Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)
What is VTS…?
VTS involves the use art work (paintings, sculptures, photographs, sketches, etc.) to help develop critical thinking skills, communication skills, student creativity, collaboration skills, and more. Students work together using their own opinions and the opinions of others in the class to discuss the art.
How it works:
1) Teacher provides piece(s) of art
2) Give students time to silently develop their own opinions
3) Discuss as a group the findings of each student
The teacher will use three questions to invite students to share their perspectives: What is going on in this picture (Open-ended), what do you see that makes you say that? (Challenges students to support their views using evidence), and what more can you find? (Implies that there is more to the image to learn and discover).
The teacher will use nonjudgmental facilitation style to accept all students’ responses to create a collaborative and safe environment. Teachers should paraphrase back what the student has said after each opinion has been given. This will make the students feel appreciated and that their thoughts are important. Teachers should use words like “looks like,” “might be,” or “so maybe” in their paraphrasing.
At Camelot Intermediate School…
Teachers facilitate a monthly discussion of three different images. These discussions last about 45 minutes. On the final month a museum visit is scheduled.
“I would say without any doubt that the Visual Thinking Strategies has been a positively worthwhile endeavor for our students and our teachers. The VTS process has helped them [teachers] become better facilitators and allow students a little more control of the learning environment.” -- Dave Fielder, Principal
How can we use VTS in our classroom…?
· Work with your students to create a word web.
· Use photos from newspapers or websites to help share current events.
· Create story boards to help students remember and re-hash learned material.
· Build sequence charts to help students learn and remember their daily routines.
· Create symbols with the students to help remind them of appropriate behaviors and attitudes.
Reference
Moeller, M., Cutler, K., Fiedler, D., & Weier, L. (2013). Visual thinking strategies = creative and critical thinking.
Phi Delta Kappan, 95(3), 56-60.