Where Visual Literacy and Identity Meet: Adolescents Define Themselves Through Participation in a University Video and Art Enrichment Program

Authors

Susan Daniels, California State University San Bernardino
Patricia Little, California State University San Bernardino
Linda M. Reynolds, California State University San Bernardino
Alayne Sullivan, California State University San Bernardino

Keywords

reading, art education, visual literacy, identity

Abstract

This article summarizes a project that oriented one hundred and twenty-five gifted and talented middle-school students to university culture through a series of summer workshops that emphasized visual media. Various workshops introduced students to methods of video and art production. The middle-school students created short videos and artistic collages to represent their identity in response to two activities: (a) in-depth explorations of the California State University campus at San Bernardino; and (b) literary reading. Art and video production are revealed as a powerful means of middle-school students’ identity formation and expression; the work summarized herein gains credence through its alignment with seminal work in the field of visual literacy theory and research.

Author Statement

Dr Susan Daniels and Dr Alayne Sullivan are professors in the College of Education, California State University San Bernardino. Patricia Little and Linda Reynolds are graduate students at California State University San Bernardino.

Recommended Citation

Daniels, Susan; Little, Patricia; Reynolds, Linda M.; and Sullivan, Alayne (2006) "Where Visual Literacy and Identity Meet: Adolescents Define Themselves Through Participation in a University Video and Art Enrichment Program," Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice: Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/wie/vol2/iss1/4