Visuals in Learning Situations

by Jane Vella, EdD ~ GLP Founder

When the windows of perception are cleansed
we will see the world as it is: infinite.
~ William Blake, Memoriam

The most important visual in a teaching/learning situation is you.

I cannot fake anything. My face gives me away. My love and concern for the learners, my passion for the subject and for what this learning can do is visible and operative.

One day, in graduate school, I was chatting with a student who was learning to become a psychotherapist. She shared a fascinating learning she had just had. Their professor, teaching counseling skills, challenged them to spend a few quiet moments before opening a conversation with a client thinking: I like your eyes, I like your haircut, I like those shoes with that outfit, I like your quiet smile…

Her professor maintained that such reflections were operative in the opening session. I read it as silent lavish affirmation – a quiet visual of respect.

Another important visual is the beautiful, well-designed and carefully thought out set of materials accompanying your lesson. Christina de Jong of Global Learning Partners has, over the years, set a high standard of excellence in regard to this visual. Again, it is a palpable, visual symbol of respect. Even the aesthetics and the accessability of a web site is operative as a working visual.

Respect for your learners means your charts or PowerPoint presentations will be accessible to them: not crowded, never written in yellow or orange or light-colored ink that makes Seniors like me squint, not esoteric in design or symbolism that makes folks like me wonder what I am doing in this course…

In short, visuals are for learning, not for teaching. For more on this, please do see my new book On Teaching and Learning which is being published in November by Jossey Bass.

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