciatura em  
Educação Infantil da Universidade de Barcelona. Os resultados destacam o uso de recursos gráficos como meio de comunicação,  
apoiando os processos de ensino e aprendizagem na educação musical. Diversos tipos de recursos visuais são empregados, e a  
arte contribui para o desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional dos estudantes. Concluímos que os métodos baseados nas artes  
constituem uma poderosa ferramenta de comunicação e, no contexto analisado, promovem o reconhecimento, a reflexão e o  
desenvolvimento de habilidades cognitivas e linguísticas dos alunos, relacionadas à prática musical e à sua didática.  
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Educação musical; Portfólio; Avaliação; Prática reflexiva.  
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1. Introduction  
In the 21st century, graphic representations are everywhere and are strongly represented in our daily lives.  
Although visual images are sometimes exclusionary, they also help us to understand and relate to our  
immediate environment and to other people. Furthermore, they allow us to express ourselves, to reflect,  
and, consequently, to learn. Arts education, therefore, is of vital importance in the training of future  
teachers. It is based on an understanding of art as a channel for creativity, expression, and communication  
(Merlos, 2021). The benefits of the arts have been the subject of study for decades (Lazarín et al., 2023).  
Among its virtues, arts education, and the arts themselves promote spaces in which innate ideas can relate  
to emotions without the need to use words. The promotion of these synergies makes it possible to approach  
life situations from different perspectives, activating reflection and creativity (McKay and Sappa, 2019). This  
process is similar to the creative process involved in the production of both music and painting (Pardo, 2023).  
Some examples of that are the artists Tàpies or Kandinski. Tàpies (2003) uses music listening and the study  
of composers as a source of inspiration to express their emotions in textures and colors. On the other hand,  
Kandinsky (1989) reduced this parallelism between music and painting to common vibrations.  
How we include artistic, visual, and audio-visual representations in classroom practices is a complex process.  
It is important to analyze the influence of including these representations in the teaching–learning process.  
The study that is presented departs from this initial question: Can methods and visual recording tools  
communicate the reflective learning processes of diverse subjects? Methods are relevant and useful in  
enabling the production of knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to investigate methods that do not merely  
reproduce hegemonic discourses but introduce multiple ways to discover new ideas (Denzin,  
2012). Using visual arts examples in educational research and related fields in the social sciences is important  
for us. For example, Danielsson and Berge’s article (2020) is an example of a video diary-based study. In it,  
the research participants recorded themselves and were offered an unconstrained space in which to share  
their narratives. The use of this method allowed participants to take greater responsibility for their learning  
process by sharing their reflections on the process. Narratives are not simply stories that convey something  
but rather ‘interpretive devices’ through which learners make sense of their world (Lawler, 2002).  
The research that we present focuses on students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree in early childhood  
education at University of Barcelona. In the subject ‘Didactics of Music’, the students must create a digital  
portfolio that presents their reflection on the learning process they experienced throughout the academic  
year in relation to the teaching profession and the specific skills they acquired. The main objective of this  
research is, on the one hand, to explore the benefits that the digital portfolio brings to the teaching process  
for students of early childhood education. On the other hand, the research aims to present the graphic  
evidence students produced. This evidence shows the content students learned in the subject. This graphic  
evidence is a tool for communication and reflection on the subject. To achieve these objectives, the following  
research question was posed: Is the digital portfolio an optimal tool through which students can express the  
knowledge and learning they are acquiring through graphic art?  
2. Theoretical framework  
In the field of education, arts-based educational research (ABER) emerged from the work of scholars such as  
Eisner (1991), who proposed integrating artistic practices into educational inquiry in order to expand  
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traditional forms of research. From this perspective, artistic production is not only an object of study but  
also a methodological resource that can generate knowledge about educational experiences. Rather than  
relying exclusively on discursive forms of data, ABER incorporates artistic representations—such as visual,  
performative, or musical expressions—as ways of exploring and communicating meaning (Knowles and Cole,  
2008; Leavy, 2018). In educational contexts, this approach makes it possible to access dimensions of  
experience that may be difficult to express through conventional academic language (Hernández, 2008).  
Arts-based methodologies have been increasingly used in educational research as a way of complementing  
more traditional approaches. By incorporating artistic processes and artifacts into research design, they  
enable researchers to examine experiences, perceptions, and interpretations through symbolic and creative  
forms of expression (Hjørnegaard, 2020). As Patton (2020) notes, artistic approaches can facilitate access to  
what has been described as “knowledge without words”, allowing participants to communicate ideas and  
emotions that may remain implicit in purely verbal accounts. Within ABER, visual artifacts such as drawings,  
photographs, and other forms of visual composition are often used as sources of data. These visual elements  
allow participants to represent experiences, reflections, and interpretations in ways that go beyond written  
language (Avraamidou, 2020). In many cases, visual and textual elements operate together, creating  
multimodal forms of meaning-making in which images complement and expand the written narrative  
(Brooks et al., 2019). This multimodal dimension is particularly relevant in educational contexts where  
reflection on learning processes plays an important role.  
In teacher education, arts-based approaches have been used to explore how future teachers interpret their  
learning experiences and construct meanings about their professional development. Techniques such as  
drawing, collage, and photography allow participants to externalize reflections and communicate aspects of  
their learning that may not emerge through written reflection alone (Gouzouasis et al., 2013; Culshaw, 2019).  
Research in higher education contexts has shown that these methods can deepen reflective processes and  
encourage students to examine their educational experiences from different perspectives (Bertling, 2017).  
Within this context, reflective portfolios have become a widely used pedagogical tool in higher education.  
Portfolios provide students with a space to document their learning processes, connect theoretical  
knowledge with practice, and articulate personal reflections on their experiences. When portfolios include  
visual elements—such as photographs of activities or artistic representations—they become multimodal  
artifacts that combine narrative reflection with symbolic representation (Lazarín et al., 2023). These  
multimodal forms of expression allow students to communicate their interpretations of learning experiences  
through different semiotic resources.  
In the specific field of music education, reflection on musical experience is considered an important  
component of teacher development. Swanwick (1999) emphasizes that musical learning involves processes  
of interpretation and meaning-making that extend beyond the acquisition of technical knowledge. For pre-  
service teachers, reflecting on their musical experiences and learning processes can help them to develop a  
deeper understanding of how music can be taught and experienced in educational settings. Artistic and  
visual representations may therefore serve as valuable tools through which students interpret and  
communicate their perspectives on music teaching and learning.  
From this perspective, the visual representations included in reflective portfolios can provide insight into  
how future teachers conceptualize their experiences in music education. Photographs of learning activities  
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or visual interpretations of assessment tasks allow students to represent their understanding of classroom  
experiences and pedagogical processes. These images, together with the accompanying written reflections,  
offer a richer understanding of how students interpret their learning and how they envision the application  
of these experiences in their future teaching practice.  
Building on these perspectives, the present study approaches students’ portfolios as multimodal reflective  
artifacts in which visual elements function as arts-based representations of learning experiences. The  
analysis focuses specifically on the visual components included in the portfolios and examines how these  
images communicate pedagogical meanings related to the assessment tasks developed in the course.  
3. Methods  
This study adopted a qualitative research design grounded in arts-based research from an artistic and  
interpretive perspective (Hernández, 2008). The data source consisted of reflective portfolios produced by  
students enrolled in the compulsory course ‘Didactics of Music’, taught during the third academic year of  
the bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. In this subject, students are required to reflect on the  
teaching–learning processes experienced throughout the course. Their reflections address, first, a general  
overview of the subject and how the learning acquired may inform their future teaching practice, and  
second, a more specific reflection on the different assessment tasks carried out during the academic year,  
including the applicability of the resources, methodologies, and teaching strategies introduced in the course.  
The portfolio is a free-format reflective tool structured into four sections:  
•
•
•
Section 1: Students provide a personal presentation in which they explain, among other aspects, their  
motivations for choosing a career in education.  
Section 2: Students reflect on music education and construct a musical timeline that includes songs  
that have accompanied them at different stages of their lives.  
Section 3: This section, which constitutes the focus of the present study, contains students’  
reflections on the different assessment tasks completed in the course. Students describe what they  
learned from these tasks, the main difficulties they encountered, and the pedagogical value they  
attribute to them. They also include photographs or visual representations documenting the  
preparation process of the tasks, together with reflections on the process, the results obtained, and  
the potential application of these activities in their future teaching practice.  
•
Section 4: Students present final reflections on their overall learning experience in the course and list  
the main resources used throughout the academic year.  
The portfolio is conceptualized in this study primarily as a multimodal reflective practice through which  
students represent and interpret their learning experiences. The combination of written narratives and visual  
elements allows students to articulate pedagogical meanings using multiple semiotic resources. In this sense,  
the portfolio is also approached as a semiotic artifact, where images function as communicative elements  
that complement and extend the written reflection. Within the context of the course, the portfolio  
additionally operates as a pedagogical assessment device designed to support reflective learning and the  
development of future teaching perspectives.  
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The potential sample consisted of 90 portfolios produced by students enrolled in the course during the 2021–  
2022 and 2022–2023 academic years. From this corpus, 10 visuals were selected through purposive  
sampling. The selection sought to identify visuals that were particularly illustrative of how students visually  
represented their learning processes and pedagogical reflections. Rather than aiming for statistical  
representativeness, the selection prioritized analytical richness and diversity of visual expression, including  
both photographs and illustrations. This strategy is consistent with qualitative and arts-based research  
traditions, which emphasize the interpretive depth of selected artefacts. The selected visuals were drawn  
from different portfolios and reflected variation in format, thematic focus, and narrative function within the  
portfolios.  
The analytical procedure followed an iterative visual content analysis. First, the selected visuals were  
examined independently to identify their formal characteristics and the meanings they conveyed in relation  
to the accompanying written reflections. Second, a coding scheme was developed inductively through  
repeated examination of the images. The analysis focused on three analytical dimensions:  
a) format (illustration or photography);  
b) conceptual meaning, referring to the pedagogical or experiential idea communicated by the visual  
representation; and  
c) narrative position, referring to the role and placement of the visual within the structure of the  
portfolio and its relationship with the written reflection.  
Coding was conducted through successive rounds of comparison across the selected visuals in order to  
identify recurring themes and interpretative patterns. Interpretations were refined through iterative reading  
of both the images and the associated textual reflections to ensure coherence between visual and narrative  
meanings.  
Finally, researcher reflexivity was considered during the interpretive process. As the researcher is also  
situated within the field of music education, particular attention was paid to critically examining how prior  
pedagogical knowledge and expectations might shape the interpretation of the visual materials. To mitigate  
potential bias, interpretations were grounded in the visual evidence and the students’ written reflections  
accompanying each image.  
4. Results  
The body of reflection of the selected portfolios is made up of reflective artistic evidence. In the graphic  
evidence, we find two main types of visual productions that accompany and/or form part of the reflective  
content of the portfolios. On the one hand, a multitude of illustrations and collages appear. Students used  
digital platforms such as Canva to source or create templates with graphic elements and illustrations, and,  
in many cases, they edited and modified the templates obtained. Likewise, they included drawings and  
images of music-related items, such as instruments and musical notes, to capture the reflection or sample  
of the desired content. Some of the illustrations used are from recognized authors, but the vast majority are  
visual material that has been copied or downloaded from online image banks, some of them with a Creative  
Commons license. On the other hand, photographs were also used. In most of the cases analyzed, the  
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portfolios presented photographs of unknown or unrecognized authorship, generally from online image  
banks, although in some cases students included photographs, they had taken themselves.  
The frequent use of images taken from online image banks also invites reflection on the type of artistic  
expression present in the portfolios. Although arts-based educational research often emphasizes the  
creation of original artistic work, in this case students commonly relied on existing visual materials rather  
than producing their own drawings or photographs. However, the reflective value of these images does not  
necessarily lie in their originality, but in how students select, combine, and interpret them within the  
portfolio. In many cases, the images function as symbolic references that help students express their  
understanding of music education, especially when they are accompanied by written reflections that clarify  
their pedagogical meaning.  
In both forms of visual support, photographs or illustrations and collages, we can identify typical elements  
or characterizations that connect to the thematic domains of the ‘Didactics of Music’ subject and the  
teaching profession, such as perspectives on childhood and interpretations of didactics and the teaching and  
learning process. Students also included narrative evidence before and/or after these visual artistic  
representations that complete the reflective proposal.  
This section is structured as follows. First, the portfolio as a learning tool is analyzed (4.1). Second, it is  
presented the analysis of the images created and used in portfolios to illustrate the following concepts: early  
childhood Music didactics (4.2); Music as a learning tool and the benefits of Music (4.3).  
4.1. The portfolio as an artistic communicative tool  
Technology has potential applications in different aspects of musical education, but especially for the  
development of transversal skills that go beyond the curricular content of the discipline (Marín et al. 2022).  
Current trends in educational technology indicate a shift in pedagogical assumptions and theoretical  
frameworks away from traditional methods in which the teacher shares knowledge of the subject with  
students and towards the active participation of students (Castañeda, 2021).  
The portfolio as a tool emerged in the United States in the 1970s (Salazar and Arévalo, 2019). This instrument  
enables reflection on progress, academic processes, and the results of student learning (Arís and Fuentes,  
2016), as well as presentation of the results of a task, which is oriented not towards the process but to the  
product evidence. As the student or teacher reaches a more critical level of reflection, their motivation to  
apply appropriate practices in the classroom may increase (Ribeiro and Mariho da Silva, 2022). Therefore,  
reflection must be done and reviewed continuously (Binh, 2021). In the study of Calderón et al. (2023),  
among the 32 articles that are analyzed in the systematic review it is highlighted that teacher-student  
interactions are enhanced to encourage this reflection process and it allows users to develop their artistic  
and professional identity, creativity, metacognition and self-regulation of the teaching and learning process  
(Calderón et al., 2023).  
In higher education, the context in which this research was conducted, the portfolio plays an important role.  
On the one hand, it improves the teaching, learning, and evaluation process of students, and, on the other,  
it supports the teacher’s practice. Even so, at Spanish universities, the teaching plans for music subjects in  
the degrees of teacher in early childhood education, primary education, and double degree in early and  
primary education reflect very little training in this area (Calderón et al., 2021). However, it should be noted  
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that at University of Barcelona the digital portfolio is a tool that has been used and positively valued (both  
by students and teachers) for more than a decade in subjects such as ‘Didactics of Music’, Practicum I or  
Practicum II of the primary education degree (González et al., 2011). Moreover, in the field of artistic  
education such as Music Didactics, context of this study, its application is very interesting due to its  
multimodality. It conveys image, text, video, sound, etc. (Calderón et al., 2023).  
4.2. Reflection through images  
The images presented below illustrate different approaches to the concept of childhood and didactics  
related to musical practice. In the first three images that appear below we can see, on the one hand, two  
drawings (Figure 1 and Figure 2), which are repeated in terms of style and similar content throughout the  
portfolios, and which represent boys and girls of around 4–5 years of age. On the other hand, we see a  
photograph (Figure 3) of two children of about 6–7 years old. At the same time, similar visual motifs appear  
repeatedly across many of the portfolios. Images of smiling children, group music-making, or attentive  
classroom scenes are particularly common. Rather than documenting specific classroom situations, these  
images seem to reflect widely shared ideas about childhood and music learning that circulate through  
educational materials and digital media. Their recurrence suggests that students often rely on familiar visual  
conventions when representing what they understand music teaching and learning to be.  
Figure 1 – Illustration used in the student’s portfolio  
The students’ relation of music to group practice, or simply their foregrounding of learning music in a group,  
reflects an awareness of the benefits of collaborative artistic practice for creating a feeling of community, in  
this case of what would become a group-class of the early childhood education stage. One student  
commented, ‘(Music) makes us connect with other people and create bonds, for example, if we sing, dance,  
or simply share a song that we like’ (personal communication, Student 35, 2024). It highlights the bond that  
is formed between different people when they perform music together, whether an improvised piece or an  
existing song, which various studies have shown to foster cohesion (González, 2008). In this case, then, the  
choice of images brings us closer to a common understanding, shared among several students, about what  
it means to make music in group, especially a group of boys and girls, and the emotions that emerge among  
the group members.  
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Figure 2 – Illustration used in the student’s portfolio  
Figure 3. Original photograph by Pok Rie, used in the student’s portfolio  
In the reflections on the evaluative tasks completed in the subject – especially those tasks that involved  
designing and proposing activities to make music in the early childhood education classroom – most  
accompanying images presented a concept of childhood that conveys one of the great challenges of  
education. This challenge is to ensure that the individual learning processes that each child experiences and  
that in turn motivate a common purpose for the entire group-class (a collaborative work) (Luce, 2001)  
encourage connections between the children and foster a feeling of belonging. In Figure 2, for example, we  
observe three children each developing an instrumental and/or vocal practice: one child playing the guitar,  
another singing, and a third playing the violin. Through their gaze or facial expression, they show a certain  
degree of connection and enjoyment of the common musical action they are performing.  
In the following three visual examples (Figure 4, 5 and 6), representations of the group-class model appear.  
They depict a teacher leading a musical activity and presenting herself as a model and guide of musical  
practice. In all the illustrations, we can see a group of students attending to the teacher’s indications. The  
teacher retains the children’s attention using different visual, sound, or movement stimuli. Figure 4 shows a  
collage of illustrations sourced, like most of the other drawings, from online image banks. We find in it two  
drawings of teachers playing the guitar and three drawings of teachers telling a story. Figure 5 presents the  
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figure of a teacher with her arm and hand raised and children imitating her, which could be the interpretation  
of a choreographed song.  
Figure 4 – Collage of illustrations from the student’s portfolio  
Furthermore, in the specific case of Figure 5, the student chose this drawing to reflect on an evaluative task  
that they had completed as part of the university subject, which consisted of learning the methodology of  
teaching a song. This evaluation technique emphasizes gaining practical teaching knowledge on the  
competency strategy itself (García et al., 2008). In this way, the student chose an image that represents the  
implementation of said methodology, not only because of the characters that appear in it (a teacher and  
three children) but because it incorporates gesture and expression, so necessary in the stage of early  
childhood education.  
Figure 5 – Illustration used in the student’s portfolio  
Finally, in Figure 6, we see an illustration by a recognized author, Joan Turu, an artist who is closely linked to  
the educational world and who in recent years has produced and/or illustrated various editorial and  
informative productions on the rights of children and girls, the role of the school, and the value of teaching.  
The illustration in Figure 6 shows a group of students. Each of them either has an instrument or a music  
player or is walking around an adult who is playing the role of music teacher. The written message that  
accompanies the illustration, Amb la musica, fem escola! (‘With music, we make school!’), reinforces the  
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community-generating potential that music has in school contexts, as well as inclusion and expressiveness  
in all its senses.  
Figure 6 – Original illustration by Joan Turu used in the student’s portfolio  
Following this line, we find the following reflection from a student: ‘The subject “Music Teaching” has helped  
me understand that music goes far beyond just teaching songs. It is a very powerful tool in education that  
can transform lives’ (personal communication, Student 70, 2024).  
4.3. Reflections on music education through the visual and the reflective  
The analysis of the selected student portfolios provides a view of how future educators engage with music  
education not only as a disciplinary field but as a broader cultural, emotional, and pedagogical experience  
(Swanwick, 2001). The use of reflective artistic evidence, through images, collages, and photographs,  
functions as more than an illustrative tool. These visual elements act as vehicles of meaning, allowing  
students to explore and articulate complex ideas about teaching, childhood, and music in ways that written  
text alone may not fully capture.  
Across the various portfolios, one of the clearest themes to emerge is the students’ increasing awareness of  
music’s role in building relationships and creating learning environments rooted in connection and  
collaboration. Many of the visual materials present children engaging in music-making activities that are  
clearly communal in nature, for example, singing together, playing instruments in small groups, or  
responding collectively to a teacher’s guidance. Such representations suggest that students understand  
music as a social practice, one that not only transmits knowledge but cultivates belonging and mutual  
attentiveness in the early childhood classroom. Also, showing how students perceive the role of the teacher.  
Rather than positioning the teacher as a distant authority figure, many illustrations and reflections present  
the educator as an active participant in the learning process—someone who models, guides, and responds  
to children’s musical explorations. Visuals showing teachers with instruments, leading movement, or  
storytelling with musical cues all point to a conception of pedagogy that is dynamic, embodied, and  
relational. These choices reveal an appreciation of music teaching, especially in early childhood contexts  
where gesture, tone, and presence are as important as the musical content itself.  
A further point of interest is the representation of childhood. In both drawn and photographic imagery,  
children are typically shown as engaged, expressive, and confident in their musical activities. These  
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portrayals align with a view of children as capable and curious learners, rather than passive recipients of  
instruction. This emphasis reflects the students’ developing understanding of child-centered educational  
approaches, where each learner’s experience and perspective is acknowledged and valued. The decision to  
represent children in this way suggests a desire to create inclusive classroom environments in which all  
children can participate meaningfully in music learning.  
Moreover, students connect the artistic elements of their portfolios with specific learning tasks,  
observations, or theoretical ideas encountered during the course. In doing so, they not only document what  
they have learned but begin to construct a professional identity grounded in reflective practice. Many of the  
reflections reveal a realization that music education extends well beyond the technical aspects of teaching  
songs or planning lessons. It involves the shaping of attitudes, the creation of emotionally resonant  
experiences, and the fostering of community. This synthesis of image and reflection also illustrates how  
students begin to make sense of music as an educational force and as a channel of interaction, expression,  
and discovery. The artistic choices they make, such as selecting specific illustrations to accompany a  
methodological reflection or using a photograph to explore group dynamics, show that students are learning  
how these forms relate to the pedagogical choices they will make as teachers.  
The digital format of the portfolio also plays a role in shaping how students reflect on their learning.  
Platforms such as Canva give students easy access to templates, icons, and stock images, making it possible  
to create visual compositions even without specific artistic training. At the same time, these tools influence  
the kinds of images that tend to appear in the portfolios. Because ready-made visual elements are readily  
available, students often draw on familiar representations of childhood and music education. In this way,  
digital tools not only make visual expression easier, but also shape, in subtle ways, the visual language  
through which students express their reflections.  
Furthermore, the digital portfolio format allows for this integration of artistic and reflective modes, offering  
students the flexibility to explore their ideas through a range of media. It provides a space where they can  
rehearse their understandings, experiment with ways of representing teaching and learning, and receive  
feedback that encourages further critical thinking. In this sense, the portfolio becomes not only a tool for  
assessment but a formative process in itself and an opportunity for students to encounter themselves as  
reflective, creative, and ethical practitioners.  
In conclusion, the findings underscore the reflective portfolio’s role in supporting the professional and  
pedagogical growth of prospective music educators and educators in general. Through the interplay of text  
and image, and the connection between theory and practice, students demonstrate an evolving  
understanding of music education as a field that is deeply relational, expressive, and human. The portfolios  
reveal more than individual achievement; they offer a view of how students are beginning to see their role  
as educators who will use music not only to teach, but to build communities, and create spaces of joy and  
belonging in the classroom.  
While the portfolios show a meaningful level of reflection on music education, they also reveal how students’  
visual choices are influenced by the types of images that circulate widely in digital environments and  
educational materials. This suggests that the visual representations students use are shaped not only by their  
personal reflections but also by familiar visual conventions. In this sense, the portfolios highlight the complex  
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relationship between artistic expression, digital tools, and reflective practice in arts-based educational  
contexts.  
5. Discussion and conclusions  
The present study examined the possibilities offered by arts-based methods when producing qualitative  
empirical material in the field of education. This was achieved by analyzing the digital portfolios produced in  
the subject ‘Didactics of Music’, which forms part of the bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.  
Using images, illustrations, collages, and photographs, students can go beyond the limitations of written  
language and more easily reflect on their learning (Lazarín et al., 2023). In addition, portfolios promote  
inclusion since they allow those with a speech and/or writing disability to express themselves. As Eisner  
(2008) explains, this fact challenges the idea of knowledge as something that can be reduced to rationality  
and language.  
When working with arts-based methods, it is important to consider the dimension of time: time to reflect.  
To express their learning and stories through graphic arts, collected in this case in the digital portfolio,  
students need time to reflect on what they have learned, transforming the reflective process. In this sense,  
authors such as Ramón et al. (2021) affirm that the educational context is characterized by the ability of  
individuals working in this area to perform creative acts that help develop dynamics that respond to societal  
challenges. In the case of the digital portfolios analyzed in this study, the musical and didactic experience  
that the students lived throughout the subject is translated, in a digital and visual key, into a search for  
illustrations and photographs that represent their perspectives of childhood and the educational  
environment. As we have described in the analytical section, we observe the inclusion of images that show  
boys and girls participating in group musical practice, often with the teacher present as a model, which  
invites us to think about a musical artistic space that artistically encourages exchange and collaborative work.  
However, we agree with the statement that, when something is created, the experience of reflecting is  
always present. Students must first think about the graphic element that represents what they have learned  
and then capture it in their portfolio (Ingram, 2011). Working through this method provides students with a  
space to connect with knowledge, memories, and perceptions and evoke their emotions and ability to feel  
and reflect. As Eisner (2008) points out, art helps us ‘discover our inner landscape’. By reducing the use of  
words, we can release new narratives that might have been overlooked if oral or written language had been  
used. When this language is interrupted, an approach such as drawing, for example a self-portrait, offers  
participants a different means through which to express their ideas (Bagnoli, 2009). Furthermore, language  
needs a meaningful connection with the spoken word (Marín, 2011). Graphic representations overcome the  
limitations of language by moving between the known and the unknown. Nielsen (2021), in her work with  
students, showed how the visualization of abstract topics, such as the future, is made more accessible  
through graphic representations. Consequently, we can conclude that beyond language lies unexplored  
potential for students to express themselves and access the obvious and unnoticed in everyday life.  
Arts-based qualitative methods have gained ground in research areas such as education, where they have  
proven vital in obtaining more information than can be gathered using more commonly used methods such  
as surveys and interviews (Brooks et al., 2019). This study has shown that working with a digital portfolio  
fosters new ways of getting to know students by providing them with a space in which to share experiences  
and knowledge. The research conducted provides new knowledge about how students interpret the world,  
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“Music education for future teachers: communication through visual art in the evaluative tool portfolio”  
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and more specifically their views of childhood and music in education. Studies such as that of Salazar and  
Arévalo (2019), which analyzed 80 higher education portfolios produced between 2010 and 2018, conclude  
that the portfolio can contribute to effectively developing teaching, learning, and evaluation processes;  
encourage pedagogical reflection that allows progress to be made in the proposed training objectives; and  
promote the evolution of learning, the achievement of educational goals, and the development of reflective  
thinking, analysis, and elaborations that demonstrate the extent of an individual’s experiential and critical  
learning (Salazar and Arévalo, 2019).  
The literature reviewed suggests that the digital portfolio can be used as a means of formative assessment  
and, at the same time, of promoting professional development and better practice through reflection. It links  
students’ creative thinking with their conceptual frameworks and establishes a process of inquiry through  
which they can map the learning processes experienced through their reflections and graphic  
representations. Alongside guided work, portfolio evaluation is valuable in the context of teacher training in  
higher education, as it offers new opportunities to support teaching and learning processes and also poses  
new challenges for the personal and professional development of students. Finally, as Hernández (2008)  
establishes, the stories must be characterized not so much by providing conclusions but by generating  
relevant questions regarding research methodology and education in general.  
6. Declaration of interest statement  
The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.  
7. Data Availability Statement  
The entire dataset generated or analyzed during this study is included in the published article.  
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