Understanding Visual Perception as a Process Component of Visual Arts Education
Think of the last time you saw art in person – whether it was at a museum, at an exhibition, or even just on the street – did you get it? Did you really understand what the artist was trying to communicate with their piece? If you’re like most people, probably not. Art can seem confusing and difficult to interpret; however, with some training and education, anyone can learn how to perceive art in an effective way! Let's look at the ways visual perception is applicable to the PERCEIVE process component in the visual arts standards.
For the purposes of this post, when referring to PERCEIVE as a process component of visual art standards, I've written it in all caps like it is in the standards documents.
Let's get going!
Start with an Open Mind
I wanted to begin this post by asking you to keep an open mind as you read. Many times, when educators and parents hear "art," their brains immediately go to the cute and cookie cutter. They stop there. They don't let their brains get to an understanding of how visual art processes and understandings are related to everything else. They may value art for fine motor development, in service of another content area, or as a way to have fun; but they just never get to the truly academic value.
I think this is because of the way many adults were "taught" about art at the elementary level when they were growing up. The connections weren't made to the bigger picture. And, let's be honest, some of these understandings are relatively new to the field of education, brain science, and art.
So, keep an open mind here. See this post through to the end and spend some time reflecting on the connectedness of visual art to everything else in the world, including other academic subject matter.
What is Visual Perception
Visual perception is our ability to gather and interpret visual information about what we see. Our brains automatically process visual input from our eyes and make it seem like there’s no effort involved at all. Let me tell you, though, a lot of effort is involved. A LOT. We don’t even realize how much work our brains are doing.
The definition of PERCEIVE is to become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand, interpret or look on (someone or something) in a particular way.
Since, visual perception refers to the brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see, it logically follows that perception in visual art allows us to take in as much information as possible through our sense of sight. (Note that this is not the same as visual acuity which refers to how clearly a person sees -for example, “20/20 vision.” A person can have 20/20 vision and still have problems with visual perceptual processing.)
Why Does Visual Perception Matter
Good visual perceptual skills are important for a lot of every day skills such as reading, writing, completing math problems, eating with utensils, finding your hair rubber band in the accessory drawer, and many other things. A person's ability to care for themselves is severely compromised without these skills. Even more severe impacts of poor visual perception include accidents at home, work or play where injuries occur. By improving a child’s abilities at perceiving you improve his or her chances at having a happy productive life without obstacles like low self-esteem or increased chances of accidents being placed on them.
Ugh! And here we go… Even if your only reason for doing anything as an educator is to raise your school's test scores (Gosh! I'd like to believe no one sits on that bench, but I know they do. Thus, the reason I started this whole paragraph with UGH!); students need visual perception skills to take all those high stakes assessments. They need to be able to read and look at diagrams, right? Okay! Point made! Moving on!
How to Tell if a Student is Struggling with Visual Perception
If a student has trouble with visual perception, you might notice they also have trouble with some of the following:
Letter and number reversal
Completing puzzles or dot to dots
Planning actions relative to objects around them
b, d, p, q differentiation
Losing place on a page when reading or writing
Remembering left and right
Sequencing letters or numbers
Remembering the alphabet in sequence
Copying from one place to another (board to paper)
Dressing (matching pairs, getting shoes on the right feet)
Identifying sight words
Filtering out visual distractions such as colorful bulletin boards or movement in the room (sometimes misidentified as an attention deficit)
Sorting and organizing personal belongings (e.g. may appear disorganized or careless in work).
Finding a specific item in a cluttered drawer
What is Meant by PERCEIVE as a Visual Process Component in Art?
PERCEIVE is a process component in art, yet it can be easily misunderstood as something else. The word perceive is often misinterpreted to mean imitate or copy which is entirely different from what PERCEIVE really means in regards to a visual process. PERCEIVE is an essential underlying process of careful observation or perception.
In the visual art standards, each artistic process branches into Process Components. Process Components are the actions (verbs) artists carry out as they complete each artistic process. A students’ ability to carry out these operational verbs empowers them to work through the artistic process independently. Independently is a super important word here because if we are to create lifelong learners and successful adults, they need to be able to PERCEIVE beyond the immediate tasks at hand during their school time.
The main difference between imitation and perceive, is that while imitation copies a recognizable pattern, perceiving recognizes but doesn’t copy pattern—it produces something new. It’s easy to understand if you use your senses (sight, smell, touch and hearing) to observe what you see around you; there are many patterns in things that we take for granted yet can be imitated quite easily when paying close attention. This speaks to the difference between copying a process to create a product (cookie cutter projects) and open-ended creative processes. (Source)
Students need to PERCEIVE in the work of others and their own works.
Ways to Strengthen Visual Perception
Most people don’t realize that there are a variety of ways to strengthen visual perception through training and practice—and many of these methods have been shown to be effective.
Use visual cues
Use arrows to notate directional instructions
Use graph paper to help with word spacing and sizing
Provide individual copies (either paper or on a individual screen) of anything students need to look at on a large screen as a group
Eliminate clutter
Organize in a logical and useful manner as much of the visually stimulating classroom wall decor as possible, especially near the child’s desk.
Outline boundaries with a a red marker for coloring, drawing, or cutting tasks.
AND, last but nowhere near least:
LOOK carefully and closely at works of art. Discuss what is perceived in the works. Have students justify what they say they see in the work. For instance, if the student says they see a brown monkey, have them explain how they know it is brown and how they know it is a monkey. Have them explain where to find the monkey on the image. They might say something like "The brown monkey is next to the largest green leaf on the bottom left side of the image."
Conclusion
This post has been about merging two concepts, that really aren’t different at all but that sometimes aren’t connected in our thinking: visual perception as part of our daily lives and PERCEIVE as a Process Component in the Visual Arts standards. Being able to PERCEIVE is part of what an artist needs to be able to do. When we use arts integration in your classrooms, our students need to be able to PERCEIVE, or pay very close attention to details in their own works and in the works of others. This spills over into everything else we do as human beings, though.
Take some time to think about all of the ways we need strong visual perception skills on a daily basis. Can you drive safely without this? Prepare food? Dress yourself? Attend to a bank account? Not at all.
If it is possible to use an art form to develop these skills of visual perception while also building creative thinkers who also understand and can use content from other subjects like math, why wouldn’t we teach that way? This is the definition of working smarter not harder. Let’s get to it!
Here are some great resources that can expand on this post if you are interested in learning more:
