“The word “seeing” brings to mind the way we use our eyes to perceive patterns of light and dark and shapes and such. But seeing is as much about memory and experience as it is about perception.”
“Seeing is learned. It is as much about making sense of what we see as it is about using our eyes to recognize patterns.” – page 53 of Picturing Texts
It’s amazing how many different interpretations can come from a single picture. Depending on the person they might focus in on different details and the emotional response might be affected by the person’s background. Doesn’t this apply to the written and spoken word as well? How can we encourage differences in what our students “see.”
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I use "Picturing Texts" in my ENEX 101 class. Some of the prompts in chapter one are perfect to encourage students to "see" differently. You, as much as them, will be amazed, with how much they come up if they really have to think about an image in terms as described in chapter two. We specifically have to ask them to do so but once they did it they really love it and they might look differently at visuals surrounding them. At least my students did so.
ReplyDeleteSomething I like about this discussion is what Faigley et. al say on pg. 55, "What we see depends on what gets our attention, on what details we observe..." Maybe helping students pay attention to the world around them is a first step in expanding their (and our) vision. Perhaps we need to be more mindful in offering our attention, too, not just reacting to more and more shocking images. We "see" differently when we use other senses, too.
ReplyDeleteI think we can help encourage differences in what our students see by including discussions of different viewpoints. I firmly believe that students can learn and broaden their horizons by bouncing ideas off one another, taking the time to listen to another persons viewpoint, stepping into someone else's shoes, etc. Diversity is beautiful. Appreciating diversity is beauty itself.
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