What’s Going on in This Picture? How to Use Visual Thinking Strategies in the Classroom

Although Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) have been used in the classroom for decades, and I feel fairly well-versed in different teaching methods, I can honestly say this was a new one for me until I learned about it in a recent faculty development course.

VTS tends to be used in more artistic or visually-reliant fields, rather than areas like communication (which is what I teach), but it’s still a method I’d like to learn more about, and one that I think all teachers should learn to use in some way. 

I’m intrigued.

VTS was created by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine, and its primary purpose is to use art to help learners improve their communication skills, thinking skills, and their ability to express themselves.

Although it’s controversial, it helps students feel that they are part of an experience. I think it could be incredibly valuable in engaging students, encouraging them to contribute to a discussion in a very low pressure way, and prompting them to look within themselves and make connections.

In a nutshell, here’s how it works:

• Show the class a picture on the projector
• Then ask, “What’s going on here?”
• Then, “What do you see that makes you say that?”
• Then, “What else can we find in this picture?”

Be neutral in your responses as the instructor, simply let the participating students express what they see, paraphrasing each comment after it’s given. Be sure to point to the area on the picture that each student talks about.

To give you an example, in a Public Speaking class I could show a picture of a nervous student waiting for her turn to speak in the classroom, to get my students to see and evaluate what the pictured student might be thinking or feeling, in order to potentially delve into a discussion of relaxation techniques.

As you go about practicing this in the classroom, observe how different perspectives are expressed by your students without being considered right or wrong, how these perspectives are clearly a result of each individual’s previous life experiences or personal beliefs, and how some participants might express that their beliefs have changed during the discussion as a result of hearing so many different views.

Give it a try! Happy teaching :).