Does your state’s teaching standards include the ability of students to be able to
read, analyze, deconstruct visual images? Many states do include it in their visual arts standards. But the phrase “new literacies” (being found in the English Language Arts) implies understanding how photographs, for example, can also be interpreted or read, just as we might read a book or a poem.
DRAFT National Board of Professional Teaching Standards
Early Childhood Middle Grades ELA (2011)
“Reading language arts teachers know, value, and teach viewing and visual literacy as essential components of literacy instruction is necessary to prepare students to interpret and interact with an increasingly visual world.” (pg 34)
“Being literate…means being active, critical, and creative users not only of print and spoken language, but also of the visual language of film and television, commercial and political advertising, photography, and more. Teaching students how to interpret and create visual texts….is another essential component of the
ELA curriculum.” Source: Standards for English Language Arts, IRA/NCTE, 1996, p. 5
Language Arts Standard 9: VIEWING
Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
links to some national verbiage relating to understanding images
