I'm a big fan of openness and honesty. I don't value small talk, and when I have a problem I like to deal with it. To be this direct and not offend anyone, I've had to adapt the way I communicate over the years, to express myself in multiple ways depending on the person I'm with or situation I'm in. For example, I have a vision impaired (and deaf) half-brother, so I speak loud around him and with big sweeping gestures. Similarly, I meet a lot of foreigners who don't speak English very well, so I talk slow and pantomime. That's why I truly enjoyed reading parts of the book Reading Images by Kress and van Leeuwen.
When I became a sixth grade teacher, I began using symbols in my lessons. It's a lot easier for a student to understand the concept of say, 'Loyalty' by finding pictures of what they feel is loyal, as well as defining the word and using it in sentences. Similarly, it's hard to 'see' the concept of social order in ancient civilizations, but as soon as I drew the 'Social Hierarchy Chart' on the board (a triangle filled with vertical lines: King would be on top, followed by priests or scribes, and slaves at the bottom), they could immediately connect those positions to modern ones.
Given my pre-interest in this subject, I was pleasantly surprised to find out symbols had an even deeper meaning than I had never guessed. In Chapter 2 of Reading Images, I loved learning how the symbols I often use are infused with my own personality. For example I might use circles to depict grand ideas, while someone else might choose rectangles, or flowers. As the authors say, I'm like the "'implied' producer who 'silently instructs us, through the design of the whole.'" (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 48). In this way, I'm not just the 'Interactive Participant' - or the person communicating - but also the 'Represented Participant,' because the forms I use to communicate are really a mirror of myself. Whoa! Equally as amazing was the lore of symbols: how "Circles…we associate with an organic and natural order," (p. 55) and how rectangles and squares can be stacked, like buildings in the modern world. And beyond that, I was even more intrigued to learn symbols and words can connect like Lego pieces to form completely new images and ideas. For example, a clause like, 'the bird is black' without a verb or article becomes 'black bird' and without the space it's 'blackbird,' and each one has a completely different meaning. (p. 53)
The day after I read this chapter, I perceived the world in a new way, and that perspective gave me new ideas to help my students in their own constantly evolving communication skills. For example, I had them define a word they all knew (Love), any way they wanted, and everyone had something different to say (from words to symbols). I then asked them to 'analyze' their classmates, and tell me why they thought Sally used a heart, but Jimmy used sentences about his family, and Toby chose to draw two people hugging. I also became more aware of how my own verbal, written and symbolic language is sculpted by my experiences and interests. It helped me see that from now on, I shouldn't just tell my students to copy down notes or symbolic representations from the board, but to come up with their own expressions, for stronger retention and a more personal connection.
Resources
Kress, Gunther & van Leeuwen, Theo (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge.
