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Photo Pru Sowers
Lynn Stanley, education coordinator for the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, gives a demonstration of Visual Thinking Strategies, a program that uses art to teach young children critical thinking. |
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Educational program uses art to teach critical thinking
By Pru Sowers
Banner Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN — The emphasis in elementary school is usually on using your head, not your eyes. But according to some local art educators, eyes are a critical tool in developing the brain, particularly in young children.
That’s the premise behind an innovative educational program that uses art to develop a variety of communications and critical thinking skills in elementary age children. The program is currently being taught in Truro, Hyannis and Brewster elementary schools. And Provincetown school officials are debating whether to roll the program out permanently in grades K-6, after a pilot program at Veterans Memorial Elementary School last spring.
The pilot was created in conjunction with the Provincetown Art Association and Museum and developers of the program, called Visual Thinking Strategies. The idea is that VTS uses paintings and other artwork to stimulate ideas and discussion among a group of children, helping them develop the ability to observe, and then turn those observations into interpretation.
By using pictures to unleash a thousand young words, the kids also develop critical thinking skills and a confidence that merely memorizing facts in the classroom usually doesn’t provide.
“Other primary elements of a VTS discussion are the facilitator-teacher's paraphrasing of each [student’s] response,” said Lynn Stanley, PAAM education coordinator. “By paraphrasing, the teacher [promotes] non-judgmental listening and supports open-ended discussion, while using the opportunity to introduce new vocabulary and streamline language.”
The structure of VTS builds from year to year starting in kindergarten and going through the sixth grade. The youngest students are shown images of small children, families and animals — works of art that they have a direct and personal response to. Then the teacher asks a series of questions designed to encourage the kids to look for more within the painting as well as listen to observations from their classmates.
“We don't ask kindergarteners to support their observations with evidence because they're not developmentally ready, but we see these skills begin to develop in first and second graders,” Stanley said. “Very quickly young viewers develop the habit of providing evidence for their observations — an invaluable skill that transfers across the curricula.”
It’s this skill transfer, confident critical thinking, that interests local school officials. Anything that leads students to better cognitive skills and, in theory, higher test scores is intriguing.
”I think it’s innovative. [VTS] has a role to play in our curriculum,” said Burt Wolfman, a Provincetown School Committee member. “It’s just a question of how the administration is going to integrate it.”
That’s a question worth a thousand words, as well. Any new program incorporated into the local school curriculum has to meet a series of strict guidelines mandated by both state and federal educational authorities.
“I think if we can find conclusive evidence the program is doing what it says it is doing — increasing thinking skills — then it would be valuable. The jury is out on that,” said Anthony Teso, principal of VMES.
Teso said the three teachers in grades K-2 who taught the VTS pilot at VMES last spring were concerned that the program didn’t change enough from grade to grade. And since the proposal currently under consideration by Provincetown school Supt. Janice Lachowetz is to roll out the VTS program in grades K-6, Teso said perhaps more and different types of media should be used.
“The teachers are wondering what the next step is above that. Is there more? [Students] don’t need to go through the exact same program over and over,” Teso said.
Stanley countered that the VTS curriculum builds from grade to grade.
”Each year is customized for that particular year. The images chosen are developmentally appropriate. The images over time get more complex and more challenging,” she said, adding that older students are asked for written essays, website searches and museum visits.
As for statistical proof that VTS helps students score higher on standardized tests, Stanley points to controlled studies done in two separate school districts which utilized VTS techniques. Both showed a marked improvement in test scores in grades using VTS.
One of them was a small community (pop. 2,400) in Byron, Minn., where eighth graders had relatively low scores on the state Basic Skills Test, particularly in reading. In 1997, 54 percent of the Byron eighth graders passed the Basic Skills Reading Test (scored at or above 75 percent correct). In tests completed in 1999, however, 77 percent of the Byron eighth grade students passed the reading exam.
This gain of 23 points is two and a half times the state average of nine points, according to Minnesota school officials. They believe that the school district’s participation in a five-year VTS pilot program contributed to the higher scores since that year’s eighth graders were the first “graduates” of the VTS program.
“VTS has allowed students to think at a higher level because [in the VTS discussions] we continue to ask the question ‘Why?’” said Karen Roos, Byron Elementary principal. “This was transferred to the test, I think, because the test also asks those ‘Why?’ questions.”
Both Stanley and Wolfman believe that VTS can easily meet the state and federal curriculum guidelines in Provincetown. The next step, Wolfman said, is to see if 10 VMES teachers will volunteer to take the VTS teacher training.
PAAM will provide $1,275 to pay all costs of the teacher training, Stanley added.
“It’s up to the teachers at this point to decide if they want to participate in the training or not. A number of teachers-educators have already expressed their support. It’s the kind of teaching experience where you get thrills,” said Stanley, who has taught multiple VTS classes to children herself.
Wolfman added that the school district may also apply for a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to help pay for any costs associated with the VTS program after teacher training.
While VTS is not strictly art appreciation, PAAM certainly wants to promote the rich local art history here on the Outer Cape. Many of the VTS programs, which run 10 sessions over a nine-month period in each grade, culminate in a visit to the museum.
But it’s the eyes’ impact on the brain that Stanley and her team are most interested in promoting.
“We want to ensure that art making and art appreciation remain vital to the children and youth of our community,” Stanley said. “VTS promotes … the development of a variety of thinking and viewing skills which will serve our children throughout their lives.”
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Oct 6th, 2005