Picture Thinking: The Development of Visual Literacy in Young Children

Abstract

This article explores the concept of visual literacy and discuss the collaborative and creative process of looking at art with young children. There is no fixed definition of the term ‘visual literacy’ and this may be because it means different things within different contexts. My PhD study focused on the development of visual literacy in young children and since completing my research in 2007 I have furthered my understanding of what this means in practice through working as a gallery educator. I will discuss the different dimensions of visual literacy, describe my research into how it develops in young children and then look at how this might be applied within a museum or gallery context.