Description

Participants who fully participate in the workshop will receive 2-day, hands-on training with two VTS trainers, online access to “VTS Basics with Philip Yenawine” and a personal copy of “Visual Thinking Strategies – Using Art to Deepen Learning Across School Disciplines” by Philip Yenawine.

• 1 Cafeteria Credit available through CREA.  (Full attendance and completion of follow-up assignment required.) 
• Breakfast and Lunch included 

Course Description:

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is an evidence-based discussion facilitation method beloved by educators across the globe.

Classroom teachers use VTS to build every student’s critical thinking, evidentiary reasoning, and literacy skills through student-driven discussion of visual art. VTS enhances any existing curriculum and gets students curious, motivated, and confident in their own voices and abilities.

Many multi-year studies of the impact of VTS have been gathered over the last two decades. Some have focused primarily on aesthetic development, visual literacy, and critical thinking skills (supported observations, elaboration, speculation, flexible thinking, etc.), while others have looked more closely at effects on academic skills. Studies continually find that both short-term and year-after-year participation in VTS discussions results in dramatic increases in literacy and thinking skills, and the studies that have explored the connection between VTS and academics have found significant positive impacts on academic skills and standardized test scores.