Hi,
As my studies into visual literacy continue, I went out intending to explore black and white images, but instead found myself fixed on a website called ‘Harnessing the Power of Visual Literacy’ created by a lady named Dr. Lynell Burmark. She does studies, seminars, and sells materials that discuss visual literacy and how it can be used in education. The site explored many areas of visual literacy, but one area that specifically caught my eye was the concept of images proceeding words and not the other way around. Does that make sense? Well, let me explain. She shared a few examples such as how Einstein’s theory of relativity was developed. Did you know he imagined riding on a beam of light before he put it to the test with experimenting and ‘book data’?
Another example she used incorporates the picture above of the sunset. This picture was on the Internet recently with the following phrase, ““Dear God, I didn’t think purple and orange went together until I saw the sunset you created on Tuesday. That was cool.” – Eugene
From that picture and quote, she pointed out on her site that “The image always precedes the thought. I didn’t think… until I saw.”
Her entire point she tries to make is that as teachers, we assume that when we say a word such as ‘car’, all students imagine the same type of car. In reality, each student is developing a different picture of a car…some might even be picturing a truck or van because that’s what they consider their ‘mode of transportation’ at home. This makes me think about how I use vocabulary in my classroom. When we go over things without images sometimes, are all of my students really understanding what they mean? I have found myself using more images to explain vocabulary and having students do more activities that involve manipulating and matching vocabulary words with pictures. I wonder how deep elementary students can process thought from images? I think it is more than we believe. My thoughts at this point are what types of best practices are there for using visual images in literacy? Is there a set prescription that should be followed?
Annette
2 comments:
Wow! That was powerful! It completely makes sense...we can see before we can talk and we can draw before we can write...I can definitely see how images precede thought. That really makes me think about how I approach literacy in my classroom. Thanks for giving me something to reflect on!
Sabrina
Whoa! That really makes a lot of sense. I love the quote "The image always precedes the thought." That is very true! When using certain words in my classroom, I always keep in mind the fact that all of my students have different background knowledge, and may not totally understand a word that I expect them to know. However, I never thought of that in terms of images. Something I need to start taking into consideration!
Jenn
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