Visual Literacy and Young Learners

This chapter explores visual literacy from theoretical and practical perspectives. Ideas of what is meant by visual literacy and why this is important are presented through a selection of studies. The impact that visual literacy may have on students' learning and development is further elaborated. A case study from a Norwegian first-grade classroom is included to shed light on the ways in which visual work in the classroom can be implemented. In addition, exemplars of students' written verbal and visual texts are thoroughly examined. A tendency in the material is that the illustrations are detailed and elaborate, and carry a distinct sense of the written text. Hence, the visual text may be understood as the more important text and may be vital in a child's literacy development.