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Teaching and Learning
Children (and adults?) need to be taught to “read” pictures
- Teach children the conventions used by a range of visual image types - different views (e.g. cross-sections, 2D representations of 3D objects, etc.), different formats (e.g. graphs and charts) and the many possible different meanings of lines and arrows in pictures and diagrams;
- Divide pictures into sections - background, foreground, middle ground and question children about features they can see;
- Focus on people in the image, then objects, then the whole scene;
- Be aware of stereotypes and bias
- Pictures can be used to challenge existing ideas - more on this on this page;
- Ask children to give a title to a picture
- Ask why they think a photograph was taken
- Ask children to annotate a sketch or line drawing of a picture
- Provide children with a camera (digital or single-use) and ask them to make images for different purposes - for more on this and other related approaches to teaching visual literacy see 2 in the references list;
- Or give more control over viewing the image - more on this later
Points
- Gathering information from visual images may be at least as difficult for young children in Key Stage 1 as gathering information from text or numbers. As teachers, it is a mistake to assume that children who are not fluent readers of text will be able to easily learn from pictures instead. They will need support to do both types of task.
- All children will need support at some stage in the decoding of unfamiliar visual images.
Criteria
Aldrich & Shepherd's (2000) criteria to apply for selecting a graphic and assessing its usefulness provide an appropriate starting point:
- C is for central point.
- What is the purpose of the graphic? Is it just to make the page more attractive or does it give information not in the text?
- L is for layout.
- Is the graphic well-designed and clearly presented? Does it do its job well?
- E is for example.
- Is the graphic a good example of its type? Can it be used to teach about graphics more generally?
- A is for assumptions.
- What prior knowledge is assumed of the viewer? What misconceptions might arise if these assumptions are not met?
- R is for redesign.
- If you are critical of the graphic, consider redesigning it yourself.
Task
Go to the page about using images in teaching and learning on the Nuffield Primary History Web site.
Make brief notes on approaches you might use with your preferred age-range. Use the browser's back button to return to this page.
References
- Aldrich F & Sheppard L (2000) ‘Graphicacy’: the fourth ‘R’? in Primary Science Review, 64, 8-11
- Pickford T (2002) ‘Visual literacy’ in Interactive 41 March/April, 30-31
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