Visual Thinking Strategies

When to use Visual Thinking Strategies

Use at a museum or gallery offsite, or with any image, to practise looking carefully, backing up a view with evidence, and hearing how differently colleagues read the same thing.

What it solves

Teams jump to conclusions and argue past each other because nobody separates what they observe from what they assume.

How to run Visual Thinking Strategies, step by step

1. Pick one artwork with an open story and enough detail to reward long looking. Seat or stand the group in front of it (5 min).
2. Ask everyone to look in silence for a minute or two before anyone speaks (2 min).
3. Ask 'What's going on in this picture?' and take the first comment (1 min).
4. Paraphrase the comment, point to what the person is describing, and ask 'What do you see that makes you say that?' (15-25 min).
5. Keep widening with 'What more can we find?' and link comments that agree or differ (throughout).
6. Close by thanking the group and summarising the range of readings, not a single right answer (3 min).

Materials needed

• One artwork, print or large projected image
• Space to stand or sit facing it
• A pointer if projecting

Facilitator tips

• Stay neutral. Paraphrase every comment with the same care, including the odd ones.
• Do not reveal the artist's intent or title at the end unless the group asks; it closes the thinking down.
• Bridge afterwards: ask where in their work they jump from seeing to concluding.

Common pitfalls

• The facilitator shows off their own knowledge and the group stops offering ideas.
• The image is too simple or too abstract to sustain twenty minutes of looking.

Variations

• Use a work photograph, a customer's handwritten letter or a data chart in place of art.

Running it online or hybrid

Share the image full screen and point to areas with an annotation tool when you paraphrase.

What it produces

A group interpretation of the image built from many observations, and a shared experience of slowing down before judging.

Origin

Developed by museum educator Philip Yenawine and cognitive psychologist Abigail Housen in the early 1990s, and used in museums, schools and medical training. — source

Build a session around Visual Thinking Strategies

METODIC places Visual Thinking Strategies inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.

Generate a session with Visual Thinking Strategies · Try METODIC free