Visual Arts - NCCA

Development of visual literacy
through the strands
Stages of development in art
The acquisition of visual imagery skills by the student
is a developmental process. For this reason it is
seldom useful to focus on the student’s development
in terms of age or class grouping, especially in relation
to the student with mild general learning disabilities.
Indeed, to force the student towards art concepts
that are incongruous to the student’s own schema
or stage of visual image development could prove
counter-productive to a positive art experience. (See
Approaches and methodologies, page 16.)
The stimulus
When planning an art lesson, just as in planning an
oral language lesson culminating in a written piece, it
is appropriate to take a starting point. From this, the
student is stimulated by the concrete world and can
explore ways of deconstructing and reconstructing
concepts in truly creative ways. The teacher should
decide what the stimulus is to be.
Possibilities include:
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oral language: This can provide descriptions of
characters and events, both imaginary and real, in
the form of news, song, story, etc.
the world around us: The environment provides
the student with a wealth of information, diversity,
manifestation of the visual art elements, and so on
that may be explored in the student’s own art.
observation: By examining animals, objects,
people, nature, etc. the student enhances his/her
knowledge of the world and the relationships
within it.
use of a theme (such as farm, zoo, family, our
school): This approach allows for a high degree
of linkage with other areas of the curriculum and
opportunities to revisit concepts and skills. (See
Approaches and methodologies.)
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Guidelines Mild General Learning Disabilities / Visual Arts / PRIMARY
materials as stimuli: The student’s experience of
the qualities and characteristics of a particular
medium or set of media can evoke a creative
response.
the work of artists, craftspeople and designers:
This can be used to help the student to focus
on the elements of art and the possibilities of
materials, thus providing a useful starting point for
the student’s own art.
When considering stimuli for visual arts learning for
the student with mild general learning disabilities,
there is not as much emphasis on using the
imagination or personal experience as a starting point
as there is in the mainstream curriculum. Very often
these students have difficulty with long-term memory.
This can create anxiety if the student is required
to recall events and process them in order to find
stimulation for the art process. Similarly, the student
may find it arduous, and in some cases impossible, to
express an imagined response, since the imagination
depends upon experiences that are consigned to
memory and can be deconstructed and reapplied to a
different situation.
The six strands
The six strands provide the student with opportunities
for essential learning, skills development, and artistic
expression. They offer scope for diverse learning
experiences and for the student to become visually
literate.
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