Education
What’s going on in this picture? Visual Thinking Strategies offer valuable lessons on art interpretation
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magine learning how to look at art by talking about it. That’s exactly what Worcester Public School fourth-graders did during their field trips to WAM before the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of The Culture LEAP (Learning Through Arts Partnerships) initiative, Museum docents helped the students look at art and discuss what they saw using the innovative Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) method. Introduced to WAM docents several years ago, the VTS approach believes that thoughtful, facilitated discussion of art activates transformational learning accessible to all. It works well for both children and adults. According to Aileen Novick, manager of public and educations programs, VTS is a discovery process that uses art to teach critical thinking, communications skills, and visual literacy. “At its core are three key questions to answer: What's going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find?” she says. WAM docent Deb Wallace has used VTS since 2018, primarily with the fourth-grade LEAP tours. “These students are eager to learn, explore, and discover, and VTS supports that learning style,” she says, “I see Museum guests become more engaged in viewing art, more receptive to the introduction of new vocabulary, and listening carefully to others’ observations.” WAM’s Education staff worked with Timmary Leary, WPS Visual Arts Curriculum Liaison, to create a virtual LEAP program for fourth graders scheduled to launch this winter, according to Aileen. “Our Studio Art faculty will use VTS with Head Start students as we work with them virtually
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Docents use Visual Thinking Strategies in both school and adult tours.
this winter,” she adds. ““Thanks to generous funding from the Hanover Group Insurance Foundation 25 docents were trained on VTS in a virtual program last fall. Eventually, VTS will be used with all fourth-grade WPS field trips to the Museum.” “Our experience with the VTS training of WAM docents helps us put students in charge of their own meaning making,” says Aileen. “Teachers use this strategy to access the student narrative as part of the discussion. This classroom preparation will deepen their meaning making at WAM during their fourth-grade LEAP trip. VTS discussions led by docents strengthen the connections made by our students to the works in the Museum and their appreciation for cultural institutions. Recognizing oneself in the Museum honors their diverse cultures, memories, and complex identities,” she emphasizes. Docent Brad Barker uses VTS for both school and adult tours (offered virtually during the pandemic). “This learning approach not only benefits Museum guests, but also enhances my own enjoyment because my tours became more interactive, engaging, and energetic,” he says. “I like that VTS teaches children that art is interpretive and it’s acceptable that children can have different interpretations.” When docents use VTS, they provide little information about the artwork, if anything at all, according to Brad. “VTS coaxes out observational and critical explanations and encourages each guest to think for themselves as opposed to what the docent is saying,” he says. “This makes the artwork more personal and promotes the concept that art is, by its very nature, interpretative.”
It is this personal analysis of the art that leads to a conversation and presents individual ideas to the entire tour group. This sharing allows Museum visitors to realize that others see the art differently and may have unique interpretations. “This is a benefit that cannot be obtained through the traditional tour practices,” Brad says. “Studies have proven that guests actually learn, and retain, a great deal more using VTS as opposed to a lecture-style touring format.” “I enjoy seeing Museum visitors actually looking at the work, and their excitement to contribute their reflections,” adds Deb Wallace. “VTS is an observer-driven learning experience, initiated by those three questions that are followed by observations and the paraphrasing of those remarks in an accepting community.” And according to Aileen, participating in a VTS tour improves the visitor experience. “Many people will typically spend less than three seconds really looking directly at a work of art. More attention is often given to the label associated with the work,” says Aileen. “Moreover, people are frequently discouraged from creating and sharing their own ideas about art. With VTS, students and adults can be shown that their experience with a work of art is valuable, and this often encourages them to take more time to really look at a painting or an object.” Culture LEAP is a partnership among the Worcester Public Schools, cultural institutions, the Working Education Subcommittee of the Worcester Cultural Coalition, and the Worcester Educational Development Foundation, Inc. The program receives generous support from the George I. Alden Trust and the Stoddard Charitable Trust. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is an educational non-profit that trains educators in schools, museums, and institutions of higher education to use a student-centered facilitation method to create inclusive discussions. VTS training at WAM is generously supported by the Hanover Group Insurance Foundation, Inc.
