Yesterday, my students began presenting their Visual Autobiographies. After dedicating weeks to creating these intricate and complex infographics, it was finally time to reveal them. But this wasn't like other presentations; this presentation was silent. The stage was already set with the visuals, now it was up to the viewers to analyze and synthesize the presented Visual Autobiography. The viewer was the ultimate authority, writing the story based upon interpretation, having the final say.
My 6th graders struggled analyzing their friends. They focused on the surface. "Matt loves his dog. He spends time with friends and family." They caught the main ideas, but were stuck on the literal, on the true subject of the image.
The 7th graders were starting to get it, beginning to realize that these images told deeper, more complex stories. They began connecting the dots: "She is artistic. She has a good relationship with her family. Went to Paris. Loves to travel. She is adventurous. Went to Venice." They dug deep to make strong inferences: "Grace is happy with herself and her life. She has siblings, one sister and brother. She loves them a lot. She has a dog which she loves a lot and likes animals. She is clumsy and broke her arm by having fun on a bouncy ball. Grace in on the swim team and enjoys swimming with friends. She is a shining star."
But the 8th graders, well they just could not be bothered by this activity. This answers fell flat. They lacked the depth that their life experiences had given them. "He has two sisters and one brother. He likes the beach. He plays baseball. He likes to watch baseball. He likes batting. He likes technology. He has an iPhone."
I was stumped.
Could it be that they did not see the bigger purpose? Did they not understand that they were training themselves to be critical readers of the world around them? Of the images they are bombarded with each day? Of the binaries, stereotypes and social constructions that run our world?
Yesterday, I stumbled upon the incredible series by Joel Pares called "Judging America". This breathtaking collection photographs successful men and women in two juxtaposing portraits: one an authentic, natural portrait, and the other a stereotyped portrait, highlighting and showcasing the most prominent social construction applicable to that person.
Yesterday, the words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk "The Danger of a Single Story" echoed in my head. She reminded me of the importance of learning the stories of many, not just those in power or those we want to hear.
Today, I refocused my efforts to help my 8th graders--and all my other students as well--learn how to read images. If we want to avoid dangerous stereotypes and assumptions, we must teach students how to examine these ideas, teaching them to question the truths they have come to believe. These are not fairy-tale skills; they are essential, necessary to the creation of a fair and just society. If we want students to understand multiple stories, they must know how to read the ones that they are given, in order to find or appreciate others.
Today, I seek your help. What are you doing to help your students develop their visual literacy? How are you challenging students to question the images in their lives? How do you help students avoid stereotypes or single stories? Comment below to help add to our pool of resources and ideas.
Tomorrow, we can begin to make changes. As teachers we can and should:
-Avoid single stories of any group
-Discuss social constructions with our students
-Teach students about binaries and hierarchies
-Provide students with the skills to break down images, not just texts
-Show students examples of artists and activists who are positively combatting these notions
-Ensure that we are not contributing to any single stories or perpetuating social constructions
Our world and well being depends on this.
-Brittany
Hi Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThe "Judging America" photographs were shocking and sadly reaffirming of bigotry and naivety some of us see daily. It's heartbreaking to think that well-educated, well-read and even those of us who consider ourselves to be worldly could see some shade or shadow of a stereotype and believe that is how someone else lives their life. Yes, of course, there are people who may have been so influenced or by the choices they have made resemble the "stereotyped" version of their societal status. That begs the question, is it that person's fault or society's fault for creating the conditions for stereotypes to be accepted and even validated? I taught in a school for 7 years that was very transient and hosted a wide variety of people (staff, students, families, volunteers, etc.) from familiar and exotic ethnic groups all over the world and I was stereotyped as the frumpy white woman by a few groups of students. Some of my students, at first, refused to speak English and chatted in Spanish during an entire class period. Little did they know that I took 3 years in high school and a semester in college of Intermediate Spanish. I was able to catch most of their (highly) inappropriate conversation and politely asked them to save that brand of talking for outside of my classroom.
As a Social Studies teacher, I embrace all cultures, languages, religions, customs and traditions. Those are the threads of life that make us unique and add richness to our lives. I hope to continue pursuing my passion for students to learn about these for several cultures outside of but including their own. This school year, I'm working with the Leadership and Global Awareness Club at my school to help them create service projects that will debunk stereotypes. I will use that website (or one that has slightly smaller images, it took forever to load for me) to give them ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Nichole,
DeleteThe "Judging America" collection was so powerful when I presented it in class! In a later post I will have to share the whole presentation about social constructions. The kids--even the toughest ones--were all in.
In regards to your club, I have heard about a teacher having his students go to a nursing home, pick a partner, and write his/her biography. The empathy that this gave the "researchers" was incredible; they realized that their seniors were unique individuals with a wealth of experience.
I would love to hear more about your projects as they come up! My little side organization--Active Handprint--is dedicated to the same concept, erasing apathy and inspiring action through service based learning. It is one of the most powerful tools that we, as educators, have access to!
Brittany
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. I often only have my students create images for their work. I do not often have them interpret what others are expressing. It seems so natural to do that I didn't think about it that way. I know this year we are going to be focusing on using images in texts to better understand texts, but I too wonder what else we can do.
I found that your students hit a 'caring wall', as it may be, very interesting. Do you think it is that group of students or that age of students?
Andrew
Andrew,
DeleteI haven't been ignoring your question; I just don't fully know yet.
From what I have seen, all students believe media is truth. They are slow to question it. We have come to believe that pictures are evidence, that they're objective. However, photography is as subjective and susceptible to manipulation as all other arts.
I do think that this particular group hit, as you so amazingly coined, a "caring wall." They were not particularly interested in the lives of each other and definitely not ready to dissect images to find out more about their peers. I am really pushing community building with them, in hopes that that will be the missing key.
Thanks for such a challenging question. As time goes on, I'll let you know!
Britt
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI love that you are using activities that we've completed in this program and adapting them for your own classroom. Kudos! It's not until recently that I've even considered teaching visual literacy skills to students. As a science teacher, I've felt that hands-on activities were more important but I was making a HUGE oversight. Critically examining images teaches students observation and inferrencing skills that are essential to science. Your experience with the 8th graders show that they've also never been asked to think in this way and may need some scaffolding and practice before they truly "get it." I would like to incorporate more diagrams and images in my future instruction and really get students questioning what they mean and why we use them as well as delving into the people behind the content, the history and the often controversial nature of their theories.
Jess
Jess,
DeleteThis reminds me of a conversation that I had this week. I was catching up with an old friend from college and I told him that I just started my new job (teaching technology). He said, "Wow. I always thought you were such a literature person. I could never see you in computers."
To me, it is pretty much all the same. We are still reading, still creating, still analyzing, still discussing. The only thing that has changed is the medium.
I think that the structure of our schools has created this episodic view of reality: I go to science for 90 minutes, then I stop thinking like that and move on to English, etc. The truth is, it is all working towards the same goals! The more that we as teachers can impress that, the more innovative students we will have.
Let me know how your visual literacy lessons go! I can definitely see them fitting into your curriculum.
Brittany
Brittany-
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the "Judging America" photographs. I just had this discussion with a colleague- we see race and diversity, and we make judgement whether we notice it or not. Students are strong visual learners. I think that these images can have leave an impression on the students; make them think about how we make judgements/opinions based on what we see. This activity is a good segway in what it means to make an inference and what it means to look "deeper" than what we "judge" on the surface.
Fatima
Fatima,
DeleteThere is an Italian writer/philosopher who coined the term "common sense" to describe what you are talking about. Our judgments become so embedded in our world view that we cannot distinguish them. They just seem like... well... common sense. It is so challenging to break these thought patterns, but as you said, can really change how students interact with visuals.
I can't seem to hyperlink on this reply, but here is a quick blurb that gives even more information about it:
http://faculty.washington.edu/cbehler/glossary/commonsense.html
Brittany
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteIn my math classes, visual representation is critical in understanding and solving problems. My students do very well when they are given a graph to interpret because it usually has a concrete answer (when x is 5, y has a specific value). But when I give them a problem that asks for them to explain spatial reasoning pictures do not help much even though they should. For example, if I asked my students right now to create a box with the greatest amount of surface area they would immediately ask for dimensions. Providing a visual would even make them think more one sided because many of my 7th graders would not be able to get past what I have shown them. They really have a hard time seeing what isn't there. They have a hard time looking deeper into visuals. I am hoping that with maturity will come more perseverance.
Check out the following video that stresses how important visual learning strategies are for students to develop. It makes me realize that even though your experience didn't turn out perfectly it is still commendable that you are doing it. The students are getting something out of it even if it didn't seem like it at the time.
http://vimeo.com/103155093
Jeanette,
DeleteWow! What an incredible video! It actually reminds me of my last post about developing thinking skills in a native language. It seems like students who struggle with writing are still able to practice thinking critically by engaging in these discussions. I also love that the video encourages students to make the cross curricular connections! Thank you for this incredible resource!!
Brittany