Visual perception and observational skills are an essential part of Visual Arts education, through which young learners, in the primary school, acquire important and necessary skills to create artworks during their creative projects. These skills provide learners in the primary school the opportunity to overcome their self-imposed criticism to their own works of art. Similar research projects highlight the inability of learners in the middle childhood to creatively express what they visually perceive.
The study sought to assist learners in the middle childhood to overcome the slump in their creative attempts through a series of visual sharpening exercises, in the form of an Art intervention.
A qualitative case study with elements of action research was conducted at a single site at a primary school in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town.
The participants of the study comprised of four grade 5 classes divided into a test group and control group. The intervention was administered to the test group in the form of visual sharpening exercises. The practical projects of four grade 5 classes were assessed, analysed, compared, and the findings were discussed according to the themes identified during the study.
The results indicate factors that might influence the visual perceptual skills of learners in middle childhood, while completing Visual Art projects. Analysis of the research data revealed an increase in the test group’s score compared to the control group. There was a marked effect on the test group participants’ ability to record what they visually perceived.
This study investigated and highlights shortcomings in the CAPS Visual Art curriculum for Grade 5. Bridging the gap between practice and curriculum shortfalls is important. The study suggests that the Department of Education (DoE) should supplement the Visual Arts curriculum with visual perceptual training for middle childhood learners.
Visual Art education plays an important and vital role in the holistic development of young children. During the middle childhood phase of their development, children’s pursuit of realistic renderings in their art projects increases. Their frustration and hesitation to create is fuelled by their inability to artistically render what they visually perceive. Children in the middle childhood are between the ages of 10 and 11, and their self-imposed criticism of their own work overshadows their willingness to create in 2D. In many cases, these children cease to value creating in art as an expressive outlet and subsequently lose interest in Visual Art. This decline in their artistic interest and creative output is known as the U-curve/creative slump (Wachowiak & Clements
To assist them during this period in their artistic development, a visual perceptual sharpening intervention project was designed and administered to four Grade 5 classes at a single site. The intervention was conducted during regular school hours and supplemented the Visual Arts curriculum as set out for Grade 5 by the Department of Education (DoE). The aim of the intervention was not to inhibit the creativity of the participants, but to sharpen their visual perceptual and observational skills and to enable them to visually render what they observed during Visual Art lessons.
The conceptual framework of the study was based on the theories of Piaget’s (
Edwards (
The literature reviewed for this study focussed on the declining interest of middle childhood learners to create in 2D and this can be linked to the U-curve model, development of artistic expression and visual perception in art.
Authors such as Edwards (
Expertly taught quality Visual Arts education in the primary school pre-amps several interrelated factors that enhance the holistic development of learners. Quality Visual Arts education aims to develop an array of perceptual skills that assist learners in enhancing and accessing their cognitive resources that are vital during art-making projects (Kiese-Himmel et al.
Anttila et al. (
Eisner (
Visual perception is tightly related to cognition and when we view an object or scene we have to interpret what we perceive (Cahen & Tacca
The enhancement of the following skills can assist learners in their art projects:
Visual problem-solving.
Intrinsic visual skills.
Perceptual learning.
Visual memory.
Mental imagery.
Quality and meaningful art education can increase and develop spatial awareness, visual thinking, visual problem-solving, and mental imagery formation, as it enhances cognitive orientation and perceptual learning (Haanstra
The planned intervention was aimed to assist the participants in an understanding of new techniques and to allow them to construct their own knowledge of visual perceptual skills. Pujara, Atkins and McMahon (
When a successful instructional intervention in Visual Arts is implemented, it promotes learner involvement and allows them to explore different techniques and materials. Through their engagement, learners can enhance their creative abilities, which in return, improves their drawing and constructive abilities as well as their interpretive skills (Letsiou
Learners show enjoyment, pride, and a sense of achievement.
Learners form important skills, techniques, appreciation, and knowledge
Learners can develop personally, especially self-esteem and self-confidence.
Learners develop socially in teamwork and the awareness of other learners.
Visual Arts education intervention is of critical importance for learners to foster creative thinking, imagination, and innovation. Polat (
A qualitative instrumental case study approach, with an element of action research, was the method of inquiry. Guided by Creswell (
How can teachers assist in the development of visual perception in Visual Arts in the primary school?
The participants of the study were four Grade 5 classes. Two of the classes formed the test group and two formed the control group. During the study, the two test groups were subjected to eight intervention lessons to sharpen their visual perceptual skills. Both the test group and control group completed a 2D pre-test and a 2D post-test to determine the efficacy of the intervention.
The data collected during the study was performed through four main instruments namely a 2D artwork (pre-test), eight intervention lessons, a 2D artwork (post-test), and observations in the form of field notes (for details see
Data collection tools and procedures.
Instrument | Purpose |
---|---|
Pre-test | The starting point of the study to determine that the participants’ observational skills and abilities were on par with their developmental stage of artistic expression, as described by Lowenfeld and Brittain ( The pre-test was compared with the post-test to determine the effectiveness of the intervention lessons. |
Observational field notes | To capture the ‘voice’ of the participants’ experience during the study. To supplement the visual data collected. |
Intervention lessons | To sharpen the observational skills and abilities of participants. Each intervention lesson was designed to assist the participants in their observational skills during the art-making process. |
Post-test | To track and compare the progress of participants from the pre-test to the post-test. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention lessons on the observational skills and abilities of the participants. |
To answer the main research question that guided this study, the data from the pre-test, intervention lessons, and the post-test were analysed. The field notes were transcribed and converted to full text, and the visual data were studied and scrutinised to identify codes and patterns, and themes.
The textual data and visual data from the pre-test were studied and scrutinised to identify the level of perceptual and observational awareness of the test group and the control group. Once the pre-test was completed, the artworks were assessed and the results of the test and control group were compared to ascertain whether both groups’ observational skills were on par with one another. After the pre-test data were studied, the field notes and visual data from the eight intervention lessons were studied and scrutinised to identify codes and patterns. The pre-test field notes and visual data were examined to identify codes and patterns. The post-test was assessed, and the results were compared between the test group and the control group.
Finally, the post-test visual and field note data were coded, and themes were identified to describe visual perception at a post-test level. Following the suggestions of Cohan, Manion and Morison (
Ethical clearance was obtained from the principal of the school where the research was conducted, the Department of Education and the Ethics Committee at the university. The researcher considered that all the participants of the four Grade 5 classes in the study had the right to anonymity and that their privacy was regarded as highly important. The nature of the perception sharpening exercises had no harmful effects on the participants of the study. All the exercises done with the test groups were done with the control groups after the research was completed (20160317-8889).
From the analysis of the research data four main themes were identified to answer the main research question, namely creativity and the U-curve, creative and visual problem-solving, intrinsic motivation, and a shift to understanding and knowledge.
Creativity is a unique form of intelligence that allows learners to creatively and logically respond to a multitude of problems they may encounter during the art-making process (Sharp
Cohn (
Alter’s (
The comparison between the pre-test and the post-test suggests that the learners improved their ability to visually portray what they perceived through creative reasoning skills and creative problem-solving abilities related to the visual perception of subject matter.
According to Stavridi (
Ulger (
Rosier (
Eisner (
According to Jaquith (
This was evident during the post-test of the test group, where a larger number of the participants shared their surprise and disbelief at their improved ability to portray subject matter more life-like in their artwork. This positive reaction to their artwork motivated them to continue and complete their artwork without any assistance or motivation from the teacher. This is echoed by Chad-Friedman et al. (
According to Larson and Rusk (
As stated by Larson and Rusk (
Through intrinsic motivation, learners are able to make use of different strategies, such as meta-cognitive strategies, to complete their tasks. These strategies include planning and integrating previously learned skills to achieve and complete the task at hand (Larson & Rusk
To ascertain whether the participants were able to make a shift to a deeper understanding of various visual perceptual and observational skills, and to construct their own knowledge of how to observe and portray subject matter, the researcher referred to the conceptual framework of this study as it relates to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in visual arts education.
As described by Efland (
Heard (
Jenson (
The results of the analysis of the data indicated that the perceptual and observational training had a marked effect on the participants’ ability to record what they visually perceived. They were able to engage with the subject matter through strategies and methods they obtained during the observational training.
Multi-sensory techniques proved to be an effective way of engaging most participants during the intervention exercises. Teaching learners to think and reason in non-conventional ways helped them to understand and try different methods that proved to enhance their ability to record and draw subject matter.
A deeper understanding and knowledge of children in middle childhood and factors that might influence their visual perceptual and observational abilities proved to be imperative to assist them. Another important and valuable tool in assisting the participants was the quality of meaningful instructions during the Visual Art lessons that focused on and fostered their creative and innovative skills and abilities, which was indispensable for the development of their perceptual and cognitive skills. When Visual Arts educators teach young learners new skills and techniques, the focus should not be on creating photo realistic art, but rather techniques and skills they can understand and interpret to create age appropriate art.
The factors that were identified ranged from biological maturation, lack of intrinsic motivation, untrained visual perceptual and observational skills and abilities, and lack of understanding of various techniques required during visual arts lessons and projects. Through the training and development of visual perceptual skills, their observational skills were sharpened. The improvement of their perceptual and observational skills enabled learners to overcome the factors that inhibited their observational abilities.
The results from the pre-test and post-test indicated that the visual sharpening exercises during the intervention period were able to improve the learners’ abilities to portray subject matter in their artworks visually. The The CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement) curriculum was followed and supplemented in the form of the intervention. It was clear that there were no specific skills or techniques on how to improve visual perception present in the CAPS curriculum. If teachers want to improve their learners’ visual perceptual and observational skills, they will need to supplement the CAPS curriculum.
From the data that were collected and analysed, it was clear that the visual perceptual training in the form of the intervention lessons was able to assist the learners in their Visual Art projects. The various techniques and skills covered during the intervention period enabled the learners to construct a new understanding and knowledge of how to present what they visually perceived. Through the attainment of new skills and knowledge, the learners gained more confidence in their ability to create in Visual Art. Their improved confidence sparked their intrinsic motivation and allowed them to excel in their creative attempts. The intervention lessons sharpened their visual problem-solving skills, and it was evident that they were able to visually and mentally compare differences and similarities of the subject matter they observed.
It would be recommended that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) revise and supplement the CAPS curriculum for Visual Arts by including a visual perceptual development methodology to allow learners to fully develop the necessary skills and abilities required for keener observation during their Visual Arts projects. The CAPS curriculum should be supplemented, and more time should be allocated for the teaching and development of important skills and abilities. More emphasis should be given to the learning opportunities offered through meaningful and quality Visual Arts education.
The outcome and findings of this study suggest that through a focused intervention the visual perceptual skills of the participants improved while completing their Visual Art projects. They were able to construct new knowledge and strategies associated with visual perception and observation of subject matter, which they drew creatively in their artworks. Visual Art as a subject has the ability to offer learners a multitude of skills and abilities to assist their holistic development. This was evident by the cognitive and intrinsic benefits the participants experienced during the intervention period.
The study highlights some shortcomings in the visual literacy skills contained in the CAPS curriculum in Visual Arts. Educators teaching Visual Arts should be made aware of the importance of visual perceptual development and should include such strategies during art lessons. It is hoped that this research will inform policymakers and curriculum designers of the importance of including visual perceptual development in the curriculum to supplement the observational skills of learners in middle childhood.
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
W.M is the sole author of this article.
Publishing of this article was funded by the Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.