Visual Thinking in Art Education: An Invitation to Visual Creative Teaching and Learning Approach

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Imagine the world without the arts? No paintings, music, movies, novels, what would our culture be without the arts? The importance of art in a child's education is undeniable; however art education is on a decline. Art has proven to keep children in school, provide motivation, and help children better understand the world in which they live in. Creativity is a unique property found in every individual. The value of knowledge and skills needed in the future may not even be known at the time a person attends school. Visual thinking is the main thinking process that involves both intelligence and creativity. Visual thinking also will enhance practical intelligence among children due to the process of learning. Education is meant to teach children to learn, to know, to do, to understand, to live together and to be human. In order to make education meaningful for children, effective ways of teaching and learning practices must be conducted by teachers. Through visual thinking children will think fast in picture, relates well to space, learn concepts all at once and they will see all as one. A joyful way of teaching children is through art. It must be taught to develop children’s process of thinking. In addition to thinking, art lessons help the teacher to integrate the higher thinking order via visual thinking that requires willingness to produce talent that can be used later as intellectual property. This paper will discuss how knowledge and skills through visual thinking will conduct to creative teaching and learning approaches through activities emphasizes branching out, finding out and inventing. Using visual thinking student can look, see, observe livelier. Discovery learning, learning through visual symbols (graphic) and learning with the help of fantasy and imagination can be more effective among children. This will indirectly promote the children to think creatively using pictures, visual imagination, visual memory, and associating visual in their learning process. In this context, the outcome of creative teaching and learning approach that emphasizes visual thinking can have strong beneficial effects on students to be motivated. Thus visible changes in their attitudes such as self image, environment and indirectly culture can be noticed.

Stream: Creative Arts and Learning

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Graduated Bachelor of Education in art Education, Master of Art Education and Diploma of Education in Art. I have numerous 12 years experience in teaching at secondary and university level. Presented working paper for national and international on Malaysian Art Education and Malaysian Visual Art scene.