Looking to See, Seeing to Learn: Can the implementation of Visual Thinking Strategies foster the development of critical and creative thinking skills within the context of an Australian primary school classroom?

Abstract

A well-designed curriculum is the foundation of a flourishing education system. Yet, there is an increasing consensus that curriculum content alone is no longer sufficient to foster confident and successful 21st century learners. With this in mind, this study investigates the development of critical and creative thinking skills, identified in the Australian curriculum as one of seven essential general capabilities. Within the Australian curriculum, however, there is no clear indication as to how these skills might be developed. Furthermore, research indicates that teachers face a pedagogical dilemma. On one hand, the capability skills are valued but on the other a lack of confidence, and time constraints, limits a teacher’s ability to nurture these essential skills. To this end, this study examines how critical and creative thinking skills may be fostered within the context of an Australian primary school classroom by implementing the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), a visual arts inquiry-based pedagogy developed in the United States. Initially designed to assess the aesthetic knowledge of art museum visitors, research in the US has found the process to be effective in nurturing critical and creative thinking in students from the primary to tertiary level. Structured around three questions which first invite spontaneous responses, then develop through facilitated discussion into more nuanced evidence-based reasoning. With no art history knowledge required, VTS provides a ‘level playing field’ for all students. Findings indicate that the guided learning process of VTS enhances student agency by encouraging an empowering mindset. Disruption, as with the Covid-19 pandemic, offers a possibility of change. This ‘disruptive’ research in which the visual arts are brought in from the traditional margins, offers both student and teacher a positive transformative pedagogy of benefit to future learning especially in terms of the development of critical and creative thinking.