Human Libraries in Teacher Education: Exploring Pre-Service Teachers’ Narratives of Perceived Change Through Thinking Routines

The main objective of this study is to explore how pre-service teachers retrospectively describe differences between their prior and current perspectives following participation in a Human Library. This research begins with a review of the literature on the definition and characteristics of Human Libraries and proceeds with the creation of one in a university setting. To this end, the study benefited from the collaboration of the Baketik Foundation, which facilitated contact with five individuals willing to share their testimonies on topics related to human rights. The initial sample consisted of 53 pre-service teachers in the Early Childhood Education Bachelor’s programme at the University of the Basque Country (EHU), although ultimately, following a screening process, the sample was reduced to 51. Data were collected using the “I used to think…/Now I think…” reflection exercise, which the pre-service teachers were asked to complete after listening to the testimonies. The narratives were first examined manually by the researchers to identify recurring ideas and potential thematic categories. Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT were subsequently used to support the identification and consistency checking of the initial category structure, while the final coding was conducted manually by the researchers. Six thematic categories were identified in both sections of the reflection exercise. The descriptive comparison revealed differences in the frequency and elaboration of participants’ narratives, particularly regarding empathy and changes in perspective, peace and social justice, women’s rights and gender-based violence, and silence, social taboos and lack of awareness. Because both sections were produced retrospectively after the Human Library experience, these differences are interpreted as features of participants’ accounts rather than as direct evidence of objectively measured changes in their perspectives.