What is Visual Literacy??

Visual Literacy, so what is it? Visual literacy has been defined as the “ability to understand, interpret and evaluate visual messages” (Bristor & Drake, 1994) It's pretty much the ability to read pictures and understand the underlying message that the picture is portraying.  Students need to have the acquire and build the ability to decode these pictures. We tend to see lots of visual literacy in storybooks, as the illustrator is trying to give readers a visual as to what is occurring from the text. By looking at the images, it allows students to comprehend, hypothesize, or draw conclusions on what will happen next.

Visual Literacy can mean differently due to the diversity of others. Age, background and or socioeconomic status of children or people can have an effect on how we interpret visuals. Obviously one's schema is due to this.  Most young students prefer simple photographs (in which they are able to decode literally), verses older students prefer complexed photographs (charts, flowcharts, ) and can understand the outcomes from those visuals.

Visual Literacy can come in different forms and be used in most content areas such as social studies, language arts, health, music, etc. We use visual literacy to help students understand the content and objectives that are being taught. Instead or reading from a textbook, or delivering a lecture via Powerpoint, teachers can show visuals to teach through the image the information. When teachers use images, students are more likely to recall the information being delivered as well as being intrigued by the image. 

The kinds of visuals teachers can use are  photographs, graphs, flowcharts, posters and drawings.  Teachers can use the "teach aloud" strategy to help students reflect on the images being shown. (Question students like, what's going on in this picture? How does this person feel? Why do you think this symbol is here) This will help students collaborate and work together on what the visual is trying to tell the leaner. Another way we can help students understand visual literacy is by asking them the 4W's, such as who, what, when and why? By asking our students like what do you see in the picture, what is happening, when do you think this takes place, and why would the illustrator draw or photograph this will definitely help students critically think and hopefully decode the image(s).