Being Visually Literate

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The term or concept "Visual Literacy" is pretty new to me. When I started this Master's course I vaguely had an idea of what it meant, however, the more I read and find out about what it encompasses I realize it is a vital competency in todays world. Perhaps I was once introduced to the idea (with no name) early in my life, through projects, art classes... after all, the usage of images that aid in making your projects or ideas more powerful had always been encouraged in my schooling years. Now I know this skill has a name, now I understand where it comes from, now I know it is a literacy.   After reading the article by Hattwig, D., Burgess, J. and Medaille, A, ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/visualliteracy.pdf I come to the understanding that there is much more than knowing what Visual Literacy is. There are a number of skills and standards that one must follow or comprehend to be fully visual literate.

Which essential skills represent your strengths in order to engage capably in a visually oriented society? Being a lifelong learner is the basic skill one must present in order to engage capably in a visually oriented society. This now means that I am open for new ideas, I have a flexible attitude towards understanding the direction where the world is going to. That being said, I am not visually literate yet per se, but I am in all the disposition in becoming so, and I have all the skills to do so.

Which skills do you need to build on in order to facilitate the development of your students’ skills and competencies to engage with images, and to critically use and create visual media to enhance their learning in your classes?

In my opinion I believe in introducing the use of images from an early age, creates an awareness of the importance of creative visual media in education. It is important as a teacher to be aware of the standards that Hattwig et al mention in their article. It is only by truly understanding and following the pertinent visual literacy competency standards, that one as an educator will transmit the right message to our students. The outcome itself is to enable the individual (us, our students, society for that matter) to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use and create images and visual media (Hattwig et al).

Integrating visual literacy into your curriculum may require partnerships and shared implementation strategies across departments and/or units. Whom might you be partnering with and why? The integration of visual literacy is a must for all grade levels. As I mentioned before even us at the Early Childhood Center can and should give our students their first taste of Visual Literacy. I believe grade levels should partner up and decide on what would be an appropriate level of visual literacy for each unit. Another important department to include in the development of this implementation would be the Libraries and Resource Rooms. It is important to have shared implementation strategies as it is a goal that all our students no matter who their teacher is, have the same bases so they can build up on that in years to come.