This year it looks as though my district will elect to eliminate cursive writing from the elementary curriculum. It seems in the Conceptual age that cursive is outdated. I wonder what kind of luck I'd have trying to convince them to fill the time formerly slotted for cursive instruction with VTS? Most likely no luck at all, as I am expected to cram more reading and writing into my lessons on a regular basis. Visual Literacy? Pshaw! (The conspiracy theory alarm was sounding in my brain the entire time I read both articles and for the most part I think of myself as a trusting, complacent soul!)
It is clear to me, as our society returns to a visual orientation, that students must have the facilitated instruction they need to reach a critical understanding of the thousands of images encountered daily.
I would say that the majority of my focus group students fall into the Stage 1 / Stage 1 1/2 category. Every once in awhile I will encounter one who is on the brink of Stage 2, noticing things which seem disproportionate, or 'just not quite right'. Scary to think that the VTS they encounter in my art room might well be their only opportunity for growth!
Spoken like a true VTS missionary!!! (And as I remember, my students all LOVED it when cursive was introduced; yet another enjoyable subject that would contribute to their abilities to communicate (legibly), sacrificed for test prep. Very sad. How about sharing this article with your building principal?
ReplyDeletehttp://isc.sagepub.com/content/44/4/223.abstract